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Here’s how vehicle manufacturing can make a comeback in the country

When Ford Philippines announced in 2012 its decision to stop assembling vehicles in the country, you just knew it was game over for our automotive manufacturing industry. Sure, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Isuzu are still making a few models here, but their production is only for local consumption, so the volumes involved will never be huge. Ford used to export locally assembled vehicles to other ASEAN markets, but even those were small in numbers.
And sure, there’s the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy program that supposedly aims to reposition the Philippines as a “regional automotive manufacturing hub.” But the incentives provided by said program only favor those who can commit to large production runs, like Toyota and Mitsubishi (and Hyundai, assuming it’s not misdeclaring completely built units as completely knocked-down ones, but that’s another story). If we’re all being honest, the prospect of vehicle manufacturing in our territory remains gloomy. We simply can’t compete with our neighboring Asian countries when it comes to government incentives, labor costs, electricity pricing and ease of doing business.
But vehicle manufacturing may be making a comeback, and it’s not necessarily by way of private passenger cars. I’m talking about modern public-utility vehicles, which are expected to replace the anachronistic jeepney. President Rodrigo R. Duterte wants to rid our roads of those lumbering and smoke-spewing jalopies, and his transport officials are moving heaven and earth to make it happen.
On Monday, I witnessed Isuzu Philippines Corp. formally turn over the first batch of its new and roadworthy PUVs to the Senate Employees Transport Service Cooperative, which will operate these vehicles from the soon-to-open Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange to the Manila Bay area (and vice versa). The new jeepneys — or whatever they’ll be called next — are powered by Isuzu’s 3.0-liter 4JH1-TC turbo diesel engine, with 20-seater bodies made by local coachbuilder Almazora. Advocates of electric propulsion might be disappointed, but at least Euro4-compliant oil-burners are infinitely better than the surplus ones shoehorned into the dilapidated jeepneys that ply our daily routes.
Each unit costs P1.945 million (more if you include taxes), a price that will no doubt scare the bejesus out of PUV operators. But manufacturers are currently working with the Bureau of Investment to see if some subsidy may be extended to the cash-strapped transport service providers. Plus, manufacturers like Isuzu are thinking of ways to help operators earn more money. The company’s PUV, for instance, comes with a prominent display monitor in the passenger cabin that can show paid advertisements.
The new PUVs are spacious. So roomy you can stand and walk upright inside. There is also ample air-conditioning so passengers can reach their destination a little fresher than usual. There are at least three video cameras to document everything that’s happening in and around the vehicle. Good luck to all the dirty old men who like bringing their hands to areas they have no business touching, let alone groping. And the vehicles have a fire extinguisher and a glass breaker, signifying that their builder had passenger welfare in mind from conceptualization to production.
Best of all, there is provision for contactless payment. Passengers may pay using Beep cards. That’s a lot more convenient than having to pass along a crumpled, smelly bill to the driver in front all the way from the last guy at the back.
Based on Isuzu’s estimate, some quarter of a million jeepneys need to be replaced nationwide. That’s quite a number of vehicles that will create more jobs in the years to come. Understandably, there’s also excitement even among the suppliers of parts and components needed to put together these modern PUVs. When I published my story on my motoring website, a local distributor of speed limiters sent me a message proudly informing me that his products had been installed on Isuzu’s PUVs. Seems to me there’s so much business that will be generated if this PUV modernization program is sustained.
And it looks like it will be. At the Isuzu PUV handover ceremony, three senators inserted themselves in the proceedings, indicating the program’s big potential for vote-padding publicity. You can bet these politicians will continue to latch on to this thing for as long as they need to stay in power.
PUVs aren’t sexy, no. We want SUVs and hatchbacks and sedans and pickups. But local market forces just aren’t very friendly to passenger car manufacturers right now. Let’s build these new jeepneys first. Maybe we’ll progress to something sexier along the way.

UN chief says migration is ‘inevitable’

Lørenskog, Norway — UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that migration, which is currently posing serious challenges to political leaders around the world, was “inevitable”.
The topic is being hotly debated across Europe and in the United States. In recent days, migrants have been shunted around the Mediterranean, three European countries have formed an ‘axis’ against clandestine immigration, and the US administration is under fire for separating the children of illegal immigrants from their parents.
Countries have the right to adopt their own immigration policies “provided obviously that they respect the human rights of migrants and that this is done in a way in which international cooperation becomes much more relevant than what has happened until now,” Guterres told reporters in Lorenskog, near Oslo, on the sidelines of an annual forum gathering peace mediators.
“Migration is a phenomenon that is inevitable,” he stressed.
Guterres gave the example of his own 95-year-old mother who, he said, is cared for around-the-clock by migrants in his native Portugal.
“I never met a Portuguese (person) taking care of my mother. It’s always migrants and it is clear for me that migration is a need,” he said.
“And if migration is a need, then it’s better to organise it, it’s better to regulate it, it’s better to make it happen in a way in which countries cooperate with each other and in a way in which there is a win-win situation for everybody, especially for so many migrants that are now in desperate conditions,” he said.
The international community is scheduled to meet in Marrakech on December 10-11 for a conference on migration issues, which is expected to lead to the adoption of a global pact on safe and regulated migration. — AFP

NUJP responds to Dureza’s ‘irresponsible journalism’ remark

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) on Tuesday, June 19, slammed Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus G. Dureza for hurling “accusations of irresponsible journalism” against media outfits.
“Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus (G.) Dureza is too quick to hurl accusations of irresponsible journalism against news outfits that reported that Norway would no longer be the third-party facilitator for peace talks between the government and communist rebels,” the NUJP said in a statement.
Mr. Dureza, the NUJP also said, “should be aware that the source of the story, Presidential Spokesman Harry (L.) Roque, (Jr.) has built a reputation for prevarication within an administration that has time and again proven itself to be the prime purveyor of falsehood and, in fact, has welcomed experts of this dark craft into the bureaucracy.”
“Instead of immediately taking [Mr.] Roque’s denial at face value, [Mr.] Dureza, who, after all, has long been a pillar of the Philippine Press Institute, should have checked his colleague’s claim against the record.”
The organization explained that during the press briefing at the Palace on Monday, CNN Philippines’ reporter Ina Andolong “asked whether President Rodrigo R. Duterte wanted the talks held in the country and not be facilitated by Norway and what the formal process for transferring the venue might be.”
The NUJP said “[w]hen the spokesman did not give an unequivocal reply to these questions, [Ms.] Andolong eventually asked: ‘Who will be facilitating the talks here then?'”
“We have a panel and they have the authority to fix the logistics,” Mr. Roque replied.
Ms. Andolong then asked, “No third party…”
“Wala na po siguro, kasi nandito naman tayo sa Pilipinas (Perhaps there is no need, because we’re here in the Philippines),” Mr. Roque said.
He added: “Pero (But) you know, any party who wants to help and who’s been involved in the process can help.”
“The record is clear,” the NUJP said. “[Mr.] Roque is, at best, cherry picking through his words, at worst, brazenly twisting the truth. Which seems par for the course as far as this administration goes. [Mr.] Dureza owes the journalists he wrongly accused an apology. And while, truth to tell, we do not expect one, we would love to be surprised.”
In a statement issued on Monday evening, Mr Dureza said: “The media report saying Norway is being removed or is no longer a ‘facilitator’ in the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the communist rebels is a total fabrication. It is an example of irresponsible journalism.”
“In fact, I am now in Oslo, Norway to attend an International Forum on Conflict Mediation and to express our country’s gratitude for Norway’s significant and continuing support to the long drawn peace negotiations with the left. I am also here to explain to them the reason why the planned resumption of the peace talks discussed during backchannel meetings, was reset,” he also said.
For his part, Mr. Roque clarified that Norway can still play its role as a third-party facilitator in the peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the communist rebels.
“Norway can still have a role in the ongoing peace talks with the CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines- New People’s Army),” he said in a televised press briefing in Cotabato City on Tuesday afternoon.
Mr. Roque explained that he was “only referring to the venue.”
“We hope this sets the record straight that what I said is any peace negotiation that would be entered into by the Philippine government and communist rebels should be held inside the country…Norway can continue to help the Philippines as a third party facilitator of the peace talks,” he also said.

Duterte orders prosecution panel to ‘get partial judgment’ on Maguindanao massacre case

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter
Malacañang on Tuesday, June 19, said President Rodrigo R. Duterte wants the government prosecution panel that handles the 2009 Maguindanao massacre case “to do its best to get partial judgment” against some of the suspects within the year.
“The President has instructed the prosecution panel to do its best to get partial judgment against some of the accused within the year,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in a televised press briefing in Cotabato City on Tuesday afternoon.
He added: “That is the marching order of the President when he conferred with the prosecution panel. And we hope to do that.”
In his meeting with the families of victims on Nov. 23 last year, Mr. Duterte promised them that justice will be served “under his watch.”
That day marked the eighth anniversary of the massacre in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao, which claimed the lives of 58, including 32 identified with the media.

Which countries have legalized pot?

Paris — Canada is set to become the latest of only a few countries around the world to legalize cannabis for recreational use after its lawmakers passed a bill Monday giving their go-ahead.
Many countries have decriminalized the use and possession of cannabis, abandoning prison sentences for consumers, but only a handful have gone as far as legalizing its cultivation and use.
Here are places where cannabis, also known as marijuana or pot, is already allowed for recreational or medical reasons.
Latin America
• Uruguay became in 2013 the first country in the world to legalise the production, distribution and consumption of marijuana.
Under Uruguayan law, citizens and residents can buy up to 40 grams (1.4 ounces) of pot a month from pharmacies, grow it themselves at home, or join cannabis clubs where members tend to the plants together.
The government has licensed two private companies to produce and distribute marijuana.
• Several other Latin American countries have legalized cannabis for medical reasons: Chile in 2015, Colombia in 2016 and Argentina, Mexico and Peru in 2017.
Europe
• The Netherlands in general, and Amsterdam in particular, have tolerated the sale and use of marijuana in iconic coffee shops since 1976.
That year the Dutch decriminalized the sale of small amounts of cannabis — less than five grams — and allowed each person to legally grow five plants for personal use.
Dutch coffee shops generate hundreds of millions of euros annually through the sale of marijuana and in major hubs such as Amsterdam they have proven a draw for tourists.
In recent years, however, politicians have pushed back against these tolerant policies.
Since 2012 a controversial law applied in three southern provinces has banned the sale to non-residents and tourists.
The capital, The Hague, banned cannabis from the city centre in April this year.
In 2017 the Netherlands took a step closer to regulating the wholesale cultivation of cannabis after lawmakers passed a bill to back legal growing and sale of the soft drug under government control.
• Spanish law allows for the private production and consumption of cannabis by adults, though its sale is still illegal.
• The Czech Republic imposes only fines on people in possession of up to 15 grams of marijuana or who have only five plants at home.
• Several other European countries have legalised cannabis for medical reasons including Austria, Britain, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Macedonia, Poland, Romania and Slovenia.
North America
• US federal law prohibits the cultivation, sale and use of marijuana.
However, eight states and the capital Washington D.C. have legalised marijuana for recreational use, with the last to date, California, becoming on January 1, 2018 the biggest legal market in the world.
Twenty-nine states and the capital have legalised marijuana for medical use.
The presence of ultra-conservatives in the administration of Donald Trump has stoked fears of a step backwards for the growing trade, projected to reach $23 billion by 2020.
– Canada effectively legalised cannabis for medical use nearly two decades ago and on June 18, 2018 lawmakers passed a bill that would allow its free recreational consumption, making it the first G7 member to do so.
The legislation, which must still pass the Senate, is likely to come into effect in September and will limit personal possession to 30 grams. — AFP

Visa says over 5 million payments affected by June outage

London, United Kingdom — Payment systems giant Visa said Tuesday that a massive technical glitch earlier this month had affected 5.2 million card transactions, almost half of which were in Britain.
Visa, revealing the details in a letter to a British parliamentary committee that is probing the matter, said the “rare” disruption prevented many cardholders form making payments in Europe for 10 hours on Friday June 1.
And the company apologised “unreservedly” for the failure and outlined plans for a compensation scheme.
“Overall, for cards issued both in the UK and elsewhere … 51.2 million Visa transactions were initiated and sent to Visa’s European systems for processing,” wrote Visa Europe chief executive Charlotte Hogg.
“Of these, 5.2 million failed to process correctly,” she added in the letter to Treasury Select Committee chair Nicky Morgan.
The outage was caused by a “very rare partial failure” of a switch in one of Visa’s data centres, Hogg added. It has since been fixed.
Visa said there were 27.6 million transactions made in the UK during the disruption, of which 2.4 million failed to process properly.
“At its peak, the disruption affected people in the midst of returning home from work, socialising in restaurants and pubs, and doing end-of-day shopping,” Hogg said in the letter published Tuesday.
“We take seriously our important role in supporting financial stability in the UK.
“A disruption to our processing that impacts consumers at any time is unacceptable, let alone during a busy Friday afternoon,” she added.
“We apologize again unreservedly to everyone who was affected by the incident,” Hogg said.
“Visa, together with our financial institution partners, has quickly implemented a compensation programme for cardholders.” — AFP

Peso rebounds slightly on remittances

THE PESO regained some strength against the dollar on Tuesday on the back of stronger remittances in April.
The local unit closed at P53.44 against the dollar on Wednesday, four centavos stronger than the P53.48-per-dollar finish on Monday.
The peso bounced back immediately as it opened the session at P53.39 versus the greenback. It rose to as high as P53.31, while its intraday low was at P53.49 a dollar.
Dollars traded surged to $733.7 million from the $568 million that switched hands the previous day.
A trader attributed the rebound of the local currency to the remittances report released Monday.
“The peso slightly appreciated following the release of strong foreign remittances data,” the trader said in an e-mail.
Money sent home by Filipinos overseas amounted to $2.347 billion in April, 12.7% bigger than the $2.083-billion inflows logged in the same period last year, data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Monday showed.
Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist at UnionBank of the Philippines, said in a previous interview that there might be a correlation between the peso weakness and remittances.
“The probability that more remittances will flow into the economic system is high when more peso is exchanged for foreign currency, particularly the US dollar,” he said.
However, another trader said the data had little effect on the peso-dollar trading as investors are still concerned over the renewed trade tensions between the United States and China.
“The momentum of a strong dollar was really strong. Although it was a good data, it didn’t affect the peso-dollar that much,” the trader said.
Reuters reported that China accused the US of initiating a trade war, saying it will fight back firmly if Washington publishes an additional list of tariffs on Chinese goods.
“There is still a risk-off sentiment among investors due to the trade tensions between US and China. With that, investors tend to prefer safe-haven currencies over riskier assets,” the second trader said.
“That’s why we saw the US dollar, Japanese yen and Swiss franc moving higher.”
Mr. Asuncion noted in a Tuesday text message that the downward movement of the peso “is expected to be a trend until an easing of the [trade tensions] is seen.”
Meanwhile, BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. said the monetary authority “is ready to act to prevent excessive peso volatility and overshooting due to speculative activities.”
“The movement of the peso is market-driven. Its medium-term stability is well supported by sound macroeconomic fundamentals,” Mr. Espenilla said in his speech in Tokyo, Japan for the government’s non-deal road show.
For Wednesday, the traders expect the peso to move between P53.30 and P53.50 versus the dollar, while Mr. Asuncion gave a higher P53.40-P53.60 range. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

PSEi slumps to 15-month trough on US-China rift

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
THE Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slumped to its lowest level in 15 months Tuesday, June 19, as the trade war between two of the world’s largest economies escalated, while analysts back home looked toward the local central bank’s policy meeting.
The PSEi dropped 1.36% or 101.50 points to 7,312.61 on Tuesday. It reached an intraday low of 7,253.12, the worst since the index hit a trough of 7,222.15 during the March 27, 2017 session. The broader all-shares index also gave up 1.08% or 49.33 points to 4,481.71.
“Market continued its correction today as most of the regional markets were down due to the tariff that the US President Trump would like to impose on China and other trading partners. If the global growth is affected, definitely it will cascade down to the emerging markets,” Diversified Securities, Inc. trader Aniceto K. Pangan said in a phone interview on Tuesday.
Markets abroad also stayed in negative territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.41% or 103.01 points to 24,987.47, while the S&P 500 index went down 0.21% or 5.91 points to 2,773.75. The Nasdaq Composite index was flat with a 0.01% increase or 0.65 point to 7,747.02.
Asian markets were left bleeding on Tuesday, mostly weighed down by companies supplying stocks to multinational tech firm Apple, Inc. as investors digested the effects of Mr. Trump’s additional tariffs.
Sectoral indices back home all ended in the red, led by holding firms which declined 1.73% or 128.30 points to 7,251.25 and services which likewise lost 1.73% or 25.52 points to 1,444.42. Mining and oil shed 1.63% or 161.06 points to 9,683.13; financials dropped 1.40% or 25.80 points to 1,816.03; property slipped 0.82% or 29.59 points to 3,558.24; while industrials was down 0.06% or 6.75 points to 10,554.03.
Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan also noted cautiousness ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) policy meeting Wednesday, June 20.
“Many are debating whether the BSP will leave policy rates unchanged, keeping the overnight reverse [repurchase] rate at 3.25% and the overnight deposit rate at 2.75%. This is because overall inflation has been creeping up, driven mostly by supply side factors and TRAIN. The peso has also weakened, touching P53.50 to the [US dollar] as a result of this,” Mr. Limlingan said in a mobile message.
Some 909.21 million issues switched hands Tuesday, June 19, for a turnover of P6.89 billion, slightly lower than the previous session’s P7.75 billion.
Decliners outpaced advancers, 125 to 70, while 47 names were unchanged.
Net foreign outflows slimmed to P867.92 million from Monday’s P1.29 billion.
Moving forward, Diversified Securities’ Mr. Pangan placed the benchmark index’s support level in the coming days between 7,100 to 7,200.

Children separated from parents at US border sob, wail desperately

Los Angeles — Several Central American children separated from parents at the southern US border are heard desperately sobbing and wailing in a recording released Monday by transparency group ProPublica, some so hard they almost cannot breathe.
At least 2,300 of these youngsters have been separated from their parents since April, when President Donald Trump’s administration launched its “zero tolerance” immigration policy.
In the past, some migrants entering illegally were caught and then released. Now, the US administration has moved to prosecute anyone who seeks to enter the country illegally, which it says requires the children to be taken away.
“Mommy! I want to go with dad,” a young girl is heard crying out on the audio recording, sobbing so hard she is short of breath.
With the volume of the wailing shrill, and coming from multiple kids, a US Border Patrol agent can be heard saying in Spanish: “well, we have quite an orchestra here. The only thing missing is a conductor.”
“I don’t want them to stop my dad,” one little girl is heard saying between sobs.
Another apparently older girl adds: “I don’t want to get separated from my dad.” The children were mostly from El Salvador and Guatemala, both violence-plagued Central American countries.
The US action has sparked outrage at home — from both Trump’s Democratic foes and his fellow Republicans — and around the world, as well as concerns from even First Lady Melania Trump.
One utterly distressed Salvadoran girl, which ProPublica said was all of six, can be heard begging authorities to call her aunt.
“I can go home with my auntie, at least,” the girl said, proudly explaining that she memorized it. “I have her number. Then after my auntie gets me to bring me home with her, my mom will come as soon as she can, to pick me up.”
The audio was recorded last week, according to ProPublica.
The girl’s aunt said the experience had been truly difficult.
“Imagine getting a call from your six-year-old niece. She’s crying and begging me to come and get her out,” the aunt told ProPublica.
“She says ‘I promise I will be really good. But please, please get me out of here. I am all alone.'” — AFP

Supreme Court hears landmark gay marriage case

The Philippines’ top court heard arguments on Tuesday, June 19, for the legalization of gay marriage, a historic first in the overwhelmingly Catholic nation.
Two same-sex couples denied licenses to wed urged the Supreme Court to strike down a 1987 law that states marriage must be between a man and a woman.
“When the right to marry, a decision so personal, so intimate and so life-changing, is denied to LGBT people, the state is not valuing their dignity,” lawyer Jesus Falcis, who is also a co-plaintiff, told justices in Manila.
It took three years for the Supreme Court to schedule a hearing and the case will likely move at a glacial pace.
Judges will next hear from the government’s lawyers, but the court does not set itself deadlines to issue rulings and cases sometimes take years to resolve.
Legal experts say the case is still highly significant.
“The decision will be landmark because the court has never pronounced on this,” University of the Philippines law professor Antonio La Vina told AFP.
“Obviously, it would be even more landmark, more historic if they say marriage is not between a man and a woman.”
Outside the court on Tuesday, about 20 members of Manila’s LGBT community waved rainbow flags and lit multi-coloured candles in support of the petition.
Danton Remoto, founder of the LBGT political party Ang Ladlad (Out of the Closet) told AFP he welcomed the Supreme Court’s hearing of the case.
“A space has been opened up to discuss this case legally,” Remoto added.
Church v state
The Philippines — where 80% of a population of over 100 million is Catholic — is the only place outside of the Vatican where divorce is outlawed. Abortion is also illegal, largely due to church influence.
However the plaintiffs may have an ally in President Rodrigo Duterte, who has expressed support for gay marriage but since backed off from a campaign trail pledge to legalise it.
“I am for same-sex marriage. The problem is, we’ll have to change the law. But we can change the law,” Duterte told a gathering of LGBT people in his southern home city of Davao in December last year.
The case comes as Duterte pushes back against the country’s clergy, who are at odds with some of his key policies including a deadly drug war that has killed thousands.
In May, Duterte allies in the House of Representatives passed landmark divorce legislation, though it is unlikely to become law due to lack of support in the Senate.
Church leaders have fought efforts to legalize divorce, same-sex marriage and abortion, while losing a long battle against a state-funded free contraceptives law. — AFP

Sereno ouster final

THE SUPREME COURT (SC) en banc upheld on Tuesday its landmark May 11 decision to grant the quo warranto petition seeking to void Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno’s appointment as Chief Justice, thereby dismissing with finality her reversal plea.
According to lawyer Theodore O. Te, the high court’s spokesperson, the SC maintained its landmark 8-6 ruling which favored the quo warranto petition by Solicitor-General Jose C. Calida.
The petition accused Ms. Sereno of lacking integrity for not completely submitting her Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) as a requirement for the post.
Mr. Te also noted: “[T]he 90-day period for filling the vacancy in the Office of Chief Justice commences today, 19 June 2018,” in accordance with Article VIII, Section 4, Paragraph 1 of the 1987 Constitution.
Ms. Sereno, addressing supporters at the University of the Philippines in Diliman minutes after the SC’s announcement, called the petition “unjust” and her “ouster a call to action for all of us.”
She also accused President Rodrigo R. Duterte of ordering his government’s lawyer, Mr. Calida, to file the quo warranto petition.
When asked what Ms. Sereno’s next move would be, lawyer Anacleto A. Lacanilao III, her spokesperson, said she would “vacate her office and continue to be the voice of the people.”
Mr. Calida told reporters he was happy with the SC’s dismissal, saying, “This is a triumph of justice.”
Ms. Sereno’s motion for reconsideration urged the court to reverse the decision as it allegedly violated her right to due process when six of her peers refused to inhabit themselves despite allegedly showing impartiality towards her.
The six Ms. Sereno cited were Associate Justices Diosdado M. Peralta, Teresita L. De Castro, Francis H. Jardeleza, Lucas P. Bersamin, Samuel R. Martires, and Noel G. Tijam, the author of the original May 11 decision.
Several opposition politicians slammed the SC’s decision, with Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo saying in a statement released also on Tuesday, “Today, eight members of the highest court in the land cemented into jurisprudence a ruling widely decried — within and outside the legal profession — as unjust, both in its substance as well as the manner in which it was reached.”
Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in part: “Tapos na po ang pagiging chief justice ni [Maria Lourdes] Sereno (Ms. Sereno’s position as chief justice is over). We wish her good luck in her everyday life as a private citizen.”
In his statement on Tuesday, Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez said “The Supreme Court ruling has also rendered moot and academic the impeachment proceedings against Sereno at the House of Representatives. As a consequence, we would now have to consign such proceedings to our archives.”
Majority Leader Rodolfo C. Fariñas of the House of Representatives said in a message to reporters: “The Rules Committee will recommend to Plenary for the dismissal of the Impeachment Case against then Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno for being moot and academic since she is no longer a public officer subject to impeachment proceedings. Without any impeachable officer, there can be no impeachment proceedings.”
Former Senate president Aquilino L. Pimentel III said the resolution to express the sense of the Senate on the quo warranto case can still be adopted.
“‘Sense of the Senate’ reso simply states the sense of the Senate on a certain matter. It is not meant for any other purpose. Hence, it can be passed anytime depending on the sense of the majority,” Mr. Pimentel said.
Senator Panfilo M. Lacson, who earlier questioned the merits of that resolution, said it can still be taken to the plenary upon the resumption of sessions in July.
“While it is obvious that the SC’s final ruling on the petition for quo warranto has rendered the draft resolution moot, academic and without purpose, still, its disposition is something that we as a collegial body will have to vote upon when the 3rd regular session of the 17th Congress opens in July,” Mr. Lacson said. — Dane Angelo M. Enerio with Arjay L. Balinbin and Charmaine A. Tadalan

Cayetano: PHL, China ‘co-control’ Scarborough

FOREIGN AFFAIRS Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano on Monday said the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China “co-control” the disputed West Philippine Sea, particularly the waters surrounding Scarborough Shoal, adding that Filipinos are now “free” to fish there despite the now widely-reported incident involving China Coast Guard members reportedly taking the catch of Filipino fishermen.
“I believe at this point in time, may co-control tayo, because malaya na tayong pumupunta (we now have co-control, because we are now free to go there),” Mr. Cayetano told reporters, as shown in video reports by CNN, ABS-CBN and other media.
He added: “But definitely, before President Duterte came in, it was controlled by the Chinese. Now, we can use semantics. Pwede tayong mag (We can) debate, how much control we have. How much hindi (How much is not) controlled. Ang masasabi ko lang (All I can say), our situation now is much, much better than two years ago. Could it be much, much better than today? Definitely. Do we want total control? Definitely. But the reality is matinding negotiations ang dadaanan natin dito (we have to go through intense negotiations).”
President Rodrigo R. Duterte, for his part, said on that occasion marking the Department of Foreign Affairs’ 120th anniversary: “Ilagay ko na lang muna ‘yung China diyan…Hindi ko naman talaga mabira-bira (I’ll just set aside China for now… I cannot criticize it). China is no pushover. You cannot scare [them]. And even the United States has shown a little bit of apprehension….”
The President also said the Philippines “will never go to a battle that it cannot win.”
“I am not prepared to sacrifice the lives of the Filipino people,” he said.
Asked if the President was pre-empting the results of the Chinese government’s ongoing investigation on the incident, Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. on Tuesday said: “Hindi naman po siguro, kasi ang sabi nga ng Presidente, barter pero walang pagkakasundo sa valuation (Maybe not, because the President said it was barter, but there was no agreement on the valuation). So, hindi po siya talagang (it was not a) perfected contract of barter.”
Mr. Cayetano, for his part, said in his speech: “We would like to assure the public that we are protecting every single square inch of our territory.”
“President Duterte, even before he won, knows independent foreign policy; he understands geopolitics,” he also said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

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