Duque should resign (2)
PRESIDENT Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte’s latest excuse for keeping Department of Health (DoH) Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd in his post is that the latter’s brother is his close friend and that the Duque family is rich and, therefore, would not be prone to corruption.
Both reasons are lame. The first, as he had said in the past, has no relevance to his choice of qualified members of his team.
As for the second reason, surely he has not forgotten what the ultrarich oligarchs Ayala of Manila Water Co. Inc. and Pangilinan of Maynilad Water Services Inc. have done with respect to their water concessions.
To be clear, however, I am not implying that the Duque brothers are corrupt. All I’m saying is that being rich or poor has no bearing at all on whether one is susceptible to corruption or not.
Duque’s remark about not being late in procuring personal protective equipment (PPE), but that others only acted earlier, only served to heighten the clamor for him to resign.
A couple of netizens had the following to say:
“Kungnaunahanka,angibig sabihinnoon, LATE ka.” (Asul123, 4 days ago) “’Teacher, ‘ dipoako late. Maaga — Duque, kaclose ngkuyaniyasiDut*e. Let’s go, overpriced PPEs!” (Sa Totoo
Lang, 4 days ago)
The patently obvious need to strengthen the government’s plan in combating the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), starting with the resignation of Duque, is made more urgent with the report that the World Health Organization has just tagged the Philippines as having the highest number of new cases among 22 countries in the Western Pacific region.
AHW wants Duque to resign
In the meantime, the Alliance of Health Workers ( AHW) last week also demanded Duque’s resignation.
According to AHW President Robert Mendoza, Duque has yet to formulate a concrete plan to fight or just mitigate the effects of the pandemic.
“We have been fighting the Covid- 19 pandemic for nearly five months now, but the DoH and Duterte administration still have no clear and comprehensive plans on how to combat the deadly virus and the health workers’ situation are getting worse,” he explained.
Robredo’s comment
Incidentally, I hope the administration is paying no mind to what Vice President (under protest) Maria Leonor Robredo’s comment about not changing Duque “in midstream.”
To begin with, everyone knows what her agenda is. She also usually says things that are nonsensical.
For instance, she says the government has been slow in addressing the pandemic. Yet, she wants Duque to stay on.
At the same time, she says she supports the investigation by the ombudsman of Duque and the DoH. Doesn’t that show her lack of sense of delicadeza for not joining the clamor for Duque to resign or go on leave?
Malacañang’s position
Malacañang last week said it was leaving it up to Duque to respond to calls for him to resign or go on leave while the Ombudsman is investigating the alleged irregularities in his agency’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
That Malacañang position sounds like a cop-out to me.
In any case, my guess is that Duque will not avail of either option, unless he gets a direct clearance from Digong to do so.
Will Digong give him that clearance? It doesn’t look like he will.
Let us wish them both good luck for the sake of the people!
The 36th Asean summit
As the coordinator for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)-China dialogues, President Digong asked all parties with conflicting claims in the South China Sea to “abide by” international laws and avoid “escalating tension.”
He made the call during the 36th Asean Summit video meeting last week.
“Even [as] our regions struggle to contain Covid- 19, alarming incidents in the South China Sea occurred... We call on the parties to refrain from escalating tension and abide by the responsibilities under the international law, notably the 1982 Unclos ( United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea),” he said.
At the conclusion of the summit meeting, the current chairman, Vietnam, issued on behalf of the association members a statement that says, among other things:
“We reaffirmed that the 1982 Unclos is the basis for determining maritime entitlements, sovereign rights, jurisdiction and legitimate interests over maritime zones.”
China, an Unclos signatory, has not yet reacted to the statement as
of this writing.
What would be most interesting is what the United States’ position will be, considering that it is not a signatory to the Unclos.
Let’s watch what happens.
Seized illegal drugs should be destroyed asap ASAP
My attention was caught by a news report about the Myanmar government destroying more than $839 million (about P42 billion) worth of seized illegal drugs.
It made me think of what our government is or has been doing about the illegal drugs seized by the authorities.
I am told that they could not be destroyed until after they have been presented to the court as evidence against the offenders. I imagine the drugs are kept in the custody of the authorities in the meantime.
Seeing as how slow our justice system moves, the possibility of the drugs being pilfered for disposal elsewhere before the courts decide on the cases becomes real.
Wouldn’t it be better to record on video the seized drugs in the presence of the authorities concerned and court officials and officially certified and authenticated for use in the trial of offenders? Thereafter, a sufficient number of copies of the videos should be made and the drugs immediately destroyed, again in the presence of the authorities and, preferably, the media.
‘Inflated condoms’
Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin
Jr. said the new modernized jeepney looks like an “inflated condom.”
“Absolutely. I won’t have my people going around in an inflated condom. Did you see the new model? Puti at malaput- looking. My people deserve better,” he tweeted. (MY people?!)
I have seen the new jeepney. What it looks like from the outside is a Toyota Hiace Commuter, certainly not an inflated condom.
I wonder if the fellow has ever seen a photograph of himself standing erect and at attention wearing a white barong Tagalog.
From an internet friend: More on Sosyalsi Inday: (Kinagabihan, habang naghahapunan.) Amo: Bakitmaalatangulam?
Inday: The consistency was fine. But, you see, it seems that the increased amount of sodium chloride affected the taste drastically and those actions are irreversible. I do apologize.
Amo: (Nosebleed nanaman) (Pagdatingsabahay,nand’unna angamo,galitnagalit.)
Amo: Inday, bakit nagkalat ang basurasalikodngbahay?
Inday: A change in the weather patterns might have occurred wreaking havoc on the surroundings. The way the debris are scattered indicates that the gust of wind was going northeast causing damage to the path it was heading for.
Amo: (Nosebleed ulit) https://www.facebook.com/ reynaldo.arcilla.9847