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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1046909/duterte-fires-all-customs-execs-amid-shabu-scandal |
“I am ordering the freezing of all, all section, department units of the Bureau of Customs out,” Duterte said in a speech during the anniversary of the Philippine Coast Guard in Manila.
“Out lahat. To the last man, out. The commissioners are out, the department heads, out,” he added.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1046879/lapena-out-of-customs |
Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña will be the next Director-General of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Thursday.
“Si General Lapeña will move to Tesda. I will promote you to a Cabinet member position,” Duterte said in a speech during the anniversary of the Philippine Coast Guard.
Lapeña has been under heavy criticisms because of the P11-billion worth of shabu that was allegedly smuggled inside the country in August. However, Malacañang said Lapeña still has the “full trust and confidence” of the President.
All customs men are out. Except for the head of customs. He has been recycled to a new department in the cabinet and still has the "full trust and confidence of the President"!!
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/10/25/1863122/ombudsman-suspends-malay-mayor-over-boracays-environmental-woes |
The Department of Interior and Local Government on Thursday said that the Office of the Ombudsman has suspended Malay Mayor Ciceron Cawaling for supposed neglect of duty that led to Boracay Island’s environmental crisis.
Shouldn't this have been done months ago?
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1047110/duterte-wants-to-spare-lapena-from-intrigue-panelo |
President Rodrigo Duterte transferred Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) to spare him from intrigue, Malacañang said Friday.
Not only does this not make sense but it's too late! The very fact of his transfer is an intrigue.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/10/26/1863327/enrile-apologizes-martial-law-victims-blames-unlucid-intervals |
Former Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile has apologized to victims of atrocities during the dark days of martial law and attributed to “unlucid intervals” his controversial disclaimer of arrests and killings of suspected dissidents in his recent interview with the son and namesake of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
“I’m sorry for (human rights violations), if I have to apologize, but that was our perception: it was not an intention to harm anybody but to protect society. You are unleashing a system of government control over the society that needs to be firmly established so that you avoid violence,” Enrile told “The Chiefs” on Cignal TV’s One News on Wednesday night, referring to Marcos’ imposition of martial law on Sept. 21, 1972.
“If there were people who were hurt because I could not control all the people, I recognize that there were people who were aberrant and who could not be – who abused their power, and I tried to minimize it as much as I could, as a single person,” he said, referring to his former role as martial law administrator.
Enrile’s acknowledgment of the deaths and disappearances came weeks after his interview with former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. – where he denied there were arrests and extrajudicial killings during the martial law regime – was met with outrage by human rights groups and families of victims.
The 23-minute tête-à-tête titled “Enrile: A witness to history” was released on Marcos’ Facebook account on the eve of the 46th anniversary of the declaration of martial law last month. Critics slammed the interview as an attempt at historical revisionism.
Enrile said it was the younger Marcos who asked him to grant the interview “to document the achievements of the father.”
When pressed to clarify his challenge during the interview to critics to name anyone who was executed during martial law, he said, “Well, if I said that, it must have been in my unlucid interval.”Old man running for the Senate admits he is not all there and he is responsible for martial law atrocities. Complete control over society to avoid violence? Who in their right mind would vote for this man?
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/10/26/1863261/military-blew-chance-true-change-philippines-duterte |
The military may have blown its chances of initiating real change in the country when it returned power to politicians after helping oust unpopular administrations, President Duterte said on Wednesday.
“Kayo rin ang may kasalanan niyan (It’s your fault). You have had your chance to really change the country but you did not,” the President said in a speech at the awarding ceremonies for artists at Malacañang.
“You in the military, listen to this. You have maybe staged so many coup d’états, mutiny and everything. The problem with you is, every time there’s a successful revolution, you returned power to the people. Power emanates from the people, remember, not to the few,” he said, apparently referring to the February 1986 EDSA Revolution that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos and the so-called EDSA 2 in 2001 that forced president Joseph Estrada to step down. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) played a key role in both civilian-led uprisings.
He said the country’s politicians were backers of oligarchs or were themselves the “rich people who… were able to maintain their alliances with government to milk more money.”
“So next time if you want a revolutionary government or if you want… Sleep on it, think about it, and not just surrender and salute whoever you want to salute,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Why is Duterte even talking about this at the National Artist awards ceremony? It's totally off topic. It's also completely bonkers. What is he even saying? That there should be a military junta? That the people should actually be the rulers and that there should be no form of representative government like an absolute democracy? That would be chaos. Duterte must be unaware that so-called democracy always reverts to oligarchy. It is always the rule by a few even in a representative government.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1047044/court-clears-daughter-of-convicted-drug-queen |
In his ruling, presiding Judge Daniel C. Villanueva of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 49 said that the search warrant used by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) agents to search Uy’s house on Nov. 6, 2017 was “invalid for lack of probable cause.”
He also said that the P10 million worth of “shabu” or crystal meth seized from the accused’s house on Gen. Solano Street in San Miguel, Manila —just 600 meters away from Malacañang Palace—was “inadmissible as evidence” because it was “planted.”
According to Villanueva, he found “strong compelling evidence” to conclude that “the closed-circuit television cameras inside Uy’s house were tampered with and the alleged discovered contraband was planted by said agents.”
He said that based on the same evidence, “no real, thorough search was conducted” and the operation was done without the presence of the accused or independent witnesses.
Villanueva also concluded that the drug-sniffing dogs used by the PDEA agents failed to detect any narcotics during the raid and the “seized contraband” might not have been real drugs.
He also noted that one of the agents took a P500,000 bribe from the accused.
“Whereas, in view of all the foregoing, it having been found and declared that the search warrant was invalid for lack of probable cause, and that all of the alleged contraband are inadmissible as evidence, and for lack of merit of the evidence in chief, and on the ground of reasonable doubt, the court hereby acquits the accused…,” Villanueva said.These are damning charges against the PDEA. Here is their response:
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1047241/pdea-no-planting-of-evidence-in-2017-arrest-of-yu-yuk-lai-daughter |
“PDEA never planted drugs or evidence against anyone. It is never a practice in the agency,” Aquino said in a statement. “PDEA strongly disagrees with the decision and condemns the same.”
Aquino also denied Uy’s claim that one of the agents asked her to name another big-time drug dealer, an alleged practice known as “palit ulo,” or pay P5 million to cancel the raid.
According to Uy, the amount was even lowered to P3 million, but she only had P500,000 in her vault that time. Uy said the raid still pushed through despite the agents taking all her money.
Aquino stressed that they will file a petition against the court ruling and is now evaluating available pieces of evidence against Uy.
He lamented that the decision is “more like a pleading arguing in favor to the accused” instead of a ruling that resulted from a “fair, impartial, and careful trial and deliberation.”
Aquino, likewise, said that what bothers the PDEA most is that the ruling had no factual and legal basis.
Aquino also questioned the timing of the decision, as he said that the supposed date of its issuance was originally set for a hearing on the continuation of the presentation of additional or rebuttal evidence for Uy’s prosecution.
He said PDEA is looking at chasing the responsible government officials that led to the “premature and hasty” decision on Uy’s case.
“The agency will not take this absurdity sitting down,” Aquino said.
The PDEA is calling the judge a liar. Someone is definitely lying.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1047265/drug-sting-nets-ex-army-sergeant-2-cohorts-in-paranaque |
A former soldier who was one of Parañaque City’s most wanted for multiple counts of murder was brought back to jail on Thursday, this time for being a courier-pusher for detained drug lords.
A total of 206 grams of high-grade crystal meth, or “shabu,” worth P1.36 million was seized from Johnven Arnaiz, 40, and his two cohorts, construction worker Valentine Arnaiz, 52, (not related to the former) and driver Joseph Gabatbat, 37, during a buy-bust operation at the fourth floor parking area of a mall in Barangay BF Homes around 5 p.m.
According to NCRPO chief, Director Guillermo Eleazar, Arnaiz was a former sergeant in the Philippine Army, but was discharged from service after he was charged with seven counts of murder.
He became the city’s top criminal and was detained at Muntinlupa police station in September 2017 but was later released after he settled the cases with the families of the victims.
This man murdered seven people and then "settled the cases with the families of the victims" so he was allowed to go?? That is a warped sense of justice. In fact it its not justice at all. The man should have never been let back onto the streets.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/10/27/1863577/lawmakers-hit-defend-militarization-bureaucracy |
While her colleagues in the House of Representatives criticize the appointment of police and military retirees, Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said these appointees have an advantage over others.
“They are literally good soldiers,” she said.
Rep. Carlos Zarate of Bayan Muna said Guerrero “is the 61st military appointee of President Duterte to the civil government and strengthens the de facto military junta now in place in the country.”
“This militarization of the bureaucracy is dangerous to civil servants and the general populace because the appointees are trained to just follow orders, without question. This style of pampering the military is also prone to incompetence and waste of the people’s money because they are not suited for the jobs they are rewarded with,” he said.
Rep. Antonio Tinio of Alliance of Concerned Teachers said Duterte, by shuffling his police and military loyalists, “is engaging in theatrics rather than in actually rooting out corruption and stemming the flow of illegal drugs from abroad.”
It seems that both sides of the aisle have the same problem/praise about Duterte's appointment of ex-military and ex-police officers, namely that they are good soldiers trained to follow orders!
A lot of unnecessary drama. Just sign the waiver and then all will be revealed. But that's too boring.
Preventive suspension? But are they sill receiving pay?
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| http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1052295 |
Mijares identified the latest victim as village chair Kedteg Ayob, 57, of Elbebe in Columbio.
Police said Ayob, who was driving a motorcycle, had a brief stop along Barangay Salendab in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao, when he was approached by another motorcycle rider who shot and killed him on the spot.
“Witnesses said the victim and the gunman even had a short conversation prior to the shooting,” Mijares said.
A deeper investigation would determine if the motive behind the killing stemmed from personal grudge or politics, he added.What does it matter the motive? Another politician is dead. That is what matters.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/27/18/duterte-if-irregularities-found-in-bank-account-spit-on-my-face |
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1047703/bohol-mayoralty-row-cementing-doorway-politicians-new-tactic |
On Oct. 24, Pedro Fuertes found the mayor’s office in Panglao town, Bohol province, sealed with hollow blocks held together by concrete in place of where used to be a door.
Fuertes, who took over from Leonila Paredes-Montero as mayor, had to hold office at the town hall’s lobby on Wednesday.
He held office for two days in a nipa hut in front of the town’s gym prior to that.
Fuertes sought help from the National Bureau of Investigation in Bohol to find the culprit.
But the sealing of the doorway of the mayor’s office came four days after Montero won a Court of Appeals decision ordering her reinstatement.Funny stuff. Someone sealed the door so he could not get in? But that also keeps out Montero. It doesn't make a bit of sense but that is Philippine politics!
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/10/29/18/duterte-temporarily-puts-bureau-of-customs-under-military-control |
"They will be replaced, all of them, by military men. It will be a takeover of the Armed Forces in the matter of operating, in the meantime, while we are sorting out how to effectively meet the challenges of corruption in this country," Duterte said.
"With these kinds of games they are playing, dirty games, I am forced now to ask the Armed Forces to take over," he added.A military take over of a civilian institution? Is this even legal? What does this bode for the future? Every single agency is corrupt so why not put them all under AFP control?
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1047749/duterte-says-lapena-man-of-integrity-hits-deeply-corrupt-customs |
“Historically, the Customs, even before, had always been the one on the better level of things, nice houses, cars, that used to be the case,” Duterte said. “But you know the Philippine system really allows corruption and plenty have wallowed in the money of the public,” he added.
Duterte maintained that Lapeña, who led the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency before becoming Customs chief, and Faeldon, a former Navy captain who staged a mutiny against the presidency of now-Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2007, were honest and with integrity when they headed the BoC.
“There is nothing wrong with the men that I have chosen to be in this ship right now. They are all men of integrity, I assure you,” Duterte said.
He called Lapeña, whose police stint included assignments in Davao City and in Southern Mindanao, a “friend” and that Lapeña’s failure was the President’s, too.
“I know him and I will not abandon a friend. He’s not a corrupt person,” Duterte said.So what happened to the "one whiff of corruption and you're gone?" Lapeña was in charge of customs when the drugs slipped through. He is ultimately responsible.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1047747/no-martial-law-but-strong-arm-leadership-til-2022-duterte |
President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday said that he would be stern in his remaining days in office, threatening to order the arrest of urban poor seizing government housing and the shooting of suspected drug pushers.
Speaking during the birthday celebration of former Foreign Affairs Sec. Alan Peter Cayetano at the Marco Polo Hotel here, Duterte said he would devote the second half of his six-year term to ensure law and order in the country by fighting illegal drugs and corruption.
“I will not declare martial law (but) I will go for the strongest tools in my hands,” President Duterte said, adding, “Let’s have order in this country. You are into a rampage which I have to stop.”
The President said that even if he would fail his mandate after his term, he would still want the respect of the people.
Duterte called on informal settlers, particularly members of the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) to stop occupying housing complexes for soldiers and police and other idle government properties or he would order their arrest.
“If you resist violently, my order is simply to shoot. From now on, there will be no more confiscation of other people’s property,” the Chief Executive warned.Who in their right mind gives this kind of speech at a birthday party? What a downer!
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1047998/pdea-chief-big-man-in-govt-protecting-drug-queen-and-daughter |
An influential person in the government is protecting convicted “drug queen” Yu Yuk Lai and her daughter Diana Yu Uy, Director General Aaron Aquino of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said on Monday.
Aquino said this after the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 49 cleared Uy of drug charges and ordered her release from detention on Thursday, Oct 25.
Aquino, however, refused to name the protector. He said one of his witnesses also refused to name him.
Aquino instead said that person would know that he was referring to him.
Pressed for the identity of the alleged drug protector, Aquino was then asked if he was someone in the government.
“Yes, someone from the government. Katatapos lang namin hulihin, nakikialam na,” he said.How about he name this person and let the chips fall where they may?
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1048187/cop-in-palit-puri-scheme-charged |
The Manila policeman accused of forcing a 15-year-old girl to have sex with him, allegedly in exchange for the freedom of her parents who had been arrested on drug charges, could be dismissed from the service after the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) filed a grave misconduct case against him on Monday.
The details of the alleged rape and clear abuse of power immediately touched off a larger discussion about the internal culture of the Philippine National Police and underhanded tactics used by other rogue policemen in the government’s war on drugs.
Public criticism of the incident was further fueled by a viral clip of Valencia defending himself by telling NCRPO chief, Director Guillermo Eleazar, that what happened was nothing new, widely interpreted as an admission that the “palit-puri” scheme (in street lingo, it means sexual favors from a suspect or their relative in exchange for the dropping of charges) had become normal within the PNP.
But Eleazar said in an interview on Monday that Valencia was referring to suspects who routinely file countercharges against policemen who arrest them.
He also insisted that the palit-puri scheme was “not rampant” in the PNP.
“He denied the rape, but there’s no way out for him because he really did it,” said the NCRPO chief who pointed to a mountain of proof against Valencia, including medicolegal tests which showed that the girl had indeed been raped.
“We will not tolerate [actions like Valencia’s],” he said, adding: “I want this to be a warning to scalawag police. We are saving future victims.How many times will the PNP command be issuing warnings to scallywags? Especially when this cop practically admitted that PNP officers setting free drug suspects in return for sexual favours is the norm.
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| https://www.rappler.com/nation/215491-police-included-duterte-drug-matrix-all-former-anti-drug-cops |
It was only recently, with the help of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, that the PNP was able to look deeper into their colleagues' backgrounds.The article ends with that hilarious admission. The PNP cannot properly investigate the backgrounds of its own men. Also there is no mention of charges being brought against these cops only that they were sacked. However they were arrested later.
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| https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/10/29/pnp-places-five-cops-in-dutertes-drug-matrix-under-its-custody/ |
The sixth cop, Senior Supt. Eduardo Acierto, was already dismissed from the service in August this year in connection with the anomalous registration of more than 1,000 AK47 which then President Aquino exposed to have ended up in the hands of the communist rebels.The sixth cop? Are there five or six or more?
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/10/30/1864482/panelo-stretches-lawless-violence-cover-drug-smuggling-customs |
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that as far as the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte is concerned, corruption is considered "lawless violence" and justifies putting military personnel at the Bureau of Customs.
Proclamation 55, which declared the state of lawless violence, specified acts of actual violence like "abductions, hostage-takings and murder of innocent civilians, bombing of power transmission facilities, highway robberies and extortions, attacks on military outposts, assassinations of media people and mass jailbreaks."
It also authorizes the military and police "to undertake such measures as may be permitted by the Constitution and existing laws to suppress any and all forms of lawless violence in Mindanao and to prevent such lawless violence from spreading and escalating elsewhere in the Philippines."
espite that, Panelo insisted that "lawless violence" also means a kind of metaphorical violence and, "not as we understand in the limited sense."With this logic then all bureaucracies should be voided of personnel and the military should take over because all Philippine bureaucracies are corrupt!
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| https://www.panaynews.net/ex-solon-charged-with-graft-over-p14-m-pork/ |
The Office of the Ombudsman has charged former Iloilo 5th District congressman Rolex Suplico with graft before the Sandiganbayan for the alleged misuse of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) amounting to P14.7 million in 2007.PDAF scammers keep getting busted. This alleged crime happened in 2007! But resolution will take just as long if not longer.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1048665/coa-flags-p710m-given-to-execs-workers-in-govt-firms |
The Commission on Audit (COA) has questioned at least P710 million in employee benefits paid by government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) in 2017 without legal basis.
The National Irrigation Administration, the Land Bank of the Philippines and the moribund Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp. led the list with P250 million, P196 million and P48 million in questionable payments.
Also called out by the COA were Government Service Insurance System, P22 million; National Home Mortgage Finance Corp., P22 million; National Electrification Administration, P20 million; Philippine Center for Economic Development, P10 million; People’s Television Network, P10 million; APO Production Unit Inc., P3.7 million; Philippine National Construction Corp., P2.6 million; National Dairy Authority, P2.5 million; and Trade and Investment Development Corp. of the Philippines, P2 million.Will these GOCCs, which are undoubtedly full of corruption, be taken over by the AFP?
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| https://www.panaynews.net/private-army-in-n-iloilo-goons-are-for-midterm-polls-ippo/ |
A politico in northern Iloilo is beefing up an armed group for the 2019 midterm elections, according to the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO). Four mercenaries from Masbate were recently hired to further boost the group, said Senior Superintendent Marlon Tayaba, police provincial director.
He declined to identify the politician but Tayaba said a trusted aide of this politician did the hiring in Masbate.
“We are getting information from the community about these guns-for-hire,” said Tayaba.How many candidates will end up dead in Iloilo?
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| https://business.inquirer.net/259837/ph-ease-of-doing-business-rank-falls-to-124th-out-of-190-countries |
While the Philippines “made starting a business easier by simplifying tax registration and business licensing processes,” the World Bank lamented that the country nonetheless hiked tax registration costs.The only reason anyone puts up with the headache of doing business in the Philippines is the low labor costs.
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| https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/10/31/lto-suspends-6-employees-linked-to-fixing-mess/ |
Six Land Transportation Office (LTO) employees allegedly moonlighting as fixers based on a viral online video have been suspended.
“We are putting under preventive suspension not only the two personnel in the video but all the six personnel in the office where the alleged fixing activity occurred,” LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante said.
Galvante added that the employees will be under preventive suspension “until such time that the investigation has been concluded and we have established the truth.”
Officials of the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman said they were caught off-guard by the unauthorized rally held on campus on Monday by a group that turned out to be identified with former assistant secretary and now congressional aspirant Mocha Uson.
According to UP officials interviewed by the Inquirer on Wednesday, the group, who claimed to represent lumad or indigenous peoples (IP), handed over a letter earlier that day requesting permission to hold a “cultural presentation” outside Quezon Hall, which houses key administrative offices and is located right behind the Oblation statue.
But not only did the group proceed with their activity without UP’s approval. It also had Uson present and “interviewing” the ralliers — something that was not disclosed in the letter — while expressing support for President Rodrigo Duterte and condemning the “atrocities” committed by communist rebels against IP communities.
A video of the 30-minute rally was broadcast live on the Facebook page of Uson, a former Palace communications official who, after figuring in a spate of controversies over her social media behavior, resigned on Oct. 3.
An unauthorised rally with Mocha Uson which she broadcasted on her Facebook page. Is this the kind of tactic her campaign will engage in?
The 15-year-old girl who accused PO1 Eduardo Valencia of rape has said that the Manila policeman made two “indecent proposals” in exchange for freeing her and a relative.
In an affidavit filed in the Manila Prosecutor’s Office on Oct. 28, the minor said the first proposition involved Valencia’s superior.
They were then taken to a hut within the station compound where they were told that they would be included in the charges since their house served as a drug den.
Valencia then took the girl to a room to meet a man whom he introduced as his superior.
When questioned, the minor denied involvement in the drug trade, but the man told her that she might still test positive for drugs since she might have inhaled the fumes whenever her father used “shabu” (crystal meth).
On their way back to the hut, Valencia told the girl: “My boss likes you and if you want to be released with your aunt, you should agree to do what he wants. I know you know what I mean.”
She turned him down. Back at the hut, some policemen said they were taking her parents back to their house to take some pictures at the scene, leaving her with just her aunt.
According to the girl, Valencia started drinking liquor and asked her to join him, an invitation she accepted.
This story gets more messed up as the details get released.
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| http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1052768 |
Eleazar confronted and scolded Bautista at the Taguig City Police Station where the police officer is detained.
“Anong klaseng pulis ka nasa isang club nag-cocaine? Bakit nandun ka? Absent ka, sa anti-crime ka hindi mo ba alam full alert tayo. Wala kang karapatan mag stay sa pulis. Mag resign ka na (What kind of police officer are you, sniffing cocaine inside a club? Why were you there? You’re absent, you're in the anti-crime and we're in full alert. You don't have the right to stay in the force. You should resign),” Eleazar told Bautista.
Pretty self-explanatory. PNP officer was out a the club having a good time. But was he doing lines alone? Were others arrested?
Driza said the warrant against the former local chief executive was issued by the Sandiganbayan on July 19, 2006, after he failed to appear in the scheduled arraignment on September 2002 in relation to his graft case.
On the run for twelve years!
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, October 31, admitted the "militarization" of his government as he vented anew his frustrations over the rampant corruption at the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
"I will not sit as President and let you render me inutile as you continue with your corruption there in Customs right in front of me. P***** i** mo (Son of a b****), now you have a problem," the President said in Bisaya during the distribution of certificate of land ownership award to farmers in Cagayan De Oro.
"They say it's militarization of the government. Correct," he added.
Duterte has been appointing former military personnel to key civilian posts.
He drew widespread criticism when he verbally placed all Customs personnel on floating status and directed newly installed Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero to bring in military men to perform civilian functions at the BOC.
Straight from the horses mouth!
