Category: senate

Senate Prez Chiz

Surprise, surprise, Sen. Bato got his 4th PDEA hearing last Monday (so much for my fearless forecast), and former LizaMarcos-law-partner Paquito Ochoa made an appearance and denied having anything to do with the aborted PDEA investigation. Short and sweet.

Then came the contempt citations on Jonathan Morales and Erik Santiago, which didn’t really surprise — napuno finally ang salop nina Bato at Jinggoy. What was curious was Chiz dropping in with a weird rather out-of-place smile on his face, which only made sense later in the day when I heard of the plenary session and caught him delivering his first speech as Senate Prez. Kaya pala. What a coup.

Of course my first thought was, the Palace must be pleased: the first couple was surely unhappy that Migs allowed the PDEA hearings at all, and that the chacha train has yet to get moving.

But Chiz says tuloytuloy ang PDEA probe, and he is still against chacha and does not plan to change his position.

And then again, what’s left ba for Bato to probe? The alleged threats to harm Morales? But the source Erik Santiago has already testified that he was lying, kathang isip lang yung kuwento niyang pinapatahimik ni Liza Marcos si Morales via a James Kumar who has already issued a statement denying it all. I guess Bato is simply leaving no bato unturned in case he gets lucky and some legit info turns up?

As for charter change, Migs has pointed out that not all the senators who voted for Chiz are also anti-chacha. “Strange bedfellows” indeed.

But knowing Chiz, a very public figure (more so since Heart entered his life) who’s impressively smart, sharp, and politically savvy, I can believe that the coup was on his own initiative, and, even, that he has a game plan in aid of restoring the independence of the Senate.  The shining example, of course, is 1991 when, against President Cory’s wishes, the Senate led by Jovito Salonga voted against the US bases.

“The proposed treaty is overwhelmingly one-sided and lopsided in favor of the United States,” said Sen. Agapito Aquino, the president’s brother-in-law, who voted against the treaty.

“I love my country more than I love my president,” he said. https://www.latimes.com/archives/

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“Orocan moments” by Ana Marie Pamintuan
“The beheading” by Lito Banayo

kwentong kokeyn… itutuloy?

senator bato says he wants a fourth hearing — isa-subpoena na niya si paquito ochoa, executive secretary ni PNoy in 2012, na dalawang beses nang naipatawag ngunit busy daw noong una, at may covid naman nitong ikalawa.

ang tanong, can sen bato be stopped from holding one more hearing?

at the last one, senators jinggoy and chiz and senate prez migs mismo were quite obviously unhappy that the hearings were being used as platform for a jonathan morales who insists that the PDEA document attributed to him that someone leaked to the hitad vlogger is authentic. but jinggoy chiz and migs insist right back that morales is not exactly a credible source, given his history, which decidedly does not inspire confidence that he’s telling the truth at any time. parang he has his own agenda, the way he’s been pandering to both the senate and the hitad vlogger.  and really, what does jinggoy’s credibility (or lack of it) have to do with morales’s credibility as reluctant whistleblower. loose cannons get boring, too.

Dela Rosa is persistent. He said that as chairman of the Senate committee on public order, he has the prerogative on the matter, including scheduling one more hearing next week.

“I am asking my colleagues and the Senate President that even though it’s just a motu propio investigation, [allow me] one more time, it will only be one more,” he said. https://www.rappler.com/philippines/bato-dela-rosa

my fearless forecast, given the political temper of the times: mananaig ang interes ng nakaupo. no 4th hearing.

of course i’m half-hoping i’m wrong, na sen bato prevails, and exec.sec ochoa either shows up, or does not. #abangan

Kaabang-abang ang next episodes… kuwentong Tsina at kuwentong kokeyn

KUWENTONG TSINA

May 7 Tuesday, China released an audio recording of a Jan 2024 phone conversation between some Chinese official and Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos (AFP Western Command) where Carlos is supposed to have agreed on a new way of managing tensions over Ayungin Shoal.  Also, China was supposedly assured that Defense Sec Gibo Teodoro, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, and AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner “all concurred with the plan”.

Say pa ng China, they released the video not to embarrass the Philippines but to prove that they were not lying about a recent agreement. One that China alleges was unilaterally abandoned by the Philippines “for no good reason.” 

May 8 Wednesday, Defense Sec. Gibo Teodoro response was to cast doubt on the recording, citing the Chinese government’s “propensity for misinformation.” And surprise surprise, Vice Admiral Carlos has gone on “personal leave” and cannot be reached for confirmation. And we are all supposed to just be upset, like Sec Gibo, that the Chinese have apparently violated our Anti-Wire Tapping Law?

It would be good to know if there was such a conversation or not.  If there was not, why was Vice Admiral Carlos allowed (made?) to go on leave instead of being ordered to tell the truth and assisted in disputing the authenticity of the audio recording?  Is it possible that there was such a conversation and Gibo et al knew about it but are resolved to deny it because at the time they were hedging their bets in case the US-Japan-Ph alliance didn’t pull through?  Could this be our version of gray tactics?  Sino ba talaga ang na-embarrass?  Meron bang na-embarrass?  All is fair in love and war? Kaabang-abang.

KUWENTONG KOKEYN

Circa 2012 pa ang dokumentong nakahain — authentic nga ba, tulad ng say ni Sen. Bato?  Mapapa-appear kaya niya sa senate hearing si dating executive secretary Paquito Ochoa na sinasabing siyang nagpahinto ng napipintong PDEA investigation of BBM noong 2012 dahil law partners sila ni Liza Marcos once upon a time? Meron bang basis ang proposed investigation other than info from the two maids whom Maricel Soriano dismissed for theft in 2011?

Pero sabihin pa natin, for the sake of argument, na totoo lahat iyon 12 years ago. What makes DDS vloggers think that it is reasonable to conclude without evidence that BBM is presently a drug addict and therefore not competent to run government?  Doesn’t it remind of Duterte times when he seemed really slow and stumbling and ill or on fentanyl, but when we asked to be assured about his health and whether he was still up to the job, we were ignored? Kesyo confidential daw ang medical records ng presidente, or something like that? Nothing has changed, guys. Tiis muna. Hysterics don’t work.

Pero kaabang-abang pa rin kung totoong ire-reveal na ng hitad na vlogger ang source(s?) niya of leaked documents and phone conversations. Wire-tapping, anyone?

The Senate’s Turn: NO to Chacha #7of10

Check out Pulse Asia’s March 2024 Nationwide Survey on Charter Change and weep for joy! Marami pala tayo!

Opposition to charter change is the predominant sentiment among adults in the country (74%) and becomes more notable from March 2023 to March 2024 (+43 percentage points)

Around three-fourths of the adult population do not see the need for charter change, regardless of timing. This opinion is echoed by small to big majorities in the various areas and classes (69% to 82% and 58% to 89% respectively). https://pulseasia.ph/updates/march-2024-nationwide-survey-on-charter-change/

The House of Reps, as expected, is screaming (in a manner of speaking) na black propaganda lang ang survey results, misleading daw and biased ang mga tanong, at kung ano-ano pa. To which Pulse Asia President Ronnie Holmes coolly replied:

“We have been running the questions for 20 years,” he said. https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/04/01/2344369/pulse-asia-stands-survey-results

Of course the HoReps are defensive: they just practically railroaded the HoR’s Resolution of Both Houses #7 (RBH7) allegedly because econchacha is what the people want and need.  Introduced on Feb 17, the House got it past public hearings, debates, first reading, second reading, and third reading, and approved it 288-2 with two absentions by March 20. Pwede pala ‘yon, just ONE MONTH to process a resolution into approval by 3/4 of all its members! Amazing race ba?

EASTER MONDAY morning I caught a Teleradyo newsclip of a Rep perorating on why he doesn’t believe Pulse Asia‘s numbers and that a plebiscite is still the way to go. Hmph! Hindi naniniwala sa scientific findings ng Pulse Asia on chacha 2024 pero bilib na bilib sila sa Pulse Asia noong 2022 nang inilabas ang high numbers ni BBM vs. Robredo. C’mon, Reps, be consistent naman. This insane chacha mission isn’t doing the House (Lower nga) or Nation any good. Take off the blinders.

SAMANTALA, SA SENADO

“Eye-opener” ang Pulse Asia survey, sey naman ni Senate Prez Migs Zubiri. A sign that the Upper House is right not to make chacha madali.

“This survey shows it is an unpopular move, with almost nine out of 10 Filipinos opposed to changing the Charter,” Zubiri said.

Meanwhile, those supportive of charter change drastically went down from 41 percent in March 2023 to just eight percent in the latest survey.

“These are things to be weighed in and carefully put into consideration by the subcommittee and the Senate as a whole,” Zubiri said.

Zubiri said the Senate will conduct hearings around the country to gauge the public’s sentiments about charter change. https://politiko.com.ph/2024/03/30/dapat-di-minamadali

I’m not sure I get what the Senate Prez is saying. More hearings in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao will only tell the Senate what we’ve all already heard from the “experts” pro and con, ad infinitum, all through the first three months of the year. Pulse Asia has just given us already a gauge of public sentiment — 7 of 10 Pinoys don’t want chacha EVER. Now it’s the Senate’s turn to vote, and show us that the Upper House is one with the People at this critical point in time.

Surely it’s not possible that 18 of 24 senators would dare defy public sentiment, not when midterm elections are imminent.  And if the Senate insists on more public hearings, and more time to “gauge public sentiment”, and more time to woo anti-chacha senators with ex-deals and the like, it would be like the Upper House were hoping over time to sway public sentiment to a YES, and, even, that the Senate were set on pandering to the Palace and, yes, to the Lower House.

What happened to the independence of the Upper House? Suddenly I’m missing Tito Sen. I’m not sure why, but I imagine HE would have said NO to econ chacha from the first, walang nego-nego, walang miting-miting sa palasyo.  Of course there’s still also the People’s Initiative card that HoR-PIRMA is forever threatening the Senate, us, with. But saying YES to econchacha just because parang it’s a done deal, what the prez wants the prez gets, is like the Senate saying conceding that We the People have no say on the matter. C’mon, senators, level it up naman!

THINK AGAIN

I dare say that the spike in numbers of Pinoys saying NO to chacha, from 31% to 74% over the period March 2023 to March 2024, was actually triggered by the President’s embrace of the first cousin’s chacha campaign in December 2023.

On the matter of Marcos and chacha, we have long memories.

We haven’t forgotten that in the tatay’s time as president, we saw the 1971 Constitutional Convention hijacked, and the result was the unlamented 1973 Martial Law Constitution, complete with term extensions galore and the walang-kamatayang Amendment 6.

THIS time, the anak as president played hard to get muna, then changed his mind, even asked the Senate to do it without the “fuss” that attended the House’s fake People’s Initiative. All in aid lang daw of lifting economic restrictions, the better daw to adjust to a globalized world, never mind that it’s not what the economy needs. Like father like son.

Nakaka-deja-vu, di ba.

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Charter change does not address the binding constraints https://www.bworldonline.com/

Why won’t they heed people’s voice vs Cha-cha? https://www.manilatimes.net/

Pulse Asia Survery: Filipinos Prefer Foxtrot Over Cha-cha!  https://adobochronicles.com/