A British citizen wrote an open letter addressed to U.S Senator Richard Durbin, who urged the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to release Senator Leila De Lima from detention.

In the open letter, Malcolm Conlan, who’s a known supporter of President Duterte, asked Durbin why the American politician is interfering with the justice system in the Philippines and insisting that De Lima should be released just because he believes she’s innocent.

“I am really surprised that you today called for the release of Sen Leila De Lima without even understanding the facts of the case?” Conlan said.

“How would you like it, if President Duterte called publicly for the release of an American Citizen, awaiting trial in the U.S,” 

“Are you actually involved in the case of De Lima, have you suddenly become her legal defense or are you in any way involved in the Philippine Judiciary?”

“What right has an American politician got to interfere in the Philippine Justice system?”

Conlan explained to Durbin that De Lima was not detained because of being a critic of the administration because President Duterte has many political enemies who are still walking freely like Vice President Leni Robredo.

“She (Robredo) is one of the harshest critics of the President, yet she is free to speak publicly and hold as many press conferences as she likes without any hindrance,” 

“Before being critical of the Philippine President and Philippine justice, I humbly suggest that you get your own house in order,” 

The British supporter of the President then reminded Durbin that the Philippines is not a territory of America anymore.

“No longer is the Philippines a slave to America, the Philippines is now an independent sovereign nation, with her own laws, processes and Justice system.”

“With the greatest respect, Sen De Lima is not locked away in some darkened room with only bread and water, in fact she still has the freedom to speak to the outside world and if she wanted to explain her situation herself, she doesn’t need some Senator thousands of miles away to jump on the bandwagon and defend her, when in fact you don’t know the details of the pending case,”

A few days ago, Durbin in a speech on the US Senate floor urged the Philippines to give De Lima a “fair and credible” trial.

“There is an easy and honorable way forward. The Duterte regime should […] instead assure a quick and credible trial for Senator De Lima, or simply do the right thing and release her,” Durbin said.

DMCI Homes Chairman and President Isidro Consunji said that they’re going to pay back the Ecoland unit owners who lost their homes after a quake damaged their building in Davao City.

Consunji made the statement after President Rodrigo Duterte accused him of being arrogant towards the unit owners who are asking for compensation for losing their units because of the quake.

Photo courtesy of Cardio Ped Don

According to the businessman, they’re going to pay back the unit owners of Ecoland 4000 condominium building 150 percent of what they paid for their units.

“We accepted the offer to settle the claims of the homeowners at 150 percent of acquisition cost. They have a general assembly on January 20,” Consunji told CNN Philippines on Saturday.

On January 10, Duterte told Consunji that he’s not going to give a permit for DMCI to build projects in the Philippines if he’s not going to address to problems of Ecoland 4000 unit owners.

“The Consunjis, one of their four condos collapsed. Nagsalita sa concession sa water, ikaw me problema, Consunji, builder ka, if naasar ako sa iyo, I will not grant you any permit,” Duterte said.

“Tayong mahihirap, wala tayong problema. Ang may mga problema dito, ‘yung mga mayaman. Gaya nito ni Consunji, lahat ng condo niya — apat, ‘yung isa bumagsak. Sa karaming building sa Davao, kanya lang ang (bumagsak),” he also said.

In another interview, this time with ABS-CBN’s Ted Failon, Duterte called Consunji ‘arrogant’.

“You were most arrogant do not do that. You will not only lose your funds but also your business, believe me. I have ordered an audit of all your buildings and violations you have committed,” said Duterte.

“You know, if you do not come to terms with the people that you have prejudiced, will not allow you to even construct a building, not even a post,” he added.

Mayor Isko Moreno criticized the people who violated the ordinance against alcohol in Manila City during the Feast of the Black Nazarene.

On his Facebook live video, Moreno showed the people caught drinking during the Traslación.

They’re identified to be devotees as they were spotted wearing a Black Nazarene t-shirt while enjoying a beer.

Unfortunately, their fun cut short when the authorities arrived and invited them to the police station for violating the ordinance against drinking in public places.

Moreno after showing the violators appealed to the public not to drink before participating in the Traslación because it’s a bad example for the younger generation and they might imitate it in the future.

“Ang importante ang tao ay may Diyos, pero hindi sinabi ng Diyos na uminom ka muna bago ka sumama sa Traslación,” Moreno said.

“Wag niyo ho kaming hanapan ng mga excuse, mali po yun, wag po nating ituturo iyon sa mga anak natin, wag po nating ipapakita ‘yon sa mga bata kasi gagayahin nila tayo,” he added.

The Mayor said that the incident should set an example for other devotees not to violate the city ordinance.

He then pointed out that one bottle of beer could already buy rice to feed their families.

In this year’s Traslación, Moreno set new rules to make the feast more secure by increasing the police visibility around the route of the procession.

However, the new rules made by Moreno raised the eyebrows of some devotees, who complained about the stricter policies being implemented by the cops.

Despite the tension between the cops and devotees, the Traslación was considered a success and became the fastest procession of the Black Nazarene in recent memory, finishing within 16 hours.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III couldn’t hide his anger after he suspected that the autopsy performed by Kuwait authorities to the body of OFW Jeanelyn Villanvende was forged.

According to Bello, the Kuwaiti forensic doctors who examined Villavende’s body found that the OFW faced her demise because of “physical injuries”.

He then called the autopsy report dishonest and useless.

“I wrote to NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) to conduct our own autopsy, and I found out na ‘yong autopsy report ng Kuwaiti government ay palpak, sinungaling at walang kwenta,” Bello said.

Bello said that he wanted to push for a permanent employment ban in Kuwait and criticized the Kuwaitis for their treatment to the Filipino workers.

“Wala na tayong ipadadala doon. Mga walang kuwenta ‘yang mga Kuwaiti na ‘yan. Biro mo ‘yong ginawa nila sa ating kababayan. ‘Pag ikuwento ko sa inyo, baka pati [kayo] magwewelga na. Masyado nilang inapi ang ating kababayan,” said Bello.

Bello said that he would recommend to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to impose a total deployment ban of Filipinos in Kuwait once he received the autopsy report performed by NBI.

“That will not be lifted until we get proper justice (for Villavende),” he said.

NBI medical officer Dr. Ricardo Rodaje believes that Villavende was also violated by the suspect which cannot be found on the autopsy report sent by Kuwait.

Yesterday, President Duterte praised Kuwait for their fast response on the case of Villavende.

“Maganda ang response ng Kuwaiti authorities,” Duterte said.

It’s not yet known if Duterte is already aware of the autopsy report released by Kuwait which made Bello upset.

Former Senator Bongbong Marcos wanted the textbooks being used by students to be “fixed” to clean the image of his father, late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

In a forum hosted by the National Press Club, Marcos said that they were accused of changing the history in their favor, but it seems that the textbook shows that they’re not the ones doing revisionism.

According to him, the court already cleared his father from accusations like

“Pinapalitan daw namin ang kwento ng kasaysayan. Who is doing revisionism? Nilagay nila sa libro ng textbook ng mga bata na ganito, ‘ang mga Marcos ganito ang ninakaw, ganito ang ginawa’,” said Marcos.

“Ngayon lumalabas sa Korte hindi totoo lahat ng sinabi ninyo dahil hindi niyo naipakita,” he added.

Marcos said that they’re asking the government for correcting some of the details about his father in textbooks, however, the people in power during those times are their critics.

“What has been proven wrong is essentially what they continue to contend in the textbooks of our children. Essentially you are teaching the children lies,” said Marcos.

“‘Yung kanilang sinasabi na ninakaw namin, na ginawa namin, hindi lahat totoo. Pa’no ko nasasabi ‘yun? ‘Yan ang desisyon ng korte. There was no evidence,” he added.

He then called the cases filed against his family as “political propaganda”.

In November 2019, Sandiganbayan junked a P1-B civil-ill gotten wealth cases against the Marcoses and their alleged dummies.

They also dismissed the P200-B civil suit filed by the government against the Marcoses.

The former Senator suggested that instead of political appointees, history professors should be given the task in checking the textbooks being distributed to the country.

A retired journalist who also worked for ABS-CBN in the past made an open letter to actress Angel Locsin and actor Baron Geisler and explained why the television giant is having a hard time to get a franchise renewal from the government.

In a lengthy post, Jay Sonza said that he understood why Locsin, Geisler and other employees of ABS-CBN are defending the said network because they’re currently working there and getting paid well.

However, Sonza pointed out that not all of the employees of ABS-CBN are enjoying the same treatment they’re receiving.

Sonza listed some of the issues allegedly being faced by the television giant:

“1. the company is not 65 years old. abs or Alto Broadcasting Service of the Quirino family was annexed (itanong nyo sa mga Lopez paano nila nakuha) by cbn or Chronicle Broadcasting Network of the Lopez clan and merged in 1959. abs-cbn was taken out of commission from 1972 to 1986 (14 year-shut down).”

“2. The company is one big violator of existing laws of the land:
= more than 90 percent of their employees are victims of ENDO or labor only contracting despite working practically 24/7 Monday to Sunday. Check their labor cases pending before NLRC numbering hundreds.
= almost 90 percent are NOT given their due social amelioration as provided by law regardless of work status including but not limited to SSS, PhilHealth and Pagibig Fund coverages. Simply ask any ‘talent employee” if they have one.
= the company is not honest and religious in paying their taxes, tarrif, duties, etc. Proof of these are their cases before tax courts.”

“3. While the network projects publicly their concern and compassion, take a look of these samples:
– Ruth Abao Espinosa = radio announcer and TV news and public affairs program presenter. She got pregnant. went on maternity leave. Hindi na pinabalik sa trabaho.
– Izza Reniva Cruz = news producer and writer. nabuntis. nanganak. nagpapasuso. pinabalik sa trabaho mula 11 ng hatinggabi hanggang 7 ng umaga.
– Public donations sa abs cbn Foundation pinambili ng lupa at sasakyan, pinagpatayo ng gusali at pinamigay na donasyon sa Ateneo Alumni Association.”

“4. Huwag na nating pag-usapan ang iba pang kahalayan at pangangalunya sa loob ng bakuran. Huwag na nating pangalanan ang mga artista at program hosts at news anchors na bumababa mula sa penthouse ng bagong paligo o may pabahay o pakotse.”

Angel Locsin and Baron Geisler expressed their support to ABS-CBN amid the possible closure of the said network after President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to block its franchise renewal.

The network’s franchise is set to expire in March 2020.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and the group Migrante engaged in an argument when the militants mentioned several issues and also urged the government to avoid sending the army in the Middle East.

On Friday, Locsin who arrived at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DDFA) building was welcomed by the shouting activists.

Locsin became furious when the rallyist called the DFA secretary “epal”.

“Oh sige bugbugin mo ko,” Locsin told the activists, he also ordered his security personnel not to interfere.

He then answered the issues being mentioned by the activists one by one.

“Yung namatay na Kuwait sinabi ko na, life for a life, no other compromise,” Locsin said “Two kahit na wala nang gera. In spite of that, there will be a massive repatriation effort to bring our people back home,”

Locsin then assured that even if the OFWs refused to go back home, they’re going to stay there and protect them.

“We will stay there and we will protect them as much as we can, you know why? Because this is the government of Rodrigo Roa Duterte,” he said.

The DFA secretary also clarified that the Philippines was not siding with the U.S in the Middle East crisis.

The situation became calm when a family of an OFW asked Locsin to save her sister working in Saudi Arabia who was barred by her employers to go home.

The secretary asked the complainant for more details and vowed to save her sister from her Saudi employers.

On a tweet, Locsin then teased the media for their report about the confrontation.

“Hoy, mga sioki, “Bugbugin mo ako. Sige.” I shouted at them. That’s not a challenge but an invitation,” said Locsin.

Actress Liza Soberano appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider his decision on the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN to save the employees who may be affected by its closure.

In a press conference for his upcoming series “Make It With You,” a reporter asked Soberano about her stand on the possible franchise expiration of ABS-CBN.

Her show is expected to air by March 30, 2020, the same month when the franchise of ABS-CBN is going to expire once the Congress fails to pass it.

According to Soberano, she believes that it’s possible for President Duterte to retract his decision to block the ABS-CBN franchise renewal.

“He is understanding, I believe, alam niya namang maraming maaapektuhan… It’s not just the company itself, but all the employees. I’m sure he has a generous heart and an understanding heart.” Soberano said.

“I hope he wakes up one morning and he thinks about it again, and maging bukas ‘yung puso niya sa lahat ng smaller employees na nangangailangan ng trabaho,” she added.

Meanwhile, Soberano’s long time partner, Enrique Gil said that he’s worried about the possible people that could lose their job because of the closure of ABS-CBN.

“Ang iniisip ko lang ang ‘yung may mabababang posisyon. You know I don’t know what to say minsan. Siyempre nasasaktan din ako na there is a possibility na hindi matuloy. We grew up. I’ve been here for a long time but I don’t know. I just hope for the best,” Enrique stated.

They’re not the only celebrities who asked President Duterte to reconsider his decision.

Yesterday, Actress Sharon Cuneta, a friend of Duterte asked the President to support the ABS-CBN franchise renewal for the sake of its employees.

“I’ll just say this before saying goodbye—I pray that our dear President reconsiders his decision about ABS-CBN, not just because I just renewed,  I can always find a job,” Cuneta said.

“But because everybody I grew up with here—who have remained loyal to the station and have grown up here having learned from the school of hard knocks and have become family and good friends—will lose almost everything they’ve built over the years, And even those that might choose to stay—if indeed, unfortunately, goes that way—it won’t be the same,” she added.