Faces of the news

Teresita Herbosa

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Teresita Herbosa has been accused of contributing to the Duterte administration’s attacks on press freedom when the SEC en banc issued an order revoking the incorporation of online news provider Rappler because of the Philippine depositary receipts (PDRs) it issued to Omidyar Network Fund LLC, an offshore fund created by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. The SEC said that the Omidyar PDRs carried provisions for “negative control.” This means that approval for at least two-thirds of PDR holders must be obtained before Rappler takes any action that would prejudice the rights of Omidyar. As such, Rappler was accused of colluding to “grant control, or to become a dummy,” of Omidyar. The Constitution mandates Filipino control of local media.

Maria Ressa

Within hours of the Securities and Exchange Commission announcement of its revocation of Rappler’s certificate of incorporation, Maria Ressa faced a gaggle of TV cameras and calmly responded to questions about the future of the online news site. She began, chuckling, by saying that she wished she were among the journalists throwing questions as she had done countless times before, instead of parrying them. But throughout the Q & A, Ressa sent the message that Rappler, which she founded in 2011 with Glenda Gloria, Chay Hofileña and Beth Frondoso, wasn’t backing down from this “attack on press freedom.” Guesting on public affairs shows, she manifested the same fighting stance, vowing to bring the case to the Supreme Court. “I will do everything in my power not to let Rappler go down,” she told CNN.

Hilario Davide Jr., Reynato Puno and Aquilino ‘Nene’ Pimentel

It’s rare to see them together in one room these days, since they have all retired from government. But when two former chief justices of the Supreme Court and a former Senate president appeared together in last Wednesday’s Senate hearing on the proposed shift to federalism and rewriting the Philippine Constitution, the public came away more enlightened and informed. Former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. was direct and terse in his remarks: the present unitary system fits the country’s history, culture, character and traditions. That’s why, he said, the shift to federalism, was a “lethal experiment, a fatal leap, a plunge to death, a leap to hell.” If proponents of federalism merely wanted to shift the balance of power from “Imperial Manila” to the countryside, this could be achieved by efficiently implementing the constitutional provisions for strong local autonomy and decentralization, he added. Former Senate President Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, a staunch advocate of federalism, disagreed with Davide. Going federal, he said, was “vital” as it would redound to the good of Filipinos. “If we have to revise the Constitution to give meaning to the devolution intended by the Local Government Code, we might as well move forward to the scope and power by adopting the federal system,” he said. Pimentel, in jest, issued a caveat to everyone to refrain from using “Con-ass” to refer to a constituent assembly, one of the modes of amending the Charter, lest it be misconstrued that this was being pushed by “asses, or mules.” Opposition Sen. Franklin Drilon didn’t let this pass, saying this was how people think of the present crop of politicians after House lawmakers adopted a resolution constituting Congress into a Con-ass. Responding to a question, former Chief Justice Reynato Puno said that the country had been labeled as a failing democracy because of its unitary form of government. He said the devolution of some of the powers of national government to local government units to address people’s needs had not worked. He made it clear as well that Congress should not be given the task of rewriting the Constitution since its main task was to legislate laws. He also called out proponents over their “cheap” argument that a Con-ass was less costly than a constitutional convention (Con-con). “You should not count the cost when writing a Constitution. A good Constitution is the best investment a people can make,” he said. All three favored Con-con in amending the Charter.

Stephan Schröck

Despite playing far from its best form, Ceres-Negros FC triumphed over Myanmar League champion Shan United, 4-3, on penalties to advance to the second round of the Asian Football Confederation Champions League preliminary phase in Yangon. Ceres star Stephan Schröck scored with a deflected strike in the 92nd minute before Shan equalized seven minutes later that sent the match into a shootout, where the Fil-German again found the back of the net along with skipper Carlie De Murga, Mike Ott and Bienve Marañon. “We can be very proud of this achievement,” said Schröck, who came close to a winner, but got denied by the post deep into extra time after shooting from a tight angle. “We only had four training sessions and a long flight, but for 120 minutes we worked well as a team.” The Busmen, the PFL champions, will take on Brisbane Roar next in Australia.