Tension in Taiwan Strait
It’s not only in the disputed waters of South China Sea that China is flexing its muscle. It is also making troubling moves in Taiwan Straits.
It’s not only in the disputed waters of South China Sea that China is flexing its muscle. It is also making troubling moves in Taiwan Straits.
Read carefully the reply of the Office of the Ombudsman to the announcement of Solicitor General Jose Calida Tuesday that the investigation on the plunder case filed by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV has been terminated.
When then presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte dismissed as “garbage” the exposé of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV during last two weeks of the election campaign abouthis bank deposits with the Bank of Philippine Islands, Julia Vargas branch, he thought probably that was the end of it.
There is something that defies common sense in the suspension by Malacanang of Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang for supposedly leaking to media confidential and alleged false information on President Rodrigo Duterte’s bank accounts September last year.
Moves in the House of Representatives to insert the words “”responsible exercise” in the freedom of speech part in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights is a revival of the same attempt made by the government of Gloria Arroyo in 2006.
The latest issue on Philippine Rise, formerly known as Benham Rise, focused on Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio’s statement that China should not be allowed to conduct marine scientific research in Philippine Rise which the United Nations Commission on the Law of the Sea has recognized as part of the Philippine extended continental shelf (350 nautical miles from the shore).
In December 2017, President Duterte signed into law two extremely important bills — the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) and the General Appropriations bill which earmarked a P3.7 trillion government budget for 2018.
Despite Malacañang’s denial, there is no doubt that the decision of the Securities and Exchange Commission to revoke Rappler’s registration as a media entity is a press freedom issue.
At the birthday party of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez last Friday, President Duterte again justified his being uncouth with the flawed reasoning that he did not study to become a statesman.