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DepEd uneasy over planned condom distribution in schools

By: Jocelyn R. Uy
Philippine Daily Inquirer
December 12, 2016

The Department of Education (DepEd) is uneasy over the plan of the Department of Health (DOH) to distribute condoms in schools next year as part of its strategy to curb the rising cases of HIV and AIDS among young Filipinos.

The DepEd said that while it recognized the need to promptly address the spread of the disease among the youth, the agency would have to hold thorough and careful discussions with the DOH to determine whether such a move was appropriate to cover schools and learning institutions.

“And if not, what are the other measures that we can explore without compromising, first, the parents’ right and responsibility to educate their children against the dangers of engaging in pre-marital sex and second, the state’s mandate to protect minors from any form of abuse,” the DepEd said in a statement.

And yet there are the likes of Senator Alan Peter S. Cayetano and former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis N. Tolentino, both of whom donated substantial amounts to Duterte but hold no appointed position at present. Cayetano’s and Tolentino’s donations were in the form of tandem advertisements worth P71.3 million and P3.15 million, respectively. Cayetano was Duterte’s running mate; he has since become a perennial presence in events attended by the President, including those abroad. He was said to be eyeing the top post at the Department of Justice, but this went to Duterte’s former law school classmate Vitaliano Aguirre II.

Caritos has a different bone to pick with Cayetano and Tolentino, however. She says that while no law is violated by elected and former officials donating to campaigns, there is a need to highlight the fact that they hold or held positions in which salaries would not go over half a million pesos per month.

Asks Caritos: “How can these individuals give those inordinate amounts to their fellow party members? Kahit hindi bawal, saan galing ang pera mo para makapag-donate ng ganyan (Even if it’s not breaking any law, where did you get the money to be able to donate that much)?”

â€" With research by Floreen Simon, Fern Felix, Vino Lucero, Davinci Maru, Ana Isabel Manalang, Steffi Sanchez, Jil Caro, and John Gabriel Agcaoili, PCIJ, December 2016

http://pcij.org/

‘Utang na loob’

Ronquillo says that Duterte was not in violation of the law when he appointed his donors. The law, he says, will now apply to those the President appointed. In the course of discharging their functions, says Ronquillo, appointees cannot favor only members of their party or a certain group of people who happens to be close to them or to the president.

“When you’re in public office, your boss is the Filipino people so you shouldn’t be favoring anyone,” he says. “Doon papasok ngayon na ‘they shall endeavor to discourage wrong perceptions of their roles as dispensers or peddlers of undue patronage.’”

Caritos, however, frets that when it comes to appointments, those who contributed to the victor’s campaign tend to be given priority over others. This is why, she says, LENTE always highlights in their voter education activities that people should know who the donors are. It’s human nature, Caritos says; especially among Filipinos where the concept of utang na loob endures, it’s not unusual to expect someone to give something in return to a person who gave him something.

Legal but not right?

“It’s not legally prohibited,” lawyer Rona Ann V. Caritos, executive director of the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE), says of the appointment of campaign donors to government posts. “But all these things that are not prohibited in law do not necessarily mean that they are right.”

Section 4 titled “Norms of Conduct of Public Officials and Employees” of Republic Act No. 6713 does say that every public official and employee shall observe professionalism, among others. This means they “shall endeavor to discourage wrong perceptions of their roles as dispensers or peddlers of undue patronage.”

But CSC’s Ronquillo â€" who also heads the Commission’s Office for Legal Affairs â€" says the President, being the appointing authority of his people, enjoys the widest latitude of discretion to appoint whoever he wants to positions. The appointments are actually subject to the President’s trust and confidence, he says. These people are confidential appointees â€" co-terminus with the chief executive â€" so it’s only natural for the president to choose people whom he trusts, Ronquillo says.

“Hindi ka naman mag-aappoint sa position na hindi mo kakilala (You will not appoint people you do not know),” he says. “You will appoint those you’re comfortable with because these are the people who will help you deliver the promises that you made during the campaign â€" to deliver the services that you want to deliver to the people.”

Ismael Sueno donated P21,600 in kind for “sound system rental and flat cord.” He was appointed secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Bacolod-based lawyer Jesus V. Hinlo Jr. was also appointed by Duterte as DILG undersecretary. Hinlo donated a tarpaulin worth P576 to Duterte. This is one of two P576 donations the president received and also the lowest.

Hinlo was reported to be focusing on the DILG’s Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Bureau of Fire Protection, national emergency hotlines 117 and 911, and the Public Safety College.

Donors & appointees

Dominguez is now Finance Secretary in the Duterte administration. Aside from him, other Duterte campaign donors have wound up in government themselves.

For instance, Dennis A. Uy of Davao City was named presidential adviser for sports last July. The president and chief executive officer of Phoenix Petroleum, Uy and his wife Cherylyn gave a total of P31 million in cash to the Duterte campaign. Cherylyn also gave P5 million to PDP-Laban.

Similarly, Salvador Medialdea and wife Ma. Bertola donated a total of P1.5 million to Duterte. Medialdea is now Executive Secretary.

Tomas and Nicasio Alcantara are stockholders as well in Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc., as is another Duterte campaign donor, Carlos G. Dominguez.

Dominguez, who donated P3 million, is also linked to yet another top Duterte donor, Bienvenido Tan, through PTFC Redevelopment Corporation, a real estate company. Tan, who gave P20 million to Duterte, is president and stockholder of PTFC. Dominguez and his management firm CG Dominguez Associates Inc. are also stockholders of PTFC Redevelopment Corporation.

Public utility

Then there are brothers Tomas and Nicasio I. Alcantara, who contributed a total of P30 million. Tomas and Nicasio are stockholders of Alsons Development and Investment Corporation and several other businesses.

Tomas is chairman and president of the Alsons Power Group, which is composed of power generation facilities across Mindanao. According to its website, Alsons Power Group operates three diesel-power facilities, one each in Alabel in Sarangani, Zamboanga City, and Iligan City. In April 2016, the group’s first coal-fired power plant located in Maasim, Sarangani started commercial operations.

Tomas is No. 41 on the 2016 Forbes list of the 50 richest Filipinos. The Alcantara family had also been included in previous Forbes lists of richest Filipinos.

Mining concerns

Persons affiliated with firms that operate public utilities or those that possess or exploit the country’s natural resources are also among Duterte’s 10 biggest donors. These include Michael G. Regino, who contributed P14 million to Duterte’s campaign. SEC records filed in 2016 show that he is director and minor stockholder of TVI Resource Development Philippines Inc.

Interestingly, TVI Resource’s vice chairman is Manuel Paolo A. Villar. TVI Resource is the Philippine affiliate of TVI Pacific Inc., a publicly-listed Canadian mining firm that is exploring, developing, and producing precious and base metals in the Philippines.

Mines and Geosciences Bureau data as of July 2016 show that TVI Resource holds a mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) with the government and is applying for another MPSA and exploration permits in the Zamboanga Peninsula region.

According to TVI Resource’s website, Regino sits on the board and maintains top positions in other companies led by Prime Asset Ventures Inc. He is president of St. Augustine Services Inc., senior vice president of St. Augustine Mining Ltd., and board member of Nationwide Development Corp. and Kingking Mining Corp. In addition, Regino is president and minor stockholder of Agata Mining Ventures Inc. and Equipment Drilling Corp., which are both subsidiaries of TVI Resource.

According to DPWH’s online registry of awarded contracts, Pragmatic has won at least three contracts altogether worth P64.75 million from the DPWH Cebu City Engineering District Office from 2014 to the present. One was worth P38.06 million, for the widening of the Canduman-Cebu North Road from May 4, 2015 to March 11, 2016; another was valued at P18.33 million, for the widening of the Canduman North Road-Mandaue City from Feb. 5, 2014 to Oct. 18, 2016; and a third, P8.36 million, for the concreting of J. Luna Avenue-Cardinal Rosales Intersection from March 3, 2015 to March 3, 2017.

From 2001 to 2014, Pragmatic was also awarded P48.1 million worth of government contracts, almost all located in Cebu, according to PhilGEPS and DPWH databases.

The firm had also donated P280,000 in cash to the Bagumbayan-VNP party in the 2013 elections, according to PCIJ’s SOCE database.

Mendoza, who donated P14.5 million to help finance Duterte’s presidential bid, is from Las Piñas. He is listed as well as incorporator, board member, and stockholder of Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc. Vista Land’s chairman is former senator Manuel B. Villar Jr. Its president and chief executive officer is Villar’s eldest child, Manuel Paolo. A week after he won the presidency, Duterte appointed Paolo’s brother Mark as Public Works and Highways Secretary.

Januario B. Ramos, meanwhile, donated P3 million to the Duterte campaign. Ramos is president, incorporator and stockholder of Pragmatic Development and Construction Corp., a registered contractor with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Pragmatic’s website says the firm, formed in 1979, specializes in “roads, highways, pavement and bridges irrigation, and similar industrial projects,” but has recently branched out into real-estate development and property management.

Government contractors

But what about campaign donors who have companies that have business with government? Aside from contributions from Davao-based businessmen, the Duterte campaign had also accepted donations from those like Felix R. Ang, whose company later landed a deal with a state agency.

Ang donated P10 million to the Duterte campaign. He is an incorporator, stockholder, and chairman of Cats Asian Cars, which bagged a P1.24-million contract with the Social Security System for the supply and delivery of one brand new sedan in October 2016.

Yet another Duterte campaign contributor, Marcelino C. Mendoza, is president and stockholder of MGS Construction, which appears in PhilGEPS list of registered suppliers.

Honda Cars General Santos City and Poeng Yue Foundation are two business interests Duterte has declared in his Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN). His SALN upon assuming the presidency or as of June 30, 2016 shows that he did not divest from these two entities.

Civil Service Commission Assistant Commissioner Ariel G. Ronquillo says the need to divest may not necessarily be automatic. First, he says, one has to determine whether or not there is a clear conflict as President of the Philippines and as incorporator of a company. According to Ronquillo, a conflict of interest may occur if a business is getting a permit or license from one’s office. “Naturally,” he says, “there is a conflict because you’re the one giving the license so you should not have any interest there.”

In business with DU30

Uy and President Duterte, along with Lorenzo A. Te Jr., Azucena Angbue, Jan S. Ced, Eugenio O. Ced, Divino M. Tan II, Danilo D. Tan, and Jesus Y. Tan, are also stockholders of Honda Cars General Santos Inc.

Uy, Duterte, and Te are incorporators as well of Poeng Yue Foundation, along with James S. Gaisano, Josue G. Tesado Sr., Johnny Lee Ng, and Samuel G. Afdal.

Like Uy, Davao City businessman Te had given P30 million to Duterte’s campaign.

“Friend” in Mandarin, Poeng Yue was formed by Duterte and his business partners in 2012 to “extend assistance, financial or otherwise, to cancer patients with special focus on children suffering from said disease.”

In 2015 and 2016, the City of Davao awarded DIMDI Centre with at least five contracts worth a total of P333,730, PhilGEPS data show. Duterte was Davao City mayor at the time.

Uy’s other business interests include the New Davao Matina Gallera, the “biggest cockpit arena in Davao City” located on MacArthur Highway in Matina district. It features, among others, arena-style seating, wide-screen scoreboards, air-conditioned cockhouse and cockpit, and livestream and satellite feed of the derbies. The cockpit’s derbies have drawn avid following among governors, mayors, and military and police officers.

Uy is a stockholder in several companies, including DIMDI Centre Inc. and DIMDI Builders Center Inc., two government suppliers.

From January 2013 to October 2016, DIMDI Centre and DIMDI Builders Center had been awarded with government contracts worth a total of P2.7 million, PhilGEPS data show. Both companies are also on PhilGEPS’ list of registered suppliers as of Oct. 7, 2016.

DIMDI Centre and DIMDI Builders are both engaged in merchandising. They have supplied photocopying machines, air-conditioning units, television sets, and other appliances to various government offices in Davao. Among these are the regional offices of the Department of Agrarian Reform, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Department of Science and Technology, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, and the City of Davao.

Tony Boy Floirendo is chairman and stockholder of TADECO, according to the company’s latest available document at the SEC, its 2013 general information sheet (GIS). He is married to 1973 Miss Universe Margarita Moran, granddaughter of Manuel A. Roxas, the country’s fifth president.



Another Davao City business bigwig who donated to Duterte’s presidential campaign â€" P30 million, in fact â€" is Samuel C. Uy.

From the looks of it, however, Uy has not remained in Davao only after the elections. Uy’s Facebook account photos show him posing with Duterte and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Philippine President’s recent state visit to Tokyo, as well as with the President’s children, and with Special Assistant to the President Bong Go. One photo even shows Uy standing in front of the seal of the President of the Philippines, his hands resting comfortably on the presidential podium.

Donors from Davao

Among Duterte’s biggest donors are those whose companies do business with the government. These include Duterte’s top donor, Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio ‘Tony Boy’ R. Floirendo Jr., who contributed P75 million in cash to Duterte and another P25 million to the President’s party, PDP-Laban.

Floirendo’s late father was the founder of Anflo Management and Investment Corporation (Anflocor), which oversees at least 11 businesses engaged in agriculture, trading, realty, hotel and restaurant services, financing, and others. Today Tony Boy Floirendo is one of Anflocor’s major stockholders.

Anflocor’s flagship company is Tagum Agricultural Development Company Inc. (TADECO), one of the highest-yielding banana plantations in the world. TADECO has a long-term joint venture agreement with the Bureau of Corrections, in which inmates of the Davao Penal Colony work at its banana plantations. The joint venture agreement between TADECO and BuCor was renewed for another 25 years in 2004.

The ties that bind

To verify the business interests of Duterte’s donors, PCIJ cross-checked details of his SOCE against corporate records obtained from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), bid notice and award data from the Procurement Service-Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PS-PhilGEPS), public-works contracts from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), mining-tenements data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), and PCIJ’s list of campaign donors culled from Comelec records from the 1998 to 2013 elections.

A person’s tax identification number and a company’s registration number were used to match records from different sources.

PCIJ also sent a letter to Duterte through his Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on Oct. 22, 2016. The President has yet to respond to PCIJ’s questions as of this writing, although lawyer Ryan Acosta of the Office of the Executive Secretary says that PCIJ’s letter has been forwarded to the Office of the Special Assistant to the President, Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go. A reply email came mid-afternoon of Dec. 3 with comments from unnamed “Duterte campaign team lawyers” but these have reportedly not yet been cleared with or approved by the President.

Still, Mazna Lutchavez, Attorney IV at the Comelec CFO, is firm in saying that a careful reading of the poll body’s rules suggests that Duterte’s donors are covered by the prohibition on giving donations, if they are engaged in mining, public utilities, and government contracts.

This is because, she says, the law specifically cites not only juridical persons or companies, but natural persons, too. She adds that the provision citing direct and indirect involvement also pertains to the company owner.

Then again, Lutchavez allows that the legal doctrine that separates a person from a company offers a loophole that may subject the election rule to different interpretations. For instance, says another election lawyer, a campaign donor engaged in mining, could say as a defense that he owns a mining firm but it is his company that engaged in a mining activity â€" not him.

But by all indications, whichever way the high court decides â€" for or against Comelec â€" the issue has already left the CFO in limbo and adrift, and set back the reforms in campaign-finance regulation that Comelec has been putting in place since the 2010 elections.

More than five months after Lim’s resignation, the CFO remains a headless entity. Indeed, the CFO lawyers have had to seek endorsement from the office of the Comelec’s Executive Director before they could act on PCIJ’s requests for data and interview. Amid this drift, the staff personnel have been left to mind the CFO household even as they have neither mandate nor power to decide on issues, such as what the Comelec en banc alone possesses.

Among PCIJ’s queries pertained to Duterte’s campaign-finance report, which indicated a bevy of donors who shouldn’t have been making campaign contributions in the first place, and ties binding politics and business.

Court case drags

In July, Duterte’s political party, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan or PDP-Laban asked the Supreme Court to declare the Comelec’s decision “illegal, prohibited, and void,” saying the deadline extension was made to “accommodate” the then ruling Liberal Party.

The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the matter. A court official told PCIJ that the justices are not likely to deliberate and rule on the case soon, on account of other pending contentious cases and the usual holiday downtime.

Should the court rule against Comelec, at least 69 winning candidates and 5,836 losing candidates for national and local positions in the May 2016 elections could face penalties or sanctions under Comelec’s campaign-finance rules. If it should rule for Comelec, however, the court is likely to court the disfavor of the PDP-Laban party of President Duterte.

When or how the poll body will act on these matters is the big question, though. Last June 20, Commissioner Christian Robert S. Lim, filed his irrevocable resignation as head of the Comelec Campaign Finance Office (CFO). This was after four of the poll body’s seven commissioners voted to accept the late submission of SOCEs by the Liberal Party and its presidential candidate Manuel ‘Mar’ Roxas II until June 30, or three weeks beyond the “final, non-extendible deadline” deadline it had imposed.

In his resignation letter, Lim wrote the Comelec en banc: “Given the Commission’s policy shift resulting from granting the request for extension without any sanctions on the erring candidates and partiesâ€"which I had expressly dissented from and is now incongruent with my own views on the matterâ€"I believe that I am unsuitable to continue with my duties both as the concurrent head and Commissioner-in-Charge of the Campaign Finance Office.” According to Lim, the extension of the deadline for the Liberal Party was “illegal… tantamount to an amendment of the law.”

CFO headless, in drift

PCIJ curated, digitized, and reviewed Duterte’s SOCE, as well as those that the other candidates for president, vice president, and senator in the May 2016 elections have filed with Comelec. Altogether, these documents, including advertising contracts, broadcast logs, and various SOCE forms, came up to about 12 gigabytes of data. PCIJ also secured records from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for some of the companies of some of the campaign contributors, and sent letter requests to the candidates and their donors for comment and clarification.

The PCIJ audit reveals that Duterte and some other candidates may have some explaining to do with Comelec for their failure to disclose the true identities of their donors, for overspending, for failure to file complete and correct SOCEs, or even for not filing their SOCEs within deadline of one month after the May 9, 2016 elections.

Just six months after the elections, Duterte has appointed at least half a dozen of his donors and their relatives to Cabinet and other positions, even as one campaign contributor has already snared government contracts and flaunted on social media his claimed closeness to the President.



This donor, a Chinese-Filipino business partner of Duterte who runs a cockpit in Davao City, has even posted on his Facebook page his photos with the President and the Japanese premier that were taken from Duterte’s recent state visit, as well as with Duterte, and his children and sibling.

And yet by the rules of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), this campaign contributor and several others should not have donated at all to Duterte’s campaign. Section 95 of the Omnibus Election Code prohibits “natural and juridical persons” who have business interests in utilities, mining, and the like from making election contributions.

A second tier of 18 other donors who donated from P1 million to P3.5 million delivered an additional P31.66 million, or eight percent more, to Duterte’s campaign.

No doubt, this is far from how Duterte and his followers had described his campaign team: That the masses who could afford to donate only “Emilio Aguinaldo” money or five-peso coins would be the ones sending him to Malacañang.

By the data he enrolled in his SOCE, only 13 extremely wealthy individuals and 18 other million-peso donors whose companies do business with the government or engage in utilities, mining, and the exploitation of natural resources bankrolled Duterte’s rise to power.

THE IMAGE Rodrigo R. Duterte projected of his 2016 presidential campaign was that it was one run on a shoestring budget. It supposedly had no donors with vested interests, and that included big businessmen and mining firms.

But the Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) he filed with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) after he won the presidency paints a different picture. According to his SOCE, the P375 million Duterte raised for his campaign came mainly from big businessmen.

In fact, money from his 13 biggest donors who gave him P5 million or more already makes up 89.28 percent or P334.8 million of his total campaign kitty. One of these contributors even belongs in this year’s Forbes list of 50 richest Filipinos. Small donations or those P10,000 and below amount to just P175,313 â€" less than half of one percent or merely 0.046 percent of Duterte’s total campaign fund.

CAMPAIGN FINANCE OFFICE IN DRIFT, HEADLESS

P334M from only 13 donors
funded Duterte’s presidency

by Karol Ilagan and Malou Mangahas
MONDAY, DECEMBER 5TH, 2016

And what will federalism do? It will empower a select few of these families and it will divide and undermine the nation. It will place the caliber of leadership we witnessed at the hearing, and the same unprincipled, biased, hostile, authoritarian, self-serving leadership, at the top of each state. Do you think people of this character will work diligently in favor of national interests? They can’t even manage the House as an institution of integrity and service to the people. They play unseemly political games. Why would they work cooperatively with “Imperial Manila”?

Federalism is a sure path to a divided nation, a weak nation, a poor nation, an unethical nation favoring the few, and a nation of administrative incompetence led by people of low democratic character who simply don’t get it.

The “it” being integrity, civility, service, and good works.

https://joeam.com/

Who are the representatives, after all? Many are members of dynastic families that have been prominent in their local districts for years, passing the power to other family members. Arroyo, Marcos, Romualdez, Cayetano, Espina, and many others that you might recognize. Pacquiao, new to the class. They command loyalty and backing by playing the power and favor game. They grow rich with all the money thrown at them during their term. They grow powerful.

That’s why Liberal Party members had no problem turning coat to align with President Duterte. They have little interest in serving the people or the ideals of democracy or even the Liberal Party. They serve themselves.

Well, a few senators and representatives do have some dedication to democratic principles and legislative integrity, numbering I’d imagine fewer than 20. They are largely impotent due to the large number of congressmen who care so little about ethics and decency as a commitment, and as a model of integrity for citizens to follow.

Senator Hontiveros held nothing back in her own pointed statement about the hearing. She’d been working diligently on legislation to protect women from violence, and here she was, witnessing it in the House:

The House of Representatives hit a lowest of the low as the House Committee on Justice reopened its probe into the narcotics trade inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) during Senator Leila De Lima’s stint as justice secretary. It was not an investigation in aid of legislation. It was a public lynching in aid of misogyny and sexism.

Well, it seems to me that what we see in the House is what we could expect of the governance of states under Federalism. Leadership that places favor and personal interests above law, decency, institutional integrity, and the nation.

Well, it appears to this observer that the House is no longer an independent institution. It has fallen into line as an executor of President Duterte’s demands, and his demand is to punish Senator Del Lima for seeking information about the killings he has ordered. They will do this even if the facts against her have to be concocted by drug dealers who win immunity if they testify properly.

The Senate’s President, Senator Pimentel . . . decidedly not a “yellow” . . . responded to one rep’s suggestion that the Senate dismiss Senator De Lima:

“We have our own rules also in the Senate. Rule of law tayo, but you know for a member of the House to tell the Senate to do something, ibalik ko siguro sa kanila, ibalik ko sa House, ‘do your thing first, before you ask us to do something.’”

The House hearing was not an earnest, honest investigation into the whys and ways of drug operations within a prison. It was hostile, low-class, politically inspired vendetta. One important piece of information divulged during the hearing was the deep involvement of PNP officials in dealing drugs. This was “on topic” and could have pointed to legislation. But that information was substantially ignored. The legislators wanted to talk sex.

“Such offensive, small men and women,” I muttered to myself as I watched the spectacle.

If this is the Philippine version of integrity, decency, and good government, no wonder the nation struggles so.

THE HOUSE HORROR SHOW ILLUSTRATES WHY FEDERALISM IS A BAD IDEA

The Society of Honor
November 28, 2016


The House in aid of legislation.. [Photo source: Inquirer]

By Joe America

Did you catch that strange House hearing in aid of legislation last week? The objective of the hearings was to examine the drug problem in New Bilibid Prison. Unfortunately, legislation and Bilibid were set aside to pursue a public shaming of Senator De Lima.

The House reps stunned most of the Senate, a lot of House members, and a whole lot of citizens, too. It was a disrespectful, offensive, low-blow kangaroo court that began when the House Speaker declared Senator De Lima a “serial liar” during a television interview, and ended with the issuance of a “show cause order” holding her in contempt for “obstructing justice”.

Can you imagine a judge going on TV before trial to claim that the defendant in his court is a liar? He would not. Professional integrity does not permit it. People being judged are granted rights and assured of fair treatment. A deep Christian compassion underpins these ethical boundaries. So does the Philippine Constitution:

ARTICLE IV, SECTION 21. The Senate or the House of Representatives or any of its respective committees may conduct inquiries in aid of legislation in accordance with its duly published rules of procedure. The rights of persons appearing in or affected by such inquiries shall be respected.

Pangilinan also aired his concern about the plan of the allies of the administration to bring down the age of criminal responsibility in the country to nine years.

“Today, Dec. 10, we call on all Filipinos to reaffirm our common humanity, concern for our fellowmen and stand up for the rights of all,” Pangilinan said.

“We echo the call of the United Nations for each of us to ‘step forward and defend the rights of a refugee or migrant, a person with disabilities, an LGBT person, a woman, a child, indigenous peoples, a minority group, or anyone else at risk of discrimination or violence,’ â€" mga nasa laylayan ng ating lipunan (those on the fringe of our society),” he added. â€" Janvic Mateo, Edu Punay, Marvin Sy

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/

Deadly drug war

Liberal Party acting president Sen. Francis Pangilinan also issued a statement as part of the observance of Human Rights Day yesterday, airing his concern over how the government’s war against drugs is being implemented.

Pangilinan described the anti-illegal drug campaign of the administration as “controversial and deadly” and one that victimizes the poor, vulnerable and marginalized.

He cited the findings of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights about how policemen who are part of Oplan Tokhang are violating the constitutional rights of the personalities they are apprehending.

“To say there is no massive human rights violations is like telling us we do not have a traffic problem in the country,” De Lima said. “Like the traffic problem, our people are outraged at these continued killings done in the name of government’s all-out war against drugs.”

The DILG probe team recommended, among others, the creation of a police manual, which it said should be available in every police precinct.

De Lima said it would appear that the DILG team was not aware of the Revised Philippine National Police Operational Procedures, which was promulgated in 2013.

“This is shocking,” De Lima stressed. “Our policemen should know this manual of operations by heart, so that they will learn to respect the human rights and dignity of all suspected offenders during police operations at all times.”

De Lima: Government in denial

Sen. Leila de Lima chided the administration yesterday for continuing to be in denial of the human rights violations being committed in the country, particularly in relation to its war against illegal drugs.

In a statement timed during the observance of International Human Rights Day, De Lima belittled the independent human rights probe conducted by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), which found no massive human rights violations taking place in the country.

“The so-called independent probe conducted by the Department of the Interior and Local Government is an insult not only to human rights workers but also, most especially, to the Filipino people at a time when the Philippines joins the international community in the observance of Human Rights Day today,” De Lima said.

De Lima argued that the criminals in the country are getting bolder by the day, based on the still unabated killings taking place on a daily basis.

The IBP said it is policing its own ranks and “will never tolerate or condone any kind of unscrupulous or unethical conduct on the part of its members in the performance of their roles as defense counsels, much less any criminal involvement of any lawyer in the drug trade.”

The organization’s national president and chair, Rosario Setias-Reyes, and other national officers and regional governors signed the IBP statement.

It was a reaction to Duterte’s speech during an anti-corruption campaign, where he said lawyers of suspected drug lords are taking advantage of the judicial process, allowing their clients to continue with their illegal activities.

Because of drug suspects being able to post bail, the President said he would “include” their lawyers in his war on drugs.

Last August, Rogelio Bato Jr., lawyer of slain Albuera mayor Rolando Espinosa, was shot to death.

“Competent legal representation is not only the right of every accused but, more importantly, the sworn duty of each and every member of the Bar to provide,” it added.

The IBP said the right of every respondent or accused in criminal cases, be they drug cases or not, is not only enshrined in the Bill of Rights in the Constitution but also “premised upon the fundamental principles of justice and fairness, particularly in a situation where the accused is faced with the awesome resources of the State.”

“The right assumes an active involvement by the lawyer in the proceedings, particularly at the trial of the case, his bearing constantly in mind of the basic rights of the accused, his being well-versed on the case and his knowing the fundamental procedures, essential laws and existing jurisprudence. The right of an accused to counsel finds substance in the performance by the lawyer of his sworn duty of fidelity to his client,” the IBP pointed out.

Dangerous threat to lawyers

Meanwhile, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) raised alarm yesterday over President Duterte’s statement that his war on drugs would next target lawyers defending drug suspects.

In a statement, the leadership of the mandatory organization of over 60,000 lawyers in the country described the statement of the President, himself a lawyer, as “very dangerous.”

“Lawyers must be free to decide to accept and undertake the defense in any kind of criminal case without any fear that doing so will place them in any kind of danger,” the IBP stressed.

The CHR is currently conducting a fact-finding investigation on over 500 deaths supposedly related to the war on drugs, including 202 cases of police operations and 186 alleged vigilante killings or summary executions linked to illegal drugs.

Gascon earlier cited resource limitations in covering what he called an unprecedented spate of killings in the country.

He challenged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the cases and deliver justice to the victims, stressing that their jurisdiction is only fact-finding and recommendatory.

“This year’s global theme calls on everyone to stand up for someone’s rights at this time, when humanity is under attack and human dignity is being devalued,” said the commission, referring to this year’s theme “Stand Up for Someone’s Rights Today.”

“We must remain steadfast in confronting the many challenges to human rights in this country and elsewhere in the world. Now more than ever should the flame of commitment to human values be spread and intensified,” the government body said.

The commemoration came amidst ongoing criticisms on alleged human rights violations by the Duterte administration in its campaign against illegal drugs.

CHR on Phl rights record: We could do better

(The Philippine Star)
December 11, 2016



MANILA, Philippines - Describing the country’s human rights record as “far less sterling than it can be,” Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chairman Chito Gascon lamented yesterday incidents of human rights violations in the Philippines, as the country celebrated International Human Rights Day.

“On human rights day, all nations are asked to reflect upon how we might further uphold dignity of persons by respecting their human rights,” Gascon said. “It is unfortunate that from a long-term perspective, the Philippine record in this regard is far less sterling than it can be.”

The CHR, in partnership with various civil society organizations, organized a festival and concert yesterday to highlight the importance of upholding human rights across the world.

It’s time to come to terms with this unacceptable situation that continues to threaten some of what could become the Philippines’ best and brightest. “The study has shown that we really need to be more serious in addressing violence against children which is happening all over the country, from the places that are supposedly safeâ€"the homesâ€"to the schools to the streets and the rest of the community,” said Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo.

A regular conduct of the NBS-VAC in the coming years will provide responsible officials with an opportunity to monitor the situation and devise effective means to end these crimes against young Filipinos. This festering problem needs a wholistic solution, from stamping out poverty to generating employment to, again, intensive information campaigns for both adults and kids on the evils of child abuse.

http://opinion.inquirer.net/

Aside from the tragedy of family members trafficking their kin, online child pornography is horrific because it takes a boon that empowersâ€"the democratic effect of technology and the internetâ€"and turns it into a bane that destroys. “The internet and mobile phones have revolutionized young people’s access to information, but the poll findings show just how real the risk of online abuse is for girls and boys,” said Cornelius Williams, Unicef associate director for child protection. Unicef reported that the number of criminal cases filed in the Philippines has risen from 57 in 2013 to 167 in 2015. It’s a hugely dangerous world out there, with international child rights agency Terre des Hommes stating there are more than 75,000 child predators prowling the internet.

Beyond sexual abuse, there are the occurrences of physical violence such as corporal punishment carried out in schools by teachers. Principal investigator Dr. Laurie Ramiro noted that there is a “high acceptability” of corporal punishment in Philippine society, as well as a “culture of silence” that is passed down from one abused generation to the next.

The survey by Unicef and the Philippine Council for the Welfare of Children had harrowing findings: Eight of 10 Filipino youth are subjected to one form of abuse or another. Among children and youth aged 13-24, one in five had been sexually abused, with over 60 percent of the cases occurring in their own homes.  This first ever study, known as the National Baseline Study on Violence against Children (NBS-VAC), tells us how bad things have gotten.

A glance at the past reinforces the horror. In 2015, Taguig City police managed to rescue eight girls aged 13-18 from a house where they had been forced to engage in sexual acts for online viewers in countries such as Japan and the United States; among the adults arrested was the mother of three of the children. The mastermind, a 33-year-old man, had been charging viewers $50 to $100. Earlier that year, a 51-year-old Australian was arrested for sexually abusing eight girls, even killing one of them. In 2014, Navotas City authorities, with the aid of an agent from the US Department of Homeland Security, rescued four young girls and arrested two suspected cybersex traffickers. In 2014 the town of Cordova in Metro Cebu was tagged “ground zero of online child pornography.” As one official of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas said, “village officials know that it is happening but they have not done anything.”

EDITORIAL

A plague on children

Philippine Daily Inquirer
December 11, 2016

That, according to Unicef country representative Lotta Sylwander, the Philippines now appears to be “some kind of center” for the sexual abuse of children is a damning indication of the plague on Filipino kids.

Then again it’s hardly new; it has been reported beforeâ€"that pedophiles from all over the world consider the Philippines happy hunting grounds for children, particularly the impoverished, who are offered as prey by their own families in exchange for tidy sums. In fact cybersex shops have been found to operate in the middle of villages and towns, with parents themselves serving as pimps.

paging, lorenz! this is great. my own great grandpa is a tan from valencia. i suspect he's either the older brother or cousin of lorenz's great-great grandpa. my great grandpa's family name was changed to del bando, and that's how his descendants are now called.

one of my aunts married a salise. so there's a salise branch who are our relatives.

5) tv-cnn.com (Added Nov 7, 2016)

Site it's trying to mimic: cnn.com

Sample headlines:

"BREAKING NEWS: Australia Announces Visa-Free For Filipino Ordinary Passport Holders"

"Senate Overturns Obama's Veto Of 9/11 Bill"

"Israelis, World Leaders Gather For Peres Funeral"

Screenshot:



Social media users should keep their eyes peeled for sites like these which attempt to associate themselves with known media brands. The 5 here are just a few of the many fake sites out there, and new ones may pop up regularly.

[...] â€" Rappler.com

http://www.rappler.com/

4) theguard1an.com

Site it's trying to mimic: theguardian.com

Sample headlines:

"VLADIMIR PUTIN: Fidel Ramos Is Blind"

"'I Never Apologized' â€" Miss Earth Philippines Says Her Account Is Hacked"

"Duterte Attracts More Investors As Bill Gates Invests $20 Billion In The Philippines"

Screenshot:



Theguard1an.com has a disclaimer page that tells the reader not to take the website seriously. However, this clarification is not prominently displayed on the site's front page or within the articles. It can only be seen through a link accessed via a dropdown menu that appears under "CONTACT US" â€" hardly a high-traffic area of any website.

3) aljazeera-tv.com

Site it's trying to mimic: aljazeera.com

Sample headlines:

"De Lima Says Filipino Youth Are lazy"

"MIRACLE: Georgina Wilson Gives Birth Just 3 Months after Pregnancy and Baby Looks Like 1 year old"

"Ramos Flown to Germany For Medical Care As His Condition Becomes Critical"

Screenshot:

2) cnn-channel.com

Site it's trying to mimic: cnn.com

Sample headlines:

"LOVELY: Billionaire John Gokongwei buys Duterte a customized Bullet-proof 2016 BMW M2"

"Senator De Lima: Youth of Philippines are Lazy"

"16-year-old Canadian To Receive Millions of Dollars From Samsung for Providing Solution for Galaxy Note 7"

Screenshot:

Mimicry is deception. Suffice to say, deception is not the hallmark of a website attempting to publish news.

Take a look at some sites pretending to be legitimate news outlets:

1) bbc-channel.com

Site it's trying to mimic: bbc.com

Sample headlines:

"BREAKING: Baby 'Rody Duterte' Named In Duterte's Honor"

"On Service, Clinton Separates Trump From Past GOP Presidents"

"Africa Presidents Magufuli, Mugabe Praise Duterte, Say He Is A 'Hero'"

Screenshot:

TECH FEATURES

Visa-free travel to Australia, Duterte's bulletproof BMW, and other fake stories online

These dubiously-named websites trick people into believing that they're affiliated with established news companies

Gelo Gonzales
November 07, 2016
 
MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) â€" Mimicry, as a survival method, is a known technique in the animal kingdom. Some predators copy the appearance of harmless creatures to lure prey. Vice versa, some prey pretend to be a predator to ward off one.

But as some websites prove, mimicry isn't a trick exclusive to the animal kingdom. Witness: sites that blatantly steal the name of established news sites while slightly varying it.

For these sites, the desired effect is that they immediately gain a reader's trust, owing to the presence of a familiar news brand in their name. Those who do not pay enough attention will believe that they're reading or sharing an item from an established news institution.

moral lesson: pagtigom na lang, ayaw na lang ug gasto ug selebrasyon kay di nato hibaw-an kinsay modumog nga bisita.

mga yogalupad lagi ning imong mga hulagway, bai hubs...

hohum. pa-prontada na pod si ondoy.

After the Internet was taken by storm last week with how a dog would wear pants, a Canadian company has the perfect solution with their unique product, trouser for dogs (pictured above)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
07 Jan 2016

my answer: it's up to the owner's fashion sense. besides, they can always provide hand-me-downs.

and thanks for carrying on with this website, mr webmaster!

maayong pasko, sir fd. salamat nga nigimaw ka dinhi.

sayon iuyon, hangtod nga ang biktima atong paryente o suod nga amigo. i still believe it is not for the state to decide who lives or dies. state-sanctioned death penalty is simply state-sanctioned murder.

this is a sad day for our nation.

QuoteIn a statement, Dinagat Island Representative Kaka Bag-ao explained why she voted against the bill, saying “it is a disservice to our values as Filipinos.”

"They say we are waging a war against drugs, a war against crimeâ€"but why is it turning into a war against the poor?”

right on. in our milieu, in the history of our country's death sentences, give us a rich person who can afford to hire the best lawyers, never mind his connections to the powers-that-be, who's been meted the death penalty.

and they have the GOOD sense to exclude PLUNDER from the heinous crimes list, which was one of the crimes befitting the death penalty before (section 12, republic act 7659). wow, they have the foresight to save themselves and their ilk!

addendum: I CORRECT MYSELF. i read it again; plunder is still included after all. my apologies.

why are these legislators so eager to please the president? couldn't they have studied the pros and cons longer, not this fast as to take them only a few months to come up with a law that decides who should live or die?

President Rodrigo Duterte has publicly declared he wanted capital punishment reimposed on heinous crimes, especially on criminals involved in drug-trafficking.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, one of the authors of the consolidated death penalty bills, has vowed the passage of the measure at the House of Representatives before Congress adjourns for the Christmas break.

Death penalty is among the top priority measures of President Rodrigo Duterte and was also the first bill filed at the House of Representatives in this 17th Congress. (With reports from PNA)

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/

Fariñas, co-author of the bill, said the only choice we have now to solve criminality is either death penalty or extrajudicial killing (EJK).

“What do we want EJK or JK (judicial killing)? At least ‘yung judicial killing (death penalty) may due process,” Fariñas said.

The imposition of death penalty has been suspended since 2006 with the enactment of Republic Act 9346, or An Act Prohibiting the Imposition of Death Penalty in the Philippines.

"Modernizing our justice system is the key to end lawlessness and criminality. It is swift punishment and the immediate disposition of cases pending before our courts, regardless of penalties involved, and not the reimposition of death penalty, that will restore respect for the rule of law in the country,” Pangilinan said.

Leyte Representative Vicente Veloso, justice committee vice-chair, said death penalty is necessary to scare off repeat offenders.

Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Fariñas argued that the Constitution gives Congress the power to reinstate death penalty for heinous crimes and the compelling reasons for its reimposition can be debated once the bill is tackled at the plenary.

She also said there is a need to propose reforms on the administration of justice.

“There is no clear evidence or study presented that would justify death penalty as an effective deterrent to crime. Even the secretary of the Department of Justice, who attended one of the hearings, said that there are neither studies conducted nor any empirical data presented to justify the reimposition of death penalty,” Bag-ao said.

Senator Kiko Pangilinan also reacted on the development, expressing disagreement that death penalty is the answer to lawlessness and criminality.

The mode of capital punishment could either be through hanging, by firing squad or lethal injection.

In a statement, Dinagat Island Representative Kaka Bag-ao explained why she voted against the bill, saying “it is a disservice to our values as Filipinos.”

"They say we are waging a war against drugs, a war against crimeâ€"but why is it turning into a war against the poor?”

Bag-ao cited the lack of statistics on the country’s crime rates, which are crucial in helping lawmakers judiciously decide on the measure.

Death penalty gets House panel's nod

Wednesday, December 07, 2016
By JAUHN ETIENNE VILLARUEL


Photo courtesy of PTV

THE restoration of capital punishment in the Philippines is now slated for plenary debates, as the House justice committee on Wednesday approved a report containing the substitute bill that would allow death penalty back in the country's criminal justice system.

The panel approved the report with 12 votes on the affirmative, six negative and one abstention.

The bill â€" a consolidation of seven House bills of the same intent â€" has enumerated heinous crimes punishable by death penalty, namely: Treason; Piracy in general and mutiny on the high seas or in Philippine water; Qualified piracy; Qualified bribery; Parricide; Murder; Infanticide; Rape; Kidnapping and serious illegal detention; Robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons; Destructive arson; Plunder; Possession of dangerous drugs; Carnapping, among others.

a good enough reason as any.

The quake shook Banda Aceh and prompted many people across the region to flee their homes. Many are said to be reluctant to go back indoors, amid a number of aftershocks.

Musman Aziz, who lives in Meureudu, another affected town, told AP news agency: "It was very bad, the tremors felt even stronger than (the) 2004 earthquake... I was so scared the tsunami was coming."

Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because it lies on the Ring of Fire - the line of frequent quakes and volcanic eruptions that circles virtually the entire Pacific rim.

The island of Sumatra has been hit by several earthquakes this year.

http://www.bbc.com/

AP
Officials have appealed for more equipment and manpower to dig through the rubble


AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Authorities fear the death toll could rise because people are trapped in the rubble

Pidie Jaya is along the north coast of Aceh, and has a population of about 150,000.

It is about 110 km (68 miles) from the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Patients have been placed on mattresses outside hospitals

Heavy equipment is being used to search for survivors, but Puteh Manaf, head of the local disaster management agency, told the BBC's Mehulika Sitepu that more people were needed to help because some staff were busy helping their own families.

AFP
Rescuers are searching through the debris for people feared trapped

Said Mulyadi, deputy district chief of Pidie Jaya, the region hit hardest by the quake, told the BBC's Indonesian service earlier in the day that the death toll was likely to rise.

He also told the AFP news agency that several children were among the dead and that local hospitals had been overwhelmed.

AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Several mosques and other buildings collapsed

A spokesman for Indonesia's national disaster agency said more than 200 shops and homes had been destroyed, along with 14 mosques. A hospital and school were also badly damaged.

"We estimate the number of casualties will continue to rise as some of the residents are still likely [to be] under the rubble of the buildings. The search and rescue operation is still underway," said Sutopo Nugroho, who also said thousands of rescuers, including soldiers, had been deployed.

Maj Gen Tatang Sulaiman said four people had been rescued alive from the rubble and he believed there might be four or five more still buried, though he did not say whether they were alive.

"Hopefully we would be able to finish the evacuation from the rubble before sunset," he said.

Deadly magnitude 6.5 earthquake hits Aceh in Indonesia

7 December 2016


Search and rescue teams are working to pull people from the rubble of collapsed buildings

An earthquake off Indonesia's northern Aceh province has killed at least 97 people, say local military officials.

The magnitude 6.5 quake struck just off the north-east coast of Sumatra island, where dozens of buildings have collapsed and many people are feared trapped under rubble.

"So far, 97 people have been killed and the number keeps growing," Aceh military chief Tatang Sulaiman said in a live TV interview.
Hundreds of people have been injured.

In 2004, a huge undersea quake off the coast of Aceh caused a tsunami that killed more than 160,000 people in Indonesia alone.

There was no tsunami after Wednesday's tremor, which the US Geological Survey said struck just offshore at 05:03 local time (22:03 GMT Tuesday) at a depth of 8km.

this was in 2001. is this post, along with other similarly dated posts, for posterity? just curious.

This categorical finding is diametrically opposite candidate Duterte’s categorical promise.

At the Bacoor assembly, the Revilla supporter who asked Mr. Duterte prefaced his question with a confession: “Namimiss na namin ang aming mahal na senador [We miss our beloved senator].” Without skipping a beat, Mr. Duterte replied: “Pareho tayo, kaibigan ko man [Me too, he’s my friend].”

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/

Second: The Sandiganbayan was already able to determine that, of the P224.5 million total, “the prosecution has so far strongly proven the amount of P103,000,000 … the total amount received by accused Cambe for Revilla.”

Third: The witnesses against Revilla, Cambe, and Napoles gave credible testimony that stood up in court, corroborated by the electronic and other forms of evidence.

Thus: “After a solicitous assessment of the evidence so far presented by the prosecution, the Court finds and declares that there is a strong proof to believe that accused Revilla, Cambe and Napoles committed the crime of plunder.  Hence, they should be denied bail.”

Pork barrel scam

The rulings by the Sandiganbayan’s First Division of December 1, 2014 and of March 26, 2015, denying Revilla’s motion for reconsideration and to add evidence, comprehensively present the case against granting Revilla’s application for bail. (“However, the Court cautions that such conclusion shall not be regarded as a prejudgment on the merits of the case that are to be determined only after a full-blown trial.”)

First: Revilla, his representative Richard Cambe, and alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles are accused of conspiring to “wilfully, unlawfully, and criminally amass, accumulate and/or acquire ill-gotten wealth” amounting to P224.5 million. They did so through fraudulent schemes involving the Priority Development Assistance Fund.

“In our view, his social and political standing and his having immediately surrendered to the authorities upon his being charged in court indicate that the risk of his flight or escape from this jurisdiction is highly unlikely,” Bersamin wrote. The same can be said of Revilla, but as many commentators wrote after the Enrile ruling came down, this standard actually cements the divide between the rich and the poor, between the powerful and the powerless.

This newspaper’s editorial of August 21, 2015 zeroed in on what may be the real precedent-setting consequence of the Enrile case: “the heart of Enrile’s case lies not in emphasizing his old age and frail health but in challenging the very concept of prima facie evidence, the cornerstone of our prosecutorial system: One of only two exceptions allowing the accused to post bail even in nonbailable crimes involves the presence of ‘strong evidence of guilt.’ Enrile’s challenge is that the evidence can be found strong (or not) only by the court, and only after the prosecution has finished presenting its evidence.”

Enrile precedent

But that comment was written before Enrile vs Sandiganbayan, a ruling promulgated on August 18, 2015 and penned by Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin. Despite Sandiganbayan rulings rejecting Enrile’s application for provisional release, the Supreme Court still found in his favor.

Will the Court apply the new Enrile precedent to Revilla, the movie star and action hero, extending to him the same humanitarian considerations the nonagenarian Enrile enjoyed, or will it find that the popular senator enjoys the same “social and political standing” as veteran politician Enrile?

“True, the accused have asked the [Sandiganbayan] for a reconsideration, saying the resolution was ‘speculative’ and, failing in that, may elevate the ruling to the Supreme Court via a petition for certiorari. This petition may prosper on only one ground: grave abuse of discretion, specifically, that the [Sandiganbayan] acted whimsically or arbitrarily.”

Panganiban concluded: “Seldom, however, does the Supreme Court reverse trial courts … in their factual assessments. This is because the high tribunal relies merely on the records or transcripts of the proceedings while trial judges observe the demeanor of the witnesses on the stand …”

A Court still facing criticism for its decision allowing the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani â€"another Duterte campaign promise â€" is now about to undergo another test. Will it disregard the work of the Sandiganbayan’s First Division and, as it did in the case of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, who is also accused of plundering the pork barrel system, find grave abuse of discretion on the part of the anti-graft court? The Enrile outcome was especially jarring to lawyers because the Court ruled that there was grave abuse of discretion without explaining how the Sandiganbayan committed it. (It just restated a definition.)

“The issue of whether the evidence was ‘strong’ enough to justify the continued detention of the accused is essentially ‘factual’ in nature,” former Supreme Court Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban wrote in his column shortly after the First Division’s first resolution dated December 1, 2014 and denying Revilla’s motion for bail was released.

Revilla supporter

On January 21, in Bacoor, candidate Duterte was asked by a Revilla supporter if he can assure a fair trial for the senator (“patas po ba kayo sa paglilitis”) if he were president. The long-time mayor of Davao City replied: “Ako, you can be very sure, lalabas ‘yan, lalabas ‘yan sa [he will leave] prison. I cannot guarantee na yung kaso, ma-e-erase, erase sa korte, pero [that the case will be erased at the courts but] I will see to it that they are also afforded the right to bail.”

A lawyer and former prosecutor himself, Duterte later told reporters that he meant that Revilla should enjoy the right to bail if the evidence against him wasn’t strong enough. Speaking before the enthusiastic crowd, however, he had not qualified his statement; he simply made a categorical promise. “Lalabas ‘yan.”

NEWS ANALYSIS

SC poised to decide on Revilla bail, a Duterte campaign promise

By: John Nery - @jnery_newsstand
INQUIRER.net
December 05, 2016


Sen. Bong Revilla in 2014, on his way to his arraignment on plunder charges. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

Last January, while campaigning in Bacoor City, presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte promised Cavite voters that their former governor, Sen. Bong Revilla, would be released on bail if he becomes president. Today, Supreme Court justices are meeting to discuss the Revilla case for plunder, a capital and therefore non-bailable offense; tomorrow the court formally deliberates on the senator’s petition for bail. As it did in the case of Gloria Arroyo and the Marcos burial, will the Court help President Duterte keep another of his campaign promises?

The Sandiganbayan anti-graft court has twice rejected Revilla’s petition for bail in his pork barrel case, in large part because the senator had admitted in writing that the signatures in 168 key documents were either his or his representative’s. A reversal of the Sandiganbayan’s finding of “strong evidence” â€" the standard required to deprive a petitioner in a capital case of the constitutional right to bail â€" would be a shock to the judicial system. It would demoralize prosecutors and undermine the Supreme Court’s own standing. But under the present Court, it would not be unprecedented.

they really are sad.

goin', goin', gone.