Tag Archives: Marcos Jr

A Tale of Two Presiding Officers

Opinion, , , , ,

The Vice President’s impeachment trial started in an emotional, “I’m from Ateneo / UP Law, so shut up!” ruckus by the Cayetano siblings over the motion to elect Sen Chiz Escudero as the Impeachment trial’s Presiding officer. That was their first formal challenge to the new majority and directly against Senate President Win Gatchalian’s authority.

Senate President Win Gatchalian may be a veteran Senator, but he’s not a lawyer and this handicap would certainly be exploited by the Cayetanos to influence the Impeachment trial proceedings in a way that will benefit their ally the Vice President. We clearly saw that yesterday.

The Impeachment trial is not a purely legal exercise, it is also a political one, the public will be watching the trial from start to finish, and in politics optics matter. So when we saw Senate President Gatchalian move aside, figuratively and literally, to make room for Sen Chiz Escudero as the Presiding Officer of the Impeachment trial, it is tacit admission of this handicap. It is now a smear on the Senate Presidency of Win Gatchalian.

However, as demonstrated by the troublesome Cayetano siblings, such a move, a sacrifice even, by Senate President Gatchalian was the right move. Say what you will of Sen Chiz Escudero’s shrewdness, but he certainly has the legal skills and wits to keep the Cayetano siblings in check, and the impeachment trial from going off the rails.

Besides, while the Constitution is clear that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside over the impeachment trial of the President, it doesn’t say that the Senate President shall preside over impeachment trials of other impeachable officers. Granted that the intention of the framers of the Constitution recognized that the Senate President will preside over the impeachment trial of other impeachable officers as he is the default presiding officer of the Senate, nothing stops the Senate President from appointing another Senator to become the presiding officer as it is common practice in the Senate’s performance of its legislative functions. The election of Sen Chiz Escudero as presiding officer of the impeachment trial of the Vice President is just an affirmation of the Senate President’s power to delegate.

At the end of the day, that’s what is important for the public: to have an impeachment trial that would be as fair, orderly and sensible as possible, so that the Vice President would be given the opportunity to be heard and defend herself.

By giving the Vice President due process, we reaffirm our commitment to the rule of law, democracy and respect for human rights, the very principles that the Dutertes stand opposite of.

Marcos Jr ditches cousin to deflect flood control mess

Opinion, , , ,

Pundits say no one becomes Speaker of the House without the blessing of the President, so when Marcos Jr practically scolded both Houses of Congress in his last SONA with his now infamous “Mahiya naman kayo!“, what he meant was ‘WTF gentlemen, first you fucked up the impeachment, then you didn’t exactly gave me a complete victory despite all of the ayudas even though we all knew the 2025 budget was for the election, now the people are getting wild ideas from the Indonesians because the monsoon has exposed how you all got so greedy with these shitty flood control projects!

So…some would have to be thrown under the bus, it will be somebody, not me. No, definitely not me. But surely it will be some of you.’

A little over a week ago, it was Chiz Escudero who was the first to fall after being ousted as Senate President.

Now, it’s Martin Romualdez as he will be resigning as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The Duterte propaganda machine will spin this as ‘their’ victory, but it was all on Romualdez as he brought this upon himself. He fucked up so bad, being a cousin of the President is not enough to save him. And no, all that meow meow was just a silly distraction.

That Romualdez will be replaced by Faustino Dy III, another trapo from the Dy dynasty that has lorded over the province of Isabela for decades, means the change is just cosmetic.

How this ‘adjustment’ to the current dispensation will affect or factor in the Marcos camp’s design to convert their Restoration into a continuation come 2028 remains to be seen, they have demonstrated to be able players of the long game and there’s still some time before Marcos Jr becomes a complete lame duck and the factions of the political class would have packed up and hitched their wagon to the next possible contender aside from, and if, Daughterte makes it there unscathed.

Coming back to the present, our task has become much more obvious: we must continue to demand accountability from our officials and the bureaucracy. Leadership reshuffles in Congress is not enough. Having a handful of private contractors and expendable bureaucrats facing charges are not enough. They could not have cheated and robbed the public coffers alone. It started with the preparation and deliberation of the national budget, so Congressmen and Senators are definitely involved, it would not even be a surprise if the proper investigations would lead to the President and his cabinet.

Keep following the investigations in the Senate and House of Representatives, even though we know they’re meant to distract, obfuscate, or would not reveal the complete truth, it would keep our politicians honest enough to know we are watching. Demand for the passage of the Freedom of Information bill. Demand that SALNs be made public again.

Support journalists that are really doing their job of asking the hard questions, digging deeper and providing more context beyond mere quote cards, reporting on facts rather than innuendos and gossip.

If you can spare the time, join the protests on September 21 either at Luneta or EDSA Shrine or even both. Everyone who wants a clean, honest and accountable government is welcome.

Duterte Impeachment – Timing is Everything

Opinion, , , , , ,

Nothing happens in the House of Representatives without the approval or support of the President. So when 215 of its members endorsed the 4th and last impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte – the largest ever number of endorsements for impeachment in the history of the House, you’d know that the Marcos administration has done its homework, chosen a plan and finally set the ball rolling.

The INC rally was supposed to be a show of force to persuade the Marcos-Romualdez bloc to maintain the status quo, but the recent SWS survey showing 41% of the public supporting the VP’s impeachment and the VP herself suffering a continuing decline to 52% trust rating was enough to convince the administration that it’s time to get it done and over with.

As it has always been in politics, timing is everything. Sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate days before Congress adjourns on Feb 8 puts pressure on Senators who are running for re-election. These Senators are not only up for re-election, but they are also perceived to be friendly to the Dutertes thus making them vulnerable: with considerable public support for the VP’s impeachment, it will be difficult to go on the campaign trail if they would be seen to be defending and voting against Sara Duterte’s removal from office. Also, the impeachment trial would take away their time from campaigning.

Additional pressure comes from the daunting prospects of going against a well-funded administration whose prospects of securing a continuation of the Marcos restoration depend on the results of the 2025 elections.

If all goes well, the Marcos-Romualdez bloc would see more compliant Senators coming in to conduct Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial and give a satisfactory verdict.

This would then give Marcos a chance to nominate his preferred VP – a tantalizing prize for those with ambitions come 2028 – Romualdez, Escudero, Poe.

Ultimately, the Dutertes once more are in the fight for their political survival.

Presidential insensitivity

Opinion, , ,

According to the Social Weather Stations’ recent survey, the nationwide involuntary incidence stood at 14.2% for Q1 of 2024. This is higher than the previous 12.6 hunger rate seen in December 2023. That’s 3.95 million Filipino families that are “being hungry and not having anything to eat.”

True to his “Imeldific” upbringing, President Marcos, Jr’s apparent response is to release a vlog doing his own informal survey, asking whether viewers prefer adobo or sinigang?

Marcos Jr vlogs about Filipino dishes as the more Filipinos experience involuntary hunger

Go figure…