We had been following on a daily basis the hearings conducted by the Senate and the House of Representatives regarding the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) and the Extra Judicial Killings (EJKs) allegedly done during the previous administration.
We had been observing with keen interest on the comportment and the manner with which the prober-lawmakers are doing their respective responsibilities. And we have our picks as to who among the Senators and the Congressmen are worth their salt. That is, they did their job exceedingly well and their comportment that of finesse and professionalism. Our choices manage to control their emotion even as they show respect to the invited resource persons or witnesses.
Of the House probers we believe one is outstanding. And the legislator is a lady representative from Batangas – Congresswoman Luistro. We base our choice of her on the manner with which she coin her questions that are based on well-researched and fully documented information from appropriate agencies or units of government. Maybe it is because she is a lawyer and has been a professor of law. She is worth elevating to the Senate.
Of course in the Upper House the probe on the issues at hand could also be a lady’s domain. Meaning, Sen. Rizza Hontiveros is top among those raising relevant questions and one who is able to rule her emotion during heated exchanges in the Senate hearings.
Then we have Sen. Joel Villanueva who is able to maintain his composure during the hearing and refuses to manifest anger on the resource persons. And of course we have Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel Jr. and Sherwin Gatchalian. The former always premise his question with the law as basis. Gatchalian meanwhile, also shows his adeptness in securing documents to vouch his questions. And as usual Gatchalian exudes the kind of professionalism during the deliberation refusing to use insulting language that could further hurt or flare up the feeling of the witness or resource person.
Meanwhile, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada is often observed to be using some kind of “Maritessan” jargon in his attempt to establish connection between two leading resource persons especially on the POGO operation and the subsequent escape of a leading personality in the controversy.
Do the senator-probers deserve to be re-elected? Your answer may be as good as ours.
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Law enforcement authorities are now investigating the existence of the so-called Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy’s “Angels of Death.”
Initially the police is claiming that indeed the group is real and that its membership includes Army Reservists. In fact, according to the national spokesperson of the Philippine National Police (PNP), the authorities now have some names.
The “Angels of Death,” according to the police is a group organized and maintained by the religious Pastor to intimidate those members of his sect who will complain and make public the religious leader’s alleged sexual abuses on some of his so-called “Pastorals.”
Personally however, we maintain our belief that the “Angels of Death” does not really exist with warm bodies. Rather, it is a fictitious group created by the Pastor laced with some kind of “spirituality” so his alleged victims and their families will not attempt to divulge the sect leader’s molestation of the young girls.
And unless and until the authorities will be able to arrest members of the so-called “Angels of Death”, file cases against them and get convictions, we will continue to maintain our stand on the matter.
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So, as of the other day Davao City Vice Mayor J. Melchor Quitain was still clueless as to whether or not Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte will be running for Senator come May 2025 elections? According to VM Quitain the mayor has not talked about it with him.
Earlier the Mayor’s sister Vice President Sara disclosed that Baste is running for the Senate together with his brother Congressman Paolo Duterte and their father former President Rodrigo R. Duterte. Our suspicion though is that the disclosure of the VP could only be one strategy to draw reactions from the administration and the Filipino people of course.
The reactions could be among the basis of the next move that the Duterte camp will take. But it would not be too long a wait to know whether there is truth to the VP’s floated 3-Duterte run. By next month the filing of certificate of candidacy will show the names that are eagerly awaited. We will see.
