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SC: Gloria can appoint next CJ By Benjamin B. Pulta 03/18/2010

Thursday, March 18, 2010

JBC ordered to submit list of high court nominees

SC: Gloria can appoint next CJ


By Benjamin B. Pulta
03/18/2010

It’s official. The incumbent President is legally and constitutionally empowered to appoint the next Chief Justice (CJ) of the Supreme Court (SC).

A ruling by the high court, handed down yesterday, said President Arroyo can name the next top magistrate after Chief Justice Reynato Puno steps down on May 17.

Voting 9-1-2-3, the SC, in a decision penned by Justice Lucas Bersamin, said the appointment of the entire judiciary, including the position of Chief Justice, is not included in the appointments ban as mandated by the 1987 Constitution.

The decision was reached before noon yesterday during the high court’s special full court session. The high court also directed the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to submit to Arroyo a shortlist of candidates from where she will choose the next chief magistrate on or before March 17.... MORE


SourceThe Daily Tribune

ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20100318hed1.html


Erap blames GMA for power crisis, says generator leases overpriced By Gerry Baldo 03/18/2010

Erap blames GMA for power crisis, says generator leases overpriced



By Gerry Baldo
03/18/2010
Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) standard bearer former President Joseph Estrada yesterday put the blame on President Arroyo for the current power crisis that has swept the country.

Estrada, who recently shifted to a fighting stance, accused the Arroyo government of doing nothing during the nine years it was in power and position to avert the power crisis that is now threatening to derail the May 2010 elections.

“The power crisis in Mindanao could have been avoided. But the Arroyo administration did not take any concrete steps to avoid the calamity,” Estrada said.

The former President also pointed out that the proposed allocation for the leasing of generators is highly overpriced..... MORE


SourceThe Daily Tribune
ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20100318hed2.html

Noynoy a ‘political opportunist’ — Estrada 03/18/2010

Noynoy a ‘political opportunist’ — Estrada


03/18/2010

The gloves are off.

Former President Joseph Estrada said Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino has become a “political opportunist” willing to forsake friendship just to boost his sagging ratings in the surveys.

A visibly irked Estrada said he now feels that Aquino had used him for publicity when the senator and LP presidential bet earlier had stated he was against the absolute pardon offered to Estrada and that President Arroyo erred in granting pardon to the former president on plunder charges.

Estrada also reminded Aquino that his mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, sought his blessing when her son ran for Senate in 2007 under the ticket of Genuine Opposition.... MORE


SourceThe Daily Tribune

ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20100318hed6.html

Putting the issue to rest EDITORIAL 03/18/2010

Putting the issue to rest



EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
03/18/2010

Now it has been settled by the Supreme Court (SC).

The high court yesterday ruled that Gloria Arroyo can appoint the replacement of retiring SC Chief Justice Reynato Puno, despite a 60-day constitutional ban on midnight appointments before elections.

Nine justices voted in favor of allowing Gloria to appoint the next CJ: Lucas Bersamin, Jose Perez, Roberto Abad, Martin Villarama, Teresita de Castro, Arturo Brion, Jose Mendoza, Mariano del Castillo and Diosdado Peralta.... MORE


SourceThe Daily Tribune

ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/commentary/20100318com1.html

As the tree is, so is the fruit FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 03/18/2010

As the tree is, so is the fruit



FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
03/18/2010

If Noynoy Aquino ever wins the presidency, any media story that he finds critical will be slammed as “partisan” and “unfair.”

And if his statements, uttered in radio and TV interviews where he puts his foot in his mouth, are aired, he will claim that his statement was taken out of context, such as his saying that he is against Erap Estrada’s pardon, but now claiming he will review what he really said.

As for any criticism of him and his family members,what he will be saying is that everybody is ganging up on him and his family and that it is only his nephew, Baby James, who is still not being criticized.... MORE


SourceThe Daily Tribune

ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/commentary/20100318com2.html

Boxing champ Pacquiao faces tough political fight FEATURE 03/18/2010

Boxing champ Pacquiao faces tough political fight



FEATURE

03/18/2010

MANILA — Boxing champ Manny Pacquiao will return home this week to a hero’s welcome but his next challenge may see him go down for the count as he steps into the even more bruising ring of Philippine politics.

Pacquiao’s latest victory has earned the superstar even more acclaim and wealth, but analysts warn that adulation and big spending may not convert to votes when he runs for a seat in Congress in May national elections.

“It will be a harder battle than all the battles he has waged in the ring,” said Political Science professor Ronald Holmes of De La Salle University.... MORE


SourceThe Daily Tribune

ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/commentary/20100318com3.html

Vindictive, rigid, immature SILVER LINING Dean Ernest Maceda 03/18/2010

Vindictive, rigid, immature



SILVER LINING
Dean Ernest Maceda
03/18/2010

Sen. Noynoy Aquino’s surprise comment declaring his disagreement with GMA’s pardon of President Erap almost three years after the fact betrays a lack of maturity.

And if you add his pronouncement of forming a Commission to investigate the anomalies and graft cases against GMA, it also indicates a streak of vindictiveness. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile terms it a “rigid and inflexible personality.”

To make matters worse, Noynoy admitted that “I have to review what I said,” suggesting he was taken out of context. He can’t even recall what he said. Instead, it was sister Kris who issued an apology to Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.... MORE


SourceThe Daily Tribune

ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/commentary100318com4.html

Questionable suspensions BLURBAL THRUSTS Louie Logarta 03/18/2010

Questionable suspensions



BLURBAL THRUSTS
Louie Logarta
03/18/2010

One doesn’t have to be clairvoyant or a psychic to read the minds of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) operations officer Eric Albano and his assistant, Mitchell Verdeflor, who were ordered drydocked in connection with the pilferage last month of millions of pesos worth of high-end electronic gadgets, Sony PlayStations, DVDs, Bulgari and DKNY perfumes, etc. from a warehouse in the South Harbor.

Funny thing here is that the two intel guys were earlier praised for a job well done by the very person who had them suspended indefinitely... MORE


SourceThe Daily Tribune

Why? VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 03/18/2010

Why?



VIEWPOINTS
Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz
03/18/2010

The question is begging to be asked. More and more people are asking why. The inquiry with elements of perplexity can be thus expressed and proposed: Why is it that more and more religious men and women are engaging themselves in admittedly many and serious social questions in the country? Why is it that more and more priests and bishops are speaking and acting on rather difficult and sensitive socio-political issues in the Philippines? Why do they not simply preach about the lives of Saints, stay in the sacristy and “mind their own business?” Why?

Why do these Church people not simply confine their words and actions in the realm of liturgy, in the sphere of devotions and in the world of piety? Are fiestas, novenas and processions not supposed to be their expertise, and should wherefore remain in these purely spiritualist ministries? .... MORE


SourceThe Daily Tribune



Analysts wonder whether Obama seeks Israel ‘regime change’ focus 03/18/2010

Analysts wonder whether Obama seeks Israel ‘regime change’



focus

03/18/2010

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s row with Israel over settlements has prompted some analysts to wonder whether it seeks “regime change,” a new government that can make peace with the Palestinians.

But, the analysts doubt that President Barack Obama’s administration, which has made Arab-Israeli peace a national security priority, will achieve anything if it has indeed adopted such a strategy.

In unusually harsh words, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday that his right-wing government’s plans to build new settler homes in east Jerusalem sent a “deeply negative signal” about Israel’s ties to its top ally..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/commentary/20100318com7.html

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