Digong dignifying Trillanes

His close advisers should have dissuaded President Digong from replying to the rehashed accusation of Sen. Antonio Trillanes that he had P2.2 billion in the bank.

By hitting back at Trillanes, the President was dignifying the senator who made the same allegation during the election period.

By remaining silent, the President would have sent a message that he would not answer the rants of a man who is angry at the world and who picks a fight with fellow senators just to get his share of publicity.

If Mano Digong really wanted to get back at Trillanes, he could have asked his presidential legal adviser, Sal Panelo, who had sufficiently addressed the same charge earlier, to deal with the senator.

How could Trillanes accuse Mr. Duterte of having amassed billions of pesos as Davao City mayor when the guy lives in a humble house in a middle-class neighborhood?

If Digong had stolen money from his constituents, he would be living in affluence.

People in Davao City have repeatedly elected him mayor—and also his daughter to the same position and son Paolo to the vice mayoral post
—because of his family’s honesty as public servants.

Ask the people in the city if the Dutertes bought their votes; they never did because they don’t have the money.

Wally Sombero, the principal figure in the P50-million bribery (payoff or whatever it’s called) involving two immigration officials, was berated by Sen. Dick Gordon for being a “smart aleck.”

The senator got mad at Sombero for being voluble and beating around the bush in answering questions from members of the Senate blue ribbon committee chaired by Gordon.

I had warned Sombero, who’s my friend, before he faced the committee on Thursday to make his answers brief.

His lawyers, the father-daughter tandem of Ted and Kat Contacto, also gave him the same advice.

But Sombero was just so eager to spill all the beans that he didn’t take our advice.

Three Muntinlupa City policemen—PO3 Odie Aurelio, PO1 Zeus Deliguin and PO1 Mateo Sarmiento—responded to a report that a man was lying in the middle of the road after being hit by a vehicle that sped away.

The hit-and-run victim was Avelino Sto. Domingo, a 38-year-old engineer.

Instead of bringing Sto. Domingo to the hospital, the three policemen just dumped his limp body at the Alabang barangay hall.

Those policemen don’t have compassion.

Government officials led by Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco and Sen. Migz Zubiri led the signing yesterday of a memorandum of agreement with Hong Kong-based billionaire Jose Kho to build a P700-million rehabilitation center for drug addicts in Malaybalay, Bukidnon.

Kho’s Friends of the Philippines Foundation is making the generous donation to the government.

The center will be the first drug rehab facility of such scale in Mindanao.

Other rehab centers are in Luzon, donated by Chinese billionaire Huang Rulun and San Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang.