Cha-Cha revival betrays Duterte’s desperation

Listening to President Duterte say that he is not interested in staying beyond June 30, 2022 reminds us of his denials about running for president in 2016. He didn’t even file his certificate of candidacy before the deadline set by the Commission on Elections, remember? He had to go through all the drama of substitution.

The proponents behind the renewed efforts for Charter Change in both the House of Representatives and the Senate are his minions. Would anyone believe that House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and Senators Ronald de la Rosa and Francis Tolentino would do anything as serious as changing the Constitution without their Master’s imprimatur?

While inaugurating Stage 3 of the Metro Manila Skyway last week, the President went off topic, as he always does, and talked about the revived Charter Change move:“ Kaya nga hinihingi ko … Ang Congress akala nila — talagang mga — term extension. My God! Maski ibigay mo sa akin on a silver platter, maski ibigay mo sa akin libre another 10 years, sabihin ko sa iyo, p***** i** mo, iyo na lang ‘yan, tapos na ako.”

At least he admitted that the Charter Change initiative came from him. The value of his claimed disinterest in staying beyond June 30, 2022 is as good as his denial of his unexplained millions in his BPI bank account.
Some see the renewed attempt for Charter Change in the last 18 months of the Duterte administration as a diversion from the controversial unauthorized COVID-19 vaccination of members of the Presidential Security Group.

It’s like killing an issue by resurrecting one that has long been buried.

This time Duterte might get it his way given his clout on both the legislature and judiciary.

Charter Change at this late stage of his term is a long shot for Duterte and there’s an element of desperation in its revival.

Does it have something to do with “Bong Go for President” fantasy not catching on despite extensive media campaign, including blatant use of government resources and institutions?

Duterte ruled out the probability of his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sarah Duterte-Carpio, running for president in 2022. In that same Jan. 15 speech, he said: “And my daughter inuudyok naman nila, sabi ko, ‘my daughter is not running’. I have told Inday not to run kasi naaawa ako sa dadaanan niya na dinaanan ko. Hindi ito pambabae. Alam mo, the emotional setup of a woman and a man is totally different.”

Duterte is wrong about the fitness of women to be president. There are many examples of women presidents all over the world, including the Philippines that produced two — Cory Aquino and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Duterte-Carpio, who leads in Pulse Asia’s survey of contenders in the 2022 presidential elections, has issued a statement declaring her lack of interest in the presidency. This adds fuel to the reason behind the renewed push for Charter Change.

It is important for Duterte that his successor will be his ally who would protect him because by then he would no longer be immune from suits. There’s the unexplained wealth case pending before the Ombudsman. Many more cases related to the drug war and red-tagging killings are expected to be filed against him and officials involved in the operation after his term ends. And there’s the “crime against humanity” that is still being examined by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

A non-ally successor may allow the ICC to come to the Philippines to investigate and pave the way for his and his fellow respondents like Sen. “Bato” de la Rosa and all uniformed personnel involved in the drug war and red-tagging killings to be arrested if they do not cooperate. With his over 90 percent approval rating, Duterte is the best bet to protect himself and his accomplices.

Simply put, the revival of Charter Change is an act of desperation.

This column is also in Malaya Business Insight and VERA Files.

Bongbong & BBL: Father-son act?

By Cong B. Corrales

REMEMBER thy father’s mistakes, do right by the Moro people.

This, according to supporters of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), are lessons that Sen. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. might do well to remember before thrashing the BBL.

proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), according to the leader of the
“Tandaan po natin, ang pamilya Marcos, ang tatay ni Senator Bongbong Marcos, siya po ang pinagmulan ng puno’t-dulong gulo, lalong-lalo na po sa Mindanao,” said Aga Khan Sharieff, chairman of the Bangsamoro National Movement for Peace and Development, at a recent press briefing. [Let us not forget that it was the Marcos family, the father of Senator Bongbong Marcos, who started the conflict in Mindanao.]

A political advertisement featuring the young Marcos had repeatedly aired on national television. In it, he stated his opposition to the proposed law and announced his plan to draft a new version of the bill.

Earlier, Marcos, who chairs the Senate committee on local government, had said that he would rather amend Republic Act No. 6734 or the Organic Act to establish the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, rather than pass the BBL.

Sharieff, who is also known as “Sheik Bin Laden” because of his long beard, is also the lead convenor of Anti-Bugok or Anti-Bungangero at Utak Pulburang Pulitiko. The phrase translates to “Against Looudmouth and Trigger-Happy Politicians”.

PCIJ tried to reach Marcos on Monday for comment but his staff said the senator was attending a hearing on the case of a student who allegedly committed suicide after being berated by his teacher.

Meanwhile, Yhang Macusang, spokesperson of the Anak Mindanao (AMIN) Partylist group, said that instead of blocking the passage of BBL, Marcos would do well to take this chance to make amends with the Bangsamoro people.

“Panahon na po upang bumawi kayo (Marcos) sa mga mamamayang Moro. Kayo (Marcos) po sana ang magtuwid ng mali ng nakaraan. Ngunit tila yata tama ang kasabihang: Kung ano ang puno ay siya ang bunga,” Macusang said. [It's high time for the Marcoses to do good by the Moro people. The Marcoses should correct the mistakes of the past. However, it seems like the saying is true: A tree bears fruit in its own image and likeness.]

“He (Marcos) must lead the restitution for the victims of the Jabidah massacre, Manlili massacre, and the countless victims of enforced disappearance, torture and warrantless arrests,” the group said in a statement read by Abdul Malik, program director of Bawgbug Center for Human Rights and Peace.

The group said that if Marcos really wants peace in Mindanao, he should “stop his shameless use of the issue of the BBL for his political campaign ads.”

For her part, lawyer Mary Ann Arnado, secretary general of Mindanao People’s Caucus, said that the BBL is a product of 17 years of negotiations and hundreds of consultations. According to her, Marcos’s plan to draft his own version of the bill is an insult to the thousands of people who have devoted their time and effort in the drafting of the BBL.

“Wala na pong ibang mas makagagawa ng Bangsamoro Basic Law liban po sa mga Bangsamoro,” said Arnado. [No other group but the Bangsamoro people must raft their own Bangsamoro Basic Law.]

“At kung si Bongbong Marcos ay gagawa na kanyang basic law, sa kanya ‘yan. Bongbong Law ‘yan at hinding-hindi ‘yan magiging Bangsamoro Basic Law,” Amado added. [If Bongbong Marcos will draft his basic law, then that's his own. That could only be a Bongbong law, and never a Bangsamoro Basic Law.] – PCIJ, June 2015

Crunch time on FOI, promises PNoy made in ‘Social Contract’

By Cong B. Corrales

PRESIDENT Benigno S. Aquino III would do well to act on his campaign promises promptly as he approaches his last 12 months in Malacañang.

In a letter to Aquino, the Philippine Business Groups and Joint Foreign Chambers (PBG-JFC) urged Aquino to assure the “swift passage” of important legislative measures, led no less by the Freedom of Information Act.

Apart from FOI, the business groups urged Aquino to see after the passage of amendments to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution (Resolution of Congress No. 1); the Public-Private Partnership Act (Build-Operate-Transfer Law Amendments) and the amendments to the Right-of-Way Act (Republic Act No. 8974); the Fair Competition Act; an Act creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology; the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act; and the Comprehensive Tax System Reform.

“It is our common position that the enactment and implementation of the above measures will accelerate the country toward the progressive nation we all aspire to become,” the PBG-JFC letter read in part.

All the legislative measures listed above are enrolled in Aquino’s “Social Contract with the Filipino People” but not one has been passed at all in the last five years of his presidency. His term ends on June 30, 2016, or in about 12 months.

The business groups also urged the Aquino government to push more vigorously “critical policy reforms aimed at ensuring inclusive growth through job generation, poverty reduction, and global competitiveness.”

After what it called a month-long discussion with members, the PBG-JFC asked the President to act on the following points which they said require prompt executive action:

* Immediate appointment of qualified, credible, and experienced public servants to the vacant posts in the Civil Service Commission, Department of Energy, and the Philippine National Police.

* Establishment of a public-private Energy Council composed of credible electricity experts who will formulate and regularly update a detailed energy security and price competitiveness roadmap.

* Establishment of the National Privacy Commission and the release of the implementing rules and regulations of the Data Privacy Act and the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

* Creation of agricultural trading centers that will provide farmers and fisherfolk the latest technology, as well as assistance in securing financing and marketing support.

* Reduction of the number of steps in establishing a business to the minimum across the country, taking into account the need to expand the ease of doing business efforts of the National Competitiveness Council.

* Revision of the Foreign Investment Negative List to reduce the list of industries where foreign participation remains limited.

* Intensify efforts to implement with minimum delay critical land, air, and sea transportation projects.

* Early resolution of the Maguindanao massacre trial and the plunder cases against the senators accused in the pork barrel scam and former President Arroyo, as well as provision of additional resources to the judiciary.

The PBG-JFC is a coalition of 18 local and foreign business groups.

Its roster of members includes the Management Association of the Philippines, Makati Business Club, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Employers Confederation of the Philippines, IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines, Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Alyansa Agrikultura, Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, American Chamber of Commerce, Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, European Chamber of Commerce, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Korean Chamber of Commerce, Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters. – PCIJ, May 2015

Crunch time on FOI, promises PNoy made in ‘Social Contract’

By Cong B. Corrales

PRESIDENT Benigno S. Aquino III would do well to act on his campaign promises promptly as he approaches his last 12 months in Malacañang.

In a letter to Aquino, the Philippine Business Groups and Joint Foreign Chambers (PBG-JFC) urged Aquino to assure the “swift passage” of important legislative measures, led no less by the Freedom of Information Act.

Apart from FOI, the business groups urged Aquino to see after the passage of amendments to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution (Resolution of Congress No. 1); the Public-Private Partnership Act (Build-Operate-Transfer Law Amendments) and the amendments to the Right-of-Way Act (Republic Act No. 8974); the Fair Competition Act; an Act creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology; the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act; and the Comprehensive Tax System Reform.

“It is our common position that the enactment and implementation of the above measures will accelerate the country toward the progressive nation we all aspire to become,” the PBG-JFC letter read in part.

All the legislative measures listed above are enrolled in Aquino’s “Social Contract with the Filipino People” but not one has been passed at all in the last five years of his presidency. His term ends on June 30, 2016, or in about 12 months.

The business groups also urged the Aquino government to push more vigorously “critical policy reforms aimed at ensuring inclusive growth through job generation, poverty reduction, and global competitiveness.”

After what it called a month-long discussion with members, the PBG-JFC asked the President to act on the following points which they said require prompt executive action:

* Immediate appointment of qualified, credible, and experienced public servants to the vacant posts in the Civil Service Commission, Department of Energy, and the Philippine National Police.

* Establishment of a public-private Energy Council composed of credible electricity experts who will formulate and regularly update a detailed energy security and price competitiveness roadmap.

* Establishment of the National Privacy Commission and the release of the implementing rules and regulations of the Data Privacy Act and the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

* Creation of agricultural trading centers that will provide farmers and fisherfolk the latest technology, as well as assistance in securing financing and marketing support.

* Reduction of the number of steps in establishing a business to the minimum across the country, taking into account the need to expand the ease of doing business efforts of the National Competitiveness Council.

* Revision of the Foreign Investment Negative List to reduce the list of industries where foreign participation remains limited.

* Intensify efforts to implement with minimum delay critical land, air, and sea transportation projects.

* Early resolution of the Maguindanao massacre trial and the plunder cases against the senators accused in the pork barrel scam and former President Arroyo, as well as provision of additional resources to the judiciary.

The PBG-JFC is a coalition of 18 local and foreign business groups.

Its roster of members includes the Management Association of the Philippines, Makati Business Club, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Employers Confederation of the Philippines, IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines, Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Alyansa Agrikultura, Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, American Chamber of Commerce, Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, European Chamber of Commerce, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Korean Chamber of Commerce, Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters. – PCIJ, May 2015

The overarching goal: peace in Mindanao

Peace Council for the BBL holds first meeting

Members of a peace council created by Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III to raise public awareness on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law are buckling down to work after holding their first meeting this week in the capital city of Manila.

“The hard work begins after the BBL is passed,” former Supreme Court Justice Hilario Davide Jr. said in his opening statement to the council composed of Catholic bishops, businessmen, civil society leaders, and peace advocates.

Aquino announced the creation of the council in his address to the nation on March 27, more than two months after the Mamasapano incident that claimed the lives of 44 operatives of the PNP-Special Action Force, 17 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and at least eight civilians.

Click on photo to read full report on creation of the peace council on Inquirer.net.

President Benigno S. Aquino III receives a warm reception upon arrival at the Dambana ng Kagitingan, Mt. Samat Shrine in Pilar, Bataan for the 73rd Commemoration of the Araw ng Kagitingan on April 9, 2015 |Ryan Lim / Malacañang Photo Bureau

President Benigno S. Aquino III receives a warm reception upon arrival at the Dambana ng Kagitingan, Mt. Samat Shrine in Pilar, Bataan for the 73rd Commemoration of the Araw ng Kagitingan on April 9, 2015 |Ryan Lim / Malacañang Photo Bureau

The police-led operation, codenamed Oplan Exodus, aimed to kill or capture three foreign-trained bombmakers who were in the most-wanted list of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. It triggered armed clashes among the SAF, MILF forces and other armed group in violation of the ceasefire agreement between the government and the MILF.

Click on photo to read full speech of the President on March 27 during the anniversary of the first year of the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro.

President Benigno S. Aquino III offers a wreath in front of the stained glass mural at the Colonnade of the Dambana ng Kagitingan, Mt. Samat Shrine in Pilar, Bataan during the 73rd Commemoration of the Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) on Thursday (April 09, 2015). This year?s theme: ?Ipunla and Kagitingan sa Kabataan, Ihanda ang Beterano ng Kinabukasan." Also in photo are US Ambassador to the Philippines His Excellency Philip Goldberg and Japan Ambassador to the Philippines His Excellency Kazuhide Ishikawa. (Photo by Rolando Mailo / Malacañang Photo Bureau / PCOO)

Photo by Benhur Arcayan / Rolando Mailo / Malacañang Photo Bureau / PCOO

The resulting furor over the incident has raised serious doubts over the BBL that would provide the framework for autonomy in the Muslim south. Some lawmakers who sponsored the bill withdrew their support for it after the incident.

The convenors organized four clusters that will lead discussions on the following topics, according to a press statement from the Citizen Peace Council: 1) constitutionality and forms and powers of government, to be chaired by Chief Justice Davide; 2) Justice, including social justice, and human development, to be co-chaired by former Ambassador Howard Dee and Honey Sumndad-Usman; 3) Economy and Patrimony, to be chaired by Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala; and 4) Human Security.

Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala | Photo from wikipedia.org

Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala | Photo from wikipedia.org

Ayala said the Council intends to help the public understand what is at stake in the BBL, identify the contentions issues over the measure and “and help find a path towards reconciling divergent views.”

The other co-convenors of the council are: Archbishop Soc Villegas, Fr. Joel Tabora, Bishop Pablo David, Ms. Amina Rasul, Atty. Christian Monsod, Dean Sedfrey Candelaria, Dean Danilo Concepcion, Prof. Moner Bajunaid, Ms. Pat Sarenas, Atty. Nasser Marohomsalic, Dr. Cielito Habito, Mr. John Perrine, Dr. Wilfrido Villacorta, Bishop Tendero, Atty. Marlon Manuel, Dr. Wilfrido Villacorta. Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, and Ramon del Rosario.

Cardinal Tagle | Photo from wikipedia.org

Cardinal Tagle | Photo from wikipedia.org

Dee reminded council members in his closing statement: “Our overarching goal is peace with justice and development in Muslim Mindanao: a political peace settlement that addresses the injustices inflicted on the Bangsamoro religious, cultural and political identity as a people, as after all, they had their political identity before there was a Philippine nation; the human development of the Bangsamoro people by restoring their human rights and freedom to reverse their economic and social marginalization which has resulted in their human poverty level that is about twice the national average; a process of cultural and spiritual healing to overcome the deep-seated prejudices that continue to divide our people.”

The four clusters will be holding in-depth sessions in the coming days and are expected to finish discussions on April 18.