DAVAO CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – This week proved to be a busy week for Filipino netizens, having brought to the spotlight the likes of Carrot man, Cabbage man and Chicharron man. Snapshots of these men went viral after being posted on the Internet.
But it’s a new week, and netizens seem to have anointed their new viral hero and they’re calling him ‘Duterte Man.’ His name is Sebastian and is the son of presidential candidate and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
Just minutes after Sebastian’s photo was posted on the Internet, it has received thousands of likes, tweets, and reposts. The young Duterte looks nothing close to his father, as you can see from the viral photo which continues to trend.
Will Mayor Duterte now consider using his son on the campaign trail? Who needs Coco Martin or Alden Richards when he’s got his own Sebastian?
MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – In a move that’s unprecedented in the history of Philippine politics, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has ruled to disqualify all five major candidates for president from running in the 2016 elections. For various reasons.
Polls frontrunner Senator Grace Poe has been disqualified on the grounds that she is not a natural-born Filipino citizen as required by the Constitution. She also appeared to lack the residency requirement even if she were a natural-born citizen. She was a dual citizen (U.S. and Philippines) at some point.
Vice President Jejomar Binay has been barred because of pending corruption charges against him while he was mayor of Makati City.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was disqualified on technicality. He filed his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) after the deadline set by the elections body. His argument for being a substitute candidate didn’t convince the commissioners because the candidate he was substituting for had previously withdrawn his candidacy.
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago was named a “nuisance candidate” by COMELEC because of her cancer diagnosis. “How can she fulfill the duties of president if she has terminal cancer,” the commissioners said. Santiago, however, asserts that she has had a remission from her cancer, and the COMELEC ruling angered health and disability advocates.
As for former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas (the anointed candidate of the Aquino administration), his disqualification was based on violation of rules on early campaigning. Roxas just released a music video which was obviously a campaign material to promote his candidacy and that of his vice presidential running mate Congresswoman Leni Robredo.
So where does the 2016 Philippine presidential elections stand?
Back to square one. COMELEC will soon announce deadlines for new candidacy filing for president.
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.
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – This week proved to be a busy week for Filipino netizens, having brought to the spotlight the likes of Carrot man, Cabbage man and Chicharron man. Snapshots of these men went viral after being posted on the Internet.
The Adobo Chronicles 
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