Gloria Arroyo – in a red- orange dress taking control of the situation at the Batasan Session Hall last Monday- was a personification of what German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche said,“That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.”
It is shuddering to imagine what a re-invigorated GMA can and will do.
She stayed in Malacañang for ten years with a dubious mandate. A vice president in 2001, she grabbed power from then President Joseph Estrada by installing herself to the presidency that was not declared vacant. She cheated, using the Commission on Elections and the military, in the 2004 elections.
In the unforgettable words of Susan Roces, the widow of her victim, Fernando Poe, Jr: “… you have stolen the presidency, not once, but twice.”
Months before the second anniversary of the Arbitral Tribunal’s decision on the case filed by the Philippines to nullify China’s nine-dash line map and other issues in the South China Sea, China commissioned a study which was completed in December 2017.
Published by Oxford University Press, “The South China Sea Arbitration Awards: A Critical Study” is an intimidating 548 page assertion by China of its ownership of the waters, reefs, shoals, rocks in the Spratlys as part of its claim over almost the whole of South China Sea. Front page of study
What struck me in the Pulse Asia’s latest survey on Charter Change was how uninformed we are about our Constitution, which we all approved in 1987.
The nationwide survey with 1,800 registered voters 18 years old and above as respondents was conducted June 15 to 21, two weeks before the consultative committee formed by President Duterte to draft a federal Constitution submitted its finished product to Malacañang.
Pulse Asia found out that about three-quarters of Filipinos (74%) have little/almost no/no knowledge at all about the 1987 Philippine Constitution.). Of the total figure (74%), 43% have little knowledge while 31% know practically/completely nothing about the document that spells out the basic laws that govern us.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque last Friday when he was asked by broadcaster Erwin Tulfo about the tarpaulin declarations that the Philippines is a province of China sounded like the Harry Roque of the good old days.
He didn’t mince words. He cursed abundantly. In one paragraph, he said “loko-loko”, “baliw”,”sira-ulo”, traydor”, and “walang-hiya” – words used by people feeling miserable about what is happening in the country to refer to President Duterte.
Asked about the red tarpaulins hung in strategic places in Manila and Quezon City with words, “Welcome to the Philippines, Province of China” on July 12, the second anniversary of the Philippines’ victory in the case filed against China at the Arbitral Tribunal, Roque went ballistic: “Kung Hindi na naman sila loko-loko ay bakit nila sasabihin iyong ganoon. Kung ikaw po ay tutol sa Presidente, okay iyon, tutol ka sa polisiya; pero para bastusin mo yung bansa natin mismo ay talagang kalokohan iyan. Baliw lang ang gagawa niyan dahil araw-araw ay tinuturuan natin ang ating mga kabataan na kumanta ng Lupang Hinirang, tapos sasabihin mo na tayo magiging kaparte ng isang dayuhang bansa. Iyan po ay talagang hindi lang mga sira-ulo; iyan po ay walang pagmamahal sa bayan, mga traydor, mga walang-hiya, mga –hay naku, gigil na po ako.(If you are not crazy, why would you say that. If you are against the President, that’s okay, [you] oppose his policy; but to bastardize our country, that’s foolish. Only a fool would do that because every day we teach our children to sing Lupang Hinirang, then you say we are part of a foreign country. That really is not only mentally deranged; they have no love for the country, traitors, shameless, — (sigh) I’m so pissed off.)”
Well-chosen words that fit perfectly Duterte, who spoke about joint exploration in the South China Sea last Feb. 29 at the 20th Founding Anniversary Celebration of the Chinese Filipino Business Club in the presence of Chinese ambassador Zhao Jianhua: “Yung oil dito ang pinakamarami. Two-third sa amin, one third kayo, mayaman naman kayo eh. Sus, at probinsya na kami. Oh, province of Philippines, Republic of China. (The oil here is so much. We get two thirds, you get one third, you are rich anyway. And we are a province. Oh, province of Philippines, Republic of China)”
Pres. Duterte dares religious believers to show him a selfie with God at the opening of the National Science and Technology Week Celebration in Mindanao at the SMX Convention Center in Lanang, Davao City on July 6. Screengrab from RTVM footage.
Beneath all his bravado- the curses and the profanity –President Duterte is really confused. He can’t even decide whether he believes in God or not.
At the opening of the National Science and Technology Week in Mindanao at the SMX Convention Center in Lanang, Davao City July 6, Duterte said, he actually believes in God even if two weeks ago he called God “stupid.”
Last Friday he said: “By the way, I believe in one Supreme God. I never said I do not believe in God. I am not agnostic. I am not an atheist. I just happen to be a human being believing there is a universal mind somewhere which controls the universe.”
In the next breath, however, Duterte said he needs of someone with a selfie with God to prove the Higher Being’s existence.
Con-Com Chair Reynato Puno with former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. at the start of the Concom deliberations Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City on Feb. 27, 2018. PNA photo by Joey Razon.
We have yet to see the official copy of the new Constitution drafted by the Consultative Committee formed by President Duterte last December so we are relying on the Notes released to media which states about the formation of a Federal Republic of the Philippines.
The approved draft, which states that the Philippines would have 18 federated regions which would get a share of not less than 50 percent of all the collected taxes on income, excise, value-added tax and customs duties, is undergoing polishing in grammar and spelling before it is submitted to the President on or before July 9, in time for his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23, ConCom spokesman Conrado Generoso said.
Generoso denied that the draft Federal Constitution being circulated online dated June 27 and June 30 is official as it does not contain corrections and changes made as late as morning of July 3.
In all government offices, the week starts with a Monday morning assembly of employees in front of their respective offices for the flag raising ritual. Everybody stands still, puts the right hand over his or her heart while singing the Philippine National Anthem. The highest official of the office usually gives a short message and then everybody is off to work.
The shot that rang out at the Tanauan City Hall immediately reverberated in the country through radio, TV and the internet. In an hour, the assassination of Mayor Antonio Halili was the talk of the town. Tanauan City Mayor Antonio Halili. Photo from Tanauan City Facebook page.
Blogger RJ Nieto with Pres. Duterte. Photo from RJ Nieto’s Facebook page.
In the press statement of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on the indictment of blogger Rey Joseph “RJ” Nieto for cyber libel, he said, “Nieto will now be brought to trial and face a penalty of at least prision correccional or imprisonment from 6 months to one year to 6 years should he be adjudged guilty of libel.”
This is what we have been fighting against without much success – the decriminalization of libel.
Not only did we lose the fight to decriminalize libel before the Supreme Court, Republic Act No. 10175 (The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012) even increased the penalty. For computer-related libel, the minimum punishment was raised twelve-fold, from six months to six years. The maximum punishment is doubled from six to twelve years in prison.
We recognize that the libel law has its merits – it’s a check against irresponsible reporting and abuse of the freedom of expression- but it should be downgraded into a civil offense.
Acting Chief Justice Antonio T. CarpioAnyone who decides to decline a nomination to be the Supreme Court Chief Justice, the fifth highest government position in the country, is worthy of our highest respect and admiration.
When he speaks, we listen.
Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, who said last week that he would decline a nomination to be the Chief Justice to replace the ousted Maria Lourdes Sereno because he voted against the quo warranto petition that was used to remove her, spoke before the graduates of the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance last Friday.
Carpio warned about four ideas being pushed and spread to the Filipino people that are” radical and divisive” which “could Divide the Nation and even lead to the dismemberment of the Philippine state.”
Aquino announced the abolition of “pork barrel” but didn’t say anything about DAP in August 2013.The indictment by the Ombudsman of former President Aquino over the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program which has been declared by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional is a warning to those in power that good intentions do not justify shortcutting the law.
In the first place, no one has a monopoly of good intentions. Adolf Hitler’s concept of a Master race was seen by many Germans as a noble intention for his countrymen. If you listened to Imelda Marcos talk about her lavish projects, they are all in her desire to bring out the “good and the beautiful” in the Filipino. President Duterte justifies his bloody war on drugs as his love for the country.
As one of her last acts before retiring next month, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales approved the resolution of the special panel granting the motion for reconsideration of complainants led by Isagani Zarate, Renato Reyes, Benjamin Valbuena, Mae Paner and others holding accountable Aquino for Usurpation of Legislative Powers under Article 239 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) in connection with the DAP.
