Duterte: Flashing dirty finger an exercise of freedom of expression|My reaction to this issue

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday he was not inclined to immediately answer the Office of the Ombudsman, which has asked him to explain why he flashed a dirty finger on TV last month.

In fact, Duterte said, he would not hesitate do it again if provoked because that was part of his freedom of expression.

“Yes, there will be more dirty fingers if I am disgusted and angry,” Duterte told reporters.

He said the Office of the Ombudsman recently sent him a letter to explain his action. His son, Councilor Paolo Duterte, who also flashed a dirty finger, was also being asked to explain his action.

“I am being asked to explain it. I want to write my own reply. I personally want to pen it. But now, my reply is just a smile,” said the vice mayor, known for his feisty nature and cussing in public.

Duterte maintained that flashing a dirty finger was “an exercise of my protected speech… it is my right which is covered by my right to free expression.”

Read the rest of the article here: 

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/32243/duterte-flashing-dirty-finger-an-exercise-of-freedom-of-expression

We pretty much know a lot about this issue, from punching incident involving the Mayor of Davao to the Dirty Finger Incident of the Vice Mayor and his son to their critics. Here's my take on the issue:

First of all, Vice Mayor Duterte of Davao City is just a human, we shouldn't judge him too quickly for flashing the dirty finger, in fact, you guys should be thankful that it got blurred on TV and I don't even think most children knew about this unless you made them watch News & Current Affairs programs all the time or something (common sense: most kids spend time watching MYX/MTV or Cartoons and they even spend most of their free time playing games on Facebook and not watching the News) and I don't think most children would do the dirty finger even if they claim to have seen it so many times you know. (unless you're one of those irresponsible parents who don't teach their kids between what's right and wrong) Anyway, we shouldn't make a big deal about this issue, their leaders over there are not as corrupt as those other TRAPOs out there. (take the president before PNoy for example) He has a right to freedom of expression and yes, since we're all humans, we make mistakes sometimes when we exercise our freedom to expression. We cannot stop mistakes from happening you know, it's human nature for those who don't have enough common sense to weigh in to issues like this. My point, you ask? We should just forgive him for doing it, tao lang rin siya, he also makes mistakes like all of us. Tell me, haven't you commited a mistake yet? If your answer is no, then you shouldn't make a big deal over this issue as if it's worse as the rigging of the 2004 elections or Maguindanao Massacre. The dirty finger incident is just a small incident, sure it may have affected some people emotionally but again, it's just a small incident, it's not really that big. As the popular saying goes "Bato bato sa langit, ang matamaan, 'wag magalit", therefore if you are one of the critics, then you totally deserved it. The only issues that we obviously should make a big deal of is the 2004 elections fraud (since this screwed up our government) and the Maguindanao Massacre Case. (around 50 or more people if I am right were killed there by warfreak politicians who is now in jail, of course) Conclusion? We shouldn't make a big deal out of the dirty finger incident, it's just a small mistake made by a human being. Just because someone is popular doesn't mean that he or she won't commit mistakes. Tao pa rin siya. He's not God. Only God doesn't make mistakes. Tayo ay tao lamang, artista man o hindi, politiko man o hindi, we still make mistakes.

Before I end this post, I would like to say that I'm a proud supporter of Mayor Sara Duterte & Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City. Though I'm not from Davao, I still admire them for doing good governance towards their city. If it wasn't for them, Davao wouldn't be a successful city that it is today, If it wasn't for them, there wouldn't be any more foreign investors & foreign tourists who would come to the Philippines especially in Mindanao. They are also one of the reasons why the Philippines is progressive you know. Bawat isa sa atin ay may kakayahan upang gawing progresibo ang ating bansa, it's up to us to use our abilities to bring fame or shame to this nation. 

'Till the next post

-Therese <3

Adventures in PEX (Pinoy Exchange Forums)

I went foruming kaniha doon sa PEX (Pinoy Exchange Forums), the last time I logged in there was like a month ago or so. Anyway, una kong binisitahan yung forum nila para sa mga News & Current Affairs. I went from thread to thread, actually, it was fun. I even landed on a thread about the punching incident involving the Mayor of Davao & a court sheriff which took place last July 1. (pasensya na lang if I'm talking about politics here for those readers who didn't expect it to be one of my posts) Anyway, eto nga yung take ko sa issue na yun eh, generally, mali silang dalawa, first off, doon sa sheriff, he didn't follow the mayor's orders which were done for humanitarian reasons and he even violated the 30-day grace period (this is the time where the residents who are asked to leave the area are given time to move out of the place or something before demolition comes) 'coz he served the order before the 30-day grace period ended. The only thing wrong w/ what the mayor did though was dahil nanapak siya. Going deeper to this issue, I don't think Mayor Duterte should be kicked out of office, get suspended or be disbarred. Siguro, her sanction should just be a reprimandation from DILG. Bakit? Hindi naman masyadong malaki yung kasalanan n'ya eh, sure she punched the sheriff but guess what? Instead of leaving him behind to suffer in pain due to the injuries, she had him sent to the hospital upang ma.gamot yung mga sugat na natamo n'ya which were just minor injuries so not much of a big deal naman eh. Second, yung pag.dirty finger ng Vice Mayor ng Davao, (who is also the Mayor's father) CHR made a big deal about it as if it was just as worse as Maguindanao Massacre or those other cases of extrajudicial killings. Dirty Finger lang yun, not much of a big deal at pasalamat nga kayo at na blurred yun sa TV. If DILG were to sanction the Vice Mayor of Davao because of this, sana reprimandation lang rin yung maging sanction n'ya. Yung ibang OA kasi na mga tao diyan, they keep on looking at the negative side of the Dutertes, may positive side naman sila eh, kung hindi dahil sa kanila, multinational companies might not open offices in Davao pero see, they had the confidence to open offices in Davao which is in Mindanao even though some people think Mindanao is dangerous and this is also one of the things which made Philippines more progressive. Yung disbarment, I think IBP shouldn't file that case on the Mayor of Davao since she wasn't practicing law at that time the incident happened. In conclusion, if the Mayor & Vice Mayor of Davao were to be sanctioned, reprimandation is the most appropriate sanction for them and at least their mayor cares about the people unlike those other TRAPOs there who practice "pakitang-tao" to win people's votes during the elections and in the middle of their term, they seem to do nothing.

Note: Hindi ako taga Davao but I am still from Mindanao. (hindi ko na sasabihin kung saan mismo basta nasa Mindanao) Hindi naman bawal mag.support sa kakapwa mo, diba? Sorry kung medyo late na ako nag-post about this issue. Busy kasi ako for the past few days.

Anyway, on the other side, PEX related pa rin ha. I dropped by the Britney Spears Official Thread on PEX and yup, may over 10+ official threads na si Britney doon. Talk about how famous Britney is. In fact, her thread is so trending that it's always on the front page of the Fanpage Fiesta threads and it's part of the top 10 most visited threads in Fanpage Fiesta. BTW, nakapagboto na ba kayo for Britney sa VMAs at TCAs? Kung hindi pa, start voting na! Ngayong July 26 na pala ang Repurchase Week ng Blackout kaya buy your copies of Blackout and lets make it #1 on Billboard Top 200! Britney Spears FTW! Blackout FTW!

Like n'yo pala ito na page if you think that the Spratly's is part of the Philippine territory: http://www.facebook.com/TheWestPhilippineSea?sk=wall

That's all for now.

'Till my next post!

-Therese