I Salute Commissioner Guanzon

Howard Calleja, lawyer for the Martial Law survivors, said he “salutes Commissioner Guanzon for her adherence to justice and the rule of law,” but expressed worries over “her revelation of political influence and manipulation hounding the decision of the 1st Division.”

I second the motion of Howard Calleja and salute Commissioner Guanzon for her courage. Furthermore, the identity of the "powerful politician" who is attempting to influence the decision of the 1st Division should be revealed. In fact, that "powerful politician" should be prosecuted to the fullest extent (including removal from office at the very least) for attempting to subvert the rule of law. As it stands, in spite of the apparent internal agreement among the members of the 1st Division to release its decision on January 17, 2022 (video at 9:10 to 9:25), said "powerful politician" has effectively delayed the release of the decision, giving BBM ample opportunity to "fix" the decision in his favor with his usual financial incentives using plundered funds.

It is precisely because of the delay in the release of the decision of the 1st Division that Commissioner Guanzon was compelled to disclose her vote to disqualify BBM, particularly in light of her pending retirement. Apparently, if Commissioner Guanzon did not disclose her vote prior to her retirement date (and the 1st Division delayed its decision after her retirement date), then her vote would not have been counted and would have been replaced by a vote of another Dutae appointee. However, because Commissioner Guanzon has disclosed her vote to disqualify BBM (prior to her retirement date), then her vote stands, even if the 1st Division delays the decision after her retirement.

Predictably, BBM has pounced on this heroic act of Commissioner Guanzon by yet again creating a fake alternate reality and pursuing an all-out offensive against Commissioner Guanzon.

BBM's Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) issued a strong statement Friday, January 28, condemning elections commissioner Rowena Guanzon and calling for her disbarment and forfeiture of retirement benefits.

“Because of her premature disclosure or leaking of her unpromulgated dissenting opinion, Commissioner Guanzon should be disbarred with forfeiture of her retirement benefits and lifetime pension because she destroyed the reputation of the institution, which these moneys come from,” said PFP general counsel George Briones in a statement Friday." (underscore mine)

For starters, the above statement of PFP on January 28, 2022 indicates that the decision of Commissioner Guanzon is a dissenting opinion in spite of the fact that in the interview of Commissioner Guanzon with Pia Hontiveros of CNN Philippines on January 27, 2022 (just a day before), Commissioner Guanzon herself stated that she did NOT know the decision of the other two members of the 1st Division (video at 2:40 to 2:50). Thus, it would appear that BMM already knows the decision of the other two members of the 1st Division, so as to characterize the decision of Commissioner Guanzon as a dissenting opinion (i.e., even before Commissioner Guanzon knew that her decision was a dissenting opinion), which in and of itself is highly irregular. As the saying goes, something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

In the explosive words of Commissioner Guanzon during the interview with Christian Esguerra on After the Fact on the night of January 28, 2022 regarding PFP counsel George Briones's statement that Commissioner Guanzon's decision is a minority opinion, "Ibig sabihin, alam na niya (Briones/BBM) na may nasuhulan siya . . . May nasuhulan ba siya ? Bakit alam na niya na minority yung akin? Alam na niya yung boto ng dalawa kontra? You catch the fish here in the mouth. Bakit may nasuhulan na ba kayo? May tumanggap ba ng pera? Iyan ang tanong ko sa kanila. Did money change hands? How come you know that mine is a minority opinion? That the majority is in favor of your whatever client? Bat nila alam? Sabi ko separate opinion because I did not know their votes yet. Walang resolution. Walang pang ponensiya. How can mine be a dissenting opinion?" (video at 15:00 to 16.02)

In the same interview, regarding PFP Briones' claim that Commissioner Guanzon should not have disclosed her decision to the public ahead of the decision of the 1st Division, Commissioner Guanzon responded:

"It is Commissioner Ferolino who may be liable under Section 3(c) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Why? Because she is delaying the release of a resolution to favor a litigant. That is an impeachable offense. Sinasalang niyo si Commissioner Ferolino dito na bagong-bago pa siyang commissioner. Sirang-sira na yung tinggin ng marami . . . sa mata ko sa kanya . . . wala na akong respeto sa kanya." (video at 16:56 to 17:36)

BRAVO Commissioner Guanzon! Thank you for telling it like it is!

Only in the fake alternate reality of the Marcoses would adherence to the rule of law and transparency to the Filipino people be considered a violation of the rules of the Code of Judicial Conduct, particularly when such "violation" was done in the context of BBM influencing the two other members of the 1st Division to subvert the rule of law in his favor.

The culprit in this situation is NOT Commissioner Guanzon. The culprit is BBM and the "powerful politician" who is doing the dirty work of BBM. That is the crux of the matter and exemplifies the essence of moral turpitude leveled against BBM.

Cancellation or Disqualification

The latest zarzuela of the various petitions seeking the cancellation or the disqualification of BBM's candidacy at the COMELEC has become the perfect venue for Marcos to broadcast another monumental batch of big lies and another ideal opportunity to chip-away at the foundations of our crumbling democratic institutions. And the whores of the COMELEC and the Supreme Court (who are mostly appointees of Dutae) are poised to oblige.

According to the liar of BBM, there is NO tax evasion in BBM's failure to file income tax returns for four (4) consecutive years (i.e., 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1985). 

The fact is, the Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed the conviction of BBM by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in the tax evasion cases under the National Internal Revenue Code of 1977; hence, BBM is a tax evader and a certified convict who is disqualified to run for any public office in the Philippines.

According to another liar of BBM, the CA decision has not found BBM to have committed a crime involving moral turpitude and no such inference can be made from that (CA) decision and, furthermore, this is self-evident from the very fact that the CA had totally junked the imprisonment meted out by the trial court. 

The fact is, it was wrong for the CA to delete the prison terms altogether and to retain only the piddling fines imposed therein. Presidential Decree No. 1158 (the National Internal Revenue Code of 1977) explicitly provided for BOTH imprisonment and fine as the mandatory penalty for violation of any of its provisions. No discretion is allowed the court to impose only one or the other. In short, BBM bribed the CA to delete the prison terms correctly imposed by the RTC.

Moreover, when BBM elevated that case to the Supreme Court (SC) in 1997, the SC could have easily (a) seen from the very bare allegations contained in the appeal how the CA had gone rogue in its disposition of that case and (b) held the CA justices concerned to account for their temerity in making a mockery of the law. Instead, BBM, realizing he was pushing his luck too far, withdrew the case from the SC, thereby giving the SC a convenient excuse from doing anything about the CA's scandalous decision.

That said, nothing stood in the way of the SC in citing the CA justices concerned to show cause as to why no disciplinary action should be taken against them for such injudicious adventurism. In failing to do so, the SC itself (in addition to the CA) betrayed the trust the public reposed in the judicial system, which is supposed to uphold the rule of law without fear or favor. In short, BBM also bribed the SC to keep quiet.

Given the above perversions of the CA and the SC with plenty of help from the financial incentives of BBM (no doubt using the plundered funds of the Marcos family), why do we even bother with these petitions and seemingly endless appeals that will ultimately land in the lap of a totally corrupted SC, which will predictably decide in favor of the highest bidder?

In an alternate reality in which the CA and the SC actually upheld the rule of law (which is apparently too much to expect in the Philippine), BBM would NOT have been allowed to run for any public office since 1997 and we would NOT be expending so much energy today with these petitions at the COMELEC, which is only an interim step in an attempt to rectify the grievous treachery committed by the CA and the SC against the Filipino people in favor of BBM.

Another totally convoluted practice allowed in the COMELEC rules that has been highlighted in this fiasco with the COMELEC (and which should be corrected in haste) is the apparent ability of any disqualified candidate to be substituted by any person having the same surname up to mid-day of election day. What kind of nonsense is that?!!! This is particularly egregious in the context of a presidential candidate.

Even more ridiculous is the apparent distinction between the cancellation of the Certification of Candidacy (COC) of a candidate and the disqualification of a candidate. While both the cancellation of the COC of BBM and the disqualification of BBM are among the petitions pending at the COMELEC, the resulting President of the Philippines would be different depending on the final judgement of the SC.

If the SC decides to cancel the COC of BBM, then it would be as if BBM did not run for the presidency and the presidential candidate with the most votes (other than BBM) becomes the President of the Philippines. On the other hand, if the SC decides to disqualify BBM (say after the election results are disclosed), then, BBM would not be permitted to become the President of the Philippines (even if BBM garnered the most votes for the presidency) and the winning vice-presidential candidate would assume the presidency by virtue of succession.

Call me a simpleton but the Filipino people deserve a President (not a Vice President) for a President regardless of the SC's decision regarding either the cancellation of the COC of BBM or the disqualification of BBM. Both the cancellation and the disqualification should deem BBM a non-entity in the elections and the COMELEC rules should be revised accordingly.

Of course, if the SC neither cancels nor disqualifies BBM, then we know what happened and the SC should not even exist anymore.

Enough of this Mockery

PDP-Laban wing asks Comelec to reopen filing of COCs for 2022 polls

In total disregard for the ground rules set forth by the COMELEC for the 2022 Philippine national elections, Dutae's errand boy (Cusi) has the temerity to initiate this brazenly self-serving request in the first place. He has the shameless audacity to call the October 1 to 8 period for COC filing "unreasonable, unnecessary, and legally impossible." His statement that the COMELEC “cannot and should not” proceed with printing of ballots is completely out of line. And he has the gall to declare that his request is for the benefit of the electorate at large. Ubod ng kapal pero ganito talaga sina Dutae at ang kalahatan ng kanyang mga galamay.

This is the same PDP-Laban that initially fielded a gorilla (Bato) as its presidential candidate, which was withdrawn and followed by a chimpanzee (GaGo), which was also withdrawn. Similarly, PDP-Laban also floated the idea of Dutae as its vice presidential candidate, which elicited so much disgust that Dutae filed instead for a senatorial candidacy, which was also withdrawn. Clearly, Dutae and his stooges in PDP-Laban have been dicking around with the electoral process and, due to their stupidity and over-inflated sense of worth, have found themselves today in a position of a lame duck. Considering PDP-Laban's roots were established to fight the Marcos dictatorship, it is now a meaningless, irrelevant and splintered mess, much like anything associated with Dutae. Hence, this attempt to forcibly wedge themselves into the May 2022 elections to regain some political leverage should clearly NOT be permitted by the COMELEC. However, such a definitive and unequivocal decision by the COMELEC is wishful thinking at this time--much the same way it is wishful thinking, regardless of the definitive grounds under the Omnibus Election Code, that the COMELEC would disqualify BBM to run for any public office.

In spite of the prostituted institutions of the COMELEC and the Supreme Court, which are bound to unlawfully (a) grant the farcical request of the PDP-Laban and (b) permit BBM to run for public office, their perversions of the rule of law will ironically be the undoing of both the Duterte and Marcos dynasties. In simple terms, if PDP-Laban manages to field another presidential candidate that is presumably supported by Dutae et al, this johnny-come-lately will only split the votes of BBM, which would ensure the victory of Leni.

So I say to the whores in the COMELEC and the Supreme Court, spread your legs, extort as much bribes from Dutae and BBM, and let them have their way. In the end, the Filipinos who truly appreciate a responsible democracy will prevail with Leni as the next President.

On the other hand, the COMELEC and the Supreme Court could miraculously lean on the right side of history (i.e., reject the absurdities of PDP-Laban and disqualify BBM from running for any public office); however, this might be too high-minded for the proprietors of these brothels.