GRPundit

This question is leaving an increasing number of Filipinos utterly stumped, specially nowadays, ironically, considering the number of activist circuses that spring from the ground everyday. But that is exactly the problem. Protest rallies  spring then fizzle at every drop of a hat in recent months. Much of what these rallyists protest can't even be considered to be things one would normally be outraged about anymore. Most ordinary Filipinos simply get on with it. But not these "activists". The things they consider to be important from their cushy ivory towers are too lofty for the average Filipino to care about. After all, how relevant, for example, is "feminism" to the average Pinoy? Can "human rights" be eaten for breakfast? Would whoever happen to be sitting in Malacanang actually make any difference to the average Filipino schmoe? See, this is the trouble with today's "activism". The show put up by these "militants" a...

Amnesty International chimes in with the latest of jewel-studded crowns adorning Senator Leila De Lima who had become the Philippines' preeminent social justice warrior (SJW). According to the Philippine Star report , a litany of other illustrious publications and organisations have come before to award tribute to De Lima... De Lima has been also recognized as one of the world’s greatest leaders by Fortune Magazine, one of the 100 Most Influential People by Time Magazine, one of the leading Global Thinkers in 2016 and 2017 by Foreign Policy Magazine and one of the Southeast Asia’s Women to Watch by the Diplomat Magazine.  In 2017, she was recognized by AI as one of the notable women human rights defenders. Could De Lima be the next Mother Theresa? The next Filipino saint? By the look of that pile of Western awards growing and the crowd bowing in awe before that pile, it's a growing possibility. That's the power of Western cultural and political imperialism stil...

Many Filipinos indeed ask the same question. Is "vice president" Leni Robredo really the Philippines' vice president? This is a question that has bugged Filipinos since May 2016 when Robredo supposedly "won" the elections on the back of dubious vote count figures. It didn't help either that her party failed to comply with a COMELEC rule that would have disqualified all Liberal Party candidates had the "right" people not intervened in their favour. No less than Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte himself is keen to find out who the true vice president is. This is evident in how he reportedly inquired today on progress of the Supreme Court Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) overseeing the recount. “Ano bang latest count nito kay Bongbong pati kay ano? Ma-vice president ba talaga ‘yan [What’s the latest count between Bongbong and the other? Is he/she really the vice president?],” the President said during the assembly attended by Congre...

The so-called Babae Ako movement will go down in history as a textbook case of how not to run an activist cause that seeks to come across as inclusive . It was ruined by its idiotic "thought leadership" and its attention whoring members and content producers. Mae Paner a.k.a. "Juana Change" asserted that having a vagina is what defines womanhood. Memes were launched slut shaming Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson and highlighting an exclusive club of Yellowtard women -- Senator Leila de Lima, "vice president" Leni Robredo, and never-had-been-chief-justice Lourdes Sereno as the Philippines' quintessential "strong women". In so doing, rather than unite Filipinos behind feminism, the Babae Ako movement had, instead, further polarised it. It effectively excluded people with no vaginas, women formerly or currently in the adult entertainment industry, and voters who did not vote for Yellowtard politicians. Congratulations to the Babae Ako ...

Even under the administration of former President Benigno Simeon "BS" Aquino III the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) already exhibited a suspicious tolerance for leaky control measures and processes applied to the management of national elections. COMELEC systems had reportedly been beset by technical glitches even way back leaving processes open to manual intervention. During the 2013 elections, "Ateneo de Manila University math professor Lex Muga detected a '60-30-10' pattern in the official election results (ERs) canvassed by the National Board of Canvassers (NBoC)." Even back then, as what happened in 2016, suspicious statistical patterns suggesting possible fraud emerged during vote counts. Muga said the candidates from Team PNoy consistently garnered 60 percent of the votes, while United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) bets obtained 30 percent and the independent candidates, 10 percent. Most astounding  of all, Manila Times columnist an...

Apparently, professional commie "activist" Renato Reyes wants to raise wages while, at the same time, expects inflation to go down ... It is, of course, likely that Reyes was out rallying instead of attending his Economics 101 classes back in university so perhaps there is some cause to cut him a bit of slack on this one. Nonetheless, it is quite irresponsible to be leading people who actually struggle to make ends meet to believe that it is actually possible to call for wage hikes and will prices to go down. And then there is also that rather inconvenient little law that governs how prices behave while supply and demand vary. The Philippines being "blessed" with an enormous supply of workers pretty much ensures that things won't exactly go the way Mr. Reyes thinks they ought to go. Tough luck for his "cause" is all we can really say.

Mae Paner in happier times schmoozing with Cardinal Luis Tagle who is all smiles on this occasion. Twice in a week?? This is the shrill cry of outrage following the suspension today of the Facebook account of top Yellowtard activist Mae Paner who goes by the screen name "Juana Change". The previous week saw a similar setback for popular Yellowtard blogger Jover Laurio whose account had now been restored after more than two days of suspension. What is going on? True to the unscientific way Yellowtards dissect the issues of national consequence, a preferred conclusion had already been arrived at. According to social media "thought leader" Inday Espina Varona, this is an outcome of "targeted attacks" against supporters of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte... It’s ironic that @facebook allowed a gazillion trolls for years to transform its social media platform into a toxic sea of lies and abuse, and now it plays catch up — by targeting known ...

Some leaders of the Yellowtard-led Babae Ako campaign may try their best to disassociate their cause with the " Dilawans ". But hard as they try, that's just not gonna happen seeing how their own idiot members inadvertently put a damper on the ascendancy of the cause thanks to their tunnel-visioned partisan fixations. This is evident in the ironic memes they send out one of which is this one which is clearly misogynistic in intent... The offensiveness of this meme moved one of the Babae Ako members to tweet ... Who made this? Call out Mocha Uson but don't slut shame her. We have to fight. We have been deemed and made to feel powerless so many of us think this is okay. We have to go thru the process of unlearning, and learning empowerment. Indeed. Whoever made that meme should step forward, own up, and apologise. Only this way can whatever is left of people's respect for the Babae Ako "movement" be earned back.

Truly strong women don't need affirmative action for their achievements and capabilities to be recognised. That's because, regardless of gender, real achievements and capabilities stand out in a competitive environments on the back of their intrinsic value to society. There are many women in history who achieved in what were then (and some even now) overwhelmingly male-dominated societies. One should note that the most compelling stories and movies are about such women -- women who recognised what they were up against and achieved nonetheless. It is in this context that the fundamental flaw in today's feminist "activism" is easily highlighted. Today's feminists appeal to fairness rather than absolute achievement. The rallying cries revolve virtually entirely around an entitlement to fairness and recognition. Rather than compete in man's world, women are encouraged by today's misguided feminists to tilt the playing field to their advantage and...

Prominent feminist Netizen Inday Espina Varona who is an active promoter of the Babae Ako movement apparently supports the outcome of a referendum in Ireland that may see the legalisation of abortion finally becoming a reality in the this devoutly-Catholic European nation. This is evident in her recent retweet of a news source of this outcome... This leads us to wonder what the Catholic nuns who are also deeply-involved in the heavily-partisan Babae Ako movement think of the abortion debate. Abortion, after all, is a key pillar of the beliefs of feminist "activists" and pro-choice advocates but runs counter to the most fundamental of Catholic dogma. For that matter, feminism is essentially a liberal advocacy and one that espouses doctrines that the conservative Roman Catholic Church categorically disagrees with. The principle of pro-choice, for example, encourages women to stand by their lifestyle choices on the back of the principle that they are in charge o...

The Ateneo de Manila University Rizal Library now carries the name First Pacific Hall, after a firm owned by the family of Suharto's biggest crony, now tightly controlled by his son Anthoni. Our revered Colayco Hall (where student orgs had their offices)  was named  in honor of the World War II hero Manuel Colayco, the first editor-in-chief of Ateneo’s pre-war college newspaper The Guidon , who was killed in the Battle for Manila fighting against the Japanese in 1945. It is has been renamed  named Manuel V. Pangilanan Center for Student Leadership, after Anthoni's top operator here. Pera pera na lang Ateneo today. ------------------- Bobi Tiglao as posted on Facebook .

Various groups associated with the broader Philippine Opposition are mounting a shrill campaign to block National Identification System bill being pushed in Congress. “Ito ay pag-infringe sa right to privacy, right against surveillance and other forms of civil rights violations kaya po tinatanggihan natin itong national ID system,” [GABRIELA] Rep. Arlene Brosas said in a briefing.  Kabataan Rep. Sarah Elago also denounced how the data gathered for the ID system could be used by the government in its surveillance against critics. These bozos, however, fail to realise that the Philippine government data centres already host a mountain of data captured from the issuance of traditional government IDs such as passports and drivers' licenses. These ID records could easily be linked to other data sets the government already possess. Indeed, the bill, in fact, only "seeks to integrate multiple government IDs by establishing a single national identification system". I...

The question is, in aid of what legislation is this most recent of probes about this time ? This is a question that needs to be directed to 14 Philippine senators who launched another one of those infamously pointless Senate "probes" they use for the media mileage they crave every now and then. Nonetheless, the Philippine Star reports ... The 14 senators – Francis Pangilinan, Francis Escudero, Antonio Trillanes IV, Sonny Angara, Leila de Lima, Grace Poe, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Sherwin Gatchalian, Risa Hontiveros, Joel Villanueva, Loren Legarda, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto and former Senate president Aquilino Pimentel III – were one in their position that the Senate has the exclusive power under the Constitution to remove an impeachable official, such as the Chief Justice, accused of wrongdoing through an impeachment trial. It seems, however, that no legislative agenda is at stake here. According to the Star report, ...

So Yellowtard blogger Jover Laurio's Facebook account got suspended. And so, as expected, Yellowtards are up in arms as this bozo demonstrates ... You know what, "Mom Blogger"? All of us with large followings get mass-reported every now and then. But only a small number of idiots get their accounts suspended. So, guess what: there are likely other reasons why Laurio was suspended. Trained problem solvers gather evidence and evaluate the available information first before going all tililing about the preferred conclusion that first pops up in their heads. These self-described "influencers" have their heads so far up their asses that they have developed a bad habit of listening only to their own voices echoing within their pointed heads.

Basang Sisiw (a.k.a. Batang Yagit ) Platform: An election campaign platform that banks on its leaders' appealing to Filipinos' fascination with heroes and martyrs to attract votes. It is a memetic strain within the Yellowtardic class of political platforms. The Yellowtardic class of poltical platforms derives its name from the yellow colours that were used to brand famous poltical icons who rose to god-like fame in Philippine politics from 1983 through to the present on the back of martyrdom and victimhood. Though other politicians ran on similar platforms following the precedent set by the late former President Cory Aquino in 1986, the yellow stain on this sort of approach to winning Philippine elections stuck thanks to the brilliant brand management prowess of the Philippines' top corporate media executives' expertise brought to bear in a decades-long effort to keep Filipinos beholden to the "cause". Indeed, the trademark colour and "L" (for ...

A video supposedly of "vice president" Leni Robredo ironing the graduation toga of one of her daughters is going viral. As expected, Yellowtard Netizens are ecstatic over this latest "evidence" that their "vice president" comes across as one of the "common tao". The idea of a politician or, for that matter, anyone perceived as may kaya (can hold their own financially) ironing their own clothes is an alien concept in Philippine society. The Philippines has, after all, an enormous supply of labourers willing to work as servants even for lower-middle-class Filipino households. So huge is this surplus labour supply that servants can be paid peanuts to do even sub-human work. And, not surprisingly, it is a well-known fact that the Philippines is one of the planet's top exporters of expat household servants. As such, many Filipinos who grew up in above-lower-middle-class households have never experienced ironing their own clothes. This is...

Here is yet another instance of the way the Philippine Opposition is wasting precious bandwidth and political capital on no-results "activism". In the latest circus they had recently whipped up, Pinoy-style "feminism" mixed with Yellowtard-style "activism" delivers yet another eyesroll-inducing outcome. The Inquirer Editor (on cue!) explains ... Using the hashtag #BabaeAko (I am a woman), Filipino women are speaking out in short videos that hold Mr. Duterte to account for his misogyny. After a quick introduction, the woman posting the video delivers a bold message: “Lalaban ako!” (I will fight!) Ask the ordinary Filipino on the street what he or she thinks of the "feminist" cause and all you'll likely get is a bit of head scratching. And, here it is again, that "L" word. Laban? Really? Na naman?? One word describes all this. Obsolete . It's no wonder the Philippine Opposition continues to lose. In a democracy, what re...

How can one even begin to believe that this recent feminist event dubbed #BabaeAko does not have a partisan agenda? We can see this steep slant in the way social media "influencer" Inday Espina Varona who has thus far been promoting this campaign vigorously shared this quaint meme... Apparently the #BabaeAko "activists" are suggesting that only Yellowtard women fit the description "strong and independent". But expecting Yellowtards to be a bit more circumspect is asking a bit too much of their addled minds.

Recall in 2016 when Leni Robredo was technically disqualified from taking office as "vice president" following an election she supposedly "won". The disqualification is on the basis of a Commision on Elections COMELEC rule applicable to those elections that states... Sec. 14. Statement of Contributions and Expenditures; Effect of Failure to File Statement. – Every candidate and treasurer of the political party shall, within thirty (30) days after the day of the election, file in duplicate with the offices of the Commission the full, true and itemized statement of all contributions and expenditures in connection with the election.  No person elected to any public offices shall enter upon the duties of his office until he has filed the statement of contributions and expenditures herein required.  The same prohibition shall apply if the political party which nominated the winning candidate fails to file the statement required herein within the period prescri...

A recent article written by Rappler "editor-at-large" (whatever that means) Marites Vitug for a certain Neiman Reports is but the latest of assault-on-press-freedom fluff pieces being issued by an embattled clique of "activist-journalists" (whatever  that  means). In " In the Philippines, Journalists Confront Fake News and a Crackdown on Press Freedom ", Vitug again raises that imaginary "climate of fear" supposedly gripping the land following a rather quaint incident involving Pia Ranada, one of Rappler 's reporters, and an officer of the Philippines' Presidential Security Group (PSG) that resulted in her being banned from the Malacanang where Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte holds office. According to Vitug; Ranada’s ban from the presidential palace is just one example of the Filipino government’s intimidation and threats against the media. Despite the obstacles, though, independent Filipino news outlets are continuing to...

If there is one personality who is single-handedly undermining the Opposition effort, it is none other than Philippine "vice president" Leni Robredo. She remains a stark reminder of the astounding failure of the Liberal Party (a.k.a. the Yellowtards) to cling to power back in 2016. Whereas all efforts and people -- including Robredo herself -- were conscripted into the effort to prop up the ill-fated Mar Roxas bid for the presidency, Robredo turned out to be the lame compromise after the dust of the 2016 election cleared. Even now, Robredo continues to make the Opposition look bad thanks to her many public gaffes, misinformed and misguided pronouncements, and utter lack of coherence or consistency in thinking. Indeed, Robredo represents the worst of what makes the Philippine Opposition such an ineffective political movement today -- directionless, bereft of long-term vision, steeped in religious hocus-pocus, and applies a pitch to the electorate hinged on a long-obsolete...

An Inquirer report exposed the latest gaffe let loose by Philippine "vice president" Leni Robredo. Reporter Vince F. Nonato reports, Oops! Leni thinks Chinese bomber landed in PH seas after Robredo recklessly denounced China's landing of a long-range bomber on what she suggested is Philippine territory! It gets worse... An earlier version of Robredo’s statement even included the words “Kalayaan Group of Islands,” the Filipino name for the Spratly Islands. The response to the Inquirer report is classic Leni.. Responding to the Inquirer’s Twitter posts about the error in Robredo’s statements, Office of the Vice-President legal adviser Ibarra Gutierrez III said “the point of the statement remains.”  “These Chinese nuclear-capable bombers pose a threat to PH interests in the WPS and the security of the region, and our [Department of Foreign Affairs] should address this issue decisively,” Gutierrez said. Robredo does exhibit a consistent manner with...

Aside from the fact that the Philippine Opposition is led by the Liberal Party (a.k.a. the Yellowtards), it has become quite evident that the Opposition have become dull and bereft of charisma. This is likely because they have yet to find a charismatic enough leader to "unite" them and put a damper on the enormous popularity of current Philippine President Rodrigo Durterte. But that's just examining the state of the Opposition at the traditional level of discourse. The key is to rise above personalities and step up to aspiring towards a more intelligent proposition to Filipinos. Clearly, the Yellowtard-led Philippine Opposition is nowhere near that level of competence to field a truly compelling platform to counter Duterte's persistently seductive populism. Unfortunately for the Yellowtards, the same old Martial Law Crybabyism they continue to use as a cornerstone of their "opposition" no longer works. Worse, they also latch on to highfalutin liberal...

Filipinos should be the judge. A " report " published by the Philippine Star suggests that Philippine "vice president" Leni Robredo had issued a response to Manila Times columnist Bobi Tiglao's recent article  VP Robredo won’t confirm or deny if she is Congressman Banal’s mistress . The Star quotes the following as Robredo's response to Tiglao's allegations... I have been blessed with 25 years. To be in a very good marriage, there’s no need to see anyone especially now that our job consumes all of our time. I’m living a very public life. I’m with people 24/7. Nowhere in the above statement does anything even remotely resembling a categorical denial that she is in a relationship with House representative of Quezon City’s third district, Jorge (“Bolet”) Banal exists. Indeed, even the Star headline itself, "Robredo slams columnist for spreading rumors", indicates that no such categorical denial is included in the report. Robredo,...

Really bad taste the way some social media influencers send out requests to their followers to send them letters for their upcoming retreats. Volume over substance! This one , for example, has more than 1800 followers on Twitter... Does she really expect to read a thousand letters from followers many of whom she's probably never met and would hardly consider to be a real friend? Letters from family and close friends normally suffice. These social media "influencers" seem to have missed the whole point of real life experiences like retreats much the same way they likely miss the whole point of travelling by experiencing everything through their little $1000 screens. It could also be a case of one upmanship amongst these bozos. It's about who can exhibit the biggest stash of emails. They collect them much the same way they collect followers. It's a race for statistics rather than meaning .

So Senator Tito Sotto is now the Senate President. Why are the Yellowtards upset though? Sotto is just a product of the democratic process. Sotto is, himself, an elected member of the Senate. All of the senators who elected Sotto to the Senate presidency are, like Sotto, themselves elected by popular vote. So Sotto is the popular choice of senators who are, themselves, the popular choice of Filipino voters to represent their interests in the legislature. Yellowtards who see Sotto's ascent to the top of the Senate food chain as an "immoral" outcome are, in effect, calling the popular will of the Filipino electorate immoral too. Suffice to say, there is no getting around the core fact about democracy. In a democracy, the character of elected leaders mirror the character of the society that gave them the mandate to lead, govern and represent. It's simple, really .

It is common knowledge that the Ateneo, its faculty, and its student body collectively support the position that a 25% shading threshold be applied as criteria for the vote recount overseen by the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET). The PET recount is being done to settle a dispute lodged by vice presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos against the claim to the vice presidency of fellow candidate Leni Robredo. The Ateneo has been on Robredo's side since the campaign. As such, its taking such a position, which is, not surprisingly, exactly the same position Robredo's camp takes on the issue, is necessarily biased and not based on any other argument. For the Ateneo, the argument is idiotically straightforward: Leni Robredo wants the 25% shading criterion applied to the recount, so "we Ateneans" are behind it. Dumb, right? And to think parents of students of the Ateneo pay astronomical fees to "educate" their kids there. The evidence shows that Ateneans...

These are the members of this so-called "resistance slate": Bam Aquino, Chel Diokno, Erin Tañada, Gary Alejano, Barry Gutierrez, Agot Isidro. It's a bunch of faces and names but, as usual, no underlying platform to define what it is exactly these bozos stand for and what alternative pathway they plan to pitch to the Filipino voter. Nonetheless this "news" of the latest LP "achievement" was given airtime by ABS-CBN and, of course, Yellowtard newsletter Rappler ... [Liberal Party (LP) president senator Francis Pangilinan] said the once-ruling party would be forming a "broad coalition" for the 2019 polls and is talking to groups, including long-time LP ally Akbayan, the Magdalo Group, the anti-Duterte Tindig Pilipinas, and civic organization Kaya Natin.  During the same interview, Pangilinan said the party has not been in talks with actress and former presidential sister Kris Aquino for an elective post. He also said that defeated 201...

Philippine Senators Risa Hontiveros gives the Armed Forces of the Philippines too much credit ... “A review of our bilateral relationship with China is in order. We can’t call a country that robs us of our islands and threatens us with nuclear war a friend,” Senator Risa Hontiveros said in a statement. The Philippines, after all, is not armed with nuclear weapons. Therefore it will never be able to engage in a "nuclear war". Even among friends. Indeed, believe it or not, even in this supposedly post-Cold War world, humanity still lives under the threat of nuclear annihilation. This is a fact whether or not Chinese strategic bombers are stationed on those little islands in the South China Sea. China's capability to rapidly mobilise and deploy military capability is unmatched in the region. At any one time, nuclear-armed nations bristling with nuclear warheads mounted on intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) are already targetting cities ha...

Much ado is being made about the landing of a Chinese H-6K bomber on one of the islands developed by China in the South China Sea.  Fact is, China does not need bombers to be stationed near the Philippines to hit military targets in the Philippines. According to Military Today, the Philippines already is within range of most of Chinese strategic weapons based in the mainland. The 1900 km combat range of the H-6K can be extended to 3500 km with mid-air refuelling . Furthermore... Long-range cruise missiles effectively extend the bombers range to about 4 000-5 000 km. It is enough to reach, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Guam, Hawaii, Alaska and Moscow [from China's] mainland, without leaving air defense zone. What's the Philippine government going to do about this? There really isn't much Filipinos could do. Nonetheless, the Opposition is making this an outrage fad with which to throw snipes at the administration of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte...

Yellowtard legal eagle Florin Hilbay revealed recently that never-had-been-chief-justice Lourdes Sereno has the option to file a quo warranto case against whoever becomes the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, one of Sereno's lawyers, on Saturday said she has the option to file a quo warranto case against the new chief justice who will succeed her.  He said that would be "one of the many possibilities" that the ousted Supreme Court chief justice can look into if "she truly believes she is unlawfully removed." In stating so, Hilbay pretty much acknowledges that the quo warranto pathway used to void Sereno's appointment is a legal option which makes Sereno's removal from the office she now never occupied a legitimate outcome. The bigger point here is in the childish behaviour Sereno is exhibiting by suggesting that she is considering various options to make trouble for the next Chief Justice. Tha...

Asked by an Asia Times correspondent Shawn Crispin in a recent interview how exactly Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte "deceives" Filipinos, convicted mutineer and, now, "senator" Antonio Trillanes gives a mouthful of opinions begging to be fact checked (boldface added to emphasise key terms)... First and foremost, the abdication of the local media in its role as society’s watchdog. They have effectively been immobilized through the bullying and intimidation tactics of Mr. Duterte, so they are not presenting the truth to people.  The next factor is the sophistication of his propaganda machine . They have been spewing out one fake news after another to confuse or deceive the public on what’s really happening.  A final factor is the fear factor . Because of survey methods they go to the barangay [village-level] communities and the houses of the respondents are known to the local officials. Are all of the above true? Is this three-point treatise ...

Didn’t want to point this out because it might make certain people hysterical but the oversimplification or illogic being spouted against the Supreme Court’s quo warranto ruling is really annoying. Noting the similarity and lineage between the US and Philippine constitutions, did nobody else connect the ongoing Mueller investigation against Trump to the quo warranto question here? Did anyone get the obvious hint shown in every cable news channel that there is the possibility that, even in the US, even though the US Constitution uses the more direct “shall” rather than “may”, an “impeachable officer” can be removed from office other than by impeachment (in this case, by criminal indictment)? Yes, there is no fixed answer yet precisely because these are untested legal issues. But the point is that the debate in the US exists and goes on, albeit considerably civilly and intellectually. Far more intellectual than merely saying “because Fr. Bernas said so”. Oh, as for US...

What do those senators hope to achieve by making a public statement that essentially second guesses the Supreme Court on a ruling made to void Lourdes Sereno's Chief Justice appointment. Nothing essentially. Senators just see media mileage as currency in their political agendas. So, seeing that the Yellowtards are kicking up a stink about Sereno's "plight" these honourable senators, of course, want a piece of that action. Sereno, after all, is but the latest basang sisiw "martyr" figure that adorns the sloganeering of the Yellowtard-led Philippine Opposition. She follows a whole line of "martyrs" who've had their fifteen minutes of fame whilst they were useful to the Yellowtard cause. Sereno should enjoy it while it lasts. Because after this circus, she will go down in history as a mere footnote -- a quaint relic within the tall shadow cast by her predecessor, the late former Chief Justice Renato Corona that serves as an important l...

The lengths never-had-been-chief-justice Lourdes Sereno would go to score PR points knows no bounds. She now attends Catholic masses even if she herself is not a Roman Catholic. CNN Philippines , for example, reported how "Former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno clad in black attends solidarity mass in Ateneo. Supporters pray over her". Yet, even Yellowtard newsletter Rappler reports that "Sereno, 57, is a Born Again Christian." The question therefore is, what do the "born again" faithful make of the idea of a member of their flock attending a Catholic mass? Indeed, the bigger picture here is whether it is even right to be making participation in religious rituals a part of one's public relations (PR) campaign to begin with. The public consensus is increasingly critical of politicians (and Sereno, in fact, has become one) who use religion as a PR tool to further their personal agendas and ambition. Sereno is doing herself, he...

In one of the strongest moves toward democracy and away from the Patronage system, the Supreme Court ruled that “only qualified individuals” could hold hold public office. Maria Sereno was appointed without qualification to one of the most crucial positions- Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Her appointment was pushed through without regard to qualifications under the Patronage system, as previously we have seen with so many other government positions. The petition of Quo Warranto that was filed by the Solicitor General, was approved by the Supreme Court. The Executive Branch of government petitioned the Judicial Branch. Functioning democracy does it this way. The Judicial Branch considered it for two months and ruled that Judicial review applies, stating “The people have the right to have only qualified individuals appointed to public office. ” This also increases the strength of the Judicial Branch- not the Executive Branch. In previous administrations allies and donators we...

There's nothing in it for the Philippines' senators and House representatives to get themselves involved in the circus surrounding never-had-been-chief-justice Lourdes Sereno. For one thing, she's all but a done deal and done for . They should recognise too that the Supreme Court is not exactly the sort of institution any politician in their right mind would want to get on the bad side of. For another, the "debate" surrounding this "issue" is complex and academic -- not exactly something that the ordinary Filipino voter could wrap her head around. As such it is not an issue that decides elections. In short, Sereno is just another schmoe that will eventually pass into obscurity to be buried by time. She is destined for history's dustbin. If the average member of Congress knows what's good for him or her, they'd easily work out that Sereno is now a poisoned relic they'd best keep at an arm's length. Better yet, they should just rem...

There are calls from various militant personalities goading Congress to assert its right to have its shot at impeaching the now never-had-been-chief-justice Lourdes Sereno. Members of Congress should think twice . If Congress accede to these ludicrous requests, they will be raising the the old demons of 2012 when a kangarooo "impeachment court" of so-called "senator judges" impeached then Chief Justice Renato Corona. This has gone down in history as a blight on the honour of Philippine Congress given how much of this circus was engineered by no less than then Philippine President Benigno Simeon "BS" Aquino III himself who got the ball rolling by steamrolling a sloppily-written impeachment complaint through a complicit House of Representatives . The impeachment initiative was reportedly an exercise "to appease an angry President Benigno Aquino III"... Belmonte and another Liberal Party stalwart, Cavite Representative Joseph E.A. Abaya, r...

Unfortunately for the Yellowtards, Philippine "democracy" is still alive. This is after the Philippine Opposition led by the Yellowtards spent the last year and a half trying to kill it. Let me clarify that last statement though. Yellowtards had not been trying to kill Philippine "democracy". Rather, they've been trying to declare it dead. Such is the sense of entitlement of the Yellowtards. Even in the nasty business of murder, they would rather not get their hands bloodied by wielding the knife or pulling the trigger themselves. They prefer to issue death prophesies from their ivory towers perched above those tony hills. And when the thing they declare dead does not die? Why they throw their all-too-familiar temperamental tantrums. The Yellowtards aren't really sincere in their "advocacy" to "protect" democracy. They actually want to see democracy die just to prove to themselves and to others that they were "right" a...

Not according to former Solicitor General and resident legal expert of the Yellowtard camp Florin Hilbay, however. According to Hilbay , never-had-been-chief-justice Lourdes Sereno's "failure to file SALNs is laziness, not lack of integrity". One could see the lengths with which a legal mind such as Hilbay's would go to stretch logic just to justify the indefensible position Sereno finds herself in. You wonder why Philippine media give this guy the time of day when he is clearly expressing not the legal opinion he is presumably sought for but his lame partisan bias. In Hilbay’s desperation, he’s become irrational and inconsistent. How can he say Sereno was just being lazy when she didn’t file her SALN?! And why would Filipinos want a lazy Chief Justice? Seems people like Hilbay got used to Noynoy’s laziness that it’s ok for them to be lazy. Perhaps the lazy presidency of his idol, former President BS Aquino had so disensitised Filipinos to laziness that Hilba...

How can the Philippine Opposition plan its "next move" when its collective mindset is stuck in the wrong premise that Philippine democracy has "died"? As long as this is the rallying cry of the Opposition there is no chance of moving on from the ouster of the now never-had-been-chief-justice Lourdes Sereno. The trouble with the way the Opposition is conducting itself under the leadership of the Yellowtards is that it leaves no sound foundation to build a platform against the incumbent administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. How can they? They now believe that "democracy is dead"? Upon that premise can only be launched another one of their obsolete "people power" style approach to seizing power. And that is where the true agenda of the Yellowtards is revealed in all its bald glory. All they really want is to seize power. They have no interest in "preserving" democracy. If the Yellowtards are truly sincere about the lip servi...