Boy on sidewalk Ho chi Minh city reading a comic book.
Across Ben Thanh market in Ho Chi Minh city, at a street corner, a little boy about seven or eight years old was lying on a spread out carton box material reading a comic book. With him was an old woman slicing mushrooms. At the feet of the boy was a dog dressed in red.
It was about seven o’clock in the evening. The light from a corner street lamp gave them illumination.
This was on the second day of 2019 and the city, still called “Saigon “by many, teemed with foreign tourists.
I asked permission to take their picture. The old woman responded with a kind smile and a nod. I approached and greeted the boy and he smiled so sweetly.
Note: this is a revised version of the earlier post.
Omar and Isabelle Duterte in front of the Milan Cathedral. Dec. 21 Twitter post. From Milan Informer.
Some members of a traveling group that includes President Duterte’s two grandchildren on a holiday in Europe lost their passports in Milan and have been issued travel documents by the consulate, the Philippine consulate in Milan said today.
The consulate did not say who and how many among the members of Omar and Isabelle’s group lost their passports and were issued travel documents.
Contrary to initial reports that those who lost their passports were the President’s grand children, Omar Vincent Duterte, 24, and his sister, Isabelle, 18 – children of former Davao City vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, the Philippine consulate in Milan said: “President’s grandchildren did not lose their passports in Milan. Other members of the group they were traveling with were issued travel documents by the Consulate yesterday.
For emergencies, Consulate may be reached through +39-3880933822.”
Omar and Isabelle are part of a big group that include their mother, Lovelie Sangkola Sumera, and some members of the Presidential Security Group vacationing in Europe.
The PSG’s mandate is to provide protective security to the President and their immediate families, former Presidents and their immediate families, Malacañang Palace, Visiting heads of states or diplomats and Cabinet Members and their families traveling with them.
The group of Omar and Isabelle arrived in Paris, France Dec. 18, then went to Geneva, Switzerland before going to Milan, Italy on Dec. 21. They hired two vans for the five hour trip from Paris to Geneva and four hour drive from Geneva to Milan.
Fake news is the scourge of the social media-addicted society.
Fake news is defined by Collins Dictionary as “false, often sensational, information disseminated under the guise of news reporting.”
It’s also being used to discredit anything that one disdains. That’s why you hear the likes of Presidents Donald Trump and Rodrigo Duterte, known sources of fake news, accusing legitimate news organizations as peddlers of fake news.
VERA Files, which has been fact-checking since the 2016 election campaign and is one of Facebook’s third party fact-checker in the country, has come out with an analysis who benefits most from the proliferation of fake news.
House Speaker Gloria Arroyo and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III
Observing the simmering conflict between Finance Secretary Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez III and House Speaker Gloria M. Arroyo, I recall an article in the Sept. 15, 2001 issue of the Philippine Star that featured the narration of Justin R. Phillips, general manager of The Linden Suites located at San Miguel Avenue of the dramatic three days of January 2001 when the self-proclaimed members of the “civil society” succeeded in cutting short the presidency of Joseph Estrada and installed in Malacañang the vice president.
Linden Suites which is owned by Dominguez, served as the war room for the operations to oust Estrada following the breakdown of Estrada impeachment trial in the Senate. The anti-Estrada forces called for “People Power 2” on Edsa.
Here’s the article that confirmed the role of the Dominguez hotel in Arroyo’s power grab: “I just happened to look out my third floor window,” relates Justin R. Phillips, general manager of The Linden Suites which is located at San Miguel Avenue at the Ortigas Center, not far from where all the action was taking place, “and I saw this motorcade coming down San Miguel Ave. That was as much warning as we had and next thing we knew, the vice president and her group were here. Suddenly, we found ourselves catering to at least a hundred in the function rooms which were instantly transformed into a high-level operations center. It just went on all night. Then, at about 7 a.m., she retired to her room. Then, she was back down by about 9 a.m. She couldn’t have had much sleep. By mid-day, she was being sworn in.”
Former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, who is running for senator in the May 2019 elections, showed his keen observation of the desperation of President Duterte about things getting out of control and his resorting to a “policy of distraction.”
Knowing that media are always on the lookout for something out of the ordinary, Duterte has been feeding us with outrageous things – from one fake news to another. From saying that he should have been the first to rape the Australian missionary to cursing the Pope, U.S President Barack Obama and ordering European Union diplomats to leave the country in 24 hours. He keeps media pre-occupied with the avalanche of fake news that he unleashes every time he makes a speech.
In one speech last month, he spewed out nine falsehoods. Not surprising considering that he admitted having made up the fake bank accounts of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV which he showed in a televised interview.
The one thing that spooks President Duterte fiercely is the case of crime against humanity brought against him before the International Criminal Court in The Hague which gave him the dubious distinction of being the first Southeast Asian leader to be charged before the ICC.
Rare is his public speaking engagements that he does not take a jab at ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda who announced last Feb. 8 that she has started a preliminary examination of the information filed in connection with the extrajudicial killings under the Duterte presidency.
ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda
And when Duterte is agitated, he spews out fake news. That has rubbed on his Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo who immediately issued an incoherent statement last Thursday denouncing the decision of Bensouda to continue assessing the information filed with her office against Duterte.
Enjoying a vibrant sharing in social media are video statements of artists urging the public to vote in the May 2019 elections. Some go one step further and specify “Vote Straight Opposition in May 2019.”
The artists who have uploaded their video statements cut across political colors and age. They say they belong to The Art Forces of the Philippines.
They include heavy weights National Artists Bienvenido Lumbera (Literature) and Ben Cab (Visual Arts). There the voices of the young:Adrienne Vergara, Juan Miguel Severo, Marco Morales.
Lighted candles symbolize the nine long years wait for justice for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre. Photo by Meeko Camba.
At last Friday’s remembrance of the Maguindanao massacre at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, the feeling was a mixture of frustration and hope.
Frustration because it has been nine long years and the families of the 58 victims- 32 of them members of media – have still to see conviction for the massacre, one the darkest marks in our history of struggle for a democratic society.
Hope because government officials said the decision on the case is expected in early 2019. Given the overwhelming evidence against the identified perpetrators led by former Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr, the families of the victims, lawyers, supporters and government officials are expecting a conviction.
Acting Chief Justice Antonio T. Carpio says he has no problem with MOU which recognizes Philippine sovereign rights.
By Ellen T. Tordesillas, VERA Files
Acting Chief Justice Antonio T. Carpio said Friday China could be recognizing the sovereign rights of the Philippines in the disputed waters of the South China Sea covered in the recently-signed Philippines-China Memorandum of Agreement on Cooperation on Oil and Gas Development through service contracting arrangements as provided in the MOU.
Answering a question on the vagueness of the MOU signed by Foreign Secretary Teddy Locsin Jr. and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, he took note of this portion of the MOU: “China authorizes China National Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to be the Chinese enterprise for each Working Group. The Philippines will authorize the enterprise (s) that has/ have entered into a service contract with the Philippines with respect to the applicable working area or, if there is no such enterprise for a particular working area, the Philippine National Oil Company –Exploration Corporation (PNOC-EC) as the Philippine enterprise(s) for the relevant working group.”
Foreign Secretary Teddy Locsin Jr. discusses the MOU on oil and gas exploration with China in CNN’s The Source hosted by Pinky Webb.
I love it that Foreign Secretary Teddy Locsin, Jr slammed Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo for saying Malacanang doesn’t really mind signing an agreement on gas and oil exploration in the disputed waters of the South China Sea drafted by China.
In a tweet, Locsin blasted at Panelo: “Palace Com doesn’t care if it is a Chinese draft? I fu*k*n* care! ”
Locsin further said: “A framework or architecture for gas and oil in our part of the sea demands the draft be MINE…MIO…FILIPINO. ”
