The Hague: The Only Way Forward

LOOK at the stark reality captured in this image by Diumano. 

The words of Marissa Lazaro, a grieving mother of a drug war victim, cut straight through the political noise: "Hindi lahat ng biktima ng war on drugs ay mga adik. At kahit mga adik, hindi naman tama na patayin na lang sila."

That simple, devastating statement dismantles the entire barbaric premise of the past administration's flagship campaign.

The state was never given the mandate to act as judge, jury, and executioner in our streets. Yet, thousands were slaughtered under the tired, bullet-riddled excuse of "nanlaban."

For years, the enablers of this bloody era hid behind the banner of national sovereignty, insisting that any investigation should be handled exclusively by Philippine courts.

Let’s stop kidding ourselves.

The reason Rodrigo Duterte is facing trial at the International Criminal Court is fundamentally simple: our domestic justice system was, and in many ways still is, severely compromised.

The political machinery that enabled the extrajudicial killings still holds tremendous sway over the local judiciary. If you want definitive proof of this terrifying influence, look at the recent timeline.

A church-led Truth Commission was formed only after Duterte was finally in ICC custody. 

Think about what that means. It exposes the harsh truth of his enduring grip on our institutions. Even years after these crimes against humanity were committed, our local courts and agencies were too paralyzed by patronage, intimidation, and political debt to hold him accountable on their own.

You cannot expect impartial justice in a house where the accused's machinery still controls the levers of power.

When domestic remedies fail, international intervention isn't a breach of sovereignty — it is the absolute last resort for the victims.

This is why it is ironic that the architects of this so-called war on drugs are now clamoring for "due process." It is a right the Republic now affords them — a right they ruthlessly denied others when they were in power.

The Hague is the only viable path left.

The 0.97% Optics

CAGAYAN de Oro City ground to a halt yesterday.

If you were stuck in the humongous traffic gridlock that choked the city's thoroughfares, you have City Hall's weekly "People's Day" to thank.

Let's look at the numbers vis-a-vis efficiency in our city government's public service. City Hall proudly touts that 7,193 residents received dole-outs — five kilos of rice, medical consultations, and financial aid.

In a vacuum, 7,193 sounds like a formidable achievement in public service.

But do the math. Cagayan de Oro's official population now stands at 741,617, based on the 2024 PopCen. Those 7,193 beneficiaries represent exactly 0.97 percent of the city.

Given the massive gridlock it created yesterday, that is a mere drop in the bucket. We paralyzed the economic mobility of the remaining 99.03% of Kagay-anons to serve less than one percent.

How much business and productivity was lost yesterday? Every delayed, every employee late to work, and every commercial transaction stalled represents a tangible economic hemorrhage for the city.

When the logistics of a weekly dole-out disrupt the daily engine of a highly urbanized city, we have to question the administration's definition of "public service."

Under Commission on Audit (COA) Circular No. 2012-003, state auditors are tasked to disallow "irregular, unnecessary, excessive, extravagant, and unconscionable" (IUEEU) expenditures. Add to that COA's Value-for-Money (VFM) audits, which measure government programs against three absolute metrics: economy, efficiency, and effectiveness.

When you factor in the massive procurement of dole-out goods, the unquantified economic damage of manufactured traffic jams, and the diversion of salaried City Hall personnel from their mandated desks. One Facebook post even shows a WASAR unit holding back the crowd. 

This leaves critical functions like tax collection, civil registry processing, and essential Frontline services stalled while they play glorified relief workers. Assessed against these metrics, "People's Day" fails the VFM test spectacularly.

Spending highly localized resources in a way that paralyzes the broader city economy is the textbook definition of an unnecessary expense — one that, in COA's own words, "cannot pass the test of prudence" and shows "non-responsivenes to the exigencies of the service."

A 0.97% reach at the expense of citywide paralysis fails the efficiency test.

True governance isn't about setting up tents to manufacture long lines of dependent constituents for the cameras.

It is about creating systems that deliver public services seamlessly, without shutting down the local economy.

If City Hall genuinely wants to bring the government closer to the people, it should decentralize these services efficiently at the barangay level. Whatever happened to the different departments of City Hall? What is the purpose of the bureaucracy if its managers are micromanaging "public service?"

A weekly political circus is no substitute for a working local government bureaucracy. Governance by spectacle is just bad math, and the rest of us Kagay-anons are footing the bill.

The 'Klarex' merch drop

WELCOME to Cagayan de Oro City, no longer a local government unit but an exclusive streetwear brand, with Mayor Rolando Uy acting as the lead designer.

It seems he isn't just running a city; he's managing a flagship store.

Every waiting shed, basketball court backboards, relief pack, public service vehicle, and stray hollow block is now a canvas for that signature neon green cursive. 

You’d think City Hall was a marketing agency trying to win a billboard award.

It’s gotten so out of hand that even the Commission on Audit (COA) was forced to act as unwilling fashion critics. In their 2024 annual audit report, COA flagged this aggressive branding a staggering 13 times.

You know your ego has outpaced your governance when state auditors are spending their time counting your autographs instead of just the receipts.

And speaking of receipts, the Department of the Interior and Local Government is currently demanding answers about a heavily delayed P250-million fund downloaded from the Department of Budget Management.

What exactly is the holdup? Are we sitting on a quarter of a billion pesos because City Hall hasn't figured out how to print that green cursive directly onto the cash yet? Why rush massive public funds when the sticker designs for the rollout haven't been finalized?

Photo from City Information Office's official Facebook account

Sabon panglaba ka ba nga kinahanglan dili malupigan ni Brand X? Pagbaton pud og kaulaw, uy!

Let’s clear up the confusion: this is public administration, not a detergent war where you need to aggressively out-market Ariel or Tide at the sari-sari store. Public service is supposed to be about the people, not a city-wide personal calligraphy exhibit.

Let’s remind ourselves of the actual sponsor here: Kwarta sa mga Kagay-anon ang gipangtatakan sa berde nga logo.

Taxpayers are funding city infrastructure, not a 'Klarex' sponsorship deal. It is the political equivalent of buying a gift with your own money, wrapping it yourself, and watching someone else aggressively sign the gift tag in permanent marker.

Public service speaks for itself; it doesn't need a watermark.

If the urge to brand everything is truly that uncontrollable, we might as well just start tattooing that green cursive directly on the taxpayers' foreheads.

At least then the merch would accurately reflect who actually footed the bill. Pfft.