A mountain out
of a mole hill

Was it just personal belief or because the law specifically mentioned that the operation of a city’s charter depends on the compliance with the transitory provision attached to it?

The cases of Cebu City and Iloilo City may have been just the personal interpretation by the city authorities, but the case of Bacolod, it is enshrined in a law authored by the late Rep. Romeo Guanzon and signed into law by former President Fidel V. Ramos.

This is quite a lot of difference; the law specifically defines the date of the city charter of Bacolod as in October.

That’s the law. In short, can it be changed unilaterally by an ordinance of the City even if voted for by all the city councilors?

No, according to the legal opinion of Michael Aguinaldo, assistant legal head of the Malacañang office.

His message was very clear. No local ordinance, executive order or even a presidential decree can alter a law unless it is done by another law.

Just as simple as that. Even a leaked story about an approval letter from Malacañang cannot contravene a well-researched legal opinion. It’s as simple as that.

Even several pages of advertisements bearing the name of the President and his signature cannot alter the law. It’s as simple as that

Now, I keep my pen silent.

***

By now, the NBI must have gathered enough evidence to once and for all settle the issue of who among the family of Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez may be linked to the assassination of the late Regional Trial Court Judge Henry Arles of Kabankalan City.

If, as claimed by NBI Bacolod Chief Ferdinand Lavin, the names of linked to four other families had been considered suspects, it was premature for him to reveal that it was a relative of Alvarez whom they have tagged as a possible mastermind for the killing.

Of course, that merited the headlines. But that still is not solid enough to warrant for mentioned without first producing the evidences that the NBI already had on their suspect.

As earlier pointed out by Lim-ao, he does not even know Arles although he admitted having given P1-million of his countryside development funds for the rehabilitation of Arles’ sala.

In short, Lavin must have strong reasons for him to link the Alvarez relation to the assassination of the well-loved RTC judge.

Now, he is caught in the vise. He should be able to explain to the public what were the things they had unearthed that could, to a certain extent, justify linking Alvarez kin to the killing of Arles.

It certainly is unfair for Lavin to have linked the family of the Vice Governor to the killing without explaining how that could have happened.

So, what are the circumstances that threw suspicious on the Alvarez relative, Mr. Lavin?

***

The “disappearance” of Al Arabiya news correspondent Baker Aytani has created major future not only Jolo, Sulu, but also the entire country.

The issue boils down to just one thing – Aryani had made a commitment that he will not go outside Jolo but left the capitol with his two Filipino cameramen.

But even President Benigno Aquino merely said that Aytani should be questioned on how he violated his being here as guest of the country.

Aytani, incidentally, was last seen interviewing Jolo’s governor at the airport before he disappeared from the Jolo capital the next day aboard a white tricycle with his two companions.

Now, the whole thing has been blown to major proportions because Aytani has not yet re-appeared and nothing has been heard from him.

Simple. The motivation seems to be to interview the Abu Sayyaf key officials for a documentary.

There were those who had come out with conspiracy theories about his having brought with him logistics for the Islamic group. Very far-fetched. He could not have brought with large sums of money without having been detected by the authorities. Besides there a many means why funds are transmitted from abroad to local recipients.

Actually, it was only Justice Secretary Leila de Lima who cautioned the government erring making any conclusions about the purported dies of Aytani to the terrorist groups.

I think we should not rush to prejudgment and jump to conclusion without determining what exactly happened. We should know what exactly is the agenda of a journalist other than this work.

So, I guess we are making a mountain out of a mole hill.*

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