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Lack of public outrage emboldens Duterte to float writ suspension

Published by Ellen on November 13, 2016

"Ayaw ko..ayaw ko...but.." Duterte floats suspension of writ of habeas corpus.
“Ayaw ko..ayaw ko…but..” Duterte floats suspension of writ of habeas corpus.

Two things came to our mind when we read about President Duterte’s threat of suspending the writ of habeas corpus if lawlessness in Mindanao worsens.

Number one, his “Kill, Kill” strategy in eradicating the illegal drug problem is not solving the problem despite 4,000 killed.

Number two, the public has been desensitized by all these killings. Duterte knows the public won’t might if he takes his violation of human rights a notch higher.

In a speech at the launching of the Pilipinong May Puso Foundation in Davao City on Friday, he made his usual narration of the gravity of the illegal drug problem in the country. This time, he added the “rebellion” in Mindanao (“Grabe ang bakbakan…”).

“At kung magkalat itong still lawlessness, I might be forced to..” he paused saying it is not something he likes; “Ayaw ko, ayaw ko. Warning ko lang sa kanila ‘yan, ayaw ko kasi hindi maganda.”

Continue readingLack of public outrage emboldens Duterte to float writ suspension

SC decision on Marcos burial preview of Bongbong’s election protest vs Leni?

Published by Ellen on November 8, 2016
How the Supreme Court voted. Infographic from ABS-CBN online.
How the Supreme Court voted. Infographic from ABS-CBN online.

Is the voting in the Supreme Court decision allowing the burial of Ferdinand E. Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani reflective of the sentiments of the justices towards the Marcoses?

Will that be the same alignment in the election protest of former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr against the election of Vice President Leni Robredo?

That is what Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV expects.

In his statement, Trillanes said: “The Supreme Court effectively rewrote history. In their purely legalistic eyes, the EDSA People Power which was emulated globally and which we celebrate yearly, never happened. We should now expect Bongbong Marcos to be the Vice President of the country soon.”

Continue readingSC decision on Marcos burial preview of Bongbong’s election protest vs Leni?

Retired envoys take up cudgels for demoralized active foreign service officers

Published by Ellen on November 6, 2016

Retired ambassador Jaime Yambao.
Retired ambassador Jaime Yambao.
Retired ambassador Jaime J. Yambao wrote in his column in Manila Times that the Board of Governors the Philippine Ambassadors Foundation Inc. (PAFI) at its last meeting agreed to “express its alarm and concern over the demoralization in the ranks of career ambassadors caused by the announced and probable appointment of political ambassadors to the country’s diplomatic and consular posts abroad.”

One cannot expect the active foreign service officers to come out about their misgivings with the way things are in foreign service so their “elders”, the retired ambassadors are taking up the cudgels for them because they are all “committed to promoting and upholding the professionalization of the (foreign) service for the effective pursuit of the interests of the country and its people. “

Yambao said, “The board therefore deplores the appointment of non-career ambassadors on the basis of contributions the prospective appointee made to the election campaign kitty of the appointing power or powers, or upon the recommendation of campaign contributors and supporters.

“One such appointment that has not escaped the notice of the PAFI board involves yanking a career ambassador, a former undersecretary of foreign affairs for policy no less and a topnotcher of the Foreign Service Officers examination, from a post at which he is newly arrived and has just presented his credentials. This is almost unheard of, even in the Philippines. Political appointments have always been to vacant or about-to-be-vacant posts.”

Continue readingRetired envoys take up cudgels for demoralized active foreign service officers

Paynor’s ambassadorial assignment to the U.S. on hold

Published by Ellen on November 3, 2016

Marciano Paynor, head or the 2017 Asean Organizing Committee.
Marciano Paynor, head or the 2017 Asean Organizing Committee.Photo from ABS-CBN online.
President Duterte has decided that his choice to be ambassador to the United States, Marciano “Jun” Paynor will not go to Washington States this year.

It has nothing to do with the uncertain state of PH-US relations.

Duterte feels that Paynor is needed here for the preparations of the 2017 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) meeting which will be hosted by the Philippines. There will be two summits, one for the 10 ASEAN leaders that will be held mid- 2017 and what is called ASEAN plus –plus meeting involving leaders of other dialogue countries namely Australia, China, Japan, India, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea, and United States sometime in the later part of next year.

Paynor confirmed this: “I’m making sure that all the preparations for our hosting of ASEAN 2017 from January to November next year are on stream. I serve at the pleasure of the President and wherever he thinks I can be of help, that’s where I’ll be. “

Paynor said, “That I’m not going to DC till the end of the year is sure, but, that I’ll not be going anymore remains to be seen. “

Continue readingPaynor’s ambassadorial assignment to the U.S. on hold

To each his own version of modus vivendi in Scarborough shoal

Published by Ellen on November 2, 2016

Fishermen back from Scarborough shoal with their catch.
Fishermen back from Scarborough shoal with their catch.Photo from ABS-CBN online.

With the confirmation by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana that the three Chinese Coast Guard ships are still in Scarborough shoal, the statement of China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying last Monday underscored that Filipino fishermen are back in Scarborough Shoal on the benevolence of China.

Asked to confirm reports that China “okayed Philippine fishermen’s fishing near Huangyan Dao, ” Hua asserted China’s ownership and control of the area: “The Chinese side has always been exercising normal jurisdiction over Huangyan Dao. The situation there is and will remain unchanged.”

She mentioned “arrangements” made after the meeting of Duterte and Xi last Oct. 20 in Beijing.

“We have seen all-round improvement of China-Philippines relations following President Duterte’s visit to China. Under such circumstances, the Chinese side makes proper arrangements based on the friendship between China and the Philippines in response to the issue of President Duterte’s concern,”

Continue readingTo each his own version of modus vivendi in Scarborough shoal

Mourning the lack of collective outrage

Published by Ellen on October 30, 2016

Jonas Burgos- Desaparecido
Jonas Burgos- Desaparecido

Every Undas or All Souls Day (Nov. 2) when Filipinos troop to cemeteries to remember departed loved ones, I always think of the families of desaparecidos.

Where do they go to offer flowers and light the candles for their dead whom they didn’t bury? I think of Edith Burgos, whose son Jonas was last seen on April 28, 2007 at the Ever Gotesco Mall. I think of University of the Philippines students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno who were last seen on June 26, 2006 in Hagonoy, Bulacan.

There are many more: Father Rudy Romano, a Redemptorist priest who served landless peasants and displaced settlers and the six workers of Paper Industries Corporation of the Philippines namely Joseph Belar, Jovencio Lagare, Romualdo Orcullo, Diosdado Oliver, Artemio Ayala Jr. and Arnold Dangkiasan.

The list is long according to Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) and Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND).

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Duterte a Foreign Service graduate?

Published by Ellen on October 27, 2016

Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte, along with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, welcomed by honor guards upon his arrival at the Prime Minister’s Office in Japan Oct.26. Malacanang photo by Albert Alcain.
Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte, along with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, welcomed by honor guards upon his arrival at the Prime Minister’s Office in Japan Oct.26. Malacanang photo by Albert Alcain.

Do you know that President Rodrigo Duterte is a Foreign Service graduate?

That what he said in his press conference with the foreign correspondents in China last Oct. 19.

He boasted: “Now that I am the President, by the grace of God, I read a lot; I’m a lawyer and I studied geopolitics and all, and also I am a graduate of the Foreign Service so I get to know how to balance this contending (forces).”

Being a “foreign service graduate” is quite a big leap from just having taken up foreign service which was what he said last Aug. 21, in a press conference in Davao City.

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South China Sea in Japan visit agenda

Published by Ellen on October 26, 2016

Pres. Rodrigo Duterte is greeted by Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhide Ishikawa upon his arrival at the Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Japan on October 25. Malacanang photo by Albert Alcain.
Pres. Rodrigo Duterte is greeted by Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhide Ishikawa upon his arrival at the Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Japan on October 25. Malacanang photo by Albert Alcain.


By CHARMAINE DEOGRACIAS
VERA Files

IF the South China Sea took a backseat in President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to China, it will be high in the agenda in his bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday.

A diplomatic source said, Duterte will look to Japan for its maritime security needs in the South China Sea.

“On the South China Sea issue, it will be a conscious effort for us to use or message it that we are strengthened strategic partner, it’s not just any partnership, it’s a strengthened strategic partnership. Center to this is maritime security and when he talks of maritime security, it’s not just the civilian maritime law enforcement side, that will necessarily involve defense,” a source at the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

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