Faces of the news
Brillante Mendoza
Brillante Mendoza, the Cannes-winning director of films such as
“Kinatay,” “Thy Womb,” “Masahista” and “Ma’ Rosa,” has found himself
in hot water for his remarks in an Agence France-Presse interview that President Duterte’s controversial war on drugs was “necessary” for the Philippines and other countries. Mendoza is the man behind the first Filipino series on Netflix, “Amo,” a 12-episode drama that follows a high school student who gets entangled in the deadly world of drugs and corruption. Netizens and human rights advocates who see the series as propaganda defending extrajudicial killings have quickly turned up the heat by urging the streaming giant to pull the plug on the drama that they say justifies the government’s “internationally condemned crackdown on illegal drugs.”
Larry Gadon
The man who sought for the impeachment of Chief Justice-on-leave Maria Lourdes Sereno said he was not afraid of being disbarred after being castigated for flinging a dirty finger at Sereno supporters in front of the Supreme Court’s summer courthouse in Baguio City. Gadon appeared at the courthouse a few hours ahead of the April 10 oral arguments on the quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida. Gadon filed an impeachment complaint against Sereno, but submitted an opinion favoring a quo warranto process to remove her. He was booed by protesters belonging to the Coalition for Justice. Angered, Gadon engaged them in a verbal spat. The Integrated Bar of the Philippines said Gadon’s behavior could get him disbarred, to which he replied, “I will still eat delicious food and live comfortably [even without a license to practice law].”
Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook cofounder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg testified before the US Congress last week after the data scandal involving the British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica. When news broke in mid-March that Cambridge Analytica had improperly mined the personal data of 87 million people worldwide (including over a million Filipinos), Facebook’s stock price plunged $33 from about $185 to around $152 in just seven days. There were also investor and class action suits against the social media giant. To stem the free fall, the 33-year-old internet entrepreneur, who favors shirts and blue jeans, donned a suit and answered 10 hours of questions over two days from nearly 100 US lawmakers. He respectfully deflected tough questions, particularly on internet regulation, but emerged largely unscathed. Share prices started to recover.
Menardo Guevarra
From presiding over Malacañang news briefings a few as senior deputy of Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, lawyer Menardo Guevarra was suddenly thrust into the political limelight after President Duterte tapped him to replace Vitaliano Aguirre II as justice secretary. His appointment may have just provided a new lease on life for the Department of Justice (DOJ), which has been mired in controversies nearly the entire of Aguirre’s abbreviated tenure. Guevarra said Mr. Duterte handed down what could be a tall order for him: Restore the justice department’s “dignified image.” As if taking the cue from his predecessor’s disastrous missteps, the newly minted justice secretary vowed to keep himself away from politics which, he said, “is not within the jurisdiction of the DOJ. Political considerations are definitely out of the question,” Guevarra added.
Jinggoy Estrada
Purported invitations have twice cast a shadow over former Senator Jinggoy Estrada’s statements in the past couple of weeks. Last April 11, Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III explicitly said it was “not true” that Estrada was approached to join the administration’s slate for the May 2019 elections. Estrada played down Pimentel’s denial of his announcement, saying the senate leader may not have been in the loop. On March 27, the US Pinoys for Good Governance (USPGG) disowned a supposed invitation for Estrada to speak about current events in a meeting in Michigan this May; the day before, the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division permitted him to travel to the United States to attend that meeting and go on vacation. Estrada’s camp stood by the authenticity of the USPGG invitation. On March 30, Estrada said group founder Loida Nicolas Lewis would not have reacted that way had opposition senators been invited instead of him.
