As we watch and enjoy the ongoing war between House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, let us make sure that we are clear that this is a “battle of the snakes” (with apologies to the snake) as one Facebooker said.
Sara, the pretty and feisty daughter of the President has been scoring against the uncouth and ugly Alvarez.
Of the many things that Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said to justify the banning of Rappler and its reporter Pia Ranada in Malacañang premises, one thing stood out that reflected President Duterte ’s misunderstanding of the role of media in a democracy.
Roque said: “Nag-isyu na ang Presidente ng order na hindi pupuwede si Pia [sa Malacañang] (The President has issued the order that Pia is not allowed in Malacanang.),”
The reason?
Cover image of the study “Architects of Networked Disinformation-Behind the Scenes of Troll Accounts and Fake News Production in the Philippines,
In the session on the study “Architects of Networked Disinformation: Behind the Scenes of Troll Accounts and Fake News Production in the Philippines,” by scholars Jonathan C. Ong and Jason Vincent A.Cabañes, during the Democracy and Disinformation Conference last Feb. 13, writer Marian Pastor Roces made special mention of the part about the profile of an anonymous influencer who was a transgender.
The transgender influencer went by the name Georgina, 28 and a digital marketer with a computer engineering degree from one of the leading national universities.
It’s not only in the disputed waters of South China Sea that China is flexing its muscle. It is also making troubling moves in Taiwan Strait.
But the big difference is, while the Philippine leadership acquiesces with nary a whimper amid China’s militarization of the seven reefs it had transformed into artificial islands in the disputed waters of Spratlys, Taiwan is protesting what it says is China’s violation of a 2015 agreement not to use the flight route that divides them.
A statement from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines states: “On Jan. 4, Taiwan government protested mainland China’s unilateral launch the northbound M503 flight route in the Taiwan Strait and the W121, W122, and W123 east-west extension routes.
The letter sliced through Calida’s mediocrity while assuring the public that Malacañang has not succeeded in quashing the issue of President Duterte’s undeclared wealth.
The plunder case has not been dismissed. This is important. What Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang said in his Feb. 12 letter to Calida was “the investigation on the complaint entitled ‘Antonio F. Trillanes IV v Rodrigo Roa Duterte’ and docketed as FF-M-16-0161 was already closed and terminated” upon recommendation by Deputy Ombudsman Cyril E. Ramos on 29 November 2017.”
“By rule, ‘[a] closed and terminated field investigation is without prejudice to the refiling of a complaint with new or additional evidence,’” the Ombudsman said.
I had always batted for registration of cellphone SIM (subscriber identity module) to get rid of mobile phone scammers and bullies.
My belief has been challenged by the briefing paper of the Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA)(Briefing Paper – SIM Card Registration – FINAL(1)) which states that based on their studies of actual experiences of other countries where SIM is registered, the risks outweighs the perceived benefits.
Duterte was leading the surveys in the contest that he eventually won convincingly.
With the powers of the presidency, Duterte has been effective in crushing most of political his enemies. His devoted mob has been successful in spreading chaos in cyberspace.
But as one sage said, “Truth is always like oil in water; no matter how much of water you add, it always floats on top.”
There is something that defies common sense in the suspension by Malacanang of Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang for supposedly leaking to media confidential and alleged false information on President Rodrigo Duterte’s bank accounts September last year.
The “leak” was an interview of Carandang by reporters checking on the progress of the plunder case filed by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV with the Office of the Ombudsman in May 2016.
Trillanes attached a bunch of bank documents showing deposits of Pres. Duterte and daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio, Davao City mayor, in BPI and other banks in hundreds of millions, much, much more than the amount disclosed by the two in their Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth when they were Davao City mayor and vice mayor respectively.