What’s PBBM waiting for? #OFWsLebanon

Trying to understand why the prez does not seem to think it’s urgent that we evacuate our OFWs from Lebanon ASAP. Dahil kaya umaasa pa siya na maaawat pa ang Israel bombings sa lalong madaling panahon, at mawawala na ang panganib? O dahil ba ayaw niyang mapilitan na umuwi pati ang mga OFW na malayo pa sa panganib o ayaw umuwi dahil wala namang uuwiang hanapbuhay dito? Whatever. It behooves him to order ASAP the rescue of the thousands na matagal nang humihingi ng saklolo.

Evacuate OFWs out of war zone
Inquirer Editorial 

Over the weekend, the United Nations (UN) issued a warning that foreign domestic workers in Lebanon were being abandoned or locked in their employers’ homes as Lebanese families flee the escalating conflict between Israel and the armed group Hezbollah.

According to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), many of the 170,000 foreign domestic workers in Lebanon are women from Ethiopia, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Bangladesh, and the Philippines.

On Tuesday, Israel said it had begun ground operations in southwest Lebanon against the Iran-backed Hezbollah which is allied with Hamas. The conflict has put the Middle East on edge, with Iran warning Israel against further attacks, and the UN pleading for a diplomatic solution to the brewing regional conflagration.

But with Israel starting its invasion into Lebanon, it is a race against time to keep foreign workers, including some 11,000 Filipinos, out of harm’s way.

The Philippine government cannot afford to continue its seemingly nonchalant way of handling the situation, choosing to implement alert level 3 which calls for voluntary repatriation of OFWs instead of moving them out of the conflict zone immediately.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said only around 1,000 Filipinos in Lebanon have expressed willingness to be repatriated last month. Deputy Assistant Secretary Marlowe Miranda claimed Filipinos in Beirut don’t want the DFA to raise the alert level to 4, which requires mandatory evacuation, because this would mean they cannot obtain clearance to return to Lebanon.

Lackadaisical attitude

But several OFWs in Lebanon have appealed to President Marcos last month to immediately repatriate them, as they expressed frustration at what they described was slow government response.

… Instead of waiting for the OFWs to come to the designated shelters, Philippine officials should move to secure the proper exit clearances and secure alternative land or sea transport for their immediate evacuation as air travel in Lebanon has been disrupted by the airstrikes. Only 111 Filipinos have taken refuge in a shelter in Beirut, a mere tenth of the Filipinos working in Lebanon.

Back in 2015, when the security situation worsened in Libya where at least seven Filipinos were abducted, then freshly appointed Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario flew to Tunisia to personally direct the evacuation of 400 Filipinos across the border from Libya. According to the DFA, Del Rosario—who died in April last year—personally traveled several times to Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Egypt, which resulted in the repatriation of over 24,000 Filipinos from these countries torn by civil strife and other disasters.

No less than this kind of hands-on approach is needed by the government to spare any more Filipino blood in the raging conflict in the Middle East.

IMEEproblema, IMEEsolusyon

When PBBM announced that Senator Imee was one of the 12 senatorial candidates of his Alyansa 2025, it wasn’t totally unexpected, kahit pa panay ang patutsada ng senadora sa maraming policies of the kapatid’s admin. Blood is thicker than water, after all?  Except that Imee was a no-show at the convention, and the very next day, death anniv of Ferdinand Sr., she released a video thanking her bro, sabay announce that she chooses to run as an Independent.

35 na taon ng nakalipas ngayong araw mula nung pumanaw ang ama ko, ngunit buhay na buhay ang mga aral nya sa aking puso. Kaya’t bilang panganay niya, pinipili kong manindigan nang malaya’t matatag, tulad niya; na wala na dapat kampihan kundi ang Sambayanang Pilipino.”
https://www.facebook.com/ImeeMarcos/videos/523695270524068 

Umm… Marcos was with the Liberal Party until 1964, with the Nacionalista Party during his presidencies 1965 – ’72, “independent” only during the dictatorship 1972 – ’86. But whatever. I imagine that Imee is playing to Marcos loyalists, even as Duterte’s Diehard Supporters (DDS) are demanding na ilaglag niya unequivocally si BBM. Otherwise daw it’s like she’s just namamangka sa dalawang ilog, which she denied in a press briefing with Senate reporters today. https://www.facebook.com/

I’m not sure  that it’s not just more of the sibs playing good-cop-bad-cop to disarm us, even as their kids quietly follow in their footsteps. Lalo na’t hindi naman daw na-offend si BBM: welcome pa rin daw si Imee in case she wants to join the Alyansa’s sorties. https://www.tiktok.com/@newswatchplusph/video

Likewise this from Philstar‘s Cito Beltran gives Imee the benefit of the doubt.

Blood is thicker but venom is a killer
https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2024/09/30/2388918/blood-thicker-venom-killer

At face value, the inclusion of Senator Imee Marcos in the administration’s list of candidates may have seemed like a conciliatory gesture. It was certainly a surprise to people who have followed the political K-drama in Malacañang, where Senator Imee has been treated more as an outsider than presidential relative for at least a year if not more.

It’s tempting to call her inclusion as political window dressing to show that the Marcos Unity Team stands strong against all foes. To take it a step further, it was obviously an attempt to break the Imee-Sara alliance or friendship forged during Imee’s period of “destierro” and paint Imee as a “compromising politician” if she abandoned Sara Duterte.

But to her credit and lessons learned, Senator Imee stood her ground, politely thanked the administration for the inclusion and in the same breath declared her independence. That was a very polite “Thanks, but no thanks.”

It is often said that when it comes to family, “blood is thicker than water.” But judging from the many hits and hurts that Imee Marcos suffered from relatives and ex-friends, I surmise that Imee’s version is now: “Blood is thicker, but venom is more poisonous.”

With all her political experience and wisdom, Imee knows a possible set-up or booby trap come campaign and election time. If Senator Imee relies on her being a presidential sister and administration candidate, she could be left hanging in terms of funds and political support. Imee knows that more than anything, she is window dressing for the administration for many reasons.

But when the campaign and elections get really tough and close, favor will go to the candidates who bring something to the table apart from family ties and an independent mind. Many of those in the administration’s senatorial line-up represent a political party, a bailiwick, interest groups, funds or star power. With PBBM already President, Imee brings nothing else. The chances of her being dropped or “malaglag” are high and inevitable.

She has no guarantee that she will have the full support of the administration, particularly a Congress headed by Speaker Romualdez. Deny it as much as they want, but even their own friends and relatives swear that there is no love lost between them. Instead, it’s all distrust and distaste.

Declaring herself to be an “independent candidate” allows Imee to have her cake and eat it too. She can thumb her nose at those who cancelled her politically, show Filipinos the value of loyalty to those who stood by her during her political “exclusion” and prove to the Duterte supporters that she has courage as much as her friend Sara Duterte.

There is a popular post on social media that says: “Don’t stay where you are disrespected. Go where you are recognized.” If Senator Imee lives up to her independence, loyalty to friends and cause and continues to be tactical and strategic in her narrative and objectives, she may have more to offer to voters than the troublemakers or “Gawa Gulo” inside the administration.

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.

Alice & Cassandra

I was hoping to finish a post on that million-$ surprise birthday gift to the prez but was completely distracted by the QUAD hearing that saw Alice aka Guo Hua Ping and Cassandra Ong back in their hot seats in Congress.

While the girls continue to invoke their right against self-incrimination, the fact that they fled the country back in July has been taken, naturally, as sign of guilt in connection with POGOs and related crimes, from falsification of documents to human trafficking to money laundering.  alice-guo-timeline/story/

Nakaka-impress ang documented info that Senators Risa and Win, and now the QUAD Reps, are surfacing in the course of interrogations and interpellations. Great research work. Or have these files/dossiers long been in the gathering by, maybe, civil society stalwarts, or plain political operators — Pinoy, Chinoy, CIA, whatever — just waiting for the right time to share with legislators?  At may matrix na rin daw, a la Dutz back in EJK days, how audacious.

But the most intriguing of all are these two girls, who are such unlikely Pinays, neither ever having gone daw to regular school, and yet we would never have guessed, given the confident way they carry themselves, with good command of English and Tagalog, one even got elected Mayor of Bamban at 36 (maybe 32, depending on what year she was really born); the other at 24 is the Authorized Rep of the Porac POGO Lucky South 99, and also the girlfriend of Alice’s brother Wesley, whose Chinese name Alice doesn’t know daw, I can’t imagine why.

Kapani-paniwala tuloy ang suspicion ni Tony Lopez ng Philstar that Alice speaks the truth when she says she grew up in a farm. /farm-spies-and-romances

Alice of Bambanland is determined to wear the senators’ patience thin by simply lying, lying, lying. Yes, this is a 34-year-old woman raised in a farm – a spy farm. Her training is good. In the CIA farm, one learns about “explosives, booby traps, escape and evasion techniques, survival training and interrogation.”

Per Quora, spy farms indeed were farms which were commandeered during World War II, along with the farmhouses, and repurposed into training schools for spy officers. So when Alice Guo says “laki ako sa farm,” she just might be telling the senators the truth. In this light, hindi kaya Guo’s lawyers are also “laki sa farm?” They lie better than Guo herself.

So maybe the Chinese version of a spy farm, complete with a piggery whose pigs had to be protected from germs from the outside world, which Alice alleges is the reason she wasn’t allowed to leave the farm and go to regular school like ordinary Pinoy kids. Kahit wala pa namang swine fever dito noon.

Fast-forward to QUAD. When she said she would only name names in an executive session because of death threats, the Reps asked if she would name the Filipino officials who facilitated her July escape, among other amazing stunts. Her reply was very definite: no local officials involved. Which of course raised everyone’s eyebrows. And when allowed by the Reps to make a final statement re an executive session, she said she would be willing if the Reps promised to believe her, referring I think to her earlier insistence that she could only tell of what and who she knew and she truly didn’t know a lot.

Quad comm’s mandate is [to] conduct hearings into the possible connection between Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs) and illegal drugs, extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and human rights violations during the bloody war waged by the six-year Rodrigo Roa Duterte presidency. /farm-spies-and-romances

I find myself giving Alice the benefit of the doubt only in the matter of how much she knows about the larger operation. I can believe that she’s a low-level player in the POGO game — her handlers tell her only what she needs to know. But it doesn’t mean she’s an insignificant catch, not when she was rising, slowly but surely, in the political arena.

It was like she came out of nowhere in 2022 — BBM had never heard of her before she was elected Bamban mayor as an independent, besting the NPC candidate in a 7-way fight.  And take note: during the campaign she endorsed BBM and Sara but “Angat Buhay” PINK was her color. What was up with that?

In the run-up to her election in 2022, Guo flew to a campaign event in her helicopter (black with a pink stripe) while crowds were treated to a huge firework display and DJ set. theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/04/inside-mystery-alice-guo-missing-philippines-mayor

By the 3rd quarter of 2023, she had so impressed the DILG — Benhur Abalos, was that you? Ikaw talaga! — that she was awarded a Seal of Good Local Governance, which apparently qualified her to join the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), the most sosyal of political parties founded by Danding Cojuangco. will-alice-guo-run-under-marcos-jr-slate-in-2025-elections-053

She has, of course, since been expelled from the party.

“The NPC will not tolerate any unlawful acts or any appearance of impropriety by its members that will undermine the principle of our party,” NPC President Vicente Sotto III said in a letter to Tarlac Gov. Susan Yap, the NPC provincial chairperson.
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/06/24/2365131/alice-guo-expelled-npc-member

Sabi nga ni NPC-affiliated Ping Lacson sa X:
https://x.com/iampinglacson/status/1833087910851260596

The way Guo Hua’ping a.k.a Alice Guo was taking the senators for a ride during the hearing, she could be a trained and smart foreign spy who had already started to climb the ladder of the country’s political structure as an elected municipal mayor.

In the realm of possibilities, she could be a member of Congress who has access to highly classified information with national security implications.

Had PAOCC not exposed her illegal activities, what if, in the long term, she and her handlers, using money and/or influence, manage to get her appointed as DND secretary or National Security Adviser?

Paktaylo na tayo!

Indeed. That was a close call. Question is, how many more Alices and Cassandras are running around our political circles, if not already deeply highly embedded.