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On National Heroes' Day, various groups held a protest caravan assailing the irregularities in the government's COVID-19 pandemic response. They declared that corruption amid a pandemic is the "most immoral of its kind."
Various groups have called on the public to remain vigilant over public spending and the politicizing of government programs amid the still poor pandemic response and the looming national elections next year.
A total of P124.65 billion ($2.5 billion) were flagged from these nine government agencies alone, which could have been used to provide 12.4 million pandemic-hit families with much-needed aid amounting to P10,000 ($200).
"The candidacy is both legally and morally wrong, and we trust that the Filipino people will realize his brazen, selfish and self-serving motives."
The Comelec decision is intended at preventing delays in other preparatory activities leading to the elections, including the finalization of the voters list. Instead of extending the registration beyond September 30, Comelec has instead extended registration hours and will be open on Saturdays and holidays.
But would this be enough?
In light of the COA report, Bulatlat is revisiting the ridiculous spending of the Duterte administration when it should be pouring its attention to defeating this pandemic.
"It’s crystal clear that the ones who benefited from this are the importers and businessmen. While the price of rice went up, the price of palay kept on going down."
Sa kanyang 2016 kampanya para presidente, dramatikong sinabi ni Duterte na magje-jet ski daw siya sa Spratley at itatanim sa mga islang inagaw sa atin doon ng China ang bandila ng Pilipinas. Noong nanalo na siya, baligtad ang ginawa at naging personal siyang malapit sa China at mayabang na nagdeklara ng “independent foreign policy” mula sa Amerika.
A local advertisement here in the Philippines once asked – where can your P20 bring you? For government workers here, it meant a measly salary increase in the last five years of President Rodrigo Duterte.
"There are different creative forms of protest that will take place on Monday to show that we are standing up against attacks on our freedom, our environment, our health, and our rights.”
Data show that the policies and programs of Duterte continued and inflamed the structural crisis of our economy. To be sure, the pandemic made it more acute. But make no mistake - Duterte’s economic legacy is far worse than the pandemic.
Prominent Filipino lawyers debunked President Rodrigo Duterte’s claim during his party assembly on July 17 that his possible vice presidential bid for the 2022 elections will give him immunity against suit.
As the country commemorates Independence Day, Filipino progressives said they have had enough of only seeing it on paper when in reality, freedom has been scant if not trampled upon under the Duterte administration.
Amid apparent attempts of the present administration to perpetuate itself beyond the next national elections, a broad coalition of progressives, religious, and cultural workers to name a few, say no to another Duterte.
With the proposed aid for displaced workers and poor families still far from getting the presidential nod, allies of the administration in the Lower House have been pushing to open up the country’s resources to the plunder of big, foreign powers and to perpetuate Duterte’s rule.
“The Filipino people should reject all those identified with dictatorship and authoritarianism, reject all those responsible for or who abet extrajudicial killings and whose mantra is ‘kill, kill, kill,’ and all those who violate human rights.”
With practically all House members – except Duterte’s son and a few die-hard Duterte lawmakers – co-authoring the measure, Bayanihan 3 brags the unprecedented and massive support of different lawmakers who crossed party lines. The political reasons are obvious, but on one hand, such a move in the House sans Palace nod says a lot about Duterte’s deliberate neglect of calls for cash aid.
"With many considering the next national elections as a make-or-break scenario for the Philippines, it is thus crucial to make sure that the right to vote is exercised properly and that clean and fair polls have to be observed as best as possible. "
“This is a matter of survival to us, because we need to bring back good governance,” said retired Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.
The petition started with only 500 signatures of people from different sectors of the society.
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