‘Good riddance’

 “It is not your qualifications but your exposure in life that makes you who you are.”

— Jaggi Vasude

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IT’S pointless for critics of President Rodrigo Duterte to invoke delicadeza to discourage him from running for vice president in next year’s Philippine presidential election.

In the Philippines, nobody cares about delicadeza anymore. 

Ask the health secretary and other political bogeymen and women in this benighted country.

It’s only a vocabulary in public service that isn’t taken seriously unless we are in Japan, where leaders commit hara kiri, ritual suicide by disembowelment with a sword, formerly practiced by samurai as an honorable alternative to disgrace or execution, if they commit shameful acts while in office.

As long as the constitution allows Mr. Duterte to seek for the second highest position of the land after his term expires, no one can prevent him.

Anything that is not prohibited by law can be applied in as far as the decision of one elected official to cling to power is concerned.

If framers of the charter didn’t want the president and other incumbent officials to seek another public office through election, they should have fixed the provisions on the term or tenure of office.

In political theory, “term of office” and “tenure of office” are terms oftentimes contrasted with each other, according to law lecturer Frank Lobrigo. 

Term of office refers to the period, either fixed by the Constitution or a statute, within which a public official may hold office. Tenure of office, on the other hand, is the period within which a public official actually held office within a prescribed term. In other words, term of office is fixed, while tenure of office is variable, Lobrigo explains.

 

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My article about resigned New York Governor Andrew Mark Cuomo on August 25 elicited feedbacks from various people, including a female lawyer who was once a human rights advocate in the Philippines.

Governor Cuomo’s downfall has been stunning in it’s speed and scale —it’s taken only eight days from the Attorney General’s report for charismatic New York leader to resign. 

Feelings on the street in downtown Manhattan were also mixed, ranging from apathy, to anger, to cautious hope. Most seemed disappointed; at who, however, was far from unanimous.

—“I’m sad ‘Lex on (New York Governor Andrew) Cuomo’s resignation. We lost a great leader. He was steadfast in his focus to achieve his goals that along the way, he alienated a lot of people even the democrats,” said the Ilonggo lawyer, 63.

—“Ah, that pervert governor. Good riddance,” said Fil-Am Noypi, 56.

—“Honestly, I feel bad for the governor, as a woman. I sympathize with the women, I am that woman, but I think Cuomo did a lot of good for New York City,” said Charisma, 48.

—“I’m just really disappointed in this leader. I had a lot of respect for this governor, but there’s just a weak side to the guy, and it’s a shame,” said Marlon, 62.

—“If his ego and character weren’t weak, he wouldn’t have resigned,” said Jimmy, 59.

—“He’s a good guy, I wish he wasn’t resigning because he made sure we eat and survive the pandemic,” said Anastasia, 38.

—“I agree with Governor Cuomo’s decision to step down. It is the right thing to do and in the best interest of New Yorkers,” said the new governor Kathy Hochul.

 

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FORMER Bacolod mayor and congressman Monico Puentevella declared over radio that fans inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas “booed” the unanimous decision of the three judges who scored for Yordenis Ugas.

“O ayan na bino boo na ng mga tao ang decision,” declared Puentevella, who had served as a commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission from 1996 to 2001.

“Sandali lang samahan ko muna siya sa kuarto nia. Magsisimba pa kami.”

Monico, 75, seemed to be trying to poison the minds of radio listeners that Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao had been cheated in his WBA welterweight title fight on August 21. 

And he wanted to sound like he really belonged in the boxer’s circle of close friends. 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Talk between Biden and Duterte

“We believe that transparency is needed to create trust, and it's also needed to create a dialogue.”

—Julie Sweet

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IF ever President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and President Rodrigo R. Duterte will talk over the phone for the first time since Mr. Biden became the 46^th President of the United States, Mr. Biden may not immediately tackle the issue about alleged human rights violations in the Philippines.

The two leaders will certainly discuss primarily their commitments for a traditional “mutual support” as ties between the U.S., a super power, and the Philippines have been reportedly tested since Mr. Duterte assumed the presidency in 2016 and embarked on months of expletive-laden tirades against the U.S.

He had also threatened repeatedly to scrap their bilateral military agreements even when President Barack Obama was still in office.

Mr. Biden would be very careful not to appear like interfering in the domestic affairs of the Philippines as Mr. Biden is probably aware the Duterte administration continued to belie accusations it violated the human rights of its citizens in the Philippine government’s “all-out” war against illegal drugs.   

Even top Philippine officials have assured that the “Philippines will maintain close and friendly relations with the United States under Biden” amid a period of strain in their decades-old alliance.

 

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US News had earlier reported that Duterte “sought warmer ties with China and Russia, and took particular aim at former counterpart Barack Obama, to whom Biden was vice president. He once said he would not visit the United States, calling it a ‘lousy’ country.”

Duterte, who had asked Filipinos in the U.S. to vote for former President Donald Trump, had spoken positively about Mr. Trump but reportedly remained critical of American foreign policy.

Philippine political analysts reportedly expect the Biden administration to be “more vocal than its predecessor about human rights issues in the Philippines, including Duterte's signature war on drugs, during which thousands of people have been killed.”

Fears that Mr. Biden will open up the issues and concerns on human rights violations with  Mr. Duterte was fueled by reports that in Mr. Biden’s first phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin since being sworn into office two weeks ago— a conversation that comes amid heightened U.S.-Russia tensions and after Putin initially refused to recognize Biden's election win, Mr. Biden “called Mr. Putin’s attention” on the reported Russian involvement in the recent massive cyber attacks on the U.S. government.

It was reported that the agenda for the Biden-Putin conversation was “long, running from areas of cooperation, such as nuclear arms control, to areas of contention, such as Russia's military aggression toward Ukraine.”

Then candidate Biden promised to take a tougher line with Mr. Putin than ex-President Donald Trump did, during the campaign.

Mr. Biden and Mr. Putin reportedly discussed their shared goal of renewing an expiring U.S.-Russia nuclear arms control agreement, during the phone call, as reported by White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki during a briefing on January 26. 

 

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That major arms control pact reportedly expires on Feb. 5, so it’s an urgent matter. 

“They also agreed to explore strategic stability discussions on a range of arms control and emerging security issues,” the White House said in its read-out of the conversation.

The rest of the call reportedly focused on U.S.-Russia flashpoints, according to the White House, starting with Russia's ongoing aggression toward Ukraine, a pivotal U.S. ally.

Mr. Putin was among the last major world leaders to acknowledge Mr. Biden's victory in the Nov. 3 election, waiting until Dec. 15 – after the Electoral College certified the results – to wish the new president success and to welcome engagement.

There’s no schedule phone conversation yet between Mr. Biden and Mr. Duterte as of this writing.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)