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Duterte blinked

Published by Ellen on September 9, 2018

Pres. Duterte upon arrival from Jordan says Solicitor General Calida was source of info on Sen. Trillanes alleged missing amnesty papers.

Three days after Pres. Duterte attempted to nullify the amnesty granted to Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV by his predecessor Pres. Benigno Aquino III, the institutions that he expected to execute his order and support him blindly did not deliver forcing him to backtrack.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, in his media briefing in Amman, Jordan last Friday before the presidential party returned to Manila after official visits to Israel and Jordan, announced that the President has decided to abide with the rule of law.

Roque said Pres. Duterte had convened a cabinet meeting while he was in Jordan about his order to arrest Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV as contained in his Proclamation 572 : “Kahapon po, binigyan ko ng kumpirmasyon na nagkaroon po ng pagpupulong si Presidente sa lahat po ng Gabinete na sumama sa biyaheng ito. Pinag-usapan po nila kung ano ang magiging posisyon ng administrasyon tungkol po dito sa pag-revoke ng amnesty kay Senator Trillanes. At matapos po ang mahabang talakayan, nagdesisyon ang Presidente that he will abide with the rule of law; aantayin po niya ang desisyon ng hukuman, ng Regional Trial Court kung sila ay mag-i-issue ng warrant of arrest. So uulitin ko po, desisyon ng Presidente is he will allow the judicial process to proceed, and he will await the issuance of the appropriate warrant of arrest if there is indeed one to be issued ‘no before Senator Trillanes is arrested and apprehended.”

Duterte loses to Trillanes

Published by Ellen on September 9, 2018

Duterte’s plan to have Trillanes put back in jail has backfired.

By Segundo Eclar Romero

Duterte has set the stage for sacrificing Jose Calida. He has said he issued Presidential Proclamation 572 on the say so or Calida as Solicitor-General. Duterte, of course, knows that targeting Trillanes was a joint project between him and Calida. They both hated the Senator, and would take the first opportunity, no matter how clumsy, to neutralize him. Calida has in a sense borrowed Presidential Powers with the President’s complicity to try to extricate himself from the charge of conflict of interest in the way his security agency business cornered government contracts. It was a long shot, but Duterte has a way out — he could always put the entire blame on Calida, if the plan backfires.

Of course the plan has backfired. It has been so indefensible at its face value that no one was willing to lay his reputation on the line for the revocation of the amnesty. Calida clumsily tried to distance himself from the amnesty revocation action, saying with a straight face before media that he had nothing to do with it. But the DND and AFP who did not want to be left holding the bag pointed to Calida as the prime mover. He had tried to get the AFP and DND unnecessarily compromised in the caper, trying to dupe the AFP into arresting Trillanes without a proper warrant.

So now Duterte is poised to cut Calida loose, unless either of the two RTCs and the Supreme Court sustain Calida and Duterte and issue a warrant, or, in the case of the Supreme Court, refuse to issue a TRO against the arrest.

A Christmas tribute to Trillanes

Published by Ellen on September 6, 2018

This article was first published on Dec. 23, 2010

by Harry Roque

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV holds his first press conference in the Senate after his release from a 7-year detention.

I was ambivalent when I first saw Antonio Trillanes IV on television. But there he was, a very young man, taking a clear and unequivocal stand against evil in government. My ambivalence may have something to do with four years of brainwashing called law school.

Like military cadets, we were brainwashed to think that the Constitution was supreme and that change had to be through constitutional means. Never mind that as a freshman at the UP College of Law in 1986, we had no Constitution to study but for a two-page document known as the freedom constitution. Never mind too that we started our law studies with a brand new extra-constitutional regime that was the regime of Corazon Cojuanco-Aquino.

Perhaps, the ambivalence may have been due to the many coups staged against Mrs. Aquino, a regime that I was willing to die for. There too is the fact that as a high school activist, I once told a group of PMAers who hitched a ride with my family in Baguio that I hoped that they would not end up being fascists.

Duterte’s amnesty revocation betrays desperation

Published by Ellen on September 4, 2018

Sen. Antonio Trillanes delivering his privilege speech on the revocation of his amnesty.

If Pres. Duterte thought that Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV would cower in fear and hide when he ordered the revocation of the amnesty granted to him and other officials who took a stand against the presidency of Gloria Arroyo on July 27, 2003 at then Oakwood Hotel (now Ascott) at the Makati Commercial Center and on November 29, 2007 at The Peninsula Manila hotel in Makati.

No, the 47-year old senator, who was imprisoned for more than seven years (he won his senatorial seat in 2007 while he was in detention) called Duterte a coward.

“Mr. Duterte, duwag ka. Inantay mo pang makaalis ka bago mo nilabas itong proclamation mo. (Mr. Duterte, you are a coward. You waited until you have left before your released this proclamation.)

Sick

Published by Ellen on September 2, 2018

President Duterte was in his elements again – spewing expletives, spreading lies, concocting fake news -when he was in Cebu Thursday last week for Mandaue city’s 49th Charter Day celebration.

And as usual, the audience lapped up everything : his cursing of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, his Leni Robredo bashing, his lack of respect for the Constitution, his preference for dictatorship and worse, his joke about rape.
Duterte seems to have an obsession about rape. He relishes relating incidents of rape to justify his sweeping, bloody war on drugs.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque explains Pres. Duterte rape jokes.

Families of drug war victims bring plea for justice at the ICC

Published by Ellen on August 30, 2018

Irma J. Locasia, mother of Salvador J. Locasia, Jr. killed in a police operation on August 31, 2016;
Dennise B. David, father of John Jezreel T. David killed in a police operation on January 20, 2017; Maria C. B. Lozano, sister of Crisanto and Juan Carlos B. Lozano both killed in a police operation on May 12, 2017; Mariel F. Sabangan, sister of Bernabe F. Sabangan killed alongside Arnold S. Vitales in a police operation on May 15, 2017; Normita B. Lopez, mother of Djastin B. Lopez killed in a police operation on May, 18, 2017; Purisima B. Dacumos, wife of Danilo G. Dacumos killed in a police operation on August 3, 2017.

Last Tuesday, as the Supreme Court started hearing oral arguments on the legality of the withdrawal by the Duterte government from the International Criminal Court, the names mentioned in the first paragraph, held a press conference announcing their decision to go to the ICC in The Hague because they do not expect to get justice for their kin killed in Duterte’s bloody and indiscriminating war against drugs.

Families of victims of Duterte’s war on drugs go to the International Court of Justice.

The Padilla family’s clarification; Fr. Picardal evades death squad

Published by Ellen on August 29, 2018

There are two items in my mail , also posted in Facebook, which I feel should be shared: One is the clarification by the family of the late Sen. Ambrosio Padilla that Arnold Padilla, the guy who was seen in a video abusing a law enforcer is not the grandson of the respected senator and the other is about the attempt to liquidate Catholic priest Fr. Amado Picardal.

Human rights lawyer Alex Padilla, son of the late Sen. Ambrosio Padilla.

“For the record, Arnold Padilla is not a direct grandson of Ambrosio Padilla, although he is a part of the wider Padilla clan. Ambrosio Padilla – lawyer, law professor, author, Olympian, senator, and family man – was known most of all for being that rare man of high moral character in private life and in public office. He had a passion for justice, a deep love of truth, and an abiding belief in personal responsibility. While family, upbringing, and education were important to him, he knew and taught that the content of one’s character was determined by the sum of one’s choices and actions…

“The actions of Arnold Padilla are his responsibility and are not sanctioned, protected, or encouraged by the family of Ambrosio Padilla. We condemn the connections being made to our father, Ambrosio Padilla, and our brothers, Frank and Alexander Padilla, which have no relevance here. The implications have no basis whatsoever, and are outrightly malicious. For those who have spread false news out of ignorance, truth and fairness require a correction and a stop to the spread of this misinformation. To those who, despite knowing the truth, insist on advancing such a malicious connection, know that the family of Ambrosio Padilla will not stand idly by while our family’s good name is sullied by association or implication.Thank you and God bless,” the Padilla family said in a statement.

Coping with today’s stressful environment

Published by Ellen on August 26, 2018

Do you experience days when you don’t want to watch TV, read newspapers, or go online because you are afraid that you would be assaulted by bad news which you feel you have had enough and don’t want any more of it or at least you want a respite from it?

I had that feeling the past days and I found comfort in “The Book of Joy” a conversation between two revered personalities, The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso and the Archbishop Emeritus of Southern Africa Desmond Tutu assisted by writer Douglas Abrams.

The book exudes a light hearted feeling. Yet the conversation is profound.

With Duterte, the Filipino people are also in perpetual pain

Published by Ellen on August 24, 2018

Pres. Duterte arrives in Cebu Aug. 21 the conference of League of Municipalities of the Philippines Visayas cluster a few days after rumors circulated that he was in coma. Malacanang photo by Richard Madelo.

President Duterte showed up in Cebu last Tuesday at the conference of the League of municipalities Visayas island cluster walking and as usual, blustering, effectively squelching rumors that he was gravely ill and in coma, as shared by Netherlands-based Communist Party of the Philippines founding Chairman Jose Maria Sison.

Duterte was in his element blasting at Sison: “Comatose-comatose ka diyan. “

He said he is pushing his trip to Israel next month and threatened to slap Sison if he saw the CPP leader.
He said: “Ah sige, tingnan natin. Pag magpunta ako diyan, turista lang. Galing ako Israel. Tignan natin kung sinong — comatose. Hindi ka naman lalaki. You are not a man. Wala ka na. You are spent, you cannot… You are talking nonsense. “

He also said: “Pag nakita kita sa impyerno, p***** i** mo, sampalin kita. Really. Don’t expect to go to heaven. Pero pag nagkita tayo isang kanto sa impyerno… Totoo ‘yan ‘no, pag hindi kita sinampal… “

Bong Go video raises more questions re Duterte health

Published by Ellen on August 21, 2018

https://www.facebook.com/PhilippineSTAR/videos/254332995288269/UzpfSTEzNDc1MjQ3NjY3ODQ0MjpWSzoyNTQzMzI5OTUyODgyNjk/

So, okay, the President is not in coma as spread by Communist Party of the Philippines founding Chairman Jose Maria Sison in social media Aug. 19.

From Netherlands, Sison said his source who was at the national convention of the San Beda Law fraternity Lex Talionis Fraternitas on Saturday said “the darkness of his (Duterte) face had become aggravated from its appearance the other day and that his walk and handshake had become more unstable.”

In the latest still-to-be-verified update from his source, Sison said, “Duterte has gone into coma since the afternoon or evening of today, Sunday, August 19. “

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