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Change? What change? EDITORIAL 06/20/2010

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Change? What change?



EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
06/20/2010

The Aquino Cabinet is shaping up as a veritable political payback for the yellow groups that supposedly volunteered to help give the presidency to Noynoy, headed by leaders of the Black and White Movement (BWM), the Liberal Party (LP), the Hyatt 10 group of Arroyo Cabinet members who closed their eyes on the cheating and even aided her illegal moves in the 2004 polls, but jumped ship at the height of the “Hello Garci” scandal and called for Arroyo to step down from the presidency, the Cory Aquino crowd and The Firm.

Some of the names being floated for the Cabinet posts are even horrendously disappointing since their capabilities do not in any way match the positions they will likely get.

Florencio Abad is said to being tapped as the Education secretary, Corazon “Dinky” Soliman will recover her Social Welfare and Development post, Avelino Cruz Jr. is said to be getting Defense, Cesar Purisima, the Finance portfolio and Juan Santos will likely reassume the top post at the Department of Trade and Industry, or Makati Business Club Bertie Lim may get it.

BWM personalities such as Manolo Quezon is being considered for a post, Ed Lacierda as presidential spokesman and Leah Navarro is being considered as Presidential Management Staff chief. Maria Montelibano of the Samar group will be appointed as head of the Philippine Information Agency. Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo is being considered for the Department of Interior and Local Government post to the disappointment of Vice President-elect Jejomar Binay.

Teresita Deles, another Hyatt 10 member, will likely be assigned as the administration’s presidential peace adviser while a group composed of LP members led by chairman emeritus Jovito Salonga is pushing for former Chief Justice Hilario Davide, who legitimized the unconstitutional 2001 military-takeover of the presidency by Arroyo, as Foreign Affairs secretary. 

Paquito “Jojo” Ochoa Jr., Noynoy’s legal counsel, is a sure bet for executive secretary while Noynoy’s Ateneo buddy Bong Naguiat is being floated as replacement for overstaying Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. Chairman Efraim Genuino.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100620com1.html


Not a people’s president FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 06/20/2010

Not a people’s president



FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
06/20/2010
Noynoy Aquino’s yellows are trying very hard to project their anointed president as “The People’s President,” even when he is clearly not — in the sense that he appeals and listens to the elite in society.

And Noynoy can never hope to become the “People’s President” mainly because he has very little masa appeal, even if he won the presidency electronically under an election that is still questionable, as the automated polls may not have reflected the true will of the people by way of real votes garnered.

And, like his mother before him, Noynoy really does not have what is known as the “common touch.”

Still, it wouldn’t harm for him to personally strive to become the People’s President, as it would do the nation good.
From the statements and moves he makes, however, this is far from becoming a reality, as he cannot even seem to distinguish between institutions and personalities he dislikes.

It is of course his choice to have Associate Supreme Court Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales swear him in, but did he have to state in his letter why he chose her by bringing up his objection to SC Chief Justice Renato Corona whom he believes to have been appointed illegally by Gloria Arroyo by stating in his letter that he and Carpio Morales have the same sentiments in the case of the SC decision exempting the appointment of the CJ from the election period ban?

That’s really petty of him, especially as the SC decision is final, and has become law, even if Carpio-Morales dissented from that opinion. Her opinion is not law, and not necessarily the correct one.

Like it or not, as long as the majority of the high court members say this is right, even if wrong, it is still law. Unfair perhaps, but that’s the way it goes, else, we go back to the mob rule, instead of the rule of law.

What good will it do him and his administration if he keeps on harping against Corona and claiming that his appointment is illegal, believing this to be a midnight appointment? Noynoy is not the interpreter of the law; the SC is. He, as president, is supposed to enforce the law, not argue that the SC is wrong. All he is doing is to keep on destroying the institution.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100620com2.html


Kyrgyzstan clashes were anti-Uzbek massacre — victims focus 06/20/2010

Kyrgyzstan clashes were anti-Uzbek massacre — victims



focus

06/20/2010
OSH — The deadly unrest that engulfed Kyrgyzstan was a brutal and orchestrated campaign of violence targeted against the Central Asian country’s Uzbek minority, victims told AFP.

Victims of the violence, which killed at least 191, and according to the UN displaced 400,000, have given harrowing testimony of armed militias ravaging Uzbek districts in southern Kyrgyzstan in coordinated actions.

By contrast to hundreds of Uzbek houses, districts inhabited by ethnic Kyrgyz in the Jalalabad and Osh regions have been left largely untouched by the violence, AFP correspondents said.

Kyrgyz-inhabited homes have been seen daubed with the letters “KG” in an apparent effort to spare them from the ethnically inspired violence.

“It was Friday night just after evening prayers,” said Davran Badalov, 35, who runs an Uzbek bakery in the village of Shark, near Osh, where an entire neighborhood of 50 houses was burned down.

“An armored vehicle followed by regular cars with armed men arrived from the main road. They started shooting and screaming ‘we will kill all the Uzbeks! Kyrgyzstan for the Kyrgyz!,” he said.

“We ran away, and they set fire to all the houses. When we came back to put out the fires, they started shooting at us. I don’t know who they were. We had nothing but stones to fight them back.”

The violence prompted a refugee exodus to neighboring Uzbekistan. According to UN figures, there are 100,000 adults alone in Uzbekistan.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100620com3.html


Independents key to Senate presidency BLURBAL THRUSTS Louie Logarta 06/20/2010

Independents key to Senate presidency



BLURBAL THRUSTS
Louie Logarta
06/20/2010
Despite all the gratuitous claims being hurled back and forth by the contenders, there appears to be no one group that possesses the numbers to annex the Philippine Senate’s premier post at this time, something which has to come about before Congress convenes in about six weeks, unless certain concessions are made to court the support of certain “independent” colleagues.

As expected, the battle for the Senate presidency is going to be confined to the acknowledged power blocs, meaning the Nacionalista Party (NP) led by Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. and the Liberal Party (LP) nominally headed by President-elect Benigno Aquino III.

Speaking during the weekly televised “Meet the Press” public affairs program of the National Press Club (NPC), incumbent Senate majority leader Juan Miguel Zubiri explained that NP and LP leaders will have to resort to some major cajoling to attain the 12 votes (based on a universe of 21 senators) that is the minimum absolute number required to clinch the Senate presidency.

That is if Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV who is locked up in the stockade on rebellion charges and Sen. Ping Lacson who is the principal suspect in the Dacer-Corbito double murder case and a fugitive from the law since last January still won’t show up for the opening of Congress on July 26. Aquino is definitely a no-show as he has been elected president of the country and therefore no longer a senator.

Zubiri said he believes the success of the NP’s Villar on one hand and either Kiko Pangilinan or Franklin Drilon of the LP on the other, in capturing the upper chamber’s top position would entirely depend on their ability to convince the independents — composed of Senators Edong Angara, Bong Revilla, Lito Lapid, Gringo Honasan, Serge Osmeña Jr., Tito Sotto and Zubiri himself — to jump into their respective bandwagons.

Aside from Pangilinan and Drilon, the other members of the LP’s Senate contingent are Ralph Recto, Teofisto Guingona III and Chiz Escudero. Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said he would align with the LP if Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile is not re-elected as Senate president. Enrile said he would support the LP since he could never in conscience vote for Villar as a result of the C-5 road controversy, but he has also maintained he would like to join the Senate minority and assume the post of Senate minority leader.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100620com4.html


Tug of war C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 06/20/2010

Tug of war



C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S
Jonathan De la Cruz
06/20/2010
There is a tug of war raging within the innermost councils of the various power groupings in the country. No, there are a number of tugs of war within these groups. And we are talking here not just of the incoming Aquino administration but of the outgoing one including their satellites within and among the groupings across the land. The sad thing about all of this expending of energy is the fact that more often than not, the wars are not about advocacies and the agenda for our country and people but about power, who gets what and how much.

Let’s start with the outgoing administration. Quite apart from the fact that the ruling Lakas-Kampi contingent in the House of Representatives, which remains the biggest with roughly 109 members, is breaking apart possibly into three, i.e., the Lagman-Suarez group with GMA as the principal convenor, the Garcia-Alvarez-Antonino group composed mostly of original Kampi members and the neo-Lakas-Lakas-CMD composed mainly of first termers and second closely associated with graduated members revolving around Speaker Boy Nograles, all of whom have their own plans on how they can possibly optimize their say in the upcoming 15th Congress. There are a number of power groups (in the Senate and those who served in the executive department such as LWUA Chairman and Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Butch Pichay) who are pulling the once vaunted coalition in various directions. Unless PGMA exerts more effort to keep the troops in place, the coalition may find itself increasingly following the path of its predecessors such as the KBL and LDP, to name the more recent ones. The center is weakening and it may not hold any longer unless clear signals from no less than GMA herself gets to be introduced into the pot. 

This seeming disarray in the political front is being reflected in the business sector. We are told that a number of the more favored and high flying mega enterpreneurs who made hay during the nine-year reign of President Arroyo are making peace, as it were, with the incoming administration. Many of these actually contributed to the P-Noy campaign in a bid to bolster their standing when the time comes. That time is now on hand. The problem is these guys are being vetted by a select group of people close to the Aquino-Roxas (yes, we are told the tandem is stronger than ever for reasons known only to the principals) team and the focus seems to be whether their ways and practices are compatible with the publicly announced positions of the new leadership. We will soon see who among these guys will survive the vetting process and in what state they will be in.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100620com5.html


What honeymoon? TABLETS OF STONE Larry Faraon, OP 06/20/2010

What honeymoon?



TABLETS OF STONE
Larry Faraon, OP
06/20/2010
Was there any wedding in the first place that merits the luxury of a honeymoon? But that is what everybody would like to afford President-elect Noynoy Aquino, at least for the next one hundred days. But how could he when wedding bells do not fantasize him at all! If the elections were a wedding ceremony complete with “I do’s” and commitments between President Noynoy and the Filipino people, then there needs be a “honeymoon” period even for the first bachelor president of this country. But he did had one, even before the elections.

Honeymoons are all sweet, opulent, illusory, as in beholding the lunar shapes and sounds and watching the constellations. As practiced in this country, the first 100 days normally come out as a balato by the media and the people in general to the newly seated president, a sort of temporary reprieve from the usual onslaughts or tirades media normally throw at the new Palace occupant. Originally, however, the first one hundred days pioneered by US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a personal test on his first crack on the whip of crisis management in addressing the Great Depression that greeted his inaugural presidency in 1933. It was a make or break for FDR’s presidency and therefore he had no time for a “honeymoon” with the American people or media. FDR and Americans bored their noses together in the mire of economic and political depression to rise above the crisis.

It is not too much to expect the same from President Noynoy. A media holiday on criticisms, expositions and investigative journalism, plus the fun and puns of journalistic licenses of not-so-friendly columnists is no longer necessary for the next 100 days, since the mainstream media, the yellow media, have been undeniably nice and easy with President Noynoy, 100 days or so before the elections! Besides, with such a very sympathetic and biased yellow mainstream media so identified with the incoming leader, what objectivity or credibility do we expect from these networks and publications in putting their anointed into their hot seat! They must just continue with the honeymooning.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100620com6.html


Aquino flagship commitment: No graft and corruption VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 06/20/2010

Aquino flagship commitment: No graft and corruption



VIEWPOINTS
Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz
06/20/2010
Wonderful, yet no choice really. Great, but quite difficult. Right and in good order. These are the more relevant and practical responses to the not simply comforting but also inspiring and edifying Aquino flagship commitment: No to graft and corruption! Away with dishonesty and thievery! Let justice reign. Take the straight road, avoid the crooked path!

And there is no option, really. No nation could grow both in its economic standing and value system when placed in the grip of a graft ridden and corrupt government. In the same way, no people can really be free and independent when ruled by public officials who have become experts in graft and corruption. Banditry and thievery constitute a formidable pairing in bringing about social injustice and disorder.

The vice of greed is a big curse not only for the victims thereof but also for the greedy themselves. It is a painful malediction of the victims of greed because they have but very little, but even this snatched away from them — leaving these in poverty and misery. 

But it is a special damnation of the greedy whereas while already having too much, they feel still salivating and craving for more — and more, and even more. This is just like someone who is already overfed and still feels terribly hungry. One thing is infallibly certain: Just as no one lives on bread alone, no one too lives forever.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100620com7.html


PCOS’ backdoor console for fraud entry discovered By Danessa O. Rivera and Charlie V. Manalo 06/20/2010

PCOS’ backdoor console for fraud entry discovered


By Danessa O. Rivera and Charlie V. Manalo
06/20/2010

In a sign of bad faith, Smartmatic, the technical provider and partner of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), failed to disclose that its precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines had console ports or “secret backdoors” which anyone could open without the need for passwords or usernames to gain complete control over the units’ operating system and obviously could be used for manipulating votes.

This backdoor port gives anyone the opportunity to either modify, erase, save or overwrite files and programs in the PCOS machines, an IT expert yesterday disclosed during a media forum at the Sulo Hotel.

At the same time, in another forum held at the Manila Polo Club in Makati yesterday, LRA Pacific operations director Jonathan Manalang disclosed that there were several concerns that were seemed highly questionable. Manalang said some concerns were on the proper inventory of the PCOS machines.

As he and his team called technicians in different precincts to confirm if they had received the right number of PCOS machines, they were informed that some received less than the designated number of PCOS machine while some received more. 

They reported this matter to Smartmatic officials but all the tech provider officials said was “they will handle it.”
Manalang added that certain PCOS machines only allowed a certain number of votes, an issue that became a concern, when some precinct polling places received the wrong PCOS machines.

LRA Pacific was the outsourcing company hired by Smartmatic to handle the technical support during the elections.
Manalang served as a witness during the hearings regarding election fraud at the House of Representatives on June 30 but this was cut short a few days before the last day of hearing by Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. who headed the congressional committee.

Contrary to assertions of Smartmatic that its PCOS machines are tamper-proof, an IT expert, Roberto Verzola, yesterday bared that the voting machines used in the May 10 polls contained a backdoor entry which can enable anyone to access their data, overwrite them or use them for any purpose one may deem beneficial to his intention.
At the weekly Kapihan sa Sulo, Obet Verzola, the IT expert, said investigators conducting a forensic examination on the 60 PCOS machines found in the possession of a Smartmatic technican in Antipolo City, had discovered a backdoor or portal at the back of the machines, which is called a console.

Verzola said that this console can be used by anyone simply by accessing it through a cable and once access has been gained, the “intruder” can easily access the data, overwrite them or use the data for whatever purposes desired.

Through the consul, Verzola added that the hacker can easily erase all data including the audit trail which Smartmatic claims is a fool-proof mechanism to detect if the machines had been hacked.

Smartmatic’s chief in the Philippines, Cesar Flores, during a congressional hearing admitted in the face of evidence, after denying it earlier, that the audit log entries can be altered, that compact flash (CF) cards can be reprogrammed as desired, and that votes can be rescanned, erased or added to another candidate.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100620hed1.html


Malacañang to fill leadership vacuum in AFP left by Bangit 06/20/2010

Malacañang to fill leadership vacuum in AFP left by Bangit


06/20/2010
Malacañang has assured that the chain of command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines will be unaffected when AFP Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit bows out of the military service on Tuesday, more than a year ahead of his scheduled retirement after President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino announced plans not to retain him as chief of the 120,000-strong military organization.

In an interview with government-owned Radyo ng Bayan, presidential spokesman Ricardo Saludo yesterday said the AFP has existing rules governing cases of sudden retirement of the Chief of Staff so as to ensure continuity in the service.

“There are rules and regulations in the AFP to continue the functions of the Chief of Staff in case he leaves and there is no specific person designated,” Saludo said.

Bangit said on Friday that President Arroyo, who is also the Commander-in-Chief, has granted his request to retire from the military service effective June 22.

Acting Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales also said he had signed the retirement papers of Bangit.
When asked who will be the next military chief, Saludo replied in Filipino: “Let’s leave that for the President to announce.”

“If ever she wants to designate (an acting Chief of Staff), that’s within her power,” he added.
The camp of President-elect Aquino has yet to name Bangit’s permanent replacement, but acting AFP Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Nestor Ochoa is also reportedly being eyed for the post.

The military’s Board of Generals (BoG) is also recommending Ochoa to temporarily take over the AFP chief post.
In a chance interview in Camp Aguinaldo the other day, Ochoa said the AFP-BoG met on Thursday and discussed the matter.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100620hed4.html

Obama, supporters rally for Suu Kyi’s release 06/20/2010

Obama, supporters rally for Suu Kyi’s release


06/20/2010
WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama yesterday called on the Myanmar regime to free Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in a message sending best wishes for her 65th birthday.

Obama hailed the Myanmar opposition leader’s “determination, courage and personal sacrifice in working for human rights and democratic change” as she marks her birthday Saturday under house arrest in Yangon.

The military regime has kept Suu Kyi in detention for almost 15 years and she has been barred from running in upcoming elections that critics have denounced as a sham aimed at entrenching the generals’ power.

“I wish to convey my best wishes to Aung San Suu Kyi, the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace laureate, on the occasion of her 65th birthday on June 19,” Obama said in his message.

“I once again call on the Burmese government to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally and to allow them to build a more stable, prosperous Burma that respects the rights of all its citizens.”

State Department spokesman Philip Crowley echoed the president’s birthday wishes for Aung San Suu Kyi and comments.

“We call on Burma’s leaders to free her, along with her fellow political prisoners, immediately and without condition,” he said in a statement.
 
“Such an action would demonstrate a commitment to the brighter future the Burmese people so richly deserve and would help set the stage for true national reconciliation,” Crowley said.

“We look forward to the day when Aung San Suu Kyi and all of Burma’s people may celebrate in freedom,” he said.

“Her enduring struggle for the fundamental right of all people of Burma to live in freedom continues to inspire people the world over,” Crowley said.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100620hed3.html


Luli Arroyo’s bro-in-law hurt in Pasig carjacking 06/20/2010

Luli Arroyo’s bro-in-law hurt in Pasig carjacking


06/20/2010

A brother-in-law of President Arroyo’s daughter, Lourdes “Luli” Arroyo-Bernas, was shot and wounded after he tried to stop four car thieves in Pasig City yesterday morning, police said.

Businessman Jorge Bernas, 41, suffered two gunshot wounds in the abdomen and one on the left arm as he attempted to defy the attackers, police added. 

Reports said Jorge, his wife and two children had just arrived from the United States before the shooting happened.
Around 5 a.m., Bernas and his family were traveling on their way home in Greenmeadows Subdivision in Quezon City, 

At around 5 a.m., Bernasand his family were traveling on their way home in Greenmeadows Subdivision in Quezon City, when the incident happened. 

Upon reaching the corner of Ortigas Avenue in Barangay Ugong, a Hi-Ace van bumped their vehicle’s right rear, police said.

As Bernas and his driver get out of the car to check the damage, four gunmen came out of the Hi-Ace van and declared a hold-up.

Investigation showed the gunmen fired at Bernas and his driver when he called out for help.

The robbers then escaped leaving Bernas wounded. 

The attackers then forced the family driver out of the van before commandeering the vehicle, with Jorge’s wife, their two children and a house help still inside.

The captive Bernases were later dropped off on Edsa at the corner of Estrella Street in Makati City, police said.
A radio dzMM report said doctors at the Medical City have declared that Bernas is in stable condition.
.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100620hed5.html

Aquino dared: Combat corruption, abrogate anomalous housing deals 06/20/2010

Aquino dared: Combat corruption, abrogate anomalous housing deals


06/20/2010

The women’s organization Gabriela yesterday called on President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino to pay attention to the alleged anomalous and conspiratorial agreements between government housing agencies and private corporations.

In parti-cular, the group cited the recently uncovered alleged anomalous deals between the govern-ment and businessman Reghis Romero days before Aquino takes on the presidency.

For the militant women’s group, the Smokey Mountain Development and Reclamation Project (SMDRP) is crooked and smacked of corruption. 

“It is a shame for the outgoing administration to sneak in a memorandum containing P4.4 billion for the benefit of corrupt government officials and profit-greedy corporations,” said Lana Linaban, secretary general of Gabriela.
R-II Builders, the corporation of Reghis Romero which won the bid to build SMDRP as a low-cost, socialized housing to the marginalized and homeless who lived in what was known as Smokey Mountain, was said to have failed to deliver its obligation as stipulated in the contract it entered into with the government during President Fidel Ramos’ time.

According to Alyansa ng Mamamayan sa Smokey Mountain, a local alliance of residents of Permanent Housing Project under SMDRP, “to date, there are still seven unfinished buildings left to rot by the contractor.”

The group alleged that Romero’s corporation proved to be financially insufficient to build SMRDP. But instead of revoking the contract, the Arroyo administration rewarded Romero with billions of pesos from the public funds. To rub salt to the wound, the outgoing administration plans to extract more fund for Romero, the group charged.

“It is scandalous to talk of this kind of money when the supposed beneficiaries of the said housing project languish in the most dismal of living conditions,” added Linaban.

As disclosed by Alyansa ng Mamamayan sa Smokey Mountain, when Permanent Housing Project opened in 2004, the residents were obliged to pay the monthly lease of P250 to P1,000..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100620hed6.html


Murder raps filed vs Sayyaf head, men for beheading 3 06/20/2010

Murder raps filed vs Sayyaf head, men for beheading 3


06/20/2010
Police have filed multiple murder charges against the Abu Sayyaf leader and his followers over the abduction and killing of three lumberjacks on the southern island province of Basilan two weekends ago.

Basilan police director Sr. Supt. Antonio Mendoza yesterday said multiple murder charges were filed also yesterday before the Basilan provincial prosecutor’s office against Abu Sayyaf chieftain Puruji Indama and a number of his unidentified underlings for the abduction and subsequent beheading of Daduh Lumatang, Manuel Lumsag and Elpidio Amimensi, all residents of Barangay Abong-Abong, Maluso town, Basilan. 

The victims were gathering lumber flitches in Sitio Pali, Barangay Abong-Abong when they were seized by armed men led by Indama at about 3 p.m. last June 11. 

Later that day, the bodies of Lumatang and Lumasag were found by police and members of the Barangay Intelligence Network who were deployed to locate the victims. 

Amimensi’s body was found the next day. 

Meanwhile, Charlie Rieth, the 71-year-old Swiss-born Filipino who was kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf and was held by the terror group for more than two months before being rescued last Wednesday showed no signs of having been frazzled by the ordeal he went through while in captivity. 

Unlike other former kidnap victims who took several days or even months to regain the courage to appear before the public or any gathering, Rieth joined friends Friday night at the so-called “Barangay Hanazono” for a thanksgiving party. 

The party was thrown by Rieth’s friends after they sponsored a thanksgiving mass for him at the St. Ignatius de Loyola Parish Church in Zamboanga City. 

“I thank my friends not only for this thanksgiving mass but for their support throughout my entire ordeal. I’m very gratified, thankful to all of them for their unwithered support,” Rieth said after the mass. 

The celebration was held simultaneous with a victory party for second district Rep. Erico Basilio Fabian, who was re-elected for another three-year term in the last local polls..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20100620nat1.html

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