IN A recent statement that was also posted on social media, Vice President Sara Duterte claimed that certain Philippine officials were allowed by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to conduct some so-called “welfare check” on former President Rodrigo R. Duterte. The former Philippine leader is currently detained in an ICC detention center in The Hague, Netherlands, for alleged crimes against humanity.
According to the Vice President, the visits are not authorized by any of her family. The VP felt they had serious apprehension about the visits conducted, despite these being dubbed as “welfare checks.” She said having no idea of the visits and who the officials were allowed by the ICC might compromise the safety and security of their father.
For these unauthorized actions by the ICC and the officials of the Philippine government, VP Sara issued a strong warning that the Philippine government and the ICC itself will be accountable should anything untoward happen to the former President.
Without any iota of hesitation, the Vice President said the visits allegedly disguised as “consular functions” are “on orders of President Marcos, Jr.”
We actually cannot take it away from a daughter to feel afraid for the life of her father. But is VP Sara that certain of the laxity of the ICC officials in securing the person of their detainee, even if the latter is a former President who is clearly still getting the support of a good number of his constituency?
Somehow, with the manifested hatred of the Vice President towards her former tandem in the 2022 elections, we can say that the “apple of discord” between the President and his VP must be so deep for the Vice President to slow down even a little in her attacks on the President, his men, and his entire government.
Imagine, anything that may be connected to her father’s security, she sees the hands of the President! And imagine further that she now sees nothing of what the President does as beneficial to the country!
But will the 2028 national elections, and later, history prove her right? “Let us to see,” according to the late Senator Landring Almendras, political mentor of VP Sara’s grandfather, the late Governor of the undivided Davao Province, Vicente Duterte.
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It looks like the controversy generated by the issue of massive corruption in the implementation of flood control projects has literally deprived the local government opportunity to highlight issues and/or programs and projects happening in the local scene.
In Davao City, for example, for the past many weeks since the surfacing of the massive corruption scandal at the national level, we haven’t heard of issues with serious significance on the city’s socio-economic growth.
Even floods that had been frequent some months back appear to be so “cooperative” with local officials that none of the projects for the purpose of their control ended up getting discovered as wanting in quality, ghost, or unfinished, even long after the prescribed deadline.
Maybe this is how lucky Davao City is. Or are our officials just so engrossed in their desire to bring home former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, who is now under detention in the ICC jail in The Hague, Netherlands?
We also want to assume that the city’s political leaders are in full focus in the “war” with the national leadership that they, along with thousands of other Filipinos, believe to be the real culprit in the country’s socio-economic instability due to massive corruption and bad governance.
Meanwhile, if our personal voice as resident of the city merits listening by our city councilors, we will again call their attention to the still unused concrete bridge roughly 15 meters long. The bridge, which for several times has already been the subject of our column, spans the creek that serves as the boundary of Barangay Catalunan Grande in the first district and Barangay Tacunan in the third.
The Tacunan end of the span does not have an approach that connects the bridge to the road leading to Tacunan proper. On the other hand, the Catalunan end already has an approach, but it is not connected to the road leading to Catalunan proper. This condition of the bridge has existed since the middle of the pandemic years.
Now, if it would not be asking too much of a citizen in the city, can any one of our Honorable City Councilors, especially from the first or third districts, initiate an investigation into the matter?
After all, the construction of that bridge also used people’s money, though only a minuscule amount compared to the money stolen in the implementation of supposed flood control projects in Bulacan and Mindoro. We hope for a positive response.
