VERA Files
Anyone who decides to decline a nomination to be the Supreme Court Chief Justice, the fifth highest government position in the country, is worthy of our highest respect and admiration. When he speaks, we listen.
TO PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte, they’re thugs to be stamped out. Or so he sometimes says. “There is no redeeming factor or reason for me to sit down and talk with criminals. Pareho lang rin ‘yan sa droga.” Duterte described the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) this way, during the mass oath- taking of his appointees in Malacanang, […]
STATEMENT: In his first state of the nation address Monday, President Rodrigo Duterte, digressing from a prepared speech, talked about the peace process in Mindanao and the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). Duterte said: “Iyong BBL, ibigay na natin, minus the things that you do not want. Iyong mga constitutional issues. Tanggalin muna natin. Ibigay ko yung area .Nandiyan […]
By JAKE SORIANO FOR a time during the presidency of Benigno Simeon Aquino III, it seemed peace in Mindanao was finally within grasp. On Oct. 5, 2012, the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB). A crucial guiding document in the peace […]
By JAKE SORIANO WEEKS after President Benigno Aquino III in his final State of the Nation Address (SONA) urged the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) during his last year in office, leaders of various indigenous peoples (IP) groups said the proposed legislation violates their rights and will lead to their “disintegration.” “In its […]