THREE big traditions that President-elect Duterte will break in his inauguration and what they may tell:
>>> Joint inauguration of president and vice president -- By insisting on separate ceremonies, his administration doesn’t seem to care that a joint inaugural symbolizes continuity and peaceful transition and unity, especially that he and Leni Robredo belong to different parties.
>>> Limited audience during oath-taking of the president -- While the purpose is supposedly to scrimp on expenses and emphasize simplicity, the inauguration in Malacañang and not at the Luneta where the public can witness and join will effectively shut out the “masa” that helped put him in office.
>>> Being sworn in by an associate justice, his fraternity brother, not the Supreme Court chief -- President Aquino started it but the incoming president skips the opportunity of resuming the great tradition of the chief executive pledging to defend the Constitution before the highest court official, a demonstration of willingness by both the executive and the judiciary to perform their respective roles in a democracy. Fraternity ties prevail instead.
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Isidoro in spotlight
IF YOU REMEMBER...
AUGUSTO Eric Isidoro-- who’s being tagged a spinner of conspiracy theories because of his accusation that police killed Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz, suspected top drug lord in Cebu, to silence him--shone during his assignment with the Visayas regional office.
His high-profile cases included:
-- the filing of administrative charges in June 2015 against three cops, including a chief inspector, for the death of 11-year-old street-child Chastity; the high police officer was impleaded because he allegedly instructed a witness to lie for his men;
-- the filing of charges in May 2016 against an immigration officer who refused to take custody of two arrested Koreans; the BI officer was suspended for three months for simple misconduct;
-- the arrest in May 2015 of 60 foreign nationals who worked in a Cebu City call center.
Apparently, Isidoro wasn’t the type who would shun potentially controversial cases. From Mindanao, he has waded into the Jaquar uproar in Cebu.
[bzzzzz@sunstar.com.ph or paseares@gmail.com]