Category: rodrigo duterte

Happy days are here again for Gloria Arroyo and associates

Ellen

It’s only 45 days away when Rodrigo Duterte becomes the 16th president of the Republic of the Philippines.

If Duterte makes good his election promise, Gloria Arroyo, who has won another term as representative of the second district of Pampanga, can look forward to days of freedom very soon. She has been confined at the Veterans Memorial Hospital since 2011.

Duterte lawyer Salvador Panelo took a selfie when he attended Gloria Arroyo's birthday party in La Vista lat April 5.

Duterte lawyer Salvador Panelo took a selfie when he attended Gloria Arroyo’s birthday party in La Vista lat April 5.


When he campaigned in Pampanga last Feb. 7, Duterte said, “If I am elected President, I will release her. Why? Because the evidence [against her] is weak. I know that. I am a lawyer.”

Duterte’s assessment of cases against Arroyo as “weak” is supported by the dismissal by the Ombudsman of the P200 million fertilizer scam case and the alleged illegal transfer of funds of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to Philhealth.

Still unresolved is the plunder case on the alleged misuse of the P366 million in intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. Some of Arroyo’s co-accused have already been cleared or are out- on -bail.

Still being heared at the Sandiganbayan is the case of graft in connection with the $329 million NBN/ZTE telecommunication deal. Last May 10, Arroyo co-accused, former Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos was acquitted from the charge of graft.

The case of electoral fraud in connection with the 2007 elections, which was hastily filed to justify in Nov. 2011 Arroyo’s detention after she was stopped from leaving for Singapore for medical treatment, has not even started trial.

A lawyer commented that the cases filed against Arroyo was not constructed well as if they were really “meant to be dismissed.”

It’s not only Arroyo who expect better days in the Duterte administration. A number of officials in the Arroyo administration were part of the Duterte campaign and are expected to play a big role in the incoming administration.

Former Arroyo’s press secretary Jesus Dureza is one of Duterte’s close friends and advisers and he is expected to be given a cabinet position. Also former Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon who secured Duterte during the campaign.

Arroyo’s secretary of transportation and communication Pantaleon Alvarez, who was involved in the NAIA3 terminal anomaly (case against him was dismissed) represents Davao del Norte in Congress. With the backing of Duterte, he is reported to be eyeing the House speakership.

Thanks to Interaksyon for this photo.

Thanks to Interaksyon for this photo.

News report say businessman Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez, who was the Duterte presidential campaign chief fundraiser, will be Duterte’s finance secretary. Last week, he presented to media the Duterte administration’s eight point agenda.

Dominguez was a member of the Cory Aquino cabinet as first, secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and later on, Agriculture secretary.

Dominguez’ business interests are wide-ranging. He is into mining, power, and hotel, among others. He owns Marco Polo Hotel in Davao and Linden Suites in Ortigas Center in Metro Manila, which served as the nerve center of the zealous oust-Estrada efforts in January 2001 which installed then vice-president Arroyo as president.

Dominguez is known to be close to the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah. There’s talk in the diplomatic circles of Bolkiah’s meeting with Duterte in Manila during the campaign.

Duterte’s spokesman Peter Laviña said last week that the incoming president is planning to visit Brunei in August to “attend a social gathering of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders.”

There is no meeting of ASEAN leaders in Brunei in August. So if Duterte goes to Brunei in August as part of his traditional state visits to ASEAN countries, it will be a meeting between him and Bolkiah only. It is expected that Dominguez would be part of the presidential party. They have a lot to talk about.

Happy days are here again for Gloria Arroyo and associates

Ellen

It’s only 45 days away when Rodrigo Duterte becomes the 16th president of the Republic of the Philippines.

If Duterte makes good his election promise, Gloria Arroyo, who has won another term as representative of the second district of Pampanga, can look forward to days of freedom very soon. She has been confined at the Veterans Memorial Hospital since 2011.

Duterte lawyer Salvador Panelo took a selfie when he attended Gloria Arroyo's birthday party in La Vista lat April 5.

Duterte lawyer Salvador Panelo took a selfie when he attended Gloria Arroyo’s birthday party in La Vista lat April 5.


When he campaigned in Pampanga last Feb. 7, Duterte said, “If I am elected President, I will release her. Why? Because the evidence [against her] is weak. I know that. I am a lawyer.”

Duterte’s assessment of cases against Arroyo as “weak” is supported by the dismissal by the Ombudsman of the P200 million fertilizer scam case and the alleged illegal transfer of funds of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to Philhealth.

Still unresolved is the plunder case on the alleged misuse of the P366 million in intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. Some of Arroyo’s co-accused have already been cleared or are out- on -bail.

Still being heared at the Sandiganbayan is the case of graft in connection with the $329 million NBN/ZTE telecommunication deal. Last May 10, Arroyo co-accused, former Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos was acquitted from the charge of graft.

The case of electoral fraud in connection with the 2007 elections, which was hastily filed to justify in Nov. 2011 Arroyo’s detention after she was stopped from leaving for Singapore for medical treatment, has not even started trial.

A lawyer commented that the cases filed against Arroyo was not constructed well as if they were really “meant to be dismissed.”

It’s not only Arroyo who expect better days in the Duterte administration. A number of officials in the Arroyo administration were part of the Duterte campaign and are expected to play a big role in the incoming administration.

Former Arroyo’s press secretary Jesus Dureza is one of Duterte’s close friends and advisers and he is expected to be given a cabinet position. Also former Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon who secured Duterte during the campaign.

Arroyo’s secretary of transportation and communication Pantaleon Alvarez, who was involved in the NAIA3 terminal anomaly (case against him was dismissed) represents Davao del Norte in Congress. With the backing of Duterte, he is reported to be eyeing the House speakership.

Thanks to Interaksyon for this photo.

Thanks to Interaksyon for this photo.

News report say businessman Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez, who was the Duterte presidential campaign chief fundraiser, will be Duterte’s finance secretary. Last week, he presented to media the Duterte administration’s eight point agenda.

Dominguez was a member of the Cory Aquino cabinet as first, secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and later on, Agriculture secretary.

Dominguez’ business interests are wide-ranging. He is into mining, power, and hotel, among others. He owns Marco Polo Hotel in Davao and Linden Suites in Ortigas Center in Metro Manila, which served as the nerve center of the zealous oust-Estrada efforts in January 2001 which installed then vice-president Arroyo as president.

Dominguez is known to be close to the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah. There’s talk in the diplomatic circles of Bolkiah’s meeting with Duterte in Manila during the campaign.

Duterte’s spokesman Peter Laviña said last week that the incoming president is planning to visit Brunei in August to “attend a social gathering of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders.”

There is no meeting of ASEAN leaders in Brunei in August. So if Duterte goes to Brunei in August as part of his traditional state visits to ASEAN countries, it will be a meeting between him and Bolkiah only. It is expected that Dominguez would be part of the presidential party. They have a lot to talk about.

Facebook has just voted its first Philippine President

Abe Olandres

Around this time, the partial unofficial results of the tabulation of votes coming in from the COMELEC Transparency Server shows Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is going to be the new President of the Republic of the Philippines.

Duterte is getting around 37% of the total running votes, 4% higher than his most recent ratings (33%) in the last survey.

As of 9:00PM, May 9, 2016:

Mayor Duterte’s name came from nowhere and he was a last-minute entry into the presidential race. Way before his candidacy, VP Binay was leading the early polls with Sen. Grace Poe taking over the spot in the first couple of months leading into the campaign period.

Duterte had single-digit ratings (~5%) but slowly crept to the top with 33% rating until the last surveys. From being a local mayor to becoming a President, Duterte takes the record for the biggest jump in elected position in recent history, trumping Binay’s record from being Makati Mayor to Vice President in the 2010 elections (not counting Cory’s ascension to the presidential seat).

What is most interesting in the 2016 Presidential Elections is the role of social media in shaping the minds and ballots of the electorate.

Duterte’s position was against the incumbent party (LP) with a huge machinery, billions of pesos in campaign funds, endorsement of the Pres. Aquino and many big names in civil society. This is evidenced by the 9.7 million votes running-mate Leni Robredo has gotten as of this time.

From the get-go, LP’s Mar Roxas had the most enviable position in the race but unlike Binay or Grace, he never topped any credible surveys during the entire campaign period.

Photo: CNN Philippines

Looking at the campaign spendings along, Roxas, Binay and Poe each spent a billion pesos between Janaury 2015 to Janaury 2016. The numbers would have further balooned by May 7, 2016 which is the last day of election campaigns.

The mayor’s only promise is “radical change” and his primary tool is Facebook. Based on Facebook data reported by ABS-CBN’s Social Media Center, Duterte got the biggest noise in Facebook with over 80 million interactions since November of 2015 coming from over 10 million unique FB users.

Duterte has more than 2.9 million fans on his Facebook Page with Grace Poe edging him at close to 3.1 million and Sen. Mirriam Santiago a far 3.6 million. Binay has 2.7 million while Roxas is behind at only 1.44 million.

All fan pages are very active and highly engaged. Where Duterte took the lead is with the thousands of volunteers spreading news (legit or otherwise) and creating engaging content about him and Davao city. With over 45 million Filipino Facebook users, the social media platform has become the biggest political stage and Duterte was killing it.

Like it or not, Duterte is going to be the next President and Facebook made a huge contribution.

The post Facebook has just voted its first Philippine President appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines News & Tech Reviews.

PWDs slap Duterte with a suit for insensitive joke

Ellen

PWDs file complaint vs Rodrigo Duterte at the Commission on Human Rights

PWDs file complaint vs Rodrigo Duterte at the Commission on Human Rights

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL, VERA Files

PRESIDENTIAL race frontrunner Rodrigo Duterte, already facing a plunder case filed by Sen. Antonio Trillanes, has been slapped with yet another complaint, this time by disabillity groups and advocates.

Disability advocates Ranilo Sorongon and Liza Martinez charged the Davao City mayor before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Friday of violating the law when he ridiculed persons with disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens during a now infamous campaign sortie in the Visayas weeks ago.

“As PWDs advocating for respect of the rights of all PWDs, including older persons with disabilities (and) our inherent dignity, diversity and humanity, we are outraged and vehemently and unequivocably condemn, the disparaging comments of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte during his campaign sortie in Kalibo, Aklan,” the complainants said in a statement.

At least 23 other disability groups and advocates support the complaint.

In April 20, regaling his audience in Kalibo, Duterte performed: “Iyong isa doon, classmate ko pa. Eh na-stroke, paganoon-ganoon (One of them was my classmate who was a stroke victim),” as he mimicked the half-paralyzed movement of a stroke victim.

Showing no mercy, he added, “Gusto ko sabihin, ‘pakamatay ka na lang’ (I wanted to say, ‘just kill yourself’).”

The complaint accuses Duterte of violating Republic Act 9442, a law amending the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, which prohibits the verbal and nonverbal ridicule and vilification of PWDs.

Public ridicule, as defined by the law, is “an act of making fun or contemptuous imitating or making mockery of PWDs whether in writing, in words, or in action due to their impairments.”

Vilification, meanwhile, is “the utterance of slanderous and abusive statements against a PWD,” and/or “an activity in public which incites hatred towards, serious contempt for, or severe ridicule of PWDs.”

“What kind of example does an aspiring president of the Republic set when he causes his constituency to make mockery of sectors who struggle to rise above oppression and inequality they experience, including those from the State itself?” the complainants said in their statement.

“By ridiculing older persons and PWDs in his campaign sortie, Mayor Duterte has made his conduct a matter of public importance. By his various remarks on rape, objectification of women, and now, PWDs and older persons in the guise of ‘narrative’ and humor, he has shown a pattern of impunity and oppression,” they added.

As well, the complainants accused Duterte of violating the Magna Carta itself (RA 7277) and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (RA 6713).

“As a public official and employee, we find his language, actions and demeanor completely unacceptable. He has made fun of marginalized and disadvantaged sectors, comprising at least 15 percent of the population,” the complainants said in their statement.

Duterte, they said, has signified no apology or remorse for these remarks against PWDs and senior citizens ever since.

“He has done this for the sheer purpose of jokes or narratives to regale and entertain his campaign audiences. We deem this behavior crude and discourteous, unprofessional and discriminatory,” they added.

CHR Chair Jose Luis Martin Gascon said the commission will look into the matter, regardless of Duterte’s comment having been made in jest.

“We live in a society where humor and wit is important, and we do not wish to stifle human nature. But when it comes to rights and when it comes to issues of non-discrimination and fair treatment, there are certain behavior that is expected not just of public officials but everyone, as we treat each other in a civil society,” Gascon said.

“Whether or not is mentioned in jest, is something we will seriously take a look at. Importante din yung context ng statement,” he added.

He said the CHR will give Duterte’s camp five days to answer the complaint in the interest of due process.

Under RA 9442, any person who ridicules PWDs will be fined not less than P50,000 but not exceeding P100,000, or will face imprisonment of not less than six months but not more than two years.

Courts may decide to impose both penalties at their discretion.

Despite his controversial statement against PWDs, and another infamous rape comment before that, Duterte has maintained a strong lead over his presidential rivals, based on the most recent elections surveys.

In the latest SWS surveys, Duterte maintained the top spot with 1 in 3, or 33 percent—a double-digit lead over independent candidate Senator Grace Poe who had 22 percent.

Sorongon and Martinez said that their filing of the complaint is not politically-motivated.

(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)

PWDs slap Duterte with a suit for insensitive joke

Ellen

PWDs file complaint vs Rodrigo Duterte at the Commission on Human Rights

PWDs file complaint vs Rodrigo Duterte at the Commission on Human Rights

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL, VERA Files

PRESIDENTIAL race frontrunner Rodrigo Duterte, already facing a plunder case filed by Sen. Antonio Trillanes, has been slapped with yet another complaint, this time by disabillity groups and advocates.

Disability advocates Ranilo Sorongon and Liza Martinez charged the Davao City mayor before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Friday of violating the law when he ridiculed persons with disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens during a now infamous campaign sortie in the Visayas weeks ago.

“As PWDs advocating for respect of the rights of all PWDs, including older persons with disabilities (and) our inherent dignity, diversity and humanity, we are outraged and vehemently and unequivocably condemn, the disparaging comments of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte during his campaign sortie in Kalibo, Aklan,” the complainants said in a statement.

At least 23 other disability groups and advocates support the complaint.

In April 20, regaling his audience in Kalibo, Duterte performed: “Iyong isa doon, classmate ko pa. Eh na-stroke, paganoon-ganoon (One of them was my classmate who was a stroke victim),” as he mimicked the half-paralyzed movement of a stroke victim.

Showing no mercy, he added, “Gusto ko sabihin, ‘pakamatay ka na lang’ (I wanted to say, ‘just kill yourself’).”

The complaint accuses Duterte of violating Republic Act 9442, a law amending the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, which prohibits the verbal and nonverbal ridicule and vilification of PWDs.

Public ridicule, as defined by the law, is “an act of making fun or contemptuous imitating or making mockery of PWDs whether in writing, in words, or in action due to their impairments.”

Vilification, meanwhile, is “the utterance of slanderous and abusive statements against a PWD,” and/or “an activity in public which incites hatred towards, serious contempt for, or severe ridicule of PWDs.”

“What kind of example does an aspiring president of the Republic set when he causes his constituency to make mockery of sectors who struggle to rise above oppression and inequality they experience, including those from the State itself?” the complainants said in their statement.

“By ridiculing older persons and PWDs in his campaign sortie, Mayor Duterte has made his conduct a matter of public importance. By his various remarks on rape, objectification of women, and now, PWDs and older persons in the guise of ‘narrative’ and humor, he has shown a pattern of impunity and oppression,” they added.

As well, the complainants accused Duterte of violating the Magna Carta itself (RA 7277) and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (RA 6713).

“As a public official and employee, we find his language, actions and demeanor completely unacceptable. He has made fun of marginalized and disadvantaged sectors, comprising at least 15 percent of the population,” the complainants said in their statement.

Duterte, they said, has signified no apology or remorse for these remarks against PWDs and senior citizens ever since.

“He has done this for the sheer purpose of jokes or narratives to regale and entertain his campaign audiences. We deem this behavior crude and discourteous, unprofessional and discriminatory,” they added.

CHR Chair Jose Luis Martin Gascon said the commission will look into the matter, regardless of Duterte’s comment having been made in jest.

“We live in a society where humor and wit is important, and we do not wish to stifle human nature. But when it comes to rights and when it comes to issues of non-discrimination and fair treatment, there are certain behavior that is expected not just of public officials but everyone, as we treat each other in a civil society,” Gascon said.

“Whether or not is mentioned in jest, is something we will seriously take a look at. Importante din yung context ng statement,” he added.

He said the CHR will give Duterte’s camp five days to answer the complaint in the interest of due process.

Under RA 9442, any person who ridicules PWDs will be fined not less than P50,000 but not exceeding P100,000, or will face imprisonment of not less than six months but not more than two years.

Courts may decide to impose both penalties at their discretion.

Despite his controversial statement against PWDs, and another infamous rape comment before that, Duterte has maintained a strong lead over his presidential rivals, based on the most recent elections surveys.

In the latest SWS surveys, Duterte maintained the top spot with 1 in 3, or 33 percent—a double-digit lead over independent candidate Senator Grace Poe who had 22 percent.

Sorongon and Martinez said that their filing of the complaint is not politically-motivated.

(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)