VICE Mayor Jordan Ibrahim of South Upi, Maguindanao, refuses to have his DNA sample tested in connection with a rape case.

Ibrahim is suspected of raping a 21-year-old volunteer nurse in the town.

The victim was beaten into unconsciousness while she was being raped.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is seething with anger??gigil na gigil? as she puts it in Filipino?over Ibrahim?s refusal to cooperate with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

NBI investigators want Ibrahim?s semen sample compared with that extracted from the victim.

The NBI handled the investigation after the local police could not crack the more-than-a-month-old rape case either because of incompetence or they?re scared of the Muslim official.

Madame Secretary, there?s no other way Ibrahim is innocent because of his refusal to have his DNA sample tested. He should be charged with rape because he appears to be as guilty as hell.

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Ibrahim doesn?t want to have his semen sample tested because if it?s compared with that taken from the victim, they might match.

On the other hand, Hubert Webb, who was convicted of raping one of the victims in the Vizconde massacre in 1991, was insisting that his semen sample be compared with that taken from the rape victim to prove his innocence.

But despite Webb?s insistence during what was called the ?trial of the century,? then Parañaque judge and now Court of Appeals Justice Amelita Tolentino did not grant his request.

I believe Webb is innocent while Ibrahim could be guilty of a similar offense.

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A strong lobby against the confirmation of Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim is being put up by the country?s tourism and travel operators.

Owners of tourist and travel agencies and related industries claim Lim has not convened and organized the Tourism Congress as provided by law.

Republic Act 9593 is also known as the Tourism Act of 2009.
It provides for the participation of the private sector in tourism development through the Tourism Congress.

Tourism operators claim that while his predecessor, Ace Durano, recognized the Tourism Congress, Lim refuses to ?deal with us.?

Personally, I find Lim?s appointment as tourism secretary a mistake.

Lim never did anything significant while he was president of the Palawan Tourism Council.
The council is composed of private stakeholders of the tourism industry in the province.

I told him that to his face when I interviewed him on my program ?TNT? on dzIQ-Radyo Inquirer.

When Lim replied that he placed Palawan on the tourism map, I said, ?Excuse me, sir, it was (Puerto Princesa Mayor) Edward Hagedorn who did and not you.?

I know whereof I spoke because I am a weekend resident of Puerto Princesa, Palawan?s capital.

Let me just stress that I am a private stakeholder of tourism in Palawan, just a concerned part-time resident.