With the feud between House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio Floirendo still raging, another internecine rift is brewing in the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
Prior to his sacking on Tuesday, DILG Secretary Ismael Sueno asked President Rodrigo Duterte to remove three Undersecretaries—John Castriciones, Jesus Hinlo and Emilie Padilla—for undermining his authority. The three Usecs, who campaigned for Digong in the May elections, had accused Sueno of corruption.
This placed the President in a bind. Graft charges the trio sent in a confidential letter to the President included Sueno’s ownership of a new hotel in South Cotabato, an irregular sale of fire trucks and alleged bribery from gambling lords. Sueno had denied all the allegations, claiming the three Usecs were getting back at him for reshuffling them.
This is the same predicament the President finds himself in the Alvarez-Floirendo feud. Both are from Davao with Bebot Alvarez showing himself a staunch defender against critics of Duterte. Floirendo, on the other hand, was the biggest fund contributor to Duterte’s campaign for the presidency. The fallout from this feud could result in Alvarez losing his House speakership or Floirendo losing his banana plantation empire in Davao. Digong has publicly said he won’t be taking sides which means “bahala na kayo sa buhay ninyo! ” Translation: You make a mess, you’re on your own.
The tiff between Alvarez and Floirendo, according to speculations, started from a quarrel between the mistresses of the two. Other sources point to a business deal in the banana plantation that went sour. The Tagum Development Company (Tadeco) has been owned by the Floirendo family since the Marcos years. A source close to the Marcoses who prepared the papers and worked the deal, however, said Tadeco is really owned not by the Floirendos but someone who used to be more powerful.
License to kill
President Duterte’s premature announcement that he will grant pardon to the policemen accused in the killing of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa has drawn strong condemnation from legal circles. As it should —it would be giving the police a license to kill and gives credence to allegations of extrajudicial killings in the government’s war on drugs.
“It’s a mockery of justice,” said University of Santo Tomas law dean Nilo Divina, adding the accused cops will have to undergo trial in the proper court. If found guilty, the President may then pardon them after all due consideration of the circumstances surrounding the case. No wonder the European Union and other human rights groups are aghast and accusing the Duterte administration of summary killings. Can you blame them, given the brazen killing of Espinosa inside his cell, and Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo right inside Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame?
The cops claimed self-defense in gunning down Espinosa who was arrested as a suspected drug lord in Leyte. But how can it be self-defense when the man was a helpless prisoner inside his detention cell when the police came purportedly to serve a search warrant.
To serve a search warrant in the wee hours of the morning on a man already in government custody? The police version just does not wash. There are speculations Espinosa was silenced because he had a long list of policemen and local officials in his drug payroll payola.
‘Palit-bise’
Let’s not blame Vice President Leni Robredo for giving the country a bad name. The videotape she provided the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, Austria contained reports that are aired in the local TV news coverage and already known by the international media.
So, who’s behind the “Replace Leni” demonstration at the Rizal Park? For sure, someone is funding this politically-driven demonstration. It would be naïve to think this is a spontaneous gathering of civic-spirited citizens. People have more important things to do like take over empty national housing projects. Even the unemployed masses’ priority would be to put food on the table. This is the sad situation of our people. The politicians play them to the hilt, exploiting their suffering. This is called the politics of poverty—using the poor for the agenda of the politicians to perpetuate themselves in power.
The usual suspects
Why do voters continue to elect the same coterie and cabal of predatory politicians? This could perhaps be blamed or traced to the surfeit of banal fare fed daily to the masses. Morning and evening news on TV always include a segment on which movie star is dating whom or which popular love team is breaking up. Is it Kathniel today or Aldub tomorrow? The latest buzz is that Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach’s boyfriend Marlon Stockinger fathered twin daughters with a former fashion model.
No wonder people like basketball player Robert Jaworski, movie star Tito Sotto and boxing icon Manny Pacquiao get elected to the Senate.