Mayor Isko Moreno expressed support to the plan of President Rodrigo Duterte to revive the mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program in public and private senior high schools nationwide in a bid to promote patriotism among Filipino youths.

Moreno, after attending the first Presidential Silent Drill Competition at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila, said that the event he attended is a “prelude” in the possible comeback of ROTC.

The Mayor shared the importance of ROTC to his followers.

“Diyan matututo ka ng disiplina, kasi kapag na-late ka ay makikipag lips-to-lips ka sa lupa… camaraderie, synchrony, tapos tataas ang hearing capacity mo because you follow instruction,” Moreno said.

“So marami siyang mabuting maidudulot sa atin as a person, not only as a student,” he added.

Moreno believes that the ROTC program could also help the students to be ready if ever that there’s a big calamity happen in the country.

He also said that he understands the people who are against the revival of ROTC, because of the controversy it faced in the past, but Moreno strongly believes that reviving the said program could give more benefits to the people.

Moreno and Duterte met on Friday after the Manila City Mayor welcomed the President who also attended the Presidential Silent Drill Competition.

In 2000, ROTC faced many controversies that resulted from losing support from the people and politicians.

In 2002, the Republic Act 9163 or the National Service Training Program Act of 2001 was signed into, allowing college students to choose between ROTC, Literacy Training Service, and Civil Welfare Training Service as part of their required National Service Training Program.

Amid the possible closure of television network giant ABS-CBN, a netizen said that there’s still a possibility for them to have a franchise extension despite the disapproval from President Rodrigo Duterte.

On a lengthy Facebook post, Noel Landero Sarifa believes that the management of ABS-CBN should be blamed for what happens to their company right now and not the President.

He believes that the artists and employees of ABS-CBN should not defend the network and ask the management of the company to fix their issues with the government if they really wanted to extend their franchise.

Sarifa said that he doesn’t hate the ABS-CBN, admitting that he’s one of the subscribers of the channel, however, he disliked how the management of the television network allegedly tried to discredit the President several times.

At the end of his post, he suggested that ABS-CBN should stop trying to gain the sympathy of the public and tried to fix the real issues being faced by their company.

Takot ba talaga ang ABS CBN na mawalan ng trabaho ang kanilang empleyado o takot silang mawalan ng bilyong bilyong peso?

This is what he said:

“Ang paglapastangan at pag-abuso ng kanilang kapangyarihan ng ABS-CBN Management ang naglagay sa kanilang Company sa panganib and now they are using their employees/artist to rally against Duterte o gamitin ang kanilang mga artista para makakuha ng sympathy sa taong bayan. Kung matatalino tong mga artista at empleyado ng ABS CBN they should plea with the management to set things right with the government and not to use them to gain public sympathy. Kaso sino nga ba namang empleyado ang kakalaban sa management kahit mali pa ito syempre dahil ABS CBN nagpapasahod sa kanila dun sila kakampi.

We dont hate the artist and the employees, we love abs-cbn shows, we hate the management for using their influence in spreading black propaganda against the Duterte Admistration, even before Duterte become president, highlighting the bad, mum with the accomplishments and the truth. Triggering public outrage and spreading fake news. ABS-CBN should stop using their artist na sila ung magmakaawa sa taumbayan. Harapin ng management si Duterte, settle their financial obligation with the government, di pa huli ang lahat. If they will do what is right there is no reason for the President not to grant their franchise but until then #NotoABSCBNFranchise
#YESTOABSCBNShutdown”

The franchise of ABS-CBN is set to expire in March 2020 and several employees and artists working for the said company are already asking the President to change his mind.

However, last week, President Duterte renewed his criticisms against ABS-CBN and told its management not to expect any franchise renewal.

Maguindanao 2nd District Representative Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu is forever thankful to President Rodrigo Duterte who helped him to find the victims of the Ampatuans in 2009.

It can be remembered that family members of Mangudadatu were included to the 58 victims of the Ampatuan clan after he decided to run against former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. in the gubernatorial elections.

In an interview with DZMM, Mangudadatu narrated how President Duterte, who was the Mayor of Davao City during that time, offered his assistance to him to find his family who buried by the Ampatuans in a remote area in Maguindanao.

According to him, Duterte helped him to borrow a chopper to conduct aerial reconnaissance which resulted in the discovery of the mass grave where the his family members, supporters and 32 media practitioners were buried as an attempt of the Ampatuans to hide the incident.

“Kung hindi nagpahiram si Mayor Duterte noon, si Presidente, halos walang traces na makita,” said Mangudadatu.

In another interview, Mangudadato revealed that President Duterte promised to him that he would end the Ampatuan case before his term ends.

PANOORIN: Maguindanao Rep. "Toto" Mangudadatu sa pahayag umano ni Pangulong Duterte na tuldukan na ang #MaguindanaoMassacre case sa kanyang termino | via @jaymarkdagala pic.twitter.com/ELxltjgLhB

— DWIZ Newscenter (@dwiz882) December 19, 2019

Yesterday, after one decade, eight members of the Ampatuan clan were found guilty and sentenced to a maximum of 40 years of detention.

It includes Datu Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan, Jr., Zaldy Ampatuan, and Datu Anwar, Sr. who were brought to the national penitentiary after the promulgation of judgment.

Liberal Party President and Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan reminded that the people behind EJKs could also face the same punishment imposed on the family members of the Ampatuan on Thursday.

On a Twitter post, Pangilinan who accused the government of launching EJKs said that they could be punished also soon as what happened to Datu Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan, Jr., Zaldy Ampatuan, and Datu Anwar, Sr.

Photo: @kikopangilinan

Some netizens tried to defend the administration from Pangilinan, saying that the people behind the demise of the 44 members of the PNP-Special Action Forces in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in 2015 should also be punished.

“The enablers of SAF 44 should also be punished,” Emil Cabrera told Pangilinan.

However, Jim Paredes responded to Cabrera’s post, saying that the Mamasapano clash is not a human rights issue.

“That was not a human rights issue. That was a military tactical blunder,” Paredes said.

That was not a human rights issue. That was a military tactical blunder.

— Jim (@Jimparedes) December 19, 2019

Yesterday, the eight members of the Ampatuan clan were found guilty and sentenced to a maximum of 40 years of detention.

The verdict was only announced ten years after the incident which loss the lives of 57 people.

They were also ordered to pay millions of pesos to the victims’ families.

Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes ordered the transfer of the Ampatuans and other people sentenced to the national penitentiary.

Vice President Leni Robredo visited one of the most famous Mayors in Metro Manila on Wednesday as part of her ‘Laylayan Program’.

Robredo was spotted together with Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto and the millennial politician didn’t forget to tour the Vice President in their City hall.

Sotto also introduced the City hall employees to Robredo.

Metro Laylayan is an advocacy program of Robredo which aims to help poor communities in the National Capital Region.

After winning the Mayoral race in Pasig City and ended the political domination of the Eusebio clan, Sotto revealed that one of his idols in politics is former Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo, the late husband of the Vice President.

“The Transparency Ordinance I filed in Pasig is, in part, inspired by Jesse Robredo,” Sotto said in his past interview.

Several days ago, Sotto received praise from the netizens for saving P150-M in his first five months as city Mayor of Pasig.

“We saved over P150 million because of our open and honest-to-goodness public bidding for the city’s goods and services,” he wrote.

Sotto made some ways to make the bidding open in public and following the correct procedures.

“The bidding process is now truly open, rigidly following the correct procedures. As a result, competition is high and prices go down. Previously, almost all winning bids were within 1 percent of the ABC, which is red-flagged by some auditors. Now, it is common to see winning bids that are 10 percent to 50 percent lower,”  he said.