Faces of the News: Nov. 11, 2018

Dennis Uy

Think of any business deal over the last two years and the name Dennis Uy, the budding tycoon from Davao and friend of President Rodrigo Duterte, almost always crops up.

An experienced hand in logistics and fuel trading via his flagship Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Uy has embarked on a dizzying string of acquisitions ever since the President came into power.

Last week, he moved closer to winning his largest deal yet: the opportunity to become a telecommunications mogul competing with the likes of the Zobels of Globe Telecom and Manuel V. Pangilinan of Smart-PLDT.

Uy, through his flagship firm Udenna Corp. and its subsidiaries, partnered with state-owned China Telecom.

The alliance, known as Mislatel Consortium, emerged as the provisional third telco after two rivals were disqualified.

Mislatel offered to spend almost P260 billion over five years to roll out a mobile telecom network and offer fast internet to subscribers.

Critics, however, worry that Uy’s China connection could pose a security risk given the country’s territorial tiff with this neighbor.

Vicente Ladlad

Vicente Ladlad, a peace consultant for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), was arrested in a midnight raid on Thursday on charges of illegal possession of firearms. The Philippine National Police said  it had seized “instruments of death and violence” — including an AK47 with bayonet, M16A1 assault rifle and four grenades — at a house in Novaliches, Quezon City, where Ladlad had been found with an elderly couple.

But the arrest of the mild-mannered 69-year-old drew immediate condemnation from rights groups and led his wife, Fides Lim, to storm the National  Capital Region Police Office headquarters where Ladlad was booked.

According to Lim, her husband suffers from a severe heart condition and chronic asthma, rendering it nearly impossible for him to operate the high-powered firearms, which she alleged would not have even a “single speck of his fingerprints” if tested.

Ladlad was the third NDFP consultant arrested since peace talks with communist rebels were canceled by President Rodrigo Duterte last year.

Imelda Marcos

Former first lady and Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos on Friday was found guilty on seven counts of graft by the Sandiganbayan, and sentenced to a prison term of a maximum of 77 years.

The antigraft court’s Fifth Division said the 89-year-old Marcos used her position as Cabinet minister and member of the defunct Interim Batasang Pambansa during her husband’s presidency to stash some $200 million in various dummy foundations in Switzerland.

The conviction also carried perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

Marcos has already filed her certificate of candidacy as Ilocos Norte governor in the 2019 elections.

But while critics welcomed her conviction, they are also wary over the legal remedies that she can take advantage of to evade jail time, as well as the “preferential treatment” the Marcos family has been getting from the current administration to escape liability for their past misdeeds.

Nancy Pelosi

After Democrats won control of the US House of Representatives, California Rep. Nancy Pelosi is preparing herself for another go at the speakership she held from 2007 to 2011.

But while the Democrats hold 226 seats to the Republicans’ 200 (with nine races still disputed), Pelosi has little room for error because younger Democrats are grumbling against her.

Pelosi is the first woman to become Speaker but is seen as a contentious politician by other female Democrats who will be coming into office when the 116th US Congress convenes in January.

Several younger Democrats are unhappy with Pelosi’s leadership of the House minority the past seven years and have declared objections to electing her Speaker.

But she is still expected to win first-round voting later this month.

Ironically, President Donald Trump — known for his macho posturings — wants Pelosi to become Speaker and promised to muster Republican support for this.

Michael Yang

Is he or isn’t he?

Malacañang has finally admitted that Michael Yang is one of President Rodrigo Duterte’s consultants on economic affairs, after initially denying the Chinese businessman’s role in the government.

After documents identifying Yang as a consultant surfaced the past week, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo finally confirmed that Yang was one of the advisers “that the President consults on particular matters” and that Yang received P1 a year for his services.

The contract detailing Yang’s role was signed by then Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra, now the justice secretary, and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.

Last month, the Preisdent himself denied getting Yang as an adviser on economic affairs, saying it “cannot be because he’s Chinese.”

Yang, whose Chinese name is Yang Hong Ming, owns the Davao City Los Amigos malls in Mindanao.

The President himself earlier cleared Yang of any links to the illegal drug trade, citing the latter’s close relations to Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua.

Christian Bables

“Thank you for placing your bet on a nameless actor like me,” said actor Christian Bables after he snagged the best actor trophy at the recently concluded 2018 Hanoi International Film Festival in Vietnam.

Bables played “Intoy” in “Signal Rock,” a quiet movie about a provincial boy helping his sister, an overseas Filipino worker, win a child custody case by involving their neighbors in a remote coastal community.

“Signal Rock,” directed by Chito Roño, is the country’s nominee to the best foreign language film at the 2019  Academy Awards in Hollywood.

Bables, 25, is slowly making a name for himself in the indie filmmaking scene with films like Jun Lana’s “Die Beautiful” and this dramatic Roño vehicle.

“I will continue to hone my craft so that I can bring to life more sensible characters in the future,” Bables declared. “Stay true to that burning passion inside you,” he told aspiring actors who, like him at some point, were on the verge of giving up on their craft.