OFFBEAT MAIL

Feisty Philippine President Rody "Digong" Duterte just kept mum Former DDS hitman Edgar Matobato answers questions at the Senate public hearing. on the allegations of a former member of the Davao Death Squad  (DDS) that he ordered the killing of at least 1000 victims while Duterte served as mayor of Davao City. His silence on the accusations of a certain Edgar Matobato, a former DDS hitman who got his wages as part of the ghost employees of the Davao City hall,  can be misconstrued as a kind of recollection if he indeed was involved in such killings?  Unlike in the previous occasions, President Duterte has a habit of cursing and mouthing bad words when confronted in public, a trademark which no longer surprise a lot of his supporters and cabinet officials. "That's his character," one of the cabinet officials said. Or it could be that President Duterte is thinking something else? With Koko Pimentel's denial of providing protective c...

 LOS ANGELES-- On any given Sunday morning, a bunch of people congregate at the copious parking lot of a big retail store chain at the corner of Main and Carson Streets in the city of Carson. But don’t mistake them for early morning shoppers . Instead, they’re a blend of ordinary workers and pensioners, who simply couldn’t think of anything else to do to battle it out with boredom. On such a given day, they made it a habit to wait for a private bus that will take them to casinos in Las Vegas Strip, Pala and Pechanga--two border casino resorts in California, to try their luck on gaming. This is the usual scene here each Sunday morning. While the rest of the flock attend a mass at a nearby Catholic Church to atone for their sins on such a special day, they’re enjoying the luxury of exchanging pleasantries and whatever jokes they could afford to belt out in their own native languages—Tagalog, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, and, of course, English. From a distant, I could...

At least, 12 million of them are scattered across America. And they’re branded as “economic refugees.” Farm workers in California. Photo: npr.org Without proper immigration papers with them, they’re at the mercy of being deported should they commit traffic violations at any point in time. It's either they have crossed the border illegally through the help of human smugglers called "Coyotes", or they simply landed at the ports as tourists with proper documents  stamped by immigration authorities but overstayed their visas, and went underground without any trace at all. Depending on circumstances, most of those border-crossers from South America are reportedly victims of violence in their home countries who are left without any other option at all than to escape. Oblivious of the risks along the way, these people have properly blended themselves with other people. But finding no other recourse to  survive in a foreign shore, they were put in an uncanny ...

China's President Xi Jinping's recent scheduled visit to the United States on Sept. 22-24 last year U.S. President Obama and President Xi. Photo: USChinaStrong.org was  a matter of diplomatic mission, perhaps, to further strengthen the ties that bind between the two countries. But to other political experts, Xi's  visit to the White House was properly choreographed to let the world know that China is a friendly nation that is always ready to shake hands with other leaders even in the midst of a controversy that involves national security. As reported by Bloomberg Businessweek (Sept. 21-27 issue), the Chinese leader's visit had two goals: "to reassure executives that China is still a good place to do business, and to secure for China the respect due a state of equal in stature to the United States." Maybe true, maybe not. That is probably what other pundits are talking about, knowing how China's aggressive stance on the issue of human ri...

Philippine President Rody Duterte has warned the Supreme Court that he would declare Martial Law if it gets in his way. President Duterte's tirade emanated from the recent wranglings that involved certain judges who were linked to the distribution of illegal drugs in the Philippines. The names of the judges surfaced when Duterte read a list in public, along with some local government officials, policemen, and judges were mentioned there. The fiesty president ordered those whose names appeared on the list to present themselves within 24 hours to the Director-General of the Philippine National Police in Camp Crame. But the President Duterte's announcement didn't bode well with SC Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who argued that the erring judges are under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, and not by the Executive Branch of government. In short, Sereno wanted the erring judges to be investigated by the Supreme Court instead of the police. Prior to this, local...

Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague. Photo: PCA The Red Dragon has stopped spewing fire, and it seems it’s now behaving in a forthright manner after the Permanent Court of Arbitration handed down its final decision on July 12 which favored the legal complaint filed by the Philippines against China on what it perceived as an illegal intrusion on Philippine sovereignty. As expected, this didn't come as a great surprise to many Filipinos. Even before the decision was handed down, I could already sense of glitter of hope would come as expected, after the Philippines had filed a complaint before the arbitral tribunal on the manner by which China asserts its rights over the disputed territories in the South China Sea, considering that it was clear from the start that China has violated an important provision set forth by the United Nations on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), in which China is a signatory. As I was saying before, China may have withdrawn its support of the ...

File photo shows beheaded Canadian Mr. Robert Hall (left).  The body of the late Robert Hall, the Canadian national beheaded by Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) bandits last June 13, has been dug-up and recovered in Sulu Saturday morning. Major Filemon Tan, Western Mindanao Command spokesperson, said Hall's decaying remains were recovered by troops of Joint Task Group (JTG) Sulu around 11:35 a.m. in Upper Kamuntayan, Talipao, Sulu. "The body is currently being brought by the troops to JTG Sulu Headquarters at Barangay Busbus, Jolo , Sulu for documentation before turn over to the PNP SOCO (scene-of-the-crime operatives)," he added. Hall was beheaded by the ASG last June 13. His head was later recovered by civilians in front of the gate of the Jolo Cathedral. Hall, together with John Ridsdel, Kjartan Sikkengstad and Marites Flor, was abducted last Sept. 21 at the Ocean View Resort in Barangay Camudmud, Samal City, Davao Del Norte. Sikkengstad is the only remaining kidna...