Archive - Commentary

The saying “A fish is caught by its mouth” applies to President Duterte on the issue of the alleged involvement of his son, Davao City Mayor Paolo Duterte, and his son-in-law, Atty. Manases Carpio in the release without inspection by the Bureau of Customs of a shipment containing 604 kilos of shabu worth P6.2 billion last May.

Last Friday, 26-year old customs broker Mark Taguba, through lawyer Raymond Fortun, released the following statement:

It was obvious in Thursday’s Senate Blue Ribbon hearing on the 604 kilos of shabu that slipped through the watch of the Bureau of Customs under then Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon, that Committee Chair Sen. Richard Gordon does not want the truth to come out since the trail was leading to the direction of the Davao Group which allegedly involves not only presidential son and Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte but also presidential son-in-law lawyer Mans Carpio.

Everybody wants a piece of Uber. OFWs come home to buy cars to become Uber car operators. Employees give up their day jobs, or moonlight, to become Uber drivers.

Once again, we are seeing proof of the saying that truth will find its way out, however one tries to block it.

Paolo Duterte’s name cropped up once again in Tuesday’s Senate hearing on the 604 kilos of shabu worth P6.4 billion that slipped through the watch of the Bureau of Customs last May.

In order to answer how best to secure Philippine interests in the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) and West Philippine Sea (WPS), we should put it first in the context of where Philippine policy is. That policy, sadly, is both fragmented and incoherent, at best.

His death seems to have touched a different nerve.

While the public was engrossed with the scandal of how 605 kilos of shabu from China worth P6.5 billion slipped through the Bureau of Custom and entertained by the Bautista vs Bautista family feud with a cameo role by President Duterte, a chunk of Philippine territory was being taken over by China.

Anong klaseng tao itong mga pulis na walang habag na pinagbabaril ang 17-taong gulang na si Kian de los Santos habang nagmamakaawa, “Tama na po! May test pa ako bukas!”

The agreed framework for a Code on South China Sea was the most important achievement of the recently-concluded meeting of the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations which segued to more meetings with its dialogue partners and the Asean Regional Forum.

After reading the Joint Communique of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN, together with other documents and accounts of meetings, three narratives come to mind.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday that he and the 10 foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have approved the framework for the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

Perhaps, the Duterte government can now take the lead in defining a more appropriate direction on the South China Sea situation to erase the “silence of the lambs” stigma.

Asked during his press conference last Wednesday when the talks about the joint exploration in Philippine territory that is also being claimed by China and other countries started, Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano recalled the meeting of the late Deng Xiaoping with then President Corazon Aquino.

From the fragmented information about the resumption of talks on joint exploration with China in the disputed parts of the Spratlys, what is emerging is a repeat of jumbo loans that the administration of Gloria Arroyo obtained from the Chinese government in 2004 in exchange for agreeing to allow China to explore within the country’s economic exclusive zone.

Oftentimes, when we read or watch on TV news about what’s happening in Donald Trump’s United States of America, you can easily find similarities in the Philippines.

I’m intrigued by the results of the survey conducted by the American fact tank, Pew Research Center, showing only Filipinos, among seven countries in Asia Pacific, have a generally positive view of North Korea.

Upon orders of President Duterte, Police Chief Director General Ronald de la Rosa said the murderer-cops, led by Police Supt. Marvin Marcos will be re-instated to the positions they held before they were suspended for t

One of the good things that President Duterte has done was to rekindle relations with China which reached its lowest ebb during the administration of Benigno Aquino III.

Former congressman Ashley Acedillo (Magdalo Partylist) said the only kind of governance President Duterte knows is authoritarianism.

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.

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.

After a six-day absence, President Duterte re-appeared at the Eid-al-ftir celebration in Malacañang Tuesday evening.

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.

I’m glad that the Department of Tourism scrapped its latest 'Sights' advertisement but not only for the reason that the officials mentioned.

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.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre probably thought the public would buy his tale linking opposition lawmakers to the Maute terror group which is one of the reasons for the current turmoil in Marawi City.

There’s so much pain and suffering in their voices and they all have a common message: End the airstrikes in Marawi , lift Martial Law in Mindanao and resume peace talks.

Newly-installed Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said he has been in all the bilateral meetings between President Duterte and China’s President Xi Jinping and he has not witnessed any threat of war uttered by the Chinese President.