If I were a foreigner reading the newspapers and watching television, I would readily conclude that the Philippines is truly a troubled country.
After nearly five months of battling IS-inspired Abu Sayyaf and Maute groups, the President has warned that terrorists may retaliate after two of its leaders were killed by the military.
Where and when, nobody knows.
There is also the war against illegal drugs by President Duterte. No less than four million drug users are presumed to be potential criminals. Santa Banana, this simply means that the war on illegal drugs will be relentless even as the President has stopped making the police the frontliners. Now it is the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency that is the sole agency in charge of carrying out the war on drugs.
The political noise gets louder by the day, given all these destabilization threats against the President. There are the Yellowtards, and there are the communists.
There is also the news on government corruption. It tells the rest of the world that Filipinos in government are truly corrupt.
They must have also heard that the Philippines has decided, as a matter of policy, not to accept aid or grant from the European Union because the help could come with strings attached; the EU is prone to interfere in domestic affairs like the war on illegal drugs.
Foreigners must have also read that President Duterte, in one of his tirades, told EU representatives that they must pack their bags and leave within 24 hours. A day later, he was corrected.
And now we have no less than the presidential daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, forming an alliance against those destabilizing the government.
If I were a foreigner, I would think twice about coming here.
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Santa Banana, here is another troubling report that a Malacañang official thinks drug dependents are all potential criminals.
With this kind of thinking, where is the rule of law that presumes a person is innocent until proven guilty? The word “potential” does not make an addict a criminal.
Drug dependents are victims of the proliferation of drugs. An addict becomes a criminal because he is physiologically and psychologically damaged. He lives in a shell that must be broken if he is to be rehabilitated.
Shabu, the drug mostly used by the poor because it is cheap and readily available, truly affects the brain.
As I said before, the Duterte administration is mistaken in saying that the drug problem is a peace-and-order problem.
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The Court of Appeals has affirmed the legality of Globe Telecom’s and Smart’s purchase of San Miguel Corp.’s telecommunication assets, effectively dealing a death blow to efforts of the Philippine Competition Commission to question the P70-billion deal.
The CA ordered the PCC to approve the P69.1-billion sale.
The CA in August last year issued a preliminary injunction against the anti-trust body after the telecom giants claimed the deal was already approved.
The writ of preliminary injunction or TRO directed the PCC to cease and desist from conducting further proceedings,
If we analyze the transaction, it is all for the public good.
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There is a move at the House of Representatives to bar aliens from running automated polls in the Philippines.
And indeed why should aliens intervene in a national exercise? Look at what happened with Smartmatic.
There are other AES experts aside from Smartmatic. The Comelec only has to look further than that.
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Businessman Roberto Ongpin, who was my student at Ateneo High School, just can’t stop improving on his signature development—the Balesin Island Club.
Ongpin bought interests in a nearby island to build an international airport for foreigner-members of the club and guests.
Not content with building a Grand Villa to accommodate wedding receptions and other affairs, Ongpin also built private villas.
An eight-suite private villa would cost P275 million; a six-bedroom private villa sells for P200 million while one that has four bedrooms sells for P150 million.
Ongpin is also building a modern Chinese style to eight-suite private villa. The only thing missing is a good private restaurant. But not for long—it will be operated by the well-known Seven Star Yacht Club, with Chinese chefs to boot.