By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS PRESIDENT Duterte at first played coy when asked about his assessment of his debut in the international stage in the 2016 summit of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the 18-country East Asia Summit in Laos last week, saying it would be “self-serving.” But with little prodding he
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS WHATEVER one’s political leaning is, every Filipino wants to be proud of the President when he appears in the world stage. He represents the Filipino people. His success is our success. His embarrassment is our embarrassment. The 2016 Asean summit in Vientiane, Laos was President Duterte’s first official foreign trip.
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS WE condemn the bombing at the Davao night market bombing last Friday which killed 14 people and injured more than 70. We pray for strength for the families of those who died and were injured. We pray for justice for the victims and that includes all of the Filipino people.
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS IN trying to control damage wrought by the President Duterte’s verbal rampage against the United Nations in the early hours Sunday, Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay, Jr. on Monday chose to put the blame on media. “It was done in the wee hours of the morning and he was very tired,
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS I take him seriously because the president of the Republic of the Philippines is so powerful that with a stroke of a pen, he can save a life or send the nation to war. Last Tuesday, President Duterte threatened to declare martial law. “ Please, ‘wag mo akong… hindi ako
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS DO you feel sick watching daily images on TV and newspapers of people killed, lying lifeless on the sidewalks covered with newspapers or plastic with only their dirty feet and worn-out rubber slippers seen? And of course near the corpse, the cardboard sign “Drug pusher ako, huwag tularan”, which has now
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS A drug user who is rich is not necessarily a pusher because he has the money to buy the illegal substance. But if the drug user is poor, he is also a pusher. That’s according to President Duterte. In the President’s meeting with soldiers and policemen in Camp Nakar
BY ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS Now I see how astute President Duterte is. He can appear to be assuring you of his trust and confidence while actually cutting your neck. That was what his July 19 video statement released by Malacañang on the status of Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay, Jr. showed. In the video, a very
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS ON June 30, President Benigno Aquino III steps down as the 15th president of the Philippines and Rodrigo R. Duterte becomes the 16th president of the Philippines. From now on, every pronouncement of Duterte will be official. If he curses, every putang ina will have the stamp of the presidency.
By CHARMAINE DEOGRACIAS WASHINGTON DC – Incoming Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is not expected to swing to China’s side opposite of the United States but will instead place the country in between the two big powers, foreign policy and defense experts said in an Asia Pacific Foreign Policy and Defense Seminar at the East
