Category: marcos

ATTN: PBBM & Friends #Gifts

In the beginning I didn’t think it was worth blogging about just because it seemed open-and-shut : the prez is immune from suit until he steps down from office AND there’s no chance that the House of Reps would impeach him meanwhile.

But this sum-up from Michael Henry LI. Yusingco, lawyer and research fellow at the Ateneo Policy Center, cited in Business World‘s “Analysts: Marcos may have violated law with Duran Duran birthday bash”, changed my mind.

Yusingco … said Section 7 of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials [RA 6713] provides that public officials and employees “shall not solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any gift, gratuity, favor, entertainment, loan or anything of monetary value from any person in the course of their official duties or in connection with any operation being regulated by, or any transaction which may be affected by the functions of their office.”

Presidential Decree No. 46, a decree signed by no less than Mr. Marcos’s father and namesake, states that it is punishable for any public official or employee, whether of the national or local governments, to receive directly or indirectly, and for private persons to give, or offer to give, any gift, present or other valuable thing on any occasion. “Even if presidential immunity takes precedence in this case, that argument must still be made,” Mr. Yusingco said in an e-mail. “At this point, the wrong that needs to be corrected goes beyond what is provided by law.”

“It’s all about doing the right thing in the context of our problems with patronage politics, graft and corruption, and bureaucratic inefficiencies.” [bold mine]
https://www.bworldonline.com/editors-picks/2024/09/17/622180/analysts

It’s definitely an “ATTENTION: PBBM & Friends” moment — just in case they truly didn’t know that the law prohibits private citizens from giving costly gifts to the President AND prohibits the President from accepting such gifts, simply, plainly, because such gifts are a kind of bribery, a way of currying favor with him for some future high position or huge contract or mining concession or tax exemption or land reclamation or flood control project — sky’s the limit on corrupt deals upholding the personal-private rather than the public interest.

Of course it is quite possible that PBBM and his billionaire friends KNEW that gifting the prez with Duran Duran Live! — believed to have cost around a million US dollars — is against the law but went ahead anyway either because (1) they were naive enough to think that they could keep it under wraps or (2) they were feeling invincible, beyond the reach of the law, as the OG Marcos and his cronies were?

Which might explain why the invite to “PBBM @67” kindly asked guests to “keep the vibes cozy and private” …. “skip the photos and videos” … “if possible, leave your phone in the car” … “or check it in at the reception desk” … “make this night extra special and intimate.” https://www.facebook.com/

News of Duran Duran LIVE! leaked out anyway, thanks, it is rumored, to sis Imee who gate-crashed, snapped a photo of the band performing, and sent it to a DDS vlogger based in China who posted about it on Facebook, claiming that the band was flown in using public funds and urging the public to go and join the fun.

The very next day the Palace denied the use of public money: the band was a gift of “old friends” …  “at no cost to the government”.  Besides, it was a welcome surprise at the end of a hard day’s work (distributing a total of P3.19 billion in government aid to the provinces).

Pundits had a field day dissing the Palace response.

One said the Palace shouldn’t have dignified the Duran Duran buzz with an official statement. Really? As though there was no alleged wrong-doing that had to be denied or justified?

One said that the prez should not have indulged Duran Duran & friends with his presence, he should have snubbed the event. But what if he was truly surprised?  What was he to do then — walk out of the event? Leave, and disappoint, family and friends to party without him, the celebrant?  Medyo unthinkable that BBM, or anyone, is capable of that.

The best responses yet — because law-abiding na, doable pa — came from Ronald Llamas and Winnie Monsod. Puwede kasing  naganap ang Duran Duran Live! event without controversy, or puwedeng na-damage control agad nang maayos.

Akbayan activist Llamas is all over the place these days, apparently the favorite political pundit of today’s crop of eager beaver podcasters. Sorry I can’t find the video, possibly with Christian Esguerra or Richard Heydarian or Politiskoop or Storycon (if not all of the above), where he pointed out that the ONLY ones who are allowed to gift PBBM with expensive gifts are members of his immediate family.

According to RA 6713 Section 3d, that means only the spouse and children below age 18 (RA6713 Sec3d). So if it had been the First Lady pala who had spent for Duran Duran or who would spend for the next surprise, no problem. Good to know.

Say naman ni Prof. Winnie Monsod on Cielo Magno‘s “Usapang Korupsyon”:

Who would be stupid enough to give a gift [of that magnitude], unless they expect something in return. If not now, maybe later. …  If I were the president and I was surprised by that gift, obviously I could not possibly say, Go away, Duran Duran…  I would have to repay that person who gave me the gift, whatever he spent to give me Duran Duran. Obviously.  https://www.facebook.com/cielomagno/videos/1067077645425752

Oo nga. And I imagine that it’s not too late. Huwag lang sana sa confidential funds kukunin ang Php55 million or so. Good luck to us.

VP Sara’s offensive

It was quite a startling show of hubris and chutzpah, the way VP Sara Duterte (of the 32.2 million votes) went on the offensive in the budget hearing where the House Reps dared make her kulit about how she spent past confidential funds instead of just focusing on the 2025 OVP budget.

Sara was likely still smarting from the Senate hearing that surfaced her Php10million children’s book project which has since been the talk of the hard-up indie writing and publishing world. And the Reps’ public hearing was the perfect platform to show her disdain for Congress by refusing to answer questions from a “convicted child abuser” (medyo unfair), trading snide for snide, and venting her own grievances, among them the rumors of HOR plans to impeach her, never mind that certain Reps have denied it again and again.

At some point it was clear that the VP was baiting daring challenging the Reps to cite her in contempt but the Reps didn’t bite. I suppose because there are other ways to skin a cat? Read “Unhinged” by Philstar’s Ana Marie Pamintuan. https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2024/08/28/2381011/unhinged

The hearing was held on the same day that the second quarter OCTA survey results were released, showing BBM’s trust ratings rising and the VP’s falling, with the President rating higher than the VP for the first time.

If VP Sara’s game plan for the budget hearing was that the best defense is a good offense, it didn’t succeed. It was painful watching the VP in her bratty worst, answering questions about the budget with non-sequiturs, and showing zero respect for committee on appropriations chair Stella Quimbo.

Perhaps all the frustrations over the loss of the VP’s perks – the P650 million in confidential funds, her Cabinet portfolio and seat in the anti-communist task force, and likely rejection even of the P10 million for her children’s book project – had all boiled over.

In going ballistic, the VP came off unhinged.

Even folks who had no love lost for Quimbo and several of the lawmakers at the hearing found themselves cheering for the House members.

If the VP keeps this up, by the time the 2028 elections roll around, her ratings could be below zero like her staunch supporter GMA in the twilight of the Arroyo presidency.

Impeaching VP Sara won’t even be necessary.

Unless, of course, the BBM admin messes up on Quibuloy, the West Ph Sea, and the POGO ban. Then all bets are off.

Polvoron highs

If you’re paying attention to the DDS campaign to oust PBBM that’s happening on social media, you would be coming to the conclusion that the DDS camp is seriously thinking People Power: Kung nagawa natin sa ama noong 1986, kaya nating gawin sa anak ngayong 2024. And you just know that the DDS dream is for VP Sara to take over — she should never have slid down to veep, she could would have beaten BBM.

These days ang isyung nangingibabaw na naman vs BBM is that he was known to be a cocaine user — may bagong witness pa na taga-Davao na dating kerida ng isang kabarkada etc. etc. when BBM was in the Senate — and the DDS say that the people are asking for proof that he’s not using any longer, and that long-term use has not negatively affected his mental faculties and decision-making capacities so important in running the country, atbp.

The same sort of questions we asked of PRRD back in the days when he looked sick and stumbling or just plain slow and barely understandable, and he admitted to being on Fentanyl — a potent and highly addictive prescription drug — for severe pains. If memory serves, we also asked for an official medical report to assure us that  he was still up to the demands of running a government, and the Duterte admin completely ignored such questions.

Maybe the DDS peeps and vloggers have forgotten, or maybe they hope we’ve forgotten.

And what if, even if, a credible witness steps up with indubitable proof that the prez continues to use in private, would not the president enjoy immunity from suit?

ANTONIO T. CARPIO : Under Philippine law the President enjoys immunity from suit and cannot be investigated or prosecuted for any criminal offense while he remains in office. https://opinion.inquirer.net/137151/presidential-immunity-from-suit

I imagine that this would be when “People Power” could come in. The question is, would the DDS be able to rouse and mobilize a critical mass to oust the prez nonviolently as in EDSA?

Hard to tell, actually. Magugulat ako, either way.

SONAkakaduda 2024 #FactsFirst

PBBM: Mahigit limanglibo at limang daang flood control projects ang natapos na at marami pang iba ang kasalukuyang ginagawa sa buong bansa. [Applause]

The following night bumuhos ang katakutakot na ulan at bumaha nang bonggang bongga across Luzon, even in places that never used to flood, so reminiscent of Ondoy2009, The following day a state of calamity was declared in all of Metro Manila, Bataan, Bulacan, Batangas, and Cavite. [Ambilis ng balik]

DJ Chacha https://x.com/_djchacha/status/1816275607157874692 
Last year, 147.5 Billion Pesos ang total budget for flood control projects for Metro Manila only. Sa lake ng halaga na yan paulit ulit pa rin ang problema natin sa baha. Anyare? 

PING LACSON
It is because most of the budget for the flood control projects flood the pockets of the proponents in Congress in connivance with the implementing agencies and their favorite contractors.

So, were there really 5,500 finished flood control projects?  If yes, what difference did they make? Totoo ba na walang-epek sapagkat substandard ang materyales at trabaho sapagkat kung minsan halos kalahati na lang ang pondo dahil sa mga komisyon ng kongresista, DPWH, LGU, at contractor? [Guys, mahiya naman kayo]

So now I’m wondering, too, about other stuff BBM said at the SONA that were met with great joy by nation: the ban on POGOs and the unequivocal stand on the West Philippine Sea, in particular. 

Already nakikiusap ang PAGCOR that “12 of the 43 POGO companies” be spared kasi masyadong marami ang mawawalan ng trabaho. Yan na rin ang concern ni Senator Tolentino sa isang interview with Karen Davila back in June that I blogged on: #BagongPilipinasWalangPOGO.

G. Senador, lumang tugtugin na ang ganyang justification: na may mga Pinoy na mawawalan ng trabaho. Iyan na rin ang daíng ng mga taga-Zambales at Pampanga nung isasara na ang US bases. But the good Senators of the 8th Congress agreed that the welfare of the whole, the common good, is more important than the welfare of the few.

Besides, the US bases and POGOs were bad ideas to begin with.

And yeah, great that he took such an unequivocal stand on the West Philippine Sea and had the grace to thank our fishermen, coast guards, and soldiers for their vigilance and sacrifice. I was hoping he would say, too, that the repairs of BSP Sierra Madre are to proceed apace whether China likes it or not ’cause #AtinAngAyungin! Alas, bitin. [Unless I missed it lang]

There’s a lot more na kaduda-duda especially re the grand promises of infra and ayuda. Saan kaya kukuha ng pera na panggastos? Lubog na tayo sa utang.  Bugbog na tayo sa taxes. Paano na ba. 

Looking for kakampi, post-SONA, it was good to hear some credible pundits airing similar concerns on social media.

Check out Christian Esguerra’s political podcast Facts and Fiction in President Marcos Jr.’s 2024 SONA  with guests Pulse Asia president and political science Prof Ronnie Holmes, RJ activist and PNoy’s political adviser ex-Sec Ronald Llamas, UP econ prof. and ex-Finance USec Cielo Magno, and PR strategist Alan German na anak ni PR OG Reli whom I sort of knew back in the days.

Holmes, Llamas, and Magno are better informed than most, with a sense of the true state of affairs, past to present, and who clearly care about nation. German is a glib PR political tactician who always seems to know more than he’s telling and teases with tips on how-to-sell politicians, among other powertrippers. Host Esguerra, once of ANC, steers the talk with a GenZ’s take on national concerns that tends to provoke discussion, though only up to a point. 

Unlike public affairs TV talkshows of yore, there’s a lot of banter, chortling, private jokes, whatever, between Esguerra and German, Esguerra and Llamas, apparently to keep the talk from getting too serious,  or maybe his regulars like his GenZ sense of humor, I’m not sure. Whatever, it’s medyo nakaka-put-off, but the serious exchanges were | are worth staying for. 

The same goes for Magno’s Chikahan podcast that premiered the Friday before the SONA with Llamas as senatoriable Edu Mansanas. It was the best conversation I’d heard yet on the state of the nation 2024, though you’d have to sit through some  patawa and pababaw moments that interrupt trains of thought. And parang the sax and sing-along numbers are for another kind of podcast altogether. 

If senior-short-memory serves, Magno and Llamas had a brief exchange about the pink movement, recalling what that campaign was like, how huge the crowds, how magical, parang EDSA, or something to that effect [sorry ang hirap hanapin ng exact words]. That was a pretty solid base of 14M – 15M voters, as it turns out — some 14.4M voted her in as VP in 2016, and some 15M voted her for president in 2022. 

And if my social media algo is any gauge, buhay na buhay pa ang kakampinks  — a third force neither pro-Marcos nor pro-Sara — naghihintay lang ng timon at direksyon. Which brings me back to Esguerra’s and Magno’s podcasts, the likes of which can be the perfect vehicles for thinking Filipinos with a bias for the Common Good to discuss current issues frankly and in depth, hopefully towards a consensus to organize around certain advocacies — like flood control, land use, anti-dynasty, proper wage hike, divorce law, atbp. — that sina Bam and Chel et al. could campaign on and carry into Congress in 2025.  Hope springs.

***

SONA blogs across three admins 2008 – 2019

SONA 2019 message: he ain’t no lame duck, not yet anyway

ChaCha: Duterte’s endgame #SONA2018 #NoToChaCha

SONAkakasindak 2017

sona, tsona, torre de manila #takeitdown (2015)

SONAkakaiyak (2014)

SONA’s deafening silence on coco levy loot atbp. (2013)

SONA as farce (2013)

the spin that is SONA(kakasuya) (2011)

SONAkakadismaya (2010)

kontra-SONA (2008)