Category Archives: Government

PHILIPPINES: PRESIDENT AQUINO THANKS HAIRDRESSER, ENTOURAGE IN STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS

July 27, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

QUEZON CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – Philippine President NoyNoy Aquino on Monday delivered the longest State of the Nation Address (SONA) in the country’s history and used the podium at the joint session of Congress to thank his hairdresser.

For two hours and ten minutes, Aquino, speaking in Tagalog, focused on two major themes: blaming his predecessor for all that is wrong with the country and thanking his entire personal entourage.

In addition to his hairdresser, he thanked his wardrobe consultant, his nanny, his security detail, his personal secretary, his spiritual counselor, his parents, his sisters and in-laws, his smoking buddies, and finally his bosses — the Filipino people.

If his last SONA sounded like an acceptance speech at a film awards presentation, it is because it was. The Adobo Chronicles® learned that Aquino’s sister, actress and television talk show host Kris, wrote majority of what he said in his SONA.

In addition to calling it an acting award acceptance speech, critics have called the speech a SOPA, or State of the Previous Administration.

Government, International, Law Enforcement

DONALD TRUMP HEEDS ANN COULTER’S SUGGESTION TO DEPORT JOSÉ ANTONIO VARGAS

July 25, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

NEW YORK, New York (The Adobo Chronicles® )- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump today called for the arrest and deportation of Filipino José Antonio Vargas, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who came out as an undocumented immigrant years ago.

Trump issued the call after conservative columnist Ann Coulter made the suggestion in an interview with Megyn Kelly of FOX News.

Trump, who just arrived in New York after a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border in Laredo, Texas, accepted Coulter’s challenge and asked the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to implement U.S. immigration laws concerning immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.

Vargas, who founded the group ‘Define American,’ recently released a documentary, ‘White People’ which aired on MTV.

Meanwhile, conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, a Filipino American, agreed with Coulter about Vargas’ arrest and deportation. “I am a U.S. citizen because I worked hard for it,” Malkin said. “I had to find a U.S. citizen to marry.”

Government, Politics

PHILIPPINE VP JOJO BINAY TO DELIVER TSONA

July 25, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

During good times: Binay, left, and Aquino

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – In the United States, whenever the president delivers his State of the Union Address (SOTU), the opposing political party designates someone to deliver an official response. That has not been the case with the Philippines’ State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Until now.

The Office of the Vice President, Jejomar Binay, has announced that he will be delivering a TSONA — Totoong State of the Nation Address (True State of the Nation Address) after President Aquino delivers his SONA on July 27.

It is common knowledge that unlike in the U.S., the Philippines’ president and vice president don’t necessarily have to belong to the same political party, as is the case with Aquino and Binay. Voters vote for prez and VP separately.

Binay had a falling out with Aquino recently, prompting the vice president to resign from his cabinet position. Since then, Binay has been attacking the Aquino administration, its policies and failures.

Binay has declared that he was running for president in 2016. Aquino, meanwhile, is expected to announce soon who he is endorsing as his party’s nominee for president.

SONA or TSONA, it will be a classic case of he said, he said.