‘Inagurasyon’ ni BBM

HINDI masyadong napansin ng sambayanan ang trato ng Estados Unidos sa inagurasyon ni BBM noong Huwebes. Nagpadala ng pito-kataong delegasyon si U.S. President Joe Biden. Hindi pambato ang delegasyon. Pinangungunahan ni Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff ang delegasyon na binubuo ng hindi mga kilalang nilalang sa Estados Unidos.

Asawa ni Vice President Kamala Douglas si Emhoff. Bagaman kilala siya bilang matagumpay na negosyante, hindi mainpluwensiya si Emhoff sa pulitika ng bansa. Hindi pinahalagahan ni Biden ang inagurasyon ni BBM. Itinuturing na social event ang inagurasyon at hindi nagpadala ng high powered team. Hindi malunok ni Biden na pahalagahan ang inagurasyon ng isang kriminal at hindi nagbabayad ng buwis.

Mahalaga kay Biden ang paninindigan ng mga lider ng mga kaalyado ng Estados Unidos. Hindi malinaw kung ano ang paninindigan ni BBM. Hindi niya nabigyan ng linaw ang plataporma sa mga debate pampanguluhan noong nakaraang kampanya. Ngunit nakikita ng Estados Unidos na walang pagkakaiba kay Rodrigo Duterte si si BBM pagdating sa China. Kampi si BBM sa China at maituturing na isang taksil sa bayan.

Bagaman bumalik ang Estados Unidos sa Silangang Asya, hindi nakakasiguro si BBM ng suporta ng Estados Unidos. Makakaasa siya na pahihirapan ang kanyang gobyerno pagdating sa pakikitungo ng Washington sa kanya. Mistulang may ketong ang mga Marcos sa pananaw ng Estados Unidos. Kinakatawan ni BBM ang pamilyang sinipa ng sambayanan sa isang payapang himagsikan noong 1986.

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ISANG kakatwang nilalang si Liza Araneta, maybahay ni BBM, ng makuhanan ng larawan na nakalawit ang dila noong inagurasyon. Mistulang bata o baliw na hindi iginagalang ang okasyon. Matindi ang batikos na inabot ni Liza sa mga netizen dahil sa kakatwang larawan. Sagrado ang okasyon at dapat seryosohin ng mga dumalo. Isa pa dapat punahin ang kakulangan ng sigla dahil kakaunti ang dumalo sa inagurasyon.

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HALAW ang mga sumusunod sa aming aklat “KILL KILL KILL: EJKs in the Philippines; Crimes Against Humanity vs. Duterte Et. Al. at the ICC.” Nasa huling yugto na ako na pagsusulat.

RATIFICATION. The Philippines, through then Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York Enrique Manalo, signed the Rome Statute on December 28, 2000. According to Norberto Gonzales, who served as defense secretary and national security adviser of the Gloria Mapagal Arroyo administration, the Department of Foreign Affairs submitted the Rome Statute to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. In accordance with the constitutional provisions on treaties, pacts, and agreements, the Arroyo Cabinet discussed it thoroughly. The ;ate Justice Secretary was among those who pushed passionately for its approval.

The Arroyo Cabinet intensely debated on the pros and cons of the Rome Statute. The big question was the non-approval of the United States of this treaty. The Arroyo Cabinet voted to approve it, but the political campaign in the 2010 presidential elections stopped its submission for concurrence by the Senate. It was not concurred under the Arroyo administration. It was the administration of Benigno Aquino III that submitted it to the Senate for appropriate action. Aquino submitted it after Rep. Jerry Trenas, chair of the House committee on good government and public accountability, filed House Resolution 638 asking the Executive to submit the Rome Statute for Senate concurrence.9

The Senate approved on third and final reading the resolution concurring in the ratification of the Rome Statute creating the ICC, the world’s first permanent tribunal for war crimes and crimes against humanity. It garnered on August 23, 2011 at least 17 “yes”votes, one negative vote and no abstention.

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THE intensified war against illegal drugs did not sit well with the political opposition. Although its ranks were decimated by mass defections of its leaders to the ruling coalition, which Rodrigo Duterte had formed upon winning the elections, its remaining members were concerned that his war on drugs was getting out of hand. Duterte’s order to clean the nation of illegal drugs was in line with his campaign promise to finish the drug issue in “three to six months,” PNP officials and personnel felt they had the “license to kill” to “neutralize” suspects even without legal basis. They went on killing sprees, murdering suspects as they pleased, and bypassing the legal processes, which they likened to obstacles to reach their goal of a drug free Philippines. Even the innocent ones were killed without provocation. This caused uproar not only from the political opposition but from the human rights community, particularly the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and several local human rights groups. The international community was concerned with the sudden change of atmosphere in the Philippines.

As mass violence intensified the ballyhooed war on drugs, a member of the European Union Parliament quietly arrived in Manila in the early morning of one balmy day in September, 2016 to get a complete picture of the war on drugs. Unbeknownst to the Duterte government, the European parliamentarian was part of a group of European lawmakers, whom their Parliament assigned to validate reports of mass murder in the Philippines. The European parliamentarian broke protocol to get in touch with the democratic political opposition and other stakeholders, including the Legal Left, which was in a dilemma on its informal alliance with the Duterte government at that time. The European lawmaker had a one-on-one talk with Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who was in the last half of his second six–year term of office. The two lawmakers met in a quiet hotel and had vigorous exchanges of views that centered on reports of human rights violations under the infamous Project Double Barrel. It was not known if the European lawmaker met any other member of the democratic political opposition. It could be surmised that the meeting took place because Trillanes was one of the most vocal opposition leader against the bloody war on drugs during those days.

The dialogue was straightforward, as the two lawmakers sat for at least two hours of intense talks. At the outset, the European parliamentarian expressed grave concern over the reported mass violence, where thousands of people allegedly involved in drug use and trafficking were murdered with impunity. Trillanes was not surprised with the European lawmaker’s concern. In his seven and a half year of incarceration as one of the leaders of the failed 2004 Oakwood mutiny, Trillanes knew from his extensive readings while in jail that Europe suffered the brunt of the two destructive world wars in the first half of the 20th century. Trillanes knew the emergence of the madman in Adolf Hitler, who almost conquered the whole of Europe. The European parliamentarian had nothing but empathy for the Filipino people, who elected Duterte as president. Trillanes said the summary executions had violated the constitutional precepts on equal protection of the law and presumption of innocence. There was no due process of law, he noted. There was no rule of law, he added.

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MGA PILING SALITA: “Where the hell are you, 31 million supporters?? Pumarine kayo at kakaunti ang nanonood, kakalog-kalog kami rine. Sa unahan lamang ng stage may tao, kaya inuulit namin, sa mga nanonood online, pumarine kayo. Parang awa nyo na.” – Maris Hidalgo, netizen

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