Lost not ‘a single island’ but the whole of Spratlys
Mischief Reef – lost under Ramos presidency
Scarborough Shoal – lost under Benigno Aquino III presidency
Spratlys including Sandy Cay- surrendered to China under Duterte presidency
Mischief Reef – lost under Ramos presidency
Scarborough Shoal – lost under Benigno Aquino III presidency
Spratlys including Sandy Cay- surrendered to China under Duterte presidency
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales will not see the conclusion of the plunder case against President Duterte, his daughter Sara and son, Paolo before she steps down in July from the investigative body that she has presided with professionalism and integrity the past seven years.
The political intimidation suffered by the seventy-one year old missionary worker Sister Patricia Fox at the hands of the Bureau of Immigration reveals two fundamental realities in the Philippines
In recent days, President Duterte has been announcing proudly his firing of officials which were rumored to be involved in graft and corruption.
Last Sunday, former Solicitor General Florin T. Hilbay tweeted, “12 July 2016 was an interesting day. I, with Justices Carpio & Jardeleza, went to Malacanang to explain to the President the decision in Phils. v. China. I received the decision by email from the tribunal. The President that we briefed was Rodrigo Duterte and his full cabinet.”
President Duterte takes pride in his being smart in matters of geopolitics. After all, as he more than once told his captive audience, he is a graduate of Foreign Service at the Lyceum University.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque announced last week that President Duterte’s State of the Nation address on July 23 will follow a new format where he will be talking to the people on matters close to his heart.
No I am not referring to the 8-6 vote in the Supreme Court last Friday on a matter that it should have from the beginning (“ab initio “ in lawyerspeak) dismissed outright.
Democracy in the Philippines did not die last Friday.
China builds a monument on Kagitingan Reef that the Philippines claims as part of its territory in South China Sea and President Duterte announces he will sail to Benham Rise, an underwater plateau east of Luzon that has been declared part of the country’s extended continental shelf, to show the world that he is willing to die for a land mass that is not even part of Philippine territory.