WHO IS CARANDANG?

By: Bobi Tiglao

It was Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang who claimed that Duterte had P1 bilion "money flows" in his account.

Who is Carandang? He appears to be a devotee of the Yellow Cult, together with his cousin, Aquino’s former communication officer Ricky Carandang, who I was told lobbied for his appointment. He was assistant ombudsman when Simeon Marcelo headed the agency. Marcelo has been the second top Yellow counselor, after Mar Roxas’ campaign manager Avelino (“Nonong”) Cruz.

Carandang left the Ombudsman’s office when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appointed Merceditas Gutierrez to the post, whom President Aquino also pushed out. He rejoined it as consultant to Carpio-Morales when she took over in 2011. Aquino in 2013 appointed him Overall Deputy Ombudsman, the highest ranking official in the agency after Carpio-Morales, leap-frogging the much-longer-serving over 24 other deputy and assistant ombudsmen.

Aquino had to vigorously defend Carandang’s appointment since he had been charged several years back with robbery and extortion, in a case that stemmed from a corruption investigation involving a finance officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippine. The case, however, was dismissed by then Quezon City Chief Prosecutor Donald Lee.

Former vice president Jejomar Binay also had claimed during the past elections that it was Carandang who headed the Ombudsman’s efforts to pin him down with hidden bank accounts and graft charges against him and his family.

Trillanes and other Duterte critics doomed to fail due to use of false information

‘Senator’ Antonio Trillanes seemingly uses the Senate as a base for launching his numerous personal vendettas.

Members of the Philippine Opposition are getting desperate. They are down to using their last bullet, which is to paint President Rodrigo Duterte as corrupt. Their allies in mainstream media are trying their best to help drive that message. You can see it in their headlines. “Ombudsman probes Duterte family’s wealth” says one of the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s headlines. “AMLC’s bank records on Duterte show P1-B flow of money – Ombudsman” says another from Rappler. It’s quite apparent that they worded the headlines to effect maximum impact on the readers. After all, it has worked against their enemies in the past, so why not try it against Duterte, right?

I’m all for investigation of alleged ill-gotten wealth, but the problem I see in this scenario is, it should have been done before the election. It’s a bit late now that Duterte is PRESIDENT. I consider it a dumb move since he is immune from lawsuit while he is in office anyway. But of course the Opposition would try every trick in the book to change public perception. After all, their motto is “Doesn’t have to be true. Just needs to LOOK like that”.

Yes, members of the Opposition are hell-bent on destroying Duterte’s image even if it means destroying the fabric of Philippine society along with it. It doesn’t matter if they use lies and negative propaganda to bring Duterte down as long as they achieve their goal. That says a lot about the kind of people they are – lacking in principles and vindictive. They think the end justifies the means.

Even before the office of the Ombudsman requested the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to divulge the final report on the Duterte family’s bank transaction records when Mr. Duterte was mayor of Davao City, Senator Antonio Trillanes already had copies of the President’s bank account details. AMLC already issued a statement saying they did not give information to Trillanes. The real question is where did Trillanes get his information? Does he have a contact with the AMLC? If so, whoever that person is breached Duterte’s privacy. It seems Trillanes is using dozens of his hired “consultants”, which could include “small ladies” to get him the goods on his enemies. Did the Deputy Ombudsman for Mindanao Arthur Carandang even ask Trillanes where he got his information?  

Some people are baffled as to why people like Trillanes can get away with his appalling behavior. He’s like a brat who throws a tantrum when he doesn’t get his way. He’s even threatened to unseat Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel if the latter doesn’t replace his other nemesis in the senate, Senator Richard Gordon as the Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman. Trillanes thinks he is that influential. Perhaps he’s got the goods on the other senators as well. It could explain why they tolerate his bullying tactics. Trillanes doesn’t even care if he drags along the name of a respected organization like the Red Cross in his effort to damage Gordon’s reputation. Trillanes promised to expose Gordon’s alleged corruption involving his Chairmanship of the humanitarian charity organization.

Trillanes’s empty threats merely expose him as a vile and destructive person. Trillanes doesn’t function as a senator anymore. I don’t think he ever did. He seems to be functioning as some kind of lead investigator. Unfortunately, he’s only investigating his enemies.

His actions do not benefit the public, only his personal interests and that of his allies. Trillanes will eventually fall on his own sword.

The Opposition’s inconsistencies are so blatantly obvious. If these people are after what’s good for the country, they should also clamor for investigation of Commission on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista’s alleged hidden wealth. Trillanes in particular is very quiet about Bautista’s shenanigans. They actually prefer to sweep that issue under the rug because there is a lot at stake if Bautista is proven to have accepted money in exchange for facilitating the alleged electoral fraud in the last Presidential Elections. Current Vice President Leni Robredo could be unseated. They wouldn’t want that. And of course they prefer him to stay on as Chairman of COMELEC since he can still continue to “help” out his allies “win” in the next election.  

We can only hope the public has learned from the impeachment trial of the late former Chief Justice Renato Corona. The Liberal Party and their allies in media also used sensationalized headlines in deceiving the public into believing Corona had millions in his bank account. In the end, the charges of ill-gotten wealth were not proven, but Corona was still impeached because the acting senator-judges were also gullible enough to believe the unsubstantiated power-point presentations showing his said millions of bank deposits.

In a recent development, the AMLC actually denied giving the office of the Ombudsman records of Duterte’s bank details. The agency is also baffled as to where Carandang got his information. Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo also warned Carangdang should not have released details while investigation is ongoing or he could face administrative charges:

AMLC added that it is still evaluating the August 17 request made by Carandang which it received on September 6, requesting the body to initiate an investigation on Duterte’s accounts.

“We have yet to evaluate the request, and the initiation of an investigation, as well as the release of any report on the subject will depend on such evaluation. Suffice it to state that in the attachment to the Complaint, the alleged debits and credits representing outflows and inflows of funds were added together, thus, the resulting total amounts are wrong and misleading,” AMLC said.

Carandang, who is a relative of a former Malacanang Presidential Spokesman Ricky Carangdang during former BS Aquino’s term, could be “helping” Trillanes bring Duterte down by providing false and malicious information.

In the Opposition’s desperation, they are getting sloppy or sloppier. They probably assume most people want to see Duterte ousted. But like what I always say, if your agenda is to protect the interests of the people, lies and all other bullshit thrown at you will not stick.

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About Ilda

In life, things are not always what they seem.

http://www.getrealphilippines.com/blog/2017/09/trillanes-duterte-critics-doomed-fail-due-use-false-information/

Risa and Bam's Plot to weaken Duterte by destroying the senate majority ~ SHARE

ITO PALA ANG DAHILAN KUNG BAKIT GUSTONG MAWALA NI RISA HONTIVEROS ANG DUTERTE BLOGGERS! PANOORIN

'GARAPALANG PROPAGANDA SI KIKO. PWEDENG KASUHAN NG ETHICS CASE KASI SINISIRA ANG SENADO' - TP

MALINAW NA SINADYA NI KIKO PANGILINAN ANG HINDI PAGPAPIRMA NG RESOLUTION SA 7 SENATORS'-Atty Trixie

NYTIMES, WASHINGTON POST SELLS NEWSPAPER THAT SENSATIONALIZE EJK SA AMERIKA - TP with Dan Jimenez

TOPIC: Ombudsman vs Duterte - Kalokohan ni Kiko -Town Hall Meetings with Cayetano

THINKING PINOY LIVE | Filipino Community Event sa Washington DC

Topic: Enrile Kinawawa si Luchi- Mocha simampahan ng kaso niTrillanes

Topics: Andy BAUTISTA- Mocha vs Trillanes - and those slogans in Luneta- By Atty: Trixie Angeles

HONTIVEROS PINAGPIYESTAHAN AT PINAGTAWANAN NG MGA BROADCASTER KASAMA SI -TP AT TRIXIE

RISA HONTIVEROS-PINAGTWANAN- KULANG NA KULANG SA IQ-viral news

TO MY MORO FRIENDS

Paulino Jose Misa

I'm afraid you need to understand a few other things aside from just your side, my Moro friend (if you don't mind my calling you that). There is the historical side but there is the practical side to be considered. Insisting on just one side can only result in one side being exterminated. While I have no doubt that your religion would allow you to exterminate us, fortunately, while you can surely put up a good fight, the government vastly outnumbers you in men and resources. However, our religious beliefs do not allow us to commit genocide although there have of course been abuses on both sides. But, just like in WWII, although the Japanese committed horrible atrocities, there has to come a time when these must be put behind us for everyone's benefit.

So let us forget about the bloody past for a moment and think about how to set things right okay? We all know this was practically impossible in the past because the past Presidents were not honest in their dealings with the Moros. This was also made worse by the fact that had not the elected Moro leaders been duplicitous themselves, they could have accomplished a lot more for their people instead of becoming sometimes even worse than the usual Christian politician. They were only too willing to sell out their brothers and gladly keep them in ignorance and misery if only to be better able to control them. In fairness, this is also true of the Christian politicians as well. I hope you will not think I am again blaming the Moros who are the victims. No. I am just trying to make an objective observation to try to figure out even just the BEGINNING of a solution.

What has made the problem so much harder to solve is that the modern Moro struggle has been going on for about 3 generations already such that most of you who have lived there all your lives have never known real peace, progress. opportunity for livelihood and education and relative prosperity. Those who return from war having known peace would usually do even better than they did before and would be more eager to do so and more hesitant to return to it. However, if everyone alive has known nothing but war, the prospect of peace and the unknown unfamiliar change it would mean would be rather strange and could be even terrifying. How would an NPA commander who was born in the mountains and inherited their command from their NPA parents and who knew nothing but war and extorting revolutionary taxes really feel about coming down from the mountains? He would not know what to do, how to support himself and how to live/fit in a totally different society! And it would not be his fault really! Di ba?

So now, let us say the whole Mindanao is simply returned to the Moro. Who would run it? No Moro politicians have ever become popular and accepted by all the tribes. No Moro politician has ever been noted to be exceptionally successful at governance except Duterte and he is only half Moro. Even the mainstream rebels cannot manage to unite as there is the MILF and the MNLF. And then there are the various splinter rebel-cum-criminal/bandit groups as well. So would these people run their governments, if ever, better than the current Moro politicians? Who knows? Perhaps they could. But what if everyone just goes back to the accustomed practice of fighting each other and grabbing whatever they can for themselves? You know this is a real possibility. Even now there are suggestions that there should be 3 federal Moro states instead of just one because they all would not agree to be ruled by the other.

Now am I saying it is impossible and should not be done or cannot be done? Not at all. I am simply saying it is easier said than done. And it can be done properly only by the right EXCEPTIONAL PROVEN LEADERSHIP. Duterte was able to do it in Davao almost single-handedly so blaming Manila for everything is only partly true. But a premature Bangsamoro lacking such direction would only end up like the EDSA revolution - all hope and no glory but rather just more misery. There is only really one chance at this so it must be done properly and patiently. Di pwedeng padalos-dalos, di rin pwede yung tutulog-tulog o bahala na.

Then, let us talk about injustice to the Moros. It was the Americans and the government who lured the settlers from Luzon and Visayas to settle in Mindanao. It is not the settlers fault. Much like the Muslims now driven to live all over the country if only to escape war. If you look at world history, this is usually the case when a land is even just partially conquered by another people or when it is mostly unsettled. To claim that ALL these lands must be returned to the Moros is neither practical or feasible. To whom should it be given back to considering the the former owners have been dead for generations? Would their descendants, if ever, not just end up fighting and killing each other over their share? E di ganun din. And would anyone even have the resources and knowhow to put all these lands to use? Who would work on them if all the Christians were either made to leave or exterminated? Would it become a Moro paradise/wonderland or would it get even worse? And who would help fund and support this new nation if all the settlers were driven out?

As you might notice, the issues that need to be faced actually have NOTHING to do with ownership, religion or jihad or violence. They have everything to do with everyone using their heads for a fair, positive and lasting change and working together for the greater good instead of just waiting for things to be handed to people with the barrel of a gun as persuasion.

I hope you do not again accuse me of being biased or whatever. You are free to logically dispute my practical observations and I would be glad to be proven wrong. I am also not disparaging the Moro or saying they are not capable of succeeding. I am just defining the practical issues that must be settled to prevent going from bad to worse. And this has absolutely nothing to do with religion. It has everything to do with enlightened, dependable and competent LEADERSHIP that can lift the Moro mindset from over 3 generations of war and start learning how to live with law & order and peace.

I hope you can take my observations in an objective and positive light and I would be glad to discuss any objections or observations of your own.

MAPAKA-GANDANG TOPIC: Cory Aquino Years and Andy Bautista case, at iba pa. by Atty: Trixie Angeles

TRILLANES PINAGTRIPAN AT PINAGTAWANAN NG MGA RADIO KOMENTARISTA, BAKA NAGMAMARIJUAN SIYA

THINKING PINOY LIVE | Rappler the Money Launderer? | Lacierda Lackey's Blog

THINKING PINOY LIVE | Maria Ressa Rappler

Tatad’s fake data: ‘14,000 EJKs’

BY RIGOBERTO D. TIGLAO ON SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

IT is ironic that my esteemed colleague Francisco Tatad ridiculed another colleague, Yen Makabenta for falling for fake news even as he disseminated his own fake data, in the very same column.

“The latest unofficial count has placed the extra-judicial killings at 14,000,” he wrote in his column the other day.

That is bogus data. There is no such “unofficial count” anywhere. It is another concocted figure starting to be spread by those vehemently against President Duterte, which grossly exaggerates the casualties in his war against illegal drugs. The aim is to paint him, in the words of one New York-based journalist who long abandoned her country, as a president “bathed in blood”.

The only “unofficial count” ever made on the number of suspected illegal drug pushers killed in police operations was that done by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, hardly a pro-Duterte newspaper, many months ago.

Called “The Kill List,” the series reported, based on police blotters and the dispatches of their reporters, each and every killing related to the anti-drug war, from July 1, 2016 to February 16, 2017, with all the details such as the names of those killed, dates, and the policemen involved.

2,107 killed

The Inquirer series reported 2,107 killed in the campaign against illegal drugs from July 1 toFebruary 16, which was smaller than the Philippine National Police’s official figure of 2,582.*

The PNP figure to August this year is 3,811 “drug personalities who died in anti-drug operations,” very far from Tatad’s 14,000 figure. Of course, the PNP may be under-reporting the killings.

But if Tatad disputes that figure, he has to provide us, as the Inquirer did, a list of each and every person killed in the course of the anti-drug war. Perhaps he can mobilize his Opus Dei or National Transformation Council comrades to do such detailed monitoring, so we’ll know how bloodthirsty Duterte is.

Tatad’s “14,000” is the same kind of garbage that was spread by the news website Rappler which claimed that from July 1, 2016 to January 31, 2017, those killed in the course of Duterte’s war against illegal drugs totaled 7,080.

Source: Philippine National Police’s website. How could he quadruple that figure?

That figure has been so totally debunked that it is no longer mentioned by any publication, except Rappler of course which has refused to correct it.

Stung by Rappler’s fake 7,080-killed data, mainstream media has learned its lesson and has published no article or opinion piece (other than Tatad’s) mentioning that 14,000-EJKs figure.

I could find only one article referring to that number. This was in the Internet version of leftist Latin American cable TV Telesur. In a piece entitled, “Filipinos remember martial law under Marcos while resisting ‘US-Duterte fascism’,” quoted was a statement of the local communist Anakbayan: “On top of the 14,000 dead in Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’ and the destruction of Marawi…”

Crackpot writer

There was another opinion piece, published on the same day as Tatad’s that had a roughly similar figure. This was in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, whose writer unwittingly disclosed, with the comparisons he used, where he has lived since the 1980s—in the US.

“The casualty meter of President Duterte’s bloody war on drugs is widely estimated to register over 13,000 deaths, more than twice the combined total of those who perished when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, and terrorists crashed hijacked jetliners into New York’s World TradeCenter towers.”

Duterte is doubly worse than the Japanese militarists of the 1940s and al-Qaida chief, the late Osama bin Laden? This guy must be a crackpot.

I e-mailed the writer to ask where he got his 13,000 figure. He replied: “From my unimpeachable police source.” Right.

Even apparently good (and sane) journalists, once they lose their objectivity, fall prey to bogus data.

For instance, Sheila Coronel is a former executive director of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and currently the director of Columbia University’s Stabile Center of Investigative Journalism. In her June 29, 2017 article in a journal melodramatically titled “A presidency bathed in blood” she wrote: “The drug war, which Duterte officially launched on his first day in office, has claimed the lives of as many as 9,000 suspected drug dealers and users.”

Numerous reports

I asked her where she got that 9,000 number. She replied: “Numerous news reports quote that figure.” She even gave me the link to her Google search results. I asked her why she “didn’t bother to verify if this is fake news, used mostly by Western media. “

I told her that even the search results she sent me had several reports specifically disproving that figure, yet she ignored those articles. She hasn’t bothered to correct the bogus data she spread in the US. So much for fairness and investigative journalism.

Bogus data like Tatad’s is much, much worse than fake news because it uses, but distorts, real data. It therefore fools people so much more. They are taken as true for so long, which is the case with the Rappler 7,087 figure.

By contrast, fake news is so easily demolished, once it is shown that its source is a phantom outfit that has life only in the Internet (such asAljazeera-tvnews.com that had Makabenta fooled) and not at all a legitimate news organization. Just make it a habit to search what kind of entity really is that which reports an item that jumps out of your Facebook timeline.

Rappler’s infamous 7,080 figure distorted data that reported total homicides being investigated by the Philippine National Police .

Quite ironically, Rappler distorted new data that the PNP started to collect only when the war vs drugs was launched, and made publicly available. This data was the number of total homicides the PNP was investigating, which it collected as one of its checks against summary executions by rogue cops in the war against illegal drugs.

Rappler’ s 7,080 figure was the sum of the 2,055 the PNP reported were “suspected drug personalities killed in police operations” and the 4,525 “deaths under investigation or investigation concluded.

How or where

So how or where did Tatad get his fake 14,000-EJKs figure?

One explanation is that it is based on Rappler’s 7,080 EJKs, which it claimed was for the period July 1, 2016 to January 31, 2017. This is for 7 months, which means a monthly average of 1,000 EJKs monthly. As I thought–which is the reason why I rigorously debunked that figure–those who have vowed to topple Duterte would use that monthly average to erroneously “extrapolate” the number of EJKs at the time they write.

Thus, Coronel’s 9,000 figure was copied from allegations in June (nine months from July) that EJKs totaled 9,000 (1,000 multiplied by 9). Tatad’s 14,000 figure is from July 2016 to August, or 14 months. Presto, 1,000 times 14 months…

However, it’s not Tatad’s cup of tea to do research and pretend to be a statistician so he could concoct fake data.

I suspect he just googled “EJKs Duterte”, and saw an article in the Internet version of theAmerican Public Radio International titled “The Catholic Church defies Philippine President Duterte.”

The very Catholic Tatad of course would see the “Catholic” in the title in large neon lights, and read in the article a 14, 000 figure: “In the little more than a year since Duterte swept into the presidency and unleashed a vicious war on drugs, there have been more than 14,000 murders and homicides, according to government statistics.”

Since in his religious mind Duterte is a murderous president, Tatad didn’t see 14,000 murders and homicides, but 14,000 extra-judicial killings.

*See my column *“How Rappler misled EU, Human Rights Watch, CNN, Time, BBC — the world,” Manila Times, May 19, 2017.

Email: tiglao.manilatimes@gmail.com

Facebook: Rigoberto Tiglao

Twitter: @bobitiglao

http://www.manilatimes.net/tatads-fake-data-14000-ejks/353062/

MARIA RESSA: A NEW KIND OF TERRORIST

ThinkingPinoy is watching A Terrorista at Rappler HQ.

2 hrs · Pasig, Philippines · 

MARIA RESSA: A NEW KIND OF TERRORIST 

By travelling all over the world and telling the international community that you, the Regular Filipino, are just a troll when you defend your personal political interests, Rappler overlord Maria Ressa has successfully metamorphosed into the single biggest threat to Free Speech in the Philippines.

Every time she talks, she disenfranchises you and the rest of the voiceless citizens who do not have the resources to form fancily-named nonprofits, who do not have powerful connections, and who do not receive multi-million dollar funding like she and her ilk do.

That kerfuffle about Amnesty International Nederland calling Filipino commented trolls?

Maria Ressa and Rappler's nonstop international anti-government propaganda are partly - - if not largely - - to blame for that. 

Ressa, you and your employees at your nonprofit are a threat to Philippine Democracy, for you and your people are nothing but literary terrorists.

LENI ROBREDO ITINANGGI AT NAGSINUNGALING SA KANYANG INTERVIEW

UN Human Rights Clearance for the Philippines and Double Slap to VP Robredo

By Jun Avelino

This is direct from the horse's mouth.

To those who have been trying to destroy the image of our country by spreading around the world the fake news that our government initiated EJKs in this country, well, the UN has already spoken and has accepted our country's position that there is none. Suck it up!

Henceforth, all issues which will be raised by mercenary international organizations like Humans Rights Watch, Amnesty International and political mad dogs masquerading as self-righteous Human Rights experts will all be considered as mere malicious nuances which Filipinos will look at with disdain.

The report inflicts an excruciating pain on VP Robredo's political career - this being a double slap on her face for painting before the same UN body an image of our government as a murderer of its own people last year as EJK sponsor. This is a vindication on the part of the government and a censure to our VP for lying through her teeth on that infamous video report which contradicts the official position of the Philippine government for which she is supposed to be part of.

This is a Human Rights Records clearance which everyone should accept and respect. If the whole world has respected our government's position and report on the matter, it would be a height of insanity for some of us to continue with their black propaganda by perpetually painting the image of our government as EJK sponsor before the international stage. Majority of the Filipino people believe otherwise, and so with the world, as expressed in this UN position. Enough is enough....

SUNOG ANG MGA DILAW '2017 GLOBAL IMPUNITY INDEX BASED ON DATA DURING AQUINO YEARS' -Atty Trixie Cruz

The protest day: More opposition setbacks and a way forward

By John Tria

The September 21 “day of protest” went by without being the vaunted and hyped up showdown of much larger crowds against government that the President’s detractors hoped it would be.

Despite the date declared a holiday for government workers and schools, recent controversies and a long time to prepare and organize, the numbers that many of the government’s detractors hoped would swell to new highs barely approximated the protests mounted against the Marcos burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Of course, propaganda websites and social media pages tout the Luneta protest to have reached the Libingan protest crowd of 30,000, but news photos of the event don’t seem to affirm the claim.

The effect of the outcome shows that the issues raised by those opposing government saw little traction in the general public, that basically remained detached from their multifarious advocacies. We were all expecting a crowd of at least 100,000, with some even claiming to double that. Unfortunately, they are stuck with the same small crowds.

Where else they are wrong:

Their message is confused, with a mix emanating from a spectrum of speakers and perspectives. Some groups call for a stop to the drug war while others simply want alternative methods of dealing with drug users.

The resulting variety cannot sustain a movement, as it may even turn off many when the message is often interpreted as one that inadvertently helps support the illegal drug industry!

Credibility of the detractor’s principals is low, with Liberal Party politicians linked to the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Project (DAP), one a principal drug suspect seen as “epals” not worth their time.

By themselves, the opposition groups already are a confused lot. Throw in left-leaning groups and these variances and confusion are amplified.

Over-all, with all the opportunities given, the lack of a strong core message that resonates with majority and credible proponents after more than 13 months of the new government is a setback for the political opposition.

Contrary to expectations, everyone was egged on to give their best move, yet even this didn’t get them that far.

Protest day and the Mindanao experience

The concept of a national day of protest draws heavily from the unique experience of Mindanao, where a plurality of political and cultural voices colors the social atmosphere.

There, protest and other forms of political expression are not the monopoly of any one, or pair of actors. Enter the public squares of Cagayan de Oro, Davao and Iligan to understand this. Non-government groups of various colors, some even competing with each other often take the stage.

If we were to view the Maute phenomenon in Marawi, for example, Mindanaoans see the phenomenon not as a simple conflict between government and rebels that can be mediated by what Manila-based and foreign “peace and conflict” experts in the cottage industry of peacemaking, and the usual armchair pundits propose.

Mindanaoans see many facets that feed on each other to create a complex phenomenon requiring a detailed set of solutions. The road to getting those things may be long, fraught with compromise, needing patience and consensus.

With this, protest actions are welcomed and taken in stride, public parks even allocated for the purpose. But the larger need to build common solutions and sustain cooperative efforts is something all political actors and groups, regardless of color, understand and accept. After the rally, its often back to the working group to hammer out solutions- with government.

Thus, in Mindanao’s experience, protest has its place, but consensus occupies a higher position. Moving forward, perhaps this wisdom be considered by all groups.

http://news.mb.com.ph/2017/09/25/the-protest-day-more-opposition-setbacks-and-a-way-forward/

An outrage from a netizen after the rally - "Last nyo na yan at nakakahiya na kayo"

After various groups rallied on September 21 which President Rodrigo Duterte declared as the National Protest day, different reactions also flooded the social media.

Netizens lambasted the opposition party for trying so hard in ousting the president and called out to stop using the groups who are not even paying taxes, he also called on the Catholic church leaders.

A post from netizen Jon Fortuno highlighted the same outbursts for Duterte’s critics. 

"Hibang.

Yang rally sa Luneta ay inorganisa ng mga lider ng iba't ibang organisasyon na laban sa pamahalaan. Trillianes, Pangilinan, Hontiveros, Drilon ng dilaw na ginawang puti. Piston, Akbayan, Anakbayan at lahat ng yan. Mga politiko na kabilang sa minorya, si Babalu, at kung sino sino pa na leader ng oposisyon. Pati kadamay na inerereklamo ang buwis na parang nagbabayad ang mga lintek ng kahit isang sentimo. At higit sa lahat, mga pinuno ng simbahang katoliko na may pinakamaraming miyembro sa buong kapuluan.

Kung ilanman ang dumating sa rally ninyo sa Luneta ay iyan na lamang yan. Lahat na kayo ay nanawagan kaya"t sagad na yan. Wala na. Kaya't tigilan ninyo na yung mga kahibangan ninyo na kesyo marami ng Pilipino ang ayaw sa pangulo, na natatakot ang presidente sa dami ninyo.

Husayan ninyo dahil malamang huling baraha na ninyo yan, kung mayroon pang kasunod na gimik yan ay nakakahiya na.

Si Presidente ay hindi pa nananawagan ng suporta kahit kailan at malamang hindi niya gagawin kailanman. Pero kung sakali, isang sabi lamang niya na magpunta kayo sa Luneta at pag umabot kayo ng 1 milyon ay ipapabitay ko yung sundalong kanin. Hulaan ninyo kung ilang oras ang kailangan para mapuno namin ang Luneta.

Last nyo na yan at nakakahiya na kayo."

President Duterte’s supporters also gathered on their own to support him in Mendiola and other groups in Plaza Miranda, Manila.

Source (s): Jon Fortuno FB

http://www.newstwerk.com/2017/09/the-overwhelming-message-from-afp-for.html

MARK TAGUBA NAG BIGAY NG MGA PANGALAN DAWIT SA SHABU SHIPMENT SA CHINA

Vatican Issues Prohibition Order to Nuns, Priest from Joining Street Protests

The Vatican City has shocked the world, especially the Catholic officials worldwide following its order to prohibit its church officials, including nuns and priests, from joining street protests that involve politics. The order followed after years of deliberation among the Church highest officials inside the Vatican City.

The order, which was prepared by the Holy See’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and signed by Pope Francis, was distributed to all countries on Monday.

According to earlier news, the office of the Secretary of State have been bombarded by letters from government of different, countries urging the Church not to meddle on political affairs.

“To draw a big line between Church and State activities, The Roman Catholic Church has finally decided to prevent its leaders from joining street protests involving politics,” one of the statements said.

The order also mentioned about the death of five nuns and two priest in South Africa on 2012, while on street protest.

The order was also timed after Fr. Robert Reyes organized a group during the Martial Law anniversary rally a week ago.

Fr. Robert Reyes, spokesperson for the group Gomburza, said priests, nuns and lay people were encouraged by the resurgence of activism on the streets shown by protest rallies held on Thursday nationwide against summary executions of drug suspects and threats by Mr. Duterte to place the entire country under martial law.

Reyes said members of Gomburza felt a “surge of fresh idealism and stronger love of God and country” as a result of the protest rallies on Thursday, Sept. 21, the 45th anniversary of Marcos’ martial law.

The Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), has yet to address the media about the Vatican order, which could change the country’s political events if priests are prohibited to influence the people. /Yolly Ramos/

http://pinoyobserver.com/vatican-issues-prohibition-order-nuns-priest-joining-street-protests/

The oxymoron that is the Philippines’ university fraternity community

Suffice to say, everyone recognises that patronage is the single biggest issue that plagues Philippine politics. Nothing moves and nothing gets done unless an initiative is brokered through its movers’ unofficial patronage network. Thus it is quite surprising that a key pillar of the cancer of patronage politics — university fraternities — has enjoyed blanket immunity from the protest crosshairs of the country’s top “activist” leaders.

Small surprise, considering that many politicians are lawyers and most — if not all Filipino lawyers — were fratmen in their university days. It has long been recognised that a lawyer will not get anywhere in his or her career unless he or she is a “brother” or “sistah”.

In short, in a community of professionals whose jobs are to ferret out the truth in the course of resolving conflicts using a rigorous thinking process that is hinged on logic and evidence, an elephantine unspeakable roadblock hinders that noble job objective. When an emerging truth comes into conflict with “brotherhood” or “sisterhood”, Truth becomes the preferredcasualty.

It is quite astounding that fraternities and sororities in the Philippines have escaped the scrutiny our “activists” reserve for their traditional whipping boys. Yellowtards screech about the spectre of “authoritarianism” ad infinitum. Martial Law Crybabies wail about the return of the Marcosian “dark ages” to their respective cliques of like-minded inbreds. Commies carry on about the latest president’s sinister conspiracy with America to hoodwink the Filipino people. And the broader community of liberals wax emo poetic about how everything about modern society is so unfair to the neighbourhood dukha.

Yet, there seems to be no acknowledgement that at the root of all this is how at the cradles of the future members of the nation’s brainstrust — the Philippines’ elite universities — is entrenched a deadly cancer that begs an obvious cure. Thanks to every single prominent lawyer-turned-politician (not to mention those turned prominent leaders in industry and business) the routine whitewash of fraternity-related crime has all but been institutionalised. The Philippines’ criminal justice system is effectively rigged to give out get-out-of-jail passes and its legislature predisposed to inhibit anti-fraternity legislation thanks to this ingrained conflict-of-interest.

Did we mention, by the way, that both the late former President Ferdinand Marcos and, his nemesis, the late Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino Jr are not only both fratmen they are “brothers” in chi-chi Upsilon Sigma Phi? Figure that bizarreness out! Brothers first before what is right, right brods?

And this is why fraternities enjoy their impunity licenses today. They are free to wreak havoc on university life with their petty “rumbles”, their murderous hazing rituals, and their established social pressure machines applied to incoming university freshmen that assures them a steady supply of fresh neophytes to paddle raw and pepper with cigarette burns. An entire nation led by alumni of Upsilon, Sigma Rho, APO, Aquila Legis, and, yes, Aegis Juris can only be one that routinely excuses crimes committed in the name of the bizarre “brotherhood” and “sisterhood” espoused by these oxymoronic organisations.

The solution is, as with most Philippine “problems”, quite obvious. Political will, however, is not all it will take to effect these obvious solutions, unfortunately — because the will of the politicians involved is caught up in an untenable conflict of interest of their own doing.

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http://www.getrealphilippines.com/blog/2017/09/the-oxymoron-that-is-the-philippines-university-fraternity-community/