On presidential focus EDITORIAL 10/23/2010

On presidential focus

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

10/23/2010
Noynoy Aquino appears to be the type that can focus only on one problem, or thing, and whatever he is focused on takes up all his concentration, to the detriment of other problems.

This probably explains his latest remark to reporters such as saying that finding the fugitive Sen. Panfilo Lacson is not his priority. The typhoon damage, he claimed, is his priority.

Aquino told reporters that he is currently focused on solving problems brought about by typhoon “Juan.”

“My priority are the problems we have today that have created damage to the Philippines, whether it is a natural disaster, crime incidents such as kidnapping,” he was quoted in reports as saying.

“Shall I drop all my concentration here and attend to Senator Lacson? I don’t think you’d argue with that,” Aquino retorted.

His concentration on one issue was also the reason he gave when he delayed announcing the actions to be taken with regard to the IIRC findings, and the review of his legal team, as he said then that his focus was on his scheduled trip to the United States, for the United Nations Assembly..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101023com1.html

Quick absolution FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 10/23/2010

Quick absolution

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

10/23/2010
There he goes again, absolving his faves in his administration.

Reacting to the press report that Ed Angara wants the Malacañang-created truth body to also probe the PEACe Bonds scam, where Dinky Soliman and Teresita Deles have been alleged to have been involved, Noynoy, through his spokesmen, said it up to the Truth Commission to consider Angara’s proposal. Then they added: No evidence can pin Dinky and Deles on this issue because Dinky has not participated in such anomaly.

So why is Malacañang — and Noynoy too — quickly absolving Dinky and presumably, Deles?

No investigation has ever been made on the P10-billion PEACe Bond scam yet the Palace quickly absolves Dinky and the rest of her NGO group?

The truth body is not a creation of Congress, but of Noynoy. It is therefore not an independent body, and can never expect to be one, as it has to toe Malacañang’s line.

The fact that Malacañang has already absolved Dinky — even before an investigation — is enough proof that the truth body is not going to touch the P10-billion bonds scam, for which the Filipino people are to be burdened with some P35 billion payment. If the truth panel does touch it, then it is just as certain that Dinky and whoever else is favored by Noynoy who is involved in any other scam, will have to be absolved, because that message has already been telegraphed by Malacañang..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101023com2.html

Obama, once the uniter, now the partisan warrior FEATURE 10/23/2010

Obama, once the uniter, now the partisan warrior

FEATURE

10/23/2010
WASHINGTON — Barack Obama, the unifying inspirational figure of 2008, has become, in 2010, an enthusiastic partisan warrior, lacerating Republicans as a new reckoning looms with angry voters.

President Obama’s toughened rhetoric reflects a transformed political environment since his historic election win two years ago, with a sour Washington era in prospect as Republicans expect a big win in midterm polls.

In 2008, Obama billed himself as the personification of hope and promised to soothe the ugly divides in Washington.

“The American people don’t want to hear politicians attack each other,” Obama told a crowd in St Louis on Oct. 18, 2008, two weeks before he was elected president.

“You want to hear about how we’re going to attack the challenges facing middle class families each and every day,” Obama said.

Back then, Obama repeatedly stressed the need to renew the faith of an electorate steeped in cynicism about politics.

“We have always been at our best when we’ve had leadership that called us to look past our differences and come together as one nation, as one people,” Obama said in South Carolina on Oct. 19, 2008, calling for a new politics.

But in 2010, two weeks before congressional elections, it is a caustic Obama who is doing the attacking.

“This election is not just about moving forward versus moving backwards,” Obama told a Democratic Party rally in Ohio last weekend..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101023com3.html

‘Gender Gap Index’ Not Reflective of True State of Filipino Women – Gabriela Published on October 23, 2010

‘Gender Gap Index’ Not Reflective of True State of Filipino Women – Gabriela

Published on October 23, 2010

“A glaring proof that Filipino women are still living in oppressive conditions – even though the country ranks high in gender-based indexes – is the increasing number of victims of violence against women, most notably, gang rape,” said Lana Linaban, secretary general of Gabriela.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Marian Acosta-Doydoy, 30, married with one child, did various jobs on a contractual basis. She was already working for two years as a sales clerk in a boutique shop and was up for regularization until she got pregnant and was forced to resign.

“They terminated my contract because I’m pregnant. Their policy is that a sales clerk should be single,” Doydoy said.

Acosta-Doydoy worked for various companies. She worked for five months as a cashier at Value Point supermarket, but her contract was not renewed. She worked at an electronics firm for five months and her contract was never renewed. She worked as collator in a health care company. She was removed from work nine days before her contract expired because the company terminated the services of the manpower agency that hired them. In her recent job as a coordinator, her contract was renewed three times. “They renewed my contract every five months because of my performance,” Doydoy told Bulatlat. But the company offered a maximum of three five-month contracts so she was removed again.

Doydoy is only one of the many Filipino women who have no choice but to agree to work as contractual employees. And their dire situation keeps them disempowered.

Marian & Kalai Doydoy

In the recent Gender Gap Index by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Philippines ranked ninth in countries where women are “empowered”. The Philippines is also the only Asian country to make it to the top ten.
The WEF is an independent, non-profit international organization. It is composed of top business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals and journalists. The Global Gender Gap Index was developed in 2006. It uses Gender Gap subindexes such as economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment.

However, Gabriela said the system of ranking is misleading. The WEF uses quantitative measures without looking into the qualitative aspects. In the category of economic participation and opportunity, for example, it merely computes how many women are in the workforce without considering how they are being treated in the workplace.

Lana Linaban, secretary general of Gabriela said WEF’s figures might be accurate but it does not dig into the real situation of women. “The WEF concluded that the gender gap is getting narrower and that there is equality between men are women but in reality that is not what is happening. Additional burden such as child rearing, doing household chores and abuses are not looked into in the survey.”
.... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/10/23/gender-gap-index-not-reflective-of-true-state-of-women-in-the-country-%E2%80%93-gabriela/

They Grieved Then Took on the Struggle for Justice Published on October 21, 2010

They Grieved Then Took on the Struggle for Justice

Published on October 21, 2010

“Who would continue their tasks? The dead could no longer speak. It is us, the ones they left behind, who must carry on what they had started,” said Evangeline Hernandez, mother of slain human rights defender Benjaline “Beng” Hernandez and chairwoman of Hustisya!
By RONALYN V. OLEA

Bulatlat.com
MANILA – After a loved one became a victim of extrajudicial killing, how does one go on with life?

For Evangeline Hernandez, losing a daughter has led her to a meaningful cause. For Ernan Baldomero, the death of his father became a wakeup call.

Nanay Evan, as what her colleagues call her, 50, is the mother of Benjaline “Beng” Hernandez who was killed along with three others in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato on April 5, 2002. Beng was then deputy secretary general of Karapatan-Southern Mindanao Region and vice president for Mindanao of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP). In a recent decision, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) held the Philippine government accountable for her death.

From a Small Entrepreneur to a Human Rights Activist

Nanay Evan holds a photograph of slain daughter Beng Hernandez.(Photo by Ronalyn V. Olea / bulatlat.com)

Ernan, meanwhile, is the second of the five children of Fernando Baldomero. Fernando, municipal councilor of Lezo, Aklan and provincial chairman of Bayan Muna, was gunned down on July 5 in front of his residence in Kalibo, Aklan.

Nanay Evan and Ernan met at the first national assembly of Hustisya! (United for Justice), an organization of relatives of victims of extrajudicial killings.

Before Beng was killed, Nanay Evan was preoccupied with their small food business in Davao City. Nanay Evan knew of Beng’s activism, when she was still a student at the Ateneo de Davao University. “That time, I was not politically conscious. I could not understand why she had to do those things,” Nanay Evan told Bulatlat in an interview....MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/10/21/they-grieved-then-took-on-the-struggle-for-justice/

Kin of Victims of Killings, Disappearances Hit Aquino Gov’t for Inaction on Rights Cases

Kin of Victims of Killings, Disappearances Hit Aquino Gov’t for Inaction on Rights Cases

Published on October 21, 2010
“I had hoped that my father’s case would be the first and the last case of extrajudicial killing but the culture of impunity is still here. There has been no effort from the President to stop the killings. His inaction has allowed the killings to go on,” Ernan, son of Fernando Baldomero, first victim of extrajudicial killing under the Aquino government, said.

By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Ernan, second of the five children of Fernando Baldomero, was monitoring the radio that morning of July 5. Although he knew his father was a target of the military, hearing the news about his father being shot at by gunmen still shocked him.

Fernando, a municipal councilor of Lezo and provincial chairperson of Bayan Muna, was shot dead in front of his house in Estancia, Kalibo while preparing to bring his son Karl Philip to school.

“My father and brother were riding on a motorcycle when the gunman went near them and shot my father on his left shoulder, then on his chin,” Ernan told Bulatlat. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Karl Philip, 12, was unhurt but traumatized.

Ernan said the military was behind the killing. “He has been receiving death threats. Officers of the 3rd ID [Infantry Division], in their radio program, have publicly labeled him as the leader of the ‘communist-terrorist movement’ in Aklan,” Ernan said..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/10/21/kin-of-victims-of-killings-disappearances-hit-aquino-govt-for-inaction-on-rights-cases/

Foreign Mining Companies Deceive, Force People to Agree to Operations

Foreign Mining Companies Deceive, Force People to Agree to Operations

Published on October 18, 2010
The results of two environmental investigative missions belie the declaration of President Benigno S. Aquino III that local communities would decide whether to allow mining operations in their area or not. In South Cotabato, Aquino was reported to have mediated to reverse the decision of the local government disallowing mining in their jurisdiction.

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — Contrary to President Benigno S. Aquino III’s 100th day report, mining projects have been supported and allowed by the national government despite the strong opposition from communities.
Aquino earlier said local communities will decide if they will allow mining projects in their area but results of the two environmental missions led by Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) revealed otherwise.

The second mission was held last Sept. 10-12 in Cagayan province where various small scale mining companies are operating in different areas in the province. (Photo courtesy of CEC / bulatlat.com)

The first environmental investigative mission was held Aug. 26 to 28 in Davao Del Sur and Sultan Kudarat, site of the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project. Australian based mining firm Xtrata-Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) owns 62 percent of the project.

The second mission was held Sept. 10 to 12 in Cagayan province where various small mining companies are operating in different areas. The results of the two missions were presented in a press conference Oct. 11.

“Results of our investigations show those foreign mining corporations and their local partners either deceived or forced the people to accept their mining projects,” Clemente Bautista Jr. of the Kalikasan PNE said.
.... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/10/18/mining-companies-deceive-force-people-to-agree-to-mining-operations/

Military envoys’ foreign postings scored By Michaela P. del Callar 10/23/2010

NOY GOING GMA WAY—CAREER DIPLOMATS

Military envoys’ foreign postings scored

By Michaela P. del Callar 10/23/2010

No change is forthcoming in the case of the new administration’s appointments of ambassadors plucked from the circle of retired military officers.

President Aquino’s appointment of retired military generals as ambassadors only continues a practice of his unpopular predecessor that was widely criticized by the political opposition then — now making up the new administration — disgruntled career diplomats of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

Aquino has appointed former Armed Forces Chief of Staff Nestor Ochoa as envoy to Brunei and re-appointed retired Gen. Noe Wong as ambassador to Cambodia.

Ochoa succeeded Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit, who retired a year early on June 22, 2010 after then President-elect Aquino said he would replace Bangit.

Talk then was that Aquino had that early offered an ambassadorship to Ochoa to enable him to appoint his choice for AFP chief of staff.

This was also the practice of the former President, as she was known to offer ambassadorships to military generals in exchange for their early retirement to enable her to appoint other generals to generals who opt to retire early..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101023hed1.html

DoJ chief no longer keen on task force hunt for Lacson 10/23/2010

DoJ chief no longer keen on task force hunt for Lacson

10/23/2010
With President Aquino making it clear that finding fugitive Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson is not his priority, his Justice Secretary Leila de Lima appears to have lost interest in getting a special task force to hunt down Lacson, who went to ground just before a warrant for his arrest for the double murder case of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emanuel Corbito was ordered and he has evaded the long arm of the law for almost a year now.

De Lima scrapped the idea of forming a special task force to hunt Lacson but appears amenable to the idea of giving a cash reward to any informant who can give any information that would lead to the arrest of the fugitive lawmaker.

Aquino, while in Isabela, told reporters that hunting down Lacson was not a priority, claiming that he was currently focused on solving problems brought about by typhoon “Juan.”

“My priority are the problems we have today that have created damage to the Philippines, whether it is a natural disaster, crime incidents such as kidnapping,” he was quoted in reports as saying.

as kidnapping,” he was quoted in reports as saying.

“Shall I drop all my concentration here and attend to Senator Lacson? I don’t think you’d argue with that,” Aquino retorted.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101023hed2.html

Knifeman kills three in Zamboanga school attack 10/23/2010

Knifeman kills three in Zamboanga school attack

10/23/2010
ZAMBOANGA — An ex-convict burst into a school in the southern Philippines and stabbed three people to death before being killed himself yesterday, a police official said.

The knife-wielding man killed a teacher, a 12-year-old schoolgirl and an elderly man and wounded at least six other persons in a school just outside the southern city of Zamboanga, said Senior Supt. Edwin de Ocampo.
“The suspect reportedly went inside the classroom, then stabbed the teacher in the chest, then stabbed two other teachers and two students,” De Ocampo, the city police director, told reporters.

He then tried to enter other classrooms, stabbing more people along the way, De Ocampo said.

The female teacher and one of her students were killed, along with the girl’s grandfather who was visiting at the time. Two other teachers and four more students were also wounded in the attack, De Ocampo added.

As the terrified students took refuge in a bathroom, local residents rushed to the scene and battered the attacker to death with large stones, De Ocampo said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101023hed3.html

‘Juan’ death toll up; ‘Katring’ likely to spare RP — Pagasa 10/23/2010

‘Juan’ death toll up; ‘Katring’ likely to spare RP — Pagasa

10/23/2010
The death toll from super typhoon “Juan,” which roared across the country earlier this week, rose to 36 yesterday, authorities said.

The typhoon slammed into the northern part of Luzon last Monday, ripping roofs off houses, toppling power lines and nearly destroying some coastal villages.

With wind gusts of 260 kilometers per hour, it was the strongest typhoon recorded anywhere in the world this year.

Data from the Red Cross showed 36 persons had been confirmed killed, mostly in the north of Luzon, up from a toll of 27 on Thursday, while the Camp Aguinaldo-based National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said there were 26.

The NDRRMC added that injured persons also increased to 34.

Damage to property went up to almost P8 billion with agricultural sector registering P7.548 billion destruction, mostly in the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela and Pangasinan.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101023hed4.html

Palace bows to SC ruling on toll hike 10/23/2010

Palace bows to SC ruling on toll hike

10/23/2010
Malacañang yesterday said it will abide by the recent Supreme Court decision lifting the temporary restraining order (TRO) it had previously issued against the planned 250-percent toll rate increase by the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) in South Luzon Expressway (Slex).

It also urged the public and other sectors concerned to stay levelheaded amid concerns that the effects of the SC ruling might escalate to other industries that are relying on this and other major
thoroughfares.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda advised citizens to “wait and see” for the time being since the option to file a motion for reconsideration remains open for the complaining parties and the TRB is yet to determine toll rate increases following the high court ruling.

He added he will immediately confer with Transportation Secretary Jose de Jesus on the repercussions of the SC decision including the date of the effectivity of the adjusted toll rates.

“We would like to (make an) appeal to the public… Let us not feel so agitated (because of this development). I know that the concerns are there. I know that we have fears on the possible domino effect (to other industries once the 250-percent toll hike in Slex is implemented). But consider what happened to Nlex (North Luzon Expressway). There has been a huge improvement there and over time, people realize its benefits — people were willing to accept it,” Lacierda explained at a news conference addressing the complaining parties.
.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101023hed5.html

De Lima waits for Noynoy’s instructions on ‘Morong 43’ 10/23/2010

De Lima waits for Noynoy’s instructions on ‘Morong 43’

10/23/2010
Department of Justice (DoJ) Secretary Leila de Lima yesterday said she had already reviewed the case of the so-called “Morong 43” but added that she needed the approval of President Aquino before implementing any of her recommendations.

De Lima made this statement shortly after meeting with family members and supporters of the group, which includes Karapatan acting secretary general Jigs Clamor.

Clamor and other family members of the group visited the DoJ chief in an effort to expedite the release of their loved ones who are presently detained in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig.

He thanked De Lima for initiating to review the case of the detained health workers and hopes that government prosecutors will withdraw the charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives filed against the “Morong 43”, including his wife, Dr. Merry Clamor.

The DoJ chief said that she told family members to have more patience as the President is still reflecting on her recommendations..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20101023nat7.html

Mt. Olympus syndrome EDITORIAL 10/22/2010

Mt. Olympus syndrome

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

10/22/2010
The overarching impression on the Aquino administration is one of hubris and a feel of being Triton among minnows.

The likes of Noynoy and his self-righteous bunch at the Liberal Party, Ging Deles, Armin Luistro, Coco Quisumbing, Edwin Lacierda, Sonny Coloma and many others frequently cross path with people who do not subscribe to their self proclaimed righteous path pitch, including critics of the administration and members of the media.


These people cannot be blamed, however. Their character stock has been molded right out of the people power model of the so-called civil society from which sprung Edsa l and ll that first installed Cory Aquino, mother of Noynoy, and then Gloria, the claimed mother of all corrupt practices.

In both Edsa episodes, the so-called civil socialites, a euphemism for the conspirators of both extra-constitutional power grabs, were able to wrestle control of government without the benefit of a popular vote..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101022com1.html

Gets mo na Noy? FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 10/22/2010

Gets mo na Noy?

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

10/22/2010
As pointed out by Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona in his speech in a Philconsa gathering, a hostile Executive Branch will not stop the judiciary from upholding its mandate under the Constitution, which is the power of judicial review.

As he put it: “When the Supreme Court invokes its power of judicial review, it does not assert its moral or constitutional ascendancy over the other two co-equal branches of government. It only reminds all and sundry of the non-negotiable supremacy of the Constitution,” adding that while the judiciary may not have either the power of the sword as wielded by the executive or the purse as controlled by Congress, “it wields the power of the pen or the authority to interpret the Constitution and the laws.”

The key word of course is authority, something that is denied a president when it comes to judicial matters.
Gets mo na Noy?

The fact alone that Noynoy’s solicitor-general and even his officials named as respondents by petitioners, have to go to the high court whenever ordered to comment on petitions, is already sufficient evidence that in such matters concerning the interpretation of the law, they know they have to defer to the high court for a ruling of an issue, because this is the constitutional power vested in the judiciary.

Noynoy and his officials, as well as his sip-sip followers in the legal profession claim that, as Noynoy is president, he has the right and the power to appoint his officials and officers in the Executive Branch..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101022com2.html

For Palestinian snake charmer, pythons are part of the family FEATURE 10/22/2010

For Palestinian snake charmer, pythons are part of the family

FEATURE

10/22/2010
RAMALLAH — A lot of fathers would prefer their two-year-old daughters not to ride a giant Burmese python down the street like a pony — but not Jamal Amwasi of Ramallah.
The 35-year-old Palestinian civil servant is the proud owner of more than a dozen snakes, including several large pythons, all of which live in a shed a few meters (yards) from his home in the occupied West Bank.

“These snakes have become part of the family. Every morning and every night I check up on them and feed them,” he says.

Amwasi stands out in the West Bank, where pets of any kind are rare and snakes are mostly viewed as farm pests. His experience has made him the leading local authority on the reptiles.

As a boy, Amwasi would hunt birds and gazelles in the surrounding hills, a pastime that eventually led him to snakes..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101022com3.html

Apprehensions NO HOLDS BARRED Armida Siguion-Reyna 10/22/2010

Apprehensions

NO HOLDS BARRED

Armida Siguion-Reyna

10/22/2010
NEW YORK — Thanks to technology, we know what’s going on in Manila. That Trillanes and company were pardoned by P-Noy, almost soon as the amnesty papers were signed. That Sen. Joker Arroyo is upset by it, as is Sen. Miriam Santiago. That sila na ang magka-level ngayon, as a text joke supposedly goes. That at the rate Senator Arroyo has been sounding far from the Senator Arroyo young people used to idolize, it’s Senator Santiago who is embarrassed to be mentioned in the same breath as he.

The Morong 43 have not been released despite the many groups of international NGOs and lawyers praying for such, as well as the countless editorials and op-ed columns pointing out, as Conrado de Quiros did, that “It was the leftist rebels, more than the military ones, who fought GMA with a passion for the last nine years, for which they paid a terrible price.”

In the city that never sleeps, we get e-mail, we get texts, we get Facebook, we get media updates, and here I take the opportunity to congratulate whoever has given this paper’s Web site a facelift; the font’s much clearer and bigger, too.

But back to the neither-here-nor-there feeling that one has, shortly before flying back. What’s chismis and what’s fact is hard to tell when you’re abroad. The country’s top bachelor’s confirmed to have broken up with his girlfriend and is rumored to be “an item” with a very stylish woman. His usually loquacious sister is mum about it, and observers say it’s when she’s quiet that she also says a lot, so there..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101022com4.html

RP’s currency and socio-political puzzle DIE HARD III Herman Tiu Laurel 10/22/2010

RP’s currency and socio-political puzzle

DIE HARD III

Herman Tiu Laurel

10/22/2010
In June 2010, South Korea and Indonesia issued several currency policy measures. The former announced a series of controls to protect its economy from external shocks while the latter devised ways of capping short-term capital inflows and outflows. Earlier in October 2009, Brazil instituted a 2 percent tax on foreign portfolio investments. During this period, Taiwan also restricted overseas investors from buying time deposits.

The Philippines, in contrast, has being the doing the reverse under the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s open mole, Cesar Purisima, by ushering in the flood of foreign moneys. In particular, Purisima exempted the dollar bond disguised as the “peso bond” from any taxes because, according to him, the bond “…has to be structured in such a way that there will be no tax issues.”

So with our gates wide open to predatory finance, the Shylocks that deluge the local market with dollars that couldn’t even earn 1 percent domestically are in today for a bonanza with Purisima’s 5 to over to 6 percent interest! Why, the IMF gofer even proclaims, “Our position is that we (the government) take the tax exposure.”

And yet, what he doesn’t say is that deluging the local market with dollars further appreciates the peso, causing our OFWs and exporters to get less pesos for the dollars they earn; thus, depressing their lives and incomes as well as those of others, such as the BPO sector.

And as Philippine exports are made more expensive in the international market, imports will become cheaper and more purchases from abroad will be made, which will depress our local industries even more, putting a great deal more pressure on social and national equitability. Already, we are hearing the cries of our OFWs and exporters.

Leaders everywhere are worried, too. Brazil’s Finance Minister Guido Mantega declares: “We are in the midst of an international currency war, a general weakening of currency. This threatens us because it takes away our competitiveness.”

Today is an era of shrinking global demand. Issuers of reserve currencies, such as the US, adopt monetary expansion to cheapen their exports while non-issuers, such as Brazil, correctly respond with currency intervention. Those who do not do so, such as the Philippines, only find their currencies soaring to their detriment.

Brazil is touted today as one of the best stories of impressive economic growth. This is attributed, first of all, to the growth of its domestic production capacity, whereby products, such as cars and other vehicles, produced in Brazil are substituted for imports; and second, to the massive surge in Brazilian raw material sales to China — which mean a further breaking away from US and Western diktats on politics, finance, and the economy.

Purisima is leading this country into its final financial and economic ruin, and that is not surprising for one whose loyalty is to the foreign financial powers, and not the Filipino nation. He remains a governor of the World Bank (WB) Group and the Asian Development Bank and alternate governor for the IMF for the country, as one recent editorial of the Tribune revealed. So why would he bat an eyelash in sacrificing the welfare of this nation to prop up the US dollar, as we are seeing him do today?

It is the supreme irony that treason — both political and economic — not only goes unpunished but is richly rewarded; while patriotism and nationalism such as that of Senator Trillanes continues to be punished by the system (although we are happy that the Senate has finally concurred with the amnesty, over the dead political body of Joker Arroyo).

We have been educating our people to be concerned about the nation’s financial and monetary policies over politics and personalities. With regularity, we have brought our readers back to the time of Presidents Quirino and Garcia when capital and currency controls spurred a fledgling program of Philippine industrialization to gain a headstart over the rest of Asia.

These policies have to be restored to restore economic justice to our people. Only then can domestic agriculture and industry, not to mention employment and growth, be revived.

Aquino III’s government is a puppet regime of the US and the IMF, having several IMF-WB and US Embassy lackeys appointed to every key position in the Cabinet. It will not be more than two years before this predation and its disastrous impact will compel the people to react explosively to compel a reversal of policies.

The zarzuela between the “warring” Aquino III and Gloria Arroyo camps is exposed in the charades, such as in the meeting between the Budget chief with Arroyo supposedly to clarify the “cash transfer” program’s operations, the basis of which both are actually in agreement over. All told, these players are simply part of the continuing implementation of the US and Western plan of institutionalizing mendicancy in our people.

The Truth Commission of Davide is another such distraction. As we can see, it is clearly obfuscating the real issues against the Arroyo regime by stirring the pot with extraneous cases, such as Manuel Villar’s alleged budget-land manipulation schemes. The Davide commission is obviously intending to divert the cases away from the courts where they should be pursued, and with a certainty of success over time. But truth will out, as it now appears in the Glorietta bombing case.

Retired Army Col. Allan Sollano, Army Explosive and Ordnance Disposal unit leader at the Glorietta blast scene last Tuesday reaffirmed his original findings: “From… the dome in the roof of the basement and the damaged steel ladder… it was caused by a very, very powerful blast effect of a high explosive.”

He also recounted a meeting in Malacañang, attended by his men, where Gloria Arroyo supposedly told the generals to make the Glorietta blast a methane gas explosion. So it’s absolutely strange that the FBI team sent by the US concurred with the methane gas theory. Was there a quid pro quo there?

Gloria’s Noberto Gonzales was acting Defense chief at that time and destabilization was suspected. The massive defeat in May 2007 of Gloria’s senatorial slate was followed by the beheading of over a dozen Marines in Basilan in July. Two months later, the Glorietta blast occurred. It happened just days after Fidel Ramos issued veiled threats against Gloria that went kaput after the blast. And in November, a bomb exploded in Congress, killing Gonzales’ buddy and suspected brains behind the Basilan massacre, Rep. Wahab Akbar. Oh, how the pieces are coming together!

(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch “Privatization of Irrigation” on Politics Today, 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., Tuesday, on Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

(Reprinted with permission from Mr. Herman Tiu-Laurel)

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101022com5.html

Sumo: A Japanese passion catches on in Europe FEATURE 10/22/2010

Sumo: A Japanese passion catches on in Europe

FEATURE

10/22/2010
WARSAW — A world away from Tokyo, sumo is alive, well and winning popularity. In a large gymnasium at a sports center in the Polish capital Warsaw, workers create a dohyo, or Sumo arena, using 26 tons of clay.

Meanwhile in an adjoining room, young boys with blond and chestnut hair practice the sumo moves of their hefty heroes, dragging their feet towards their coach, legs apart, knees bent and hands clasped in front.

Hundreds of young Poles are now learning sumo, as the ancient Japanese form of wrestling wins popularity in eastern Europe. Warsaw even recently hosted the world amateur sumo championships.

“My brother encouraged me and I’m glad he did,” says Aleksander, a round-faced, blue-eyed, nine-year-old towhead weighing in at 29 kilograms (63 pounds)..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101022com6.html

Bollywood looks for Diwali success focus 10/22/2010

Bollywood looks for Diwali success

focus

10/22/2010
MUMBAI — Bollywood is gearing up for a slew of new releases over the Hindu festival of Diwali, with expectations high that they will provide some cheer after a lackluster year at the box office.

At least 10 big films are due to hit the screens in the coming weeks, with hopes of success pinned on the comedy Golmaal 3 and the time-travel romance Action Replayy (eds: correct) that will be released on Diwali itself on Nov. 5.

Like the Christmas period for Hollywood, Diwali has traditionally been seen as a money-spinner for India’s Hindi-language film industry, as studios look to attract the holiday crowd with well-trailed movies featuring big name stars.

Industry watchers estimate that Bollywood could make four billion rupees ($90 million) by the end of the year..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101022com7.html

PTC must probe Code-NGO scam By Angie M. Rosales 10/22/2010

PTC must probe Code-NGO scam

By Angie M. Rosales 10/22/2010

What’s good for the goose, must also be good for the gander, the goose being a former president, while the gander would be her former allies, but are now members of the Aquino Cabinet.

The Philippine Truth Commission (PTC), a creation of President Aquino, has been claimed by its appointed chairman, former Supreme Court Chief Justice and former President Arroyo’s appointee to the United States as the country’s permanent representative, Justice Hilario Davide Jr., as not only focusing on the charges against Arroyo, but would include also the complaint against Sen. Manuel Villar on the C-5 controversy.

Now a senator wants the PTC to also look into the transaction that was participated in by some current Cabinet officials of President Aquino in the alleged rigged auction of government bonds in the early days of the Arroyo administration.

Sen. Edgardo Angara yesterday said the fact-finding body set up to investigate alleged anomalies committed during the previous administration, should also include the so-called PEACe Bonds controversy, the alleged multibillion-peso scam where the group called Caucus of Development NGO Networks (Code-NGO) earned a windfall profit of over P1 billion, tax-free for the floating of the P10-billion bond..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101022hed1.html

DoJ chief: Unseen hands hiding Ping; Noy: Lacson case not a priority By Benjamin B. Pulta and Pat C. Santos 10/22/2010

DoJ chief: Unseen hands hiding Ping; Noy: Lacson case not a priority

By Benjamin B. Pulta and Pat C. Santos 10/22/2010

For Justice chief Leila de Lima, the department’s inability in finding fugitive Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson is an embarrassment and she may create a special task force to hunt him down, as she is certain “unseen hands” are helping Lacson hide.

But for President Aquino, finding Lacson and bringing him to justice is not a priority, as he was quoted as telling reporters in calamity-stricken Isabela yesterday.

Aquino claimed he is currently focused on solving problems brought about by typhoon “Juan.”

“My priority are the problems we have today that have created damage to the Philippines, whether it is a natural disaster, crime incidents such as kidnapping,” he was quoted in reports as saying..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101022hed2.html

Ex-senator joins call for Deles’ ouster By Gerry Baldo and Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/22/2010

Ex-senator joins call for Deles’ ouster

By Gerry Baldo and Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/22/2010

Former Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. yesterday called on President Aquino to seriously consider the resolution passed by members of Congress to junk Secretary Teresita Deles of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process for the sake of peace in Mindanao.

According to Pimentel, the peace efforts of the government will not be successful without the cooperation of the Mindanao lawmakers whom Deles had allegedly maligned.

“In my view, the Executive should consider that (reso-lution) seriously for the sake of peace efforts in Mindanao. This won’t be successful without the cooperation of the Mindanao lawmakers,” Pimentel said yesterday.

He was one of the guest panelists at the weekly Usaping Balita Media Forum at the Serye Restaurant in Quezon Circle in Quezon City..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101022hed3.html

Angara takes a dig at Aquino By Angie M. Rosales 10/22/2010

Angara takes a dig at Aquino

By Angie M. Rosales 10/22/2010

Four days may have already passed since the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council’s (NDRRMC) meeting where President Aquino, who was supposed to preside, was a no-show but the incident did not come to pass with some keen observers.

One of them was Sen. Edgardo Angara as he took a dig at the Chief Executive by comparing the manner in which Chilean President Sebastian Piñera played his role in the successful rescue of miners, all 33 of them who were trapped half a mile, for almost 70 days, beneath Atacama desert.

“Isn’t it embarrassing that we tried to rescue people and we ended up killing all of them? Whereas Chile, tried to rescue 33 people and they rescued 33 people? The stark contrast is really discomforting. The right in being a Filipino, that is whatis the essence (of the issue),” the senator said during the weekly Kapihan sa Senado, in comparing the two governments’ handling of crisis that caught international media attention.

“The hostage (crisis), that’s really embarrassing because it was televised. In Chile, it was also televised but you feel a sense of pride, you realize that this Chilean government is so smart, intelligent..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101022hed4.html

Noynoy-SC showdown looms By Aytch de la Cruz 10/22/2010

Noynoy-SC showdown looms

By Aytch de la Cruz 10/22/2010

It appears that President Aquino is bent on arranging a showdown with the Supreme Court (SC) as he matched fire with fire after Chief Justice Renato Corona’s description of a hostile Executive Branch the other day, saying yesterday that he is keeping his hardline position that the SC’s issuance of a status quo ante order on the Executive Order (EO) 2 was an interference with the affairs of the President.

Aquino, thus, merely shrugged off Corona’s assertion of the power of the pen of the judiciary, which he said will not allow itself to be intimidated in upholding its constitutional mandate.

Aquino told reporters yesterday that nothing has changed insofar as his position is concerned with respect to the rulings handed down by the high court lately which he described as clear interference in the affairs of its co-equal branches of government.

Apart from the status quo ante order on EO 2, which sought to terminate all so-called midnight appointees of former President Arroyo, Aquino said the same position applies to an SC ruling on the impeachment proceedings against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez at the House of Representatives..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101022hed5.html

10 killed in Cotabato bus explosion 10/22/2010

10 killed in Cotabato bus explosion

10/22/2010
At least 10 persons were killed when a bomb exploded inside a packed passenger bus in Cotabato province yesterday, a ranking military official said.

Quoting initial reports from the field, Army 6th Infantry Division (ID) chief Maj. Gen. Anthony Alcantara said an unknown improvised explosive device (IED) exploded inside a Rural Transit Bus with body number 2284 driven by Arlan Tadio.

Alcantara said eight persons died on the spot while at least six others were rushed to local
hospitals after sustaining wounds during the blast.

Two more victims reportedly died while undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

The Army official added the passenger bus, which came from Tacurong City and bound for Cagayan de Oro City, was traversing along the national highway in Barangay Dalapitan, Matalam town around 10:30 a.m. when the explosion occurred..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101022hed6.html

Dissenters in SC plagiarism ruling: Sanctions undermine court’s honesty By Benjamin B. Pulta 10/22/2010

Dissenters in SC plagiarism ruling: Sanctions undermine court’s honesty

By Benjamin B. Pulta 10/22/2010

Dissenting magistrates said the Supreme Court (SC) is doing a great disservice to its cause in covering up what was clearly a case of plagiarism in its decision to turn down a suit filed by Filipino women who were used as sex slaves during the Japanese occupation.

Associate Justice Lourdes Sereno said the SC ruling ordering contempt raps for the UP College of Law professors undermines honesty in learned discourse by claiming no wrong had been committed.
“What is so grievous about this whole contempt proceeding is that it comes in the wake of the gross injury that the Court has inflicted upon the virtue of honesty in learned discourses by labeling plagiarism as not plagiarism in the related case involving one of its members.

“With all due respect to my colleagues, it is not the place of the Court to seek revenge against those who, in their wish to see reform in the judiciary, have the courage to say what is wrong with it. The Court finds its legitimacy in demonstrating its moral vein case after case, not in flaunting its judicial brawn. There is nothing to be gained for the administration of justice in not letting his one instance pass just because feelings have been hurt and the urge to retaliate must be satisfied.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20101022nat1.html

Sugar better than vinegar EDITORIAL 10/21/2010

Sugar better than vinegar

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

10/21/2010
As Noynoy Aquino is confrontational and arrogant, so is his spokesman, Edwin Lacierda.

Reacting to the issue of members of the House of Representatives calling for the resignation of another equally arrogant Cabinet Secretary Teresita Deles, the presidential adviser on the peace process, with their call being ignored, Lacierda added fuel to the fire by saying that Malacañang does not buy the story of Rep. Fatima Dimaporo that she was yelled at by Deles after getting furious over her questions during Congress’ budget deliberations.

He said it was not Deles who started the problem but Dimaporo herself with the aid of Davao del Sur Rep. Marc Douglas Cagas who Lacierda said issued a different narration of facts to the media that obviously pictured Deles as the villain in the story.

Lacierda claimed to have witnesses to corroborate their statements on what exactly happened between Deles and Dimaporo last week. He also belied perceptions that Deles by nature is a grumpy lady and has a hard time getting along with anyone..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101021com1.html

Standard for one but not for all FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 10/21/2010

Standard for one but not for all

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

10/21/2010
With suggestions that presidential aunt in law Tingting Cojuangco should replace Peace Adviser Teresita Deles, who has been called by many members of the House of Representatives to resign due to her arrogance and condescending and superior attitude toward the congressmen in replying to questions during her budget hearing, the presidential spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, invoked the anti-nepotism rule in thumbing down the suggestion, saying that it would be impossible for Aquino to heed the solons’ advice and sack Deles to make room for his aunt-in-law because of the existing provision in the Constitution that forbids any sitting President from appointing his or her relatives to national offices.

“It’s against the Constitution. She is within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity with the President and therefore you cannot appoint her to a position. It’s against the Constitution and Sulu Rep. Tupay Loong maybe was not aware of the constitutional prohibition on relatives in government,” Lacierda said, also condescendingly.

Lacierda however, failed to satisfactorily explain why Tingting Cojuangco continues to hold on to her position as president of the board of trustees in the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC), an umbrella organization under the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), while her husband, Peping, is still at the helm of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC)..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101021com2.html

China’s next leader a political mystery man ANALYSIS 10/21/2010

China’s next leader a political mystery man

ANALYSIS

10/21/2010
BEIJING — Xi Jinping, the man who would be China’s next leader, is a market-friendly but politically enigmatic figure whose weak power base may prevent him putting a stamp on the nation for some time, analysts say.

China’s vice president appeared to have his path to power in 2013 cleared on Monday when the all-powerful Communist Party named him to a military post seen as the final medal on the next leader’s chest.

His ascension to vice chairman of the Central Military Commission — the country’s top military body — will set off three years of scrutiny into what type of man Xi is politically, but so far observers have little to go on.
The son of a revolutionary hero, Xi, 57, is widely seen as friendly to market reform from his years as the top party boss in China’s financial hub Shanghai and the economically dynamic eastern provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian.

“He is very market-friendly and it is highly likely that he would speak on behalf of the middle class and private sector and deal with state monopolies,” said Cheng Li, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a US think-tank..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101021com3.html

Power crisis now at hand BLURBAL THRUSTS Louie Logarta 10/21/2010

Power crisis now at hand

BLURBAL THRUSTS

Louie Logarta

10/21/2010
The National Press Club (NPC) is going to ask Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, in behalf of one of its members, to sanction an enterprising fiscal in Pangasinan province for allegedly lawyering for the accused in an “acts of lasciviousness” case.

We are told that in the process, a huge amount of moolah was supposed to have exchanged hands. So what else is new?

Aside from this, NPC legal counsels are also suggesting a simultaneous petition for disbarment with the Supreme Court because the concerned fiscal had acted unethically in using his/her powerful position in the prosecutor’s office to try and influence the outcome of the case to the liking of the accused.

All this stems from an urgent letter to the NPC from a longtime member seeking assistance in the criminal complaint for “attempted rape” she had lodged against a media colleague last year.

“I appeal for your help because I feel the litigation process is tilting to favor the accused who had filed a libel suit against me as a tactic to get even with me,” she said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101021com4.html

‘Above Faith’ VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 10/21/2010

‘Above Faith’

VIEWPOINTS

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

10/21/2010
No less than the holder of the highest public office in the country, in tenure wherefore of awesome governing power all over the land and likewise in command of all available personnel and possible means to execute not only the laws of the Philippines but also his official options as well as personal preferences, was described or identified as someone “Above Faith.”

This is not only an announcement that is highly dangerous but also downright frightful to people in general under such a faith-less leadership.

Among other things, when someone is said be “Above Faith,” this means that the individual concerned may say publicly correct statements but with dishonestly in the private context, may pronounce externally acceptable plans, programs and projects, yet deliberately entertains vicious or vitiated thoughts about them.

Worse, it is an imputation that does not simply mean that someone is without God but in effect even above divinity — if any. It is already perilous when an atheist relates with others who have a given faith they live with and morals they subscribe to. It is very much worst and risky when someone is not only godless also devoid of morality..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101021com5.html

The Trojan horse COMMENT 10/21/2010

The Trojan horse

COMMENT

10/21/2010
The analogy would be far from perfect, but if I dwelt on a bit of Homer’s Iliad, the Greek epic poem, I would liken our honorable Supreme Court to a Trojan horse out to secretly overthrow President “P-Noy” Aquino. Like the beautifully wrapped mythical horse, there it is: A college of 15 Trojans so handsomely shrouded in majestic black robes that beholders would gawk in reverential awe before the so-called last bastion of democracy.

Betcha by golly wow! Awesome! When the Trojan college neighs: “That’s it, P-Noy, that’s the law, follow it like a good little boy, and that’s final, okay!?” And final it is — as the judicial process would have it — leaving P-Noy limp in a dilemma, what with other GMA-led Trojans everywhere gearing up for his rapid fall from power. Or so they think!

For under the rules of the same democracy, P-Noy’s congressmen and senators have a retaliatory remedy, albeit extremely remote, in impeachment: The only constitutional way of removing Supreme Court Justices from office. Impeachment, although lacking in justifiable basis under current circumstances, nonetheless underpins a strategic threat of a potential Homeric conclusion between democracy and its enemies.

The funny thing is: What cannot be avoided is the usual scenario of two opposite sides proclaiming themselves as democracy’s champions. Ha ha ha… here we go again… the winners, either way, will be the self-proclaimed democrats ironically permitted under a shared rule of law to perpetuate an ailing democracy!
.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101021com6.html

Growing disenchantment among US Jews with Obama, Democrats focus 10/21/201

Growing disenchantment among US Jews with Obama, Democrats

focus

10/21/2010
MIAMI — American Jews, among the nation’s most reliable liberal voters, are likelier than ever to give Republicans a long hard look in upcoming elections, as enthusiasm wanes for President Barack Obama and his Democratic Party.

Unless Democrats succeed in rallying under-motivated base voters — including African Americans, young people and Jewish Americans — for the Nov. 2 polls, Republicans are given good chances of winning several governors’ seats and gaining control of one or both houses of Congress.

But here in South Florida, as well as across the United States, Obama’s popularity has fallen sharply among American Jews.

Friction between the US President and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is partly to blame.
“Obama is perceived, rightly or wrongly, of having been less supportive of Israel than previous presidents,” said Ira Sheskin, director of the Jewish Demography Project at the University of Miami..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101021com7.html

Relief workers rush aid to ‘Juan’ victims; foreign donations pour in By Mario J. Mallari and Michaela P. del Callar 10/21/2010

Relief workers rush aid to ‘Juan’ victims; foreign donations pour in

By Mario J. Mallari and Michaela P. del Callar 10/21/2010
Super typhoon “Juan” inched away from the country yesterday after killing 15 persons as relief workers scrambled to deliver aid to remote towns that were devastated by the typhoon.

Latest reports from the Camp Aguinaldo-based National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said of the 15 fatalities, seven came from Pangasinan, and one each from the provinces of Ilocos Sur, also in Region 1; Cagayan in Region 2; Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Zambales in Region 3; Kalinga, Benguet and Baguio City in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

The NDRRMC also reported that a total of 63,437 families composed of 332,299 persons were affected by the onslaught of Juan which battered Regions 1, 2 and CAR with strong winds and heavy rains since Monday.
Gov. Faustino Dy of the hardest-hit province of Isabela said residents in three coastal towns had suffered massive damage to their homes and were left with limited food supplies after huge waves washed away roads.

“Their food supply is only up to Sunday. But going there is very difficult. There is no road to reach them,” Dy told reporters in Cauayan, the closest city to the worst-hit towns.

Regional Social Welfare chief Arnel Garcia said the government planned to send food and tents to the affected towns of Maconacon, Palanan and Divilacan but that both air and sea travel were dangerous.
.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101021hed2.html

Delay seen in rebels’ release from detention 10/21/2010

Delay seen in rebels’ release from detention

10/21/2010
Protracted floor debates could delay the release from detention of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, with the likelihood of this taking place in December and not immediately when Congress resumes sessions early next month.

“My gut feel is that it could be (before Christmas),” Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona, chairman of the committee on peace, unification and reconciliation, said yesterday.

The senator was referring to the process that Presidential Proclamation No. 50 will have to go through before the plenary of the two houses of Congress, for it to be given concurrence by lawmakers and for it to take into effect.

The presidential issuance which grants amnesty to junior officers and soldiers who participated in three incidents of failed coups during the Arroyo administration will also benefit Trillanes.

“When Congress resumes sessions (in November), I will submit my committee report in the plenary and I will move that it be adopted by the Senate.

“Of course there will be a debate but I suppose it will not be a lengthy debate because in the previous (Senate).... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101021hed3.html

RP falls heavily in new press freedom ranking By Michaela P. del Callar 10/21/2010

RP falls heavily in new press freedom ranking

By Michaela P. del Callar 10/21/2010

The Philippines fell near the bottom of a watchdog’s world press freedom index after more than 30 media workers were slaughtered in an election-related Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre that also killed 27 other persons last year.

From 122nd spot in 2009, the Philippines slid 34 notches down, ranking 156th of 178 countries in the 2010 Press Freedom Index of Paris-based Reporters Without Borders/Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF).

The Philippines has long been considered a hot spot for journalists in many aspects with very few perpetrators brought to justice and media killings continue unabated.

There have been an alarming number of killings of journalists all over the country prior to that Maguindanao province attack — the single deadliest attack on media workers in the world..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101021hed4.html

Move for Deles ouster mounts By Gerry Baldo 10/21/2010

Move for Deles ouster mounts

By Gerry Baldo 10/21/2010

The move to relieve Office of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) Secretary Teresita Deles is growing even as more lawmakers yesterday poured their disgust over her actions, further fueled, others said, by the presidential spokesman’s claim that it was not Deles who was at fault but Reps. Fatima Aliah Dimaporo and Douglas Cagas, whom Malacañang had accused of having maliciously twisted the facts.

According to Camiguin Rep. Pedro Romualdo, the call for Deles to resign or be removed by President Aquino is a legitimate response to the insults heaped by the Cabinet member on members of Congress.

“The call for Deles to resign is a legitimate response of the House of Representatives against her inappropriate treatment of a member of this institution. Her action against a colleague is an affront to the institution,” Romualdo said yesterday.

He pointed out that the resolution issued by the House asking President Aquino to remove Deles from her post is tantamount to saying that Congress does not trust her..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101021hed5.html

SC chief scores ‘hostile’ Noynoy By Benjamin B. Pulta 10/21/2010

CITES TRIBUNAL’S CONSTITUTIONAL MANDATE

SC chief scores ‘hostile’ Noynoy

By Benjamin B. Pulta 10/21/2010

Without directly mentioning the name of President Aquino for his earlier blasting of the Supreme Court (SC) in issuing a status quo ante order on one alleged “midnight appointee” who had petitioned the court against Aquino’s Executive Order 2, removing her from her position, Chief Justice Renato Corona yesterday openly said that a hostile Executive Branch will not stop the judiciary from upholding its mandate under the Constitution.

In a speech during the 49th anniversary celebration of the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) at the Manila Hotel, Corona pointed out that the 1987 Constitution vested the SC with the power to review actions of co-equal branches of government.

“When the Supreme Court invokes its power of judicial review, it does not assert its moral or constitutional ascendancy over the other two co-equal branches of government. It only reminds all and sundry of the non-negotiable supremacy of the Constitution,” he said.

Corona said the judiciary may not have either the power of the sword as wielded by the executive or the purse as controlled by Congress, but “it wields the power of the pen or the authority to interpret the Constitution and the laws..”

He also said that contrary to criticisms, the judiciary does not encroach on the powers of its co-equal branches nor violate the principle of separation of powers in exercising its power of judicial review..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101021hed1.html

Malacañang ignores her reaction to enforcers’ failure to nab Lacson By Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/21/2010

Malacañang ignores her reaction to enforcers’ failure to nab Lacson

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/21/2010

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima apparently continues to be out of the Aquino loop as Malacañang yesterday practically downplayed the seeming frustration on her part to the government’s law enforcement authorities who remain utterly “clueless” on the whereabouts of Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

It has been eight months since the dormant legislator reportedly took a flight off to an undisclosed territory to escape the warrant of arrest served by the Manila Regional Trial Court last February based on witnesses’ accounts that he was allegedly the brains behind the murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000.

De Lima last Tuesday was quoted as saying that it is already “becoming an embarrassment” for the Aquino administration that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is still unable to locate Lacson which ostensibly brings almost everyone into conclusion that he is just inside the country.

She also expressed that the mere fact Lacson refuses to surface and submit himself to legal processes indicates that he is “guilty” of the charges being leveled against him by his former subordinates, Glenn Dumlao and Cezar Mancao, who incriminated him to the murders of the victims..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20101021nat1.html

Solon wants RP consulate, embassies cut By Angie M. Rosales 10/21/2010

Solon wants RP consulate, embassies cut

By Angie M. Rosales 10/21/2010

Some Philippine em-bassies and consulate offices may have to be shut down, unless the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) justifies their continued operations to help cut government expenditures.

Sen. Franklin Drilon yesterday said he had recently asked DFA Secretary Alberto Romulo to review the existence of some consular offices and embassies, vis-à-vis the standards set in the establishment of such diplomatic posts abroad.

“We are not a rich country that can just keep on opening embassies all over the place… It is as if our finances are never ending,” the senator said during a hearing on the proposed P10.98 billion DFA budget for next year.

To maintain an embassy abroad, government spends about P57 million to P125 million annually. Currently, there are 67 embassies and 23 consular offices and four missions abroad..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101021hed6.html

Dangerous argument EDITORIAL 10/20/2010

Dangerous argument

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

10/20/2010
In the matter of the amnesty grant, neophyte senator, TG Guingona, was quoted as saying that while the military rebels violated the law, in the view of many, they were following the law.

He explains that the Constitution provides that the President of the Philippines shall be elected by the people. Gloria Arroyo, now a representative in Congress, was not elected. “She cheated her way to the elections, therefore she had no legitimate claim to the Office of the President...therefore it was incumbent upon the officers of the Armed Forces to remove the usurper who has no legitimate claim on the office of the presidency. They (the mutineers) were acting in compliance, and not in defiance of the Constitution.”

That’s a pretty dangerous line of thought embraced by a senator of the republic, as it virtually gives the AFP officers and men carte blanche to rebel against a Malacañang tenant and his government anytime they are of the belief that the sitting president is a usurper and has not been elected by the people.
Stated differently, staging a coup or a mutiny is no longer a crime but a constitutional act, following Guingona’s argument..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101020com1.html

Recipe for corruption FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 10/20/2010

Recipe for corruption

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

10/20/2010
It is to his yellow allies that budgets have been increased and in the case of Dinky Soliman’s Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) budget, it is a 100 percent increase.

In other cases, budgets were slashed, and dramatically, yet not too long ago, he spoke of wanting to do justice to all Filipinos, but he slashed the budget for the judiciary — mainly because he is allergic to the Supreme Court owing to the appointment of Chief Justice Renato Corona, instead of his choice, which would have been either Justice Antonio Carpio, or his cousin, Conchita Carpio Morales.

In the case of the Vice President’s budget, this too, was slashed in half, along with his budget for the housing department, part of which went — not surprisingly — to Soliman again. So what does the DSWD have to do with housing?

And oh yes, there too went part of VP Jojo Binay’s housing budget to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), which really should have nothing to do with housing..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101020com2.html

Gaza tunnelers turn former lifeline into export channel FEATURE 10/20/2010

Gaza tunnelers turn former lifeline into export channel

FEATURE

10/20/2010
RAFAH—The workers herd cows through the dusty tunnels beneath the Gaza border, but this time they are leading them out of the isolated Palestinian enclave and into Egypt.
The lifting of restrictions in recent months has seen consumer goods pour into the Hamas-run territory through Israeli crossings, transforming the tunnels that once served as a lifeline for Gaza into its sole export channel.

The tunnels are still used for smuggling in construction materials that Israel only allows to enter via authorized crossings for projects carried out under international supervision.

But the canvas sacks full of food, beauty products and second-hand clothes that used to be dragged through hundreds of tunnels beneath the border now flow the other way in a lucrative trade conducted by an entrepreneurial few.

“We reversed our trade since the easing of the Israeli blockade and now we export,” said a tunnel operator who goes by Abu Jamil..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101020com3.html

‘Good for the poor, bad for poverty’ C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 10/20/2010

‘Good for the poor, bad for poverty’

C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S

Jonathan De la Cruz

10/20/2010
Romulo Paes Souza, executive secretary of the Brazil Social Development Ministry, the agency tasked to implement the much heralded federal anti-poverty program “Bolsa Familias” cautioned one and all that the plan is not a “magic bullet.” Souza was quoted as having said: “It has helped a lot of our people but it is not going to lift Brazil’s ‘poorest of the poor’ in one sweep or even in the immediate future. It gives them time and the will to battle ‘old poverty’, i.e.., lack of food and basic services, but have to do much more as they also have to battle ‘new poverty,’ i.e., drug addiction, violence, family breakdown and environmental degradation, at the same time. That is the irony of it all. It has done a lot of good but much more needs to be done to lift the millions out of their poverty.”

Souza’s assessment parallels that of a host of Brazilian economists and analysts who described the Bolsa Familias’ plan as a “double edged sword” — good for the poor but bad for poverty. The group going by the name Progresium noted that the program has been used by the outgoing Lula regime as a means to endear itself to the Brazilian masses in a calculated move to perpetuate itself in power. It has succeeded in large measure because it was tied up with a kind of “windfall tax” on a number of goods and services which provided, together with loans from the World Bank, the means by which the program got by. To them, this is an unsustainable proposition especially if it results in the diversion of resources from the core units addressing the basic problems associated with the plague of poverty. Worse, it induces a culture of passivity and laziness both antithetical to the very notion of empowering the poor and getting them to lift themselves and the families by their bootstraps..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101020com4.html

US parties aim big guns at knife-edge California FEATURE 10/20/2010

US parties aim big guns at knife-edge California

FEATURE

10/20/2010
ANAHEIM — US President Barack Obama is due in California this week, as his Democrats and their Republican rivals aim their big guns at the Sunshine State, facing knife-edge polls on Nov. 2.

Former President Bill Clinton brought his star power to Los Angeles this weekend, followed closely by Republican “Grizzly Mama”-in-chief Sarah Palin, who roused the faithful at a packed rally in Orange Country, south of LA.

The Republicans are fighting tooth and nail to help wrest power from the Democrats in crucial mid-term polls — and also to elect another Republican to succeed former film star Arnold Schwarzenegger as California governor.

The most populous state in the United States and one of its most socially liberal, California has long been a Democratic stronghold, with a massive 61 percent of its voters backed Obama in the 2008 presidential polls.
But Congressional and gubernatorial races are more complicated, and the Republicans hope that gains in California can help them tip the balance nationally in Congress, two years after Obama won the White House..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101020com5.html