Category Archive for: gobyerno

komentaryo

Stop right there, congressmen!

It was in the early morning of Wednesday, September 28, when I read that House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez had declared that the world that the purported sex video of Senator Leila de Lima would be shown in the inquiry on the National Bilibid Prisons’ (NBP) drug crisis.

I thought the news would just die a natural death, because it is not only illegal, it is uncalled for, and if anything, it proves that government has absolutely nothing on Senator Leila de Lima and her role in the drug trade. Because if you have enough evidence against her, why would a sex video even matter? (more…)

komentaryo

Killings, resignation, out of context (pa rin!)

I had woken up on Monday to President Duterte’s speeches: two, in fact, both of which I went back to and took notes on. That’s where most of my Monday went. I have found it important to take stock with this President, to take time understanding what he’s saying, and where he comes from, as well as where he’s going, because social and mainstream media are noisy and competing for online hits, with a tendency towards sensationalism and the superficial and easy either-or kind of discourse and analysis.

Two months into this new government, one would think we’ve all learned our lesson from the President himself and what he’s revealed about local and global media. But some might take longer with the learning curve.

Take the case of The Manila Standard. (more…)

komentaryo

A Senate coup #Sept19

Anyare?

It was an otherwise expected Monday at the Senate, televised live for all of the world to see, with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano again being given the “privilege” to speak about things he had already spoken about at last week’s Committee on Justice Hearing with witness Matobato.

It was Senator Leila De Lima who had brought this witness to the Senate, who really only reminded us all of the Davao Death Squad and how (1) it does exist, and (2) it had connections with then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in Davao. That this witness was in an inquiry on the PRESENT extrajudicial killings, with Senator De Lima not even really drawing clear connections between then and now, Davao and Manila, Mayor Duterte and President Duterte, might have been her own undoing.  (more…)

kultura

Liza Diño, FDCP workers, martial law #culturalcrisis

Let me call it now.

With 12 members of the staff terminated in the first week of her leadership, Liza Diño has put the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) under a version of Martial Law.

And because Martial Law is about silencing critics, too, I hear that the search is on for who exactly my sources are. This, instead of Diño actually replying to these allegations — I would gladly be disproved after all. But what I’m looking at are not just 12 employees given pink slips by Diño. I’m also looking at five other staff members who have tendered resignations given how Diño’s running the FDCP .

And lest you think we’re talking about consultants with huge paycheques ala Joel Rocamora’s NAPC, what I’m seeing is a list that includes drivers and cinematheque projectionists. I’m looking at staff of the National Film Archive of the Philippines (NFAP) and the Cinematheque.  (more…)

kultura

Stand against a Dept of Culture

It could be the lack of a real functional communications team, or maybe just the general disinterest in what happens to the cultural sector, but none of President Duterte’s moves so far has been about doing right by culture.

While we might think the downward spiral started with the self-proclamation of Freddie Aguilar as head of the non-existent department of culture, which according to him meant being offered the position of National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) head instead, I tend to see the downward spiral to have begun with the appointment of Liza Diño into the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP).

All that I have said about that appointment stands: the mandate and functions of that office are clear, the requirements for an appointee, too. Diño has none of those credentials, and by agreeing to this appointment pretty much pisses on the law that created this office to begin with. (more…)