IN A social media post, former President Rodrigo R. Duterte who is detained in an ICC detention center, said that if there is an opportunity for him to get out of jail he would not go home to the Philippines as long as the country is still under President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
Isn’t the former President planning to “do a Ninoy Aquino?” It is our take that by doing such, he will be assured of getting the hero status in the earliest possible time.
In a related development, rabid supporters of the former President are insisting that his handing over to the ICC by the Philippine government is “kidnapping” facilitated by Philippine officials.
We are just thinking aloud. If it was kidnapping that must be kind of exceptional in nature. Imagine the one kidnapped was accompanied by a top-notch Philippine lawyer and a nurse to ensure that someone is always available to check on the kidnapping victim’s physical condition while on board the private jet bringing him to The Netherlands.
Perhaps it would be more beneficial to the former President if those working for his release should focus more on gathering evidence that will help strengthen his defense. After all, what is critical at this stage of the former President’s case at the International Criminal Court is for his defense team to deal with the evidence submitted to the ICC against the former Philippine leader.
Besides, who are the Duterte backers expecting to rule or affirm their claim that the former President was “kidnapped?” It is unlikely the ICC. Not any of the country’s courts either.
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We learned from a social media post that the approach of the still-unfinished Ma-a Flyover, specifically the one fronting the Monteritz subdivision, was inundated with floodwater early yesterday morning.
What does this mean? Simple. The planners of the multi-billion project have not taken into consideration the drainage system that should be installed to prevent flooding in the area under the flyover.
The DPWH should not have overlooked the location considering that the area is right at the foot of the downward route of the water coming from the elevated road leading to the center of Barangay Magtuod.
Perhaps at this point in time, it is still not too late to come up with a workable drainage plan in that portion of the C.P. Garcia Diversion Highway.
Maybe putting up such a project to complement the soon-to-be-completed flyover will not be as costly as when the flyover is fully finished.
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It looks like flooding was all over the provinces in the Davao Region. It is also true in most provinces in other parts of Mindanao.
So what flood control projects are being debated about? If we have to reckon with the flood incidence all over, then the conclusion is that there are no existing flood control projects. If there are, these are not implemented in the appropriate areas.
Or another possibility is that either these are ghost projects or are done in the poorest of quality that at the first strike of the flood, their walls immediately give way.
Even on certain roads leading to inland municipalities like Laak in Davao de Oro, the base collapsed as the water sipped through the soil under. The result? The river in that municipality opened its own outlet through the collapsed portion of the road.
In Monkayo, also in Davao de Oro, landslides resulted in the death of two residents and some still believed buried by the soil avalanche.
Again, these incidents can only be attributed to where flood control projects are built, the quality of the work, and the materials are far from ideal.
In the case of the destroyed roads, it is again the failure of the government agency monitoring the quality of the project to validate the workmanship of contractors.
Regarding landslides on remote mountain barangays, well, those are revenge made by the overabused environment.
