34avol27

VIEWS: New York Times blames Noynoy.

Noynoy y y A4

Northern California • Year 27 Issue 34 • SEPTEMBER 14-20, 2016 • (650) 992-5474

“The police operations are a success. But there have also been gang wars or internecine [conflicts]where they eliminate each other,” Andanar said.

Andanar declares success in drug war WAR ON DRUGS

20 witnesses lined up against De Lima—DoJ a

BY LLANESCA T. PANTI THE MANILA TIMES

F

OREIGN critics need to first check their “moral ascendancy” before condemning President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody campaign against illegal drugs that has claimed nearly 3,000 lives, Malacañang said on Sunday.

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar made the statement over government-run Radyo ng Bayan as he declared the anti-drug war a “success,” a day after Duterte’s return to the country from a tumultuous first interSEE SUCCESS A2

BY REY E. REQUEJO MANILA STANDARD TODAY THE Justice Department will present some 20 resource persons and witnesses before the House of Representatives, which is set to investigate the proliferation of illegal drugs in the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

“There is a flood of information,” said Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, who said he continues to interview witnesses to sift SEE DOJ A6 PRESIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS SECRETARY MARTIN ANDANAR

Cover C Story

Duterte warns yellows against plotting ouster

LEILA DE LIMA

Duterte: US troops should stay out of Mindanao

But pledges to ‘kill them first’

PRESIDENT Duterte may really be seeing yellow goblins hard at work to plot and plan to have him ousted or impeached, or he may just be seeing goblins where there are none.

Although there appears to be some sort of a confluence of events and developments that suggest there may just be early plans and plots to remove Duterte from his seat of power either through another people power ouster of a president, or an impeachment.

There may also be reasons for this latest revelation from Duterte, since the President and his administrators appear to be closing in on cases that can be lodged against the officials of the previous SEE OUSTER A6

SEE PAGE A2

PHL WILL FOLLOW OWN FOREIGN POLICYY -DUTERTE

ECONOMY WATCH

Businessmen back Duterte admin’s war on drugs BUSINESS leaders are supportive of President Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs and have lauded his political will, according to the chairman emeritus of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).

PCCI Chairman Emeritus Francis Chua said heads of various chambers of commerce approve of Mr. Duterte’s leadership, particularly his will to curb the country’s drug problem.

“You will be surprised that a lot of [business leaders] are saying this is the kind of the President that the Asean needs,” Chua told reporters on the sidelines of the opening of the 13th China-Asean Expo (Caexpo) and the 13th China-AseSEE WAR A7

SENATOR PANFILO M. LACSON

PHOTO BY KIWI BULACLAC/PPD

‘THEY HAVE TO GO.’ President Rodrigo Duterte arrives at F. Bangoy International Airport in Davao City from Indonesia on September 10, 2016.

Justice chief to tap Luy’s lawyer in reviewing Noy admin’s ‘pork’’ probe JUSTICE Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has raised the possibility of tapping lawyer Levito Baligod, the former counsel of whistleblower Benhur Luy, to dig deeper into the alleged “suppression of evidence” against several lawmakers and government allied with the previous administration in the reinvestigation of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel scam.

“We will also access Attorney SEE PORK A6

“

JUSTICE SECRETARY VITALIANO AGUIRRE II

The DoJ has only secondary jurisdiction over PDAF cases. It is the Ombudsman who has primary jurisdiction as the respondents are mostly government officials,”

Review disaster law, Lacson says

OPINION

MACON RAMOS-ARANETA MANILA STANDARD TODAY

Philippines’ extrajudicial violence traces roots to Aquino admin according to The New York Times

WITH cyclones and other calamities likely to hit the country this year, Senator Panfilo M. Lacson seeks a review of the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 to make it more responsive in dealing with the “new normal” effects of climate change.

Lacson cited the need to revisit the act to determine its effectivity and relevance when it comes to the country’s response to the challenges of the ‘new normal’ and the alarming rate of climate change and to propose possible remedial measures.

Lacson served as Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery from December 2013 to February 2015 in the previous administration.

SEE LACSON A6

A New York Times article has confirmed what some of us have been saying all along – that the root of the problem in the Philippines that the current government is facing today can be traced to former President Benigno Simeon Aquino. It is funny though how it had to take foreigners to validate what Get Real Post writers have been writing about for six years. This is what they had to say about the previous administration: But the true roots of the problem can be traced to the administration of Mr. Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino III. That is because, experts say, the true cause of this kind of extrajudicial violence is the public’s loss of confidence in state institutions and its turning instead to more immediate forms of punishment SEE NYT A7

MORE INSIDE

QC plans to make Del Monte Ave. look like Calle Crisologo. A8

HEADLINES

PHL will follow own foreign policy -Duterte MALACAÑANG said on Sunday the most important message delivered by President Duterte to the international community during his first foreign trip last week was the assertion the Philippines will follow its own foreign policy.

“The most important message is, No. 1, we have our own foreign policy to follow,” Presidential Communications Secretary Martin M. Andanar said in an interview with government radio station Radyo ng Bayan. Andanar cited Duterte’s strong commitment to push through with his war against drugs, even amid the international community’s concern over alleged human-rights violations committed by the police in arresting suspects.

“When it comes to questions on human rights, it is imperative before we even ask or question our human-rights policy, we view the context of

suspected criminals in the Philippines, should have the “moral ascendancy” before they can even question the government’s human-rights policy.

Duterte’s political party PDP-Laban also defended him from criticisms against his blunt denunciation of the human-rights record of critics of how his war against drugs is being carried out.

PDP-Laban Policy Studies Group head Jose Antonio Goitia said Duterte’s famous outburst against the United States before he set off for the leaders’ summit of the Asean last week was not a personal DUTERTE attack against US President our question and the context Barack Obama, but was his of a campaign, for instance, in reaction to the interference of a campaign against drugs. We the US in the domestic affairs should understand that first,” of the Philippines. he said.

“In the manner of his usual Andanar said the countries, outbursts, President Duterte with concerns regarding the cited the long history of US agobservance of human rights of gression on Philippine soils, in

particular, the Bud Dajo Massacre in 1906, with 600 Moros killed by American soldiers,” Goitia said in a statement.

“What President Duterte has done through his statements was something no other Philippine president has done before—to recognize the long history of colonial relations between the US and the Philippines and proclaim the sovereignty of the Philippines as an independent nation,” he added.

Goitia said despite the trumped up “fallout” between the two leaders, he is optimistic a meeting between them will still push through at a later date, as agreed upon last week.

“It is hoped that when this happens, they will treat President Duterte as a head of a sovereign state, as an equal. The US should listen first to where he is coming from before they make an appeal or judgment,” Goitia said. -BM

CA stops release of Rolito Go THE Court of Appeals (CA) has stopped the release from prison of road rage convict Rolito Go. This came about after the CA’s 11th Division decided to junk a motion of Go for immediate execution of an order of a lower court to free him pending appeal.

Judge Juanita Guerrero of Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 204 had ordered the release of Go, saying he has served his sentence.

The ruling of the appellate court dismissing the convict’s petition and penned by Associate Justice Pedro Corales was concurred in by Justices Sesinando Villon and Rodil Zalameda.

Go had filed a petition for

a writ of habeas corpus where he stated that he has served his sentence inside the New Bilibid Prisons, the national penitentiary, located in Muntinlupa City (Metro Manila).

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) elevated the case before the CA, which concurred in with the RTC ruling that was handed down on August 27, 2015.

On April 5, 2016, Go filed a Motion for Immediate Execution Pending Appeal invoking Section 2, Rule 39 of the Rules of Court and arguing that his advanced age and deteriorating health warrant the appellate court’s exercise of its discretion to release him pending appeal of his case.

He contended that the RTC’s

ROLITO GO decision in the habeas corpus case is immediately executory to protect persons from unlawful arrest.

But the CA opined that

based on records, the OSG already filed with the Supreme Court a petition for review of certiorari assailing the CA decision on the RTC’s August 27, 2015 ruling.

“With this recent development, there is therefore no legal basis to order the immediate release of Go as explicitly mandated by Section 15, Rule 102 of the Rules of Court,” it said.

Further, “it must also be emphasized that there is no discretionary execution of a decision of the Court of Appeals.”

Go was sentenced up to 40 years of imprisonment by the Pasig RTC in 1993 for killing De La Salle University student Eldon Maguan in 1991 after they figured in a road accident.

-MT

PH consumer confidence significantly improves under Duterte admin CONFIDENCE index (CI) of consumers from all walks of life improved significantly in the third quarter of 2016 to 2.5 percent, upon the assumption of the Duterte administration.

This is the first time the index ended in positive territory since the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) conducted the survey nationwide in 2007.

The survey was conducted from July 1-12, 2016, within the first two weeks of the current administration. Results of the Consumer Expectations Survey (CES) for the third quarter this year showed that over-all outlook made a turnaround from the -6.4 percent in the previous quarter and yearago’s -11.6 percent.

BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said results of the third quarter 2016 CES showed that a broad increase in outlook was noticed among the three income groups.

The highest quarter-on-quarter change in the over-all outlook was registered by those from the low-income group even as the index remains in

negative. Low income group index for the third quarter this year stood at -5.5 percent as against the -17.2 percent in the second quarter, a jump of 11.7 percentage points.

Those from middle-income group registered an 8.1 percentage points increase to 10.3 percent from quarter-ago’s 2.2 percent. A 7.2 percentage points increase was posted for the high-income group after the index improved to 25.4 percent from 18.2 percent in the previous quarter.

Respondents attributed this development to improvements in the country’s peace and order situation, availability of more jobs, stable commodity prices, expected increase in salaries, effective government policies, assumption into office of the Duterte administration, which bid to address the drug menace; and the government’s aid programs such as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). Guinigundo attributed the broad improvement in the respondents’ outlook to combination of momentum of the

current administration as well as economic gains in the past years. “It’s a continuing pattern of macroeconomic improvements and this was carried over to the third quarter of 2016,” he said. ”On top of that you have your President who enjoys at least a five million majority over the next candidate so he came in with a very popular mandate. And in the first month of assumption of office he had a 91 percent acceptance rate, so it all adds up basically,” he said. Asked whether the central bank official considers this momentum to be carried over in the next CES, Guinigundo said this is hard to predict.

He also pointed out that monetary officials consider external economic factors such as the next increase in the Federal Reserve and the global economic growth as more important factors that will impact on the domestic economy.

“I think (these) are the more significant threats, which could affect the market volatility in the Philippines,” he said.

Military confident Success... of ending ASG’s reign THE military is confident it could end the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and its reign of terrorism in the provinces of Sulu and Basilan as ordered by President Duterte with the twopronged strategy it is currently waging there.

The Armed Forces is under pressure from Duterte to finish the ASG “to the last man,” which is the President’s response to the local terrorist group’s reign of terror, as characterized by its recent beheading of 18-year-old Patrick Almodovar in Sulu.

Brig. Gen. Arnel de la Vega, commander of the Joint Task Force Sulu, said soldiers have adopted the strategies of intense and focused operations against the ASG, while strengthening their cooperation with the residents.

De la Vega has under his task force more than 7,000 soldiers currently pursuing the bandits since the intensified operations began a month ago, which already killed at least 32 terrorists in Sulu alone.

At least 27 ASG members have also been killed in neighboring Basilan under similar operations by the military.

During the visit of Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Ricardo Visaya on Saturday in Sulu, de la Vega told him the

coordination with residents of the province is working, which could yet break support to the ASG. “The local officials and residents appreciate the effort of our soldiers and are providing much-needed help in fighting the ASG and in rescuing the kidnap victims,” de la Vega said.

While Duterte has ordered the neutralization of the local terrorist group, Visaya said they have no deadline in ending the ASG, but what matters is the group should be defeated.

“No deadline is given on how long the focused military operations will last. We will hunt and pursue them as long as needed,” Visaya said.

The chief of staff visited the troops in Sulu for the fifth time over the weekend to rally them in the ongoing offensive against the bandits.

Visaya was joined by top military officials during his visit, including Army chief Lt. Gen. Eduardo Ano and Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Mayoralgo de la Cruz.

The visit was made by the military officials to boost the morale of the troops and be updated on the developments about the continuing operations. -BM

national engagement that saw the Philippine leader clash with US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over human rights.

“The police operations are a success. But there have also been gang wars or internecine [conflicts]where they eliminate each other,” Andanar said.

He said such killings were under investigation by the police.

Andanar was reacting to police reports showing that more than 41 people were being killed each day under the Duterte administration’s anti-crime campaign.

GAINS Asked on what were the gains made during Duterte’s participation in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summits in Laos and a working visit to Indonesia, Andanar said: “The President was able to communicate our interests in exports, imports, maritime security, and that our country will now be following an independent foreign policy.”

“And when it comes to questions of human rights [violations], before we ask … it is not a matter of questioning human rights [violations]. It is a matter of do they have the moral ascendancy to ask about human rights [violations],” Andanar said.

For Andanar, the President did the country proud by taking

Guinigundo said the issue about the President’s rhetorics “is something that in fact market players find amusing.”

“But what I think is more important is the substance of what he’s saying. There are different ways of saying things but what is important to me is the substance,” he said.

The central bank official also noted that as long as the economy is doing well “it’s expected to continue doing well given the 10-Point program of the President,” referring to the goal to improve the past administration’s economic program, introduce tax reforms, increase infrastructure spending and improve social protection program among others.

“We have both the monetary and fiscal space. I think we have what it takes to see the continuity of better macroeconomic fundamentals. Those rhetoric, I think, will be sidelined in favor of more careful and more circumspect assessment of the content of what the President is saying,” he added.

-UPDATE.PH the United States to task for the massacre of Moros in Mindanao during the pacification campaign of American colonizers a century ago.

“The President made us proud because he fought for our rights and at the same time, he revealed the acts of the imperialists and our colonial masters in the past. We are for an independent foreign policy because we are a sovereign state. We should get up on our feet and wave our flag,” he argued.

“The President was able to convey that we want increased trade among the Asean nations, and we called for rule of law, including that of the Permanent Court of Arbitration,” Andanar added.

The Cabinet official was referring to the July 12 ruling of an international arbitration tribunal that favored the Philippines over China in a maritime dispute over West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). The tribunal junked China’s claims over the area based on its “nine-dash line” map, including those covered by the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone “We should stand by for his (Duterte’s) next trips. Within the month, I believe he will be visiting two more countries for a working visit,” Andanar said.

On Monday last week, Duterte launched an expletive-laden tirade against the US and Obama before leaving for the Asean summits, which aides said was triggered by reports

SEPTEMBER 14-20, 2016

Duterte confirms China building rehab center in Fort Magsaysay “CHINA A offered to build the rehab. I think they have already started in Magsaysay.

They are bringing the materials there already – only China ang magtulong sa atin,” President Rodrigo Duterte told the Filipino community in Indonesia today.

“I would like to thank China for being so generous to us,” he added.

Fort Magsaysay is the largest Military Reservation in the Philippines, with area of 35,000 hectares, and is one of the key training areas of the Philippine Army. Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella revealed September 1 that China has started initial works on construction of a drug rehabilitation in Northern Luzon.

“That was mentioned by the President, right? It was

mentioned. Actually, there is – the groundwork has begun.

Groundwork, initial groundwork has begun,” the Presidential Spokesperson told the press last week. He added that “as far as I know, it’s in Northern Luzon.”

In August, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that he has opened all military camps, especially the big ones, for the establishment of drug rehabilitation centers, as stated by the President in his first State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA).

Camps under this category are Fort Magsaysay in Palayan City, Nueva Ecja; Camp Macario Peralta in Jamindan, Capiz; Camp Kibaritan in Bukidnon; and Camp Tomas Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal. -UPDATE.PH

Duterte wants US special forces out of Mindanao APPARENTLY Y not contented on his attacks against the United States over their own human rights abuses in the past, President Duterte wants all US special forces out of Mindanao. “ Kaya yung mga special forces, they have to go.

They have to go in Mindanao.

Maraming mga puti roon,” he said in a speech during an oathtaking activity in Malacanang on Monday. Duterte said he was mum on the issue earlier because he did not want to have rift with the US. ” Di ko lang masalita noon out of respect and I do not want a rift with America. But they have to go,” he said.

He thinks that the conflict in Mindanao might become intense if locals will spot Amer-

icans in the area.

Its either they will be kidnapped or killed, the President said.

The Philippines and the US early on had formed a Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines in the Philippines, a unit that trains Filipino forces in fighting terrorists in Mindanao.

The JSOTF-P is based in Camp Navarro in Zamboanga City, where the Armed Forces’ Western Mindanao Command is based.

The US military deployed the JSOTF-P in the Philippines in 2002 to counter the threats posed by local terror group, Abu Sayyaf and the South Asian regional betowrri Jemaah Islamiyah. -POLITICS.PH

Manila intensifies crackdown against businesses operating without permits THE city government of Manila has intensified its crackdown against business establishments that have been operating without securing the necessary permits.

The Bureau of Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) has been directed by Manila City Mayor Joseph Estrada to closely work with Task Force Manila Cleanup as they go around conducting road- clearing operations along major thoroughfares.

“I have directed the task force that once it has finished clearing the illegal vendors, to randomly inspect all the nearby business establishments and look for their business permits,” Estrada said.

He said failure to present any permit would mean instant closure of the business establishment.

“Mga illegal vendors nga napapaalis natin, sila pa kaya?

Iniisa-isa natin ang pag-inspect

sa mga stalls, sa iba pang mga negosyo. Kung walang mapakitang permit, isara agad iyan.

Wala silang lusot,” Estrada added.

Estrada cited the recent clearing operation on Pedro Gil Avenue, wherein three clothing stores were padlocked by city hall inspectors when they presented expired business permits.

Personnel of Task Force Manila Cleanup also apprehended 15 illegal vendors; they were among the vendors who were driven away during a previous operation in the same area.

Fortune Mayuga, officer in charge of the BPLO said an average of five businesses are issued closure orders every day due to lack of or expired business permits.

“Kasi may mga proseso sa pagkuha ng panibagong permit.

After a given period na hindi sila nag-comply, closure order na,” Mayuga explained. -BM

“

Duterte.

But Andanar insisted many of those slain have been killed in “gang wars” and not by shadowy vigilantes allegedly encouraged by the President, as critics have alleged.

Duterte, who took office on June 30 after winning election on a promise to kill tens of thousands of criminals, has vowed to press his campaign, despite growing international criticism.

By the end of last week, at least 1,466 people have been killed by police in anti-drug operations since Duterte took office, police spokesman Sr. Supt. Dionardo Carlos said.

Another 1,490 are classified as “deaths under investigation” referring to people murdered in suspicious circumstances, many of them shot by suspected vigilantes or found dead with crude signs labeling them drug-pushers or criminals.

The government has insisted that those killed by police died because they resisted arrest.

However human rights groups charge that Duterte has been actively encouraging extra-judicial killings, telling police that he will protect them from punishment while urging civilians to kill drug pushers in their community.

United Nations officials, human rights groups, local Catholic Church leaders and some legislators have criticized Duterte’s harsh campaign, saying it is eroding rule of the law in the Philippines. MT

The President was able to convey that we want increased trade among the Asean nations, and we called for rule of law, including that of the Permanent Court of Arbitration,” PRESIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS SECRETARY MARTIN ANDANAR

that the US President would “lecture” him on human rights.

The White House cancelled a bilateral meeting between Duterte and Obama that was supposed to take place last Tuesday after the Philippine President’s tirades.

Obama reportedly did not shake hands with Duterte after the East Asia Summit in Vientiane on Thursday, after the Philippine leader brought up the history of the US occupation of the Philippines.

Gang wars Also on Sunday, Andanar dubbed a “success” the bloody crime war that has claimed nearly 3,000 lives in the Philippines in just two months under

SEPTEMBER 14-20, 2016

PROVINCIAL

Pampanga capitol back in Bacolor ‘Kidnap suspects LUBAO—Pampanga’s capitol will return to the province’s old capital of Bacolor due to massive development, traffic and flooding, Gov. Lilia Pineda declared Sunday.

Pineda said the seat of the provincial government in Barangay Sto. Niño in the capital City of San Fernando is now very progressive, forcing a return to the old site on Jose Abad Santos Avenue in Barangay San Isidro, Bacolor.

The site is the boundary between Bacolor and the capital city in front of King Royals restaurant on JASA, formerly the Gapan Olongapo Road.

The eight-hectare land is owned by Pampanga Sugar Mill Development Corp. (Pasudeco) in Barangay San Isidro, which the provincial government expropriated.

With a price tag of P800 million, the new seat of the province or “Casa Real” includes the development of integrated terminals, parks, a convention center, and business stalls for the medium and small entrepreneurs operating in the provinces and a display area for

other products of the province for both local and foreign tourists.

The construction is targeted to start in 2017 and end in 2019. The provincial government has a reserve fund of P2 billion mostly from quarry fees. The province earns P20 million a day from quarry fees alone from about 5,000 - 7,000 trucks hauling sand and gravel to and from Metro Manila and Northern Luzon, according to Pineda. The sand better known in the construction industry as Porac white sand will last up to 500 years, she added.

The old provincial building will be converted into a cultural center, a library, and a display center of Pampanga cultural relics and historical items.

Pineda told the Manila Standard that the seat of the province was forced to return to its old site because the capital city Among the vast developments in San Fernando are the ongoing multibillion-peso project of Andrew Tan in Barangay Sto. Niño, conversion of a former 35-hectare sugar mill into a city within the city, the develop-

fled toward Sulu’

ment of the Azure six towers urban resort residences by Century Properties,,and the development of Paskuhan Village into another mall by SM Prime Holdings.

The mill project engineers and architects of the property developer recommended that the project be built three to five feet higher than the city road.

Pampanga has a total

land area of 2,002.20 square kilometers and a population of 2,198,110 as of 2015. It was the first province in Luzon.

Bacolor was declared twice as first capital of Pampanga by the Spanish authorities in 1574 until San Fernando became its new capital in 1904. Its original name is “Baculud” but it is also known as Villa de Bacolor.

-MST

Marcos museum to become a park BATAC City in Ilocos Norte is planning to redevelop a park in place of the Marcos mausoleum, which may draw fewer tourists if former President Ferdinand Marcos is buried at the Heroes Cemetery in Manila.

Provincial tourism officer Ianree Raquel said the project has long been planned to maintain the high number of tourists visiting Batac City.

The Ferdinand E. Marcos Museum remains a top tourist destination in the province, recording almost 40,000 visitors in this year’s Holy Week alone.

“The City Government of Batac, together with the provincial government, is already implementing the redevelopment of the Batac City Plaza. If Marcos’ burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City will push through, we will have new attractions in Batac City,” Raquel said.

He said the park will be designed with a “Heroic Ilocos” theme, given the city’s title as the “Home of Great Leaders.”

Batac City is the hometown

of Marcos; of the Philippine Independent Church founder, Gregorio Aglipay; and of Father of the Philippine Army, Gen. Artemio Ricarte.

Meanwhile, Raquel said the tourism office continues to search for historical objects related to Marcos for display

Defensor thanked Golez and his group for investing in renewable energy in the province.

He said solar power plants are a big help in addressing climate change.

Napulan also thanked CSEI for choosing the municipality of Miag-ao as the site of their project.

He said their municipality is proud to host the first ever solar power plant in this part of the country.

Golez disclosed that they have invested PHP745 million for the establishment of the solar power plant which sits on a 15-hectare property in Miag-ao.

He said CSEI is also planning to put up another solar power plant in the adjacent property which is already part of the town of San Joaquin.

Golez said the second phase intends to provide an additional 6.5 MW of solar power into the national grid.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded CSEI with a 25-year solar energy contract for the development of the facility. -UPDATE.PH

Surveillance operations off Scarborough Shoal to continue THE Department of National Defense (DND) said it will constantly conduct monitoring and surveillance missions in Scarborough Shoal (Bajo De Masinloc) where 10 Chinese vessels are currently gathered.

The area is 123 miles west of Subic Bay, Zambales.

DND public affairs office chief Arsenio Andolong said they are continuing monitoring and surveillance operations but said further action will depend on the order of the Commander-in-Chief, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

Earlier, the DND released pictures of the Chinese vessels lying off Scarborough Shoal.

The photos were taken by Filipino military aircraft on overflight missions to the area last September 3.

But prior the overflight, Andolong said the DND has prior knowledge of Chinese activity in the shoal as Philippine ships are regularly patrolling the

“

The abductors comprised seven armed men in a two 75-horsepower speedboats,”

MAJOR FELIMON TAN JR military from the Eastern Sabah Security Command at 11 p.m.

He said the place where the three Malaysians were abducted was in the general area of Pom Pom island near the Mataking Island Resort off Sempurnah, Sabah.

More than two days after the abduction, the military has yet to come up with an official report whether or not the abductors were indeed the Abu Sayyaf.

But Tan said he believed the abductors could still be in hiding in the Sabah area because the distance from Sempurnah and Tawi-Tawi was four hours.

“The waves are very strong, and the Navy says it would be very difficult for the abductors to cross the sea,” Tan said.

-MST

Pangasinan to hold science caravan in various museums in the province. “[As the] Marcos Heritage Trail [remains[ a top destination [in Ilocos Norte], we’re continuously trying to incorporate new exhibitions in the museums,” he said. “One is a very rare material from Batac—a

commemorative watch (probably from the year) 1977… and photographs of FEM from the 1960s kept by one family in Pasuquin [town].”

Raquel said they encourage the community to contribute new materials to the museums.

-MST

First solar power plant in Western Visayas inaugurated THE first solar power plant established in the province of Iloilo and the entire Panay and Guimaras islands was formally inaugurated on Thursday.

Governor Arthur Defensor Sr was joined by Miag-ao Mayor Macario Napulan in gracing the inauguration of the 5.67 megawatt solar power plant of Cosmo Solar Energy Inc. (CSEI) in Brgy. Narat-an, Miag-ao.

CSEI President and Chief Executive Officer Rodolfo Golez, Jr. said the power plant, albeit small and startup, embodies the realization of a dream and the Filipino spirit of passion, craftsmanship and hard work.

He said the project was conceptualized in 2012 and with the help and support of the local government of Miag-ao and the province of Iloilo it has come to reality.

Golez recalled that they have encountered many hindrances along the way but because of the encouragement from Defensor and his business partners, he was able to overcome the obstacles.

THE military is not yet sure if Abu Sayyaf terrorists were behind the abduction of three Malaysian fishermen off Sabah on Sept. 10, an official said Monday But Major Felimon Tan Jr., spokesman of the Western Mindanao Command, said initial intelligence reports showed that the abductors and their victims were on board two speedboats that moved toward Tawi-Tawi.

He said the military was continuing to ascertain the identity of the group behind the abduction and to pinpoint the place where they might be hiding.

“The abductors comprised seven armed men in a two 75-horsepower speedboats,” Tan said.

“The boats sped northeast in the direction of Alice reef and Bulubulu island off Tawi-Tawi.”

Tan made his statement even as the Education Department in Davao City said six public schools received bomb threats last week.

Department spokesman Jenielito Atillo said the bomb threats on public elementary and secondary schools started after the bloody blast at the Roxas night market on Sept.

2 that killed 14 people and injured 70 others.

But he said no bomb was found in any of the schools.

Tan He said the abduction of the Malaysian fishermen was reported to the Philippine military by the Malaysian

area.

He added that DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana decided to make the information public after learning that the number of Chinese ships in Scarborough Shoal has increased.

The DND chief earlier said that there are 10 Chinese ships in the area, with four looking like Chinese Coast Guard ships, four similar to barges and two resembling troop ships. China gained control of Scarborough Shoal after a tense stand-off with Philippine Navy units in 2012.

Its maritime law enforcement units have been consistently driving away Filipinos spotted in the area.

Last July 12, the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration invalidated China’s claim over its “historic rights” to the West Philippine Sea and also pointed out that its ‘NineDash-Line’ claim has no legal basis. -UPDATE.PH

THE Department of Science and Technology’s office in the Ilocos region has announced the holding of its first Science Caravan on September 14 to 16, in San Fabian, Pangasinan.

The caravan will showcase the latest science and technology innovations developed by the DoST and science communities in the Ilocos.

On September 14, the caravan will kick off with an exhibit in San Fabian’s Sports Center and a press conference on the programs and projects of DoST 1 to enable the public to appreciate the technologies being offered to them.

A technology forum, a DoST campaign drive, a poster-making contest, film viewing and RxBox demonstration will be held simultaneously in different venues. Arnold Santos, officer-in-charge of the Pangasinan S&T Center-Satellite Office in Urdaneta City, said training in fish processing, soap-making, baking, meal management and food handling will be given.

Santos said preparations for the S&T Caravan are in full swing and that employees in the private and public sectors, students, and micro, small and medium enterprises are expected to join the event. -MST

Oxfam, Smart, PayMaya aid Tacloban CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

EVIDENCE Toni Ann Abutin Alcala being investigated at the police station with the sachets of shabu and marked money (foreground) confiscated during her arrest.

Quezon top ‘drug lord’s’ daughter, wife arrested THE daughter of Cerilo “Athel” Alcala, tagged by the police as “high value target” (HVT) on the illegal drugs watch list, and his wife were arrested on Sunday night in a buy-bust in Barangay Isabang this city.

Senior Supt. Antonio Yarra, police provincial director, said Toni Ann Abutin Alcala, alias Toan, 33, was caught after handing over P10,000 worth of shabu to a poseur buyer at their residence in Leveriza Subdivision here.

Her mother and estranged wife of Athel, Maria Fe Abutin Alcala, 58, was also arrested for drug possession.

Police said another suspect, whom they would not identify pending arrest, escaped when the team swooped down on the house.

Confiscated were 24 pieces of medium sachets containing shabu weighing 115 grams and with an estimated value of 212,750 as well as the 10,000 marked money, cash amounting to 6,100 and assorted drug paraphernalia.

Yarra said Toan deals only with buyers of shabu worth P10,000 and above.

He added that the mother and daughter’s drug-dealing business continued even with the surrender of Athel and his son last month.

Athel, 59, and his son,

Shajid, 36, last August 14 submitted themselves to the police, after his nephew, Lucena City Mayor Roderick Alcala, ordered his arrest.

The two were accompanied

by Athel’s brother, Quezon Rep. Vicente Alcala, and the mayor during their surrender in Lucena.

Athel and Vicente are brothers of Proceso Alcala, Agriculture secretary under the previous Aquino administration.

The Lucena mayor himself ordered the arrest of his uncle four days ago.

Athel is on top of the watch list of illegal drug suspects in Quezon and is said to have supplied drugs to the entire province for more than a decade, with central Quezon as base.

He told the police and members of the media during his surrender that he stopped his illegal activities a long time ago.

Athel and Shajid were both arrested in September 2008 in a major drug bust by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency at their ancestral home in Barangay Cotta.

Cases for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act were filed against them but they were able to post a 1.5-million bail.

Meanwhile, Yarra said they are tracking down 87 more HVTs in Quezon province. -MT

TACLOBAN CITY—International aid organization Oxfam, Smart Communications and PayMaya Philippines, in collaboration with the Tacloban City local government, launched a financial inclusion program aimed at making communities more resilient through mobile money and financial literacy training.

The Financial Inclusion for Tacloban Resettlement Integrated Program will build a culture of entrepreneurship and savings among 16,000 beneficiaries strengthening their communities. Three years ago, Tacloban City was among the worst-hit communities by Super Typhoon “Haiyan,” one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded.

Qualified beneficiaries will receive Smart Money prepaid cards—a mobile money product of PayMaya Philippines—that can be linked to their mobile phones where they are encouraged to place P1 and above through any Smart Padala Center in Tacloban. As they load their money, they will receive real-time notifications such as available balance via SMS. A rewards and incentives system has been put in place where participants who maintain a required average weekly balance in their Smart Money for at least a month will be rewarded with entrepreneurship package options as well as personal accident insurance.

They can choose a Smart Retailer package of a Smart retailer SIM and credits that they can use to start a mobile load business. Another choice is a sari-sari store starter set with Unilever products that they can resell as another source of income. To ensure a more solid infrastructure for the financial inclusion program, Smart is providing financial literacy training through community-based caravans. Smart is also

providing the local government with Infocast, a text messaging system, so stakeholders can disseminate much-needed information related to the finance literacy program.

“Since Typhoon Haiyan hit Tacloban, Oxfam, in partnership with national NGOs, has been working at the forefront of relief, recovery and rehabilitation efforts to support affected and displaced communities. We believe that equitable access to financial services is crucial for them to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. We are happy that Smart and PayMaya Philippines are helping us rebuild the local economy,” shared Justin Morgan, country director of Oxfam.

Tacloban City Mayor Cristina Gonzales Romualdez, said, “We are filled with gratitude that partners from private and public entities have come together to support us in restoring Tacloban until today.

The majority of the residents in Tacloban do not have easy access to traditional financial institutions such as banks.

We thank Oxfam, Smart and PayMaya Philippines for providing a simple, inclusive, and effective alternative that will not just encourage our citizens to embrace sustainable saving but to be more resilient through entrepreneurship so they can support themselves and their families in the years to come.”

The financial inclusion program will benefit 16,000 internally displaced persons and families in 45 coastal barangays in Tacloban City. Families with six or more members can enrol two beneficiaries aged 18 and above who belong to a vulnerable group--senior citizens, persons with disabilities, conditional cash transfer beneficiaries, single parents, child-headed families, and pregnant or nursing mothers.

-MST

Now is the time for all good men…

THOSE old enough to remember using that trusty contraption called a typewriter, before the advent of personal computers, may recall the typing exercises, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” and “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.”

The second exercise was what appealed to me the most as a growing boy. This was less than a decade after World War II and the memory of courageous guerillas standing up to the Japanese imperial forces had not yet faded from our young minds.

Back then, we sang the Philippine National Anthem in English and the final stanza declared: “But it is glory ever when thou art wrong’d for us thy sons to suffer and die.” The words held a special meaning for me as a Boy Scout imbued with patriotic fervor.

It seems to me that, in these tumultuous times, with the world reeling from terrorist attacks and the ravages of nature, and with the Philippines getting its devastating share of the grief, patriotic fervor is what needs to be enkindled again in the hearts of our people.

Indeed, now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.

After the series of terrorist attacks in Europe, the US and other parts of the world, it was only a matter of time before death would also come knocking at our country’s door. The Davao bombing, which claimed 14 lives and wounded scores of innocents, may only be a preview of what could be inflicted on us.

We are so vulnerable. More so, perhaps, than France, which has become punch drunk from the recent series of terrorist attacks. A bomb exploded in the middle of the infernal traffic snarl on EDSA could result in hundreds of fatalities. The light rail system, with its sardine-like passenger loads, as well as the airlines criss-crossing the archipelago, are fair game for explosive devices.

While the carnage has, so far,

Months after the elections, Duterte’s political enemies are still milking the turmoil in an obvious effort to derail his new government. But, the question is: For what purpose? Isn’t that like cutting off their nose to spite their face?

When Duterte declares a national policy that requires much greater vigilance and stricter enforcement on the part of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, shouldn’t it be the duty of every citizen to cooperate in order to make the job of the authorities easier?

Does it help ease the crisis we are facing when people spread the rumor of a plan to assassinate Duterte, to be engineered by no less than a senator-cum-military man? Assuming (God forbid) that this president is knocked off, will Vice-President Leni Robredo be equal to the resulting chaos, on top of dealing with the current threats?

In a situation where being calm and collected is so necessary, does it make any sense to indulge in intrigue and in pressing the alarm button at every turn? And when an objective assessment of the crisis situation depends so much on a responsible media community, what purpose is there in running sensationalized headlines and fanning alarmist speculation? The varying stories swirling around the declaration of the state of lawlessness and what it actually entails and where it could lead, have been an exercise in confusion – and much of it has been abetted by media and irresponsible netizens.

To be sure, the Duterte government is not faultless. There should be less arrogance and more compassion in addressing the rising international concerns over extra-judicial killings.

Duterte should realize that vigilante justice has its own bitter karmic rewards. And making murderers out of policemen is like curing a cancer by breeding a new malignancy.

But, at least, Duterte, as president, is not washing his hands or shying away from the problems his government is facing. He is facing them and is exercising leadership.

He has augmented the troops going after the Abu Sayyaf, suspected of pulling off the Davao massacre, and while that might seem like pouring gasoline on a blazing fire, would we have preferred that he told the country that “there is nothing to worry about” and that “everything is under control?

We know that things are not under control and that there is reason to worry, but at least we have a president who is not burying his face in the sand or pointing a finger at his subordinates. He is, in fact, worrying on our behalf and is trying to keep the situation under control.

What I think he needs to do is to bring the wisest and most sober minds together, people who have faced crisis situations in the past, and listen to their advice – and that should include the clergy. He could also be less impetuous, less impulsive and less prone to put his foot in his mouth (like threatening to pull out of the UN and then saying later on that folks should know when he’s just joking). He could also disengage himself from personal quarrels with political enemies, like Sen. Leila de Lima, and leave his executive officers to deal with them.

For our part, I think we, as citizens, should rally behind the President as he deals with the various threats at hand.

Rather than attribute dark schemes, like declaring martial law, to his every move, I think the responsible members of Congress, the Supreme Court and the military should allay people’s fears and reassure them that martial law cannot be imposed on the whim of one man, even if he is president.

At the same time, these responsible national leaders should call on the citizenry to close ranks and work with the president to confront and overcome the threats.

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.

GREGMACABENTA@HOTMAIL. COM

While the carnage has, so far, mainly affected Mindanao, Metro Manila, with its teeming millions is too attractive a target for murderous men intent on bringing the government to its knees. mainly affected Mindanao, Metro Manila, with its teeming millions is too attractive a target for murderous men intent on bringing the government to its knees.

On top of the terrorist threats, the new government of President Rodrigo Duterte has been waging a bloody war against the drug menace and the number of fatalities, many of them characterized as victims of extra-judicial killings, has reach alarming proportions.

Add to that the bullying tactics of China over the Spratleys and we are beginning to witness a government that is literally under siege.

How should patriotic Filipinos react and respond to this situation?

There is no question in my mind that in the face of external threats and the terrorist menace, it should be a no-brainer to stand with the country and its leader. Duterte has many faults, some of which he has cheerfully acknowledged, but he was chosen to lead the country. And in these trying times, it is our duty to back him up.

In the wake of the Davao massacre and as part of the anti-drug campaign, Duterte has decided to declare a “state of lawlessness.” That may sound alarming and may give the impression (as it apparently already has to other countries) that the Philippines has become a “lawless state.”

This is certainly not the case. But words irresponsibly foisted in mainstream media and social media can fan fear and create havoc. The president’s spokespersons have simply added to the confusion.

(As this column went to press, Malacañang announced a new development to the effect that it is “neither a state of lawlessness nor a state of lawless violence, but a ‘state of national emergency on account of lawless violence.’” Whatever that means.)

VIEWS

SEPTEMBER 14-20, 2016

New York Times blames Noynoy

BY JOJO ROBLES NOT all members of the foreign media are clueless “parachutists” who become overnight experts on the Philippines after sitting in posh hotel lobbies. Some of them actually understand what’s going on in this country and write accordingly.

Yesterday’s The New York Times ran an excellent piece on the spate of killings that started with the election of Rodrigo Duterte as president of the Philippines. And because Amanda Taub’s NYT essay, “How Countries Like the Philippines Fall Into Vigilante Violence,” went beyond the usual, lazy Western media framing of the highly publicized deaths as a human-rights issue, it cannot be dismissed as just another anti-Duterte screed.

Taub’s thesis is that when a victimized citizenry seeks tough anti-crime measures from a weak state, leaders will rise who offer quick-fix solutions that the government cannot seem to provide. As it was in Guatemala and Colombia, Taub posited, so it will be in the Philippines, now that Duterte has assumed the presidency.

The comparisons to violence-prone South American banana republics are not new, of course. But unlike most Western commentators, Taub actually attempts to explain how the Philippines descended into weak-state status, to the point where its people started demanding Duterte’s ministrations.

This is what she wrote: “The true roots of the problem can be traced to the administration of Mr. Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino III. That is because, experts say, the true cause of this kind of extrajudicial violence is the public’s loss of confidence in state institutions and its turning instead to more immediate forms of punishment and control.

“Mr. Aquino, elected in 2010 on

promises to support the rule of law and human rights, failed to fix the Philippines’ corrupt and ineffective justice system. His administration also faced a series of security-related scandals, [beginning with] a hostage crisis in Manila in 2010.

“And, perhaps most critical, Mr. Aquino was perceived as lazy and soft, unwilling to take the necessary steps to solve the country’s problems.

Frustration with the government’s inability to provide basic security led to rising public demand for new leaders who would take more decisive action to provide security.”

It takes perception to see beyond the human-rights blather —peddled mostly by sidelined agents of the administration just past—and to recognize the culpability of Aquino in the creation of the country’s public security crisis. Indeed, if Aquino had merely decided to work at solving the problems of runaway crime and the proliferation of illegal drugs, Duterte would probably never had been elected president.

Now that Duterte is trying to solve the mess Aquino created, he is being pilloried by those who really should know better. Perhaps they really believe that doing nothing but paying lip service to reform and ignoring crime and corruption is really the best course of action.

I don’t remember the last time a House speaker and his majority leader attended a mere committee hearing on the budget of a department of the Executive branch. But that’s what Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Majority Leader Rodolfo Farinas did, when Transportation Secretary Arturo Tugade and his undersecretaries went to Congress last week to defend their budget for next year.

Alvarez, himself a former transportation secretary, was there for an important reason: He wanted to know

if Tugade’s subordinates were really the hired help of big conglomerates sent to join the Duterte administration to take care of their rich employers’ interests.

In particular, Alvarez apparently wanted to find out if Tugade’s undersecretary for rail transport, Noel Kintanar, was not just a high-ranking dummy of the Ayala Group embedded in the department to make sure that the lopsided contract for the LRT Line 1 remains untouched. After all, Kintanar, as an executive of the Makati-based conglomerate, was said to have dreamed up the use of the “sunk cost” doctrine that allowed the Ayala-led consortium to purchase the original LRT line for a song during the previous administration.

The application of the principle to the train line did not only allow the LRMC consortium to secure the entire LRT-1, even if government only originally wanted to extend its service to Bacoor, Cavite. It also gave the Ayalas and their partners the P9 million in cash daily that the line generated—not bad, really, for a non-performing, sunk cost.

How Kintanar ended up as chief government official in charge of rail systems after a long stint in the company that bought a state train line is not really a mystery. It’s like the appointment of Tugade’s other subordinate, Roberto Lim, as undersecretary for air transport.

Lim admitted to Alvarez that he had only visited one of the country’s 80 or so airports other than Manila— and that was the politically strategic one in Davao City. Of course, Lim was formerly country manager for the International Air Transport Association, the organization of foreign airlines that could care less about all the other airports in this country outside Manila.

As they would say on the street, regulatory capture pa more! -MST

News media LIED about Duterte’s plan to call Obama a S.O.B. DID Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte really plan to call US President Barrack Obama a “son of a bitch” when he meets with him in Laos this week for a regional summit? According to many “news” reports, he did — and Filipinos believed them. Unfortunately, the truth no longer resides in the work of corporate media — not even foreign corporate media.

The above video with English subtitles seemingly added by The Independent UK translates the supposedly offending line as (as seen in the video)…

(In Tagalog) Son of a bitch, I’ll swear at you in front of everybody.

For its part, CNN Philippines weighed in on the circus with its own bit of “world-class” journalism in a report issued this morning supposedly quoting Duterte in the following English translation of his words…

“Who does he think he is? I am no American puppet. I am the president of a sovereign country and I am not answerable to anyone except the Filipino people,” Duterte scoffed in a speech Monday. “Son of a b****, I will swear at you.”

This is sloppy, irresponsible reporting on the part of both news outlets and particularly disappointing in the case of CNN Philippines considering that it is a Philippine colonial outpost of the iconic multinational news organisation staffed by Tagalog-speaking Filipino “journalists”.

The actual Tagalog statement of Duterte taken verbatim does not at all come across the way it has been translated in English by the so-called reporters of CNN Philippines: Putang ina mumurahin talaga kita diyan sa forum na yan!

The more appropriate translation for the above — one that real Filipinos will agree with is as follows: “Son-of-a-bitch, I’d really swear at you [if I was in that forum and put in a position of implied subordination to any of my peers there]…”

Set aside what, by itself, is the already valid observation that “putang ina!” (which Duterte said) is a vastly different message to “putang ina mo!” (which Duterte did not say). This is not at all the threat to swear at Obama that The Independent and CNN Philippines reported as “news” but an offthe-cuff expression of indignation over the the suggestion that a sovereign leader such as himself be expected to justify himself before another. The unspoken context clearly evident in the video (enclosed in brackets above) was lost in its textual form in writing.

Nonetheless, it was feasted upon by the media and turned into a virtual diplomatic row between the United States and the Philippines.

Was it simply a flawed translation by “reporters” not well-versed in the nuances of the Tagalog dialect spoken by a president whose first language is the Cebuano dialect of the Philippines’ southern parts? Or was it the result of a deliberate effort to misconstrue the words of no less than the President of the Philippines?

Stepping back even further, what these “news” organisations failed to provide was the broader context of Duterte’s statements. These statements followed a question fielded to him by a reporter during that conference basically asking him what he plans to report to Obama if asked about the so-called “extrajudicial killings” (EJKs) that have filled headline news

since he came to power. To an irked Duterte, the question came across as a loaded one implying that he will need to answer to Obama on these EJKs. Those now-seminal words being feasted upon today by the media was his response to that reporter.

The Washington Post (in fairness to it, living up to its cut-above-therest journalism) at least provided that backgrounder in its report on this circus…

Duterte said before flying to Laos that he is a leader of a sovereign country and is answerable only to the Filipino people. He was answering a reporter’s question about how he intends to explain the extrajudicial killings to Obama. More than 2,000 suspected drug pushers and users have been killed since Duterte launched a war on drugs after taking office on June 30.

In his typical foul-mouthed style, Duterte responded: “I am a president of a sovereign state and we have long ceased to be a colony. I do not have any master except the Filipino people, nobody but nobody. You must be respectful. Do not just throw questions.

Putang ina I will swear at you in that forum,” he said, using the Tagalog phrase for son of a bitch.

Note too in the above English translation (still flawed, nonetheless) that even if the text in the WP report provides broader context to the incident, it still cannot be fully ascertained, at face value, who Duterte was referring to in the quote “I will swear at you..”. Was Duterte referring to Obama? Or was he referring to the reporter who asked him the loaded question?

SEE SOB A5

VIEWS

SEPTEMBER 14-20, 2016

The mouse that roared

BY NINEZ CACHO-OLIVARES PRESIDENT Duterte was quoted as saying that he was confident that he had comported himself well during the Laos summit, and deserves a ”few applauses.”

Many foreign diplomats attending that summit would hardly agree with his evaluation of himself having behaved well, which is probably the reason he was not applauded at all for his speech, where he went off script while inexcusably berating the United States, represented by President Barak Obama for the killing of thousands of Moros in Mindanao during the US “pacification campaign” in the 1900s, complete with grisly pictures.

The fact that instead of applause, Duterte got a stunned silence from the foreign dignitaries in that summit when he gave that speech already should have given Duterte more than an inkling that what he stated before them was highly improper behavior and frankly such behavior made him out as an embarrassment that even Filipinos cringed at such improper behavior from a Philippine president.

Good grief. The Americans were already in control of the Philippines and were out on a pacification drive against the Moros who had refused to give in. I would think that in much the same way, Duterte has ordered his military to kill the Moros, who he claims are his ancestors — killed on his orders. Isn’t he doing the same

thing that the American general did by ordering his troops to subjugate them then?

That was a battle that occurred in the 1900s, and in any war for independence, there are the victors and the vanquished.

The Americans, then known as patriots coming from inhabitants of 13 colonies supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as “Americans” or “Patriots,” and at times, were referred to as “Whigs,” “Rebels,” or “Revolutionaries.”

Colonists said to have supported the British side were known as either “Loyalists” or “Tories.”

The Americans and patriots won their independence from the British, yet today, while the American revolution is being remembered by the modern Americans, it is done for its historical value, the bravery of the patriots who fought fiercely for their independence remembered, but without rancor toward the now United Kingdom.

Today, as it was many decades ago, the United States and the United Kingdom enjoy a very good and healthy relationship, without any of them losing their independence and sovereignty.

In much the same fashion, the American civil war is being remembered for its historical value.

America and Great Britain are not only friendly governments but are partners, along with others, without either side expressing rancor toward

the other, despite their shared history, In much the same way, the American civil war, which had divided the country when the South and North engaged in a war, with the North winning the battle, the USA is now united.

There is hardly any talk of secession today, and despite traces of racism, it cannot be said that the African-Americans are not enjoying equal rights. The Blacks and the Whites have elected as their president, an African-American.

Duterte still brings up the old history of the time the Philippines was under American colonial rule, and the massacre of the Moros on orders of an American general, who could not be subdued.

But it is not being recalled by Duterte for its historical value, but to equate it with his claimed violations of human rights committed by the Americans, and worse, to justify the decades long massacre of the Moros, to shame the Americans and its leader today, President Obama, believing that he (Duterte) can have the upper hand in order for Obama and even the next president, as well the United Nations for criticizing his war on illegal drugs, where due process is not being observed, as these are mere suspects killed by the state’s armed forces.

And Duterte appears to think that he is doing Filipinos a big favor in his bid to put to shame Obama and other foreign governments for their historical past?

Duterte also declared an indepen-

dent foreign policy, saying he is the President of the Philippines, a sovereign country, and he is not a president of the international community and that he cannot be dictated upon. There is nothing wrong in having an independent policy.

But the Philippines under the stewardship of Duterte, despite declaring an independent foreign policy, has to deal with the international community, as other countries, like the US, Europe and China, a major economic and military power, are all sovereign countries but continue to engage in trade, diplomacy and other avenues where countries agree, and disagree on certain issues such as the disputed South China Sea. But the United States and other western countries, also know it cannot dictate to another sovereign country, although both military powers can and do effectively impose sanctions.

But when the leaders of the two most important powers meet, they disagree, exhibiting proper decorum and behavior and not act like Duterte, who with his tantrums and insults at world leaders. Duterte may not realize it, but in a world of military and economic power possessed by such countries, that moreover need not have been treated to insults in a meeting of statesmen, Asian and Asean leaders, Duterte was no different no differently from the story of the mouse that roared. And he should know what the elphant did to the mouse. -TRIBUNE

The Philippines’ three historical mistakes IF not for three major mistakes, the Philippines would be strong today – politically, economically, and militarily. We could have taken the place of South Korea as the 11th biggest economic power or even Japan as the third biggest economic power. While Japan and the Philippines were devastated in World War II and South Korea ruined during the Korean War, Japan and South Korea were reborn – like the Phoenix of lore – from the ashes of war. But the Philippines never did.

Instead it fell down the economic ladder and became an economic basket case.

In 1966, the Philippines was the second most progressive country in Southeast Asia next to Japan. The ratio of how many times bigger Japan’s GDP per capita is against the Philippines was five then. In 1976, the ratio was 13.

The two events that may have contributed to the Philippines’ economic decline were the martial law in 1971 and the expiration of the Laurel-Langley Agreement in 1974. It was then that the Philippines came to be known as the “Sick Man of Asia” and stagnated in the company of Third World countries while other Asian countries enjoyed the bounty of what came to be known as “tiger economy.”

The Philippines tried to compete with the tiger economies but didn’t have the infusion of capital from foreign investors needed to fuel the economy. Thus, the country was hamstrung by lack of capital to build her manufacturing base and generate exportable products just like what the tiger economies were doing.

So why am I saying all these?

What was my point? As I postulated earlier, the Philippines could have been at par or better in economic terms with South Korea or even Japan if not for three major mistakes in her history.

FIRST MISTAKE The first mistake was the premature granting of independence to the Philippines. Through the insistence – and lobbying -- of nationalist Filipino politicians led by Manuel L. Quezon, the United States enacted the Tydings-McDuffie Act in 1934, officially known

SOB...

as the Philippine Independence Act. This Act established the process for the Philippines, then an American colony, to become an independent country after a ten-year period. That would have been in 1945. Tydings-McDuffie also established the Commonwealth of the Philippines, a transitional government prior to independence. Quezon became the president of the Commonwealth. But nobody predicted that the Japanese would invade and occupy the Philippines during World War II. When the war ended in 1945, the ten-year transition as provided

by Tydings-McDuffie ended; thus, independence would have been granted. However, due to the devastation suffered by the Philippines, independence was postponed for one year to allow the country to recover. And this is where the first mistake occurred.

Some political leaders pushed for postponement for five or 10 years to allow for rehabilitation of the country.

However, the nationalists insisted on independence right away. They prevailed and independence was granted on July 4, 1946.

SECOND MISTAKE The second mistake was the failure of the Philippines to extend the life of the Laurel-Langley Agreement that amended the Bell Trade Act of 1946, known as the Philippines Trade Act. The Act was designed to set conditions on the Philippine economy and link it to the U.S. economy. The Act also had a provision – known as “parity” clause -- that granted U.S. citizens equal economic rights with Filipinos.

In 1947, the Philippine Constitution was amended to include these parity rights, which was voted by a 78.89% majority in a national plebiscite.

Many Filipino politicians supported the Parity Amendment because of the economic benefits it created while the country was recovering from World War II. However, it was controversial among the nationalistic Filipinos because the Philippine Constitution said that the country’s natural resources should only be for Filipinos.

In 1955, the Laurel-Langley Agreement was signed. The agreement gave full parity rights to American citizens, business corporations, and investors

For that matter, notwithstanding the shrill relentless crying of Bloody EJK! by Duterte’s critics, it still remains to be seen whether the spate of homicides being reported in media are, in fact, EJKs. So far, no conclusive link between Malacanang and those so-called “killings” has been established via a qualified and systematic investigation or a ruling by a Philippine court. In that sense, the news media’s use of the notion of “EJK” in the Philippine setting is not grounded on fact nor sound analysis. Much of it, it seems, draws from second hand information and, many Filipinos think, the shadowy influence of the Philippine Liberal Party (LP) and its rabid supporters.

Much seems to be at stake. Waiting for “something to happen to Duterte” in the sidelines is Liberal Party stalwart and, now, supposedly “vice president” Leni Robredo. Robredo is now the only foothold the LP has to political power. Nonetheless, the media industry in the Philippines is practically monopolised by a small handful of conglomerates owned and operated by Filipino oligarchs loyal to the LP and the Aquino-Cojuangco clan that backs it. As such, a popular theory making the rounds in the Philippines’ social media political communities that there is an orchestrated effort to unseat Duterte — extrajudicially, if possible — may not be farfetched. As a Get Real Post commentor noted…

If Duterte makes it past the first half of 2019, the yellows will be in an even weaker position than they are in today. A number of yellow senators up for re-election in 2019 will have a hard time winning if the present anti-yellow climate continues and they have no more access to Smartmagic. Time is of the essence.

Indeed, time is of the essence. Duterte has only six years to fix a problem that previous Philippine governments allowed to fester for three decades. It is quite unfortunate that other people — even the supposed “vice president” herself — has other priorities in mind.

It is high time Filipinos find more reliable sources of information to guide their actions and beliefs. They have been let down by their leaders for so long and, as evident today, are being let down by corporate organisations who, erstwhile, had sworn to be beacons of The Truth. -GRP

giving them access to 100% ownership in all areas of the economy. It also made parity privileges reciprocal; thus reducing tariffs on Philippine products exported to the U.S. But the nationalists said that it served foreign interests while exacerbating poverty.

The Agreement expired in 1974 during the Marcos dictatorship. With its expiration, it ended the U.S. authority to control the exchange rate of the Philippine Peso, which was tied at a fixed rate to the U.S. dollar. When the Agreement expired, the exchange rate of the Peso increased drastically.

Today, it fluctuates around 45 pesos to the dollar.

And the worst part was the country closed its doors to globalization, which is what countries like Japan, South Korea, and the other tiger economies have embraced. In retrospect, the parity rights may have been the precursor to globalized economy, where trade barriers are systematically removed.

THIRD MISTAKE The third mistake was the Philippine Senate’s rejection of the retention of U.S. bases in the Philippines. In 1991, the Senate voted by a razor-thin majority -- 12-11 -- not to renew the bases agreement. The following year, after attempts were made to keep the bases, the U.S. withdrew all her forces.

Two years later, China occupied the Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, which was within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Over the protest of the Philippine government, China built structures on stilts, saying they would be used to shelter fishermen. In 1999, China added more structures, which appeared to look like military fortification.

In 2012, China grabbed Scarborough Shoal and prevented Filipinos from fishing in its environs. A year later, she started building artificial islands around seven rocks and reefs

in the Spratly Islands, all within the Philippines’ EEZ. Today, satellite photos show runways, harbors, lighthouses, and buildings on these islands.

Obviously, China is in the process of militarizing the seven artificial islands.

The question is: If these three historical mistakes did not happen, what would the Philippines be like today?

Had Philippine independence been postponed for 10 years, it would have given the country time and opportunity to recover just like Japan and South Korea did after they were devastated by war. They were smart to put themselves under the military protection of the U.S. and avail of American economic patronage and trade preferences.

Meanwhile, with no warships and warplanes, the Philippines was helplessly at the mercy of foreign invaders.

Yet, after losing Scarborough Shoal and the Spratlys to China, you’d think that the Philippine leaders are now keen to realize what could be best for the country? It doesn’t seem like it.

The politicians are still fighting their little turfs among themselves and our national leaders are so protective of the country’s sovereignty and national interests from perceived American interference in our internal affairs.

But they wouldn’t hesitate to remind America of her treaty obligations to defend the Philippines from foreign invasion.

But the challenge the Philippines is facing now is how to avoid making the fourth mistake, which is how to deal with China vis-à-vis the territorial disputes in the South China Sea. The Permanent Court of Arbitration’s (PCA) ruling that invalidated China’s “nine-dash line” claim and has no historical rights to the South China has placed the Philippines in the driver’s seat in any bilateral negotiations including pursuing legal action in the international court. Let’s not lose that hard-earned victory.

While we cannot turn back the wheel of history, we can chart our future by looking back at our history.

As someone once said, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” PERRYDIAZ@GMAIL. COM

Big war to happen soon?

IT is too early to predict but the way I look at it, a big war is snowballing and could develop not far from our country - - right at the disputed seas.

My thinking is not based from hallucinations but from the present positions countries which claim ownership of the Scarborough-Spratly area.

While friendly gestures and diplomacy are still on top of the problem, deep within the feelings of each nation is the hidden heartaches like water that is boiling within. Friendship is superficial. Down beneath is hatred, meaningless friendship bereft of sincerity.

In the first place, China is bent on having the disputed seas as part of its territory by historical ground no matter what. This precisely the reason why it did not participate in the legal process filed by the Philippine in the international arbitration. The recent decision of the tribunal awarding the subject of the dispute to the Philippines was nothing to China but a waste of paper which it rejected for all purposes. Other claimants which were respondents to the petition filed by our country like Vietnam, Korea, Taiwan, etc. were quiet on the decision which amounted to their acceptance of the legal procedure and subsequent ruling.

It is, therefore, apparent that China is the principal villain that emerged in the region. As we see it, the only ground upon which thee Chinese is leaning in its bullying escapade is its size as a powerful country in all Asia.

As a matter of fact, one of the superpower around the world in level with or parallel to the rest of the powerful ntions like United States of America, England, Canada, France, Germany and others.

China is aware of the size of it military which is actually the measure of strength of any nation since the time of Adam. In terms of modern weapons like missile nuclear bombs, fighter jets and armaments, China stands shoulder to shoulder with them. Because of this confidence in its strength, the Chinese think at times it can bjlly its nneighbors at anytime.

In the sidelines are nations which are holders of nuclear weapons too such as North Korea, South Korea and most probably other nations that are quiet on the matter. In a world where people are heavily armed, patience is low and and light exchange of heated words could lead to armed confrontation in a much shorter time.

Under any ciecumstance, the scenario in the disputed seas is filled with tension. It can blow up anytime.

The United States of America came in to ensure peace prevail but Chins miuderdtood it as an interference. It declared on one time that it is not afraid to face snyone in the region including Americs. On top of this, the Chinese coaat guards had followed the American ships in the area.

During the ASEAN convention in Laos, this week, it was alleged that Pres. Barack Obama of America did not give so much attention and/ or importance to his counterpart, the president of China. This of course, showed that there is some kind of indifference between leaders of two superpowers. The world is watching intensely with fearful anticipation of military confrontation in the days to come, God forbids.

Forget Obama’s snub; PH should ‘pivot’ to Japan

BY ATTY. DODO DULAY THE move of US President Barack Obama abruptly canceling his scheduled meeting and initially refusing to shake hands with President Rodrigo Duterte at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Laos, is being overhyped by the western media and even by some local journalists as a rare international snub with perilous implications.

True, it is a rare diplomatic spat between close treaty allies but it will hardly make a dent on US-Philippines relations, especially coming at the twilight of Obama’s presidency. In fact, after calling off the sit-down with Duterte, the US President reiterated his promise to Asean leaders that the US was “here to stay” in Asia.

And more recently, before leaving the Asean summit in Laos, Obama told reporters that he doesn’t hold a grudge against Duterte since he does “not take these comments personally…”

Vowing that the United States’ interests in the Asia-Pacific are “not a passing fad” and that his country’s commitment to the Asia-Pacific region will endure “for the long term,” Obama professed that majority of his country’s navy and air force fleets will be based out of the Pacific by the end of the decade.

Seeing China’s rising economic power and blatant maritime expansion in the South China

Sea, Obama – who once billed himself as “America’s first Pacific President” – vowed four years ago to rebalance US economic and military resources to the Asia-Pacific region, the main theme of his “pivot to Asia” policy.

Whether Obama likes it or not, the Philippines – with its vast coastline bordering the South China Sea – is the mainspring of America’s pivot to Asia, more so after Manila obtained a favorable ruling on the Washington-backed lawsuit against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague, Netherlands.

This explains why the Americans will be reopening five military bases in the country after a long absence – an inevitable outcome after the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

The US also poured $259-million in maritime security aid to the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia – all of whom have territorial claims in the South China Sea – supposedly help these countries in safeguarding their waters, as the Americans try to ward off China’s growing military presence in the region.

Truth is, America cannot afford to lose any more “friends” in the region. As it is, much of Southeast Asia is already tilting toward China.

With billions of dollars in Chinese investments and loans,

Cambodia and Laos are already in China’s corner. Sources from the diplomatic corps point out that Cambodia’s objections during the foreign ministers’ meeting last July is the reason why the Asean failed to issue a joint statement on the Hague ruling, which rejected China’s sweeping claims on the South China Sea. Thailand is reportedly tilting the way of China, too.

Duterte, on the other hand, is bent on charting an independent foreign policy even if this means warmer relations with China.

Duterte has already said he would not bring up the arbitration ruling so as not to hamper upcoming talks between Manila and Beijing.

The way we see it, however, a key component of Duterte’s independent diplomatic policy should be a “pivot” to Japan.

Our Japanese friends tell us that Duterte has a lot of goodwill in the Land of the Rising Sun. Even during the campaign, Duterte already caught the attention of the Japanese media with his straight talk and fearless demeanor.

Duterte’s reputation for imposing discipline and security, and cutting red tape in his hometown has some Japanese referring to Davao City as the Philippines’ “Little Japan.” Japan is also one of the few countries that maintain a consular office in Davao City.

So it is not an exaggeration when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo

Abe said our President was “quite a famous person in Japan” during their bilateral meeting.

They likewise point out that Tokyo is openly courting Manila to become its closest regional ally, with Abe sending his top adviser and envoy to meet with Duterte in Davao City several times since the elections.

With the uncertainties surrounding the US elections in November, Japan is a safer bet – and an equally important ally – for the Philippines. For one, Japan (not the US) has been the Philippines’ top trading partner and the number one source of investments and bilateral official development assistance (ODA) since 2014.

At the Asean summit last week, Tokyo promised to give Manila two large patrol vessels in the 90-meter class – similar to the largest vessels in Japan’s coast guard fleet – in addition to the 10 smaller vessels it promised to provide during PNoy’s term. Japan also offered a loan for up to five used TC-90 surveillance planes.

This is on top of the $2.4billion loan offered by Tokyo to build a new 38-kilometer (24-mile) elevated railway from Manila to Bulacan, touted as “one of the biggest Japanese projects using the yen loan.” Japan also offered to build a railway in the southern Mindanao in a bid to foil a similar project proposed by China.

-THE MANILA TIMES

SEPTEMBER 14-20, 2016

Ouster...

regime, who are said to have indulged in corruption, when they were in power and position.

The confluence of events appear to be forming, given the serious deterioration of relationship between the United States and the Philippines, stemming from Duterte’s vulgar outburst against US President Barack Obama during his departure statement before heading to Vientaine, Laos, for the Asean Summit, and President Obama canceling the one-on-one meeting with Duterte, and in an East Asian summit, also berated the United States for the massacre of the Moros in Mindanano in the 1900s during the American colonial rule that was on a pacification drive while showing photographs of an American solider stamping his foot on a naked Filipina.

It will also be recalled that Obama, whom Duterte wanted to approach him to explain why he had the outburst, the American president was heard to tell him that he will let his people talk to Duterte.

RODY WANTS ‘HYPOCRITICAL’ US TROOPS OUT OF MINDANAO His latest barb against the US came when he stressed that Americans are “hypocrites” and that US troops operating in Mindanao should already be ejected from the region.

“These [US] Special Forces, they have to go. Those in Mindanao, the white guys, they have to go,” the President said in his speech at the Palace yesterday.

Duterte, who was recently in a verbal cold war with Washington, said that as long as American soldiers stay in Mindanao, there will be no peace in the said regions where armed Islamic insurgents – including the notorious terror group Abu Sayyaf – are operating.

“For as long as we stay with America, we will never have peace in that land. We might as well give it up,” the President added.

Since 2002, fighting Abu Sayyaf became a mission of the American military’s Operation Enduring Freedom and part of the Global War on Terrorism with their troops involved in

Pork...

Baligod in the review of PDAF cases,” he said.

Aguirre believes that the Department of Justice (DoJ) under then-Secretary and now Sen. Leila de Lima had been “selective” in the manner she conducted the investigation, only pursuing cases against members of the opposition.

He, however, stressed any new findings on the PDAF scam would still have to go through the process set by law.

“The DoJ has only secondary jurisdiction over PDAF cases. It is the Ombudsman who has primary jurisdiction as the respondents are mostly government officials,” he explained during a recent interview.

Baligod, for his part, vowed to cooperate with Aguirre, saying he is confident of an honest investigation under the Duterte administration.

“If we can do that, we will expose many other corrupt officials who are still in the government,” he said.

Baligod has alleged that the previous administration abolished the implementing agencies that received unobligated PDAF funds in a possible move to hide sources of evidence against all lawmakers

the purge of the armed Islamist bandits in Southern Philippines.

The President added that, in his insistence to push for an independent foreign policy, he is going to review the Philippines’ signed pacts with the US — something that he did not disclose during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) leaders’ summit in Vientiane, Laos last week where Obama was present.

“I have to review our foreign policy since I am for an independent one. I didn’t talked much about it during the summit and out of respect [because] I do not want a rift with America. But they [US troops in Mindanao] have to go,” he added.

ABELLA ON US SPECIAL FORCES IN MINDANAO Duterte’s spokesman Ernesto Abella again defended the president, saying that the statement if Duterte on demanding the withdrawal of the US Special Forces in Mindanao reflects Presidnt Duterte’s new direction toward coursing an independent foreign policy; he has made reference to the unrecognized, unrepented and un-atoned for massacre at Bud Dajo in Sulu by the Americans, hence our continued connection with West is the real reason for the “Islamic” threat in Mindanao.

“The American silence on the matter lacks congruence with its ‘moral’ position, in light of actions taken in the past by the Germans who confessed and made an atonement for the Holocaust, and Japan which made reparations for the atrocities it perpetrated among the peoples they conquered.

“Mr. Duterte is on morally firm ground by breaking up walls that cover dark corners in US-RP relations.”

Duterte has replayed what he said he did during a closed-door meeting with East Asian leaders, outgoing President Obama and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Laos last week by showing the photo of the infamous Moro massacre of 1906. Displaying the photo where an American soldier is seen stepping on a dead naked woman’s bare breasts that he had obtained from the US Archives, Duterte once again

called the Americans “hypocrites” for taking a swipe at him as a human rights violator.

“Americans are a bunch of hypocrites. You know Mr. Obama when you accuse me of killing, you didn’t show any evidence. You didn’t even say sorry to the Filipinos. He who has no sin cannot cast the first stone,” firebrand Duterte said.

It has also been noted that Vice President Leni Robredo has been openly criticizing Duterte very often, although she couches her criticisms with ensuring that she does not criticize him directly, even on his war on drugs as well as the Marcos burial issue and her siding with the martial law victims.

YELLOWS ACCUSED Duterte yesterday accused his “yellow” critics of plotting attempts to oust or impeach him from Malacañang but vowed to kill them first.

In his speech at the Palace before the oath-taking of new government appointees, the 71-year-old firebrand said that the “yellows” are joining the bandwagon of human rights advocates who are aggressive in pointing out violations committed under his administration’s “war on illegal drugs” that has killed nearly 2,000 individuals already.

“Do you know who are playing this trick of joining the human rights [groups’ portrayal of a bad image of me?] The yellows!” Duterte thundered.

“In fact, they (dyed in the wool yellows and his yellow critics) are trying to build a case against me and have me impeached,” he stressed.

The minions of the previous administration of former President Noynoy Aquino and members of the Liberal Party (LP) are the ones usually being referred to as the “yellows”.

Duterte has threatened those who are plotting to depose him as the democratically elected president with his signature “I will kill you” phrase.

“If I have to resign, I will.

But I will have to kill you first,” he said.

The President’s top critic in the legislature, former Justice Secretary and Sen. Leila de Lima, who initiated the Senate probe on the extrajudicial

who benefited from the scam allegedly perpetrated by the now detained businessman Janet Lim-Napoles.

According to him, he had submitted to the DoJ documents implicating 100 congressmen and 14 senators to the PDAF scam, but De Lima filed charges only against 28 lawmakers.

Baligod claimed that those charged by the Office of the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan were mostly from the opposition.

Aguirre has earlier said he would talk to Napoles to fully disclose the dealings of others guilty in the scam without being selective.

He said he believes there is something fishy in the manner the previous administration conducted the investigation.

“What I know is that the DoJ then suppressed evidence against other politicians (involved in the pork barrel scam),” he noted.

Aguirre did not name the politicians, but critics earlier alleged that the DoJ under De Lima spared administration allies in the investigation.

Asked if Napoles would stand as a witness, Aguirre said, “She could be a witness again, even not necessarily a state witness. Anyway, she will be in jail due to her conviction in

another serious illegal detention case. The only benefit she could get is to just tell the truth.”

In April last year, a Makati court sentenced Napoles to life imprisonment for serious illegal detention charges filed against her by whistle-blower Benhur Luy. Aguirre also said witnesses of the previous administration, including Luy, would remain under the department’s witness protection program.

In the list she submitted to the DoJ in May 2014 in her bid to secure immunity from criminal suits in the PDAF scam, Napoles tagged nine senators — former senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Jinggoy Estrada, and Juan Ponce Enrile; and Senators Vicente Sotto III, Loren Legarda, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Alan Peter Cayetano, Gringo Honasan and Francis “Chiz” Escudero III. But only Revilla, Estrada and Enrile have been charged with plunder by the Ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan.

Estrada and Revilla are currently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame while Enrile was put under hospital arrest but was released temporarily in August last year following a Supreme Court resolution allowing him to post bail.

killings under Duterte’s nearly three-month old regime, is an LP stalwart.

De Lima stands accused by the President for allegedly benefiting from narco-funds saying that her senatorial bid was bankrolled by drug lords detained at the National Bilibid Prisons (NBP) during her justice chief days.

Most of the politicians in President Duterte’s list of 160 government officials claimed to be in cahoots with drugs syndicates are affiliated to the LP, significantly Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog who is a cousin of prominent LP leader and Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon.

Also, in a speech before the Filipino community in Jakarta, Indonesia last Friday, Duterte also said that if it was not he who had won the presidential race last May, the drugs problem in the country might have “worsened”, citing defeated LP standard bearer and former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas’ “military aide” retired Philippine National Police (PNP) Deputy Director General Marcelo Garbo who was one of the “narco-generals” named by the President just days after taking hold of Malacañang last July.

It is recalled that the President, along with Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre and Solicitor General Jose Calida, even identified Garbo as the top PNP official assailed to be coddling top drugs syndicates in the country.

NOT THE FIRST TIME US PLOTTED OUSTER OF PRESIDENTS It is not the first time the American government, has been highly suspected of orchestrating the ouster of a Philippine president.

The Edsa People Power was certainly supported by the US state department officials in ousting then President Ferdinand Marcos, with the Marcos family pointing to the US as having kidnapped Marcos and his family in a helicopter and flying him to Hawaii instead of Paoay. Ilocos Norte.

Cory Aquino thanked the America’s officialdom and US media profusely.

The Americans were also

suspected of having orchestrated the impeachment and ouster of then President Joseph Estrada.

Apparently, an emissary of then US President Bill Clinton asked Estrada to desist from waging his all out offensive against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels, led

by Hashim Salamat, who had already fled to Malaysia.

Estrada said he had already given the order for the military to luanch the offensive and could not longer recall it, especially as the government was winning the war against the MILF, having captured several military camps that were taken by the MILF with the rebels on the run.

Not long after, an impeachment complaint was lodged against Estrada by the opposition allies.

However, the rules of impeachment were violated by then Speaker Manny Villar and the opposition, mainly yellows, who refused to hold a plenary vote, knowing that the majority of congressmen then would defeat the committee vote.

Villar read a prayer introduction to the plenary vote then quickly announced that the impeachment articles from about 60 congressmen, a minority vote which would have been drowned out in a plenary voting, would b e submitted to the Senate for trial.Through a clear coordinated move, then Senate President Franklin Drilon quickly accepted long after office hours, the illegal impeachment complaint and announced the trial of Estrada.

Despite having undergone trial Estrada had the numbers and the conviction ploy failed miserably.

It was then that the so-called Edsa ll revolt was in play, with the stage walk of the House prosecutors with then presiding impeachment trial official, the Supreme Court chief Justice, Hilario Davide, ending the trial and joined the yellow mob at Edsa, along with all the SC justices joining in illegaimately proclaiming then Vice President Gloria Arroyo as the President-not acting president but President of the Republic of the Philippines.

Lacson...

On the other hand, he noted the World Risk Report 2015, published by United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, ranked the country third in the World Risk Index, only after Vanuatu and Tonga.

He added the German-watch Global Climate Risk Index 2016 identified the country at fourth in most affected countries from 1995 to 2014 in the Long-Term Climate Risk Index (CRI).

Lacson added while the law provides for a congressional sunset review five years after its passage, no such evaluation had taken place. “(T)here is also a necessity to evaluate the performance of government agencies in implementing the provisions of the Act and to determine whether the mandates were carried out effectively, and if the mechanisms and processes established are effectual,” he said.

In Senate Resolution No. 10, Lacson said it is time for the Congressional Oversight Committee on Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 to find ways to improve the law and its implementation. -MST

He noted Republic Act 10121, the “Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010,” was enacted on May 27, 2010 to strengthen the country’s institutional capacity for disaster risk reduction and management and build local communities’ resilience to disaster and climate change impacts.

While many natural and man-made calamities had hit the country since the act was passed – including the Zamboanga crisis in September 2013 and the Bohol earthquake in October 2013 -- it was Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) that “tested the legal and institutional capabilities of both the national and local governments as established by the Act and exposed the disconnect between the provisions of the Act and the realities and dynamics on the ground,” Lacson said.

Lacson, as head of the PARR, had seen first hand the destruction brought by Yolanda and coordinated rehabilitation efforts for those affected by the calamity.

DOJ... through the details and to build up their case against Senator Leila de Lima, whom President Rodrigo Duterte has accused of taking money from drug lords detained at the national penitentiary.

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas and Minority Leader Danilo Suarez sought a congressional investigation after Duterte implicated De Lima, who was Justice secretary under the Aquino administration, in the illegal drug trade.

The investigation will be conducted by the House committees on justice, public order and security and illegal drugs.

Mindoro Oriental Rep. Reynaldo Umali said Ronnie Dayan, De Lima’s alleged former lover and driver, would be a principal resource person during the hearing.

On Sunday night, police and agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) arrested the sister-in-law and niece of former Agriculture secretary Proceso Alcala, in a buy-bust operation in Leveriza Subdivision in Tayabas City.

Quezon Provincial Police Office Director Antonio Yarra identified the suspects as Maria Fe Abutin Alcala and her daughter Toni Anne. Some 24 sachets of shabu worth P212,000 were seized in the operation.

Yarra said Maria Fe is the wife of Cerilo Alcala, the younger brother of former Agriculture secretary Alcala and incumbent Quezon Second District Rep. Vicente Alcala.

In Quezon City, police said Monday they consider the killing of the sister of actress Maritoni Fernandez, Ma. Aurora Moynihan, a drug-related murder case.

In an interview, Sr. Supt.

Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar said Moynihan, who was found with bullet wounds to the chest, had four sachets of shabu and drug paraphernalia in her possession.

Her body was found on Temple Drive and Giraffe Street near the Corinthian Garden village at dawn Saturday, with a piece of cardboard that said “drug pusher ng mga celebrities kasunod na kayo (drug pushers of the celebrities, you’re next).”

Eleazar said they were digging deeper into allegations that Moynihan is a supplier of drugs to showbiz personalities.

In Davao City, a criminal case filed against Maguindanao Vice Mayor Abdulwahab Sabal and three others linked to the night market blast was submitted for resolution.

Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, head of the Justice Department’s national prosecution service, disclosed that there will be no more preliminary investigation of the case for illegal possession of firearms, explosives and dangerous drugs against Sabal, wife Mohanna Sabal and bodyguard Nasser Maulana and driver Norodin Abas.

Aside from charges of illegal possession of firearms, explosives and dangerous drugs, the four are facing separate investigation about their possible involvement in the Davao City bombing last week.

In Caloocan over the weekend, at least six people, five of them allegedly involved in illegal drugs, were killed in separate incidents, police said.

The report identified the victims, as Mark Anthony Gonzales, 27, dog trainer, and Danica Sobrapiña, 21, jobless, Arnold Denaga, vendor, Richard Pangilinan, Daniel Albano, construction workers, and Berdado Valeganio, 37. With Rio N. Araja and Jun David -MST

SEPTEMBER 14-20, 2016

HEADLINES

China arms deal eyed PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday he wanted to buy arms from Russia and China that would help combat terrorism, but vowed not to cut ties with the country’s strategic allies, the United States, Australia, Japan and Vietnam.

Following several anti-American outbursts triggered

by Washington’s criticism of his war against drugs, Duterte said he is exploring defense deals with America’s top rivals.

“There are countries that offered us so many [things],” Duterte said in a speech before troops at Villamor Airbase in Pasay. “I would like to ask Defense Secretary [Delfin] Lorenzana to join our technical people to go to Russia and China to explore whatever is the best option.”

Duterte, who met with Russian and Chinese officials last week at the Asean summit, said the two countries enticed him with attractive loan offers to buy military armaments that he wanted to fight terrorism and insurgency in the country’s south.

“To the military commanders now... please study the purchase [of equipment] because we have the money. We have two countries which agreed to give me the softest loans payable in 20 to 25 years. I want weaponry and armaments; I don’t need jets, F-16s ... Those are of no use to us,” Duterte said.

“We don’t intend to fight any country,” Duterte said, saying he would rather have propeller-driven planes that can be used in anti-insurgency operations.

But Duterte also said he is not cutting alliances with anyone.

“We are not going to cut our umbilical cord with the countries we are allied with now,” the President said. “But certainly, we will follow an independent posture and independent foreign policy. We should be everybody’s friend.”

On Monday, Duterte said that the US Special Forces based in Mindanao should leave the country, saying the country’s alignment with the West was at the root of the Muslim insurgency.

Duterte’s order came a week after he threatened to cuss US President Barack Obama as a “son of a bitch” if he brought up human rights abuses during their scheduled one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of the Asean summit. These remarks caused Obama to cancel their meeting.

US advisers in Mindanao help train Filipino soldiers but are barred from combat except in self defense.

The Palace on Tuesday said there have been no specific directives on how to carry out the President’s call to remove the US Special Forces based in Mindanao.

At a press briefing, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the President only meant that the US forces should leave because of safety concerns.

A US State Department spokesman, commenting on Duterte’s remarks, admitted that Washington is “not happy with the things they’ve heard from the President.”

State Department spokesman John Kirby told a news briefing that he had seen reports about Duterte’s comments, but was “not aware of any official

communication by the Philippine government ... to seek that result.”

“I’m not aware that there’s been a tangible, practical effect on relations. [But] I think, as we said we haven’t been happy about everything we’ve heard and we haven’t been afraid to talk about that and to be frank about it,” he said.

Despite the pronouncements of Duterte, Kirby said that the United States is committed to its alliance with the Philippines.

The Pentagon said it was aware of Duterte’s statements but had not been contacted by authorities on the issue.

“We will continue to consult closely with our Filipino partners to appropriately tailor our assistance to whatever approach the new administration adopts,” Pentagon spokesman Gary Ross said.

Duterte once again unleashed his anti-American rhetoric and said he skilled the Asean-US meeting not because he was sick but “as a matter of principle.”

“I purposely did not attend the bilateral talks between Asean countries and the President of the United States. I attended all the others….The reason is not I am anti-West. The reason is not that I do not like the Americans. It’s simply a matter of principle for me,” Duterte said.

Last week, Palace officials said Duterte skipped the US-Asean meeting because he was not feeling well.

During their brief encounter in Laos, Obama urged the Filipino leader to conduct his war on crime “the right way” and protect human rights.

The United States said the Philippine government had not officially communicated Duterte’s demand to pull US military advisers out of the rebellion-torn southern Philippines.

Since 2002, up to 600 US advisers have been deployed in the Mindanao region to train troops battling Muslim extremists but their numbers have been scaled down in recent years.

A week after calling Obama a “son of a bitch,” Duterte said Monday US Special Forces in the region “have to go.”

Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay tried to play down Duterte’s comments, saying Tuesday they were “in the context of wanting to save the lives of these Americans who might be exposing themselves to unnecessary risk” from militant attacks.

In Washington, the Pentagon and State Department said they had not been officially contacted by Manila about pulling out the remaining advisers, who Yasay said now numbered about 100.

Yasay, interviewed by Manila’s ABS-CBN network, confirmed the allies had not discussed Duterte’s demand.

Duterte, 71, has said he is “not a fan” of the United States and on Monday explained his demand by showing pictures of US troops killing Muslims as America took control of its new colony in the early 1900s.

He has said the spat was triggered by State Department criticism of his controversial war on drug crime, which has left about 3,000 people dead since he began his six-year term in July.

AFP

QUICK VOLTE-FACE. In this file photo snapped in September 2008, a US soldier (standing left) assists Filipino soldiers in providing aid to hundreds of villagers who fled their homes in Dapiawan in Datu Saudi Ampatuan in Mindanao following fighting between government forces and Muslim separatists. Today, Washington says Manila has not officially communicated President Rodrigo Duterte’s demand for American military advisers in Mindanao to leave. Since 2002, up to 600 US advisers have been deployed in Mindanao to train government troops battling Muslim extremists.

Yasay said Duterte’s new that the President’s statement comments did not signal a shift will soon lead to abrogation of in policy, and that ties with the several special laws that legitiUS remained strong. mize the presence of American The President only wanted to special forces in Mindanao. protect Americans from kidnap“We hope that this is just the pings and terrorism as they had start and, eventually, Presibecome “a very good target”, dent Duterte also pursues the Yasay said. abrogation of the onerous and “There is no shift in so far lopsided treaties like the Mutual as our policy is concerned with Defense Treaty [MDT], the Visrespect to our close friendship iting Forces Agreement [VFA], with the Americans.” the Mutual Logistics Support Yasay, who was heading to Agreement [MLSA] and the Washington for talks, added the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Duterte administration would Agreement [Edca]. With this we honor existing defense agreecan truly say that the country ments including a 2014 accord have a truly independent forgiving the US military access eign policy,” Zarate said. to at least five Philippine bases, But opposition lawmakers one of them in Mindanao. expressed concern over DuterHis comments were in sharp te’s order. contrast to an initial explanation Reps. Edcel Lagman of spokesman Liang said.

by Abella, who said the demand Albay, Gary Alejano of MagChina and Russia have close “reflects [Duterte’s] new dalo party-list and Edgar Erice military and diplomatic ties, direction towards coursing an of Caloocan City, at a news often in opposition to the West, independent foreign policy.” conference, sought clarification particularly the United States, A militant lawmaker on from Malacañang and the Presiand their leaders Xi Jinping and Tuesday backed Duterte’s call dent himself on the issue.

Vladimir Putin enjoy a tight for American soldiers to leave Alejano complained of relationship. the country, calling it unprececonflicting foreign policy stateLast August, the two powers dented and that the US soldiers ments coming from the Palace should leave immediately. and the President himself, held military exercises in the “President Duterte is right saying Duterte must explain the waters and airspace of the Peter in asserting what has long been changes in the country’s foreign the Great Gulf, south of the defense policy.

Russian Pacific city of Vladivo- demanded by the people: end“The message coming stok, involving 22 vessels, up to ing the more than century-old US military intervention in Malacañang and government 20 aircraft and more than 500 Mindanao, which among others officials are conflicting. There marines. resulted in the massacre of ciis changing of policy statements In May last year, they conducted their first joint naval vilians, like the 1906 Bud Dajo and pronouncements,” Alejano massacre before and the 2015 said. exercises in European waters Mamasapano debacle,” Bayan Lagman said that the governin the Black Sea and MediterMuna party-list Rep. Carlos ment must be able “to respect ranean, China’s farthest-ever Zarate said. the validity” of the VFA and the drills from its home waters. -MT Zarate said he is hopeful Edca. -MST

China war drills focus on ‘seizing islands’ BEIJING: China and Russia started war games in the South China Sea on Monday, Beijing’s defense ministry said, in a show of force after an international tribunal invalidated the Asian giant’s extensive claims in the area.

The eight-day joint exercises will include a focus on “seizing and controlling” islands and shoals, Chinese navy spokesman Liang Yang said in a statement.

They will involve surface ships, submarines, fixed-wing aircraft, ship-borne helicopters, marine corps and amphibious armored equipment from both navies, he said.

“Compared with previous joint drills, these exercises are

deeper and more extensive in terms of organization, tasks and command,” he said in the statement.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea and has sought to bolster its case by building a series of artificial islands capable of supporting military facilities.

But a UN-backed tribunal ruled in July that any extensive claims to the sea had no legal basis and that China’s construction of artificial islands in disputed waters was illegal.

Beijing reacted furiously, with foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang threatening a “decisive response” if anyone took “any provocative action against China’s security interests based

on the award.”

Beijing’s land reclamations have prompted criticism from other claimant countries and the US, and Washington has regularly sent warships into the strategically vital area to assert the right to freedom of navigation.

This week’s drills will be carried out off the coast of Zhanjiang city in the southern province of Guangdong.

Their precise location was not announced, but they do not appear to be taking place in disputed parts of the sea.

They were aimed at “strengthening the capabilities of the Chinese and Russian Navies in jointly handling security threats on the sea,” navy

War...

hail from the Asean region and will showcase their products in 1,460 booths. There are at least 1,020 international exhibitors, including 65 enterprises from 18 countries outside the China-Asean region, including Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates.

Only seven Asean member-countries have charter exhibition halls for their commodities. These include Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Philippines will share one exhibition hall with Brunei Darussalam, Singapore and Vietnam. Chua said there are at least 10 Filipino groups from different commerce associations participating in the four-day Caexpo. The 13th Caexpo and Cabis will run from September 11 to 14 with sideline forums and dialogues happening to complement the event. The 13th-year celebration of Caexpo and Cabis coincides with the 25th year anniversary of the establishment of the China-Asean dialogue relations. -BM

PH ignores China-Russia ‘seize, control’ drill THE Palace played down fears Monday of any territorial encroachment as China and Russia launched eight days of joint naval drills in the South China Sea that would focus on “seizing and controlling” islands and shoals.

“There shouldn’t be any worries because China has said... that they are open to negotiations...and in fact, they are the ones who are pushing for this,” Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said in a television interview.

Panelo said that as long as the Chinese showed that they do not pose a threat to the security of the country, the Philippines would not react negatively to the military exercises.

China’s drills come two months after an international tribunal in The Hague dismissed China’s historical claims to most of the South China Sea. China refused to take part in the arbitration and has accused the US of stoking tensions

between China and its Southeast Asian neighbors. Panelo said President Rodrigo Duterte, in speaking about the territorial dispute, took a political rather than a legal view.

“It’s better because in [the President’s] point of view, this is not the time to flaunt our win at the Arbitration Court, but this is the time to find common ground,” he said.

A Chinese Navy spokesman, Liang Yang, said the eight-day joint exercises would focus on “seizing and controlling” islands and shoals.

They will involve surface ships, submarines, fixed-wing aircraft, ship-borne helicopters, marine corps and amphibious armored equipment from both navies, he said.

“Compared with previous joint drills, these exercises are deeper and more extensive in terms of organization, tasks and command,” he said in the statement, released Sunday.

China claims almost all of

the South China Sea and has sought to bolster its case by building a series of artificial islands capable of supporting military facilities.

But a UN-backed tribunal ruled in July that any extensive claims to the sea had no legal basis and that China’s construction of artificial islands in disputed waters was illegal.

Beijing reacted furiously, with foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang threatening a “decisive response” if anyone took “any provocative action against China’s security interests based on the award.”

Beijing’s land reclamations have prompted criticism from other claimant countries and the US, and Washington has regularly sent warships into the strategically vital area to assert the right to freedom of navigation. This week’s drills will be carried out off the coast of Zhanjiang city in the southern province of Guangdong.

Their precise location was

not announced, but they do not appear to be taking place in disputed parts of the sea.

They were aimed at “strengthening the capabilities of the Chinese and Russian Navies in jointly handling security threats on the sea,” navy spokesman Liang said.

China and Russia have close military and diplomatic ties, often in opposition to the West, particularly the United States, and their leaders Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin enjoy a tight relationship.

Last August, the two powers held military exercises in the waters and airspace of the Peter the Great Gulf, south of the Russian Pacific city of Vladivostok, involving 22 vessels, up to 20 aircraft and more than 500 marines. In May last year, they conducted their first joint naval exercises in European waters in the Black Sea and Mediterranean, China’s farthest-ever drills from its home waters.

With AFP -MST

NYT...

blames the former President for his failure to crack down on the drug trade and his failure to fix the slow justice system.

BS Aquino’s supporters also turn a blind eye to the fact that the drug problem became an epidemic during his term. His government was given a list of politicians and members of the military and police who were involved in drug trafficking but they just sat on it. They also tolerated the way convicted drug lords continued to operate inside the prison walls.

More importantly, BS Aquino also set a precedent for denying due process to his political enemies, which is why ordinary Filipinos have become frustrated with the Philippines’ justice system. They would now rather take matters into their own hands. This was what I wrote prior to BS Aquino stepping down: The application of selective justice in the Philippines is the reason why Filipinos are getting increasingly

frustrated at the current government. BS Aquino’s Daang Matuwid or so-called “straight path” only works for his friends and allies. No wonder Duterte’s vigilante style of justice has become acceptable to a lot of people.

If the justice system is broken anyway, people think it is better to take matters into their own hands. They are tired of politicians like BS Aquino and Mar Roxas who say they are “decent’” but do not have any qualms about destroying people who get in their way.

Corona was never found to be guilty of corruption by a real court. His only offence was in the discrepancy in his Statement of Assets and Liability Net Worth (SALN), which by law, government officials are allowed to correct whenever discrepancies are found.

Most public servants would be guilty of that but they are spared from the persecution Corona was subject to under BS Aquino and his minions.

BS Aquino keeps bragging about being the first President to impeach a sitting Supreme Court Chief Justice.

He couldn’t have done it without the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and pork barrel funds and a

corrupt Congress.

It doesn’t take a genius to understand why majority of Filipinos approve of Duterte’s brand of justice. They waited for six years for BS Aquino to do something about the increasing violence in the country but they were disappointed. The media is only highlighting the killings now but incidence of drive-by shootings had become more brazen in recent years even before Duterte came to power. The people have become angry and helpless reading news about victims of rape, assault and robbery even in broad daylight perpetrated by drug gangs. To a lot of Filipinos, it is better that drug dealers and pushers be dead than innocent people, which is why they do not feel sorry hearing of people dying during police operations or in the hands of unidentified suspects. Some Filipinos even cheer when they find out drug dealers and pushers are killing each other.

People would accuse me of giving the situation my seal of approval. They are wrong. I am merely giving my own observation of what is happening in the country. I saw it coming. I am not entirely surprised that people are dying on the streets.

Duterte did warn everyone that he would go after drug traffickers while he was still campaigning. Besides, life has always been cheap in the Philippines.

The violence was ignored in the past because it involved mostly the lower classes. It is part of Filipino culture to ignore what is happening to others if it doesn’t involve members of their inner circle of family and friends. In the Filipino vernacular, it is called kanya-kanya.

It is only now that there is outrage coming from so-called “civil society” because some members of the upper classes are now getting killed or caught in the middle of Duterte’s war on drugs. In other words, some folks were in denial there was a

problem to begin with. Again, that is the fault of BS Aquino who made people believe everything was under control.

He was good at hiding problems or pretending there was none.

This is why the news that there were city mayors who were coddling drug lords came as a rude shock to everyone. Even celebrities were not spared in the naming and shaming. If there is one thing positive about Duterte’s drug war, it appears that it doesn’t discriminate or favour anyone, rich or poor.

Everyone involved in the drug trade is getting equal treatment. The New York Times is saying that a culture of vengeful punishment is taking hold in the Philippines. This is nothing new. It has always been like that in the Philippines. It is still a primitive country pretending to be civilised. Most people don’t even understand the concept of rule of law. If they did, they wouldn’t have tolerated how BS Aquino treated his political enemies even back then. -GRP

an Business and Investment Summit (Cabis) held here on Sunday.

“In some countries in Asia, their leaders are not strong enough. We really pray hard for the success of President Duterte. If he succeeds, then that’s a story that everybody could follow and emulate,” he added.

Chua, who is also the president of the newly formed Philippine-Silk Road International Chamber, said business leaders are not worried about the alleged human-rights violations committed by some officials in their bid to curb the drug menace.

“There are people who are proud of the President and some are against him, but I’m surprised that all those Asean and even Chinese leaders were saying ‘Guys you are so lucky you have that kind of president,’” he said.

According to Caexpo, of the 2,669 exhibiting enterprises participating this year, 954

and control.

Mr. Aquino, elected in 2010 on promises to support the rule of law and human rights, failed to fix the Philippines’ corrupt and ineffective justice system.

His administration also faced a series of security-related scandals, including a hostage crisis in Manila in 2010. And, perhaps most critical, Mr. Aquino was perceived as lazy and soft, unwilling to take the necessary steps to solve the country’s problems. Frustration with the government’s inability to provide basic security led to rising public demand for new leaders who would take more decisive action to provide security.

It is also ironic that while BS Aquino’s supporters share the New York Times article because it is mostly critical of President Rodrigo Duterte’s policy on illegal drugs, they gloss over the part where the NYT writer

metro manila

QC plans to make Del Monte Ave. look like Calle Crisologo THE administration of Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista has revealed plans to redevelop an area, specifically on Del Monte Avenue, in a determined bid to preserve its rich historical and cultural heritage.

“Once this is redeveloped, we don’t have to travel far north to Vigan in Ilocos region just to marvel at the grandeur of well-preserved Spanish colonial architectural sites and structures,” he told the Quezon City Press Club.

Bautista said he already ordered the re-development of the streets and sidewalks that lead to the Santuario de San Pedro Bautista along Del Monte Avenue as part of the local government’s continuing effort to preserve QC’s rich historical and cultural heritage.

The Santuario de San Pedro Bautista has been considered as the oldest church in the city, having been established in 1590.

Based on a P23-million re-development plan, at least 600 meters of the San Pedro Bautista Street shall be patterned after Vigan’s Calle Crisologo where roads from De

Vera St. to Roosevelt Avenue will have cobblestone finish and beautifully adorned with period lampposts and wooden benches of Spanish and Baroque influences.

Horse-drawn carriages or kalesas will shuttle tourists along the Santuario de San Pedro Bautista Street.

To date, the city government, through the Special Design Group (SDG), is conducting dialogs with house owners in the area to allow the redesign of

their homes in conformity with the re-development plan.

Aside from the SDG, Bautista also tasked the City Planning and Development Office, Legal Office, Barangay Operations Center and the Market Development and Administration Department to oversee the implementation of the re-development plan which will also cover efforts to address concerns on traffic management and informal settlements along the area.

CALLE CRISOLOGO San Pedro Bautista, a Spanish Franciscan missionary who came to the Philippines in 1584, was the founder of the Santuario de San Pedro Bautista.

Every year, the QC government, through the Tourism Department, organizes various religious and cultural activities during the Grand Pedrista Festival which is being celebrated every February as a tribute to San Pedro Bautista who was noted for his work with lepers.

The re-development plan for Santuario de San Pedro is also expected to boost the city’s tourism, according to the QC mayor.

He added: “If the tourism industry is robust, then businesses will be encouraged to open. If businesses will flourish, there will be employment.”

-TRIBUNE

SEPTEMBER 14-20, 2016

Manila to provide free civil registry services MANILA A Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada will launch next month the second leg of “Operation Birth Right” in Pandacan to provide every Manileño with proper government records.

Operation Birth Right, an outreach program in the barangays conceived by Estrada, provides free civil registry services to residents, especially children who have no birth certificates.

“I say it again: there will be no more ‘undocumented’ Manileños in my watch. I want all the children of Manila to have legitimate birth certificates because they will need it in the future,” he said.

Estrada pointed out that these undocumented children are considered “officially not existing” and could not fully avail of basic services from the government. Officially launched on July 9 at Barangay 120 in Parola Compound in Tondo, where up to 3,000 children were provided with birth certificates, Operation Birth Right will move to Barangay 846 in Pandacan following the request of Chairman Allan Boado.

In his letter to Estrada, Boado said around 300 children in their community, most of whom are members of the local chap-

ter of Iglesia Ni Cristo, have no birth certificates.

Many other residents have marriage contracts that need correction, Boado added.

Estrada ordered Joey Cabreza, officer-in-charge of the Civil Registry Office, to conduct Operation Birth Right in the community in soonest possible time. Cabreza said they have scheduled the activity in the first week of October.

“This is a simple way of expressing my deepest gratitude to our Iglesia voters. It’s about time that I attended to them,” Estrada said.

“Many children will soon be bona fide citizens of Manila,” he added.

Aside from giving free birth registration, the Civil Registry Office will also orient Pandacan residents on the proper processes and requirements of registering or securing copies of civil registry records at the city hall, Cabreza said.

“We’re taking the initiative to visit every barangay to assist the people, free of charge, so they will stop going to Recto and other unauthorized establishments to secure fake government records,” Cabreza said. -MST

200 Military personnel to help cops in Metro Manila checkpoints, patrols AN initial 200 officers and enlisted personnel of the military’s Joint Task Force-National Capital Region (JTF-NCR) were deployed to five Metro Manila police districts to help in the ongoing checkpoint and visibility patrols. This was disclosed by JTF-NCR deputy commander Col. Vic Tomas in an interview Friday.

The JTF-NCR contingent consists of Army, Air Force and Navy personnel along with K-9 and bomb disposal units.

Tomas said they also have a stand-by force to help the police in possible contingencies.

“We would like to inform everybody that they should feel safe with the presence of both police and military. They have nothing to fear as this is not martial law,” he added.

Tomas said the deployment of JTF-NCR personnel to the five police districts in Metro Manila started Monday, two days after the Davao City blast which killed 14 people and

wounded 70 others.

Following the attack, President Rodrigo Duterte declared a “state of national emergency on account of lawless violence in Mindanao”, authorizing the military to help the police in its peacekeeping and anti-terror operations.

“The guidance is of course to follow and strictly, observe human rights, rules of law and the procedures in the conduct of checkpoint,” Tomas added.

-UPDATE.PH