“Having fictitious people as recipients of millions of pesos in confidential and intelligence funds, which are in effect still the money of the people, is definitely graft and corruption”
ON JULY 28, President Marcos Jr. is expected to come out with his State of the Nation Address (SONA). We can expect a lot of things; we can also expect a lot of other things.
I believe that inflation, Santa Banana, is still the biggest problem of the nation, especially since all our imported oil needs come from the Middle East. With the expanded conflict in the Middle East, we can expect the nation to be affected.
That is why inflation and the high prices of oil have escalated, affecting both the rich and the poor,but especially the poor who are the most affected by the high prices since all our oil needs are imported, affecting everything including service, food prices and transport prices.
President Marcos Jr, has tried his best to subsidize the nation but he can only do it up to a certain point.
Add all these problems, to our prevailing problems of poverty as well as graft and corruption in the government, it is no wonder that in all surveys conducted, inflation and high prices are still regarded as the biggest problems.
Insofar as the forthcoming impeachment case of Vice President Sara Duterte, I believe that, as President Marcos Jr. has said, he will not interfere and will let the senator judges make their final decision.
Having set the start of the impeachment case against Sara Duterte on Aug. 4, aside from all the prevailing problems and the headwinds that the economy is facing, it would have been a walk in the park for BBM.
Unfortunately we can expect more problems and more headwinds for the economy in the forthcoming months.
In the upcoming SONA of President Marcos Jr. one thing I expect him to tackle, unless my sources and tips are mistaken, is the possibility of rejoining the country to the UN Rome Statute of the Internal Criminal Court.
We can also expect Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa to be arrested in connection with his involvement as Chief Police when the former President Rodrigo Duterte launched his infamous war against illegal drugs, having been the author of those dreaded days when EJKs under his “Operation Tokhang” and “Operation Double Barrel” – all aimed at the illegal drug menace.
With the possible rejoining of the countryin the Rome Statute of the ICC, we can expect a lot of development in connection with the detention of former President Duterte for crimes against humanity.
There are two things I can predict.
First of all the ICC will outright reject Duterte’s petition for an interim release and request to be sent to another country, not the Philippines and also all the claims of illegal arrests of Duterte and anybody else connected with him.
As to forthcoming start of the impeachment case against the Vice President, I still have my doubts whether or not she will be able to get out of that big hole of her own making by having recipients of her P250 million confidential funds to unknown and fictitious individuals like “Mary Grace Piattos” and “Yoyo Villamin” and many others.
I am doubtful whether the Vice President can explain to the senator judges why she used fictitious and unknown persons.
I believe there is no law against fictitious persons, but insofar as government funds are concerned, having fictitious people as recipients of millions of pesos in confidential and intelligence funds, which are in effect still the money of the people, is definitely graft and corruption.
I do not know, Santa Banana, how the country will be able to hurdle all these economic problems facing the administration in the coming years considering how politics is so divisive among us Filipinos.
Whatever BBM will decide in his SONA, it bears watching because it affects everybody in the country.
