Tag: President Rodrigo Duterte

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Sa Pahayag ng Pangulo na Walang Nangyayari sa Senate Inquiries

Hindi dapat paniwalaan ng mga Pilipino ang pahayag ng Pangulo na walang nangyayari sa mga imbestigasyon na ginagawa sa Senado. Maraming batas na pinakikinabangan ng taumbayan ang naipasa namin dahil sa mga inquiries at imbestigasyon na isinagawa namin.

Magbasa rin muna siya tungkol sa doktrina ng Separation of Powers at Checks and Balances ng Ehekutibo, Kongreso at Hudikatura bago niya kami pakialaman sa Senado.

Sa halip, asikasuhin niya ang mga kakulangan ng sangay ng gobyerno na kanyang pinamumunuan na hitik sa incompetence at corruption, hindi lang sa pagtugon sa pandemya kundi sa maraming aspeto ng governance.

Kaya hindi nakakasuhan ang ilang matataas na opisyal na naging subject ng pag-iimbestiga namin ay dahil ipinagtatanggol niya sa halip na makasuhan.

Hindi trabaho ng Senado ang magsampa ng demanda. Trabaho ng Executive Branch iyon. Judiciary naman ang magpapakulong. Mahirap bang i-memorize yan?

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On President Duterte’s VP ‘Endorsement’ for 2022 Polls

It won’t matter to my and Senate President Sotto’s determination to run in the May 2022 national elections. We have already declared, and at this point in time, there is no turning back.

That said, we continue to hope that the electorate will not be swayed by entertainment politics, nor affected by fear and intimidation when they choose our country’s next leaders.

As long as the campaign runs on issues involving our people’s desire for good governance made possible by fixing a systematically broken government, we are good.

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On the Commission on Audit’s Independence

First, the Commission on Audit is a constitutional body which is independent of the executive or legislative branches of government, and certainly not under the Office of the President of the Republic. It has a mandate to perform, and no one can dictate on them.

Second, COA findings and recommendations are public documents. Transparency dictates that the public must be informed of how public monies are spent.

That said, the President is out of line in publicly castigating the COA, which is just performing its mandate and responsibility to the people and the Constitution.

For its part, the COA should not be cowed by intimidating statements, even those coming from the Chief Executive. In fact, those in the COA should proceed with more vigor, courage and independence.

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On the ‘Restoration’ of the RP-US VFA

Image courtesy: Wikipedia

I fully support the President’s decision in changing his earlier stand to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement. Whatever underlying conditions there are in arriving at that decision, if it was connected to additional vaccine donations or any other reasons, I’m sure President Rodrigo Duterte was influenced by the interest of the country and our people.

That being said, the termination of the VFA would have done our country’s security situation more harm than good, especially at this time when incursions into our exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea have become more aggressive and unabated.

This is not to mention the continuing threats of terrorism in our country.

We have to accept the reality that we cannot do it alone, and our bilateral agreements with countries having more upgraded militarily capabilities like the United States and even Australia should be put into good use. The VFA is one way to do this.

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Kabilaang Sampal sa mga Pinoy na Hirap sa Pandemya: P63B ‘Underspending’ sa Bayanihan 2 Funds, Idinetalye ni Ping

Dalawang malalakas na sampal ang tumama sa mga Pinoy sa panahon ng pandemya dahil sa mahigit na P63 bilyong hindi ginamit na pondo sa Bayanihan 2 – kasama ang P46.397 bilyon na “undisbursed” at P17.23 bilyong “unobligated,” ayon kay Senador Panfilo Lacson nitong Lunes.

Isiniwalat ito ni Lacson matapos ang pagsasaliksik ng mga naturang datos bunga ng unang akusasyon ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte na sinabi umano ng mambabatas na mababa ang paggugol ng pamahalaan sa mga pondo nito ngayong pandemya.

“We should keep in mind that underspending is determined not by fund releases but by obligations and disbursements. And based on my research, is there underspending? Yes!” banggit ni Lacson sa panayam ng Radyo 5.

Read in ENGLISH: Double Whammy for Pandemic-Hit Filipinos: Lacson Details P63B ‘Unspent’ in Bayanihan 2
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