It’s beginning to emerge that there was a rivalry between gang leaders Herbert Colangco and Jaybee Sebastian within the New Bilibid Prison. It seems, in the midst of all that, Sebastian emerged as the one favoured for coddling by the Philippine Government during the administration of former President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III. Senator Leila De Lima, who was Aquino’s Justice Secretary at the time, herself admitted that Sebastian was an “asset” in that he supposedly “kept things in order” at the prison.
But Colangco alleges that Sebastian also helped raise money for the Liberal Party campaign for the 2016 elections. And so what keeps pundits, activists, and observers busy nowadays is exchanging speculation surrounding this Colangco-said-Sebastian-said circus. The bigger point, however, is this: Guilty or not of accusations made by inmate Herbert Colangco, the fact remains, Bilibid Prisons had practically become a drug lord’s resort under the watch of the Aquino administration.
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Whatever the case, De Lima was responsible for ensuring that Bilibid Prisons be maintained as a penal facility and not a hub for the drug trade it had evidently become.
The problem with De Lima is that, following her ouster as Senate Justice Committee chairman, she now plays the victim card like a loser. Rather than suffer the consequences of her approach with a level head, she spends her days at the Senate now updating the seemingly sympathetic Philippine news media industry on her “persecution”. Interestingly, De Lima’s behaviour in recent days presents a stark contrast to the quiet dignity exhibited by former President Gloria Arroyo when she herself was in a similar situation in 2011. Her dignified stance eventually earned her the respect of even people who used to hate her.
De Lima also played a significant role in the demonisation of the late former Chief Justice Renato Corona during his impeachment trial in 2012. The story back then almost reads like today’s news…
It was very uncomfortable to watch a woman of De Lima’s calibre reduced to defending her indefensible actions. The simple question asked by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on whether or not the Chief Justice acted alone in trying to enforce the TRO — to which De Lima replied, “The direct answer to that is no” — already reveals her untenable position. The fact that other justices are free to vote “yea” or “nay” is a testament to the freedom accorded them by the Supreme Court as an institution. And for De Lima to insinuate that the other justice’s decision can be easily swayed is an insult to the justices themselves as individuals and to the institution itself.
De Lima also alleges that Chief Justice Renato Corona wanted to let GMA “leave the country in November despite her facing charges of electoral sabotage.” Her statement was inconsistent with how things truly transpired. We recall that GMA and former first Gentleman Jose Miquel Arroyo’s first attempt to leave was on the 15th of November 2011 and at that time, there were no charges filed against her. It was on this basis that the Supreme Court issued the TRO citing that their decision was “consistent with the constitutional provision on the presumption of innocence” because the Arroyos are not yet accused.
Instead of yakking away in front of the cameras, De Lima should learn from the late Corona and GMA what it means to be a true representative of the Filipino people. Left on her own, she has come to stand for everything that is wrong with the archetypical Filipino character.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Not to distract anyone from this article or any main issues…but why is Arroyo suddenly looked like some victim, blameless of any fault. Yes, the previous administrative may not have treated her well and provided due process, but from my recollection…she is hardly a saint as well.
Yes, the failure to back accusations with compelling evidence, even up to now with all that attention & time the Yellows were in power, makes Arroyo a victim.
On the other hand, the evidence against De Lima is compelling.
If she would accept bribes by these drug lords, what does that tell you about her propensity to accept “bigger” bribes by oligarchic “patrons” to guard oligarchic interests?
I think it’s because LP are “crying” over the idea that they are not given the proper due process and are victims of character assassination with no proper evidence to back it up. But isn’t that what they’ve been doing the past few years? Doesn’t that make GMA and former CJ Corona victims as well?
On De Lima’s case…I now believe in KARMA…there is KARMA in this universe. The good or bad, you have done to others, comes back to you !
De Lima is now suffering from “persecution complex”. So, she is seeking refuge to the International Press, to save her from prison.
The Aquino administration is as guilty as De Lima, in making the National Bilibid Prison: a Shabu Mfg. Company; a Five Star Hilton Hotel for Drug Lords; and a Center Network of Shabu Distribution for the whole Philippines !
Mar Roxas is also involved in making mayors, governors, barangay captains, as drug traffickers !
We already surpassed Mexico in status as a Narco Republic !
There is nothing cosmic about what is happening. and the Philippines is not passing anyone as a “NARCO-STATE’. OMG, WAKE UP, SHABU is not even a real drug.It is pseudo-ephedrine, the active ingrdient in cough syrup. IT IS NOT EVEN ILLEGAL, and all this bullshit and people getting shot and killed just proves what a bunch of fuckin idiots are in that hell-hole country. HOLY SHIT, the smoke-screen is working, but that should be no surprise:Filipino’ fall for it every time.
Not even illegal? What sort of ignoramus are you? Its one of those drugs prohibited in R.A. 9165, the comprehensive dangerous drugs act. Possession of a mere 50 grams of shabu is enough to give you a death sentence. 10-50 grams is life in prison. Please try to inform yourself before you make such assertions, as ignorance of the law is not an excuse for noncompliance with it.
I know your problem is that you are soooo Americanized that you think that just because meth is cool in breaking bad, therefore, it isn’t illegal, but please try to inform yourself first.
shabu is methamphetamine, ‘crystal meth’. This is the Philippines, so presumably the dealers have even more scams up their sleeve than in most countries. Nevertheless, what they sell is meth, at least in some proportion.
You’ve apparently never met anybody who’s been f’ed up by this stuff. It’s not pretty.
Shabu, or crystal meth as it is called in most places, is one of the most dangerous drugs there is. Tobacco, alcohol, cocaine and heroin generally only harm the user except when drunk drivers get in accidents. Meth (shabu) caused extreme violence and very quickly causes aging and loss of teeth etc. in the user.
Because meth is also very addictive, it causes people to engage in many other crimes, often violent, in order to procure the drug by any means possible.
In general, there were very few actual drug problems anywhere in the world until the USA criminalized most drug use and thereby created an industry of crime. Then other countries followed suit making the problems exponentially worse. In the opinion of many, most current illegal drugs could be legalized with only good benefits. It would remove the criminal element from the equation, but meth has not been endorsed for removal from such lists by anyone. It is a truly dangerous product both to the user and the people around him.
I am one of those who think that drugs should be legalized for the reason that prohibition produces unintended consequences that are probably worse than those we seek to prevent. Legalize then regulate.
But then the public might rise in revolt were a President attempts to declare legalization. I am not sure but the public seems to favor this war on drugs just yet. This brutal Duterte-type approach is an opportunity to see if it is possible yet to win the war this way. The US, for all its yearly multi-billion dollar budget dedicated on its own drug war and its most sophisticated law enforcement, is nowhere near winning, how could we even think we could? But we probably need to try and experience all options for the public itself to appreciate and consider other options.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/faqs/
It makes me wonder what other injustices were purchased for LP profits.
Next target, PNoy and Mar Roxas. They should be in jail.until all yellow people are.eradicated.
Yeah, sure! Good luck with that one. Think Duterte is not one of the criminals as well? WATCH, no one will go to jail and no ill-gotten wealth will be confiscated. THEY ARE ALL CRIMINALS.
GET A CLUE, EE-GAD, anyone would figure that after 55 years of the same shit over and over again, that Filipino’s would figure it out already. BUT NO.
End justify the means. As long as all yellow people get wiped out of this planet. It is good
GMA was never imprisoned, never had any of her personal wealth confiscated and remained in Congress during her ‘Tribulations’ which were a big bull-shit story because,I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR YEARS RIGHT HERE, THEY ARE ALL IN IT TOGETHER. There is one big gang of gangsters infested in the Senate and HOR house….and The President rules over them all.They take turns shaming each other publicly BUT it never ever comes to a prison sentence or confiscation of wealth. The ‘Blue-ribbon’ panels, the media bullshit stories are all just smoke screens for what is going on: WE ARE THE ELITES and YOU CAN NOT TOUCH US MASSA.WE OWN YOUR COUNTRY AND FOOL YOU EVERY TIME, YOU IDIOTS THINK YOU LIVE IN A DEMOCRACY? YOU LIVE IN A KLEPTOCRACY AND WE OWN IT, SO STFU AND SIT THE FUCK DOWN BEFORE WE KILL ALL OF YOU.
BUT the truth is if Filipino’s weren’t so blantantly stupid and pussies too THEY could oust amd be rid of these criminals pilferring the country in less than a week.
what happened in colombia under pablo escobar is the same thing in the Philippines. there might be a pablo escobar in the philippines. it’s a carbon copy.
.?
U another person that only lives through movies?
De Lima is the Pablita Escobar of the Philippines ! Aquino is the Boss of Bosses of the Chinese Triad Mafia crime syndicate in the Philippines !
I don’t know how one can compare Sen. De Lima and expect her to learn from former president Gloria Arroyo and former chief justice Renato Corona.
The two both fell from grace after being implicated in graft cases. Corona was ousted from his job while Arroyo, though eventually acquitted, ended up with a tarnished image that was disastrous for her in terms of national politics.
Both of them fought and lost and suffered the consequences of those losses. On the other hand, De Lima has yet to suffer the same aside from the fact that her position, compared to the two, are completely different. She may have encountered setbacks but she’s still in the game punching and scoring points, so to speak, against her more powerful enemies.
In other words, it is too early to put De Lima in the same category with Arroyo and Corona. Not yet.
The Walls of the “Kubol” of Jayvee Sebastian, can tell a lot of stories, of a woman in “sexual heat” and in disguise, sneaking into that “Kubol”…
Anybody who wants to write a
novel, about a “love starved/in heat” old woman, who have a good sexual taste on young dangerous criminals in the National Bilibid Prison….this is your time to shine and make money ! Your novel can become a best seller !
Only in the Philippines !!!
Crystal Meth in the Philippines: Shabu
Several posts make it clear some don’t know much about shabu. A component that is used to manufacture it is psuedoephidrne, a controlled decongestant. However after processing it becomes methamphetamine. It is not made from cough medicine and is illegal.
The Walls of the “Kubol” of Jayvee Sebastian, can tell a lot of stories, of a woman in “sexual heat” and in disguise, sneaking into that “Kubol”…
Anybody who wants to write a
novel, about a “love starved/in heat” old woman, who have a good sexual taste on young dangerous criminals in the National Bilibid Prison….this is your time to shine and make money ! Your novel can become a best seller !
Only in the Philippines !!! – Hyden
=====
Is that what you call “scientific” ha Hyden? : )
If shabu is just made of cough syrup, then that person should try taking it then and prove to us that it’s safe. And by the way, CALM THE FUCK DOWN.
It’s hard as hell to hold on to your dignity when the risen sun is too bright in your losing eyes.
Quiet or not, as long as she suffers for her crimes.
Ninoy Aquino was as noisy. He did not suffer with dignity. It was all publicity.
Ninoy is a shabu user, thats why he died
Day 4 of the Senate hearing on EJKs under the new committee chairman, Senator Dick Gordon, has been the most interesting so far, but the foreign media oddly did not report much about it.
Is it because they don’t want people to know that Edgar Matobato has backflipped on nearly everything he said?
Since the media are not reporting the details of Matobato’s about-face, let’s recap the highlights here. Here’s the link to a recording of the whole Day 4 hearing. The juicy parts are really worth watching. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fynM6dlcufE
HIGHLIGHT #1: Sali Makdum
Senator Alan Cayetano showed a CNN Philippines video where residents from Matobato’s old village in Samal talked about “Sali Makdum”, the supposed high-value international terrorist that Matobato said he killed for the Davao Death Squad (DDS). Watch the CNN Phils report on the 1:30:30 mark of the video above, and see why the yellow media are quiet on this.
It turns out Makdum was not an international terrorist, but a Turkish national who lived in Matobato’s village, and was married to his wife’s cousin!
According to the interviewees in the report, Matobato brokered a deal to sell land to Makdum. Makdum was ready to pay. They agreed to meet in a carinderia. But when Matobato came, he had other men with him, and they took Makdum away. Makdum was never seen again.
Cayetano asked Matobato if the video report was true. Matobato said yes, but he denied some parts. Matobato then re-told the story of how he killed Makdum, but this time he changed the part about bringing Makdum to the PAOCTF office “kasi wala ng PAOCTF noon, office na lang”. Muffled laughter can be heard from the audience. This was the exact same line a certain senator used last week while defending Matobato’s inconsistencies. Yet this senator still wants us to believe he/she is not coaching Matobato.
Since the CNN Phils video pretty much proved Makdum was just a regular person from Matobato’s village and not a notorious international terrorist as he claimed last week, Matobato did a hasty 360-degree turn and said it was not Duterte who ordered the killing of Makdum. This was a major reversal, so Trillanes jumped to the rescue and said Matobato never directly stated in his first testimony that Duterte was the one who ordered the killing of Makdum.
Why then, Cayetano asked, was Makdum killed? Matobato said he didn’t know, because his bosses never tell him anything about the people they ask him to kill.
HIGHLIGHT #2: The 2014 NBI affidavit
Cayetano asked Matobato if there was ever any time he executed any affidavit for the government. Matobato said no. Cayetano asked if he was sure. Yes, he said.
But a couple of NBI officials present said Matobato actually executed an affidavit on Sept 4, 2014 when he went to the NBI to file a complaint against policemen who supposedly tortured him because he wanted to leave the DDS. The NBI officials produced a copy of Matobato’s 2014 affidavit, and Cayetano went over to show it to him.
The 2014 affidavit was not part of De Lima’s script. She leaped to the podium and started objecting. Her compulsive, wave-wave/close-open/close-open hand gestures were even more frenetic than usual (notice she does these hand movements whenever she’s caught off-guard and needs to come up with impromptu excuses to explain things away). Gordon said to her, “Kaya nga may abogado siya eh, can you please give me some latitude here?” She sat back down.
The lawyer sitting beside Matobato went over his 2014 NBI affidavit with him. Watch what happened next from the 2:29:55 mark of the video above. It’s a must-see.
Cayetano read aloud from Matobato’s 2014 affidavit, where Matobato said Sali Makdum was a Pakistani national who was ordered killed by Rodrigo Duterte.
Cayetano asked Matobato why he said this in the 2014 affidavit, when just a while ago after the CNN Phils video was played, he said it was not Duterte who ordered the killing. Stumped, Matobato gave a jumbled, indefinite response.
Cayetano also pointed out that, in the the 2014 NBI affidavit, Matobato said Makdum was an international terrorist behind a bombing in General Santos City, and that was the reason why he was ordered killed. But just a while ago, right after the CNN Phils video was played, Matobato claimed he had no idea why Makdum was killed, because his bosses never tell him anything.
The people from Matabato’s village in the CNN Philippines video, on the other hand, pointed to a land deal as the likely reason why Matobato killed Makdum. If this is true—and the villagers have no reason to lie—it means Matobato told two different lies in his 2014 NBI affidavit and his testimony at the Senate last week.
He might have done this so he would appear more like an important government assassin rather than a lowly budget killer-for-hire.
Pants on fire, Matobato changed his story—again. He said he just “forgot” about the Gen San bombing. How can a person forget a major bombing incident that was supposedly the reason why he had to kill a member of his extended family? Matobato had told so many lies, even he was getting confused.
HIGHLIGHT #3: The Nograles bodyguards
Senator Cayetano asked Matobato why, in his testimony last week, he claimed that he killed the bodyguards of Prospero Nograles under Duterte’s orders in 2010, but the Nograles family denied this. Matobato changed his story again. He said the men he killed were not actually bodyguards of Nograles, but men of Gen. Palparan and Gen. Martillano who were detailed to Nograles.
Toward the end of the hearing, after Matobato was already dismissed, Senator Ping Lacson announced that he received a text from Gen. Martillano. Martillano said that as of 2009, he was already with PASG (Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group) and he had no security men detailed to Nograles.
HIGHLIGHT #4: The Salcedo shooting
Senator Angara asked when was the last time Matobato shot someone. Matobato said 2013. But Senator Lacson said he heard that a former DAR official named Abeto Salcedo saw Matobato on TV when he testified last week, and recognized him as the man who shot him in October 2014 in Cagayan de Oro. The cartographic sketch of the shooter from the incident even looks like Matobato.
Matobato denied he was the shooter. He said he was already in Manila in the DOJ’s witness protection program as early as Sept 2014 when he first went to see De Lima. However, in an earlier part of the hearing, the NBI officials present said Matobato was admitted to the DOJ’s witness protection program on Nov 25, 2014.
Is it possible that Matobato was still roaming freely in October 2014, even though he already met De Lima at the DOJ in September 2014? The senators asked the NBI to verify exactly when Matobato was put in a safehouse as part of the WPP. Meanwhile, Abeto Salcedo already filed murder charges against Matobato yesterday. (read here http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/23/16/matobato-faces-frustrated-murder-rap-for-2014-hit ). Abangan.
HIGHLIGHT #5: Drama from De Lima, Trililing from Trillanes
When it was her turn to cross-examine, De Lima continued to ask leading questions to extract her preferred responses from Matobato. She was practically testifying for Matobato, all he had to do was confirm her statements with Yes or No.
There was a part where De Lima even seemed to be signalling to Matobato. When Gordon asked Matobato when was the first time he met De Lima, Matobato hesitated and didn’t answer immediately. He looked at De Lima and De Lima can be seen pointing her index finger downwards. When Matobato still couldn’t answer, she said, “Ngayong taon lang, di ba?” Matobato then nodded and said, “Oo, ngayong taon.”
Trillanes, on the other hand, played the sympathy card and made Matobato give a teary account of how his father was killed by the NPA. The yellows should have used Risa Hontiveros for this part. Trillanes is miscast for the role of Charo Santos. He also forgot to play the background music of Maalaala Mo Kaya.
Both De Lima and Trillanes tried to play up the fact that Matobato has a job order document that proves he was an employee of the Davao city hall. To them, this is a “smoking gun”, because if you are a mayor and you have a secret team of killers that you don’t want anyone to know about, you should give them official payroll ATM cards from Landbank, pay their salary directly from the city government’s account, and give them signed job contracts and payslips so the COA (Commission on Audit) can easily trace them to you. Makes perfect sense, right?
De Lima and Trillanes had to be reprimanded several times by Senator Gordon because they kept interjecting and lawyering for Matobato. When De Lima criticized the interrogation style of Gordon himself, Gordon told her, “We’re all lawyers here. I don’t want to lecture other lawyers. I don’t want to be lectured either.”
De Lima could be seen crossing her arms, scowling, and sort of rolling her eyes while Gordon was talking. It’s really amazing how this pudgy old matron with sausage hands and bad diction (“diczzzion”) thinks she’s superior to everybody else. No wonder she immediately assumed DOJ Sec. Vitalino Aguirre was referring to Noynoy Aquino when Aguirre said a yellow official higher than De Lima might be involved in the Bilibid drug trade. In De Lima’s mind, only Noynoy Aquino (“my president”, she said) was higher than her during the previous admin. There were others much higher than her based on constitutional succession alone, but it seems De Lima always wants to be the “bida”, even when it comes to the title of numero uno drug protector of the yellows.
Not to be outdone, Trillanes also tried to heckle a senator who is infinitely superior to him. When Senator Lacson was probing why Matobato changed his story from being a member of the CAFGU to being a member of the CHDF after the military said there was no record of him as a CAFGU, Trillanes accused Lacson of trying to confuse Matobato. Lacson reacted in his usual dry, deadpan way. Gordon told Trillanes to stop making side comments in front of the witness. Gordon then suspended the proceedings for a few minutes to reign in De Lima and Trillanes. Trillanes went to Lacson to apologize, but Lacson’s poker face hardly moved. Trillanes scuttled away like a rejected stray dog.
Trillanes also lobbied to have Paolo Duterte summoned to the next Senate hearing based solely on Matobato’s claim that Paolo Duterte ordered him to kill someone once. Who? Not Richard King, Matobato already backtracked on that after the King family issued a denial. Basta, someone. No name. Remember, Matobato’s superiors never tell him anything. So, he doesn’t have to give names to prove his claims. How convenient.
Why is Trillanes fixated on Paolo Duterte? He is probably gearing up to reprise the bullying and humiliation tactics he perfected on the late Angelo Reyes and the late Chief Justice Corona. Will the senators give Trillanes another opportunity to defile the Senate with his homicidal Trililing? Abangan.
Matobato’s credibility was in shambles by the end of the hearing, so De Lima maneuvered to line up a new cast of characters for the next episode. She asked for all the “DDS” police officers named by Matobato to be brought to the next hearing. Gordon and Lacson said this was possible, but they would have to be presented in an executive session, and mixed with other people to see if Matobato could really identify them. Not sure what the point is of doing this. De Lima and Trillanes can easily get pictures of these police officers and make sure Matobato studies them before he is asked to identify them.
Meanwhile, how many more hours of the senators’ time do they plan to waste on this ridiculous farce, while far more urgent matters are left unattended? How much more of taxpayers’ money do they plan to waste listening to a lying, low-level mass murderer that De Lima and Trillanes are trying to put on a pedestal?
Please do your duty, distinguished senators. At least 90% of Filipinos don’t care about Trillanes and De Lima, and least of all, Matobato. Stop demeaning yourselves by humoring them, and please get back to work.
Looks like its Mr. Matobato’s statement against the statement of “the people from the village”.
Don’t you think that those “people from the village” should also testify under oath, like what Mr. Motabato did, so that we should have a level playing field? I mean, why doubt and dismiss the statement of one who submitted himself to the authority of the Senate and be ridiculed, his integrity doubted, sneered at, grilled and vetted in the process, day in and day out, and at the same time give credence to a statement made by a group of people outside the Senate?
You think it’s fair game? ????
Same thing here. The Nograles family, who were not in the Senate Committe hearing, were quoted by Sen. Cayetano in the effort to try to destroy Mr. Motabato’ statement about the case.
What’s worse was even a text message (from outside the Senate) to Sen. Lacson was used to contradict and dispute Motabato’s testimony. A text message the source of which has not been verified officially! Really?!!!
I mean, can they not invite those people to attend the hearing and be sworn in to put in record their respective testimony?
Or you think that is not necessary? ????
In terms of being fair to Mr.Motabato, who admitted to having a grade one education, yes, they failed in their duty to be fair and circumspect in the conduct of the hearing. ????
If there is a survey or proof to support that comment, I would be very glad to see it. ????
Another Bobo who is ignorant about psuedoephidrne, methamphetamine and cough syrup.
Try using Google to educate yourself.
Psuedoephidrne is a nasal decongestant that is “cooked” to make methamphetamine or shabu.