“Politically motivated,” VP Sara says on charges vs Pulong; Maglana says check city’s women code
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/ 04 May) —- Vice-president Sara Duterte said charges against her elder brother, first district representative Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, for allegedly attacking a man and threatening him with a knife inside a bar in the early hours of February 23, as is “politically motivated.”
Speaking to reporters during a miting de avance in Zamboanga City on Saturday evening, the Vice President claimed that political opponents use these allegations as a diversionary tactic.
“Sabi ko na nga, every time nagkakaroon sila ng isyu, malaking isyu na kabalbalan na, ginagawa nila ang kanilang pang-cover sa mga isyu na ito ay atakehin yung kalaban nila sa politika (As I’ve said—every time they get involved in an issue, a major scandal or wrongdoing, they try to cover it up by attacking their political opponents),” she said.
Businessman Kristone John Patria on May 2 filed in Manila a complaint of physical injuries and grave threats, claiming the drunken Pulong assaulted and attempted to stab him with a knife inside the Hearsay Gastropub Bar in Obrero in the early hours of February 23 due to a dispute over payment to six women Patria had allegedly arranged for a private gathering at the request of Paolo and businessman Charlie Tan.
Paolo on Saturday said he had yet to receive a copy of Patria’s complaint.
A CCTV footage allegedly taken inside the Hearsay bar on February 23 showed a man resembling Pulong attacking Patria and threatening him with a bladed weapon. Patria said Pulong had the CCTV cameras turned off. The congressional representative, who had earlier served as barangay chair, councilor and vice mayor, said they had yet to authenticate the video. The Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group on Saturday said they have yet to authenticate the video.
“Prostitution is a human rights violation”
“This is a matter of law,” Maria Victoria “Mags” Maglana, an Independent candidate running for 1stdistrict representative against Paolo, who is seeking a third term, and PBA party-list Rep. Margarita Ignacia “Migs” Nograles, Pastor Janeth Jabines and businessman Rex Labis.
In a statement released Saturdy, Maglana stressed that due process must be observed, that in the pursuit of justice, the rights of everyone, including Paolo and Patria, should be respected.
She said laws relating to prostitution need to be revisited and improved to address lingering issues. “Prostitution persists because some operate, manage, and profit from it, such as pimps. It is also evident that there are clients and protectors of the commercialization of prostituted persons. All of them need to be held accountable through better laws consistently implemented,” she said.
She challenged the city’s leaders to also speak up, “particularly those seeking mandates through the May 12 elections.” Whole-of-society responses, she said, are essential to strengthen the rule of law and seek holistic solutions to prostitution.” She called on the city’s residents to “continue to stand by our Women Development Code of Davao City” or Ordinance 5004, and pointed to Chapter II, Article 1, Section 18 that states that “prostitution shall be recognized as a violation of human rights and exploitation of women who have no real choices for survival.”
Maglana noted that the issue “will only be reduced to politicking, particularly in light of the coming elections, if it dies out without being resolved and the relevant laws remain unreviewed, incoherent, and poorly implemented.”
Rice at 20 pesos per kilo
Vice President Duterte claimed that it was the failure to bring down the price of rice to 20 pesos per kilo in Visayas triggered the Marcos administration’s political attack on her brother Paolo.
The much-anticipated sale of P20 per kilo rice, a campaign promise of Marcos in 2022 when he and Sara Duterte ran for President and Vice President, was officially launched in the Visayas on May 1. But it was stopped on May 2 and deferred to May 13 or day after the election, to comply with the directives of the Commission on Elections, Agriculture secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a Philippine Star report.
Sara said that since the Marcos administration could not fulfill its obligation to bring down the price of rice to that level, they immediately stopped it on May 2. On the same day, the complaint against Pulong was filed in Manila.
Manila-based media outlets reported on the matter Friday night, quoting Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon. (Ian Carl Espinosa with a report by Carolyn O. Arguillas/ MindaNews)
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