"And, may I add, pronto!"
"And, may I add, pronto!"
As a politician, Vice President Leni Robredo is naive and dense.
First of all, she was aware that President Duterte appointed her as drug czarina in a moment of pique. She had been needling him about his war on illegal drugs. And yet she said yes.
Secondly, she accepted her appointment as co-chair of the Inter-agency Committee Against Drugs without knowing her job description. She should have asked, before saying yes, what she could and could not do.
And yet, without knowing the scope and parameters of the job, Robredo embraced her appointment.
The VP, who is likely the opposition's candidate for the presidency in 2022, committed a blunder by calling the US Embassy to brief her on what should be done. She also invited the United Nations—what was she thinking? Did she not know this was a no-no for the President?
I can only guess why Robredo took the job, clueless as she was.
From the start, I have been saying that she is doomed to fail as drug czarina. I enumerated the reasons.
Does not the opposition realize that the President will never trust Robredo, and will never share with her confidential information that he has?
So what do you do when your boss does not trust you? If you have delicadeza, you resign!
The opposition must be scraping the bottom of the barrel thinking that Robredo could be a viable presidential candidate three years from now!
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I was asked: What did I mean by my suggestion to professionalize journalism when journalism already is a profession?
Let me be clear: When I said “professionalize journalism,” I meant that journalists should at least be a college graduate.
It’s unfortunate that media owners do not treat journalists like professionals. They do not give them the benefits ordinary workers are entitled to.
My best example is myself.
I am 92 years old and have been a journalist for almost 70 years. But I have to keep writing because I cannot expect a retirement pay or a comfortable pension. I still have to earn a living for me and my wife, especially since we both have some health issues. We don’t even enjoy health insurance! When we get hospitalized, we have to dip into our savings!
This is the reason I say that journalism is a calling rather than a profession.
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With all the violence and the chaos in Hong Kong, it looks like its status as a financial hub is no more. The protests have gone on for more than six months now.
When will the mainland’s military step in to resolve the standoff?
We have more than 220,000 workers in Hong Kong. The consulate says they are safe—for now. My friends and relatives in Hong Kong say that they expect Beijing to intervene any day now.
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I have inside information that fraudsters, scammers, swindlers and criminals of different nationalities have made the Philippines their destination because law enforcers can easily be bribed.
I have no way to verify these reports, but haven’t we seen hundreds of Chinese being deported for their involvement in cybercrime? The fact that prostitution rings from China have hired Chinese prostitutes to serve Chinese clients here points to the fact that indeed the Philippines has become a destination for such criminals.
I also heard that a famous American swindler is now booked at the Global City despite a standing warrant of arrest in many countries. Are the police and NBI even doing anything about this?
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I cannot end this column without expressing my condolences to Carina Manalac, wife of my good friend Gabby Manalac, who recently died.
Gabby was a year behind me at the Ateneo. He was also my co-host in my business program on TV.
When the late Charlie Weber and I put up a public relations firm many years ago, Gabby was our main writer.
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I believe the P55-million cauldron for the SEA Games is showing off too much. As usual, we spend excessively just to impress others. The money could have gone to more important things.