TOP INFLUENCERS OF THE YEAR
11 MARCOS ‘SINS’ EXHUMED FROM THE GRAVE: WITH IT, THE ISSUES OF HONORING FERDINAND AS A HERO AND HAVING ANOTHER MARCOS IN MALACANANG
Two events brought to full public awareness a question that few had taken seriously: Would the nation accept another Marcos in Malacanang?
Those are: (a) the Supreme Court ruling that paved the way for the burial of martial law dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. at Libingan ng mga Bayani; and (b) the near-election of his son Ferdinand Jr. or Bongbong to the vice presidency.
The chain of events -- heightened by the stealthy funeral at the Libingan and talks that the SC, sitting as presidential electoral tribunal, would favor Bongbong in his election protest against Vice President Leni Robredo -- jolted the nation to ponder on the fact there has been no accountability on Marcos “crimes” against the country, would it allow a return to another Marcos rule?
If for nothing else, the court litigation and the protests awakened a nation that almost forgot its “Never Again!” vow.
12 POLITICS OF GARBAGE: IN NO OTHER YEAR HAD TRASH DISPOSAL INFLUENCED PUBLIC DEBATE AND LEADERS’ RHETORIC DURING THE CAMPAIGN, SPILLING OVER INTO THE NEW CITY HALL TERM
Political rivalry has a lot to do with the controversy. Charges of inefficiency and corruption filled election campaign rhetoric. Mayor Tomas Osmeña hit back at his rival, former mayor Mike Rama, by stopping the contractor’s service and diverting disposal to the reopened Inayawan landfill. Which set off the lawsuit against city officials, the court order to shut down the site again, and the use of South Road Properties as disposal location.
Hot words have been exchanged even as Cebu City residents suffer from the continuing poor and erratic service.
‘Darkness and pessimism must not imprison the world...’
13 & 14 POPE FRANCIS DECLARES ‘JOY OF LOVE’ AND YEAR OF MERCY. ARCHBISHOP PALMA DEPLORES KILLINGS OF DRUG SUSPECTS
In the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis and Cebu Archbishop Palma separately appealed for end to violence. The mercy of God, the pope says, is “not an abstract idea but a concrete reality,” comparing His love to that of a father or a mother for their child. Archbishop Palma on several occasions expressed alarm over the increasing number of illegal executions. The pope’s 286-page papal proclamation titled “Amoris Laetitia” (Joy of Love), issued April 9, called for priests to welcome to the church single parents, gay people and unmarried straight couples living together.
15 ANGUISH OVER THE TOLL OF TERRORISM, WAR AND OTHER FORMS OF VIOLENCE
More than 100 terrorist attacks across the globe were staged in 2016. But what shook us most were those that happened close to home, such as the bombing in Leyte, or were executed so cruelly and inflicted a heavy toll. Brussels, Orlando or Nice: the places don’t matter as much as the ugliness of the violence and the number of innocent lives lost.
The image of Omran Daqneesh, 5, his body caked with dust, stunned and weary, tugged hearts all over the globe. Daqneesh was pulled out from the rubble of his home in Aleppo, Syria.
16 DEATH OF ICONS WHOSE WORK, ART OR HUMANITY TOUCHED MANY PEOPLE
MUHAMMAD ALI asked his daughter, Will they remember me? People can’t forget his rhetoric (“I’m the greatest”) as much as they can’t forget his punches. “Thrilla in Manila” will always be a thrill. He was 74.
PRINCE bedded the world’s most beautiful girls and sales of his records totaled over 100 million. Secret vaults might yield previously unrecorded music from him. He was 57.
MIRIAM DEFENSOR
SANTIAGO, three-term senator, twice ran for president but lost, known and remembered for her pugnacious stand on mediocrity and dishonesty. She appealed to the young in whom she had perpetual hope.
Called the “Iron Lady of Asia,” she publicly called down any display of the bad traits she hated. She was 71.
ANTONIO SCALIA, U.S. Supreme Court justice whose presence as the leading conservative on the bench was larger than life. He was 79.
“You have a duty to challenge the status quo.” -- Miriam, to the young “The Constitution is not a living document. It’s dead, dead, dead.’
17 FADS, TRENDS THAT FASCINATED OR HOOKED US
POKEMON GO. Catch pocket monsters at GSP locations. More than 600 million downloads of the app worldwide.
MANNEQUIN CHALLENGE. Hottest social media fad, which soared with Destiny Child reunion’s play (Beyonce, Michele and Kelly). The song that goes with it: the hip-hop duo Rae Stemmurd’s “Black Beatles.”
18 A BASKET OF IMPONDERABLES
Hillary Clinton’s phrase “basket of deplorables,” which she said -- during the extraordinary U.S. election campaign -- half of Donald Trump’s supporters can fill, comes to mind as people try to get answers to questions that events of 2016 raised. They could fill a basket of imponderables.
For that’s what they are: cannot be guessed or assessed, “incapable of being weighed or evaluated with exactness.”
WOULD DUTERTE GO BEYOND THE ‘STATE OF LAWLESS VIOLENCE’ THAT HE DECLARED IN SEPTEMBER? WOULD HE IMPOSE MARTIAL LAW?
The president has been flirting with martial law, on and off: he hints, threatens, denies, hints, rejects, keeps. The Constitution gives him the right but under specific conditions, foremost of which is that there must be a state of rebellion or invasion. Lawlessness arising from the “war on drugs” is not rebellion or invasion in which he can suspend habeas corpus or, when public safety requires it, impose martial law.
WHEN WOULD THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST DRUGS ‘NORMALIZE,’ THAT IS, THE ORDINARY PROCESSES OF ARREST AND PROSECUTION ARE USED INSTEAD OF ILLEGAL EXECUTIONS?
Killings of suspects by police under dubious circumstances or by unidentified “vigilantes” would have to end at some point. By then, police efficiency in combating illegal drugs and other crimes would have improved. More rehab facilities would’ve been set up. The judicial machinery would’ve moved faster.
Time frames obviously have been adjusted. Going back to normal, though, may not be possible if in these times, the EJK is already accepted as normal by most people.
WOULD CEBU EVER KNOW FOR CERTAIN GUILT OR INNOCENCE OF PEOPLE WHO WERE ACCUSED OF PUBLICLY PROFITING FROM DRUGS BUT HAVE NOT YET BEEN CHARGED?
The names “Peter Lim” and “Vic Loot” have come out in various dossiers and lists, including one that Duterted himself announced on national TV, but until yearend, the vast police and NBI apparatus has still to “build up” the case against them. Former mayor Michael Rama was listed by the president as among the drug protectors. Repeatedly shamed publicly by those who control the flow of accusations, Lim and Loot have still to face the accusers before prosecutors and judges. Like Rama, they are accused in the court of public opinion, with no chance, for now, of being cleared.
COULD VICE PRESIDENT LENI ROBREDO FINISH HER TERM? WHEN WOULD SEN. LEILA DE LIMA BE LOCKED UP?
VP Robredo suspects the election protest against her would be speeded up to install loser Bongbong Marcos. With a Supreme Court dominated by the same justices who allowed the burial of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. at Libingan ng mga Bayani, Leni’s dread finds some support.
Senator de Lima, slapped with 16 complaints, including a disbarment petition, may not land in jail unless she’d be indicted in court for an offense punishable with reclusion perpetua and the evidence of guilt is strong.
HOW DIVIDED WOULD THE NATION BE ON SUCH CONTENTIOUS ISSUES AS RESTORATION OF DEATH PENALTY AND CONTROVERSIAL AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION?