President Duterte and his supporters do not realize it, but news headlines every day seem to focus on the wrong targets, like Supreme Court Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.
This brings to fore the question: What do the President and his supporters hope to achieve with this?
It may be true as alleged that Sereno committed impeachable offenses under the Constitution. But impeachment is purely a political exercise. It is a numbers game.
In the case of Ombudsman Morales, I wonder what Duterte hopes to achieve. The perception by many is that he is just out to discredit the Ombudsman after she said she would investigate the Duterte family’s wealth.
I believe that all these are just distractions. The President still has to worry about his war against illegal drugs. There are also greater challenges like poverty and terrorism.
Even now, there are reports that the Mautes and the Abus are eyeing Cotabato City as their next target.
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The recent survey by the Social Weather Stations that people killed in the drug war are poor and did not fight back shows the sentiment of the people.
This is how people perceive the administration and the police, who are supposed to serve and protect the people. Whom can we trust now?
This can only validate reports from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines that more and more people are seeking Church protection.
This may well be the tipping point in the war against illegal drugs. What bothers me is that Malacañang keeps denying that the war is targeting the poor. But are the rich and powerful pursued in raids? I don’t think so.
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The move of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II to look into the bank accounts of officials of the Aquino administration, supposedly in Switzerland, Malaysia and Australia can turn out to be a can of worms. But I say it’s about time.
Former officials of the Transportation Department have been known to be engaged in anomalies in connection with the procurement of mass transportation equipment from China. People who take the LRT and MRT are suffering because of these anomalies.
It would be an interesting probe, wouldn’t it?
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If the confirmation of Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial is being delayed, she only has herself to blame.
She has taken six foreign trips within two and a half months. She has brought her family and other Health officials with her.
Perhaps the Commission on Appointments must investigate all these trips were they really necessary?
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There is a lot of fuss about fake news. Even the Senate is now investigating it.
But let us define fake news. When bloggers disseminate news over social media that turn out to be fake or denied, is that fake news? Similarly, when mainstream media come out with reports denied by those to whom they were attributed, is that fake news?
I have been in media for almost seven decades. During my time, when this happened, editors simply dismissed the reporter. Or, the reporter is slapped with a libel suit.
With reportage evolving from objective to subjective, reporters now always have a slant depending on the bias of the news organization.