RP NEWS
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PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY April 1 - 15, 2019
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Cardinal Tagle hits people who lie “for political\
expediency, out of fear’
CARDINAL Luis Antonio Tagle,
archbishop of Manila, on Wednesday,
lamented on how it has been “easy to
change truths” and criticized people
who lied “for political expediency or
out of fear.”
“Test of that freedom in truth
is when you are persecuted. How
easy it is to change truths. So, now
everyone is entitled to create his or
her own truth for political expediency
or out of fear,” said Tagle in his homily
at the Radio Veritas’ thanksgiving
mass at the medicine auditorium of
the University of the Santo Tomas in
Manila.
Tagle’s statements come after
Sara Duterte-Carpio, daughter of
President Rodrigo Duterte and Davao
City mayor, claimed that honesty
should not be an electoral issue and
insisted that the Constitution did not
legally require aspiring senators to be
honest, truthful and have good moral
character.
Duterte-Carpio’s own statement
came after she endorsed Ilocos Norte
Governor Imee Marcos as a candidate
for senator under her political party,
Hugpong ng Pagbabago, despite
allegations that she falsified her
foreign university documents.
Tagle expressed hope that the
faithful would be like the four Jews
named Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abed-nego who resisted to
abandon their faith despite death
threats from Nebuchadnezzar 2nd,
conqueror from the Babylonian
empire from 605 or 604-562 BCE
(before the common era). The ruler
was portrayed in the Bible as an
“enemy of God.”
“He thought that by threatening
them with death, they would
abandon the truth about true God
or discipleship. They refused to
be enslaved by idolatry, to change
allegiance from the personal God of
their history to statue the false god that
is being proposed to them look at the
level of freedom coming truth. There
is no need for us to defend ourselves
to you in this matter, they said. The
truth will set us free,” he said.
The Manila archbishop also
underscored the importance of
“serving” the truth.
Tagle said truth should not be kept
but shared, so “that the darkness of
ignorance or illiteracy may be wiped
out and the values may be shared by
Christians all over Asia” so they may
be set free.
He also said that the truth “defines
the whole of human existence.”
He added that slavery to untruth
is a sin for Jesus Christ, the central
figure in the Christian religion.
“And what is the opposite of
truth, what is enslavement, it is not
just ignorance, for Jesus it is sin. It is
when our relationship with God is not
right then miss out on the truth, we
fail,” he said.
“Jesus leads us to that liberation if
only his word coming from the father
could be accepted, could be loved
then we are set free,” he said.
The mass, which was attended
by prelates from the Federation of
Asian Bishops’ Conferences, Filipino
priests, and UST students and faculty
members, was celebrated by the
Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the
apostolic nuncio to the Philippines.
Tagle said that in December
1958, it was in the same auditorium
where Southeast Asian bishops in
Manila, have decided to establish a
radio station for Asia and Oceania
“to spread the truth and drive away
ignorance and illiteracy and to direct
the minds of Asians to the true values
and meanings of life,” he said. (C. A.
Modesto, TMT)
Palace challenges PCIJ, Sereno to File charges vs Duterte,
children; President net satisfaction rating climbed six points
MANILA,
Philippines
—
Malacañang Tuesday challenged
former chief justice Maria Lourdes
Sereno and the Philippine Center for
Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) to file
charges against President Rodrigo
Duterte and his children if they think
they have amassed ill-gotten wealth.
A PCIJ report revealed that the
incomes of Duterte and his children
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and
former vice mayor Paolo Duterte rose
significantly while they were in office.
Duterte, Sara and Paolo have
“consistently grown richer over the
years” despite the modest salaries
they got for various government posts
and the “negligible” retained earnings
from the companies they own or co-
own, the report said.
Citing data from SALNs filed by
Duterte, PCIJ said the president’s net
worth jumped by 195% from P9.69
million in 2007 to P28.54 million in
2017. Paolo’s net worth increased by
233% from P8.34 million to P27.74
million two years ago while that of
Sara rose by 518% from P7.25 million
to P44.83 million.
Sereno, whose appointment as
chief justice was voided for failing to
submit some of her SALNs, has asked
Duterte to explain the increases in his
income, noting that officials should
display a “simple lifestyle.”
But
presidential
spokesman
Salvador Panelo said the law does not
require officials to justify the increases
in their income.
“The law requires public officials
to file their SALN. PRRD already did
that. The law does not require the
filer to explain the increases in their
income, if there are,” Panelo said in a
text message.
“If PCIJ and Sereno believe that
the increases are ill gotten wealth they
should file the appropriate charges,”
he added.
Last Monday, Panelo claimed
Duterte properly declared all his
assets.
“With respect to the wealth being
referred to, they have been properly
declared as admitted by...that group.
What is prohibited is when you do not
declare your assets.
But he has declared them, so
what’s the hullabaloo?” Panelo said in
a press briefing in Malacañang.
“If he did not declare, that’s the
time you should be explaining, and
you should be prosecuted for not
putting that in the SALN,” he added.
Duterte has assailed the PCIJ
over its report, saying what he and
his children earned outside the
government is none of the media
outlet’s business. The president has
also accused PCIJ of being “paid
hacks.”
PCIJ has denied that its report
was funded by the opposition, noting
that it also reported about the wealth
of previous presidents. The award-
winning news organization said
it would have been far better had
Duterte and his children granted its
request for comments and sit-down
interviews before the story ran.
PCIJ has also reported that Duterte
had formed the Fabiosa Duterte
Cimafranca Carcedo Law Firm but
the firm never appeared in any of
his SALNs. The report also claimed
that Carpio & Duterte Lawyers entity,
which has presidential daughter and
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and
husband Manases Carpio as partners,
was created over ten years ago but has
not registered at all with the Securities
and Exchange Commission.
Panelo has said it was possible that
the law firm formed by the president
is no longer existing.
Executive Secretary Salvador
Medialdea has said the Office of the
President (OP) does not have the
SALNs requested by PCIJ.
“The SALNs covered by their
request have been submitted years
before (Duterte) became president
and are not in the possession of OP,”
Medialdea said in a text message.
Medialdea als accused Duterte’s
critics of nitpicking on the president’s
SALN.
“They (critics) have tried to make
an issue out of even the minutest detail
in hopes to pin the president for some
wrongdoing but to their dismay their
efforts had all failed,” the executive
secretary said.
“The president remains committed
to his cause to eradicate corruption
and rid of the govt of corrupt officials.
We have seen heads roll from lowly
rank and file employees to heads of
departments and agencies. He can
look these people he fired in the
eye because he is not tainted with
corruption,” he added.
Meanwhile, The net satisfaction
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
rating of President Rodrigo Duterte
climbed six points in the first quarter
of 2019 Social Weather Stations
(SWS) survey results.
The nationwide survey conducted
from March 28 to 31 among 1,440
respondents found 79 percent of
adult Filipinos satisfied, 8 percent
undecided, and 13 percent dissatisfied
with the performance of President
Rodrigo Duterte in the past three
months.
This translates to a net satisfaction
rating of +66 (percent satisfied minus
percent dissatisfied), classified by
SWS as “very good.”
It is up by six points from the
“very good” +60 in December 2018
and ties his personal high set in June
2017.
Compared to December 2018,
SWS said satisfaction with President
Duterte rose by five points from
74 percent, indecision fell by three
points from 11 percent, and gross
dissatisfaction fell by two points from
15 percent.
SWS attributed the six-point rise
in President Duterte’s net satisfaction
rating from December 2018 to March
2019 to increases of 15 points in
Mindanao, seven points in the Visayas,
four points in the rest of Luzon, and
three points in Metro Manila.
(A. Romero, PS)