PH winning streak
President Digong has not only brought home the bacon, so to speak, in his visit to China but also made Filipinos understand that the Sleeping Dragon, now awakened, is not fire-breathing, after all, but gentle.
His visit to Japan, on the other hand, has further strengthened our relationship with that country and made its people understand that we no longer want to depend on the United States but to chart our own destiny.
Friends who become enemies and then reconcile become better friends.
Our relationship with China at this point may be compared to that of a young couple who had a big quarrel and then patched up their differences.
The result is a baby, or one more baby, in the case of the young couple.
And in the case of our thawed relationship with China, much better trade and commerce with the emerging superpower.
A gambler’s lucky streak is called ratsada in Pilipino.
President Digong’s ventures into China and Japan were attended by much luck.
To cap it all off, our Binibining Pilipinas International, Kylie Verzosa, won the Miss International beauty pageant held in Japan as Mr. Duterte wound up his visit.
In this column on Thursday, I said many cops were using the war on drugs for personal, evil motives.
Here’s an example: A Makati police intelligence official sent his men to an owner of a call center, a Chinese Singaporean, on the pretext that he was being placed under surveillance because of reports of drug trafficking.
He claimed that the order to have the Singaporean surveilled came from Philippine National Police chief, Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
The poor guy, although very innocent, got scared and gave away P750,000.
The money was meant for people in Camp Crame who would supposedly remove his name from the “list of drug lords.”
The police officer was so brazen he demanded the money from a lawyer whom the Singaporean sent to his office.
Finding a potential milking cow, the PNP official would have demanded a monthly take from the Singaporean had my program, Isumbong mo kay Tulfo, not intervened.
Desperate, the Singaporean had sought my help.
The ball is now in Director General Bato’s court.
The National Bureau of Investigation has issued a subpoena to Arnel Alcaraz, acting deputy customs commissioner for intelligence, to “shed light in the investigation of alleged extortation (sic) and (possible) violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.”
Alcaraz, a lawyer, was ordered to submit himself to investigation on Wednesday, Nov. 2.
The order was signed by Ricardo Diaz, NBI director for the National Capital Region.
The NBI is authorized to investigate any government official or employee suspected of committing graft.
