You cannot win against the president

lud-i ang langit"

og human rights. She did not know the solid rock she was trying to hit. But she found no evidence to warrant filing of charges against him. She continued to provoke him during the campaign and even when President Duterte assumed office. Now, that Mayor Duterte has assumed the presidency, he started to have access to intelligence information about De Lima. If these matters were only private affairs and personal activities, President Duterte would have no basis to stage a counter-attack. But if official functions are involved, the President has the right, nay the duty, to tell the nation about it.

We are not saying that the senator is guilty. No, we do not have personal knowledge as basis to say one thing or the other. She may be innocent or guilty. But the President says he has the goods on her. And we have no reason to doubt the chief executive. The problem is that de Lima cannot charge the President for anything. He is immune from criminal prosecution. That is why it could be rightly said, at least for six years, that she cannot win against the President. She cannot fight City Hall. She cannot win against Malacañang.Even her fellow senators won't be all-out for her. They know better. And so,if only the lady senator could understand Cebuano, I would love to whisper to her ear, what Tatang Ino taught me in our mountain village in Langin: "Ayaw og lud-i ang langit."

Tatang Ino, a wise old man in the mountain of Pusodsawa, in the village of Langin, a far-away hinterland midway between Ronda and Argao towns in Cebu used to tell me many stories, folklores, tales, anecdotes, and taught me riddles and poems in...