By Ade S. Fajardo Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla has announced that Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa is now the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The senator is consistently mentioned as a potential co-accused in the crimes against humanity case against former President Rodrigo Duterte. In some submissions made …
Come To Think Of It
Trivializing the notarial process
By Ade S. Fajardo Senator Marcoleta: “Ito rin po ay pina-notaryo ninyo. Totoo po ba ang notaryong ito?” Orly Guteza: “Totoo po, your honor.” That was the simple exchange between the examiner and the witness that segued to questions on the substance of the affidavit that Guteza submitted to the Senate Blue Ribbon committee a month ago. *** …
The curious case of Villanueva’s PDAF
By Ade S. Fajardo Senator Joel Villanueva was among the less prominent personalities involved in the Napoles Pork Barrel Scandal near the end of the PNoy administration in 2015. The more visible indictees were Senators Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile, who were detained for some time for the non-bailable offense of plunder. …
Endless cycle of corruption
By Ade S. Fajardo Regardless of where you are in the Philippines, people assess winnability at the polls through a candidate’s vaunted political machinery. In turn, with very few exceptions, machinery is measured by how much money a candidate is willing and able to spend in the exercise. A candidate armed only with smarts and …
Duterte to be tried while in prison
By Ade S. Fajardo The pre-trial chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has junked former President Rodrigo Duterte’s request for interim release. The ICC noted that Duterte did not dispute or contest the recital of allegations in his warrant of arrest. This lack of denial led the court to conclude that there “continue to …
Are local governments powerless against insertions?
By Ade S. Fajardo Local governments must be ecstatic that billions of pesos have been pouring in by way of infrastructure projects. Meantime, legislators have ignored the constitutional directive that education be given the highest budgetary priority. The Department of Education suffered a P12-billion cut in the 2025 General Appropriations Act, prompting Secretary Sonny Angara to …
So, what if the notary was forged?
By Ade S. Fajardo Last week, Senator Rodante Marcoleta introduced a whistleblower at the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. Reading from a notarized affidavit, Orly Guteza accused Ako Bicol’s Representative Elizaldy Co and former Speaker Martin Romualdez of receiving P1.68 billion in cash contained in several suitcases. Guteza alleged that 46 suitcases containing P48 million each …
Unspoken conspiracy between lawmakers and district engineers
By Ade S. Fajardo What is becoming apparent in recent days is that local governments are generally left in the dark in the allocation of funds and implementation of projects that come from the national government and funneled directly to the district engineers of the Department of Public Works and Highways. The emerging shape, however, …
Are thinking voters giving up the fight?
By Ade S. Fajardo President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has created the Independent Commission for Infrastructure to uncover anomalous public works projects that were funded and implemented in the past 10 years. Marcos himself exposed the biggest corruption scandal to rock the country in recent history. He told lawmakers “mahiya naman kayo” for getting kickbacks from …
Quitting to evade lifestyle checks
By Ade S. Fajardo The ongoing probe into flood control shenanigans has shaken the foundations of many institutions. Case in point: Senator Tito Sotto has wrested the Senate presidency from Chiz Escudero. In the Senate hearing, the famed Discaya couple named several lawmakers as among those who received kickbacks from infrastructure projects that they implemented …