Archive - Commentary

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is correct when he questioned recently whether China can actually claim a huge swath of the ocean – by which he meant the Chinese Nine Dash Line Claim over practically the entire South China Sea (including portions we refer to as the West Philippine Sea).

Writer Floy Quintos wrote this poem after he watched Junel Insigne, captain of the fishing boat Gem-Ver, which was rammed by a Chinese fishing boat midnight of June 9, beside Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol in a press conference June 19.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, speaking on the telephone: Sir, we just got word that a Chinese boat in Recto Bank hit a local fishing boat.

The sinking last week of Filipino-owned wooden fishing boat F/B GimVer 1 by a bigger Chinese ship in Recto Bank presents an expanding dynamic to Chinese expansionist claims over recognized Philippine maritime zones .

President Duterte dismissed what happened in Reed Bank on June 9 where a Chinese fishing boat “Yuemaobinyu 42212” rammed a Philippine fishing boat, F/B Gimver 1 which threw the 22 Filipino fishermen into the waters in the darkness of the night until they were rescued by a Vietnamese fishing boat, as just a “maritime incident.”

Supreme Court Justice Antonio T. Carpio believes that it was not a collision of fishing vessels that happened on June 9 in Reed Bank (Philippine name: Recto Bank; Chinese name: Liyue Tan), 80 nautical miles off Palawan and within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone.

The arrest of Davao-based journalist Margarita Valle last Sunday which turned out to be a case of mistaken identity puts into a question how intelligent is this so-called intelligence report which is the basis for the actions of government authorities including the country’s chief executive, President Duterte.

The Department of Health is aiming high: By 2040 they want a cervical cancer-free Philippines.

Always look left, right and left again when crossing the street.

A day after the May 13 elections, the “Marcos Centennial” and “Kabataang Barangay Worldwide” accounts in Facebook became inaccessible.

The single most formidable political force in the country today as shown by the results of the May 13 elections is not President Duterte nor his daughter, Sara, who made her debut in the national political scene with her newly-formed party Hugpong ng Pagbabago.

It’s been a long time coming: a Manila Mayor who is considered presidential timber.

Former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who failed in his bid to return to the Senate in the just- concluded elections, called me up yesterday complaining of my description of him as “corruption-tainted.”

The recent midterm elections brought a lot of surprises. For me, the biggest surprise was the fall of the “House of Erap.”

A report by ABS-CBN’s Christian Esguerra said former President and former Manila mayor Joseph Estrada cannot understand why he lost the mayoralty race to Isko Moreno, whom he once promised to hand over the reins of the city after one term but later reneged.

Trust is supposed to be an essential element in an election.

Bluntly put, Filipino politicians tend to have very bad reputations. Greedy, thieving, dishonest, opportunistic, corrupt, callous, and self-interested are the adjectives that immediately come to mind.

Panelo should ask whoever gave him information which he used in his briefing last Wednesday to look for my column in Malaya on April 15 titled “Duterte regains upper hand in the battle of Narco lists.”