DESPITE all the efforts of President Aquino and his lapdogs to hide the true state of the nation—closing down the airport, canceling domestic and international flights, providing special lanes for participants in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, and giving money to the homeless so they can make themselves scarce during the event—they will not be able to hide the truth.
Can Mr. Aquino stop the Apec participants from using media to know what’s going on? They will know that in this country, one can get mugged anywhere. There are scams galore, from the streets to the airport.
Does the President really believe he can hide the truth on how inept and insensitive his administration is?
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Both President Aquino and his anointed Mar Roxas gave a copout that the reason they snubbed the second year commemoration of typhoon “Yolanda” is that they had not been invited to Tacloban City.
Speaker Sonny Belmonte made it worse. Remembering those who died from the typhoon is “in the heart,” he said. That’s plain baloney, and Sonny knows it.
The thousands of survivors are disappointed that the President had a more important appointment—the wedding of the son of a billionaire friend. And to think Mr. Aquino was not even a sponsor.
He could have gone to Tacloban to show “malasakit” to the people. But he did not, and that says a lot.
This reminds me of the time the President was caught smiling when he surveyed the bus where the hostage tragedy of 2010 took place. Eight tourists from Hong Kong were killed that time.
He did it again when the bodies of the slaughtered police commandoes were brought to Villamor Air Base from Maguindanao. Instead of being there, he chose to go to the inauguration of a car manufacturing plant.
This President really does not have empathy or compassion in his veins.
A President doesn’t need a formal invitation to attend an event so important.
Recall what Mar Roxas said when he wanted to take over Tacloban City in the wake of the looting, and when so many dead bodies were still lying along the streets. “Remember you are a Romualdez, and the President is an Aquino.” Roxas added “bahala na kayo sa buhay ninyo,” when the mayor refused to hand Tacloban over to him.
It could be true that the Yolanda survivors would protest the snail-paced delivery of relief and rehabilitation. But a caring President would welcome that if he really had empathy and compassion for them.
Then again, that would be asking too much of the President, whose five-year reign has been anchored on lies, and whose straight-path mantra has been exposed to be hypocritical.
In my over 65 years as a journalist, I have never seen a President more hypocritical and so insensitive to the poor and the needy than BS Aquino III.
And Mar Roxas thinks we want more of this?
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With the Comelec deadline for the printing of official ballots for next year’s May elections less than a month away, senator and presidential aspirant Mrs. Mary Grace Poe Llamanzares is getting desperate. She is facing numerous cases, one of which has been filed against her by Rizalito David, a rival in the 2013 senatorial race.
David contends that Mrs. Llamanzares is not a natural-born Filipino and is therefore barred by the Constitution from seeking office as a senator. The SET decision is due on the 17th of this month, and if the SET rules against her, she could well be ousted as a senator and even as a presidential contender.
With all the troubles besetting her, Poe is frantically in search of that bridge that will take her over troubled waters. But, unlike the lyrics of the ‘60s song of the same title, her time to shine has not yet come —and may not come at all. In fact, her dream of a stay in Malacañang is in danger of being swept away in a raging political tempest.
At the moment, there are four other petitions before the Comelec seeking her disqualification from the presidential elections next year. These are the cases she can’t simply dismiss as harassment suits because they are based on solid constitutional grounds. The complainants are highly credible individuals, former Senator Kit Tatad, former GSIS lawyer Estrella Elamparo, De La Salle University political science professor Antonio Contreras and lately, former UE College of Law Dean Amado Valdez.
Now, even some big names in the entertainment industry who supported Poe for senator could find themselves respondents in criminal and administrative suits due to alleged violations of the Corporate Code (Batas Pambansa Blg. 68) that bars companies from giving donations to any political party or candidate, or for purposes of any partisan political activity.
It appears from records when Poe ran for the Senate in 2013, she received campaign contributions from a well-known company that produces a highly rated noontime show over television. And as expected, Poe herself submitted to the Comelec of the SOCE or Statement of Contributions and Expenses that showed a donation of P3,307,390.80 from the producers of the show. And this was stated in a notarized report dated June 15, 2013 and duly signed by the producer.
The prohibition against political campaign contributions by corporations is specified in Section 36 (9) of the Corporation Code. Section 144 of the code says that violators may face fines of not less than P1,000, but not more than P10,000, or imprisonment for not less than 30 years, but more than five years, or both. The penalty may cause dissolution of the company by the SEC. It is also in the Omnibus Election Code.