Even while a “junglegate” tempest is currently brewing in literary circles, we, journalists who do not belong in that ivory league, continue to write from the trenches. But we must stand with the hurt and the hurting, literary brilliance on the part of the suspects with their proclivities notwithstanding.
That’s from Inquirer columnist Ceres P. Doyo‘s “Soliloquy in D flat major”, also an invitation to the Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) where her signing sked for a new book — How I Became a Writer 2: Essays by Filipino Writers, edited by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, published by Vibal — and other titles is 4 p.m. tomorrow Saturday.
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The bad news is, the Supreme Court reversed the November 2018 Sandiganbayan decision that convicted Imelda Marcos of 7 counts of graft. The decision, penned by Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda, seems uninformed of the 2003 Supreme Court ruling that the recovered funds from Swiss foundations, involving more than $200 Million, to be ill-gotten wealth, stolen from public monies. Biglang may reasonable doubt kuno. “An ‘insult’ to decades of public accountability efforts,” say ni former PCGG commissioner Ruben Carranza to Karmina Constantino on ANC Alerts. Nakakainit ng ulo. Obviously the campaign to whitewash the Marcos name, even if only for their history books, continues apace.
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Nakakataas naman ng kilay ang drama ni Senate majority floor leader Migz Zubiri, first complaining about how tired he is, what with the impeachment trial and budget deliberations, and then suddenly admitting, agreeing with the DDS, na dapat ay may pahintulot muna ng local courts bago inilipad si Digong sa Holland, and this on the heels of VP Sara exclaiming for all to hear that she doesn’t trust our courts, or something like that. Tila gulung-gulo’t hirap na hirap si Sen Migz, taga-Mindanao ba kasi? Closet DDS bai, for whatever reason? At masakit sa ulo at sa puso ang impeachment trial ni VP? Smile, Migz, you’re on candid camera ;-)
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Babalik pa kaya sina Sen Alan Peter at Sen Pia Cayetano? Babalik pa kaya sina Sen Loren Legarda at Rep Leandro Leviste? May mga nagpupustahan na malamang, in the hundreds, some in the thousands, of pesos, maybe more, just like noong nabalitang aarestuhin si former Speaker Martin. Parang championship match, pustahan na lang. Either hindi na babalik dahil takot makulong a la Marcoleta and Estrada. Or babalik dahil innocent sila until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. The latest though from NBI director Melvin Matibag to Tony Velasquez on DZMM is, pabalik ang mga Cayetano over the weekend. Sana all.
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RANDY DAVID: “Justice by attrition” https://opinion.inquirer.net/194394/justice-by-attrition
There was, [Justice Francis] Garchitorena believed, a deliberate strategy of delay across some 32 cases. Through pleadings and repeated postponements, the cases dragged on; original documents went missing; changes in the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) leadership meant custody of evidence was not always consistent. But what struck me most was his final observation: that with enough time, the fate of a case could change completely, once a less adversarial administration came into power.
He was describing, 35 years in advance, what happened this month.
IRIS GONZALES: “From presidential plunder to acquittal” https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2026/09/13/2555878/presidential-plunder-acquittal
One cannot blame the skeptics for thinking that Romualdez’s arrest may have been just a ploy to satisfy the public and cushion the possible backlash of the SC’s jaw-dropping acquittal of the presidential mother whose name has become synonymous with extravagance and opulence. “Imeldific,” though not listed in mainstream dictionaries, is in every Filipino’s vocabulary.
MANOLO QUEZON: “practically at the start of the current restoration (dec 2022 if memory serves) the current soon to retire cj laid it all out not just for the once and again first family but their entire 1986 cohort: the principle that “justice delayed is justice denied” and voila you have what you have.”
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