Inside Philippine politics & beyond

Dear Senator Sotto, why did 2 important details on whistleblower “Bikoy” change from your first press con to your second press con?

By Raïssa Robles

Senate President Vicente Sotto III changed two crucial details of his story questioning the credibility of whistle blower “Bikoy” in the two press conferences he staged just two days apart.

Because of Sotto’s revelations, Senator Panfilo Lacson canceled the appearance of Peter Joemel Advincula alias “Bikoy” at the Senate.

As a senator and Senate President, the public accords Sotto’s statements with the presumption of regularity—that what he says is what is true.

But what if he changes certain crucial details of his story in two press conferences made two days apart?[READ MORE...]

Imee Marcos knew all about the loot and tried to make singil from dad’s dummies

Resibo

By Raïssa Robles

When Imee Marcos, the dictator’s daughter, was asked about Martial Law and the excesses of her family, she dismissed the question with a bald-faced lie.

She did not know much about it, she said, because she was too young.

What she didn’t know was that in the family’s eagerness to escape the mob, they scurried  out of the presidential palace that fateful day of February 1986, leaving behind incriminating documents on their ill-gotten wealth.

One of the documents showed that Imee tried to make singil from her dad’s dummies the shares they held in trust in many companies for Ferdinand Marcos. [READ MORE…]

DOJ official confirms today that an “invitation” to go to the NBI is codespeak for a warrantless arrest

By Raïssa Robles

When the police or National Bureau of Investigation agents armed with a search warrant, knock at your gate in dead of night to seize your digital devices, and then “invite” you to go with them, would you go?

And should you go?

The case of Rodel Jayme is a test case of how far our rights are being bent and twisted by authorities.

Burly men from the NBI came knocking at Rodel Jayme’s gate at 4 AM of May 2, Thursday, armed only with a “search warrant”, to search and seize his digital devices.

He and the entire household must have been scared out of their wits. [READ MORE…]

“Ang Narco List” YouTube channel was deleted after DOJ press con on blogger arrest

Marcos-style arrest for blogger who shared “Ang Totoong Narcolist” video links

Or why Rodel Jayme’s arrest is repressive and could happen to anyone

By Raïssa Robles

The arrest today of blogger Rodel Jayme was appalling and repressive.

NEWS FLASH as of 5:50 PM, May 2, 2019:

As I was writing this, I wanted to look up the YouTube channel of Ang Totoong Narco List and found that it no longer existed. It had been deleted. It was deleted HOURS AFTER THE ARREST OF RODEL JAYME.

So if RODEL JAYME owns the channel, how could he have deleted it while under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation?

Or if indeed he owned the channel, did someone from the National Bureau of Investigation or the government delete it, using Jayme’s computer which NBI had seized?

Or did YouTube, on its own delete, the channel after receiving a request or order from the Philippine government?

[READ MORE…]

Duterte government’s invoking of arbitral ruling not election-related, says Panelo

By Raïssa Robles

In recent weeks, the kiss-kiss, hug-hug relations between Manila and Beijing officials have ever so slightly cooled.

The reason – summer has brought several hundred Chinese fishing boats around Pag-Asa island, just as the Philippine military is about to do a major facelift of its facilities there, including the air strip and airport.

The summer winds blowing through Malacañang Palace seem to have also inspired officials to sing a different tune  about the South China Sea.

This afternoon, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo held for the first time a “virtual presser” for reporters from the foreign media. I would not have known about it had not not my editors assigned me to it.

Do you know that nearly three years after assuming the presidency, President Rodrigo Duterte has yet to deliver a major policy speech before the foreign media, including the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines? Neither has his foreign secretaries ever met FOCAP. [READ MORE…]

Is President Duterte in charge?

By Raïssa Robles

At 7 in the evening of Thursday, I am sitting in the dark being stung by mosquitoes.

There is no electricity and no water.

This reminds me so much of the dying days of dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ Martial Law, when electric power went on and off and the trickle in the taps went dry for most of the day. I actually had to go to a deep well in the neighborhood to haul water.

Nowadays, there is no deep well near my home from which to draw water. I just have to rely on the very upredictable water service interruptions of Manila Water. The water comes on around 6 AM or 7 AM, or not. If it does, the taps suddenly go dry mid-morning, then resume around lunchtime, or sometimes not. Then around 3 or 4 PM, the taps only make gurgling sounds. [READ MORE…

Duterte’s invented reason why the International Criminal Court cannot prosecute him

Ranks up there with—the dog ate my homework

Just My Opinion

By Raïssa Robles

President Rodrigo Duterte claims the International Criminal Court cannot prosecute him mainly because the Rome Statute which created the ICC never took effect in the Philippines.

He argues that although the Senate did ratify it,  the Rome Statute was never published in the Official Gazette nor in any Philippine newspaper of general circulation.

Thus, he concludes in his nine-page “Statement” issued on March 13, 2018: “There being no jurisdiction of the said law, it stands to reason that the Rome Statute cannot be enforceable in the Philippines hence the International Criminal Court has not acquired jurisdiction nor can it acquire jurisdiction over my person.”

This lame excuse is similar to a student telling his teacher that the dog ate his homework. [READ MORE…]

Imee Marcos had no Princeton degree when she entered UP Law, dean said

Dean Froilan Bacungan explained why he allowed Imee to enroll but not graduate

See for yourself: Imee Marcos is NOT in UP’s 1983 official yearbook of graduates

My thanks to all those who leaked the documents to me

By Raïssa Robles

I always knew that Imee Marcos, daughter of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, never graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Law.

I heard this directly from the UP law professors who had her as a student or were teaching there at that time.

I heard this directly from my father, the late Prof. Jose F. Espinosa, who became UP Law evening dean and who was one of Imee Marcos’ professors and, briefly, her tutor.

I heard this directly from Professors Ed Labitag, Carmelo Sison, Myrna Feliciano, Haydee Yorac, and even from UP law dean Irene Cortes (my godmother in my confirmation).

I was told that because Imee did not fulfill all the requirements for graduating from UP Law, they held graduation ceremonies just for her and her parents.

At that time, though, I had attributed her not finishing and graduating to her pregnancy. [READ MORE…]

To arrest Maria Ressa, the Duterte government stretched the libel prescription period to 12 years

EXCLUSIVE

By Raïssa Robles

Even when the Philippines was a colony under Spain and the US, the prescription period—or length of time within which a libel case has to be filed—never ran beyond two years.

So why and when did the prescription period for libel suddenly become twelve years?

[READ MORE…]

DOJ uses wrong law to justify charging Maria Ressa with cyber libel beyond the one year prescriptive period

Exclusive

By Raïssa Robles

Journalist Maria Ressa was hauled off to detention yesterday, based on a Department of Justice resolution which said the period for filing a cyber libel complaint has not lapsed.
Problem is, it cited the wrong law. [READ MORE…]