Batas Mauricio THE Philippines cannot physically or militarily confront China in their ongoing dispute  over the West Philippine Sea and/or the South China Sea, for doing that would only give China more justification to occupy more areas in the contested territory, Senior Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said. Speaking before a jampacked audience composed of Rotarians, Carpio stressed that the best bet for the Philippines to stop China from more aggressive action, and from occupying more islands in the Spratlys, is to pursue the case it filed with the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Seas (Unclos). “International law is on the side of the Philippines,” Carpio said. Our country must be able to utilize the case that our government filed against China to generate international pressure on Chinese officials, the jurist added, explaining that despite its huge economic clout, China still needs other countries to sustain its economy.
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Here is a press release from the office of Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano: “Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte favors Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano as his running mate if he decides to run for president in the upcoming national elections. “‘Si Alan? Of course. He is a lawyer. He's very articulate, marunong,' Duterte said when asked by reporters in Davao whether he thinks Cayetano has what it takes to be the country's next vice president. “The mayor had a private dinner meeting with Cayetano on Tuesday night (Sept. 29),  the same day the senator announced his bid for vice presidency in Davao City. Duterte confirmed that he and Cayetano briefly discussed the possibility of forming a tandem for 2016, although he clarified that nothing was finalized as he is yet to decide whether or not he would run for a higher office. “‘We were just making some projections. We also talked about team-ups and tandems, but nothing definite. Hanggang ngayon, sabi ko, hindi pa naman ako kandidato,' Duterte noted. “In a separate interview, Cayetano expressed his gratitude to the mayor for supporting his bid for vice presidency. He also said he is willing to wait for a final decision from Duterte, stressing that ` a good partner is worth waiting for.' “The senator also claimed that whatever happens in the coming weeks, he will remain committed to his goal of pushing for real change and for a more inclusive growth that will be felt by all Filipino families.”
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Are Metro Manila mainstream media entities afraid of a Duterte presidency? I think, yes, they are so afraid that Duterte, the well-loved mayor of Davao City on account of his tough stance against crime and corruption in his jurisdiction, will become president of the Philippines in 2016. And why should Manila media be afraid of a President Duterte? Maybe they can smell the possibility that the perks and privileges enjoyed by them under Presidents who were chummy-chummy with them through the years will no longer be enjoyed by them under Duterte. This maybe the reason why the media in Manila did not even report anything about the Luneta gathering of Duterte supporters last Sept. 26, 2015, even if hundreds of thousands of people clearly filled every square inch of space from the Luneta Grandstand up to the DMCI Towers, thereby making the affair a newsworthy event. That Luneta gathering was phenomenal. There was no media hype nor blitz that preceded nor announced it. There was no single individual or group that brought people to Luneta to enable them to participate in the gathering. There was no food nor water, nor payment of any kind for any expense, particularly for transportation. Yet, hundreds of thousands came, armed only with one burning desire––to convince Duterte to run for president in 2016. Surely, that gathering for Duterte scared the wits out of the supposedly-front running candidates at the moment, especially those who have already declared their candidacies, because it showed Duterte is the man to beat. But that is literally just the tip of the iceberg that is called bad news for the candidates who would be pitted against Duterte in next year’s polls. There is more bad news for them. One is that, more and more Filipinos across the country are joining the movement to sway Duterte into running. The second is that, even overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are now clamoring for Duterte to become president. This OFW movement is greatly significant, because they control the very lives of their families in the Philippines through their dollar remittances. OFWs actually dictate on their relatives who to vote for in any election. If these OFWs are now for Duterte, I am sure they will make sure their family members here will likewise support the mayor from Davao City. If there are now about 15 million OFWs in the world today, with one or two voters in their families come election time, that is easily going to be votes for Duterte from 15 million to 30 million. The question is, why this fascination with Duterte, which approximates the national paroxysm over “YayaDub”? Why this belief that he can transform this country from being a crime-infested and corrupt country into a haven even for ordinary Filipinos? The answer lies in the perception that he is unafraid of criminals, and that he is not indebted to any businessman or any political patron. E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com