PAGBIBINTANG KAY GMA

MABIGAT ang binitawang salita ni Ispiker Martin Romualdez laban kay GMA, ang dating deputy ispiker. Magkahalong hinanakit at pagbibintang ang sinambit ni Martin laban sa dating kaibigan na si GMA. Maramdaman na binintangan ni Martin si GMA bilang kapural, or pasimuno ng isang operasyon sa Kamara upang ugain o alugin ang kanyang liderato. Walang ibinigay na detalye kahit malinaw sa tenor ng pahayag na hindi natutuwa si Martin sa kanyang mentor.

“There is still much work to do, so occasional moves to destablize the House should be nipped in the bud. The House cannot be distracted from fiding legislative solutions to issues that affect the lives of ordinary Filipino.” Ito ang salita ni Ispiker Martin Romualdez. Nanawagan si Martin sa kanyang pahayag na isantabi muna ang pamumulitika sa Kongreso. Diin niya, dapat mas pagtuunan ng pansin ang mga problemang kinakaharap ng bansa.

Hindi kumibo si GMA. Umalis sa poder na parang walang nangyari. Nagbitiw sa Lakas-NUCD si Sara Duterte kahit hindi kasama sa gulo. May mga tanong kung sila ang tumatayong oposisyon sa gobyerno ni BBM. Hindi malayo, ngunit sa aming pakiwari, mas maigi na sila ang pangatlong puwersa, o “third force.”

Hindi sila katanggap-tanggap na magpanggap na pangalawang puwersa,o “second force” na pinangungunahan kasalukuyan ng magkasamang Akbayan Party at Liberal Party. Hindi rin sila sanay na outside the kulambo. Hindi namin alam kung kakayanin ni Sara ang wala sa poder at maging oposisyon. Magaling siya pumuposisyon pero hindi oposisyon.

Sa pananaw ni Liberal Party President Rep. Edcel Lagman, nakikita niya na pumuposisyon para sa paparating na 2028 presidential elections ang pagtanggal kay Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo bilang Senior House Deputy Speaker at ang pagbibitiw ni Vice Pres. Sara Duterte sa Lakas-CMD. Hindi niya binanggit kung sino ang pumoposisyon. May kalayuan pa ang 2028.

Bilang sa sa dalawang pangunahing lapian sa oposisyon (ang isa ay ang Akbayan Party), magmamatyag ang Liberal Party sa mga mangyayari sa pulitika ng bansa, ani Lagman. Maasahan rin ang ganitong atas ang Akbayan Party.

May mga tanong kung sasali si GMA at Sara sa PDP-Laban. Hindi lang malaman kung saang paksyon. Kung sa paksyon ni Kokok Pimentel, kakalog-kalog sila doon. Marami lang sila ngunit walang ngipin kung sasama sila sa paksyon ni Ponso Cusi. Papayag ba si Sara na kasama niya si Bong Go at Bato?

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NAKAKATAWA si Menardo Guevarra sa kanyang huling salita. Hindi umano maaaring pilitin ang gobyerno ng Filipinas na makipagtulungan sa International Criminal Court (ICC) kaugnay sa sakdal na crimes against humanity na iniharap ng mga kritiko laban kay Rodrigo Duterte at mga kasapakat. Umusbong ang sakdal at umabot na ito sa estado ng “formal investigation.” Isang hakbang na lang at nasa formal trial na.

Sinabi ni Menardo na walang probisyon sa Rome Statute na nagtatakda na responsibilidad ng gobyerno na makipagtulungan sa ICC upang mapabilis ang proseso sa pagsisiyasat sa mga akusado. Mukhang hindi nabasa ni Menardo ang desisyon ng Korte Suprema noong 2021 kung saan sinabi ng Kataas-taasang Hukuman sa bansa na responsibilidad ng gobyerno na makipagtulungan sa ICC. Ang Rome Statute ang tratado na bumubuo sa ICC.

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POST namin sa social media noong 2021 ang sumusunod. May saysay pa rin ang post na ito. Pakibasa:

WHAT’S YOUR PRESIDENT DOING TO YOUR ARBITRAL WIN?

IT’S not easy to be a Filipino diplomat nowadays. Imagine leaders of host countries, asking Filipino diplomats on what has happened to our country when we filed and won the 2016 arbitration case and yet Rodrigo Duterte tries to dilute our arbitral victory, treating the decision as “a mere scrap of paper.” How would Filipino diplomats, schooled for many years in the art and science of diplomacy, respond to very valid questions? It’s not easy though.

Truth is still the core of diplomacy. A Filipino diplomat is not expected to say in earnest that his president is a hell of a traitor no matter how true he feels. This is not an accepted way in diplomacy. There will be some other ways to say it.

Judging from the issued official statements by the Department of Foreign Affairs, our diplomats stationed around the world have adhered to and believe in the arbitral decision. That’s the only thing that matters to them. Rodrigo Duterte is inconsequential. Presidents come and go, but the arbitral decision stays. It’s now part of international law.

It’s the trump card many foreign nations hold while they navigate freely the South China Sea in the name of world commerce. Their merchant ships move oil from the Middle East and many consumer cargoes and other products from their countries. China does not own the South China Sea. There’s no need for an enforcement agency to implement the arbitral decision in contrast to the puerile stand taken by Duterte and his ilk.

Meanwhile, a multinational fleet of warships stay in the South China Sea. They perform regular exercises in case China impedes their free flow. China could not do anything to exercise its ownership of the South China Sea. They could stop the voyages of merchant ships or impose fees for use of the high seas. Filipino diplomats know these basic facts. Duterte is lameduck to stop the DFA from saying what it should say. Neither could he replace its top honcho.

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MGA PILING SALITA: “ROTC isn’t about military preparedness or defending the country; SIM Card registration isn’t about thwarting scammers; Anti Terror Law was never about public safety. These are all brutish instruments of oppression meant to cow the people, force them to obey.” – Alan Robles, netizen, kritiko, mamamahayag
“GMA dethroned in the Congress.
Sara resigned from Lakas-CMD.
“It was never a unity, sindikato yun. Ngayon ay kanya-kanya na silang pagpapalapad ng kanilang political careers while the Filipino people are left unserved and hungry.” – Pari Koy, netizen, kritiko

“Three weeks after Rodrigo Duterte made two controversial statements – “China is in possession of the West Philippine Sea” and “the arbitral decision is a mere scrap of paper” – the blustery pro-China lackey faces the most intense diplomatic pressures in his ill-fated presidency. Japan, Australia, and other developed countries are ganging up on him, telling him to reexamine his position in dealing with China.” – PL, netizen