Pres. Duterte and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez. Malacañang photo.
House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said he will be pushing for a five-year extension of Martial Law in Mindanao declared by President Duterte last May 23 and is supposed to end on July 22, two days before he delivers his second State-of-the Nation address.
Alvarez, who has proven himself valuable to Duterte for shepherding a docile House of Representatives to latter’s bidding, said Saturday, ““If I can convince my colleagues, I will push for an extension until 2022, because two months is too short. Five months or one year or two years is too short.”
Alvarez did not say what is needed that cannot be done in normal times, without the sword of Martial Law hanging over Mindanao.
Duterte himself does not seem so eager to lift martial Law in Mindanao. News reports said when he was asked last week if he would lift it before delivers his second SONA on July 24, he replied, “No”.
Lugmok na nga ang Marawi ngunit sa halip na tulungan palakasin ang kalooban, ini-insulto pa.
Ito ang tingin ng marami sa ginawa ni Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa sa pagpadala ng dalawang tiwali nag a pulis sa Marawi. PNP Chief Ronald de la Rosa. Photo from UNTV
Tama lang na pinuna ito ni Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana at nagreklamo si Zia Along Adiong, ang tagapagsalita ng Marawi Crisis Management Committee.
Kumalat sa social media noong isang linggo ang video nina PO1s Jose Julius Tandog at Chito Enriquez ng Mandaluyong police na sinasaktan ng yantok ang dalawang lasing na nahuli at dinala sa pulis station. Hindi nila alam ng mga pulis na habang sinasaktan nila ang isa, kinukuhaan pala sila ng video ng kasama.
Bilang parusa, sabi ni de la Rosa bilang parusa, maliban sa kasong administratibo na isasampa laban sa dalawa, ipadala sila sa Marawi para “doon nila ipakita ang kanilang tapang.”
Of the four members of the Supreme Court who dissented from the majority decision upholding President Duterte’s declaration of Martial Law and suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in the whole of Mindanao, three ( Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio, and Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa) supported him as far as Marawi City was concerned.
Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. CarpioIn his dissenting opinion, Carpio said, “Without question, the widespread killing of both government forces and innocent civilians, coupled with the destruction of government and private facilities, thereby depriving the whole population in Marawi City of basic necessities and services, endangered the public safety in the whole of Marawi City. Hence, with the concurrence of an actual rebellion and requirement of public safety, the President lawfully exercised his Commander-in-Chief powers to declare martial law and suspend the privilege of the writ in Marawi City.
“However, the same does not apply to the rest of Mindanao. Proclamation No. 216 and the President’s Report to Congress do not contain any evidence whatsoever of actual rebellion outside of Marawi.
“In fact, the Proclamation itself states that the Maute-Hapilon armed fighters in Marawi City intended to remove “this part of Mindanao,” referring to Marawi City, from Philippine sovereignty. The Proclamation itself admits that only ‘this part of Mindanao’ is the subject of separation from Philippine sovereignty by the rebels. The President’s Report did not mention any other city, province or territory in Mindanao, other than Marawi City, that had a similar public uprising by a rebel group, an element of actual rebellion. Thus, the President’s Report concludes that ‘based on various verified intelligence reports from the AFP and the PNP, there exists a strategic mass action of lawless armed groups in Marawi City.’ The President’s Report expressly states that the Maute-Hapilon armed fighters were waging rebellion first in Marawi City as a prelude or “precedent” to waging rebellion in the rest of Mindanao. This is a clear admission that the rebellion was only in Marawi City and had yet to spread to the rest of Mindanao. “
There is no English word that can fully capture the meaning of the Filipino word, “Wagas.”
Consult a dictionary and it will give you all feel-good meanings: unfeigned, endless, genuine, sincere, true, pure, faithful. “Wagas na pag-ibig,” is a common phrase. We also say it with an exclamation point to stress our approval.
We also use “wagas” as a reaction/ commentary to statements or situations so unbelievable that leave us dumbfounded like President Duterte telling members of Philippine Chinese Charitable Association, “I hate corruption. Hindi ako nagmamakalinis. Marami rin akong nanakaw pero naubos na. So wala na “ and the audience applaud him.
Photo by Rouelle Umali for Xinhua News
After a six-day absence, President Duterte re-appeared at the Eid-al-ftir celebration in Malacañang Tuesday evening.
That ended grim speculations that prompted Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella to assure the public earlier in the days that the President is “alive and well.”
In a press briefing, Abella allayed concerns about the Duterte’s prolonged absence from public activities saying, “First and foremost, he is alive and well. He is very well. He is just busy doing what he really needs to do. The President, you know, as you‘ve seen, he’s been very much in the public eye; but being out of the public eye, that is when he is able to really do all his work – he signs papers, he reads, he consults, he’s actually very busy.”
One of the issues raised about Duterte’s mysterious absence is that there is an ongoing war in Marawi City which prompted him to declare Martial Law in Mindanao, one of the extreme measures reserved for a president to deal with emergency situation. And he disappears from the national scene!
Pres. Duterte’s first public appearance after five-day absence at the 4th Infantry Division in Bancasi, Butuan City. Malacañang photo.
In his re-appearance speech five days after he was not seen in public, President Duterte gave an explanation for the military’s “mis-appreciation” of intelligence report that has been blamed for the difficulty being encountered by government forces in the ongoing war against the Islamist militants in Marawi city.
It will be recalled that Solicitor General Jose Calida said that the military had received intel reports about possible Maute- Abu Sayyaf attack in Marawi five days before May 23, when the fighting started sparked by the serving of warrant of arrest to ASG leader Isnilon Hapilon. The fierce fighting was the basis of the declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao by Duterte on May 23 .
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who was in Moscow with the President together with other high-ranking security officials said there was no lapse in intelligence monitoring. “It’s just appreciation of the intelligence that was lacking there,” he said.
Image from “Sights” video which has been taken out online.
I’m glad that the Department of Tourism scrapped its latest ‘Sights’ advertisement but not only for the reason that the officials mentioned.
Aside from it being closely similar to the South African campaign, which the same ad agency- McCann World group- is said to have also produced, the ad is so removed from reality.
It presents the Philippines as a destination friendly to Persons with Disabilities (PWD) which is a big lie.
PRRD at the Villamor Air Base and Bahay ng Pagbabago
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is welcomed by Philippine Air Forces officials during his visit at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on June 15, 2017. Moreover, to quell rumors that the President is sick, Special Assistant to the President Bong Go shared photos of the President working in Bahay ng Pagbabago.
Pres. Duterte arrives at Villamor Airbase Thursday, June 15. Malacanang photo.
The announcement of AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo Año that by today, as we celebrate our country’s 119th anniversary of independence, the Philippine flag will be flying in Marawi City, tells us of the challenges in keeping our country safe while maintaining a vibrant democracy. That a part of our country is not in the control of government shows how serious the challenges are.
“The chief of staff made an announcement hoping that by Monday, we can freely wave our flags in every corner of Marawi and we are working feverishly to do that, to ensure we are able to do to a big extent what was announced by the chief of staff,” Armed Forces spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said in a Malacañang briefing last Friday.
Next day, we got the devastating report that 13 Marines were killed in action and 40 other soldiers were wounded in a 14-hour ferocious battle with Islamic militants to liberate the city.
