‘Oplan Nognog’ just an invention

“Oplan Nognog,” supposedly hatched by the camp of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, aims to demolish Vice President Jojo Binay’s chances in the 2016 presidential elections, according to the Binay camp.

Roxas is the presumptive standard bearer of the Liberal Party for 2016.

There is no denying Binay is way ahead of Roxas in the surveys, and the presumption is the interior secretary would do everything to ease out his close rival from the race.

But “Oplan Nognog” is an invention of Binay’s camp to win the sympathy of the mostly poor and politically vacuous masses.

Nognog is an eponymous comic character whose skin is charcoal black.

Binay relishes his being compared to the comic character because he is dark skinned and homely, which is how a typical man on the street looks.

After all, one of the reasons the Binays, who have ruled Makati City one after another, were elected by the poor and politically immature voters is because they go to great lengths to emphasize their Nognog looks.

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The lawyer of police Supt. Angelo Germinal, the suspect in the murder of 13-year-old scavenger Christian Serrano three years ago, has asked the Makati Regional Trial Court to issue a gag order on me.

Cesar Brillantes invokes the principle of sub judice (literally, “under the power of a judge”), which prohibits the publication of the merits of a criminal case.

Likewise, I invoke the freedom of the press which is enshrined in the Constitution, especially since the court hearing the murder case has shown bias in favor of Germinal.

Judge Cristina Javalera-Sulit granted Germinal’s request for bail, weakening the murder case against him.

Murder is a nonbailable offense.

In granting Germinal bail, the judge gave credence to a non-expert, a medical doctor and not a forensic pathologist, who testified that the bullets from the gun used to kill Christian didn’t match the .22-caliber long rifle empty shells found at the crime scene.

The slugs from the gun were never found.

The doctor who testified at the bail hearing is from the crime laboratory of the Southern Police District (SPD), which has jurisdiction over the Makati Police Station where Germinal belonged.

Germinal could have exerted his influence on the SPD doctor who admitted in court that he was not a forensic pathologist or one who determines the cause of death of a crime victim.

The suspect reportedly used to be assigned with the security detail of the Office of the Mayor.

I write, at the risk of being cited for contempt by the court, because of the apparent injustice in this case.

Judge Sulit never took into account the testimonies of Serrano’s companion, a fellow scavenger, at the time and another witness who claimed he saw Germinal aim and fire his .22-caliber rifle at the boy.

I would be shirking my duty as a journalist and concerned citizen if I stopped writing about Christian’s senseless murder.

So, go ahead, have me jailed for showing what I think about a court that appears to favor the influential over the poor!

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One of the military medical officers linked to the P80-million scam at the Armed Forces Medical Center, popularly known as V. Luna Hospital, is Lt. Col. Florencio Ritchie Ilao Capulong.

Capulong is head of the registrar department or logistics officer at V. Luna.

It’s unlikely the charge against Capulong is true since, according to fellow officers who know him, he’s honest and dedicated.

In fact, he is one of this year’s Oustanding Philippine Soldiers for his dedication to his job.