Once again, warped thinking was on full display when a Yolly Reyes Junto posted on Facebook her rant against Reuters reporters Manny Mogato and Karen Lerma over the story of President Duterte comparing himself with Adolf Hitler.
Junto’s Oct. 1 post started with a purported disclaimer: “I am no Duterte fanatic. I criticize him more scathingly than anyone when his mouth is out of line. But this time, Duterte really didn’t say anything wrong. ‘
Get yourself a copy of Rigoberto Tiglao’s book, “Colossal Deception- How foreigners control our telecoms sector.”
The book, as its front cover states, is “a case study of corruption, cronyism and regulatory capture in the Philippines.”
The book benefits from Tiglao’s experience as journalist (Business Day and Far Eastern Economic Review) as he pierced through the corporate layers to see who is really behind what we think is Manuel V. Pangilinan’s expanding empire.
Tiglao said, his book, “ tells how an Indonesian magnate built up a new business empire outside his country in just 18 years – dwarfing others owned by Filipino magnates – and why a foreigner has been allowed to do so by Philippine authorities despite the clear constitutional restrictions on foreign control.”
The Indonesian is Anthoni Salim – a name that most Filipinos have not heard of.
Tiglao said Salim “ has never been seen in public here, if ever he had stepped on Philippine soil.”
“ Yet his conglomerate in the country consists of public utility enterprises in which the Constitution bars foreigners from controlling,” the author said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is at a loss how to accommodate the 161 names they have received from Malacañang for ambassadorial positions.
The list, sources say, includes names of retired military officers.
There are only 60 Philippines embassies all over the world, four permanent missions and 20 consulates general.
The 1991 Foreign Service Act provides that “the President shall be guided, as much as possible, by the principle that a majority of diplomatic and permanent missions shall be headed by career ambassadors.”
The four Permanent Philippine missions are to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations headquarters based in Jakarta which is currently headed by Elizabeth P. Buensuceso; to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland headed by Cecilia B. Rebong; to the United Nations in New York headed by Lourdes O. Yparraguirre, and to the World Trade Organization, also based in Geneva and headed by Ryan Francis D. Gener.
By simple mathematics, 60 embassies and four permanent mission equals 64. Simple majority of 64 is 33. That leaves 31 posts for retired military officers, campaign contributors and friends whom Duterte may want to reward with an ambassadorial post.
By Charmaine Deogracias Vera Files Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will visit Beijing on Oct. 20 and 21, in what reliable diplomatic sources say is a…
After taking on the holiest of the living figures – Pope Francis; the president of the world’s superpower – U.S. President Barack Obama; and the Secretary General of the United Nations – Ban Ki Moon, he had ran out of adversaries.
The leader voted by “the National Aeronautic and Space Administration as the best president in the solar system”- a title Duterte fanatics applauded and shared in social media, went beyond earthly realm and questioned the existence of God.
In the traditional first 100 days assessment of a President’s performance one does not really expect concrete results knowing the complexities of governance but within the first three months, the public should have an idea the direction that the president is leading the country to.
Duterte has made clear what the public can expect in the coming months: there will be more killings.
The numbers vary and are difficult to ascertain but the figure being mentioned in news reports of illegal drugs related deaths under Duterte’s rule range from 1,500 to 300,000. The numbers continue to increase every day.
So traumatized and demoralized are the foreign service corps – with the damage control operation that they have to perform every time President Duterte curses other governments and international institutions plus the impending appointments of retired generals to ambassadorial posts – that many like the idea of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as the next foreign secretary.
That’s the rumor in the diplomatic circle and all are in agreement that Arroyo, as former president, definitely has a better grasp of foreign relations compared to Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay, Jr.
One story going around in the DFA was the briefing given to Yasay in his first week at the DFA on human rights. After a lengthy briefing, Yasay asked: “Are we for or against human rights.”
Those in the room were flabbergasted, we were told.
If the allies of President Duterte in the Senate think that the public will never know the truth in the testimony of Edgar Matobato, self-confessed member of the Davao Death Squad, now that Sen. Leila de Lima has been ousted as chair of the committee on justice and human rights, they should be reminded that truth always finds its way to come out.
Not now, maybe. Sometimes, it takes a more circuitous route, but it will come out.
One of the stories Matobato narrated in his testimony last week was the alleged order of then Davao City mayor and now President Rodrigo Duterte to kill the bodyguards of former House Speaker Prospero Nograles who ran against Duterte’s daughter, Sara, for mayor in the 2010 elections.
We don’t have to enumerate bunglings by the Duterte communication team because Press Secretary Martin Andanar has admitted it.
“Tayo naman ay hindi perpekto ‘no, tayo’y nagkakamali din, pero Inaayos natin itong mga pagkakamali na ito (We are not perfect and we make mistakes. We are correcting our mistakes),” Andanar said in a radio interview.
At least he is humble enough to admit his mistakes which cannot be said of some communication officials of the previous president.
Andanar said in the current standard operating procedure for delivering the President’s messages it’s only Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella who will be speaking. Only if Abella is not available does he come in.
Unang lumabas ang column na ito sa Abante (http://www.abante.com.ph/prangkahan-sobrang-galing-ni-alan-cayetano.htm)
Bilib na talaga ako kay Sen. Alan Cayetano.
Biruin nyo walang naka-isip sa mga senador sa hearing ng Senado tungkol sa mga nangyayari na extra-judicial killings kunektado sa kampanya ni Pangulong Duterte na i-testing ang kredibilidad ng witness na si Edgar Matobato.
Sabi ni Matobato, dati daw siyang miyembro ng Davao Death Squad at marami siyang sinalihan na operasyon na pagpatay sa utos daw ni Duterte.
Sabi niya,may ilan sila pinatay na binalot nila ng “masking tape.”