President Benigno Aquino 3rd lost Scarborough Shoal (Panatag Shoal) to the Chinese in 2012 because of his juvenile belligerency and bungling appointment of Senator Antonio Trillanes 4th as his personal envoy to China to deal with the crisis.

Aquino is the only Philippine President to have lost a territory of the country because of his bungling. At least in 1975, Marcos could not have known about the South Vietnamese plot to take over a Philippine territory.

One of the first things incoming President Duterte should ask Congress to do is to undertake a formal investigation of how that happened, and whether Aquino should be criminally charged for it.

If they find out that there aren’t laws in place penalizing a President’s stupidity, such investigation would at least clarify how on earth the country’s excellent, decades-long relationship with China was quickly reversed in a span of two years by Aquino, and how we lost territory, the first time this happened since 1975. (See story below.)

Here are the indisputable facts, and neither Malacañang nor the foreign affairs department had disputed these when I published them in May and June last year.

Some background: Although China and the Philippines have each been laying claim on Scarborough Shoal, there HAD never been an attempt from either the Chinese or Filipino forces to permanently station their troops there. Fishermen from both countries have acted as though there were no dispute, fished around and in the area, and routinely used its lagoon as a refuge from storms. This “peaceful coexistence” of sorts changed suddenly in April 2012.

April 10, 2012: Sailors from a Philippine Navy surveillance ship board eight Chinese fishing vessels anchored in the shoal’s lagoon. They try to arrest the Chinese fishermen for illegal fishing and “harvesting endangered marine species.” However, two China Maritime Surveillance (CMS) ships come to their rescue and prevent the arrests in circumstances that are unclear.

A tale of two stupidities: We lost two territories so far, the second because of Aquino ‘s gullibility.

April 11, 2012: Itching to try his new warship, President Aquino orders the frigate BRP Gregorio del Pilar – just “brand new” as the US coast guard had refurbished it and turned it over to our navy in May 2011 – to confront the Chinese at Panatag. “What is important is we take care of our sovereignty. We cannot give [Scarborough Shoal] away and we cannot depend on others but ourselves,” Aquino blustered.

April 12, 2012: Three CMS ships enter the shoal, bringing with them a flotilla of 31 Chinese fishing boats and 50 dinghies. The number of CMS vessels in the days that follow increases to 10.

BRP Gregorio del Pilar – unexpectedly – leaves the area, according to Navy Flag Officer in Command Alexander Pama, “to replenish fuel and food provisions” in its base in La Union.

That was a lame excuse. Aquino was told by Washington that sending a naval warship was a stupid move, as it made the Philippines appear as the aggressor. While CMS vessels have been practically China’s muscle in enforcing its claims in the South China Sea, these are officially civilian, part of its Ministry of Transport’s Maritime Safety Administration.

Aquino may have even played into China’s hands as the Asian power claimed to the whole world that the Philippines militarized the dispute by sending a “warship,” even though the vessel was a hand-me-down from the US Coast Guard, which no longer had use for it. China, therefore, felt it had the right to retaliate and occupy the shoal.

When BRP Gregorio del Pilar left, Aquino ordered a vessel of our Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and two Coast Guard vessels to remain near the entrance to the shoal’s lagoon.

In a casual talk with President Aquino and Executive Secretary Ochoa in his regular visits to Malacanang, Senator Antonio Trillanes 4th claimed he had high-level contacts with the Chinese government. Aquino told him to go to China and talk with his contacts to resolve the standoff. Aquino did not trust his foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario, as it was known in Malacañang circles that the former Philippine ambassador to the US was so rabidly anti-Chinese and pro-American.

June 2: After his trip to China to talk with his “contacts” — “of Politburo rank,” he told me — Trillanes told Aquino that the Chinese agreed on a simultaneous withdrawal of the Chinese ships and the Philippine vessels. “PNoy directed me to work on the sequential withdrawal of government ships inside the shoal,” Trillanes wrote in his aide-memoire on the crisis, which was later made available to me.

June 4: “PNoy called me to inform me that our BFAR vessel has already left the shoal but China reneged on the agreement of simultaneous withdrawal of their ships, so two of them [were] still inside the shoal,” Trillanes wrote.

June 10: Aquino orders the remaining two Coast Guard vessels to leave the area. The Chinese didn’t.

‘Backchannel talks’

In his aide memoire on his “Backchannel Talks” made available to me, Trillanes put the blame squarely on del Rosario:

“I asked him who agreed with what, since I was just hammering out the details of the sequential withdrawal because the mouth of the shoal was too narrow for a simultaneous withdrawal. The President told me that Sec. del Rosario told him about the agreement reached in Washington,” Trillanes wrote.

“This time I asked PNoy: ‘If the agreement was simultaneous withdrawal, why did we leave first?’ PNoy responded to this effect: “Kaya nga sinabihan ko si Albert kung bakit niya pinalabas yung BFAR na hindi ko nalalaman.” (“That’s why I asked Albert [del Rosario] why he ordered the BFAR vessels to leave without my permission.”)

Since that time no Filipino ship or fishing vessel has been able to enter the shoal, now occupied by CMS vessels and Chinese fishing boats. The Chinese imposed a 15-nautical mile restriction perimeter around the shoal, and prevents any vessel from going into the shoal’s lagoon.

Chinese strategists must have rolled on the ground laughing at Aquino. They brilliantly manipulated Trillanes and their US contacts to fool Aquino that they would withdraw their ships from Scarborough if we did. They didn’t.

US officials have expressed concern that because a geological survey ship has been going around the shoal, China intends to build an artificial island, on which a fully armed garrison could be built there, just like it has done in several shoals and atolls.

That’s how bad things can get with a stupid yet arrogant President, who listens to the counsel of a megalomaniac senator. Now I understand why Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto del Rosario wanted to strangle Trillanes during a Cabinet meeting, and why the latter alleges the former provoked the Chinese aggression.

Aquino during the entire crisis didn’t even seek the counsel of his Cabinet, and decided solely on Trillanes’ advice. Obviously, both were so utterly ignorant of the operative law in the South China dispute, and for most territorial disputes: “Occupation is ownership.”

Even American generals closely monitoring the Spratly territorial disputes must have pulled their hair in utter dismay at how their puppet Aquino dropped the ball.

A November 2014 report of the Center for Naval Analyses — a private think tank for the US military — entitled “The South China Sea: Assessing US Policy and Options for the Future” pointed out matter-of-factly that in the past 40 years, China has been able to take other nations’ territory only in two instances.

The first was in 1974 when Chinese troops and vessels fought South Vietnamese forces on the Paracel islands, resulting in 53 Vietnamese soldiers killed and dozens wounded. One Vietnamese warship was sunk and three others damaged. Chinese forces have since occupied the area.

The second territory acquired by China was Scarborough Shoal, though in this case, because of a bungling President, no single shot was fired:

“From its perspective, China resolved the sovereignty dispute with the Philippines over Scarborough Shoal in 2012 when it established control over the shoal. Again, it is unlikely to relinquish it. The government of the Philippines is in no position to even begin to contemplate the use of force to recover Scarborough, and the United States is not going to become involved in any attempt to expel the Chinese.”

If we cannot jail this idiot for losing our territory, at least we must shame him and put his stupidity on record, and in the history books.

The second lost territory

Panatag is actually the second territory in the South China/West Philippine Sea we have lost. The first was to the Vietnamese.

Our military contingent on Pugad Island (Southwest Cay) in 1975 was invited to their commander’s birthday party, who was stationed on the bigger island of Parola (Northeast Cay). The South Vietnamese, from their outpost on a nearby island, invited our forces, purportedly as a gesture of their wish for friendship, to join the celebration of their commander’s birthday not only with booze and the best Vietnamese food, but with Saigon prostitutes. Our military, stationed probably on that tiny Pugad rock for months, couldn’t resist and all went to the Parola party.

They returned the next day to find a fully armed Vietnamese garrison, their cannons aimed at whoever would try to approach the island.

I’m not sure which is worse: Losing territory because sex-starved, thirsty troops abandoned their posts in 1975, or losing territory in 2012 when China fooled the President and a Senator of the Republic.

tiglao.manilatimes@gmail.com

DESPITE earlier fears that the intense divisiveness and hostility of the last campaign might prevent a president-elect from being proclaimed, forcing the vice-president-elect to temporarily run the new government, the vice-presidential election has become so much more controversial than the presidential, for the first time in the nation’s history.

This happened after Liberal Party’s presidential candidate Mar Roxas conceded the election to the frontrunner PDP-Laban candidate Rodrigo Duterte, and reportedly “diverted” a “float of votes” to his teammate, Rep. Leni Robredo, to ensure her election as Vice President and eventual assumption of the presidency after President B.S. Aquino 3rd’s remaining allies in Congress, if any, impeach Duterte.

Following the unbroken tradition of amoral political opportunism in the country, at least 80 of the 116 elected LP members of the House of Representatives have already hopped on the bandwagon of the presumptive President-elect Duterte. The new Coalition for Change has agreed to support Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez as the next Speaker of the House after Quezon City’s Sonny Belmonte.

This mass defection leaves the LP with less than the one-third of the 292 House members needed to impeach a President or any other impeachable official. But it is not yet clear whether there has been any change of plans since Aquino’s group, fearing criminal prosecution for their crimes during the last six years, decided to work for the immediate removal of the new president.

The Marcos proposal
On Monday, Sen. Ferdinand (Bongbong) Marcos, Jr. proposed in a privilege speech that since all of Duterte’s rivals had already conceded defeat, and his proclamation appears to be but a mere formality, the Davao strongman should be immediately proclaimed President-elect by the national canvassing board whose work begins today. Many agree.

But he urged utmost care and vigilance in canvassing the votes for the Vice President, which is now tightly contested between Robredo and himself, out of the five original candidates. Marcos had been leading in the unofficial count by as much as nearly a million votes, until he was unexpectedly overtaken at an astonishingly regular rate for every 45,000 votes, in an undeviating straight-line or linear pattern, which defied explanation by experts.

This developed after one Marlon Garcia, a Venezuelan employee of Smartmatic-TIM, (the Venezuelan partner of the Commission on Elections in an otherwise all-Filipino electoral exercise), illegally inserted a script or “command” into the transparency server at the “Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting” (PPCRV) center, purportedly to correct an error, without any authorization from the Comelec.

This was the same Marlon Garcia who did something similar to the PPCRV transparency server in the 2013 senatorial elections, without getting even a slap on the wrist. That incident did not elicit the kind of reaction the present one has, but the results of that election also defied rational analysis.

Ateneo mathematics professor Alex Muga and other academics concluded that the process was so manipulated as to ensure that President B.S. Aquino 3rd’s senatorial candidates would get 60 percent of all the votes even in places where they were not known, the nominal opposition 30 percent, and the Independents, 10. This became known as the “60-30-10 process.”

In that election, 59,666 precincts were reported to have had identical results, and the hitherto unheralded Grace Poe Llamanzares garnered 20 million votes a few hours after the voting ended, when only a small portion of the votes had been transmitted. This number had to be trimmed down to 16 million after a few days, and then restored to 20 million-plus at the end of the process. This unchallenged “victory” emboldened her to run for President last May 9, despite her lack of natural-born citizenship and 10-year residency in the Philippines.

Comelec’s indifference
In his speech, Marcos lamented the fact that although he had formally asked the Comelec to have the unauthorized script or computer command thoroughly examined so as to determine its effects, if any, on the votes of the vice-presidential candidates, this appeal had fallen on deaf ears. He said that while Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista says Garcia’s unauthorized intervention resulted only in “cosmetic change” without altering the data in the server, he has failed to show any proof that this was indeed the case.

The official narrative says the script or computer command was tweaked by the Venezuelan operative to allow the Hispanic letter “ñ” to be inserted into the name of the defunct presidential candidate Roy Señerez and senatorial candidate Sergio “Osmeña” III. Some experts instantly dismiss this claim as nonsense.

They point out that if this was in fact the case, it should have manifested itself early enough when the server was first being tested, not during the election itself. In reality, they say no such problem could have occurred at any time because apart from the fact that the machine reads numbers rather than words, no voter was writing any names on the ballot; the voters were shading ovals corresponding to the names of the candidates, whether they had an “ñ” or not.

Bam Aquino intervenes
Sen. Bam Aquino, who is known to have managed Robredo’s campaign, tried to dismiss Garcia’s unauthorized insertion of the script or computer command as simply “unfortunate.” But Marcos was quick to supply him with the more precise word: “Unfortunate? No, illegal is the word.”

Aquino tried to point out that since Marcos needed the Comelec to show whether Garcia’s unauthorized action has affected the accuracy of the votes, he could not, therefore, be sure that fraud had been committed. Sophistry upon sophistry even in the Senate.

Marcos said the anatomy of fraud had many layers—vote-buying, terrorism, disenfranchisement, pre-shading of ballots, and various types of digital interventions that constitute wholesale manipulation and fraud. He declined to detail the various pieces of evidence his camp has unearthed, but he promised to present them during the canvass. These would include sworn affidavits, witnesses and even whistle-blowers who were a party to the execution of the fraud.

He said he would press the canvassing board to act on the evidence his camp would prevent, instead of allowing them to simply take “note” of it. In one previous election, the board merely “noted” all the evidence against a certain presidential candidate. This gave one senator the name of “Mr. Noted,” but the alleged fraud was never addressed and the candidate concerned got away with it. Thanks to the voters’ short memory, too, “Mr. Noted” will again be in the Senate.

Under the rules drawn up by the two Houses, none of those who ran for President or Vice President or their next of kin will be participating in the canvass. These include Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago and Grace Poe Llamanzares, who both ran for President; Nancy Binay, whose father Vice President Jejomar C. Binay was also a presidential candidate; Alan Peter Cayetano and his sister Pia Cayetano, Antonio Trillanes IV, Gregorio Honasan, Francis Escudero and Marcos. From the House of Representatives, Robredo would also be excluded.

However, Senate President Frank Drilon, who is a ranking LP official and who ran for reelection in this election, will be presiding over the canvassing process. His role is constitutionally ordained, and he is required to be objective and impartial, regardless of his political affiliation.

A class act
Despite the enormous gravity of the subject, and the cost this contest has inflicted upon the lives of the protagonists and their respective families, Marcos managed to present his case without a single accusatory statement against his closest opponent. It was a class act—an admirable demonstration of good manners, good breeding and statesmanship. Not once did he refer to her by name in his speech nor did he link her to any alleged irregularity at the polls. It was Aquino who mentioned her by name in his interpellation of Marcos.

Nor did Marcos find it necessary to remind Aquino that in the plenary hall of Congress or Parliament, Members are required to address each other in the third person (“the distinguished Gentleman”) rather than in the familiar second person (“you”). The presiding officer normally reminds the speakers on the Floor of this rule whenever it is breached.

Despite this breach of parliamentary manners, it was a delight to listen to Marcos state his case without rancor or recrimination. If the end proves him victorious, it should be not only because he had all the necessary votes in his favor, but above all because he deserved to have those votes as a well-bred gentleman of probity, honor, justice and peace. Should fortune, on the other hand, withhold her favor from him, honest and decent men and women would at least pray that those in high office would have his keenness of mind and nobility of character. That is more than the equivalent of any elected position.

Ensuring stability
Marcos’s proposal to have Duterte immediately proclaimed as president-elect will have to be taken up by the board, according to its rules. Since the senator will not be present at the canvassing, somebody else will have to restate his proposal. But it is a positive move to stabilize the existing situation, and not only Duterte but the nation above all should benefit from it as we await the June 30 transfer of political power. The nation needs immediate stability and healing before it can confront the vast political, economic and social challenges that await the next administration.

Regrettably, certain new developments seem to portend a more difficult beginning for the Duterte government. Duterte seems to think very little of the effects of putting his foot inside his mouth, or shooting himself in the foot. These are self-inflicted problems. His latest blast at the Catholic Church is completely unnecessary and unprovoked. It saddens many Catholics who earnestly desire to help him succeed despite his faults. This is one unnecessary conflict he could avoid and should avoid, if he wants to heal and unite rather than divide the nation.

Can he handle the Church and the US at the same time?

Another source of immediate conflict has to do with the CPP/NPA/NDF’s call for the revocation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the United States. Signed in 2014, EDCA allows the US to station forces, facilities, and armaments in pre-designated areas occupied by Armed Forces of the Philippines, for a period of 10 years automatically renewable at the end of that period for an indefinite term until revoked by either of the two parties.

Aquino entered into this “executive agreement” without involving the Senate despite the clear constitutional provision requiring the entry of foreign military bases, troops or facilities to be covered by a treaty duly concurred in by the Senate. Many constitutional specialists regard this agreement as patently unconstitutional, despite the Supreme Court ruling upholding its “constitutionality.” But the same people will defend the need for strong security ties with the US under a constitutionally sound agreement.

The communist demand puts Duterte in a tight spot. The communist Left is an upcoming coalition partner, to whom Duterte has promised four Cabinet posts; if he ignores or spurns their demand, he may not know how to deal with its immediate and long-term consequences. If, on the other hand, he bows to their demand, he may also not know how to deal with the adverse, if not punitive, reaction from the US government. He may have put himself between a rock and a hard place.

A recent study by the Heritage Foundation says that the US, with all its military might, is hardly in a position now to fight a major war on two simultaneous fronts. Will Duterte, even before he could consolidate his power, be able to wage an unnecessary conflict with the Catholic Church and the US or the communists at the same time? This is a serious issue which I hope to examine in my next columns.

fstatad@gmail.com

THIS past weekend brought us the tragic news of the crash of an EgyptAir jet with 66 people on board, which fell into the Mediterranean Sea on its way from Paris to Cairo.

The cause of the crash is at this point still a mystery, but the suspicion of the authorities and much of the public is that it may have been a terrorist act, even though no terrorist group has come forward to claim responsibility for it.

The EgyptAir crash is the latest in what seems like a string of frightening air disasters. In March, a FlyDubai plane with 62 people aboard crashed in Rostov, Russia. Last October, a Russian airliner with 224 passengers and crew crashed in the Sinai after a terrorist bomb planted on board exploded. In July 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over the Ukraine, resulting in the deaths of all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. And of course, there was what is perhaps the most famous aircraft disappearance in history, the loss of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 somewhere in the remote southern Indian Ocean in March 2014.

There have been other incidents as well, and EgyptAir even suffered a near-tragedy in March when a mentally disturbed hijacker forced a flight to divert to Cyprus. That incident fortunately ended harmlessly; the hijacker released all the passengers and crew, and then surrendered peacefully, whereupon it was discovered the bomb he claimed to have was fake. Nevertheless, it was still alarming that a hijacker, harmless or not, could slip past security and actually board a flight.

According to the Aviation Safety Network (ASN) website, which tracks every commercial or military aircraft accident, there have been 60 incidents so far this year, with a total of 226 deaths. Forty-three of the 60 incidents recorded so far resulted in no deaths or injuries. Statistically, flying is as safe as ever; the chances that any traveler will be in a plane crash are infinitesimally small, and based on ASN data, the chances of surviving a plane crash are better than 90 percent.

The reason we have the impression that flying has become much more dangerous is because the rare occurrence of a large passenger aircraft crashing or disappearing tends to be spectacular, and even more so when the cause is something frightening, or a complete mystery. Flight MH17 was brought down by an anti-aircraft missile apparently fired by mistake; the FlyDubai flight crashed due to an argument between the pilots; the Russian MetroJet crash in the Sinai was a clear case of terrorism.

It is that last cause, in this era of widespread extremism and violent attacks being carried out against innocent civilians in unexpected places like Paris and Brussels that worries us the most. Airliners are quite obviously tempting targets for terrorists, and there have been enough cases of cracks in airport security in different places around the world to suggest that it is just a matter of time before another tragedy occurs.

The Philippines, as reliant as it is on air travel to bring tourists to the country and allow travelers to move around our many islands with convenience, cannot afford to compromise on security, which is why presumptive President Duterte’s stern warning to would-be scam artists and other non-performers at our own airports was welcome news. We hope that the determination to clean up corruption and improve performance extends to ensuring the country’s air security is first-rate.

So far, thank God, our country has not suffered a significant breach of security and that’s good, but any sign of complacency will make the Philippines a target. Proper vigilance will ensure that it does not.

FORMER President Ferdinand Marcos will finally be allowed a hero’s burial, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday, in what would be a huge win for the late strongman’s family as it pursues a return to power.

Duterte also said he will pardon ex-President Gloria Arroyo, who is being detained at a military hospital while on trial for graft and vote fraud.

The announcements by Duterte, who takes office on June 30, are sure to enrage critics who warned ahead of his landslide election win on May 9 that he was a dictator in the making with no regard for the rule of law.

But, according to the mayor, he was prepared to risk nationwide unrest on the flashpoint issues surrounding two of the nation’s most controversial figures.

“I will allow protests,” he said, when asked about the expected reaction.

Duterte added that he will grant the long-standing wish of the Marcos family to have the patriarch buried at a Manila cemetery for some of the nation’s most revered war heroes.

“I will allow the burial of Marcos in the Heroes’ Cemetery, not because he was a hero but because he was a Filipino soldier,” the mayor told reporters.

Marcos and his family fled to US exile in 1986 after millions took to the streets in a famous “People Power” revolution.

Marcos, who was accused of overseeing massive widespread human rights abuses and plundering $10 billion from state coffers, died three years later in Hawaii.

His embalmed body is now stored in a crypt at the family home in Ilocos Norte province in northern Philippines.

The late leader’s son and namesake has led a remarkable political comeback for the family, rising to become a senator in 2010 and running for the vice presidency in the latest elections.

The Marcos clan has insisted the late ruler deserves to be buried at the cemetery, arguing he was a World War II hero for resisting the Japanese occupiers.

American and local historians have disputed his military credentials, however.

Duterte said allowing Marcos to be buried at the cemetery did not necessarily make him a hero, pointing out other soldiers without gloried reputations were also there.

President Benigno Aquino 3rd, whose parents led the democracy movement against Marcos, did not allow the burial, arguing it would be the “height of injustice.”

Duterte said also on Monday that he believed Arroyo, who has been detained since 2011, should be free.

“I’m ready to grant a pardon to Arroyo. Arroyo to my mind should already be released,” he added.

AFP

STRONG ADVOCATES Former Senate President Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel says the Charter can be amended in just six months, at a news conference in Greenhills, San Juan City. With him is incoming Batangas Gov. Hermilando “Dodo” Mandanas. PHOTO BY MIKE DE JUAN

A shift from a presidential to a federal form of government is possible for the Philippines if President-elect Rodrigo Duterte pushes its legislation and Congress works fast to amend the Constitution, former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and incoming Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas said on Tuesday.

Pimentel and Mandanas believe that Congress can amend the Charter in just six months.
“It is good if it is done immediately” while Duterte’s popularity remains high in the minds of the people, Pimentel said in a news briefing. “Mas madaling kumbinsihin ang mga tao ngayon kaysa later on [It is easier to convince the people now than later],” he said.

“You do it by Constituent Assembly, then form a leadership. You can do it in six months basta hindi magkalat ang diskusyon doon [as long as discussions go smoothly],” the former senator said.

“They [Duterte administration] will help me push for it in any systematic manner. Hindi naman ako nababahala dyan [I am not worried],” he added.

However, Pimentel noted that it is important for the people to know and understand what federalism is, and why the Duterte camp is advocating it.

With a federal form of government, Pimentel said, basic services will be given directly to the people.

“It will bring the matter of development to the hands of the people more directly. In other words, power will now be transferred from the hands of a highly centralized government in Metro Manila to the different federal states in a realistic manner so that it will benefit the ordinary man on the streets. They will no longer depend on the national government,” he explained.

Pimentel said under federalism, each federal state shall be represented by one senator, governor and vice governor and other local officials.

But, according to him, the only way to change the form of government is by amending the Charter.

“You cannot just pass an ordinary law. You have to revise the Constitution,” he pointed out.

In 2008, Pimentel filed a joint resolution seeking to form a federal government, but the move never took off in the Senate because some lawmakers were worried that it be might be used to extend the term of then-President Gloria Arroyo.

“I filed a resolution to hold a Constituent Assembly which was approved by 16 senators at the time,” the former lawmaker recalled.

Pimentel said the best way to change the system is through a Constitutional Convention, although this is more costly.

Under Section 1, Article XVII of the Constitution, accepted manners of amending the Constitution will be done either through a Constitutional Convention, Constituent Assembly or People’s Initiative.

Meanwhile, Mandanas said the Charter can be amended if the Duterte administration has the political will to do so.

When Mandanas was a congressman, he filed a resolution amending the Constitution and even introduced a measure on how amendments could be legally expedited.

The governor-elect said there is a fourth and more expeditious way of amending the Constitution – the Senate and House of Representatives introducing a measure and each chamber voting on it separately.

For the bill to take effect, it should be approved by 75 percent of the members of the Senate and the House, Mandanas added.

The incoming governor of Batangas also pointed out that a plebiscite is required in approving any amendment to the Constitution, except when introduced through People’s Initiative.

Pimentel said Mandanas’ proposal is acceptable.

“To my mind, the interpretation of Governor Mandanas is encompassed already in the third way – the Constituent Assembly. He is right [because the original plan of the Constitutional Commission called by then-President Corazon Aquino was to have only one House but we ended up having two],” Pimentel said.

“Now you have to talk to two Houses of Congress [where the Senate and the House can adopt a principle for revising the Constitution by voting separately. Separately because there are only 24 senators, and they will be defeated by almost 300 congressmen],” he added.

EMULATING President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s oft-announced policy of a relentless and unforgiving war against crime, some local mayors are launching their own self-styled Dirty-Harry campaigns to rid their jurisdictions of criminality.

Among them, no one has called more attention to himself and his campaign than Tanauan Mayor Antonio Halili, in Batangas.

Halili has launched what he calls “the walk of shame” to punish and shame seven people suspected of peddling illegal drugs in Tanauan.

He has paraded the suspects through the town as a form of punishment, confident that the embarrassment would cause them to forever mend their ways.

We like the efficacy of this kind of punishment. There’s one big problem, though. This may be against some laws against cruel and unusual punishments, etc. Like his idol Mayor Duterte, Halili has apparently cut corners around the law. His walk of shame could look to others, especially lawyers and human rights militants, more like kangaroo punishment.

The seven suspects he paraded in the widely publicized walk have not yet been proven guilty of the crimes or charges attributed to them.

A pro-poor and human rights group, the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay), which we have praised in this space for its stand, has accused Halili of conducting a mere PR stunt. There is no legal basis for the shaming. And the walk targets people who are poor and helpless against the local authorities.

Kadamay said in a statement: “This type of punishment does nothing to address the sources of criminality, some of which are extreme poverty which forced them into criminality, and criminal syndicates or networks that exploit poor Filipinos for their criminal activities.”

Human rights advocates say that Halili, instead of taking arbitrary action, should give way to due process and safeguard human rights.

They aver that Halili should instead focus on going after outlaws who orchestrate drug-related activities, and assist in the jailing of public officials who pocket billions of public funds.

This is facile criticism that in effect urges the authorities to do nothing.

The more important question is how local governments and jurisdictions can assist and participate effectively in a serious nationwide campaign against crime, when incoming President Duterte finally launches it.

We believe that a national anti-crime campaign will only be successful if there is sustained and zealous effort at both national and local level. Without national leadership, the campaign would lack direction and resolve. Without local and grassroots support, the campaign could become unpopular with the public.

In all probability, Mayor Halili was encouraged to turn to gimmickry and publicity-seeking by President-elect Rody Duterte’s widely liked talk about shooting crime suspects and dumping their bodies into the Manila Bay. The copycat from Tanauan probably also wanted to catch media attention.

Sanity and good sense will characterize the anti-crime effort if everyone will remember two things.

The campaign will find popular support if it is framed as a program to institute discipline and order in society:

1. It will lose support if it violates rights and is dominated by a lot of Dirty Harries.

2. We are a nation supposed to be governed by the rule of law.

Mayors and law enforcers are bound by the law just as much as the criminally inclined.

Mayor Halili is on the same boat as President-elect Mayor Duterte. They do not make the law. They both must follow the law—though they are allowed to talk tough to scare criminals.

BEIJING: Disputed rocks and reefs of the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) are more than an ocean away from the landlocked African nation of Niger.

But that has not stopped the strife-ridden, largely desert country of 17 million people adding its voice to a growing diplomatic chorus that Beijing says supports its rejection of an international tribunal hearing on the waters.

Others apparently singing from the same hymn sheet include Togo, Afghanistan and Burundi.

They are among the latest foot soldiers in “a public relations war” by China aimed at questioning international maritime rules, said Ashley Townshend, a research fellow at the United States Studies Center at the University of Sydney.

The tribunal case, brought to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague by the Philippines, is highly technical and hinges on such issues as how international law defines “islands.”

Niger joined the ranks of “over 40 countries that have officially endorsed China’s position” that the issues should be settled through direct negotiations, not international courts, said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

That, she added, was just the start: “There will be more and more countries and organizations supporting China.”

Similar announcements have become an almost daily ritual at China’s foreign ministry media briefings, as it steels itself for what is widely expected to be an unfavorable ruling by the tribunal that could come within weeks.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the whole of the South China Sea, on the basis of a segmented line that first appeared on Chinese maps in the 1940s, pitting it against several neighbors.

But it is also a party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Manila accuses Beijing of flouting the convention and has called for the tribunal, set up in 1899, to rule on the row.

Beijing insists that the court does not have jurisdiction, arguing that any claims to the contrary are politically motivated, and has boycotted the proceedings.

“By cobbling together a group of nations that share its views, Beijing’s aim is to show that there is a genuine debate over the legality of the Philippines’ legal challenge,” Townshend said.

“It is trying to build a counter-narrative to push back against the mainstream international consensus on maritime law.”

Not very successful
Despite requests by Agence France-Presse, the foreign ministry in Beijing did not provide a full list of China’s backers on the issue.

But other than its main diplomatic partner Russia, few heavy hitters have come out in support, with Beijing’s neighbors — many of them unnerved by its increasingly assertive behavior — notably absent.

Many of those disclosed so far are poor African countries, and Bonnie Glaser, a senior Asia advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described the names as “mostly composed of smaller, inconsequential nations.”

In some cases, the claimed support has been short-lived.

The South Pacific island nation of Fiji and EU member Slovenia both quickly denied Chinese foreign ministry statements that they were backing Beijing, with Ljubljana saying: “We do not take sides on the issue.”

Zhu Feng, an international relations expert at Peking University, told AFP: “I don’t really feel that China’s recent public diplomacy activities have been very successful.”

Beijing, he said, “needs to develop its diplomatic activities and fight for more supporting voices.”

But China’s options are limited.

“While China has built odd coalition partners stretching from Russia to Mauritania and Venezuela to Gambia, the Philippines counts on support from the US, Japan, Australia, Britain and others, including respected global bodies like the EU and G7,” Townshend said.

The ruling will be determined by the judges, he pointed out: “Neither side’s supporters have any bearing on the outcome.”

Even so, Beijing is still turning to countries like uranium-rich Niger, for whom the benefits of taking China’s side probably outweigh the costs.

China’s state-owned oil giant CNPC has poured billions of dollars into Niger’s oil industry, which is almost entirely dependent on Chinese enterprises.

It is one of many relationships Beijing has cultivated for such situations, said Deborah Brautigam, of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

“The Chinese provide official development assistance mainly for diplomatic reasons,” she said, adding “when they need diplomatic support for something… the foreign ministry requests it.”

“Something like this has little cost to an African country.”

AFP

DUTERTE SUPPORTERS Members of the Partylist Coalition led by Rep. Mikee Romero (6th from left) pledge their support to President-elect Rodrigo Duterte and his choice for Speaker – Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez. PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN

THE party-list (PL) bloc in the 17th Congress is the newest coalition to express support to the administration of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte and the Speakership bid of Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez.

In a ceremony in Makati City on Tuesday, the 35-member bloc signed a covenant of support and pledged to cooperate with and push Duterte’s legislative agenda in the House of Representatives.

The coalition, according to its president, Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines (Agap) Rep. Nicanor Briones, also manifested its support to Alvarez for promising “fair and equitable” distribution of positions including committee chairmanships to the coalition.

Among the groups that joined the coalition are 1-Care, 1-Pacman, ABS, Aangat Tayo, Agbiag, Amin, A-Teacher, Butil, Manila Teachers, Kabayan, TUCP, Ako Bicol, 1-Sagip, Aasenso, ACTS-OFW, Agri, Ang Kabuhayan, BH, Cibac, Kalinga, Mata, Yacap, 1-Ang Edukasyon, AAMBIS-OWA, Abang Lingkod, Agap, Akbayan, Angkla, Buhay, Coop Natcco, Kusug Tausug and PBA.

In the manifesto, the coalition said it “shall continue to work together to push for vital legislation that is supportive of the respective advocacies and priorities of its members while working constructively with the Duterte administration, including incoming Speaker Alvarez, in helping pass its legislative agenda in the House of Representatives.”

Alvarez said the coalition will make a priority the revision of the 1987 Constitution to change the country’s government from unitary to federal system, allow the reinstatement of death penalty and lower the age of juvenile delinquents.

These steps, he added, will bring about changes in the Philippines.

“Our incoming President committed to the people real change that will happen in this country. And we will do it,” Alvarez said.

“We don’t have any objective here but to change our country and we have to restore order, end insurgency, restore peace and I’m sure progress will follow,” he added.

Briones, however, admitted that members of the bloc are not united when it comes to the reinstatement of the death penalty because some of its members have different advocacies, specifically Buhay party-list which by its name alone is pro-life.

Buhay means life.

But Alvarez said contradicting advocacies will not be a major problem in implementing Duterte’s legislative agenda because the majority will always rule Congress.

“We may not agree entirely with each other but there’s always a way. That’s the beauty of democracy,” he added.

Alvarez said the bloc should follow the time frame of the “result-oriented” President, thus his platforms should be legislated in the soonest possible time.

“Remember, he promised three to six months. So we have to do it,” he added.

Abakada Party list Rep. Jonathan dela Cruz maintained that the winners in the presidential and vice presidential elections may be proclaimed separately.

When the Senate and the House of Representatives held a joint session on Tuesday, Dela Cruz, the campaign adviser of Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., proposed amending the rules of the canvass so that the President and Vice President can be proclaimed separately.

His proposal was dismissed, however, and the rules were adopted without amendments.

The lawmaker noted that the Certificates of Canvass (COC) consist of two documents, one containing the votes for the President and the other the votes for the Vice President, thus, separate canvasses and proclamations are possible.

“If the presidential canvass is uncontested, then the President-elect can be proclaimed separately from the Vice President,” he said.

In the case of presumptive President Rodrigo Duterte, dela Cruz added that the mayor can be proclaimed tomorrow after the joint congressional committee had tallied all the votes for him because all his rivals have conceded.

“There is no need for us even to go through the COC for the President,” he said.

After adopting the rules, the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) started opening the ballot boxes containing the COC in preparation for the canvass of votes for the President and Vice President.

Dela Cruz, however, said that since there are various issues that have to be looked into and several COC that have to be examined in the case of the vice presidential elections, the canvass should proceed.

Senate Minority Leader Vicente Sotto 3rd said the rules allow the holding of separate canvases and proclamations for the President and Vice President.

He proposed a similar amendment earlier, arguing that in case of a question on the COC regarding any one of the elective positions, separate considerations of votes should be done to avoid unnecessary delay in the canvass and proclamation.

“The explanation that was given to me is that that [option] is already incorporated in the rules, so I asked for an assurance that that is their interpretation and that is going to be the interpretation of the [joint] committee,” Sotto said.

He withdrew his proposed amendment after Senate Majority Leader and Senate President Franklin Drilon gave assurances that the rules should be interpreted as such.

In a privileged speech on Monday, Marcos called for separate proclamations of President and Vice President as he also raised various issues that cast doubt on the integrity of the elections.

Among these issues were the introduction of a script in the transparency server used in the polls without proper authorization from the Commission on Elections en banc, as well as various incidents of vote-buying, intimidation and other efforts to disenfranchise voters.

COUNT BEGINS Senate Secretary Oscar Yabes opens the ballot box containing the Certificates of Canvass and Statements of Votes from Davao del Sur, the first to be counted by the National Board of Canvassers. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Liberal Party (LP) vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo took an early lead over her rival, Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., on the first day of official canvassing of votes in Congress, with 26 out of 165 Certificates of Canvass opened.

As of 6:45 p.m., Robredo has garnered 1,574,374 votes, 321,097 more than Marcos’ 1,253,277.

The official count is based on 26 out of 165 Certificates of Canvass (COC) that included overseas absentee votes tabulated by a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC).

Robredo scored a huge win in Cebu province, home to 2.7 million registered voters, with 162,509 votes. Marcos, on the other hand, got 92,007 votes.

She also dominated in other Visayan provinces such as Guimaras where she got 56,249 votes, Siquijor, 30,468 votes, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, 119,447, Lapu Lapu City, Cebu, 63,766 and Camiguin, 38,030.

The Camarines Sur lawmaker also scored big in Region 4, getting 514,608 votes in Batangas against Marcos’ 261,499.

In Romblon, Robredo got 61,915 votes. Marcos garnered 24,645 votes.

She was also the favorite in Tarlac, the province of President Benigno Aquino 3rd, where she got 243,756. Marcos got 214,166.

In Batanes, Robredo got 4,566 votes against Marcos’ 1,079.

Marcos, on the other hand, dominated the overseas absentee voting in Singapore where he got 14,915 votes, Malaysia, 1,322, South Korea, 1,721, Madrid, Spain, 3,124, Lebanon, 2,408, Qatar, 6,119 and Bahrain, 3,228.

He also scored big in the Metro Manila cities of Valenzuela, 116,455, Pasay, 97,776, San Juan, 26,543, Navotas, 47,943 and Malabon, 67,992.

Marcos also gained ground in Davao del Sur with 80,303 votes and in Baguio City with 76,009 votes.

Robredo, however, won in North and Latin America with 1,429 votes. Marcos got 809 votes.

Confident
Robredo on Wednesday said she is confident of victory.

“I am not worried about anything. I am confident that the truth will prevail. It’s just a matter of time. We did everything right in the campaign, we started with a Mass…we did all that was needed in the right way,” she told reporters after hearing Mass with daughters Aika, Tricia and Jillian.

“I am always praying that the canvassing will run smoothly, just as clean as the conduct of the last elections. We want the votes protected, and we are very confident in our legal team that they will staunchly push for our cause,” Robredo said.

She noted that Marcos’ camp is sending a message that he is the winner among informal settler communities.

“There are lies being floated around, photos…videos… of vans going around informal settlers, encouraging people power, because it is they [Marcos camp] who won. This is sad because they are taking advantage of the people who are not familiar with the processes, just so they can peddle lies,” the lawmaker said.

Discrepancies
Former congressman Didagen Dilangalen, counsel for Marcos, asked the Joint Canvassing Committee (JOC) to disclose the security markings and features of the COC after discrepancies surfaced on the first day of the official canvass.

Dilangalen said revealing the security features of the COC will help determine the authenticity of the election documents.

“How would we know if the COC is authentic or not?” he asked, noting that it is the duty of the committee to determine the due execution of the election documents as provided for under the laws.

Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel 3rd, however, overruled the motion of Dilangalen, noting that none of the members of the Senate panel in the
JOC challenged the authenticity of the COC.

Pimentel, chairman of the Senate panel, also noted that of the five electronicallytransmitted COC from Davao del Sur, the first to be canvassed, four COC matched but the figures in one, or the first transmission, did not match with the rest.

He ruled that the panel would use the last four transmissions.

Camarines Sur First District Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., a member of the panel of the House of Representatives, also questioned the basis of the ruling of the panel when it was the first electronically-transmitted COC that is different from the rest.

In view of the manifestation of Andaya, the joint panel asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to explain within 24 hours why there were discrepancies on the electronically transmitted COC from Davao del Sur.

Marcos has sought an audit of the transparency and central servers of the Comelec before the official canvass after learning that a key official from technology provider Smartmatic introduced a new script into the transparency server without informing the poll body about the change.

LIBERAL Party (LP) vice-presidential candidate Rep. Leni Robredo led Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. on the first day of the official canvassing of votes for vice president from the May 9 elections.

As of 9:30 p.m., Wednesday, the Camarines Sur lawmaker has garnered 3,576,643 votes–295,492 votes more than Marcos’ 3,281,151.

The official count is based on 45 out of 165 Certificates of Canvass (COC), which included overseas absentee votes tabulated by the Joint Session of the House of Representatives and the Senate sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, at the Batasang Pambansa Complex, in Quezon City.

The provinces from Bicol region–Robredo’s bailiwick, she being from Naga City–boosted her bid big-time, with 380,745 votes in Albay,  132,757 in Camarines Norte, and 97,129 in Sorsogon, as against Marcos’ respective votes of 42,324 – 25,899 – 20,709.

Robredo also scored a huge  win in Cebu province—home to 2.7 million registered voters—with 162,509 votes. Marcos, on the other hand, settled for 92,007 votes.

She was likewise a big hit in some other Visayan provinces and cities, where she registered dominating wins over Marcos in Guimaras (56,249), Siquijor (30,468), Camiguin (38,030), Bacolod City (119,447), Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu (63,766). In Oriental Mindoro, she got 141,410 votes.

Robredo also scored huge triumphs in the Region IV provinces of Batangas and Romblon.

Robredo almost doubled her rival’s votes in Batangas with 514,608 as against Marcos’ 261,499.

In Romblon, Robredo got a whopping 61,915 votes as against Marcos’ 24,645 votes.

Likewise, Robredo pulled off a close win over Marcos in President Benigno Aquino III’s hometown of Tarlac province, 243,756 to 214,166.

Robredo also had the small island of Batanes on her side—4,566 votes as against Marcos’ 1,079.

She took a beating, however, in most of Mindanao provinces, save for Misamis Oriental, where she netted a whopping 143,402 votes as against Marcos’ 36,912.

Marcos, on the other hand, dominated the overseas absentee voting, which included that of Singapore (14,915), Malaysia (1,322), South Korea (1,721), Madrid, Spain (3,124), Lebanon (2,408), Qatar (6,119), Italy (6,374) and Bahrain (3,228).

Robredo, however, won in North and Latin America with 1,429 votes as against Marcos’ 809.

Marcos also did well in the Metro Manila cities of Valenzuela (116,455), Pasay (97,776), San Juan (26,543), Navotas (47,943) and Malabon (67,992), Pasig (129,145), Taguig (86,270), Las Pinas (97,641), Mandaluyong (73.495) and Manila (394,192). He also won Rizal with 435,471 votes to Robredo’s 285,417.

In Zambales, Marcos garnered 163,760 votes as against Robredo’s 103,972.

The so-called Solid North did not disappoint Marcos. He garnered 95,927 votes in Benguet, 40,846 in Kalinga Apayao, and 76,009 in Baguio City.

In southern Philippines, Marcos gained ground in Davao del Sur with 80,303 votes and in North Cotabato with 169,177.

The canvassing of votes for Laguna, Ilocos Sur and Davao del Norte has been deferred, owing to discrepancies between the electronically transmitted and the manually transmitted COC.

The canvass will resume at 2 p.m. on Thursday, May 26. LLANESCA T. PANTI

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