POLITICAL posturing for the next presidential elections in 2028 may still be premature and Deputy Speaker Gloria Arroyo should know better than to be involved in a misadventure supporting a House coup. She knew risking her name as a former President and a powerful House leader was not going to be worth it.
Indirectly, her denial indicated that House Speaker Martin Romualdez had been duped into believing that she had a part in the “ouster plot” that led him to demote Arroyo from Senior Deputy Speaker to Deputy Speaker.
Minority Leader Edsel Lagman said “unceremoniously stripping Arroyo of her title that befits a former president has rendered a loss of trust and condolence on an ally.” He also called on Romualdez to fully explain how he was able to name or strongly suspect Arroyo as one of the major plotters.
The awfully sad part is that there are more foreigners willing to adopt Filipino children than Filipinos themselves.
In some ways, Arroyo was probably reaping what she sowed. Several congressmen must still be smarting from the high-handedness by which then Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte led the ouster move against former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez. The move was publicly embarrassing for Alvarez as it happened on the day of the third SONA of then-President Rodrigo Duterte.
Most of Alvarez’s political followers at the House went on to humiliate him further by promptly switching their party loyalties to Arroyo. It was obvious that those still loyal to Alvarez were not to take things sitting down — the microphone at the podium was muted and the House Maze suddenly vanished when Arroyo took her oath and started to preside over the session.
Exacting political reprisal does not easily end among the power-hungry. Today, they relish having erected a moment of debacle and embarrassment for Arroyo.
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The real issue in the closure of the orphanage Gentle Hand is the lack of private facilities to accommodate more neglected and abandoned children in Metro Manila.
Most public and private orphanages in the country — and there are not many — have been overcrowded and understaffed for many years. The unfortunate conditions behind the neglect and mismanagement of Gentle Hands had been forced by circumstances bred by society’s indifference and palpable unkindness, along with gross government apathy to the miserable plight of thousands of neglected and abandoned children.
A new law has to be passed and thankfully shepherded by Sen. Riza Hontiveros in the Senate — bless her heart! — to institutionalize child care and adoption through the creation of a new agency.
The awfully sad part is that there are more foreigners willing to adopt Filipino children than Filipinos themselves.
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Deputy Speaker Brod. Eddie Villanueva is asking the Christian community for fervent prayers against the SOGIES bill that was approved last May 24 by the House Committee on Women and Gender Equality.
The next order of business is to bring it to the plenary for debates and possible final approval. With unceasing prayers, Villanueva hopes the bill will not make it to the plenary session since Congress will adjourn on May 31 and that public opinion will go against the bill so that it won’t be included in the next order of business.
