By Ade Fajardo The final tax case filed by the Duterte government against journalist Maria Ressa has been dismissed by the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA). The CTA denied the petition filed by the Solicitor General that prayed to reverse the decision rendered by the Pasig Regional Trial Court, clearing Ressa and her online publication Rappler on …
Come To Think Of It
Fake Pinoys in our midst
By Ade S. Fajardo The Municipality of Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur is proximate to Davao City. Last week, it got featured as the source of 200 fake Filipino certificates of live birth. The certificate holders are mainly Chinese nationals. Civil Registrar General Dennis Mapa has announced that the local civil registrar has been relieved of …
Minority of one
By Ade Fajardo The latest in the Alice Guo saga is the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. admitting that officials from the Duterte administration were responsible in granting licenses to illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs). Pagcor chairman Alejandro Tengco says at least a former cabinet-level official had lobbied for those licenses. This former official …
The long and winding road to justice
By Ade S. Fajardo Former Senator Leila de Lima is finally clear of all drug charges leveled against her by the Duterte administration. This ends seven years of an arduous legal battle that she saw through from inside prison walls. Kudos to her and her team who did not hide in the shadows and faced …
Is gov’t paying lip service to human rights?
By Ade S. Fajardo The House of Representatives committee on human rights is now holding hearings on the thousands of deaths that resulted from the drug war implemented by the Duterte administration. The House appears to have risen from a stupor. It used to kowtow to the wishes of the former President, even participating in …
The ‘nanlaban’ formula for murder
By Ade Fajardo Kabataan party-list’s Representative Raoul Manuel chided former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea for chuckling at the prospect of the House of Representatives summoning his boss Rodrigo Duterte to shed light on the thousands of drug war deaths during his term. “If they are so proud of their own numbers that they killed 20,000 civilians …
Divorce for equality and empathy?
By Ade Fajardo Should the Philippines finally pass a law on divorce? Part of the ongoing debate is the question of whether such a law would contradict the 1987 Constitution which describes marriage as an inviolable social institution that must be protected by the State. Simply put: Does the Constitution prohibit the enactment of a …
Does Alice Guo have a backer in the Senate?
By Ade Fajardo Senator Chiz Escudero cites the rules of evidence in the Senate’s disposition of the case of Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo. He invokes the presumption of innocence in favor of the mayor, whose Filipino citizenship is evidenced by her Philippine passport and certificate of candidacy that was given due course by no less …
Is it truly a case of late registration?
By Ade S. Fajardo Land deals worth at least a billion pesos have astounded the public who follow the Senate hearings on offshore gaming operations (POGO) that were discovered in Bamban, Tarlac. Condominium buildings, villas worth at least P40 million each, luxury vehicles seldom seen in the streets of Makati, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and …
Victory vs. red-tagging
By Ade S. Fajardo Red-tagging did not invade the national consciousness until Rodrigo Duterte created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) at the height of his popularity in 2018. This task force was notorious for branding government critics and dissidents as terrorists, and made them vulnerable to abductions and executions. To …