Editorial 5/20/16 (Philippines, politics, change, society, Duterte, expectation)

Philippine Star "Sustain the momentum"

Nearly two weeks after election day, the 12 winners in the Senate race were proclaimed yesterday by the Commission on Elections. The proclamation crawled along like a graduation ceremony, raising fears that 13th placer Francis Tolentino, former chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority, would have enough time to stop the proceedings with a court restraining order. There was no TRO, however, and the Comelec completed the proclamation. At least one candidate groused about being cheated, but did not plan to file a formal protest. Two groups have filed a complaint for electoral sabotage against officials of the Comelec, poll watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting and automation service provider Smartmatic. The criminal complaint stemmed from Smartmatic’s change of the hash code of the transparency server used in the PPCRV’s unofficial quick count for the national races. [full text]

Sun.Star Cebu "The other side of the reward"

The circumstances behind Dumpit's conviction have to be mentioned in the light of recent developments. When Dumpit was active in the police service Osmeña was the mayor and suspected criminals were gunned down one after the other by motorcycle-riding gunmen. Osmeña won in the recent elections and even before he could assume as mayor on June 30 he already dangled a P50,000 reward for cops who kill suspected criminals in the line of duty.
Interestingly, Dumpit's legal defense was that he killed Go in the line of duty. But that did not get in the way of his prosecution and of the court convicting him. This shows the other side of Osmeña's initiative. While law enforcers being aggressive in battling criminality is good, there are also rules of engagement that they need to follow or they end up in jail like Dumpit. [full text]

Mindanao Times "Loose change for real change"

AS CONSUMERS, we expect to receive the correct change when we buy goods or pay for services. The reality is that we cannot transact if we are a centavo short. So when taxi drivers or cashiers do not give us the correct change, we feel that we have been defrauded. There are people who think that we should be lenient and understand the plight of cab drivers who can’t or won’t provide coins to passengers as they can barely meet the boundary which they have to pay at the end of the day to the cab owners. We believe that an honest and principled driver will never hesitate to give exact change even if he will only have a few pesos left on his pocket. Those who turn a blind eye to this anomalous transaction help perpetuate the culture of dishonesty in this country. [full text]

Manila Bulletin "Failure and success"

Do you want Rody to fail? He promised: “Crime, corruption, and drugs must stop. Give me three or six months. I will deliver.” However much you disagree with his braggadocio and however sceptical you may be, I am sure you do not want him to fail. What a boon if he is able to do what he is saying. Then are you just going to fold your arms and wait to see if he can do what he said? Some people especially the Dabawenos are doing something about it. They are volunteering to work for the new government for free. They are already telling speedsters and jaywalkers, “Ayaw ni Rody nyan.”They are using their arms and not sitting on their hands or folding arms across their chest and waiting to judge the boasts of Rody. The spirit of Davao and the followers of Rody is different. They want to put their two cents worth to make Rody succeed in his boast. Give him six months but he should not be alone. [full text]

Inquirer "Which universe?"

The angst of the Bongbong Marcos for Vice President campaign is easy to understand; as the last tally of the unofficial count shows, the first-term senator and heir of the Marcos political tradition will likely come up less than a percentage point short of victory. But in the campaign’s attempt to prove that Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been cheated, it has become confused about what is real and what is not. It has created an alternate universe that in time may rival that of Marvel or DC or the other billion-dollar entertainment franchises that depend on creative license; like some of the dicier movies in these various series, however, its alternate version of reality is incoherent: full of holes. In the Marcos universe, the signs of administration-engineered cheating were evident even before Election Day, because of, well, the surveys. [full page]