Sammyboy RSS Feed
05-12-2016, 10:20 PM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...4aa9d74c70f29f (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/philippine-vicepresident-leni-robredo-quits-cabinet/news-story/841463f329ff3f73ac4aa9d74c70f29f)
THE WORLD
Philippine Vice-President Leni Robredo quits cabinet
‘This is not the time for fear. It is a time for conviction, it is a time for courage,’ Leni Robredo.
AMANDA HODGE
The Australian12:00AM December 6, 2016
Popular Vice-President Leni Robredo has quit the Philippine cabinet, accusing President Rodrigo Duterte of plotting to “steal” her role as deputy after she was told she was unwelcome at cabinet meetings.
Ms Robredo, 52, issued a statement late on Sunday describing as the “last straw” a weekend text message from a presidential emissary discouraging her from attending cabinet meetings.
In what will be seen as a clarion call for opposition forces Ms Robredo yesterday called on supporters to protect their “collective future”.
“This is not the time for fear. It is a time for conviction, it is a time for courage,” she said.
“We will continue to support policies and actions from this administration if we believe these are right and just and will benefit the last, the least and the lost. If they don’t we will not hesitate to dissent.”
Ms Robredo has clashed with Mr Duterte over the burial of former president Ferdinand Marcos in the Heroes Cemetery, extrajudicial killings, reinstating the death penalty, lowering the age of criminal liability, and sexual attacks on women.
Her resignation from cabinet as housing secretary — she will stay on as Vice-President — will deepen fault lines between Duterte loyalists and opponents and provide a potential rallying point for a functioning opposition that collapsed following mass defections to the Duterte government on his May election victory.
Since his inauguration on June 30, the President has attracted international attention for a murderous war on drugs which has claimed more than 4000 lives, his efforts to distance Manila from Washington in preference for closer ties with Beijing and persistently insulting world leaders, including US President Barack Obama.
While he remains popular, particularly among poor Filipinos, there are signs his approval rating is weakening amid fears his policies are hurting the economy.
“As the highest elected opposition figure (from the defeated Liberal Party) she can be the beacon for opposition against (Duterte),” veteran Philippines political operative and analyst Pastor “Boy” Saycon told The Australian.
But for her to be effective “she must come out by herself and not with discredited former leaders like (former vice-president to Benigno Aquino) Mar Roxas. It weakens her position and turns a moral issue into a political one.”
Mr Duterte’s decision last month to allow late dictator and kleptocrat Marcos to be buried in the Heroes Cemetery mobilised mass opposition among victims of his brutal martial-law era imposed in 1972.
Several cabinet ministers criticised the decision, but Ms Robredo was particularly vocal, joining street demonstrations and accusing the Marcos family of secretly rushing to bury Marcos like “thieves in the night”.
Ms Robredo narrowly defeated Marcos’ son, Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos Jnr, for the vice-presidency but many analysts say her position has been undermined by Mr Duterte, who has longstanding ties to the Marcos family and owes his strong electoral showing in the north to their support.
Mr Marcos has challenged his election loss and demanded a recount in several provinces, prompting Mr Duterte during his state visit to Beijing in October to publicly and provocatively suggest he could be the next vice-president.
In Sunday night’s statement Ms Robredo, a lawyer, economist and rights advocate, said: “I had been warned of a plot to steal the vice-presidency. I have chosen to ignore this and focus on the job at hand. But the events of recent days indicate that this plot is now being set into motion”.
A presidential spokesman yesterday denied any plot to steal the vice-presidency.
But later comments from Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, emphasising that Ms Robredo is a member of the former ruling Liberal Party and ousted Benigno Aquino-led government, has underscored deep suspicion within the Duterte camp that she is a Trojan horse within government.
“The President entrusted the Vice-President, whom we all know came from a rival political party, a position in his official family in deference to the wishes of our people who want both leaders to work together and succeed,” Mr Andanar told CNN.
“(But) there are several policies, statements that the VP released in the past few days and months, which are contrary to the policies of the President.
“It has come to the point that the President realised that (he and Robredo) have irreconcilable differences.”
Richard Heydarian, a political analyst and lecturer at de la Salle University, said Ms Robredo’s resignation — along with strident recent criticism from former president Fidel Ramos — showed a political opposition was finally “beginning to crystallise after five months of hibernation”.
“(Robredo’s) appeal cuts across political spectrums and social classes, as does Duterte’s, and she is not part of the (traditional ruling) oligarchy,” he said.
“She is in the perfect position. The issue for her will be resources, but if Duterte keeps rattling the markets then at some point the business sector might see her as a viable alternative.”
http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/2deac4bf38420d15e3713c133f26bcfc
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread.php?238538-Sexy-Pinoy-VP-ditched-Duterte-and-quitted-govt&goto=newpost).
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...4aa9d74c70f29f (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/philippine-vicepresident-leni-robredo-quits-cabinet/news-story/841463f329ff3f73ac4aa9d74c70f29f)
THE WORLD
Philippine Vice-President Leni Robredo quits cabinet
‘This is not the time for fear. It is a time for conviction, it is a time for courage,’ Leni Robredo.
AMANDA HODGE
The Australian12:00AM December 6, 2016
Popular Vice-President Leni Robredo has quit the Philippine cabinet, accusing President Rodrigo Duterte of plotting to “steal” her role as deputy after she was told she was unwelcome at cabinet meetings.
Ms Robredo, 52, issued a statement late on Sunday describing as the “last straw” a weekend text message from a presidential emissary discouraging her from attending cabinet meetings.
In what will be seen as a clarion call for opposition forces Ms Robredo yesterday called on supporters to protect their “collective future”.
“This is not the time for fear. It is a time for conviction, it is a time for courage,” she said.
“We will continue to support policies and actions from this administration if we believe these are right and just and will benefit the last, the least and the lost. If they don’t we will not hesitate to dissent.”
Ms Robredo has clashed with Mr Duterte over the burial of former president Ferdinand Marcos in the Heroes Cemetery, extrajudicial killings, reinstating the death penalty, lowering the age of criminal liability, and sexual attacks on women.
Her resignation from cabinet as housing secretary — she will stay on as Vice-President — will deepen fault lines between Duterte loyalists and opponents and provide a potential rallying point for a functioning opposition that collapsed following mass defections to the Duterte government on his May election victory.
Since his inauguration on June 30, the President has attracted international attention for a murderous war on drugs which has claimed more than 4000 lives, his efforts to distance Manila from Washington in preference for closer ties with Beijing and persistently insulting world leaders, including US President Barack Obama.
While he remains popular, particularly among poor Filipinos, there are signs his approval rating is weakening amid fears his policies are hurting the economy.
“As the highest elected opposition figure (from the defeated Liberal Party) she can be the beacon for opposition against (Duterte),” veteran Philippines political operative and analyst Pastor “Boy” Saycon told The Australian.
But for her to be effective “she must come out by herself and not with discredited former leaders like (former vice-president to Benigno Aquino) Mar Roxas. It weakens her position and turns a moral issue into a political one.”
Mr Duterte’s decision last month to allow late dictator and kleptocrat Marcos to be buried in the Heroes Cemetery mobilised mass opposition among victims of his brutal martial-law era imposed in 1972.
Several cabinet ministers criticised the decision, but Ms Robredo was particularly vocal, joining street demonstrations and accusing the Marcos family of secretly rushing to bury Marcos like “thieves in the night”.
Ms Robredo narrowly defeated Marcos’ son, Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos Jnr, for the vice-presidency but many analysts say her position has been undermined by Mr Duterte, who has longstanding ties to the Marcos family and owes his strong electoral showing in the north to their support.
Mr Marcos has challenged his election loss and demanded a recount in several provinces, prompting Mr Duterte during his state visit to Beijing in October to publicly and provocatively suggest he could be the next vice-president.
In Sunday night’s statement Ms Robredo, a lawyer, economist and rights advocate, said: “I had been warned of a plot to steal the vice-presidency. I have chosen to ignore this and focus on the job at hand. But the events of recent days indicate that this plot is now being set into motion”.
A presidential spokesman yesterday denied any plot to steal the vice-presidency.
But later comments from Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, emphasising that Ms Robredo is a member of the former ruling Liberal Party and ousted Benigno Aquino-led government, has underscored deep suspicion within the Duterte camp that she is a Trojan horse within government.
“The President entrusted the Vice-President, whom we all know came from a rival political party, a position in his official family in deference to the wishes of our people who want both leaders to work together and succeed,” Mr Andanar told CNN.
“(But) there are several policies, statements that the VP released in the past few days and months, which are contrary to the policies of the President.
“It has come to the point that the President realised that (he and Robredo) have irreconcilable differences.”
Richard Heydarian, a political analyst and lecturer at de la Salle University, said Ms Robredo’s resignation — along with strident recent criticism from former president Fidel Ramos — showed a political opposition was finally “beginning to crystallise after five months of hibernation”.
“(Robredo’s) appeal cuts across political spectrums and social classes, as does Duterte’s, and she is not part of the (traditional ruling) oligarchy,” he said.
“She is in the perfect position. The issue for her will be resources, but if Duterte keeps rattling the markets then at some point the business sector might see her as a viable alternative.”
http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/2deac4bf38420d15e3713c133f26bcfc
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread.php?238538-Sexy-Pinoy-VP-ditched-Duterte-and-quitted-govt&goto=newpost).