Good cop, bad cop

Our deep undercover eye-spies spotted US Ambassador Ricciardone aboard the Ang Pangulo with the President and other foreign diplomats during her five-day trek to Mindanao. Word is that the American envoy went with the entourage to quietly and specifically pinpoint possible development projects in Mindanao for USAID. But while the US envoy is doing the "good cop" routine, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Matt Daley played the "bad cop" and met with the President at the Palace to inform her that the $70 million Economic Support Fund (EFS) for Mindanao would be lost if the government will continue to turn its back on the peace process and on peace talks with the MILF. Frankly, if the good cop-bad cop routine works, Mindanao will have what it has been literally dying to possess for more than a century — peace and development. Now isn’t this a prime catch, or is there a catch?

Sore-thumb adviser

The more this presidential adviser struts around and shows off as if he’s the hotshot in the diplomatic circle, the more he sticks out like an ugly sore thumb. Apparently, he loves going over the head of the DFA chief, and lording it over the diplomats, hoodwinking them into thinking that he’s the country’s top diplomat. His new "victim" is Spain’s ambassador to the Philippines, and he’s duping the envoy to report to him about the forthcoming visit of GMA to Spain. He probably doesn’t know it yet, but the Spanish ambassador makes it a point to report to the DFA chief even before the envoy reports to this presidential adviser. The Spanish ambassador knows that going over the head of the DFA chief is a big no-no.

The new inquisition

Some may call it poetic justice, but this one is definitely out of rhyme. One of our most reliable spies reported that a well-known women’s rights group is now fixing up their "torture chambers" in preparation for the launching of a countrywide witch hunt for erring priests of the Roman Catholic Church. A member was overheard as saying that this group is planning on dredging up sexual harassment and even possible rape cases — even just innuendoes – against bishops, priests and pastors to fuel an anti-clerical feeding frenzy. It seems the tables are now turned, and guilty or not, we can expect even the charitable acts of clerics to be distorted into questionable scandals by these priest-hunters. Word is hot that this new inquisition is actually a tactic by the Left to regain lost political ground over the past three years. Since there are no catacombs in the country to hide in, the innocent should start thinking of standing four-square on their integrity, while the guilty should by now expect a systematic and violent lynching from these "Iron Maidens."

Badminton cronies

Our eye-spies in the Palace say the President was spending less and less time on the Malacanang Park courts with her badminton cronies, and more and more on the dinner table. No wonder she’s a little too peevish lately. When she noticed that she put on a little weight, she immediately decided to hit the badminton courts again to drain some of the excess weight out of her system.

Victoria’s Secret strikes again!

One socialite that’s very close to the "odd couple" told us that Jukebox Queen Victoria’s "Honey Pie" has been complaining for weeks about losing some of her red bikini underwear. Now she has to dip her fingers again into her Marcos loot just to replenish the supply. It seems Victoria’s Secret cannot help but run off with Honey Pie’s red lacy collection and use them to lure his paid young boys whenever and wherever this "toddler-sniffer" happens to smell them. We have absolutely nothing to do with this information; it was just passed on to us.

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