Mama, papano?
WE can now sigh with relief, after President Benigno Simeon Aquino III removed all doubt and, (after taking foot from mouth), concluded that the alternative version is baseless and irrelevant. In a live public address from Malacañang, PNoy said new evidence proves that the terrorist Marwan was neutralized by our SAF troopers, not by other forces based on the alternative account of the operation.
But a few breathless weeks before the revelation, the President dallied with “the alternative version,” giving currency to the claim by MILF chief negotiator Mohager Iqbal (aka Datucan Abas to Senator Alan Cayetano) that Marwan was done in by his aides, not by the SAF.
This caused Senator Bongbong Marcos to think aloud why PNoy would propagate an unsubstantiated version and defend the MILF rather than the SAF. Marcos said the President should not pooh-pooh the independent findings of the Senate, Congress, and the PNP.
Senator Ralph Recto put it forthrightly that the
Senator Recto pressed for two steps to rectify the damage: (1) Confer the PNP Medal of Valor on the 44 SAF fallen; and (2) for MILF to retract its unfounded claim (because only with open covenants openly arrived at can we have honest dealing with the MILF).
BTW, does the Bangsamoro hoist the Philippine flag and sing the national anthem, or do they hoist another banner to a different tune?
Putting away that distraction, there’s the manifesto of the Association of Generals and Flag Officers (AGFO), a decadesold organization of retired generals with star rank. Retired Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan read AGFO’s stand at a Senate hearing deliberating the BBL. PNoy was predictably pained by the initiative, saying that they should have dialogued with him. (That said, after Malacanang didn’t consult the entire nation?)
The AGFO declared a considered opinion which serving men in uniform could not express to its Commanderin-Chief. The President as CIC should consider if he is leading from behind or leading in the opposite direction.
The Grace Poe-Chiz Escudero tandem has thrown hat into the ring. Besides leading in the polls, Poe may add to her credentials that both VP Jejomar Binay and Mar Roxas courted her to be their vice president. (Which assumes that she has all the qualifications)
Even before her declaration to run for president, Senator Poe had drawn flak from politicians and pundits on whether she fulfills the constitutional requirements to aspire for the highest office and, more importantly, whether the country can depend on her when she had turned her back on PH. The legal question can be resolved by the Supreme Court. Assuming she hurdles that, the second question can be decided by the electorate.
The Smartmatic-Total Information Management agreed to relocate from China to Taiwan its production of optical machine reader for the 2016 elections. For Comelec, nag-iingat lang…
Tonight is the last time you’ll see Kris on the top-rating “Aquino and Abunda Tonight” show of ABS-CBN. What could take our No. 1 endorser away from showbiz? “Deep throat” says that if it is to convert her fans into voters for her seeking high office. Well, that’s going to be a blockbuster…
POSTSCRIPT. Pope Francis took in the first of two Syrian families at the Vatican lodgings as a Christian example to the 120,000 parishes in Europe to welcome refugees. The Old Testament recounts the wandering of the Jews; and in the New Testament, Mary and Joseph took the Child Jesus on the flight to Egypt.
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