Wednesday, August 10, 2022
manilastandard.net
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
manilastandard.net
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion Columns Lowdown by Jojo Robles

Out for pizza

February 8, 2018, 12:01 am
in Lowdown by Jojo Robles
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
83
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

Vice President Leni Robredo, I fear, is not really interested in speeding up the recount of the votes cast in the 2016 elections. If she really was, she’d be signing with her own hand a document stating that she is withdrawing all motions that she filed—and may still file—to delay the counting.

If Robredo were serious about accepting the challenge thrown down by former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., she would declare her intentions herself, instead of letting her hired help, lawyer Romulo Macalintal, do the talking. But we only hear from Macalintal, whose latest stunt yesterday was going to a pizza restaurant with a supposed document he signed himself that purports to say that Robredo will withdraw all her motions.

Marcos signed his own petition for the Presidential Electoral Tribunal to withdraw all motions, past and future, so that the counting may begin. He had his lawyer bring that document to the Ortigas area office of Macalintal and his partner in the Robredo case, Ma. Bernadette Serdillo, for forwarding to Robredo; but Macalintal, who had apparently stepped out for a pizza, was not there to properly receive the Marcos-signed document.

(Serdillo, by the way, may be a lot less prominent than the veteran Macalintal, even if she is more than a match for him in the “big lie” department. It was Serdillo who declared that there was no need for Robredo to sign any document dropping all motions to delay the recount, since no such motions have been filed by Leni’s camp.)

ADVERTISEMENT

I find Marcos lawyer Vic Rodriguez more believable here because Robredo seems to want to show that she wants a speedy recount by having Macalintal sign a document to that effect, while making sure that she can deny its authenticity by ensuring that she doesn’t sign it herself. And I find it truly suspicious that Robredo, who really isn’t as busy as she lets on, can’t even directly respond to Marcos’ challenge, allowing Macalintal and Serdillo to discuss it on her behalf.

I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again: Robredo’s strategy (as it has been laid out a long time ago by Macalintal) is to delay the recount for as long as she can, in the hope of convincing Marcos to abandon his protest and return to the Senate in next year’s elections. But now that Marcos has shown his resolve to continue with his protest all the way to the end, Robredo can only hope that Marcos is stymied until 2022, when any results of his protest will be rendered moot.

I’d call Macalintal and ask for his comment, but I think he hasn’t returned from his favorite pizza place.

* * * 

Health Secretary Francisco Duque has been confirmed by the Commission on Appointments. Whether this should be taken as a sign that he will now focus his energies on addressing the Dengvaxia scandal remains to be seen.

Getting confirmed by the CA, which has developed a reputation for thumbing down nominees to Cabinet positions made by President Rodrigo Duterte, is certainly a vote of confidence by Congress that Duque will do his job. Especially at this time, when Duque’s department is wracked by controversy over the anti-dengue vaccination program embarked upon by the previous administration, I think the message that the CA sent is that he should no longer be paralyzed into inaction by the threat of being bypassed or even of being rejected altogether.

But like so many private medical practitioners and state health workers who stand accused of being involved, in one way or another, with Sanofi and other pharmaceutical companies that have basically dictated local health policy with their huge, well-funded marketing campaigns, Duque will have to prove that he is no “big pharma” stooge. And because Duque already worked as health secretary during the Arroyo years and officially advised DoH as civil service chief in the Aquino administration, he will have to work extra hard to gain the credibility that his high post deserves.

Duque has not been doing a lot to gain the public’s trust in the wake of the Dengvaxia brouhaha. For one, Duque has not initiated any kind of internal, department-wide investigation of the “deep state” bureaucrats who helped Noynoy Aquino and his health secretary, Janette Garin, implement the P3.5-billion campaign launched at the tail-end of Noynoy’s term.

Instead of cleaning up his own backyard, as any top bureaucrat in his position would do, Duque has repeatedly declared that he wants Sanofi to pay back the money spent by the Philippine government for the vaccine, which is really the province of state prosecutors, not the health secretary. Duque has not even complied, to this day, with demands for DoH to complete a definitive registry of all the 830,000 schoolchildren who were given Dengvaxia.

And Duque is not only a public health insider but a political player, one of the few who has held high office under the last three presidents, which is a testament not of medical his expertise but of his family’s political clout in his home province of Pangasinan. Duque, if he really wanted to, could become the ultimate crusader and whistleblower, if that’s what he wants, instead of being just the most durable political survivor of the last two decades.

I sincerely hope that Duterte and Congress made the right decision by choosing Duque. Any more mistakes at this point would be ruinous to the government’s public health campaigns, which have been rocked to their very foundations by Aquino’s misguided Dengvaxia experiment.

Tags: Out for pizza
ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

Not so fast

February 6, 2018, 12:09 am
0
135
Not so fast

First of all, the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital team of experts didn’t state that 14 children died as...

Read more

Duque feels the heat

February 1, 2018, 12:01 am
0
133
Duque feels the heat

If Health Secretary-designate Francisco Duque thinks that he can get confirmed if he just keeps his head down and stays...

Read more

Did Martin invent socmed?

January 31, 2018, 12:07 am
0
132
Did Martin invent socmed?

How quickly we forget. “Weaponizing” the Internet and social media for political purposes, especially by government communications officials using state...

Read more

Noynoy’s barricade

January 30, 2018, 12:01 am
0
137
Noynoy’s barricade

For once, I miss Cory Aquino.  Because Cory really went out of her way not to show in public the...

Read more

The Thomasian Way

January 26, 2018, 12:01 am
0
131
The Thomasian Way

Over at UST, they will virtually lynch you for having the “wrong” politics. But they will turn a blind eye,...

Read more

Not forgotten

January 25, 2018, 12:01 am
0
132
Not forgotten

On the corner of Edsa and White Plains Avenue in Quezon City, dozens of Philippine flags stand at attention in...

Read more

Stories you may like

  • Zubiri new Senate President, vows to uphold chamber’s independence

    Marcos sees stronger PH-India relations

    5722 shares
    Share 2289 Tweet 1431
  • Showbiz icon Cherie Gil dies at 59

    2610 shares
    Share 1044 Tweet 653
  • Replevin and its common law origins

    1253 shares
    Share 501 Tweet 313
  • Fuel rollback next week, power rate cut in August

    1168 shares
    Share 467 Tweet 292
  • Getting into character: How the cast of ‘Maid in Malacañang’ prepared for their roles

    2751 shares
    Share 1100 Tweet 688

Print Edition

View More

Recent Posts

  • Sneakers for Makati : AB4.0
  • WHO to replace expiring vax
  • FVR laid to rest in somber state funeral
  • Government eyes jab vs. monkeypox with ASEAN
  • House forms special panel on nuke energy
  • Azurin shuffles ranking police officials to allow career growth
  • ‘Writ of Amparo protection vs. law enforcers’ abuse’
  • Biden concerned over China drills

Advertisement

Latest News

Azurin shuffles ranking police officials to allow career growth

byManila Standard
August 10, 2022, 1:10 am
0
140
Vax wastage, infection surge feared in Odette-hit areas

Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. has ordered a sweeping reshuffle involving almost 80 ranking police officials, including...

Read more

‘Writ of Amparo protection vs. law enforcers’ abuse’

byRey E. Requejo
August 10, 2022, 1:00 am
0
133
Vax wastage, infection surge feared in Odette-hit areas

The Supreme Court has declared that guaranteed rights to life, liberty, and security cannot be disregarded or trampled upon by...

Read more

Biden concerned over China drills

byManila Standard
August 10, 2022, 12:50 am
0
142
Biden leaves for Asia under Ukraine, N.Korea nuclear shadows

US President Joe Biden voiced his concern Monday over China’s extension of military drills around Taiwan, but added that he...

Read more

Ombudsman drops bribery raps vs. De Lima, Dayan

byManila Standard
August 10, 2022, 12:40 am
0
145
Sy, witness vs. De Lima, dies of stroke in NBP prison

The Office of the Ombudsman has dismissed bribery complaints against former senator Leila de Lima and her former bodyguard over...

Read more

Olivia Newton-John succumbs to cancer

byAFP
August 10, 2022, 12:30 am
0
146
Olivia Newton-John succumbs to cancer

Singer Olivia Newton-John, who gained worldwide fame as high school sweetheart Sandy in the hit musical movie “Grease,” died on...

Read more

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

ABOUT US

Manila Standard

Manila Standard website (manilastandard.net), launched in August 2002, extends the newspaper’s reach beyond its traditional readers and makes its brand of Philippine news and opinion available to a much wider and geographically diverse readership here and overseas.

Digital Edition

In tone and content, the online edition mirrors the editorial thrust of the newspaper. While hewing to the traditional precepts of fairness and objectivity, MS believes the news of the day need not be staid, overly long or dry. Stories are succinct, readable and written in a lively style that has become a hallmark of the newspaper.

Download – Today’s Paper

Search

No Result
View All Result

6th Floor Universal Re Bldg., 106 Paseo De Roxas cor. Perea Street, Legaspi Village, 1226 Makati City Philippines

Trunklines: 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Pop.Life
    • Newsmakers
    • Hangouts
    • A-Pop
    • Post Its
    • Performances
    • Malls & Bazaars
    • Hobbies & Collections
  • Technology
    • Gadgets
    • Computers
    • Business
    • Tech Plus
  • MS ON THE ROAD
    • Sedan
    • SUV
    • Truck
    • Bike
    • Accessories
    • Motoring Plus
    • Commuter’s Corner
  • Home & Design
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Construction
    • Interior
  • Spotlight
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Events
    • Seminars
    • Exhibits
    • Community
  • Biyahero
    • Travel Features
    • Travel Reels
    • Travel Logs
  • Pets
  • Advertise with Us

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Install Manila Standard Web App

Install App