Tito Sotto | The Adobo Chronicles

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – There’s a new icon of civil rights that’s emerging in the Philippines, especially among politicians. It’s the Filipino version of America’s Statue of Liberty.

The local version is called the Statue of Libelty, a supposed symbol of politicians’ right to be immune from criticism and public scrutiny. This right empowers politicians to sue anyone who ‘maligns their good moral character.’

It is known that Vice President Jejomar Binay’s son Junjun — the ex-mayor of Makati City — had filed a libel complaint against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. The libel complaint stemmed from an allegation by Trillanes that Binay bribed two Court of Appeals (CA) justices to rule in favor of granting the latter a temporary restraining order (TRO) and writ of preliminary injunction against the preventive suspension order slapped by the Office of the Ombudsman last year.

Late last year, the vice president himself also filed libel cases against Trillanes and former Makati City Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado in the Makati Regional Trial Court over their “false, malicious and defamatory accusations” against him. VP Binay has been accused of receiving kickbacks in a deal involving the Boy Scouts of the Philippines by Mercado, and through nonexistent senior citizen beneficiaries of Makati City by Trillanes.

And now, Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III has threatened to sue Rappler and one of its columnists if the news site does not take down an opinion piece on the P1 billion allocation for contraceptives that was removed from the national budget.

(Yes, it is the same Sotto who, in 2012, was accused of plagiarizing the speech of former President John F. Kennedy and used his words as his own in a speech in the Senate against the RH (reproductive health) bill.

In a letter dated February 2, Sotto who is running for reelection this year, also asked Rappler to “sanction” Thought Leaders writer Dr Sylvia Estrada Claudio “for her libelous statements” in her January 18 piece, ‘Magnanakaw’ sa Senado.

A review of past libel cases also show that former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo had filed a flurry of libel cases against 43 journalists during the administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, according to the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP).

With libel cases seemingly becoming extremely popular among Filipino politicians, sculptors have been invited to submit designs for a statue that will be erected next to that of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal in Luneta (Rizal Park). The winning design is pictured above.

It wasn’t clear who ordered the erection of the new statue. We have an idea, but will not mention any names, lest we be charged with libel.

The Philippine Eagle, left, and the tiger

Manila, Philippines – Vicente “Tito” Sotto III is a Philippine actor, singer, television host, journalist and politician. He is an incumbent senator.

Like most politicians, Sotto is embroiled in controversies, not the least of which was the accusation that he plagiarized several passages in a speech opposing the Reproductive Health Bill. The news and social media reported that Sotto had taken passages from a 2011 blog by American home economist blogger Sarah Pope. The bill, which ultimately passed, calls for government-funded contraception and sex education classes in the Philippines, a first in the heavily Catholic nation.

In 2013, Sotto filed a bill that would mandate all government and non-government employees to receive a “14^th month” pay as part of their annual salaries. Most employers already provide a “13^thmonth” bonus to their employees. However, Sotto pointed out that the existing 13^th month pay is not truly a bonus because there are 13 months in a year. “There are 52 weeks in a year and if you divide that by four weeks a month, that’s 13 months,” he insisted.

Now the oft-criticized Sotto has put forward another controversial proposal.

International financial experts and analysts have labeled the Philippines as the “New Asian Tiger,” referring to the country’s fast-rising economy and stellar investment climate compared to most other countries in the Asian region.

Capitalizing on this emerging image of the Philippines, Sotto is proposing that the country replace the Philippine Eagle with the Tiger as its official symbol. Once called the “monkey-eating eagle,” the Philippine Eagle – an endangered species – became the country’s national bird and symbol in 1995.

Political opponents of Sotto labeled the proposal “ridiculous” and “too literal.” “We don’t even have tigers in the Philippines, except in the zoo,” they said.

Prior to Sotto’s proposal, there were rumors that other politicians were scheming to change the Philippine national symbol from the eagle to the pig, in view of the 10 Billion-peso pork barrel scam that has implicated members of the Philippine Senate.

Sotto, defending his proposal, told reporters, “I’d rather call our country the Asian Tiger than the Pork Barrel Republic.”