The air is thick with pollution. No, it’s not the kind of air pollution that’s pervasive in major Chinese cities that Environment Secretary Gina Lopez should be concerned about. We are talking about the political mud-slinging going on between the Duterte administration and the opposition. It started all the way back with the no quarters asked, no quarters given exchange between Senator Leila de Lima and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre who cast the first stone with serious allegations against the senator and former Justice secretary.
Of course, everyone knows Aguirre is acting on instructions of President Rodrigo Duterte who has a score to settle with De Lima. When she was Justice secretary, she sought to prosecute the former Davao City mayor for extrajudicial killings in his city. De Lima continued her quixotic mission against Duterte and the EJK of some 6,000 suspects in Digong’s “madugong daan” against drugs.
We are not questioning the method of the government’s brutal war on drugs. For sure, those whose families have been affected by the drug scourge welcome the President’s relentless anti-narcotic campaign. There are, however, an equal number of families who are crying out for justice because their loved ones have been summarily executed by government forces under the guise of the war on drugs. Foremost among these victims was Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo who was kidnapped by policemen, brought to PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, and killed there. This is considered the most heinous of all crimes. Jee was then cremated and his ashes flushed down the toilet to cover the dastardly deed.
De Lima, on the other hand, has been charged with three criminal counts by the Justice department for her role in abetting the proliferation of drugs in the state penitentiary, including extortion of drug lord detainees in Muntinlupa. De Lima, according to Aguirre and the DoJ, used drug money to fund her campaign for the Senate. Her alleged collector of this dirty money, according to the drug lord detainees, was Ronnie Dayan, her driver-bodyguard cum lover.
So much for the Movie and Television and Review and Classification Board trying to keep such filth from being aired on TV. The MTRCB is helpless and cannot censor the news that is aired live on TV prime time during the hearing of the case against De Lima and the flashy lifestyle of VIP prison inmates.
De Lima, not one to be cowed, somehow worked around Aguirre to pin him down in the Bureau of Immigration scandal. Aside from pointing to Aguirre’s fake hairpiece, De Lima, during the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing chaired by Senator Dick Gordon, tried to link Aguirre to the P150-million bribery /extortion by BI officials against Chinese gambling lord Jack Lam. The Bureau of Immigration is under the supervision of Aguirre’s Justice department.
The plot thickens when Senator Antonio Trillanes of the opposition Liberal Party accused Duterte of amassing P2 billion hidden in bank accounts under the names of his children—Davao City Mayor Sara, Paulo and Baste.
Duterte let loose his arsenal of expletives and calling Trillanes “ignorant and demanding retainers “ for cases being heard in the Senate. Trillanes though is sticking to his story and claims he has the documents on Duterte’s P2-billion bank accounts. We don’t know who’s telling the truth but one has to admire Sonny Trillanes for taking on the President.
Duterte lashed back to say Trillanes is on his last term and has no more political future-after his Senate stint. But don’t rule out the ex-navy captain and mutineer who plotted to overthrow former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Trillanes might just make it his mission in life to make life miserable for Duterte. It could also be his ticket to the presidency in 2022. Who knows?
It may be too early to talk about the presidency but politics is a year-round, no-season activity in this country. To wit, potential presidential candidates are already beginning to feel the heat from the ruling PDP-Laban party of Dutere, Senate President Koko Pimentel and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
The target aside from Trillanes is Vice President Leni Robredo. Note the flak Leni is getting from certain columnists even if she has been visibly quiet. Someone up there must be insecure. Robredo is being groomed as a possible successor to Duterte before his term is over. Robredo, after all, is the vice president. She succeed the President in the event he’s stricken ill or is removed via impeachment or a coup. With concerns over Duterte’s health, speculations are rife about the prospects of a Robredo presidency. It doesn’t help that Duterte and his mouthpieces have not totally cleared the air regarding concerns and rumors about the President’s health.
Duterte himself has denied that his mysterious absences were because of secret trips to China where he’s supposedly seeking medical help.
