Saturday, June 24, 2017

Trillanes BBC interview hindi pa malala ang Druga sa pilipinas!



Isang foreign media ang ang interview sa magiting na senador Trillanes at pinamagatang HardTalk.
Si Trillanes ay masugid na kumakalaban sa administrationg Duterte kung saan ang butihing President Duterte ay pinupoksa talaga ang Ilegal na Droga sa Pilipinas. subalit sa sagot ng atong senador Trillanes "our Drug Problem is not as Bad as it seems". hindi pa pala malubha ang droga sa pilipinas. Anu sa tingin niyo? Tama ba ang butihing senador sa sagot niya?

at sa kalagitnaan ng interview ay parang na supalpal si Trillanes ng report ng BBC nang sabihin nito na out of tune and not reflective of the times ang ating senador Trillanes.



During the Interview


BBC journalist Stephen Sackur grilled Senator Antonio Trillanes in his own program 'HardTALK' while the latter hardly tried to discredit President Rodrigo Duterte and made him looked so bad in the international scene.

Sackur seems not convinced to what the senator said against Duterte, noting that the President has a high approval trust ratings and majority of the Filipino people elected him because they wanted a tough guy who could impose order on  the Philippines.





The veteran journalist said that the economy of the Philippines is dramatically increasing which in the west would be regarded as a wonderful achievement despite the declaration of Martial Law.

Read the full transcript of the interview below:

BBC: Antonio Trillanes in Manila, welcome to  HARDtalk.

Trillanes: Hello, Stephen. Thank you very much for inviting me. 

BBC: We speak  at a difficult time for your country. In Mindanao in the south of  the Philippines that you have a national emergency with a town that  for weeks has faced a siege because it has been, in essence, taken over  by jihadist gunman. The president says this is a national emergency  and it is time for the country to unify. Do you agree?

Trillanes: I agree that  what is happening in Marawi is a national crisis and something that  we should deal with decisively. I feel that the armed forces,  historically, have faced more difficult challenges before and they  can overcome this challenge once again and I have no doubt that the  armed Forces of the Philippines will subdue the Maute group.

BBC: A few days  ago, the Finance Minister made it clear point of associating the  Maute, associating them with drug crime. He said there is no doubt  that much of the money they make and the way they operate comes from  their involvement in organised drug trafficking. Do you agree with that?

Trillanes: That is probably the case that the question is, for the past year that  they unleashed this deadly war on drugs, how come they did not touch  these suspected drug lords who are supporting Maute?

BBC: The Finance  Minister said it is time for the country to support a president who  wants to see a Philippines where obedience to the law is not  optional. He has imposed martial law in the area around Marawi and there  is talk he may extend the area under martial law. You have called this a national crisis. I wonder if you support him at this time of crisis?

Trillanes: We support the claim that what is happening in Marawi is a national  crisis in terms of the ridge of the Maute um they can wreck havoc in the  country in terms of activities that may be deadly to the Filipino  public. In addressing this threat of terrorism, martial law is not the  cure. Because it will affect the way of life of the Filipino and at the  same time it will affect negatively the economy of our country. My  prescription was to enhance the capability of intelligence community  in our law enforcement agencies so that we can accurately pinpoint the  terrorist cells without affecting the way of life of the public.

BBC: Isn't  the truth that the Filipino public elected Rodrigo Duterte to the  presidency because they wanted a tough guy who could impose order on  the Philippines. If one looks back at the situation where he took over,  that Philippine drug enforcement agency stated last year that 92% of  districts in Manila, for example, were affected by drugs. The  overwhelming drug of choice being crystal meth. Your country was in a  parlous state and drugs crime was at the centre of it and that is we do  Jetset was voted in, to deal with it. -- that is why Rodrigo Duterte  was voted in.

Trillanes: 98% of the districts in Manila but in the entire country,  only 27% of the districts are influenced by the use of drugs. For  National statistics, we only have 1.8% of the population that has used  illegal drugs. Most of it marijuana, compared to the global average of 5%  of the population. In effect, in fact our drug problem is not as bad  as it seems. We agree that it should be addressed but it is not the  primary or only problem in our country.

BBC: Are you a democrat Senator Trillanes?

Trillanes: And yes. I am from the nationalist party...

BBC: I meant in  terms of commitment to democracy. It seems to me fairly clearly that  Rodrigo Duterte was straightforward with the public. His platform was  quite clear. I will give you one quote from his campaign. He said  forget the laws on human right is. If I make it to the presidential  palace um I will do what I did as mayor. You do nothings, drug pushers  and hold-up men had better get out because I will kill you. I will dump  you into Manila Bay and I will fatten the fish with your body is. That was his platform and he won a clear victory.

Trillanes: Yes, but during the campaign  the public just thought that that was just rhetoric to make the  campaign speech more dramatic. And we have set of laws. It does not mean that  he said that during campaign and he was voted into office does the same, it does not give him licence to kill our own people. He should still be  made accountable for his actions outside the law.

BBC: Do you think is war  on drugs is working?

Trillanes: Definitely not. As I mentioned, only the poor people  and suspect did users and pushers are being killed. The running total  of list would be over 9000 already. He has yet to touch the big-time drug lords who are already mentioned in the list of law enforcement  agencies. 

BBC: It is not easy for me to judge but looking at comments made by  people in Manila to news agencies, they say things like the streets are safer now. Here in the Philippines we needed a ruler with an iron fist.  These are quotes from the general public. That seems to be the general  mood, that ratings for Rodrigo Duterte remain high with a 75%  approval rating. I'm just wondering whether your comments, constantly negative,  are out of tune with ordinary Filipino opinion? 

Trillanes: The numbers that  you mention are the latest numbers from back in March. But if you look  at where those numbers were when he assumed office, it went as dropped by 17 percentage points.

BBC: Believe me, Senator... If a Western politician had a 75% approval  rating, they would regard that as the best day of their life.

Trillanes: The bulk  of the Filipino public are not really aware of what is happening on  the ground. They encounter the propaganda machine of the  administration is effective and the bulk of the Filipino public are  living day-to-day and they do not really get to know the magnitude of  the damage that Rodrigo Duterte has done that it is why historically in  the Philippines, the popularity ratings go down as the information is spread to the public. I believe the numbers will continue to drop as they know more and more about the real situation.

BBC: Talking about the  real situation, you personally seemed very committed to trying to  bring legal action against President Duterte and for his past actions,  particularly going back to his long-time as mere of Davao in  Mindanao.  Are you still offering your help to an individual who works  in the so-called death squads that were operated in Davao during the  time of the now president's running of the city. There is some confusion  about whether you personally have intervened to safeguard Batman. What  is the situation?

Trillanes: I assisted him when he appeared in the Senate. We  provided security for him while he was there, while he was testifying.  But when the State filed cases against him and now he is  technically a fugitive, I personally do not know his whereabouts. We already have a witness that would testify.

BBC: You made great play of his  testimony and we should remember it was very dramatic. Back in April, I think he testified that he heard Rodrigo Duterte say... And he was talking of drugs criminal suspects... Throw them in the ocean or the quarry.  Make sure there are no traces of the body. There is one particular story  where he claimed that Rodrigo Duterte had signed off on the murder  of the pregnant wife and four-year-old child of one  particular drug crime suspect. Do you really believe this testimony nd do you believe that adds up to something that should lead to  legal action against Mr. Duterte, now that he is president?

Trillanes: Most definitely. I believe his testimony and even the State believe him enough that they used the testimony in the Senate to file cases against him.

BBC: Perhaps it is in the witness's interests now to blame  Rodrigo Duterte said now for actions he himself took. The man is a  self-confessed murderer many times over. It seems odd to me that you  would put so much faith in a self acknowledged mass-murderer.

Trillanes: The  testimony that pinned down Mr. Lascanas was about the murder of a journalist  in the Philippians. He has no interest whatsoever in the  journalist, even in his testimony he was just part of the planners. He  was not even the key man in that murder. And the whole country sought  access to many and it is not only my own judgement that we believe, a  great number of people believe him as well.

BBC: Duterte has said many different  things at many different times and one called compare him in that way  in which he is difficult to pin down to, you know, other prominent  politicians of our time to use Twitter to send different messages  at different times. The point about Rodrigo Duterte is that in May 2015,  for example, he said "Am I the death squad? It is true. That is true." He  has put his own record in front of the Filipino public, even to the  point of this disgusting associations with does squad in the  Filipino public decided this was the man to clean up the country. In  political terms it seems to me you are bashing your head against a  brick wall.

Trillanes: I am not about to give up on this, even on the Filipino. It  will take some time because the propaganda of the presidential  administration is getting in the way of the flow of truth to the public. It will take some time but his numbers continue to drop and I am  quite confident that towards the end his numbers will be way below.

BBC: I asked the earlier if you were a Democrat and you feel you are. Let's  look at your track record. You twice tried to mount coups against an  elected Filipino president, in that case it was back in 2003 you had an  abortive coup attempt which had, well, let's face it, let's face it,  only a day, and even more pathetically you made another  attempt to get her out in 2007 and you ended up in prison for the best  part or seven years. Are you thinking that a coup is a legitimate  response again to the Philippine's current political situation?

Trillanes: Definitely not. I believe we have enough remedies for a problem like  Duterte. But, let me just go back to that premise, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo  assumed power back in 2001 through a coup. They tried to cover it up with  some semblance of constitutionality, but we know for a fact that she assumed power, she assumed office via a coup. Now, in Duterte's case,  we have, as I mentioned, legal remedies within the Constitution and  even part of the international laws like the ICC, that we can resort to  to resolve or rectify this anomaly that is Duterte.

BBC: OK, so, you say no  coup on this occasion will use the law, you have been involved in the filing of an infringement complaint, that was rejected by the justice  committee at the House of Representatives, so it appears to be  going nowhere, and you have been involved in the courts have the  International Criminal Court in the Hague examine whether Mr Duterte has  crimes against humanity. There is absolutely no indication I can see  that the ICC is prepared to pick up the case, so I don't know where your  faith in the law, national and international, is taking you.

Trillanes: I am  quite confident that the ICC would take up the case because it falls  right at the centre of the essence of the ICC and probably in a few  months we will see some developments. Now, as far as the  impeachment is concerned, next year we can also again file an  impeachment case against Mr Duterte if we still have a democracy by  then. I believe Duterte at some point will install a revolutionary  government via martial law because that's the only way... That is the  only kind of governance that he knows. As you mentioned, he ruled  like a tyrant, like a whimsical king, so that's the world that he  lives in. That's why he can't deal with active members of the  opposition. He cannot deal with the objective media, both local and  foreign media.

BBC: Do you feel safe, Mr Trillanes, saying these things,  given what you say about Mr Duterte's style and character?

Trillanes: Well,  there are things that one must do as a public servant and this is not the  first time that I went up against a sitting president, a sitting vice  president and a very powerful Senate President, so I believe I am just  being consistent regardless of the dangers that I could probably face.

BBC: Well, yeah, you spent seven years in prison. Are you thinking you  might spending a few more years in prison before too long? 

Trillanes: Probably, the minions of Duterte has been trying to fabricate cases against me but so  far nothing has worked.

BBC: You are talking to me from Manila and there  is no doubt that in some ways Duterte represents a movement in the  Philippines to change the way politics works. He has talked about  Imperial Manila. He says the country has never been governed by people  who really have the best interests of the poor and the disadvantaged at  heart and, in particular, he says the country has never been governed  before by someone from Minder now who is not obsessed with looking  after the elite and the oligarchs based in Manila. He has a point,  doesn't he? He is committed to a radical poverty elimination  programme which will raise the poorest Filipinos, particularly in  the neglected areas in the south of the country. And that  appeals to many people. 

Trillanes: That is the campaign rhetoric but one year from  his collection into office up to this point he has yet to actually  come up with an economic programme for the poor. And, in fact, he has  been killing them. So he can never say that he feels for them and that  he wants them to succeed. And even Duterte himself admits that he  doesn't know anything about the economy and his economic managers  have come up with this ambitious economic programme that is hinged on  a tax reform programme that is basically inflationary and therefore  anti- poor. So, more or less, we know the situation here in the  Philippines, that the tide is changing. And I feel it. Even though  I am very vocal against Duterte, I don't even fear for my safety as far  as the ordinary Filipinos are concerned. A lot of them are  starting to agree with what we have been saying. 

BBC: OK, but look, the  country is growing at pretty much 7% a year, which in the west would be regarded as a wonderful achievement. The World Bank says it expects that  growth curve to continue at least through 2019. Mr Duterte's done  deals with Chinese investors which suggests $15 billion worth of  Chinese investment is coming into your country. He has been crowing  about the way in which, by realigning the Philippines in terms  of its diplomacy and outreach, it is now great friends with China, with  Russia and still has, of course, the security relationship with the United States. In a way, Duterte -ism appears to be working for the  Philippines.

Trillanes: Well, on paper, as I mentioned, it may appear so. But let  me just talk about the much hyped 15 billion or 24 billion deal with  China. It is basically official development assistance. It is a loan  that is again hinged on the passage of the tax reform plan, the tax  reform Bill that the economic managers of Duterte are pushing. We  in the Senate do not have any plan of passing it because it is, again, inflationary and anti- poor. So we cannot afford to give additional  burden to the public and the public appreciates that.

BBC: Yeah, what you  didn't address was my point about these economic successes. You have a  7% growth rate which is going to continue. Just as a final point, I  put it to you that for all of your fears of what Duterte mean for the  Philippines, right now, viewed by many ordinary Filipinos, this guy is doing a decent job.

Trillanes: Well, that will change. As I mentioned, once more  information will reach the ordinary Filipinos, they will change that  impression about Duterte. I have seen it before. It may take a little  while but it does happen. Now, regarding the 7% GDP, well, it is  happening despite Duterte. It is fuelled mostly by the remittances  from overseas Filipino workers. That has been the case all these years,  at least the last decade. So he cannot solely take credit for  anything at this point in time. And, in fact, he promised to restore law  and order but the Philippines is now more chaotic today than when he  first entered into office. That is a fact.

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