Duterte, Xi to work for peace, cooperation

September 6, 2019, 12:00 am

≫ Next: Police say 250 rogue cops charged, 200 more face charges

PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have both agreed to further strengthen bilateral ties and push for peace, development and cooperation between the two countries.

Xi recently met with Duterte at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, and the two leaders expressed their readiness to push forward ties. “Under the two sides’ joint efforts, bilateral ties smoothly realized taking an upturn and scoring consolidation and uplift, and continuously achieved tangible outcomes, during President Duterte’s administration over the past three years,” said Xi, expressing welcome for Duterte’s visit.

“At present, the international and regional situations are undergoing profound and complex changes. However, peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit are still an irresistible trend of the times,” Xi said.

Xi said he is willing to work with Duterte to continue to grasp the trend of the times from a strategic and long-term perspective, leading the sound development of bilateral ties. “This will not only benefit the two countries and their peoples, but will also add positive energy to regional peace and stability.”

He said it is necessary to continue to promote the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Philippine “Build, Build, Build” program, and implement major cooperative projects in such areas as infrastructure construction, industrial parks, telecommunications and energy.

“China is willing to import more high-quality fruits and agricultural products from the Philippines, and will send experts to the Philippines to teach agricultural and fishery technology,” said Xi.

On issues such as human rights, China will continue to firmly support the Philippines’ efforts to safeguard national sovereignty and resist external interference, said the Chinese president.

On the South China Sea issue, Xi said China and the Philippines have been maintaining effective communication. He said the two sides should set aside disputes, eliminate external interference, and concentrate on conducting cooperation, making pragmatic efforts and seeking development.

Xi said: “As long as the two sides handle the South China Sea issue properly, the atmosphere of bilateral ties will be sound, the foundation of the relationship will be stable, and regional peace and stability will have an important guarantee.” Both sides can take a “bigger step” in the joint development of offshore oil and gas, said Xi.

“The Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea is a pioneering undertaking in establishing rules and regulations in the South China Sea, and China and the Philippines should be committed to promoting the adoption of the COC at an early date,” said Xi, stressing an early adoption will demonstrate the firm position and positive stance of China and the Philippines to jointly safeguard the long-term stability of the region. (Xinhua. With additional report from Mindanao Examiner)

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Police say 250 rogue cops charged, 200 more face charges

October 5, 2019, 2:44 am

≫ Next: Barangay, SK polls inurong sa 2022!

≪ Previous: Duterte, Xi to work for peace, cooperation

THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE filed charges against 250 erring cops and over 200 more from other law enforcement agencies are facing charges.

The PNP said its Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG) formerly called the Counter-Intelligence Task Force (CITF), filed criminal charges against 124 arrested policemen, including 10 commissioned officers, 113 non-commissioned officers and one non-uniformed personnel from February 2017 up to September 11, 2019.

Most of those arrested were patrolman, corporal and staff sergeant. It said the charges had been filed with the Department of Justice. Out of 101 cops facing administrative cases, 65 were dismissed from the service and five had been suspended from their work, while two were exonerated, and four others and their ranks demoted and 25 cases had been dismissed.

PNP chief General Oscar Albayalde said the newly formed enforcement group replaced the two-year-old CITF and designed to conduct intelligence build-up and law enforcement operations against cops involved in illegal activities, such as drug and human trafficking, financial crimes, cybercrime, malversation, graft and corrupt practices, and security violations.

He said the IMEG commander Colonel Romeo Caramat will serve as the functional authority of the group with 306 uniformed personnel, consisting of 55 commissioned officers and 251 non-commissioned officers. “The PNP’s internal cleansing will be relentless and will continue on until all rogue cops especially those involved in illegal drugs will be weeded out from the service and charged in court,” Albayalde said. (Christopher Lloyd Caliwan)

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Barangay, SK polls inurong sa 2022!

October 5, 2019, 2:47 am

≫ Next: Embattled PNP Chief Albayalde resigns

≪ Previous: Police say 250 rogue cops charged, 200 more face charges

IBINASURA NG SENADO ang nakatakdang halalan para sa Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan na dapat sana ay sa Mayo 11, 2020 matapos na aprubahan ng mga mambabatas sa ikatlo at huling pagbabasa ng panukalang pagpapaliban ng eleksyon.

Itinakda ang susunod na eleksyon sa Disyembre 5, 2022 matapos tutulan ng mga senador ang original na panukalang gawin ang halalan sa Mayo 8, 2023.

Sa isinagawang botohan, pumabor ang 21 senador, walang tumutol at walang abstentions sa Senate Bill No. 1043 na inisponsoran ni Senador Imee Marcos na kilalang malapit kay Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte.

Si Marcos ang chairperson ng Senate committee on electoral reforms and people’s participation, at iginiit nito ang pagpapaliban sa halalan ay magreresulta sa P5 bilyon pondo na maaaring gamitin ng ibang ahensya ng pamahalaan.

Suportado rin ni Senate President Tito Sotto at House Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri ang pagpapaliban sa halalan. Kailangan pang ratipikahang ng bicameral conference ng Kongreso ang naturang panukala at isumite ito kay Duterte upang malagdaan. (Mindanao Examiner)

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Embattled PNP Chief Albayalde resigns

October 14, 2019, 1:33 am

≫ Next: Trump’s calls with foreign leaders have long worried aides, leaving some ‘genuinely horrified’ – The Washington Post

≪ Previous: Barangay, SK polls inurong sa 2022!

EMBATTLED NATIONAL POLICE Chief Oscar Albayalde, who was accused of recycling confiscated meth six years ago, has resigned Monday from his post barely a month before his retirement.

Albayalde’s deputy, Archie Gamboa, is now the officer-in-charge of the national police force. Albayalde previously said that he will not step down from his post as he strongly denied all allegations against him by former police officials.

“I leave my fate to the decision of the President,” said Albayalde before he announced his resignation.

Former police officer and now Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong and retired police officer Rudy Lacadin were among those who implicated Albayalde during a senate investigation into the involvement of policemen in recycling of meth confiscated from drug lords.

“I question the timing of this attack and smear campaign against me. Until now, despite the Senate hearings conducted, no hard evidence was ever presented showing that I was involved in that drug raid in Pampanga in 2013. All statements made remain allegations, insinuations, and unsubstantiated,” Albayalde said.

Albayalde was then the chief of police of Pampanga province. Lacadin, then with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, even said that at one time, Albayalde phoned him to inquire about an investigation into a dozen policemen implicated in the illegal drug trade.

He denied the accusation of Lacadin, who was a franchisee of his water refilling business in 2011. “Lacadin has a lot of explaining to do and he will have his day in court. All those police officials ganging up on me have ill motives against me and obviously all worked with the previous administration,” Albayalde said.

Last week, Duterte also defended Albayalde, saying, he has to follow due process on deciding on the fate of Albayalde. “I have to follow procedural due process and allow him time to answer, the right to be heard. It’s given to the criminals, to the kidnappers. It should be given to a general of the Philippine National Police because under the laws we’re all equal,” he said, adding, the most proper thing to do is to let Interior Secretary Eduardo Año to finish a parallel investigation into the allegations separate from the senate probe.

“Secretary Año will study the matter very carefully. Give me clear proof he was there on the take or was in the trafficking of drugs. But just because he was (then Pampanga police chief), tapos may tinawagan siya…I could not just do it in a knee-jerk (reaction),” Duterte said. (Mindanao Examiner)

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Trump’s calls with foreign leaders have long worried aides, leaving some ‘genuinely horrified’ – The Washington Post

October 17, 2019, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: CEZA exec eyes bamboo propagation in N. Luzon

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IN ONE OF his first calls with a head of state, President Trump fawned over Russian President Vladimir Putin, telling the man who ordered interference in America’s 2016 election that he was a great leader and apologizing profusely for not calling him sooner.

He pledged to Saudi officials in another call that he would help the monarchy enter the elite Group of Seven, an alliance of the world’s leading democratic economies. He promised the president of Peru that he would deliver to his country a C-130 military cargo plane overnight, a logistical nightmare that set off a herculean scramble in the West Wing and Pentagon. And in a later call with Putin, Trump asked the former KGB officer for his guidance in forging a friendship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un — a fellow authoritarian hostile to the United States.

Starting long before revelations about Trump’s interactions with Ukraine’s president rocked Washington, Trump’s phone calls with foreign leaders were an anxiety-ridden set of events for his aides and members of the administration, according to former and current officials. They worried that Trump would make promises he shouldn’t keep, endorse policies the United States long opposed, commit a diplomatic blunder that jeopardized a critical alliance, or simply pressure a counterpart for a personal favor.

“There was a constant undercurrent in the Trump administration of [senior staff] who were genuinely horrified by the things they saw that were happening on these calls,” said one former White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversations. “Phone calls that were embarrassing, huge mistakes he made, months and months of work that were upended by one impulsive tweet.”

But Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky went beyond whether the leader of the free world had committed a faux pas, and into grave concerns he had engaged in a possible crime or impeachable offense. The release last week of a whistle-blower complaint alleging Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate his political rivals as well as the release of a rough transcript of the July call led to House Democrats launching an impeachment inquiry against Trump.

The Ukraine controversy has put a renewed focus on Trump’s unorthodox way of interacting with fellow world leaders in diplomatic calls. Critics, including some former administration officials, contend that Trump’s behavior on calls with foreign leaders has at times created unneeded tensions with allies and sent troubling signals to adversaries or authoritarians that the United States supports or at least does not care about human rights or their aggressive behavior elsewhere in the world.

Joel Willett, a former intelligence officer who worked at the National Security Council from 2014 to 2015, said he was concerned both by the descriptions of a president winging it, and the realization that the president’s behavior disturbs and frightens career civil servants. “What a burden it must be to be stuck between your position of trust in the White House and another obligation you may feel to the American people to say something,” he said.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a Trump ally, said the president speaks his mind and diverges from other presidents who follow protocol. Graham said he saw nothing distressing in the president’s July 25 call with Zelensky and said he expected it to be worse, partially given his own experience with Trump on the phone.

“If you take half of my phone calls with him, it wouldn’t read as cleanly and nicely,” he said, adding that the president sounded like a “normal person.” This story is based on interviews with 12 former or current officials with knowledge of the president’s foreign calls. These officials had direct involvement in the calls, were briefed on them or read the transcripts afterward. All spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the president’s private conversations with world leaders.

The first call Trump made that set off alarm bells came less than two weeks after his inauguration. On Jan. 28, Trump called Putin for what should have been a routine formality: accepting a foreign leader’s congratulations. Former White House officials described Trump as “obsequious” and “fawning,” but said he also rambled off into different topics without any clear point, while Putin appeared to stick to formal talking points for a first official exchange.

“He was like, ‘Oh my gosh, my people didn’t tell me you wanted to talk to me,’ ” said one person with direct knowledge of the call. Trump has been consistently cozy with authoritarian leaders, sparking anxiety among aides about the solicitous tones he struck with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Putin.

“We couldn’t figure out early on why he was being so nice to Russia,” one former senior administration official said. H.R. McMaster, the president’s then-national security adviser, launched an internal campaign to get Trump to be more skeptical of the Russians. Officials expressed surprise in both of his early Putin calls at why he was so friendly.

In another call, in April 2017, Trump told Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who had overseen a brutal campaign that has resulted in the extrajudicial killings of thousands of suspected drug dealers, that he was doing an “unbelievable job on the drug problem.”

Trump’s personal goals seeped into calls. He pestered Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for help in recommending him for a Nobel Prize, according to an official familiar with the call. “People who could do things for him — he was nice to,” said one former security official. “Leaders with trade deficits, strong female leaders, members of NATO — those tended to go badly.”

Aides bristled at the dismissive way he sometimes addressed longtime U.S. allies, especially women. In a summer 2018 call with Prime Minister Theresa May, Trump harangued the British leader about her country’s contribution to NATO. He then disputed her intelligence community’s conclusion that Putin’s government had orchestrated the attempted murder and poisoning of a former Russian spy on British soil.

“Trump was totally bought into the idea there was credible doubt about the poisoning,” said one person briefed on the call. “A solid 10 minutes of the conversation is spent with May saying it’s highly likely and him saying he’s not sure.” Trump would sometimes make commitments to foreign leaders that flew in the face of U.S. policy and international agreements, as when he told a Saudi royal that he would support their country’s entry into the G-7.

“The G-7 is supposed to be the allies with whom we share the most common values and the deepest commitment to upholding the rules-based order,” the former official said. Russia was kicked out of the group in 2014 for violating international law when it invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea.

Trump has publicly advocated for Russia to be allowed back in. Saudi Arabia, which oppresses women and has a record of human rights abuses, wasn’t a fit candidate for membership, the former official said. Saudi Arabia was not admitted to the group. Calls with foreign leaders have often been highly orchestrated events in past administrations.

“When I was at the White House, there was a very deliberative process of the president absorbing information from people who had deep substantive knowledge of the countries and relationships with these leaders. Preparation for these calls was taken very seriously,” Willett said. “It appears to be freestyle and ad-libbed now.”

Trump has rejected much of the protocol and preparation associated with foreign calls, even as his national security team tried to establish goals for each conversation. Instead, Trump often sought to use calls as a way to befriend whoever he was talking to, one current senior administration official said, defending the president. “So he might say something that sounds terrible to the outside, but in his mind, he’s trying to build a relationship with that person and sees flattery as the way to do it.”

The president resisted long briefings before calls or reading in preparation, several former officials said. McMaster, who preferred providing the president with information he could use to make decisions, resigned himself to giving Trump small notecards with bulleted highlights and talking points.

“You had two to three minutes max,” said one former senior administration official. “And then he was still usually going to say whatever he wanted to say.” As a result, staff fretted that Trump came across ill-informed in some calls, and even oafish. In a conversation with China’s Xi, Trump repeated numerous times how much he liked a kind of chocolate cake, one former official said.

The president publicly described the dessert the two had in April 2017 when Trump and Xi met at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort as “the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake you have ever seen.”

Trump preferred to make calls from the residence, which frustrated some NSC staff and West Wing aides who wanted to be on hand to give the president real-time advice. If he held the call in the Oval Office, aides would gather around the desk and pass him notes to try to keep the calls on point. On a few occasions, then-Chief of Staff John F. Kelly muted the call to try to get the president back on track, two officials said. Tim O’Brien, a Trump biographer and critic, said the calls fit Trump’s style as a business leader.

“When he had to get on calls with investors on a publicly traded company, they had to worry that he would break securities laws and lie about the company’s profits,” O’Brien said. “When he would go and meet with regulators with the casino control commission, his lawyers were always worried under oath, in a public setting, that he would say something that would be legally damaging.”

Though calls with foreign leaders are routinely planned in advance, Trump a few times called Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron unannounced, as if they were friends, a former administration official said. After some early summaries of Trump calls with the leaders of Mexico and Australia leaked to the press in 2017, the White House tightened restrictions on who could access the transcripts and kept better track of who had custody of copies.

For example, Vice President Pence still received a courtesy copy of any foreign-leader call, but his staff now had to sign off when they transported it to his office and also sign off when they returned or destroyed the document. Some former officials said that over time staff became used to the oddity of some calls even if they still found them troubling. “People had gotten really numb to him blurting out something he shouldn’t have,” one former national security staffer remarked.

But officials who had served in the White House through the end of 2018 were still shocked by the whistle-blower complaint about the effort to “lock down” records of Trump’s July 25 call. The complaint said White House officials ordered the transcript moved into a highly secure computer system, known as NICE, which is normally reserved only for information about the most sensitive code-word-level intelligence programs. “Unheard of,” said one former official who handled foreign calls. “That just blew me away.”

Manila’s Reaction

But Duterte’s spokesman, Salvador Panelo said the article borders on rumour-mongering. “We understand that the reporters based their story on interviews with 12 former or current Trump officials who all spoke on the condition of anonymity. The fact that President Trump’s private conversations with world leaders are leaked freely to the press by unnamed sources is simply outlandish.”

“To headline it as genuinely horrified shows strong negative bias against the American President, as well as those personalities involved in the article. It violates the objectivity principle we expect from high-caliber journalists of The Washington Post,” he said.

Panelo said The Washington Post’s slogan is “Democracy Dies in Darkness” and it is “very apt in relation to the newspaper because it died in darkness when the prestigious publication engaged itself in political propaganda.”

“The anonymous staff interviewed is simply in the dark exhibiting his zero inside knowledge on the Philippines’ campaign against illegal drugs. President Trump’s praise of our anti-drug policy and action underscores the American leader’s fair judgment coming from his unlimited and unimpeded access to information,” he added. (By Carol D. Leonnig, Shane Harris and Josh Dawsey – The Washington Post. With additional reporting from The Mindanao Examiner.)

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CEZA exec eyes bamboo propagation in N. Luzon

November 5, 2019, 7:47 pm

≫ Next: May ‘pork barrel’ sa national budget?

≪ Previous: Trump’s calls with foreign leaders have long worried aides, leaving some ‘genuinely horrified’ – The Washington Post

THE CAGAYAN ECONOMIC Zone Authority (CEZA) is looking at propagating bamboo, fruit bearing trees and tulips in Northern Luzon to boost the government’s reforestation program.

In a phone interview Monday, Secretary Raul Lambino, Presidential Assistant for Northern Luzon and CEZA Administrator and Chief Executive Officer, said they have identified some areas in Pangasinan like Sual and Aguilar towns where there are vast government lands that can be planted with bamboo.

Lambino said they have also invited multi-million investors to put up businesses in Cagayan province and other areas to benefit the locals, especially the farmers.

“We are committed to put up the laboratory of Beema bamboo and other bamboo species there at CEZA. We are talking with investors in India to put up a tissue culture laboratory in CEZA. We are going to propagate and provide seedlings to different provinces,” he remarked.

“The Beema specie is like the kawayan bayog in the Philippines, but it is better than bayog in a way kasi (because) it is heavier. It can be used for furniture, source of fuel, textile, paper, etc. and it can be a very good material for construction. This is the most sought-after material in India for energy. We hope that we can plant more and harvest more of this specie. This will help not just in the reforestation efforts but also in the development of cleaner energy rather than on relying on fossil fuel,” he explained.

Lambino said he had initially talked with the mayor of Sual as well as officers of Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officers and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

“This would complement the efforts of former Alaminos City mayor Arthur Celeste, and now Mayor Arth Bryan Celeste, for their bamboo industry. I heard Alaminos City got assistance from Philippine Amusement Gaming Corporation for their engineered bamboo factory. We have to help that industry in Alaminos, we have to sustain that. I am coordinating closely with Department of Agriculture Secretary William Dar,” he added.

For the propagation of fruit-bearing trees, he said that based on studies conducted, the province of Apayao would be an ideal place to plant lanzones, rambutan, and durian.

“We have identified more than 1,000 hectares that used to be New People’s Army-infested. We are prioritizing that as possible areas for investors that would be interested to pour in capital for the growing of these high-value fruits. I’ve talked to the governor of Apayao a couple of months ago during our Regional Development Council (RDC) meeting, I brought up the idea and she (Governor Eleanor Bulut-Begtang) is excited about it,” Lambino disclosed.

Accordingly, they also have identified several areas in Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and in the Cordillera region for fruit bearing trees.

Lambino said they are also looking into the possibility of propagating tulips at the mountain areas of San Nicolas, Pangasinan and Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya.

“We have also talked with experts in flower-growing, the soil, as well as the temperature. (Areas) between Pangasinan and Nueva Vizcaya would be most suitable for tulips, and it can thrive all-year round,” he said.

Construction of Valle Verde Trail, connecting Eastern Pangasinan and Nueva Vizcaya is ongoing.

Lambino said he had talked with the Department of Public Works and Highways Region 1 director and he was assured to prioritize completing the Pangasinan side.

Completion of the new road network will greatly help farmers from the upland bring down their farm produce to the market, he added.(By Liwayway Yparraguirre)

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May ‘pork barrel’ sa national budget?

November 7, 2019, 1:27 pm

≫ Next: Robredo is now ‘Drug Czarina,’ vows to stop killings

≪ Previous: CEZA exec eyes bamboo propagation in N. Luzon

HINAMON NI SENADOR Panfilo Lacson ang mga kongresista na isa-publiko ang isinusulong na amendments sa national budget upang mabatid o masigurong wala itong nakatagong “pork barrel.”

Dahil dito ay kaliwa’t-kanan naman ang pambabatikos ng ilang mga mambabatas sa hamon ni Lacson.

“Sa halip na itago, dapat isapubliko ng mga mambabatas ang kanilang isinusulong na amendments sa pambansang badyet para sa susunod na taon, sa pamamagitan ng pag-post nito sa kani-kanilang website,” hamon pa ni Lacson sa mga kasamahan sa lehislatura upang siguraduhing walang pork barrel ang mga pondong nakapaloob sa 2020 national budget.

“We should make everything public. That includes all amendments we submit, whether institutional or individual. We have our own websites, we should use them for this purpose, as I did for the 2019 budget,” paliwanag ni Lacson.

Nakaugalian na ng ilang mambabatas na ibulong na lamang o kaya’y isulat sa napkin ang kanilang individual amendments, at isumite ito sa chairperson ng finance o appropriations committee. Dahil sa kalakarang ito, karaniwang nauuwi na lamang sa bulsa ng mga mambabatas ang malaking bahagi ng pondo para sa mga proyekto na isinulong nila sa pamamagitan ng individual amendments.

Ang institutional amendments ay base sa kahilingan ng mga ahensiya para sa prayoridad na proyekto bukod sa una nilang naisumite. Dumaan ang ganitong klaseng amendment sa pagpaplano at pagsusuri. Ang individual amendments ay isinusulong ng mga mambabatas. Kadalasan, wala silang konsultasyon sa mga implementing agency.

Maaaring ituring na pork barrel ang individual amendments base sa ruling ng Korte Suprema noong 2013, kung saan sakop ang “all informal practices of similar import and effect, which the Court similarly deems to be acts of grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.”

“Instead of having their amendments undergo scrutiny in floor deliberations, some lawmakers propose their amendments verbally, or even scribble them on napkins,” pagbubunyag pa ni Lacson. Kung lahat ng amendments ay mailalagay umano sa websites, magiging klaro ang mga ito sa publiko at mawawala rin ang pagdududa na nagbubulsa ng pondo ang mga mambabatas.

“Most if all lawmakers have their own websites. Why not post their amendments there, for the public to scrutinize?” tanong pa ni Lacson.

Para sa mambabatas, pinakamainam na magkaroon ng transparency sa paggastos ng pondong nagmumula sa buwis ng publiko dahil ito ay dapat na inilalaan lamang sa mga makabuluhang mga proyekto, ayon kay Lacson.

“The national budget involves the people’s money. It should benefit the people and not a few senators or congressmen or even government officials who implement projects. And the budget is funded by our taxes, as well as borrowings if our tax collections fall short,” wika pa nito. (Mindanao Examiner)

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Robredo is now ‘Drug Czarina,’ vows to stop killings

November 7, 2019, 1:35 pm

≫ Next: Duterte’s infra program is a dismal failure, says Drilon

≪ Previous: May ‘pork barrel’ sa national budget?

VICE PRESIDENT LENI R0bredo has accepted President Rodrigo Duterte’s offer to be the co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) along with Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino to oversee the implementation of all policies, laws, and issuances on the government’s anti-narcotics campaign.

“Mula simula, ang gusto ko ay ang maging maayos ang kampanya laban sa iligal na droga. Itigil ang pagpatay sa mga inosente. Panagutin ang mga abusadong opisyal tulad ng mga ninja cops at mga nagpalusot ng tone-toneladang shabu. Bigyan ng hustisya at boses ang mga pamilya ng mga pinaslang na walang kasalanan. Habulin ang mga malalaking drug lords na talagang sumisira sa ating lipunan, hindi lang ang maliliit na nagtutulak sa kanto-kanto,” Robredo said.

“Challenge accepted,” writes Vice President Leni Robredo on her Instagram account. A photo shows her reading a document of what appears to be an appointment signed by President Rodrigo Duterte for her to be the co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs. (Mindanao Examiner)

Aquino said he welcomes Robredo’s appointment. He admitted the campaign against illegal drugs is far from over, but said: “The help of Vice President Robredo is very much appreciated especially in terms of harm and demand reduction efforts.’’

Duterte signed the appointment of Robredo after she criticized the government’s deadly drug war, but not after he strongly lambasted her for talking against his drug war.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said it is a good step forward for Robredo to take on the challenge to lead the government’s efforts to fight illegal drugs. “It is always a good step forward for any public official who would want to help this country,” Panelo said after Robredo accepted Duterte’s offer on October 31.

Senator Panfilo Lacson also praised Robredo’s acceptance to be the ICAD co-chairperson, calling it a “daunting challenge.”

“Kudos to Vice President Robredo. I take my hat off to her for accepting the daunting challenge. Nobody in this world cannot be incapable of accomplishing a task as long as he or she puts his or her mind and conscience into the job,” he said.

“Experience counts but sincerity and mental honesty, not to mention the willingness to learn, should count more. We should all give her the support she needs to contribute her share in battling this pestering problem of illegal drugs that destroys lives, families and the youth to whom we will bequeath the future of our beloved country. In my case, I am ready and willing to humbly share whatever modest law enforcement experience I gained in my previous life,” Lacson said.

Statement

In her statement after accepting Duterte’s offer, Robredo said: “Maraming nagpahayag ng pangamba na hindi sinsero ang alok, na ito ay isang trap na ang habol lang ay siraan at pahiyain ako. Maraming nagpayo na dapat kong tanggihan ang alok dahil pagpasa lang ito sa akin ng responsibilidad para sa mga kabiguan ng drug war. Maraming nagsasabi na naghahanap lang ng damay ang administrasyong ito. Hindi naman ako nagpahayag ng aking mga puna sa drug war dahil naghahabol ako ng puwesto.

Hindi ko hiniling ito. Sa Pangulo nanggaling ang ideyang ito. Pero sa dulo, ang pinakamahalagang konsiderasyon para sa akin ay simple lang: kung ito ang pagkakataon para matigil ang patayan ng mga inosente at mapanagot ang mga kailangang managot, papasanin ko ito. Kaya tinatanggap ko ang trabaho na binibigay sa akin ng Pangulo. At kahit sabihin na nating ang alok na ito ay pamumulitika lamang, at hindi naman talaga ako susundin ng mga ahensya, at gagawin nila ang lahat para hindi ako magtagumpay, handa akong tiisin ang lahat ng ito.

Dahil kung mayroon akong maililigtas na kahit isang inosenteng buhay, ang sinasabi ng prinsipyo at puso ko ay kailangan ko itong subukan. Alam ng Pangulo kung ano ang posisyon ko sa drug war: tutol ako sa pagpatay ng mga inosente, kontra ako sa pang-aabuso ng mga opisyal. Alam niya ang aking mga puna. Alam niya ang mga balak kong ayusin. Kaya kung iniisip niya na sa pagpayag na ito ay tatahimik ako, nagkakamali siya. Simula pa lang, handa tayong tumulong sa ikabubuti ng bayan. Pero kailanman, hindi natin isusuko ang ating mga paniniwala. Hindi laro-laro ang usapang ito. Seryosong usapan kapag buhay ang nakataya.

Tinatanong nila ako kung handa ba ako para sa trabahong ito. Ang tanong ko: handa ba kayo para sa akin? Mr. President, dalawa’t kalahating taon na lang ang naiiwan sa iyong administrasyon. Hindi pa naman huli ang lahat. Puwede pa nating pagtulungan ito.”

Church

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines also welcomed Robredo’s appointment. “It is something positive kasi kailangan natin ng bagong orientation…Kung ito ay actually pagbibigay sa kanya ng posisyon ay isang bitag kumbaga para [ma]-undermine ang kakayahan ng VP (Vice President), pero pwede ito mag work in a positive way.

Tinanggap ito ng VP, pwede nya ipakita kung paano talaga gagawin yung makataong paraan ng paglaban sa droga,” CBCP Executive Secretary Father Edwin Gariguez was quoted as saying by the Manila Bulletin. “Ang tanong, handa ba sila para kay VP na meron ibang pananaw na mas makatao, sa tingin natin mas tama, kaysa doon sa ginagamit ng strategy na pagpatay…hindi tayo naniniwala na iyon ang solusyon. Magkatugma ang ating approach sa Church kasi hindi tayo naniniwala sa pagpatay– na iyon din ang sinasabi ni VP… bibigyan ng pagkakataon, mga program sa rehab ng mga gumagamit ng droga, sa bahaging ito meron tayong common approach.” (Mindanao Examiner)

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Duterte’s infra program is a dismal failure, says Drilon

November 15, 2019, 11:40 pm

≫ Next: U.S., Philippines strengthen bilateral alliance

≪ Previous: Robredo is now ‘Drug Czarina,’ vows to stop killings

‘Palace says there are massive BBB projects across the country’

PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE’S flagship infrastructure program “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) was a dismal failure, according to Senator Franklin Drilon, who claimed that only nine out of 75 projects under construction are halfway into Duterte’s term.

“It is sad to say that the BBB program of the administration is a dismal failure. Out of the 75 flagship projects that were proposed at the start of the administration, exactly nine started construction. That is only 2% of the total,” he told reporters.

“We only have two years and a half left in this administration; I don’t think any substantial progress insofar as that program is concerned will be achieved. I repeat, the execution is simply dismal,” he added.

But a report by GMA News quoted Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate finance committee, as saying that according to the economic managers, 12 projects would be completed by 2020, and additional 17 projects more by 2021, and 26 other projects by 2022, and 43 will be completed beyond 2022.

Drilon then asked what projects will start next year and in 2021. Angara could not answer him directly. “I am asking for specifics but they are giving me numbers,” said Angara, referring to the economic managers.

He said the Department of Transportation and the Department of Public Works and Highways are the worst performers in terms of the ability to disburse. “I do not know if there is still time. Suddenly, after putting across 75 flagship projects at the start of the administration, suddenly they’ll review and remove some. If simply on information, which they could not provide us, you can imagine the capacity to actually implement the project,” he said.

Massive Projects

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo also defended the BBB program and comparing Duterte’s massive projects to the past Aquino administration. “One must admire the effrontery of Sen. Frank Drilon for saying that the Build Build Build program of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is a dismal failure, coming from someone who was one of the pillars of the previous administration that has a zero accomplishment in its infrastructure program.”

“Such chutzpah is matched only by his obvious ignorance on the accomplishments of the present administration. Senator Drilon is either too lethargic to get his facts straight or is unable to contain the opposition’s penchant to foist false narratives,” he said.

Panelo also elaborated on many BBB projects across the country.

“Three years after President Duterte took office, Secretary of Public Works and Highways Mark Villar reported the completion of 9,845 kilometers of road, 2,709 bridges, 4,536 flood control projects, 82 evacuation centres, and 71,803 classrooms.”

“The acceleration of infrastructure development remains part of the core of the Philippine Development Plan, based on the principle that infrastructure supports the country’s overall socioeconomic development. While projected timelines for the completion of key infrastructure projects may have been affected by the delay in the passage of the 2019 Budget, this Administration hit the ground running once it was approved by both houses of Congress,” he said.

Panelo said Duterte remains committed in his vision to enable Filipinos to enjoy a “matatag, maginhawa, at panatag na buhay.” (Mindanao Examiner. With additional reporting from GMA News.)

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U.S., Philippines strengthen bilateral alliance

November 21, 2019, 1:28 am

≪ Previous: Duterte’s infra program is a dismal failure, says Drilon

U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY Mark Esper has met recently with his Filipino counterpart to discuss a broad range of shared security interests and priorities, and pledged to expand cooperation and strengthen bilateral alliance.

Esper and Lorenzana also reiterated the Mutual Defense Treaty’s applicability to the entire Pacific region, including the South China Sea (SCS).

Both have reiterated their commitment to uphold freedom of navigation, over-flight, other lawful uses of the sea in the SCS, stressing the importance of peacefully resolving disputes in accordance with international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

And they also committed to focus on developing capabilities and enhancing cooperation in both the maritime and aerial domains through the conduct of Philippines-U.S. Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board activities that address traditional and non-traditional security challenges.

In his November 2017 visit to Manila, President Donald Trump was told by President Rodrigo Duterte that the U.S. and the Philippines remain a strong ally. “We are your ally. We are an important ally,” Duterte said. (Mindanao Examiner)

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