PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (The Adobo Chronicles, Washington Bureau) – Nevermind that Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte appointed her to head a cabinet position as chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).
Nevermind that she she traveled to the United States seeking to enlist partners in the private sector to support her advocacies as vice president.
Leni Robredo thinks that she has no real powers “except to wait for something to happen to the president.”
That wait can be hours, days, weeks, or up to six years.
Here is what she said before an audience of Filipino Americans in Philadelphia last week.
MAKATI CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – On Monday, Filipino Congressman Joey Sarte filed a resolution in Manila’s House of Representatives that seeks to permanently ban U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump from entering the country following his campaign speech last week where a he named the Philippines as one of the “terrorist nations.”
During a rally in Portland, Maine, Trump announced that immigrants came to the U.S. legally and then plotted to murder Americans. He said that countries like the Philippines, Somalia, Syria, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Yemen were sending such people to the U.S. and called them “terrorist nations.”
“We’re letting people come in from terrorist nations that shouldn’t be allowed because you can’t vet them,” the real estate mogul said.
In the upper chamber, Senator Manny Pacquiao filed a separate resolution that would authorize the government to build a wall around the 56-storey Trump Tower in Makati City. The residential building is set to open at the end of this year and is one of the international real estate projects of the Trump Organization.
In a statement issued to the press, Pacquiao said that the wall will ensure that Donald Trump will not be able to sneak into the property, in the event that his arrival in the Philippines is not detected by the country’s Bureau of Immigration.
“As a persona non grata, Trump should be barred from entering the Philippines or accessing his property in the country,” Pacquiao said.
In addition to the wall, Pacquiao’s resolution also mandates that the property be patrolled 24/7 by the Philippine National Police.
Bangkok, world city with the worst rush-hour traffic
MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – The world survey on the top ten cities for rush-hour traffic is out, and Manila is not on the list!
This comes as a big shock not only to Filipinos who deal with nightmarish traffic everyday but also to past and present government officials in charge of the country’s transportation and communications.
Money.CNN.com lists Bangkok as the city with the world’s rush-hour traffic, followed by Istanbul and Mexico City. Rounding up the top ten are Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Bucharest, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Zhuhai.
The Adobo Chronicles reached out to CNN Money to ask why Manila did not make the top ten list.
A spokesperson for CNN said not to worry, because the list only includes cities with the worst “rush-hour” traffic. He said, the criterion disqualified Manila because in this Philippine city, there is traffic not only during rush hour, but every hour every day.
“That would be for the next survey,” he said, “and I am very confident Manila will make it to the top ten, if not the No. 1 city.”
The Adobo Chronicles 
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