Vice President Sara Duterte should be declared as the nation’s number one persona ingrata.
She recently made a not-so-surprising declaration that the UniTeam is now a thing of the past, saying that “the UniTeam of Bongbong-Sara was only a tandem for the 2022 elections. We are not candidates anymore, tapos na ang election at nanalo kami at nagpapasalamat din kami sa ating mga kababayan sa kanilang suporta sa tandem namin noong 2022.”
So now that she and PBBM have since emerged victorious, it’s time to say goodbye because it was only created for them to win the 2022 elections?
What a selfish ingrate! And the more reason why she must resign her post as education secretary and be a full-blooded oppositionist.
Delicadeza dictates this upon her, and this also means that she must stop using DepEd resources as she may well be preparing for a higher office. The sooner she leaves, the better. As it turns out, she only used the Marcos camp and its resources to land her the vice-presidency, and however her lickspittles would spin it, she is still a user in our book.
Recently, the embattled vice-president had to face a backlash of negative criticisms concerning a controversy on the use of her confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs). This matter solicited serious queries on the legality and accountability in government, not to mention the transparency so required especially when it involves government funds.
But Sara Duterte justified such by saying that confidential funds are integral in ensuring that Filipino citizens “can go about their daily lives without fear, and our children can receive an education in a safe environment, and our businesses can thrive without the shadow of insecurities.”
No comment. But seriously, I don’t know about you, it seems the Dutertes are defensive all the time when it comes to money. The Filipino public deserves to know. It is their money and their children’s future.
Will it be asking too much from the nation’s teachers to declare her as a persona ingrata?
El fallo del juez es inapelable
Translation: the decision of the judge is no longer appealable.
This was posted right in the jai-alai court, and I pertain to an old popular game in the time of nostalgic Manila along Taft Avenue.
The jai-alai was a favorite pre-war pastime of urban Filipinos. The art-deco building was built by American architects Walter Wurdeman and Welton Becket in 1940, surviving the Battle of Manila for this streamline modern edifice.
Among the amateur pelotaris training to play with Basque players were Enrique Zobel, Neling and Rene Nieto, Danny Vasquez, Ossy Abad Santos, Baby Ysmael, Juancho Lao, Tony Vallejo, Poteng Tillman, Pat Ilano, and Tony Beltran.
Also in that group were my uncle Philip Monserrat and my father Ariel Bocobo. But they soon lost interest and gave up the games when they sensed that certain crooked manipulators were slowly taking over the fronton, and the decent and honest Basque players were slowly being eased out of the ‘cancha.’
These dons were proven right and soon enough the fronton became a hotbed of vice and corruption, and Pinoy pelotaris became notorious for throwing away games and the good elements of society began to boycott the fixed games.
Years later in 1986, the games were banned in the country due to allegations of game-fixing. One needed clarification though: contrary to common knowledge, jai-alai is not a Spanish game but a game of proud Basques who continue to be abhorred by Spaniards.
Remember those occasional bombings in Spain many years back? They were the acts of the ‘Euskadi,’ the Basque rebel group feared by the Spanish guardia civil.
So these Manila-based pelotaris were Basques and are now retired with only memories of our beautiful fronton with the popular Sky Room having witnessed the many receptions and parties of the country’s ‘alta Sociedad’ which, many years after, was ordered for demolition in 2000 by then Manila Mayor Lito Atienza.
This was because of a planned construction of the Manila Hall of Justice that never materialized.
Yes, its demolition served as a wake-up call for the creation and passage into law of the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009. Its purpose was for the preservation of the country’s historic buildings.
Son of a god
Are you a fugitive running from the law who needs a temporary place to hide while thinking of pretending to be sick?
If you are, a hospital is the ideal place to go to. It’s your home away from church. There, you could be in the company of other felons who suffer from other ailments and illnesses just like yours.
Let’s call them “ïll-gotten health” whenever confronted by a warrant of arrest. You may also arrange for a specialist like a doctor to act as your spokesman in court. They are also well-trained to appear before the media to give their expert opinion on you.
And, at your lawyer’s or adviser’s insistence – whether that be a former president or a current vice-president, they can also insist on your sudden serious health condition such as allergies to a “battalion of policemen.”
There, you will have a 24/7 security detail, unli-internet connection to the world, frequent female visits to your quarters (a la Ninoy), and the ever non-stop supply of boiling hot coffee (aptly called barako bama) to soothe your nerves. Call today for reservations, and get that much-needed escape (pun intended) from the police.
Oh and, don’t forget about the other battalion of fanatics who treat you as their god and would shun participating in safe sects activities.
Delectable directorships
Isn’t there a Supreme Court ruling that explicitly prohibits cabinet members from holding additional posts such as chairmanships and directorships in government corporations like the GSIS, SSS, Philippine banks, and other GOCCs?
I’m glad I have not heard any such persons in this Marcos administration as blatant as it was in previous regimes.
Many cabinet members then scrambled to get directorships that carried huge honoraria and lavish perquisites.
The anti-graft agency should ask the Supreme Court for an amendatory ruling directing former cabineteers to return the huge sums of money they received from those posts.
In addition to this, there is this one anomaly that happens too often with government officials, and that is the failure to liquidate their cash advances and insistence on making more cash advances without correcting for proper accounting of previous ones.
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Factoid: Jose P. Laurel was shot four times in 1943 by Filipino guerillas while playing golf at Wack-Wack Golf and Country Club. He survived and recovered immediately from his gunshot wounds, and is the only Philippine president to have been shot outside of combat.
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