PEOPLE TALK ABOUT...
PRESIDENT DUTERTE SINGING HIS FAVORITE SONG at Belenisimo, a Christmas festivity, in Tarlac City.
The song is “Ikaw,” a George Canseco creation made popular by Sharon Cuneta.
Duterte sang it before, last June in a karaoke bar, and a video of it is on YouTube. But the Tarlac performance came with the side comment that “Ikaw” won him three women (he didn’t say, one after the other or simultaneously). He sang it in Aquino country with New Minstrels Divos, who included Chad Borja from Davao City.
“Ikaw” in its first few bars sings of God and prayer: “Ikaw ang bigay ng Maykapal / tugon sa aking dasal /upang sa lahat nang panahon / bawa’t pagkakataon / Ang ibigin ko’y ikaw.”
TOMAS OSMEÑA WRITING, “I’M PREGNANT.” Who says the Cebu City mayor has no funny bone in his body? He posted that note on Facebook last Dec. 9 at 11: 49 p.m. as he reported that the urine test he took earlier that day yielded “negative.”
Both he and former mayor Mike Rama separately took the drug test, which didn’t prove they were not drug users, only that they hadn’t taken drugs during a period of three days or so. Even the hair test would only prove drug use or non-drug use for about 90 days. Random tests would tell more.
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Duterte’s drug war and Mexico version
THOSE CHEERING for President Duterte’s war must take a look at Mexico’s war on drugs, which has dragged on for years. On Sunday, Dec. 18, that country will mark the 10th year of its bloody struggle to fight illegal drugs.
The official record says 17,063 people were killed in the first 10 months of this year compared to 17,034 in 2015. Not counting thousands killed and buried in mass graves and other toll, in cases of torture, disappearances, and sexual offenses.
Mexico has tapped soldiers and marines, on top of the police, which hurt civilians because the military is not trained to handle law enforcement.
Studies on the drug war in Mexico should instruct our leaders the basic lesson: killing drug traffickers is never enough. The war can go on forever.
The number of killings here has gone down, Duterte said over the weekend. “Medyo konti na sila,” he said. Maybe we’re doing better than Mexico.
[bzzzzz@sunstar.com.ph or paseares@gmail.com]