SEN. Imee Marcos has been visibly bothered by her brother’s reversal from his initial resistance to rejoin the International Criminal Court of Justice (ICC). She warns of “big trouble,” apparently referring to a political disunity threatening the administration coalition.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros says the renewal of the country’s membership in the ICC will address the real “troubles” of more than 15,000 families who lost their loved ones in the brutal and unsolved killings of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war.
I believe the rest of our countrymen expect the coming investigation and prosecution of police drug operatives still under the cover of criminal impunity.
‘I believe the rest of our countrymen expect the coming investigation and prosecution of police drug operatives still under the cover of criminal impunity.’
There is little doubt that President Marcos Jr. has had a change of heart after the House of Representatives last week filed three resolutions calling on the government to cooperate with the ICC on the EJK probe. Marcos may sincerely be aspiring for genuine justice for the EJK victims.
The President is probably looking forward to a vindication of his father’s dreaded regime by rejoining the ICC and cooperating with its probe against Duterte. Is he hoping the crucial government support for the ICC to render justice for the perpetrators of the merciless EJKs would somehow lift the Marcos name above a huge tragedy of this nation and exhibit a veiled remorse?
From all accounts, the number of drug fatalities during the Duterte administration has substantially surpassed the fatal human rights victims under martial law.
Almost frothing in the mouth, Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa disputed the Senate and House resolutions for the government to cooperate with the ICC probe which will include him and other police officials, warning of a backlash from the public. His real concern, of course, is that his political fortunes – and the prominence or distinction he relishes today – will practically be obliterated if and when he is prosecuted and convicted.
The huge political fallout from the prosecution of Duterte will, in all probability, demolish any further political plans of Vice President Sarah Duterte. She says she will continue “to reach out to the DOJ to lay down the legal bases” against cooperating with the ICC.
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It’s good the government is standing pat on the modernization of the transport sector, especially the PUJs, despite the angry appeals by two groups of jeepney operators and drivers.
Through decades, countless government efforts for rehabilitation have been occasions for operators and drivers to make stiff demands while ignoring their part in numerous agreements with government agencies.
They have taken the government for a ride in getting away with worn-out vehicles.
Dilapidated jeepneys have become a common sight in Metro Manila, along with the blatant and unceasing bare-faced violations of traffic rules and regulations by most jeepney drivers.
Discipline and respect for government authority have become laughing matters for, I believe, all operators and drivers in Metro Manila. And why was the LTFRB suddenly and strangely lax with striking operators and drivers whose franchises should have been suspended or revoked entirely?
Conniving traffic enforces of the MMDA have ensured that those violations, along with reckless and abusive driving, would remain unabated.
For instance, along Marcos Highway, from Calumpang in Marikina to Masinag in Antipolo, traffic enforces look the other way daily as jeepneys pick up passengers at no-loading and no-unloading zones and at every intersection, resulting in traffic congestion.
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Again, from the book “Faith in the Corridors of Power” by Evelyn Miranda-Feliciano. “ ‘Joshua 1:9 – ‘This is my command – be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’ Most times, our hearts sink when we see our public officials retreating from the challenge of truth-telling to the comfort of fudging the issues to save their necks. How we wish that those who parade before us as “leaders” would be more statesmen than politicians, more spiritual than mere religious, more courageous in the interest of people and country than more concerned with the pursuit of self-protection.
“The late Senator Jovito Salonga explains ‘that the reason for such cowardice is because the root of spiritual courage is not media-hype religiosity. Rather, it is anchored in one’s faith in the Living God. The root of moral courage is clear conscience – the voice from within that tells us we have done our duty according to our best lights. We have to speak out, especially in times of moral crisis because we cannot live with our conscience.’
“We cannot live with ourselves; we cannot live with our God if we keep our silence. Silence is consent and by our silence, we become involved in the very injustices we fail to speak of and do something about.’”
