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The Philippine Star

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September 22, 2025

CITO BELTRAN

Today’s column title is a bit of play on a popular movie character that I connect to certain political realities.

Writing about political issues has never been my preferred dish, especially since our late publisher Mr. Max Soliven himself emphasized that I focus on human interest rather than politics.

But today I have to beg his indulgence from the other side, as I write about “political concerns.” My allusion to Spiderman comes out of a favorite phrase ~ “What a wondrous web we weave when first we try to deceive.”

As it turns out, the correct phrase written by Sir Walter Scott in 1808 goes: “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!” AI states that “the quote suggests that dishonesty leads to complex, self-inflicted problems, much like a spider’s web becomes tangled and difficult to escape.”

That situation I believe is what awaits both President Bongbong Marcos and DOJ Secretary Boying Remulla, if they insist and persist in getting Sec. Remulla appointed as the next ombudsman. Their efforts have become a magnet of suspicion, allegations and opposition from “friend and foe.”

Why, you might ask, is this happening. First of all, it is only natural to wonder and be surprised that Sec. Boying Remulla openly aspired to become the next ombudsman, considering he was beginning to do a good job at the DOJ.

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