Forthwith

I asked Google to define “forthwith”: forth·with (especially in official use) immediately; without delay. Similar: at once; instantly; right away; now.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Adolf Azcuna said he was the one who drafted Art. XI of the Constitution in the Constitutional Commission... “I also wrote the procedural section including the word ‘forthwith’... and it is precisely meant to mean immediately and without unreasonable delay, or in the national language official version, ‘agad-agad.’”

But Senate President Chiz continued to pretend his understanding of “forthwith” does not mean immediately or right away.

“Kung ang intention ‘nyo po ay ‘yan talaga, sana sinulat ‘nyo po ‘yan sa Constitution. Pati ang paggamit ng salitang ‘forthwith,’ sana ginamit ‘nyo na ‘immediately.’”
Hay naku, Chiz… Peyups ka pa naman from grade school to college, hindi mo alam ang meaning ng ‘forthwith’ ay ‘immediately’? Besides, the official national language version of the Constitution uses the word ‘agad-agad.’ Surely, you must know what that means.

Chiz is obviously feigning ignorance with the intention of manipulating the situation to favor VP Sara. He used “forthwith” in a press statement last year when he admitted a protocol license plate issued to his office was attached to the sport utility vehicle that sped away after it was flagged down by traffic enforcers for illegally using the EDSA Busway.

“I do not personally use the protocol license plates issued to me and forthwith, the protocol plates involved in the incident will be surrendered to the LTO,” Escudero said in a statement.

Personally, I wouldn’t use the word ‘forthwith’ instead of ‘immediately.’ But Escudero and Azcuna are both lawyers, and lawyers are fond of using archaic words instead of easy-to-understand everyday words.

Next time we write a Constitution, have a seasoned copy editor from one of the dailies go through the text and edit it to avoid words that may not be easily understood or may be interpreted in a number of ways. If Azcuna wrote ‘immediately’ instead of ‘forthwith,’ walang kawala!

Yun lang, for sure Chiz will think of another excuse.
I am not expecting the Senate to convict VP Sara. But the trial is important because impeachment will allow the opening of her bank account at the BPI branch on Julia Vargas in Pasig.

Journalist Ellen Tordesillas of Vera Files was able to confirm that the Duterte account is still active. Here is Ellen’s story:

“Last Monday, June 2, I went to a BPI branch and deposited P100 (not P500 as my friend did on April 28, 2016, to disprove Duterte’s claim that the account was non-existent). It was accepted.”

Attempts to have the accounts publicly opened in the past have been frustrated by then-president Duterte.
There is the possibility of relevant information in the more than 40 pages of BPI bank documents that Sen. Antonio Trillanes somehow managed to obtain.

Trillanes submitted the documents to the Senate and the Ombudsman.

An Ombudsman official has said the Trillanes documents are more or less similar to what the Anti-Money Laundering Council submitted to the Ombudsman.

However, the Ombudsman appointed by Duterte terminated the investigation into the plunder case Trillanes filed against Duterte and Sara based on the bank accounts. The amounts of the transactions, if true, are not reflected in the SALN, as required by law.

Having an impeachment trial is our only chance to open that account and find out the truth.

VP Sara will be tried in two courts: the Senate and the court of public opinion. The Senators may well vote to declare the VP not guilty, but the public will have seen and heard the evidence, and we can make conclusions for ourselves.

And the public overwhelmingly wants a trial. The Tugon ng Masa survey by Octa Research indicates 78 percent want VP Sara to face a Senate impeachment trial. SWS, on the other hand, in another survey, found 88 percent want VP Sara to address the impeachment charges.

Denying us this opportunity to know the truth, as Chiz is trying to maneuver, is a travesty. Chiz is guilty of trying to subvert the intention of the Constitution and the desire of the public for public officials to be always accountable.

Antibiotic

There is an issue I caught on CNN that has national security implications, but most of us, including our leaders, are oblivious to it.

China is making 80 percent of the world’s raw materials for amoxicillin, the most widely prescribed antibiotic used by tens of millions of people every year to treat bacterial infections, including pneumonia and strep throat.
CNN reports that it is the most prescribed antibiotic in the United States, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is also the most widely used antibiotic here in the Philippines. I have used that antibiotic a number of times.

Yet, CNN reports, it isn’t exactly common knowledge that amoxicillin, a relative of penicillin, has been in chronic short supply… It’s a clear example of just how vulnerable the world could be to potential Chinese political or economic whims.

With the ongoing trade war between Trump and China, the lengthy amoxicillin supply chain could be interrupted by China with catastrophic consequences. That leaves the world vulnerable to a bacterial epidemic.

Aside from amoxicillin, China also controls hydrocortisone (the active ingredient in anti-itch cream), ibuprofen (found in common over-the-counter pain relievers) and acetaminophen (in other kinds of pain relievers).

China is already limiting the export of rare earths as leverage in this trade war. If they include prescription drugs, we could be included in a potential blacklist due to our close alliance with the US.

Congress should call for a hearing to find out how prepared we are to deal with China’s monopoly of critical pharmaceutical products. There is an apparent need to support local production of important medications before an epidemic requiring such products erupts.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X @boochanco