LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “… It is time for you to act, Lord; your law is being broken…” (Psalm 119:126, the Holy Bible).
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WHY DID AGUIRRE CANCEL FOREIGNERS’ VISAS? One detail that needed further looking into in the on-going Senate investigation of the P50 million bribery scandal affecting the Bureau of Immigration involves the alleged issuance by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II of an order cancelling the visa of all foreigners who are engaged in online gaming in the Philippines.
It would appear from the investigation on Thursday, February 16, 2017, that the supposed order from Aguirre triggered the raid at the Fontana Casino and Resorts at the Clark Freeport Zone and resulted in the arrest of around 1,300 Chinese nationals who had been working for Jack Lam, Fontana’s owner. Jack Lam’s employees allegedly did not have visas authorizing them to work in the Philippines.
The question that Aguirre needed to answer is this: why were the visas of foreigners engaged in online gaming in the country cancelled by him? If the foreigners already had visas in their favor, and therefore they had authority to work here, why would their visas be cancelled, and then be arrested on the ground they had no visas? This has to be explained carefully, if you ask me!
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SOLGEN CALIDA ONLY EXERCISED HIS DUTY: Solicitor General Jose Calida could not be faulted in any way in his decision to submit a manifestation with the Court of Appeals upholding the innocence of Janet Lim Napoles with respect to the serious illegal detention case which a former aid, Ben Hur Luy, filed against her and over which she was found guilty last year.
In my practice as a private lawyer handling cases for some accused and for some parties in civil cases, I had encountered in the past, long before Calida became solicitor general, similar manifestations or declarations of previous Solicitor Generals siding with the arguments propounded by the accused, and discrediting decisions rendered by the courts.
It is in fact a part of Calida’s duty to speak out in favor of a person who is an adverse party in a case involving the government if in his honest opinion that person is entitled to be favored, or if the government’s position in a case cannot be supported by the Solicitor General.
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NAPOLES CAN IMPLICATE TOP PNOY OFFICIALS IN PORK SCAM: The lamentations, therefore, of those who are disagree with Calida’s manifestation are pure hogwash. I am convinced Calida’s critics are assailing his manifestation favoring Napoles because they are merely afraid that Napoles may now seriously think of pursuing her earlier revelations with respect to the P10 pork barrel scam involving lawmakers and other officials of the Aquino government.
We should not forget that Napoles implicated former Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad, a pillar of the Liberal Party of former President Noynoy Aquino as the one who taught her how to deal with lawmakers, in an effort to entice them to allow non-governmental organizations under her control to use their pork barrel allocations, in exchange for commissions.
It must also be noted that after the serious illegal detention case against Napoles was filed in court resulting in the issuance of a non-bailable arrest warrant against her, ranking officials of the Aquino government—namely Secretaries Edwin Lacierda and Mar Roxas, and even President Aquino himself—took time out to personally attend to her before she was finally surrendered to the police!
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PLEASE LISTEN: “Ang Tanging Daan” (The Sole Way): a Bible Exposition and prayer session online, could now be heard 24/7 (24 hours a day), in the Philippines and the world at www.facebook.com/angtangingdaan. Phone: 0917 984 24 68, 0918 574 0193, 0977 805 9058. Email: batasmauricio@yahoo.com.#
