IF IT is true that President-elect Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte is suffering from what is called “Buerger’s Disease,” also known as “thromboangitis obliterans”—a rather catchy affliction that inflames the arteries, and the veins in the arms and legs, we can only sympathize with him. Most of us do not have to go through life with unbearable throbbing pain.
Somebody who suffers from that affliction wrote for a national broadsheet that she got it all from smoking—heavy smoking. In case of stubborn smokers, Buerger’s Disease can cause death. I can only imagine what Duterte must have gone through. His common-law-wife who would be in charge of Malacañang told the same national broadsheet that Duterte had already quit smoking years ago.
Anne S. Jambora, who claims she had the same affliction said: “Of course, he must have—or he wouldn’t be here with us right now, alive with limbs intact.”
I would not wish the same condition on my worst enemy.
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I don’t know what Du30 is up to when he continues to hurl invectives against the Catholic Church, calling it hypocritical because some members of the hierarchy allegedly have mistresses. He says he could prove that there have been lecherous popes. According to him, the Catholic Church is irrelevant. He is no longer a Catholic but a member of Duterte’s church.
Du30 repeated his tirades against the Church when a retired archbishop replied that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines had its own internal laws on how to discipline erring bishops and priests. He also challenged Du30 to release names as proof.
In my over 66 years as a journalist, I have never heard an incoming president saying as much as he does against the Catholic Church as an institution. He confuses the institution with its members who have not been true to their vocation, committing abuses and violating their vows of celibacy.
Of course the Catholic Church as an institution has had some scoundrels. Didn’t Jesus Christ himself have a Judas Iscariot among his disciples?
As a Catholic, though, I believe what Jesus said to St. Peter: “Thou art Peter, the rock. Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”
Du30, having studied at the Ateneo de Davao run by the Jesuits, should have learned from history that the Church as an institution had gone through many crises. And yet it continues to be around. The institution will prevail, long after Duterte is gone.
There may be a constitutional provision on the separation of powers between the State and the Church. Still, the Church has an obligation to remind its faithful on what is right and wrong. The faithful must follow what is written in the gospel.
What I am concerned about as a citizen is the need for the country to move forward. Du30 only exacerbates this division by taking on the Catholic Church when he leads a nation that is predominantly Catholic.
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Congress, both the Senate and the House of Representatives, will start the canvassing of ballots for the presidency and vice presidency today. The law mandates that there must be a president and vice president to be proclaimed before June 30, 2016 —the date when the incumbent president steps down.
There is no question on the proclamation of the president. Duterte leads his closest rival by over six million votes.
But the neck-in-neck contest for the vice presidency is something to be watched. There are claims of election fraud, with a director of Smartmatic monkeying around with the codes, likely affecting the votes for Senator Bongbong Marcos and Rep. Leni Robredo.
Instances of election fraud are widespread—from Lamitan, Basilan to Santa Rosa, Laguna. Because of this, it seems logical that the canvassing for the vice presidency should be put off until a full audit of the system is made by the Comelec itself.
If the administration decides to go ahead despite the problems, this would be a violation of election laws. Even the proclamation of the president may be put under question.
What I cannot understand is why the Comelec allowed Marlon Garcia, Smartmatic’s project director, to continue his functions when he was the same person who was a respondent in an electoral sabotage case in 2013.
Even more questionable is why the Comelec continued with Smartmatic given the latter’s infamy in cheating and vote shaving. All these reflect on Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista’s honesty and integrity.
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BS Aquino is beating his breast like a proud chimpanzee. He says he is leaving the country with a gross domestic product growth of 6.9 percent during the last quarter of 2015. This is reportedly the highest in Southeast Asia.
What BS Aquino did not say is that he’s also leaving a country with the highest unemployment and poverty incidence in the region.
The preoccupation of Aquino economic managers on GDP growth is meaningless unless it’s inclusive. This means that the benefits of that growth must trickle down to the poor and the jobless.
Read this and weep: The latest labor force survey data noted that unemployment in the Philippines was 5.8 percent in January this year. China had 4.0 percent, Vietnam 2.3 percent, Indonesia 6.5 percent, Malaysia 3.5 percent and Thailand, 1.0 percent.
As for BS Aquino III’s legacy of high growth rate, no less than the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas attributed this to the sound economic fundamentals that former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo left in 2010.
What I am saying is that BS Aquino cannot claim the high GDP growth as his legacy. Poverty and unemployment rates are still the highest in this region. In truth, his legacy are his mistakes, shortcomings, and the hypocrisy of “Daang Matuwid.”