Category Archives: Government

Government, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social Media

MOTORCYCLE-RIDING, GUN-TOTING PHILIPPINE MAYOR PROMISES TO BAN FACEBOOK IF ELECTED PRESIDENT

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Duterte, left, and Zuckerberg
Duterte, left, and Zuckerberg

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – Many Filipinos are urging him to run for president in 2016, despite his reputation as a gun-toting mayor who has no problem with extra-judicial killings of criminals and drug traffickers.  He is Rodrigo Duterte, mayor of Davao, one of the major cities in the Philippines’ Mindanao island.

Although he has repeatedly said in public that he has no intention of running for higher public office, Duterte went on record that if he becomes president, he will abolish Congress and form a revolutionary government to totally rid the government of corruption.

He has also promised to bring back high educational standards by banning Facebook and mandating instead that young people use Google.

“I am sick and tired of our youth using Facebook as their primary news source while wasting hours and hours posting and commenting on insignificant events in their already empty lives,” Duterte said. “They should instead use Google to enrich their knowledge about history, geography and science while keeping abreast on world developments that have a direct impact on our country,” he added.

Duterte criticized Mark Zuckerberg for  the latter’s effort to provide free Facebook access in the Philippines.  At the same time, he said he would encourage Google to set up operations in the Philippines, including the inclusion of Google Search in all school curricula, as a way to bring about a truly informed and intelligent citizenry.

Government, Politics

PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT AQUINO WILL SEEK REELECTION IN 2022

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Aquino
Aquino

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles ) – Philippine President NoyNoy Aquino has officially declared his candidacy for reelection — in 2022. His announcement came during a press conference while on a state visit to Japan.

Under the current constitution, Aquino is barred from seeking reelection after his 6-year-term expires in 2016.  However, he says his comrades in Congress are about to introduce and approve a constitutional amendment that would lift the presidential term limit.

“But first, I want to take a 6-year hiatus to focus on my personal life.  I hope to be able to find the right woman to be my wife within that time period. “I want to return to Malacañang (the presidential palace) with a First Lady, ” Aquino said. He also added that waiting for 6 years will make him more mature than he is now.

This would not be the first time that a president will seek reelection after being termed out.  However, it will be the first bid to reclaim the same termed-out presidency. Former President Joseph Estrada ran again and won as city mayor of Manila while former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ran and won as a congresswoman representing her district in the province of Pampanga.

 

 

Government, International, Travel

ENTRY VISA NOW REQUIRED OF ALL U.S. CITIZENS VISITING AMERICAN SAMOA

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The Rock, left, and The Governor
The Rock, left, and The Governor

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (The Adobo Chronicles) –  The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has just ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship does not apply to island territories including American Samoa.

Agreeing with the Obama administration’s lawyers, the DC Circuit relied on and even expanded the scope of a set of racially-charged, Colonial-era cases that refer to “savages” and “alien races” to reach their decision.

The cited Insular Cases date back to the early 20th century when the US had just won the Spanish-American War and acquired Puerto Rico and the far-flung new territories of Guam and the Philippines. The US acquired American Samoa in two parts in 1900 and 1904 as part of its continued expansion. But American political leaders had a problem: They wanted the United States to become a colonial power, but they didn’t want to extend constitutional protections to the overwhelmingly nonwhite residents of the new territories. (As one of the friend-of-the-court brief in the current case notes, the Democratic Party’s official platform in 1900 argued that “the Filipinos cannot be citizens without endangering our civilization.”)

American Samoa is one of U.S. territories that also include Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Northern Marianas.

Reacting to the court decision, the American Samoa Fono, the territory’s legislature, unanimously passed an emergency bill requiring all visiting U.S. citizens to apply for an entry visa.  The bill was immediately signed by Governor Lolo Letalu Matalasi Moliga.

“If the U.S. doesn’t want us to be citizens, then we don’t want U.S. citizens to freely come and go on our beautiful islands,” Moliga said.

Related story: Philippines Now Requires Entry Visa For Americans Visiting The Country

Hollywood actor Dwayne Johnson, star of the new blockbuster movie ‘San Andreas,’ was scheduled to visit American Samoa over the weekend for some R & R, but had to cancel travel plans. Johnson, a U.S. citizen, is part Samoan. He said he is not upset about the new visa requirement. In fact, he is supportive of it, saying the issue “is not just about fairness or birthright citizenship; it is about U.S. colonial mentality that has no place in our modern society.”

You go, Rock!