Mayor Isko Moreno gave a reward to the Manila Traffic And Parking Bureau (MTPB) enforcer, who put his life in danger after he encountered an erring driver on November 15.

In a CCTV footage, it can be seen that MTPB member Adrian Lim was dragged by the suspect, Orlando Ricardo Jr., using his car after he refused to accept the traffic ticket that the enforcer was trying to give him.

Ricardo Jr. was only supposed to pay P500 pesos for disregarding lane.

A few days after the incident, Moreno invited Lim at the flag ceremony to present him to the Manilenyos and also to reward him for his courage to perform his duty.

It can be remembered that Lim was only a job order worker who receiving 6,000 monthly, so Moreno decided to give him a permanent occupation.

“Dahil ikaw ay mabuti sa iyong tungkulin, katulad ng iba, permanent employee ka na,” Moreno told Lim.

Moreno also praised Lim for his courage, saying that if he’s a parent of the enforcer, he would be very proud.

Lim couldn’t hide his tears while listening to the Mayor.

“Dapat tularan eto, mamaya pag umulan doon ka sa gitna (ng kalsada) para dumami ka,” he said.

After getting a permanent job, Lim is expected to receive a higher salary and benefits.

Former President Benigno Aquino III expressed his admiration to Senator Leila De Lima after showing courage despite being detained inside Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center for more than two years.

Aquino made a message to Senator Leila De Lima for her 1000th day of being detained.

According to him, he visited De Lima many times but the lady Senator didn’t show any weakness.

“Kada dalaw ko kay Leila, ni minsan hindi niya ipinakita sa aking nanghihina ang loob niya. Ni Minsan hindi siya umiyak. Ni minsan hindi siya nag sasabing, ‘kawawa naman ako.'” said Aquino.

“Bagkus ano, parati niyang ipinaiintindi sa lahat ng dadalaw sa kanya na hindi [dapat] bumigat ang kalooban, hindi [dapat] sumama ang loob dahil sa awa sa nangyayari sa kanya. Talagang kahanga hanga siya,” he added.

The former President attended an event to mark the De lima’s 1000 days of “unjust detention”.

Aquino encouraged the people who attended the event to stand up against the wrongdoings of the current administration.

“Pwede tayong magwalang-kibo. Pwede nating hindi intindihin ‘yung nangyayari sa kapiligiran natin at hinahanda nalang natin ‘yung pagkakataon na tamaan tayo,” Aquino said

“Tanong ho, habang hindi pa tayo tinamaan, hindi kaya mas marapat dito na tayo manindigan? Dito na tayo magsabing hindi tama ang nangyayari kaysa naman madama na natin ang nararamdaman ni Leila nang dire-diretso,” he added.

Meanwhile, Senator De Lima thanked her supporters and vowed to continue to fight with the people who got allegedly victimized by the current administration.

“Karangalan ko po na makulong dahil sa mga ipinaglalaban ko,” De Lima said.

President Rodrigo Duterte reacted on Senate Minority Floor Leader Franklin Drilon’s criticisms against the decision of the government to spend P50-M on the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games cauldron.

In an interview at the Heroes Hall in Malacañan Palace on Tuesday, Duterte brought up the topic about Drilon’s statement, saying that journalist Anthony Taberna is right for asking the Senator about the significant amount spent on Iloilo Convention Center.

“Tama si Taberna, Ilang kilometro ng (kalsada) ang magagawa sa presyo ng coliseum ni Drilon? Ginagamit ba ang coliseum araw araw?” Duterte said referring to Iloilo Convention Center which reportedly cost 700-M.

“How many kilometers of those public structures there in Iloilo kung ginamit yun to cement all the highways there,” he added.

He also denied that there’s no extravagance on the cauldron they built.

“Bakit yung coliseum niya doon ganoon kalaki? bakit hindi liitan? Bakit ganoon kalaki? Yun ang plano eh,” he said.

Duterte explained that it’s impossible to have corruption on that project because the government contracted Francisco “Bobby” Manosa, a national artist for architecture.

According to him, no one could decide the price of the construction except the artist they commissioned.

“It is a product of the mind, you cannot estimate how much, because it’s a rendition of a mind of the creator, kung yan ang singil, edi sabihin niya, ‘edi wag mong bilhin kung ayaw mo, yan ang presyo ko,'” Duterte said.

He said that no one could “debate” or negotiate a price to an artist they commissioned.

Duterte also compared the difference between the Iloilo Convention Center and SEA Games cauldron.

“Yung iyo (Iloilo Convention Center) kontrata, eto binili mo yung utak niya (Manosa), pumayag ka sa utak niya, wala tayong usapan na kubrahan ko kayo ng ganon,” he said.

“We build schools, yes, we build infrastructures for an Olympic event, yes, you impose your whatever thing there as big or small, you begin to criticize the efforts of the people there, paano kung ang sabi niya ‘ganito kalaki ang gawin ninyo’ we are just following the wishes of the person who made it,” he added.

“Pag nag sabi ka na ilang eskwelahan na ang magawa niyan, eh yung coliseum mo ilang kilometro (ng kalsada) ang magagawa niyan,” he also said.

A few days ago, Senator Drilon questioned the government for spending P50-M for a single-use cauldron, saying that it’s extravagant.

He also said that the budget for building the cauldron could build 50 classrooms already.

“A P50-million kaldero. Do you realize that at P1 million per classroom this can construct 50 classrooms? In other words, we did away with 50 classrooms in exchange for one kaldero, is this a correct conclusion?” Drilon said.

After being cleaned by the volunteer students, the wall at Araullo High School in Manila City has been vandalized again by a still unknown group.

In the photo posted by News 5, it showed that the wall which exactly repainted by the students got another vandal again and now with a symbol.

According to some netizens, the red symbol painted at the Araullo means “anarchy”.

“Anarkiya/anarchy ang ibig sabihin ng simbolo na iyan, obviously ang gumawa niyan ay nagbabasa ng mga communist books, marxism books, at iba pa. Hindi na yan freedom of expression, subversion na iyan,” netizen Jon Buhain said.

It’s not yet determined if the symbol painted at Araullo was a message to a certain person or to the government of Manila.

Yesterday, Panday Sining’s ‘art protest’ at Araullo was cleaned by the students.

The activist group painted messages ‘Aktibista, hindi terorista’ and ‘Makatwiran ang Maghimasik’.

It was repainted after it received criticisms from the netizens, asking why the group are still doing their art protest despite the warnings from Mayor Isko Moreno.

“Hindi ako sang ayon sa ginawa kung sino mang kabataan na gumawa doon sa pagsulat sa wall ng school, actually isang paglapastangan yun sa kagandahan ng paligid natin, kasi gusto natin malinis ang paligid natin,” Rosanna Nilo said, the Science Department head of Araullo High School.

“Ang Mayor natin nag sisikap na maging maayos ang lungsod, maging maaliwalas,” she added.

Yesterday, Moreno thanked the students for cleaning the said wall.

“Muli, paulit-ulit ko pong mensahe sa inyo, buong kababaang loob po akong nakikiusap sa inyong lahat. Matagal na pong napag-iwanang dugyot ang ating mahal na Lungsod. Magkaisa at magtulungan na po tayo sa paglilinis at pagsasaayos ng kapitolyo ng bansa,” Moreno said.

But now that it has been vandalized again, netizens are waiting for the reaction of the Mayor

President Rodrigo Duterte explained why he decided not to appoint Vice President Leni Robredo to a position equivalent to cabinet rank.

In an interview with the press on Wednesday, President Duterte said that the moves of Vice President Leni Robredo after being appointed as the co-chair of ICAD made him doubt to give him a cabinet rank.

According to Duterte, he’s really planning to give more powers to Robredo as long as there a security clearance from the government, military, and the police.

“Ang problema kay Robredo, after she was appointed she began talking publicly about inviting the Human Rights Commission, she was talking to the United Nations, at marami na siyang pinagsasabi,” Duterte said.

“Kung ganon, sabi ko… ‘I cannot appoint her as a Cabinet member’ if that is her mouth behaves, kasi kung cabinet member sana siya, she have the authority because she’s an alter-ego of me,” he added.

Duterte pointed out that he doesn’t really know Robredo and the people surrounding her.

“I cannot trust her, not only because she is with the opposition, I do not trust her because I do not know her, hindi ko alam kung sino ang kausap niya, hindi ko alam kung sinong mga politiko o sinong mga tao,” he said.

He then said that Bicol, the province where VP Robredo came from is one of the hotspots in the country.

Duterte also mentioned the risk of having Robredo in a cabinet meeting.

“You know, she’s with the opposition and she will attend cabinet meetings, in that cabinet meetings we discuss day-to-day matters, we discuss security matters, we discuss critical issues, kasi kung siya nandyan at hindi ko naman siya kilala and the way she behaves after I appointed her does not inspire… its not inspiring, natakot tuloy ako,” he said.

Duterte said that there’s a possibility that the allies of Robredo ask something from her if she has access to the records of the government and use it against him in the future.

“She was grandstanding na, it was a carnival, she was talking left and right, you will just place the republic of the Philippines in jeopardy,” he said.

A netizen wrote a lengthy open letter to Senator Franklin Drilon after the latter questioned the amount spent by the government to build the cauldron for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

On a Facebook post, Krizette Laureta Chu compared the prices of the cauldron built by other countries who hosted the same event, saying that the Philippine government built a stadium and other facilities while Malaysia and Singapore didn’t build many big infrastructures as our country did for the SEA Games.

Chu pointed out that Malaysia spent 108-M USD, but only refurbished its stadium for the SEA Games, while Singapore spent 176-M USD cannot build additional infrastructure that’s why they decided to rent 20 hotels for the athletes.

Meanwhile, the netizen said that the Philippines spent 118-M USD to build stadiums,  playing fields, swimming pools, track ovals, Athlete’s Villages, art installations and also planning to establish Philippines Sports School.

“We are building from scratch. They had good leaders who have built these
infrastructure before the SEA GAMES which they just had to reuse,” Chu said.

“ALL CONSIDERED, EVEN AS WE ARE BUILDING FROM SCRATCH, WE ARE EVEN SPENDING LESS THAN OTHER COUNTRIES,” she added.

However, she said that opposition politicians like Drilon are trying to ruin the achievement of the administration by pointing out a single piece of cauldron.

Because of the complaints of Drilon, Chu is wondering if the Senator wanted the Philippines to be unprepared for the SEA Games.

“Drilon will question P50 million cauldrons and use the sorry excuse of schools as if he had been a good leader who built schools and led this country to greatness. Nag rereklamo si Drilon sa P50 M cauldron that would bring prestige and honor to this country,” she said.

“The stadium’s cauldron is 3 meters wide, 50 meters high and will hold the SEA GAMES flame for the entire duration of the sports event. Did they want a cheap version na parang kaingin lang ang sunugan? Yung parang lutuan lang sa probinsya?” she added.

The netizen then compared the cauldron built by other countries, saying that it’s more expensive than the one our country constructed.

Chu believes that hosting the SEA Games gives the Filipinos “national pride” and it’s an opportunity for the country to “show off to the world”.

“We want to PULL ALL THE STOPS. It is the nature of the Filipino to open his home and give his guests the best—food, accommodations, even sleeping on the floor if his guest could have the bed—and this is our chance to put our best foot forward,” she remarked.

“It’s our chance to attract the investors they say we needed. Anong gusto ni Drilon, paawa effect na mukhang madungis tayo? E di Sana Di na tayo nag bid to host kung gusto nyong magmukhang hampaslupa,” she also said.

Chu mentioned the controversies faced by the allies of Sen. Drilon and their questionable projects like the toilet without dividers that are part of the P250-M project of the Aquino administration and the P10-M flagpole built by the same President.

She also pointed out the P800-M taxpayer’s money paid by the government to a Belgian company during the past administration because the former President scrapped the contract.

Drilon again received criticisms from Chu, questioning how the Senator built classrooms with the help of other people.

“Meanwhile Drilon, who has been in Senate for a long time and is one of the most powerful ones, has to partner pa with the Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce to build classrooms, which means they spend for it and all he probably does is some sort of Angat Buhay,” Chu said

“He also spends from his pork barrel—maka salita akala mo naman mala Manny Pacquiao who has built things with this own money,” she added.

She told Drilon that the Senator doesn’t have the right to question the said project.

“Lastly, you do not have the credibility or moral high ground to talk to us about the price of things because none of you from the Opposition understand the things we the Filipino people VALUE the most,” she said.

Chu then challenged Drilon to show his house and donate it to build classrooms.

“Gusto ng mga tao like Drilon pangit yung cauldron natin. Siya lang daw at yung mga kaalyado nya ang may karapatan sa magagandang gamit. Patingin bahay mo sa exclusivest village, Drilon. Sana dinonate mo nalang sa pampatayo ng classroom yung cost nung bahay mo,” she said.

A few days ago, Senator Drilon questioned the government for their “extravagant” expenses for the SEA Games, pointing out that the cauldron they built could already construct 50 classrooms.

“A P50-million kaldero. Do you realize that at P1 million per classroom this can construct 50 classrooms? In other words, we did away with 50 classrooms in exchange for one kaldero, is this a correct conclusion?” Drilon said.

Another ‘art’ made by activist group ‘Panday Sining’ was found in Araullo High School in Manila City, despite the warning of Mayor Isko Moreno against them.

In the photos posted by Daily Tribune, messages like ‘Aktibista, hindi terorista’ and ‘Makatwiran ang Maghimasik’ was painted along the walls of the said public school in Manila.

The message also included the initials used by Panday Sining when they painted the walls of Lagusnilad underpass.

The management of Araullo High School expressed their disappointment for what the activist group did to their wall.

According to Rosanna Nilo, Science Department head of Araullo High School,

“Hindi ako sang ayon sa ginawa kung sino mang kabataan na gumawa doon sa pagsulat sa wall ng school, actually isang paglapastangan yun sa kagandahan ng paligid natin, kasi gusto natin malinis ang paligid natin,” said Nilo.

“Ang Mayor natin nag sisikap na maging maayos ang lungsod, maging maaliwalas,” she added.

She was saddened by the act of Panday Sining because they wanted Araullo to be clean all the time.

“Nakakalungkot na ang mga batang ito parang hindi nila naiisip, o parang hindi sila natuturuan sa bahay nang appreciation ng magandang paligid, sana maturuan sila,” she said.

Nila vowed that they’re not going to stop teaching their students how to be clean and painting walls without permission.

Mayor Isko Moreno is not yet giving a statement over the new case of art protest in his city.

Last week, Moreno expressed disappointment over the art protest made by Panday Sining and called it vandalism.

“Yung may sakit ang ipapainom ko sa kanila ‘yung ‘art’ niyo? Pagagamot ko sa kanila ‘art’ niyo? Ibibili ko ng pako, semento para maitayo yung bahay ay ipambubura ko lang nito?” Moreno said.

“Masaya kayo diba? Art to eh, this is your art,” he added.

Actress Agot Isidro criticized the government after it was revealed that the cauldron that is going to be used for the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) games costs around P50-M.

On a tweet, Isidro couldn’t hide her disappointment over the controversies being faced by the country as the SEA Games host.

According to her, the controversial cauldron is one of the reasons why everyone should not pay their taxes to the government.

“Million and more reasons for everyone to not want to pay our taxes. Sa g*guhan na ganito napupunta ang buwis natin,” said Isidro.

“Game ka pa ba, Pilipinas?” she added.

Yesterday, Senator Drilon questioned the government for spending P50-M for a cauldron which is already equivalent to 50 classrooms.

“A P50-million kaldero. Do you realize that at P1 million per classroom this can construct 50 classrooms? In other words, we did away with 50 classrooms in exchange for one kaldero, is this a correct conclusion?” Drilon asked.

“Is that reasonable? Is that a correct prioritization? Each classroom will cost P1 million and just for the kaldero, which should be used only once, we will spend P50 million,” he added.

Drilon said that he’s going to push for an investigation to see if the government spent the budget for the SEA Games correctly.

According to him, he’s going to start the investigation after the SEA Games.