Commend Roxas

Administration party standard-bearer and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas II should be commended for deciding to give up his Cabinet post and turn it over to Western Samar Congressman Mel Senen Sarmiento, since he had already accepted his nomination for the presidency next year.

It is to be expected that Liberal Party (LP) Secretary-General Sarmiento will be partial and protective of LP local officials and candidates. But that is part of the game. The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) post will always be given to a loyal member of the President’s political party.

Sarmiento, who was a secretary general of city mayors’ league, let go of his plans to run for re-election in 2016 to serve as the new DILG head.

Earlier, Roxas wanted to leave the DILG post weeks before the endorsement but was prevailed upon by President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino to stay a bit longer. Before the endorsement, political advisers of Roxas suggested that he should break away from Aquino after being kept out of the Mamasapano mission that led to the death of the 44 Philippine National Police – Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) personnel. The advisers believed that Roxas will gain sympathy from the public and that he will win more votes in the upcoming polls.

Despite being excluded by Aquino from Oplan Exodus, Roxas strangely did not resign, rather forgave the President, and then accepted Aquino’s endorsement to be the administration standard-bearer.

Nevertheless, critics say Roxas will unlikely win. Aquino’s endorsement won’t make a difference to his low popularity ratings. Roxas has to deal with the people’s perception of him. To win the voting public, Roxas has to fix his bad image. He avoided any conflict with Aquino whom he thinks can help him achieve his goal even in the face of injustice – the Mamasapano incident. Also, he has a bad temper and cannot handle stress well as evident in some few incidents recorded of him getting stressed out and irrational.

Senator Panfilo Lacson assailed President Aquino for disclosing an “alternative truth” to the Mamasapano operation. Lacson vouched for the SAF version and the PNP official report on the Mamasapano against the report prepared by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Other reports claimed that Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, was already dead before the SAF’s entry inside his hut. He was killed by his aides and no shootout has transpired. Some officials of the PNP-SAF were saddened by the President’s twisted announcement, which is believed to be cooked up by some officials from the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Grace Poe wins SET decision

In a 30-minute proceeding, Senator Grace Poe won a favorable decision from the nine-member Senate Electoral Tribunal who dismissed the disqualification case against her senatorial victory for lack of residency, for having prescribed.

SET rules require protests against a winning senator must be filed within ten days after proclamation. Rizalino David, who lost the race for the Senate in the 2013 elections, brought the petition more than two years after Poe took her seat.

The SET will still deliberate on her lack of natural born citizenship.

Poe said only the people could and should decide whether or not she is worthy.

Senator Francis Escudero has high praises for Poe, for facing the disqualification case against her full, front and center. He said that the charges are baseless and politically motivated.

Domingo resigns

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Gregory Domingo has resigned, putting into question the handling of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) November meeting.

The Finance Ministers of the three biggest economies: United States, China and Japan did not attend the APEC Finance Ministers Conference in Cebu.

President Aquino, in his speech, boasted of his accomplishments, oblivious of the fact that some countries like Australia, Singapore and Malaysia were doing much better than the Philippines.

Overall, Cebu officials did an excellent job of hosting the APEC Conference with no security problems encountered.

The big problem now arises. Can the government improve the situation, including the traffic problem for the main November meeting of 21 heads of state?

One thing is clear about the performance of the Aquino administration: In five years, it has not transformed the Philippine economy from a developing to a developed nation status.

Even this year, the Aquino administration has failed to achieve its target of 7-8 percent gross domestic product (GDP).

Tidbits

In RMN Networks survey, Vice President Binay is still leading in the latest presidential preference survey with 26.16 percent. Poe got 24.84 percent while Roxas was third with 18.14 percent. Landing at fourth place is Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte with 12.42 percent. Duterte was followed by Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada with 6 percent.

Actor Enrique Gil was involved in a drunken incident on board their flight to London.

Let us thank God that no Filipino pilgrim was killed or injured in the Mecca crane incident. There are 5,800 Filipino pilgrims doing the Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Janette Garin is completing a hospital mapping system.

Palawan has 4,071 Malaria cases in the first six months of the year.

Commission on Audit (COA) said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) failed to distribute P141 million relief goods that rotted in their warehouses.       

Mayor Arnie Fuentebella, younger son of Speaker Noli Fuentebella, is running for governor of Camarines Sur.