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By Omar Fernando

DAVAO CITY—Top leaders in the province of Lanao del Norte met with former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to express their heartfelt gratitude for “making the dream of the people of the province come into reality” through the completion of the Panguil Bay Bridge.

Governor Imelda “Angging” Quibranza-Dimaporo and her husband Abdullah “Bobby” Dimakuta Dimaporo, the former second district representative of Lanao del Norte, led the delegation during the recent visit.

There is something in the 1987 Constitution that does not like Speakers of the House to become president, so much so that all three who aspired for the highest post in the land failed miserably.

The first to fall was Speaker Ramon Mitra Jr. of the second district of Palawan, who presided over the 8th Congress from June 23, 1987, to June 30, 1992. Mitra defeated then-Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos during the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) party convention in 1991, which merely set the stage for the one that mattered most.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR 

Reports have surfaced that Speaker Martin Romualdez and NCIP (National Commission on Indigenous Peoples) Chairperson Jennifer Sibug-Las met, during which the alarming news was revealed that the House leadership is considering abolishing the NCIP and amending the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act (IPRA).

This development not only threatens the future of indigenous peoples' rights in the Philippines but also raises serious concerns about the motivations behind this drastic move.

Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Tuesday that the disbarment case filed against him by lawyer Melvin Matibag before the Supreme Court for the “polvoronic” video posted on the former’s social media page was a desperate act of attention.  

“We have to understand that the posting of the video in social media is protected by free speech under the privileged doctrine,” Atty Roque said. “It involves a serious disease of a President that deserves an admission or denial. PBBM has not done either.”

VICE-President Sara Duterte was supposed to be at the receiving end of the demolition job unleashed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. In just three public appearances that were supposed to tear her to pieces, she has mounted a counter-offensive that has sent her tormentors backpedaling in retreat.

The budget hearings, first before the Senate and twice before the House of Representatives, looked, every inch, like ambush territory. With less than a handful of allies in both chambers and even less willing to stand up and be identified with her, it seemed like all was lost.

By Omar Fernando

DAVAO CITY – Deliberately missing the crucial budget hearing for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) at the House of Representatives last week, Vice President Sara “Inday” Duterte not only cited the technical reasons for her absence but also unleashed a contentious issue that the public must scrutinize.