Duterte vows to bring back death penalty

I hate to disappoint you but I have no intention of saying any of those things. I hope that Mister Pnnelo's tenure is short-lived and that he is replaced by 9am on 1st July.

I stand corrected: I had mixed up the two campaigns as visually they were rather similar.

I stand corrected again. Glad to see we still agree on something.

I stand corrected again. Glad to see we still agree on something.

Yes they were rather similar.

I think you'll find that we agree on considerably more than we disagree on I do wonder whether Duterte himself made this appointment or whether it was made by one of his 'advisers'. I seem to recall that our Mayor reacted rather negatively to Panelo's televised statement regarding his murderous clients - I'll see if I can find something in SunStar's online archive.

I'm sure you've noted that Duterte is re-opening negotiations with the Communists with the stated aim of ending Asia's longest-running insurgency in an amicable way. Your man, Aquino, had a similar intention when he came to power but seemingly got bored with the process and terminated the talks halfway through his Presidency. The big difference between Aquino's and Duterte's approaches is that Duterte is prepared to grant an amnesty and release detained NPA guerillas.

Now hang on, old chap. I gave you a 'like' the first time you said this. You don't get an extra 'like' by repeating the post!!

Granting an amnesty and releasing prisoners is a pretty good way to upset the AFP. Hence of course the great care in selecting his new Defence people. Unlike the complete carelessness in appointing Sal Panelo.

What have the following Duterte Cabinet appointments got in common: Bello, Cusi, Deruza, Domingo, Esperon,Teodoro...?

Answer - they are all Arroyo people. It's CHANGE all right - the first ever Government of zombies!

There are a couple of funnies doing the rounds...

"From Daang Matuwid to Daang Hari" ("from the Straight Way to the Boss's Way") and "From Good Government to Goon Government". Here is why (I'm quoting from the "Rise Philippines" political website):

Mark Villar is the DPWH secretary. His father, former Senator Manny Villar, was investigated because of C5 extension controversy where Sen. Villar showered his porkbarrel funds on road projects leading to his real estate properties such as the Camella Homes. What more for the heavily funded DPWH headed by his son?

Carlos Dominguez is the Finance secretary. He is affiliated to two companies: Lafayette that caused huge mining disaster in Rapu-Rapu, Albay, and Alsons involved in massive grabbing of indigenous peoples’ lands in Mindanao. The Finance portfolio is involved in a global initiative to ensure the transparency of revenues from the extractive industries (e.g. mining and energy). Lafayette is a mining firm and Alsons is in power sector.

Atty. Salvador Panelo is the presidential spokesperson. He counseled the Ampatuans during the Maguindanao massacre trial. Out of 57 casualties in the massacre, 30 came from the media. A presidential spokesperson’s job is to handle the media covering Malacanang.

Perfecto Yasay Jr. is the acting DFA secretary. He left Securities and Exchange Commission during the Estrada administration with a scandal that sidetracked our economy.

Peter Laurel is the Education secretary. His family supported the vice presidential bid of Senator Bongbong Marcos. His appointment is crucial in the midst of the calls to revise the curriculum on teaching the atrocities of Marcosian martial rule.

Jess Dureza is the Peace Adviser. When he was first appointed as peace adviser during Arroyo’s time, he unilaterally revised a document during a negotiation without consulting the other party.

Vitaliano Aguirre is the Justice secretary. He was cited for contempt during the Corona impeachment trial when he purposely covered his ears while Senator Miriam Santiago was scolding the prosecutors. He also counseled Hubert Webb in his murder-rape case.

Arthur Tugade is the DOTC secretary. He was criticized by Aeta leaders for disregarding their rights. The Clark Development Corporation headed by Tugade claimed the Aetas’ ancestral land as part of the Clark free port area.

I am rather more worried by this news from Cebu

Duterte death fears rise as Philippine mayor offers bounties
The incoming mayor of a major Philippine city said Friday he was offering police bounties to kill criminals, deepening fears of extra-judicial deaths under the rule of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte.

Reports of another official forcing three children to walk through the streets with signs declaring they were drug traffickers added to the alarm of authorities being incited to act outside of the law.

Tomas Osmena, the incoming mayor of central Cebu city, told AFP he would pay police 50,000 pesos ($1,060) for each criminal they killed and 5,000 pesos for wounding them.

"If you kill a criminal in the line of duty, (you'll be rewarded), no questions asked. I'm there to assist the police, not to prosecute them," Osmena said by telephone.

"That is my purpose: to instil fear in the criminals. If they want to commit crimes, they get into war with me. I will see to it that they will be casualties."

Osmena's pledge comes after Duterte, the longtime mayor of southern Davao city, won the May 9 presidential election in a landslide largely due to an incendiary law-and-order platform.

Osmena is the outgoing Mayor's predecessor and is a highly controversial figure. Under his previous administration, vigilantism was rife and ignored whilst Police corruption rose. He dislikes foreigners and has previously stated that foreign visitors should be stripped of their cash on arrival at Mactan and then put on the first flight out of the country. All beauty pageants were banned and photos of Cebuanas removed from tourist materials at his wife's behest. "I'm not going to suppress vigilantes," said Osmena, who like Duterte will assume his post on June 30.

Oh and he's a Liberal.

Oh no he isn't. His own outfit was affiliated to Lakas-NUCD but affiliated to the Liberals in 2009. That doesn't make him a Liberal, it makes him a coalition partner. But I agree that he is repellent. Odd to find a Fil-Am who is so volubly anti-foreigner.

Freddie Clemo, who knew him, said that his Grandpa was no angel, incidentally.

Frankly, is there a politician in Cebu who isn't repulsive?

I think we need to exercise a little caution when considering some of the pronouncements published online that claim to have come from Duterte. For example, it has been publicised that Duterte's spokesman is Sal Panelo and yet his actual spokesman is Peter Tiu Laviña who has worked for the Duterte family for many years.

Laviña (an example of the sort of surname that required the script change in the voting tally that young Marcos got so excited about) has indeed been his spokesman but Panelo has been appointed as Malacanang spokesman - to Laviña's public dismay.

Rappler article here - confirms Panelo not Laviña...

http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in...erte-cabinet-choices-ruffling-feathers-circle

I have found out some more about Manny Pinol, the new Secretary for Agriculture. He claimed to be a working farmer; not so, he is actually a boxing promoter - and of course a boon companion of the Mayor of Davao...

Consequently he has come off the list of Cabinet appointees who I think may be all right.

Ah .... he's decided to get nice and cosy with the Nationalists. Probably just as well I'm not resident there any longer.

A bit of a worry...
https://lalarimando.wordpress.com/2016/05/21/um-yasay-as-next-foreign-secretary/

His views on extra-judicial killings aren't exactly news; he's held them for years and often espouses them. Surely the Liberal Party know of them - don't they - and one presumes they don't agree with or condone them so why hasn't the party sought to remove Osmena's affiliation? Will it now do so or will the LP be joining Aquino in hiding behind the sofa?

Life for resident foreigners in Cebu is going to get a whole lot more difficult - and that's not just my opinion, it's one that's shared by several friends of ours currently living and working in the city. One of whom is, incidentally, married to a Police Officer but she's been told she will never be promoted beyond her current rank of PO1 because she's not corrupt. From July, the overriding climate in Cebu will place the blame for all criminality on "the white devils" and the actions of the Police and courts will reflect this.

Mike Rama, whom I have met on a couple of occasions, seems to be rather different to most politicians on that island: progressive, pro-business, pro-western.

You might want to recommend that Talisay City Mayor Johnny V. Delos Reyes, who is a member of the Liberal Party, be detained for a period of re-education - and here's why!

Whoops!

(I have a LOT of time for Senator de Lima... this is VERY SCARY)

http://www.rappler.com/nation/13389...l&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

That cant be true Mark always said I was wrong about Dirty,s connection to death squads

Scary - why? Neither Senator-elect de Lima, nor anyone else, has ever actually named or produced this supposed witness to a court. All she has done is say that there was a person under the protection of the witness protection programme. But nobody has seen or knows who it is which means that on the balance of probabilities, there was no such person and she was grandstanding. And this supposed disappearance is being treated with complete nonchalance, as if it is an everyday occurrence that protected witnesses simply disappear. Of course, witnesses who don't exist cannot disappear and therefore there's no point in leaving one's comfy chair to look for them, is there!

I had high hopes for de Lima but she disappointed with her failure to prosecute the Ampatuans or her failure to prosecute any law makers over their plundering their pork barrel; was Napoles it, her crowning achievement?