SCROLLING down: speculations on what made Cortes decide to make a return to Mandaue City Hall; the supposed agreement on one-term-only for both Cortes and Quisumbing camps; the alleged rift within the incumbent mayor's family; and alleged questionable deals transacted by the previous administration.
FIRST, on the order of Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 order to arrest Senator Antonio Trillanes IV issued Tuesday (September 25) and the reported surrender of the senator to the police.
The order merely recited the motion and allegation of the Department of Justice: President Duterte's proclamation voiding the amnesty granted to Trillanes and thus the revival of the charge of rebellion against him.
Everything's revived, including the original P200,000 bail fixed by the court. No increase, given the new set of fines and bail amounts and, ha ha, the record-high inflation.
Trillanes reportedly was calm in yielding to police. Might he even be enjoying the public attention that may shift to him again?
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Speculations
A number of speculations have circulated since the first signs were sighted in the last May barangay elections, when Representative Jonas Cortes fielded his own bets against Mandaue City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing's candidates:
[1] Jonas seems not to have fitted into the work of a legislator. He has barely finished his first term as congressman and already he's itching to return to City Hall, where he must be more effective and comfortable. Almost unheard from since June 20, 2016, he has also failed to chalk up noticeable accomplishments as lawmaker: no big-ticket project and no law yet on the conversion of the city into a lone congressional district.
[2] The arrangement between Jonas and Luigi was allegedly only for one term. From the start, Cortes never intended to stay in the House beyond one term. He must have just wanted to break the term limit, reached after his consecutive stints in 2007, 2010 and 2013, ending in 2016. According to a version of the "deal," Luigi himself didn't commit to it; his grandfather NQ reportedly did. But Jonas trusted it as the word of the Quisumbing camp.
[3] Luigi was starting to look into alleged questionable transactions made during Jonas's term, including the sale of valuable city-owned lots to private persons, one of which was already publicized as a would-be ombudsman case (the plan to file was reported but the public still has to hear about the actual filing).
[4] The rumor that Luigi had a falling out with one or two members of the Quisumbing family. Jonas might have seen that as a crack on the political armor of the clan, which he could exploit by running against Luigi.
Whatever the truth of the speculations, the apparent effect was that both camps are now getting ready for a bruising match next year.
Mandauehanons, the Luigi camp says, have been able to compare the two leaders' style and substance of governance during Jonas's nine years and Luigi's less than three years at City Hall.
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Duterte drop in ratings
Does the 13-point drop of approval rating and the 15-point drop of Duterte's trust rating, both from the June 2018 numbers, mean anything? The plunge occurred in all geographic areas and economic classes, with the biggest drops in Luzon and class D.
The latest Pulse Asia survey covered the period from September 1 to 7, the week when the government announced the 6.4 percent record-high inflation in August and the proclamation voiding president Noynoy Aquino's amnesty of Trillanes.
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