Category: aquino admin

Marcos Is Already Undercutting The Philippines’ Economic Future

WILLIAM PESEK
Forbes.com
Sep 27 2022

History just doesn’t seem to be Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s thing.

The most obvious example is how his administration, just 88 days in, is trying to whitewash his father’s disastrous 20-year reign that ended in 1986 amid a massive “people power” revolt. Now, though, Marcos is angling to rewrite far more recent history concerning his troubled economy.

In a September 23 interview with the Associated Press, Marcos said he wants to “reintroduce the Philippines” to the world and raise Manila’s profile on the international stage. The reaction from many global investors: Huh?!

Whether it be delusion or not, Marcos is glossing over how former President Benigno Aquino III already achieved that. During his 2010 to 2016 tenure, Aquino didn’t just say over and over that the one-time “sick man of Asia” is “open for business.” He proved it in ways that scored Manila’s first-ever investment grade credit ratings. READ ON…

sereno and the supremes, pNoy and dengvaxia

whew, what a week, and it’s only wednesday.

on tuesday came the oral arguments sa supreme court on the quo warranto case vs cj sereno (tuesday) that certainly had the makings of a drawn-out catfight between associate justice teresita de castro and the embattled CJ, but cooler heads prevailed, shucks.  seriously though, i pray that similar cool prevails when the time comes to rule on the quo warranto.

no matter what the solgen-who-has-never-lost-a-case says, it is not for the supremes to kick out the chief: it would be so unethical, it would be disgraceful, it would be unjust, and it would be undignified, to be so obviously pandering to self- and vested interests: there would be nowhere (for the justice system) to go but down.  the only way the supremes can come out of this smelling like roses would be if if they were gracious enough to give sereno her day in court, the senate impeachment court.

the very next day, wednesday, nambulaga naman si senator dick gordon with the blue ribbon committee’s final report on the dengvaxia mess that finds pNoy,  ex-dbm sec butch abad, and ex-doh sec janet garin guilty of malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance  …

Malfeasance is an affirmative act that is illegal or wrongful. In tort law it is distinct from misfeasance, which is an act that is not illegal but is improperly performed. It is also distinct from Nonfeasance, which is a failure to act that results in injury.

nakakaloka.  in other words

The Senate Blue Ribbon committee, in its report, found that the Dengvaxia program was implemented with “undue haste” by Aquino, former Health Secretary Janette Garin, and former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.

“Aquino, Garin, Abad and other officials are primary conspirators and must be held criminally liable… and must be prosecuted for all the tragedy, damage and possible deaths resulting from the Dengvaxia mass vaccination program,” Gordon said in a press conference.

parang kinakarma nang todo si pNoy.  malinaw by now that it was a very bad idea appointing such a young chief justice.  malinaw din na it was a very bad idea rushing the dengvaxia purchase and mass vaccination.

hard not to wonder why such mistakes were made in the first place, mistakes that could have been avoided.  one theory is that they were so sure mar roxas would be pNoy’s successor, as in, six more years, and sereno and the supremes would have had their backs?  well, karma’s a bitch, someone tell the duterte admin.

#kidapawan

just posted this on my facebook wall:

‪#‎kidapawan‬ reminds me of ‪#‎yolanda‬ when people were seen wandering the streets, having walked all the way from their homes in far barangays, in shock, hungry, thirsty, looking for food and water in the city to bring back to their families, but getting no relief, from government anyway, because, sabi ni sec almendras on tv, hindi malinaw kung sino sa mga yan ang taga-tacloban talaga at hindi.  so they wanted to give relief goods through the barangays where official residents are registered.  imagine. denying immediate relief, kahit tubig at biskwit man lang.  if NGOs and civil society orgs had not come to the rescue, meron din sigurong mga namatay na lang sa gutom at uhaw at shock.  sa #kidapawan ganoon din ang excuse ng palace spin artists, ibig idaan sa proseso kuno ang pagbibigay-tulong sa mga nasasalanta.  at nung ayaw magsialis ang mga magsasakang nagugutom, pinagbabaril.  imagine.  what kind of policemen are these who willfully shoot at unarmed civilians?  and where is the president in all this?  he should have ordered the PNP to stand down (as he did in mamasapano?), even to escort the farmers to the nearest rice warehouse and to keep order while waiting for dinky soliman to oversee the distribution of rice.  i would call it the EDSA way.  and COA would not dare, would not think to, question it.

BBL, mamasapano, MILF

With only three days left, Senate President Franklin Drilon conceded, saying there is no more time for Congress to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), as the measure is already dead in the Senate.

Drilon attributed the slow death of the Aquino-backed proposal for a long-term peace program for Mindanao to the bloody January 25 clash last year that resulted in the death of 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

“The political environment has become very toxic. I think the BBL and the peace process of the BBL is the 45th victim in the Mamasapano (incident),” Drilon said in an ANC interview.

so, why couldn’t oplan exodus wait until the BBL was a done deal.  i mean, you know, if the BBL was so important, why jeopardize it in any way?  why couldn’t oplan exodus wait?

the answer, if memory serves, lies in alleged intelligence reports relayed to suspended pnp chief purisima by american operatives that marwan was showing signs of planning a change in location.  so there was a sense of urgency on the part of the americans, who must have demanded immediate action, knowing full well that napenas had a plan.  a time-on-target plan that the americans must have deemed doable.  the president may have been convinced that it could be kept secret and done quickly, in and out.  besides, what was the MILF doing, coddling terrorists.

in fact the MILF is as much to blame for mamasapano killing the BBL, and not only because they gave refuge to terrorists.  worse,  that the MILF could not prevent or stop the killings — a one-sided massacre — in territory they claimed to control certainly does not inspire confidence in its promise to eschew violence and embrace peace.

as for the americans, i wonder now what they thought of the BBL.  did they approve?  did they care?  maybe they cared more about getting marwan.