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.
Metro Manila traffic. Thanks to Canadian Inquirer.
No wonder there was no urgency for the Aquino government to find solution to the horrendous traffic that Metro Manilans have to survive daily: they continue to think it’s an affirmation of their “good work.”
Aquino always brags that under his term, the Philippines experienced economic boom.
And proof of that economic boom, he said, is the traffic gridlock. Last year, he told the Filipino community in Spain: “When you come home and you’re caught in traffic, just remember that people are running errands, not just loitering around. That is a sign of economic growth.”
Last week, his anointed, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas echoed that line at the annual national convention of the Philippine Sugar Technologists Association Inc. (Philsutech) in Cebu.
Pres. Aquino’s choice to succeed him: Interior Secretary Mar Roxas. Photo by Benhur Arcayan / Malacañang Photo Bureau)
Is President Aquino that desperate that just to boost the chances of his “Annointed”‘ he had to insult Sen. Grace Poe and his mother, former President Cory Aquino?
In his speech endorsing Interior Secretary Mar Roxas for president in the 2016 elections, Aquino said:
“Sa paghahanap nga po, kinausap natin ang mga taong maaaring magpatuloy sa Daang Matuwid at ang maraming mga sektor. Kinapanayam ko ang tatlong tao, na sa aking pananaw ay kabalikat sa Daang Matuwid. Maganda nga po sana, na ang mga kailangan pang magsanay ay talaga pong magkakaroon ng pagkakataong mahinog at maunawaan ang tunay na lalim ng pagkapinuno. Sa akin pong paniniwala, itong tatlo, kung magkakasama-sama ay talagang matinding tambalan. Doon po, sa ngayon, ay hindi pa tayo nagtatagumpay. Nagkaunawaan po kami; mukha namang iisa ang aming hangarin, pero hindi eksaktong paraan ang nasasaisip para maabot ito.”
Pres.Aquino delivering his sixth and last State-of-the-Nation address.
It can’t be said that President Aquino has not learned anything in the last five years of his presidency.
We would like to think that his not mentioning the issue with China over territorial claims in South China Sea in his 6th and last State of the Nation address is an indication that he has learned from his mistakes of making unnecessary insulting comments that do not help at all advance national interest.
Maybe his not feeling well last Monday did not give him the opportunity to adlib. Or he would have repeated his favorite historical story of Sudetenland and once again compared China to Nazi Germany. Just what he did in his interview with New York Times before and early this year in his press conference in Japan.
Pres. Aquino and Sen. Grace Poe. File photo.“ The President and I talked for about five hours. I could sense the very difficult position PNoy is in right now. I understand and sympathize with his predicament and situation. I consider him a true and sincere friend and he has my utmost respect. He reiterated his desire for all of us to continue working together and that he believes that, like him, we can and will do what is best for our country. In the end, we both agreed to continue, in whatever capacity, striving and working for our countrymen and for the betterment of our children’s future.”
That’s the statement of Sen. Grace Poe on her one-on-one meeting with President Aquino last Monday.
I agree with this playful remark in Facebook by Bryan E. Torculas: “Me reading between the lines: iindorso man kita o hindi, friends tayo ha pag nanalo kang Presidente. wag mo ko ipakulong, let’s break the tradition of imprisoning Phil. Presidents after their terms.. ha ha…”
With that assurance from the popular senator, it is hoped that Aquino would stop convincing Poe to be the running mate of the Liberal Party standard bearer. It’s getting tiresome.
President Aquino at the PNPA 2015 commencement exercises.He couldn’t even mention the incident that he was asking the public for understanding.
In his speech at the commencement exercise of the Philippine National Police Academy’s Lakandula Class of 2015, the day after the nation marked the second month of the Mamasapano tragedy, President Aquino said, “Ikinalulungkot kong may mga pamilyang nawalan ng asawa, ama, kapatid, anak, dahil sa nangyari sa Mamasapano. Ikinalulungkot kong sa pagnanais kong bigyan ng espasyong magluksa ang mga makakakita, sa unang pagkakataon, ng nasawi nilang kaanak, ay may mga nag-isip na ako’y manhid at walang pakikiramay. Ang intensiyon ko noon ay makatulong sa paghilom. Ang gusto ko po sana, kapag may nagtanong ng “Ano ang nangyari? Bakit sila namatay? Ano na po ang mangyayari sa amin?” ay may dala na akong malinaw na sagot. Kung ang naging tugon ko sa mga katanungan ay “Hindi ko po alam,” paano ako makakatulong sa kanilang paghilom? Ikinalulungkot ko ring nadadamay ang ating usaping pangkapayapaan dahil sa sentimyentong naikakabit sa naging resulta ng Oplan Exodus. Sa bawat Pilipinong nabigo at nasaktan dahil sa mga pangyayaring kaugnay ng operasyong ito: Buong pagpapakumbaba kong hinihiling ang inyong pang-unawa. (It deeply saddens me that there are families who are now without a husband, a father, a brother, a son, because of what happened in Mamasapano. I am saddened by the fact that, despite my effort to give the families space to grieve, as they were to meet their fallen loved ones for the first time, some people found fault in this by calling me cruel or without regard for such loss. My intention was to help them heal. I wanted to have clear answers should I be asked, “What happened? Why did they die? What will happen to us now?” If my response was “I do not know,” how could I help hasten the healing? I am also saddened that our peace process has been affected by the sentiments connected to the result of Oplan Exodus. To every Filipino who has felt failure or has been hurt because of the events related to this operation: It is with the abiding humility that I ask for your deepest understanding.)”
OMG. I almost fell off my chair upon reading the text exchanges between President Aquino and his sister, Kris Aquino posted by journalist Cecil Morella in Facebook.
Yesterday afternoon, Kris Aquino posted in her Instagram account (withlovekrisaquino) her text exchanges with the President last Friday just to disprove rumors that PNoy collapsed.
Kris Aquino’s post: “I still keep hearing the utterly baseless & senseless story about my brother having collapsed Friday night… I am posting our text exchange from March 20, Friday w/ a time stamp of 9:34 PM. If you follow my IG account Thursday after A&A we traveled to Pradera in Lubao, on Friday I posted several pics from our Pampanga taping, on Sunday night on www.withlovekrisaquino.com I posted a TRAVEL LOVE entry complete w/ a timeline of our PRADERA EXPERIENCE. Yesterday, today & tomorrow you’ve watched & will still get to watch it on #krisandbimbysummertv on @kristvofficial_ig. Napakalinaw na SUPER OKAY si PNoy nung Friday because diba nakuha pa nyang pag trip-an & spoof how I talk.”
Sen. Grace Poe chairs hearing on Mamasapano carnage.
It was President Aquino who informed Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Armed Forces Chief Gen. Gregorio Catapang and the rest of the presidential party in Zamboanga on the Mamasapano debacle on Jan. 25, a source close to Malacañang said.
That’s why in the hearings in the Senate and the House of Representatives the three and Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, chief of Western Mindanao Command said they didn’t inform Aquino of the dawn carnage that left 44 members of the Special Action Force dead when they were with him throughout the day.
Militant group renews call for Aquino to step down.I hold President Aquino accountable for the death of 44 Special Action Force commandos but I don’t want him forced to shorten his term which is due to end on June 30 next year.
I’m not joining calls for him to resign. I’m against a coup de’etat.
I want him to finish his mandate which the Filipino electorate bestowed on him when they elected him five years ago.
But he should shape up and take seriously his responsibilities as President.
He owes it to the Filipino people even to those who didn’t vote for him.
Pres. Xi welcomes Pres. Aquino to APEC 2014
It took only ten minutes under the chilly air at the lakeside garden in the suburb of Beijing to thaw the two-year frosty relationship between the Philippines and China.
President Aquino and Chinese President Xi Jinping pulled aside during the tree-planting ceremony last Nov. 11 at at the Summer Garden of the International Conference Center at Yanqi Lake, where 21 leaders of the Asia pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) met the day before, talked briefly, both expressing the desire for relations between their the two countries to improve from a severely strained connection that it is now.
Aquino described the 10-minute talk which was pre-arranged (they did not have a formal meeting which usually lasts 25 to 30 minutes) as “Medyo extensive” reflecting the importance he attached to it and what the brief meeting achieved.
