Home Blog Page 58

Five Filipino Canadians vie for MP seats

Pinoy Abrod
-
0
Five Filipino Canadians vie for MP seats

By Tony A. San Juan,
OCT-Retired 

Five determined and dedicated candidates of Filipino heritage are running for Members of Parliament in Canada’s House of Commons. For the first time in the Filipino diaspora, four Filipino Canadian women and one Pinoy male have entered the national political arena in the September 20, 2021 federal election. Of the five, three are MP candidates from Ontario, and the other two are from British Columbia.

The “Magnificent 5” are Rechie Valdez, Elizabeth Quinto, and Phil De Luna of Ontario, and Virginia Austria-Bremner and Naden Abenes of British Columbia.

Rechie Valdez becomes the third Filipino Canadian woman to be acclaimed by the Liberal Party of Canada as official candidate for Member of Parliament. Earlier, the other two proclaimed Liberal MP Candidates are Elizabeth Rosaldo Quinto for Oxford County (Ontario), and Virginia Austria-Bremner for Vancouver-Kingsway (B.C.).

Naden Abenes, a Pinay labour union organizer and activist was also acclaimed by her party, the New Democratic Party, to run for Member of Parliament for Vancouver Quadra, B.C.

Dr. Phil De Luna, a young Filipino male scientist, is the Green Party’s MP candidate for Toronto Centre-St. Paul’s, Ontario.

The three Liberal MP women candidates, namely R. Valdez, E. Quinto, and V. Bremner, are strongly endorsed by “Team Trudeau as champions for a better future” in Canada. Any of the five could become the second Filipino Canadian and the first Filipina among the four Pinays, to be elected Member of Parliament since the election of Filipino Canadian Liberal MP Rey Pagtakhan more than 22 years ago.

Rechie Valdez – Liberal MPcandidate For Mississauga-Streetsville (Ontario)

Richie Valdez was acclaimed last August 15 to be the official candidate for Member of Parliament for Mississauga-Streetsville, Ontario. R. Valdez is a dedicated community leader and has had 15 years of corporate banking experience with cross-enterprise expertise in project management, change management and transitioned into a serial creative entrepreneur, and published baker. Valdez professed that she became a “baker + podcaster + non-profit executive + apparel marketer + basketball newbie in a few short years… just before turning 40”. She is the Vice President of Marketing and Creative Head of multiple brands that span the print, marketing, apparel, food, and sports industry.  In the past five years, her creative drive and ambition have enabled her to venture out of the corporate world to explore entrepreneurship and philanthropy. She co-founded Filipino Fusion Cafe and is also the owner of Chietopia Bakery, a specialty pastry maker in Mississauga. A sports enthusiast and fundraiser, she has been supporting girls and women in various sports. She is a graduate of BCS Computer Science from the University of Windsor in 2003 and has completed the Leadership Development Program at BMO Institute for Learning in 2016. A mother of two, Rechie “wants to make Mississauga—Streetsville more affordable for families and is ready to continue her community service alongside Justin Trudeau and the Liberal team”.

Elizabeth R. Quinto, a practicing solicitor-barrister and notary public in Ontario and the USA -licensed lawyer, has been acclaimed as the official Member of Parliament for Oxford County candidate by the Liberal Party of Canada on July 27, 2021. Quinto earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Waterloo, and a J.D. from Western Michigan University. She has been serving her community and the most vulnerable as a family law lawyer for the past decade.   Her legal career has brought her to strongly “believe in ensuring a safe and environmentally conscious future for our children and grandchildren.” At 38 years old, and a proud Catholic, Liz is a proud member of the LGBTQ21A+ community and likes spending time with her two dogs, playing the bass, and snowboarding. She is passionate about seeing more diverse representation in the House of Commons and is “committed to advocating for families, small businesses, human rights, affordable housing, and real action against the climate crisis.”  Quinto wants to be a Member of Parliament that her community can count on through civic engagement, proper advocacy in the House of Commons, and the needs of the Oxford community are her top priority. She strongly advocates that “Filipino-Canadians need a voice in Parliament and women need a continued voice” in the House of Commons.

Phil De Luna- Green Party MP candidate for Toronto-St. Paul’s (Ontario)

Phil De Luna, is the declared Green Party MP Candidate for Toronto Centre-St. Paul’s. De Luna has a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Toronto, a Master of Science in Chemistry from the University of Ottawa, and BSc. Honours Chemistry from the University of Windsor. As a young scientist and cleantech entrepreneur, he is currently on leave as Program Director at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). De Luna is focused on three main issues: 1) supporting our essential workers, 2) housing affordability, and 3) green jobs that leave no one behind.  He says, “I’m running because we must move faster to combat the threat of climate change and sustainably renew our society and economy. I’m running because we need more diversity in parliament and more science in policy. I’m running because I want to lower the barriers for other non-traditional candidates to consider running because a diverse government is a robust and resilient one.” He was born in Taiwan to Filipino parents and grew up in Windsor, Ontario.

Virginia Austria-Bremner was likewise acclaimed on July 20, 2021, by the Liberal Party of Canada as the official candidate for Member of Parliament (MP) for Vancouver Kingsway (B.C.). Austria-Bremner came to Vancouver from the Philippines at the young age of seven, following the tragic loss of her father. She was raised together with her nine other siblings by her single mother, “Nanay”. In Vancouver Kingsway, Virginia attended Grenfell Elementary, then Windermere Secondary before graduating from Killarney Secondary School. She is married and has two sons in their early 20s. Virginia’s career has been “guided by a sense of purpose and a drive to contribute to her community” even before running for the Liberal Party.  She started her work on the frontlines with those facing mental health challenges in a community-based outreach centre. She was Executive Director of the Downtown New Westminster Business Improvement Association and has provided administrative support to Christy Clark, the then Premier of British Columbia. Most recently, she worked for the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade and World Trade Centre Vancouver as the program coordinator helping local businesses create trade and investment connections with international priority markets. She plans to go to Ottawa to make life better for her community and to represent Vancouver Kingsway proudly.

Naden Abenes – NDP MP candidate for V
ancouver Quadra (B.C.)

Naden Abenes is running as an MP candidate under the New Democratic Party(NDP). Abenes hopes to become the Member of Parliament for Vancouver Quadra in British Columbia. Naden was born in the Philippines, immigrated to Vancouver in 1979, and raised two children as a single mom while working two jobs. A seasoned union worker, activist, and advocate, Abenes worked for 12 years for Vancouver’s Hyatt Hotel as a room attendant and is now a union organizer for Unite Here Local 40. Acclaimed by the NDP, she will run against Dr. Hedy Fry, the longest-serving Liberal Member of Parliament. For almost 20 years, Naden has fought for respect and better job security that have changed working people’s lives for the better. She stands for affordable housing and reconciliation. Naden Abenes says, “I’m running because I want to represent the working class in this riding who, like me, has been suffering especially during this pandemic”. While others have read about the changes we need, I have lived them, she added.

The proud “Candidato Cinco”, together with their “partidos”, pledged that they “will aspire and pursue building with hard work to keep Canada moving forward and growing with a strong focus on significant changes and developments for all Canadians. Thus, the voters are urged to elect even more talented, diverse, and hardworking community leaders especially from racialized minorities as MPs from coast to coast

Across Canada, the Filipino Canadian communities are characteristically hopeful that all the four Pinays and one Pinoy MP candidate will win. The 5 Filipino Canadian candidates are identified and seen not only as being our kababayans (compatriots), but are also distinctively young, articulate, dedicated, well-qualified, and strong leaders who can stand up, and therefore, reasonably deserve our support and our vote more than ever to represent our voice and our interests in the Canadian Parliament. They represent our future! Get out and vote! (from The Philippine Reporter online, Canada, September 10, 2021)

#DutertePanagutin: Netizens hail ICC investigation into Duterte’s drug war, Davao killings

Pinoy Abrod
-
0
#DutertePanagutin: Netizens hail ICC investigation into Duterte’s drug war, Davao killings

Sep 16, 2021, Ivy Pedida

MANILA, Philippines

‘Looking forward to the day when Duterte and his henchmen will be finally brought to justice for all the crimes they have committed and enabled,’ tweets physician and medical anthropologist Gideon Lasco

From change is coming to justice is coming – this was how netizens reacted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) pre-trial chamber’s decision to open an investigation into President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war and the Davao Death Squad killings. 

Social media users were quick to react, with some wondering if Duterte was well versed with the “wheelchair and neck brace method,” in reference to former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who wore a neck brace and was on a wheelchair whenever she appeared in court while on trial for plunder.

Arroyo, who was later acquitted, suffered from multiple cervical spondylosis.

Read more: https://www.rappler.com/nation/filipinos-online-reactions-posts-icc-investigation-duterte-drug-war-killings

BREAKING NEWS! ICC opens investigation into Duterte drug war, DDS killings

Pinoy Abrod
-
0
BREAKING NEWS! ICC opens investigation into Duterte drug war, DDS killings

Sep 15, 2021, Lian Buan, Rappler.Com

The International Criminal Court (ICC) pre-trial chamber has opened the crucial investigation into the Philippine war on drugs, the court’s pre-trial chamber announced on Wednesday, September 15. 

“For these reasons, the chamber hereby authorizes the commencement of the investigation into the Situation in the Philippines, in relation to crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court allegedly committed on the territory of the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019 in the context of the so-called ‘war on drugs’ campaign,” said the pre-trial chamber 1 of the ICC.

This means the ICC will look not only at President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, but also killings by the so-called Davao Death Squad when Duterte was mayor and vice mayor of Davao City.

It was signed by Judge Péter Kovács, Presiding Judge Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou, and Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera.

The investigation is a crucial stage where summons and arrest warrants can be issued if Prosecutor Karim Khan asks for them.

“On the basis of the above, the Chamber concludes that there is a reasonable basis for the Prosecutor to proceed with an investigation, in the sense that the crime against humanity of murder appears to have been committed, and that potential case(s) arising from such investigation appear to fall within the Court’s jurisdiction,” said the judges.

When Facebook takes down a journalist’s account without due process

Pinoy Abrod
-
0
When Facebook takes down a journalist’s account without due process

Sep 15, 2021, Manny Mogato

It was like a Pearl Harbor experience. Bombs dropped on a Sunday night as I was deeply sleeping.

Unlike the December 1941 sneaky Japanese raid, there was no physical destruction, only that I was virtually incapacitated.

Upon waking up on Monday morning, I realized that Facebook had banned me from liking, sharing, and commenting on my account as well as in Messenger. I could not even make a call.

I virtually became a ghost. On the surface, my Facebook account was up and running. People on my Friends list could send me messages and post on my timeline – commenting, liking, and sharing my posts. 

But they could think I was rude for not responding or reacting to their posts. 

My apologies for that; not my fault.

I could blame the diehard supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte. I had probably stirred a hornet’s nest when I posted a comment on Duterte’s threat to cut government ties with a non-government humanitarian agency, the Philippine Red Cross. The Philippine Red Cross head is a high-profile senator, who chairs the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, the upper house’s public accountability panel, which is scrutinizing the government’s procurement deal with a small Davao City-based company which supplied billions of pesos worth of medical products – from face masks, face shields and personal protective equipment (PPEs), to expensive RT-PCR testing machines, the gold standard in the testing for coronavirus.

I have no issue with takedowns of fake accounts spreading lies. 

Facebook has taken down hundreds of pages and accounts promoting disinformation – but only after a long process.

In my case as a journalist, I was easily shut down. Journalists who speak truth to power seem to be a lonely voice in the wilderness of networked pages and accounts, which can defy shutdowns by creating new identities.

My post about a bad contract

Duterte has been defending the multi-billion peso deal between the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) and the little known Pharmally Pharmaceuticals Corporation by attacking the senators who have been digging into what could be an anomalous contract.

The maverick leader is also bent on supporting a personal friend who was linked to the transaction.

It is unimaginable how a small company with less than a million pesos in paid-up capital and with no track record of transacting business with the government could clinch multi-billion contracts in just a matter of months after it was set up.

Only a politically-connected entity can do that. It even got around time-honored practices of government procurement processes and procedures.

Pharmally does not manufacture any of the products it was able to sell to the government. It has no logistics network, including warehouses, to deliver what it offered the government.

But it was a surprise that Pharmally delivered face masks even ahead of a purchase order from PS-DBM. What could be the basis for the company to come up with the correct specifications for a product without a purchase order?

Yet the PS-DBM accepted the delivery of 500,000 face masks. Could it be that the PS-DBM tailor fit the purchase order to what Pharmally had delivered?

There is nothing new to the practice of designing the specifications of a product to match a favored contractor’s offer, which is usually done during tenders for a project or procurement contract.

But what is unusual in this case was that there were no tenders, and even if there was a negotiated deal, the products were delivered ahead of the purchase order.

It’s like putting the cart ahead of the horse, a shameless disregard of the government procurement law.

Then-undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao, who headed the PS-DBM last year, cited the pandemic as a convenient excuse to shortcut the processes, arguing that the government was rushing the acquisition of medical materials at the onset of the health crisis last year.

In one of the earlier Blue Ribbon Committee hearings, Lao admitted throwing away due diligence and best practices in awarding a contract because the President ordered the purchase of medical supplies at all costs. He would then deny making this claim in subsequent Senate hearings.

Could it be that Lao awarded the contract to Pharmally because the executives of the untested company are Davao City-based Chinese businessmen who have links with the President’s friend?

These Chinese businessmen were used to Divisoria-style business practices, which is actually bad for a big government contract.

Why could the government not go straight to the manufacturers and get a good price for the medical supplies it was buying? Why would it go to the middlemen or sales agents who are offering higher prices for a face mask?

The senators said a 100% Filipino company, which had been generating employment at the time of the pandemic, was selling similar face masks at half the price Pharmally was offering.

Bad decision. Bad contract. And a waste of precious government resources. Those were the facts and insights I posted on my account.

Why take it down?

Duterte’s followers obviously did not like my commentaries, which were shared by my friends. I surmise that they took action and reported en masse my account as a violation of Facebook’s community standard rules.

Facebook arbitrarily suspended my account for three days without any due process. It never asked for my side and may not even have looked into what I had posted if it was a violation of community standards.

Facebook has an appeal process, but I suggest they review a post thoroughly before it takes unilateral action against an account.

Perhaps I could also take some blame for not identifying myself as a journalist in my account. I am using an alias in my account name and have not changed it since 2016. But I was forced to make that alias after I was hacked and fell victim to cyber bullying for reporting on Duterte’s war on drugs. I have since then changed the settings of my account and restricted it to my friends, who can see and comment on my private posts. A quick browse through my account should have shown Facebook that I’m real, I’m a journalist, and I am no fake.

But this latest incident got me to think that there is no more reason to use an alias. Followers and ardent admirers of the administration would be on the lookout anyway, for I could make another commentary against the president as he spirals out of control.

This administration has found a way to censor adverse commentaries about government policies and actions which are detrimental to public interest. It has exploited the Facebook community standard rules to muzzle freedom of expression and constructive criticism. It has effectively silenced dissent and hijacked the narrative to advance their own political agenda and interests.

At the same time, it has been spreading “fake news” or disinformation through several social media influencers, and Facebook seems helpless in policing its hate messages and propaganda.

We live with these realities, such as the actions taken by Facebook, and treat them as hazards of the job. 

Pearl Harbor was decades ago. But we could still fall victims to a sneak attack under a new world order.

And all because we tell it like it is.  – Rappler.com

Manny Mogato is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and 2017 McLuhan Fellow.

Duterte and Michael Yang’s friendship through the years

Pinoy Abrod
-
0
Duterte and Michael Yang’s friendship through the years

Sep 14, 2021 Jodesz Gavilan

One just has to look at Chinese businessman Michael Yang to see what one can get from a close relationship with President Rodrigo Duterte.

Yang’s lasting influence and power is clear: Duterte appointed him presidential economic adviser in 2018 despite being a foreigner; his businesses expanded during Duterte’s presidency; and a young company that he sponsored and funded bagged multi-billion-peso pandemic contracts. All these while the President dismisses intelligence reports of his alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.

Duterte and Yang reportedly first met in 1999, and their friendship and shared interests have clearly followed them from Davao City to Malacañang.

1999 – Duterte meets Yang in Davao City

Michael Yang is introduced to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte by a certain Randy Usman, a Maranao tribe deputy mayor.

In a speech on March 27, 2019, Duterte recalled Yang asking permission to start a business in the city. 

“Ipinakilala sa akin na gusto magpasok dito, pabili sa mga cellphone, consign lang maski 10 pesos a day…. Nagbaha ng cellphone na mura dito,” he said in Koronadal City. “Nagtayo siya ng DCLA mura at may trabaho ang mga tao.”

(He was introduced to me, saying he wanted to come in here to sell mobile phones, on consignment, even for just P10 a day. Then the city was flooded with cheap phones. He built DCLA mall, [with] cheap [goods] and provided jobs.)

November 2015 – Duterte visits Yang in his company headquarters in China

Mayor Duterte visits Yang’s company headquarters in Xiamen, China, around the time Duterte declares his presidential bid.

Photos of Duterte’s visit were posted in several Chinese online pages. The photos show the future president being toured by Yang, and another one with them in the building’s lobby, together with company president Zheng Bingqiang.  

October 2016 – Duterte dines with Yang and other Chinese businessmen in China

Yang is one of the people Duterte has lunch with during his state visit to China, joining members of the Friends of the Philippines Foundation and then-Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua.

Photos and videos show Yang beside Duterte at some points, as they walk along a busy street to a Peking duck restaurant in Beijing, China. Inside the restaurant, Yang sits one person away from the President. (IN PHOTOS: Duterte walks through Beijing street to resto) 

March 2017 – Duterte and Yang meet with Pharmally International

Duterte holds a meeting with Yang in Davao City. Yang appears to introduce executives of Pharmally International Holdings to the President. 

Huang Wen Lie, the chairperson of Pharmally International Holdings present in that meeting, is the father of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation co-owner Huang Tzu Yen. In 2020, the younger Huang’s company bagged the biggest amount of pandemic supply contracts from the Duterte government, amounting to at least P8.68 billion that year. It has since bagged at least P2.3 billion worth of new contracts in 2021. 

Advertisementhttps://630c13d608fe394c02952237a51500dd.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

January 2018 – Yang starts his stint as presidential economic adviser

Yang enters into a contract to be Duterte’s economic adviser, despite being a foreigner. He holds this position throughout 2018. 

Duterte denied that he tapped his Chinese businessman friend, but Rappler obtained copies of the contracts which showed that Yang indeed held the position. 

Yang’s calling card even shows the presidential seal, while he also maintained a Makati office for this position, according to a Rappler report in 2018.

May 28, 2018 – Yang attends a Malacañang ceremony

Yang attends a ceremony in Malacañang, where President Duterte awards Chinese businessman Jose Kho the Order of Lapu-Lapu, a merit award created by Duterte in 2017 and given to individuals who render extraordinary service or contribution to the President’s causes.

Photos from the ceremony show Yang in between then-special assistant to the president and now-Senator Christopher Bong Go and Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri.

Real estate tycoon Kho is the man behind the Soledad College, named after Duterte’s mother, in China’s Fujian Normal University. His Friends of the Philippines Foundation also donated a P500-million drug rehabilitation facility in Bukidnon that was inaugurated in August 2018.

October 4, 2018 – Duterte clears Yang of illegal drugs links

In a speech, Duterte dismisses allegations of Yang’s involvement in the illegal drug trade. He says the accusation is “nonsense,” and that the businessman’s connection to the Chinese government was enough reason for him not to get involved with drugs.

Advertisement

“Hindi ’yan totoo, matagal na ’yan sa Davao,” Duterte said at the time. (That is not true, he’s been in Davao for a long time.)

The President was reacting to an intelligence report by veteran anti-drug operative Eduardo Acierto. Months after, in 2019, Acierto publicly claimed that Duterte and other law enforcement agencies ignored his findings. (READ: Duterte to police, military: Why is Acierto still alive?) 

November 20, 2018 – Yang joins state banquet for Chinese President Xi Jinping

Yang is one of the guests at the state banquet held for Chinese President Xi Jinping in Malacañang. Other attendees include Filipino-Chinese businessmen and Chinese nationals, such as Kho and Dennis Uy, among others.

August 2019 – Yang hosts lunch for Duterte in China

Yang hosts a private lunch for Duterte, select members of his Cabinet, and other officials during a visit to China.

According to a Rappler report, this engagement did not appear in the President’s official list of activities in China. 

April 14, 2020 – Pharmally Pharma gets first pandemic contract

Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation obtains its first pandemic-related supply contract from the government for 2.4 million pieces of surgical masks, amounting to P54 million, or P22.50 per mask.

The company would later obtain the multi-billion contracts from the Duterte administration – amounting to almost P9 billion – despite being “least qualified” among all pandemic suppliers. It was also favored over local manufacturers. 

Rappler later discovered in August 2021 that Yang is connected to Pharmally Pharma. Two close associates of Singaporean Huang Tzu Yen, owner of Pharmally Pharma, also works with Yang in other businesses. (READ: Biggest pandemic supplier has links to ex-Duterte adviser Michael Yang) 

Tzu Yen’s father is also the chairperson of Pharmally International Holdings, the company Duterte and Yang had a meeting with in 2017. 

In a September 10 Senate hearing, a Pharmally director admitted that Yang acted as financier and guarantor for Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation. 

August to September 2021 – Duterte defends Yang again and again

Duterte is quick to come to Yang’s defense amid criticism of his involvement in the multi-billion pandemic contracts. (READ: #DuterteDefends: What Duterte has said about Michael Yang, Lao on anomalous contracts)

On August 30, Duterte says Yang is a “paymaster” or “financial sponsor” of Chinese businessmen who want to start businesses in the country. 

On September 8, the President again defends Yang, describing him as a “middleman” who lays the groundwork for China deals. He insists that Yang has no criminal record. 

Malacañang, meanwhile, denies that Yang is the reason behind the contracts given to Pharmally. – with reports from Pia Ranada/Rappler.com

‘No nation deserves him,’ Gordon says of Duterte

Pinoy Abrod
-
0
‘No nation deserves him,’ Gordon says of Duterte

By: Christia Marie Ramos – Reporter /INQUIRER.net /September 15, 2021

MANILA, Philippines — “No nation deserves him.”

This was how Senator Richard Gordon described President Rodrigo Duterte, citing the Chief Executive’s controversial remarks in the past and alleged betrayal of people’s trust.

“No nation deserves him. I mean… minumura ang Santo Papa, minumura ang Diyos, sinasabi sa mga tao, sinasabi sa mga pulis, barilin niyo sa vagina yung mga babae, yung mga NPA (New People’s Army),” Gordon said in an interview Tuesday.

(No nation deserves him. I mean he cursed at the Pope, at God, and told police to shoot women in the vagina, to shoot the NPA.)

“No nation deserves him because nagtiwala ang tao [because the public trusted him] and he betrayed the trust of the people,” he added.

Gordon said this as Duterte continued to slam the Senate blue ribbon committee’s investigation into the allegedly overpriced purchases of the government for its pandemic response in 2020.

“Manduduro at manduduro ‘yan, they will intimidate,” the senator, chairman of the panel, added.

(He will keep on picking on us, they will intimidate.)

In a public address aired Tuesday, Duterte lambasted Gordon and wondered what else the senator was looking for since the face masks, face shields, testing kits, and the personal protective equipment sets are already in the government’s hands.

The President also chided Gordon for spending long hours on the hearing while requiring people to attend despite not all of them being put to questioning.

Before this, the Chief Executive claimed Senate inquiries lead to nothing.

EDV

Duterte’s rants push Senate panel to dig deeper into Pharmally’s ‘connections’

Pinoy Abrod
-
0
Duterte’s rants push Senate panel to dig deeper into Pharmally’s ‘connections’

By: Christia Marie Ramos – Reporter /INQUIRER.net / September 14, 2021

MANILA, Philippines — Because of President Rodrigo Duterte’s continued ranting against senators, the Senate blue ribbon committee will dig even deeper into the “connections” that led small firm Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. to corner over P8.6 billion in government deals in 2020.

“If he [Duterte] has nothing to hide, he won’t be hitting us like that. I can’t understand why. And if you continue to struggle, that may mean you’re hiding something,” Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the blue ribbon panel said in Filipino in an interview on Tuesday.

“And the more we will investigate because we will look for who really was the connection of these people. A P625,000 corporation can’t do such a big deal and get [nearly] P8.7 billion. It’s really puzzling as it has no track record,” he continued.

The Senate blue ribbon committee is currently investigating the procurement of allegedly “overpriced” personal protective equipment, face masks, and face shields made by the Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service (DBM-PS) on behalf of the Department of Health in 2020.

At the center of the probe is Pharmally, which bagged government contracts worth over P8.6 billion in 2020 despite being only several months old and having just P625,000 in paid-up capital.

In a public address aired earlier Tuesday, Duterte continued ranting against the Senate probe into the purchase.

Particularly, he lambasted Gordon, asking what else the senator was looking for since the said pandemic medical supplies were already in the government’s hands.

Duterte also chided Gordon for spending long hours on the hearing while requiring people to attend despite not all of them being put under questioning.

In his interview, Gordon also questioned Duterte’s defense of former DBM-PS head Christopher Lao and former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang.

“He should answer and not side with the people we are investigating,” the senator said. “He’s even defending his friend and badmouthing a co-equal branch of government.”

Yang’s ‘dummy’?

During one of the hearings, Pharmally President Huang Tzu Yen admitted that his firm borrowed money from Yang to help them fulfill some of the government’s medical supplies orders last year.

Huang made the statement after Yang maintained he had no ties with Pharmally and only introduced company officials to Chinese suppliers.

Yang was first linked to the controversial procurement after a 2017 video showed him introducing Pharmally officials to Duterte in Davao City.

Gordon suspects that Pharmally could have been a “dummy” of Yang, a perception earlier denied by Huang.

“We realize that we’ve caused a huge ruckus. But we just want to make sure that people don’t think that we are a dummy for Mr. Michael Yang. We have thoughts. We have visions. We work on our resources,” the Pharmally official had said

But Gordon believes Yang might have seen an opportunity to do business when the country was looking for pandemic response supplies at the height of the health crisis last year.

“Dummy. I think it’s a dummy. Pharmally was used as a front. It’s very simple. He would supply the funds for commonly used things — everything from PPEs to masks — from China,” Gordon said.

“So [what Yang probably said was]: ‘Put your people there in the DBM-PS.’ That’s my theory. ‘And make sure the contracts will be given to me because I have a lot of connections in China’,” he added.

John Arcilla hailed as Best Actor at Venice Int’l Film Festival

Pinoy Abrod
-
0
John Arcilla hailed as Best Actor at Venice Int’l Film Festival

By: Dana Cruz INQUIRER.net / September 12, 2021

John Arcilla has won the Best Actor award at the 78th Venice International Film Festival for his performance in the Erik Matti film “On the Job: The Missing 8.”

The actor’s trophy, the Volpi Cup, was received by Matti as seen on the awards show streamed on the film festival’s official YouTube channel today, Sept. 12.

Arcilla also delivered a speech thanking the festival for the recognition, while also expressing regret over not being able to personally receive his Volpi Cup.

“I will not be able to kiss my own Volpi Cup there in the middle of Venice and on that red carpet just like the other 77 great actors whom I admire who have already kissed their own,” Arcilla said.

“I know that we came from different countries and we have different languages and cultures and yet I can feel that you understand me and we understand each other. It’s because of the art of cinema,” he added.

Arcilla showed his full acceptance speech through his Instagram page, also today. He then admitted that he felt speechless over the victory.

“This Volpi Cup is such a symbol of a milestone in my work as an actor, just like my cup of life which is so full of blessings outpouring from the [heavens.] I wish I can share this [with] all my loved ones who left us in this lifetime,” the actor said.

“On the Job: The Missing 8” is the only Southeast Asian film selected for the In Competition section, as per a release by the Film Development Council of the Philippines last month.

It revolves around a journalist named Sisoy Salas (Arcilla), who looks into the disappearance of his colleagues. The film also stars actor Dennis Trillo as Roman Rubio, a prisoner who fell into the gun-for-hire business.

Also in the cast are Christopher de Leon, Leo Martinez, Joey Marquez, Vandolph Quizon, Agot Isidro, Eric Fructuoso and Soliman Cruz, among others.

The film is a follow-up to the internationally acclaimed action-crime film “On the Job” in 2013, which starred Gerald Anderson and Joel Torre.

The 78th Venice International Film Festival ran from Sept. 1 to Sept. 11 in Italy. JB

1...575859...730Page 58 of 730
© Newspaper WordPress Theme by TagDiv