Batas Mauricio THERE is a perceptible campaign among the allies of President Aquino to derail the re-opening on Jan. 25, 2016 of the Senate investigation into the mass murder of 44 elite officers and men of the Special Action Force of the Philippine National Police on Jan. 25, 2015 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. Liberal Party stalwarts are saying, quite understandably, that there is nothing more to investigate since Aquino already accepted full responsibility for the brutal slaying of the policemen now known as SAF 44, and the Senate committee that conducted an earlier investigation already has a complete report on the matter. Yet, there are many other questions about the massacre of the SAF 44 that are unanswered up to now, the biggest of which, of course, is, did Aquino really order a “stand down” of police and military forces, preventing them from helping the SAF 44 as they were being butchered by Muslim rebels because he did not want to derail his peace talks with the rebels and the enactment of the Bangsamoro Basic Law?
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Of course, Malacanang had to refute the assessment by the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines that Metro Manila would no longer be fit for habitation or to be used as a place to live in by 2020 because of the region’s horrendous traffic problem. If it didn’t, then certainly, everybody would be blaming no one else but President Aquino himself for this tragedy and monumental blunder. Surely, Aquino failed to do anything to solve Metro Manila’s traffic woes. But, as more and more thinking Filipinos are voicing out, Aquino failed in almost every area of governance, and that even his claims of economic success for the country are considered by many as pure hogwash and wishful thinking. Even now, the general consensus is that, Aquino’s presidency would be the worst presidency ever that the Philippines ever experienced. Not only are graft and corruption still raging widely in the bureaucracy, but important parts of Philippine territory have been literally handed over by the Aquino government to foreigners and to rebels. Now, I am greatly relieved to say, it was good I didn’t vote for him, even if initially I had pushed vigorously for him through my columns and broadcasts.
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Is there any truth in a disturbing report that I received which said that Sen. Grace Poe will be deliberately allowed, by some magical hocus-pocus, to garner the highest number of votes in the 2016 presidential elections and yet, before she is proclaimed, she will nevertheless be disqualified? The report, given to me by someone who claims to be holding an office in Makati City, also said that because Poe will be disqualified before she is proclaimed, or before any other candidate is proclaimed, including the supposed winning vice presidential bet, it would be the presidential candidate with the second highest number of votes who would be proclaimed and then allowed to become president. And who is this presidential candidate who will be getting the second highest number of votes in the 2016 elections? I was told it would be a candidate by the name of Manuel Roxas II, or the presidential standard bearer of the ruling Liberal Party, and the anointed one of outgoing President Aquino. Indeed, if the reports are true, it would be a President Roxas, after all, in 2016. E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com