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Money non-issue in US court’s rights ruling — Palace 01/16/2011

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Money non-issue in US court’s rights ruling — Palace

01/16/2011
It doesn’t matter how much money would land in the hands of those who survived the tortuous Marcos years since the recent decision rendered by a United States federal court on the $7.5-million settlement already spells vindication for them, Malacañang implied yesterday in response to the initial public reaction that such amount may not be sufficient.

Deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte explained that money is no longer the issue here with respect to the class action suit filed by the human rights victims against the deceased dictator but the principles that they have held.

“What the victims went through (during the Marcos regime) is no longer compensable in terms of money. At this point, I think money is not the issue here anymore but it’s a vindication. It’s like, in Tagalog, it’s already a matter of principle,” Valte commented over radio dzRB.

There are about 7,526 people who stand to receive $1,000 or about P44,000 each from the compensation package approved by US District Judge Manuel Real last Thursday..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110116hed3.html

Melo successor urged to unlock poll secrets By Pat C. Santos 01/16/2011

Melo successor urged to unlock poll secrets

By Pat C. Santos 01/16/2011

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo’s resignation took effect yesterday and the clamor for the next head of the poll body to make public the true results of the just held national elections that saw President Aquino winning by a comfortable margin started to gather steam.

A workers’ poll watchdog dared the successor of Melo to unlock the many “secrets” of the May 10, 2010 automated polls and to hold those accountable for the anomalies that may have occurred.

Workers’ Electoral Watch (WE Watch), a network of workers advocating fraud-free elections, pitched this challenge to the next Comelec chief as it issued yesterday the Automated Election System (AES) Evaluation and Policy Recommendations.

Melo served for close to three years as Comelec chairman that covered the the holding of the first fully automated national elections, which many suspects to have been tainted with electronically generated fraud..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110116hed4.html

Weeks of rains leave 47 dead in RP 01/16/2011

Weeks of rains leave 47 dead in RP

01/16/2011
More than two weeks of heavy rains have left at least 47 persons dead from flash floods and landslides across the Bicol region and other parts of the Visayas and Mindanao, the government yesterday said.

Monsoon rains have battered parts of the country since December 29, with more thunderstorms still forecast for these areas, the government weather station said.

The death toll from the rain has risen to 47 due to drownings or burial by landslides, while four more persons remain missing, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said.

Eight more persons were injured by landslides, the NDRRMC said in a statement, while over 18,000 persons were still housed in government evacuation centers because of continued danger..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110116hed5.html

Pirates hijack Danish ship with 4 Filipinos 01/16/2011

Pirates hijack Danish ship with 4 Filipinos

01/16/2011
Four Filipinos were among the crew members seized when a Danish-owned cargo ship was boarded by suspected Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden last January 12, a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) report said.

Leopard, a 2,000-ton ship believed to be carrying “sensitive” cargo, was boarded in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Oman.

Two other Danish crew members were also seized.

The report was confirmed by the local manning agency that deployed the seafarers in the ill-fated ship.
According to news reports, the ship was thereafter abandoned by the pirates. The Turkish navy later located the vessel..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110116hed6.html

More jobs, no to CCT dole outs By Charlie V. Manalo 01/16/2011

SOLON TELLS AQUINO

More jobs, no to CCT dole outs

By Charlie V. Manalo 01/16/2011

While admitting they can not force the estimated 2.3 million family-beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program from rejecting the P1,400 monthly cash assistance, a lady solon yesterday reiterated their call to President Aquino to reconsider his administration’s CCT program and come up with policies and programs that will create concrete jobs for Filipino workers.

“President Aquino is creating a grand illusion that his CCT program will reduce the hunger incidence in the country. While we cannot deny that the 2.3 million target poor families will not reject the P1,400 monthly assistance under this program, we know and they know that this program will not change their hand-to-mouth existence,” said Gabriela Rep. Emmi de Jesus citing the recent SWS survey showed that 18.1 percent or about 3.4 million families experienced hunger in the past three months.

De Jesus called on the Aquino administration to prioritize policies and programs that will create more decent jobs for the workers, the farmers, and all the marginalized Filipinos who have always wanted to have an income enough to provide for all the needs of their family. Pushing for genuine land reform and nationalist industrialization are sure-fire remedies that will open up hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and not the measly 43,000 jobs touted by the Aquino administration..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110116nat1.html

Food advocates to Aquino: Put behind bar those involved in rice scams 01/16/2011

Food advocates to Aquino: Put behind bar those involved in rice scams

01/16/2011
As reported about the overpriced rice imported by the previous administration came out again in the news, a network of food security advocates yesterday reminded President Aquino to make true his anti-corruption campaign promise and use this issue as another case against the Arroyo administration.

The Task Force Food Sovereignty (TFFS) reiterated over the weekend its call for an immediate investigation and prosecution of all past and present government officials and personnel as well as private entities who were involved in this criminal act.

According to news reports, the National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Lito Banayo disclosed that the rice agency imported rice during the last three years of the Arroyo administration was overpriced by $125 per metric ton, and in the last 10 years, these imports were overpriced by an average of $60 per metric ton. He revealed that fictitious cooperatives and companies took part in the unlawful activity.

Alice Raymundo, TFFS coordinator, said that they were no longer surprised with the news as this already came out in July 2009..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110116nat3.html

Dire Times Ahead: Poor Brace for Impact of Fare, Price Increases

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Dire Times Ahead: Poor Brace for Impact of Fare, Price Increases


By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — The year 2011 started not with a bang but a lot of whimper – whimper, that is, from many Filipinos who complain about tough times ahead.

Much of the discontent so far is focused on the increasing cost of transportation. There’s the 300-percent increase in the toll fees for the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX); because many of the capital’s produce are sourced from the south, this inevitably raised as well the prices of certain goods, such as vegetables.
There’s the increase as well of the flag-down rates of taxis and the hike in the prices of basic commodities such as sugar and flour.

Then there’s the increase in MRT and LRT fares, which is eyed for implementation by March 1.

An analysis by the online newsmagazine Newsbreak shows that the MRT-lRT fare hikes will affect the poor most. It explains that the price of single-journey tickets will increase by 100% while the price of stored-value tickets increased by only 50%. Most rail commuters opt to buy single-journey tickets because, as Newsbreak points out, a stored-value ticket, which can be bought for P100, is out of their budget. But the publication finds that a single-journey ticket costs more per trip than a stored-value ticket.

The only thing that doesn’t increase, many minimum wage earners complain, is their salary, which in Metro Manila is pegged at P404 (less than $10) that barely covers the most basic necessities of a small family.
Shirley Pascua, 35, a housewife, thinks that the poor are getting poorer under the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III. “He is proving to be a disappointment. The price of everything is going up,” she told Bulatlat.com.

Pascua’s husband is a taxi driver. She said what he makes is barely enough to make ends meet. They have two children; Adrian, 13, and Marielle, 12. “It’s a good thing my eldest is in a good school. If not for his scholarship, we will not be able to send him to a school like that,” Pascua said. Her youngest will also apply for the scholarship in the same high school.


A child in the slum community of Isla Puting Bato. Many like her are certain to suffer more as prices of basic commodities shoot up. (Photo by Ayi S. Muallam / bulatlat.com)
Her husband’s take-home pay is barely enough for their daily needs. “I just hope that none of us gets sick,” she said, noting a concern raised by many poor Filipinos.
Pascua thinks the P40 increase in the flag-down rate for taxis, to be implemented on Jan. 21, is useless. “The price of all basic commodities will surely shoot up. What’s the use of the increase in the flag-down rate?” she said. She worries that her family will face dire poverty the rest of the year.

Rowena Lopez, 34, is also a housewife with seven children. Her husband is a jeepney driver who earns P700 a day. She said the increase in prices of basic commodities affects their budget especially with seven mouths to feed. “We make do with what my husband earns,” she said..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/01/14/dire-times-ahead-poor-brace-for-impact-of-hikes-in-fare-prices/

Outrage by MRT-LRT Commuters Can Avert ‘Great Train Robbery,’ Groups Say

 Outrage by MRT-LRT Commuters Can Avert ‘Great Train Robbery,’ Groups Say

By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – There is hope that the proposed fare hikes of Manila’s two rail networks, MRT and LRT, can still be averted.

And all it takes is for the public, mostly poor Filipinos who would be affected, to register their opposition to the increases, said Sammy Malunes, spokesman of the Riles Network, an alliance of progressive peoples’ organizations that believe that “the railways should be for the people.”

In a protest action and petition signing held by Riles Network on Wednesday, Malunes told Bulatlat.com he is pegging his hope on the hundreds of thousands of largely low-income riding public who stand to be adversely affected by the proposed fare hike and who are, in fact, not only joining their petition against the fare hike but also articulating their protests in other ways.


A commuter signs the petition against the MRT fare hike during the Riles Network’s protest action at the MRT North Avenue Station on Wednesday. (Photo by Marya Salamat / bulatlat.com)
The government recently approved a “provisional” 50-percent to 100-percent hike in MRT and LRT fares, which will take effect on March 1. But as protests against the increases have spurred the formation of another consumers’ alliance vowing to hold more protest actions at the MRT and LRT stations, the transportation department said the “provisional” fare hike will still be tackled in public consultations.

“The Great Train Robbery”

Based on what the government has initially approved, starting March the MRT and LRT lines would be charging a boarding fee of P11.00. The government will also simplify the current fare matrix into three denominations of P15, P20 and P30, effectively hiking the fares by 50 percent to 100 percent. Four kilometers will now cost P15.00 while five to nine kilometers will cost P20.00. End-to-end trips may cost as much as P30.00 or twice the present fare.

“The increase is so huge  the DOTC should not implement it even on a provisional basis,” said Bayan secretary-general Renato M. Reyes Jr. in a statement. “They are doing this sans any public hearing, without any transparency and without any regard for public welfare.”

He added that an increase of this magnitude “will have far-reaching effects on the pockets of some 1.2 million combined LRT and MRT commuters.”.... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/01/13/outrage-by-mrt-lrt-commuters-can-avert-great-train-robbery-groups-say/

Apart from ‘Shocking’ 300% Toll-Fee Hike, Philippines Has to Account for Dramatic Jump in SLEX Project Cost

Apart from ‘Shocking’ 300% Toll-Fee Hike, Philippines Has to Account for Dramatic Jump in SLEX Project Cost


 By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — It’s not just the exorbitant toll-fee increase, it’s the project itself that’s anomalous.

Last January 7, anti-corruption advocate and lawyer Ernesto Francisco filed a formal request for investigation with the Office of the Ombudsman on the issue of the 300-percent toll hike at the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX). According to Francisco, the South Luzon Toll Corp., which operates the expressway, is using the multibillion project cost for the expansion and improvement of the expressway as a reason for raising toll fees. The projected cost is the primary basis for the 300-percent toll hike.
 
Sidebar
Aquino Disappoints on Toll Hike but That’s Not a Surprise
“I see nothing wrong if President Aquino wants to honor the Philippine government’s commitments to foreign investors, but what about his commitments to the Filipino people?” lawyer Ernesto Francisco asks.
Read the full story Click here for more stories on the toll-fee increases
Francisco said that that the South Luzon Toll Corp., the SLEX investor Malaysian company MTD Capital Berhad and the Toll Regulatory Board, which allowed the toll-fee increase, should be compelled to explain why the project cost

ballooned to P12.5 billion from a much smaller P5.88 billion a few years ago. He said the massive increase should not have been allowed without a review by the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Commission on Audit.

The Toll Regulatory Board is the agency that regulates all toll roads in the Philippines. It was created via Presidential Decree No. 1112 or the Toll Operation Decree, and has regulatory authority over all toll facilities in the country. According to its charter, it is authorized to enter into contracts on behalf of the government, with qualified persons, natural or juridical, for the construction, operation and maintenance of toll facilities. It exercises jurisdiction over the toll facilities of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX); the SLEX,; the Manila-Cavite Expressway (Coastal Road);  the South Metro Manila Skyway (Skyway); the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (Star Tollway); and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX).




The South Luzon Expressway: Anti-poor imposition. (Photo by Mithril Cloud / skyscrapercity)





According to Francisco, the Office of the Ombudsman should immediately investigate whether or not the Toll Regulatory Board and the South Luzon Toll Corp. complied with the provisions of Letter of Instructions No. 579, which states that all plans and specifications for any proposed extension projects of the Manila North and/or Manila South Expressways be first subject to the review and approval of the the Department of Public Works and Highways before the Toll Regulatory Board decides to recommend or not to the president the construction of such a project..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/01/13/apart-from-%E2%80%98shocking%E2%80%99-300-toll-fee-hike-philippines-has-to-account-for-dramatic-jump-in-slex-project-cost/

Farmers Urge Noynoy to Reopen Mendiola Massacre Case

Farmers Urge Noynoy to Reopen Mendiola Massacre Case


By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — As the 24th anniversary of the infamous Mendiola Massacre nears, farmers led by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas KMP) called on President Benigno S. Aquino III to bring justice and closure to the issue by reopening the investigation.

“President Aquino has yet to prove that he is no different from his predecessors. From the time he entered Malacanang he has yet to lay down any decree, ruling or program that will genuinely benefit Filipino farmers. His own mother former president Cory Aquino presided over a government that committed so many violations against the economic, political and human rights of farmers – none of us has forgotten the Mendiola Massacre, ” said KMP secretary-general Danilo Ramos.

“We challenge the 50-year-old president to re-open the Mendiola Massacre case and pursue a full-blown and independent probe. The murderers are still out there and worse, nobody from past administrations and even under Mr. Aquino’s administration dares to revive the investigation which we have been demanding since 1987.”

On Jan. 22, 1987, some 10,000 to 15,000 farmers marched from the agrarian reform office in Quezon City to Mendiola in Manila to remind the late former president Corazon C. Aquino to make good on her word to implement genuine agrarian reform. According to reports, anti-riot personnel under the command of then Capital Regional Command commander Gen. Ramon Montaño, Task Force Nazareno under the command of Col. Cesar Nazareno and police forces under the command of Western Police District (WPD) Chief Brig. Gen. Alfredo Lim had been prepared to block the protestors.

The phalanx of civil disturbance control units was comprised of policemen from the WPD, members of the Integrated National Police Field Force, members of the Philippine Marine Corps, and the Marine Civil Disturbance Control Battalion. Behind the line of these fully armed personnel were army trucks, water cannons, fire trucks and two Mobile Dispersal Teams prepared to launch tear gas.

As the farmers reached Claro M. Recto, the government forces attacked. In the melee, 13 farmers were killed, 39 were wounded by gunshots, and 20 suffered various injuries. Killed were Danilo Arjona, Evangelio, Leopoldo Alonzo, Angelito Guiterrez, Adelfa Aribe, Rodrigo Grampan, Dionisio Bautista, Bernabe Laquindanum, Roberto Caylo, Sonny Boy Perez, Vincent Campomanes, Roberto Yumul, and Ronilo Dumanico.

In the immediate aftermath of the massacre, the peace panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) withdrew from peace talks with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP).

Now, 24 years later, the KMP remains vigilant in demanding justice for the slain and punishment for the masterminds and perpetrators of the massacre.

Ramos, in a statement, called on Mrs. Aquino’s son, the incumbent president, to reopen the case and support the conduct of a full-blown and independent probe. The KMP has also issued the same call to former presidents Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when they were in power, but the call was met with silence. All these years, the group said, justice has been denied the victims, their families, and the rest of the protestors who could have been killed in the attack.

Flashback to Cory government’s Citizen’s Mendiola Commission

Back in 1987, Cory Aquino issued Administrative Order No. 1, which created a body to investigate the massacre. Called the Citizens’ Mendiola Commission, the body later absolved the security forces involved in the brutal attack that left so many dead. It was composed of retired Supreme Court Justice Vicente Abad Santos as chairman, retired Supreme Court Justice Jose Y. Feria as member and Antonio U. Miranda. Created on January 22, 1987, it was tasked to submit its findings no later than February 7, 1987..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/01/14/farmers-urge-noynoy-to-reopen-mendiola-massacre-case/

2 extravagant peas in a pod EDITORIAL 01/15/2011

2 extravagant peas in a pod

EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
01/15/2011
Gloria Arroyo and a big number of congressmen accompanying her on her trip to New York who dined at the posh Le Cirque a little over a year ago, received a severe bashing — mainly from the Yellows who were keeping tabs on Cory Aquino’s last days — with accusations of Gloria’s extravagance, luxurious living and insensitivity amid the poverty gripping the Filipinos.

The dinners didn’t even amount to P4.5 million that Noynoy Aquino splashed on a German sportscar, a Porsche, also in the face of growing poverty and hunger among Filipinos; the flood-stricken victims who have been displaced, with some 40 persons already declared dead; high gasoline prices, higher light rail transit fares and overall higher prices for goods and services. Yet the Yellows aren’t into flailing Noynoy for his extravagance and his gross insensitivity. Talk about double standards they always engage in, when it is their anointed who does just what Gloria did..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110115com1.html

Failed coup FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 01/15/2011

Failed coup

FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
01/15/2011
If there was such a coup plot to unseat Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile, that coup bid is dead for now, as media had already bared the claimed coup plot, albeit without anyone confirming it.

But this doesn’t mean that a group or groups will stop plotting a coup against whoever sits as Senate president — because mostly, what a successful coup means is that those who are not in top official Senate slots, as well as their not being given the chairmanships they want, there will always be plots after plot, no matter the equal treatment of a leader to senators belonging to the majority and minority.

At this time, with only a few Liberal Party members in Senate, and very few Nacionalista Party members as well as some members of the Arroyo administration party, it would be very dificult to get the requisite number in getting the Senate leadership.

This, incidentally, was what drove various party members to rally round Enrile and retain him as their Senate president..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110115com2.html

Haiti’s lost generation stares into abyss focus 01/15/2011

Haiti’s lost generation stares into abyss

focus

01/15/2011
PORT-AU-PRINCE — Like most teenagers, Pierre-Noel has a lot of dreams. As a Haitian, his future looks like a nightmare.

One minute he wants to work in a bank. The next to play with David Beckham in the LA Galaxy soccer team. Or become a head coach.

“People in America should know about me,” the starry-eyed 15-year-old says.

A waft of raw sewage through the Port-au-Prince tent camp where he’s lived since last year’s earthquake brings him back to earth.

“I don’t like this place,” he says sadly..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110115com3.html

Angie Reyes may face plunder probe By Charlie V. Manalo, Gerry Baldo and Benjamin B. Pulta 01/15/2011

SC URGES CRITICS TO AWAIT SANDIGAN RULING IN GARCIA CASE

Angie Reyes may face plunder probe

By Charlie V. Manalo, Gerry Baldo and Benjamin B. Pulta 01/15/2011

With suspicions that former Armed Forces Chief of Staff turned Arroyo’s Defense Secretary Angelo “Angie” Reyes that he is one of the top ranking Department of Defense (DND) officials who may have been involved and may have been directly behind the multimillion-peso raid on the military coffers for which the AFP comptroller, retired Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, has been charged with plunder, a congressman yesterday demanded the inclusion of Reyes in the plunder charges, even as he called on Garcia to turn state witness and spill the beans on his former boss.

At the same time, however, it has been suspected that Garcia was able to obtain a plea bargain deal with the prosecutors from the Ombudsman’s office due to his alleged threat to squeal on his superiors if he is made to rot in jail, but if his plea bargain is finally approved by the Sandiganbayan with a conviction of a lesser charges of direct bribery and money laundering, there is little possibility that Garcia will keep his trap shut..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110115hed1.html

Enrile unfazed by coup rumors, ready to go ‘if they have the numbers’ By Angie M. Rosales and Aytch S. de la Cruz 01/15/2011

Enrile unfazed by coup rumors, ready to go ‘if they have the numbers’

By Angie M. Rosales and Aytch S. de la Cruz 01/15/2011

Whether Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile will keep his position as Senate president when Congress reopens sessions on Monday remains uncertain, although talk of a brewing coup had been denied by some colleagues, including the senator who was supposed to replace him.

Enrile, however, yesterday stressed that he is not about to take counter measures to crush the alleged plot to unseat him, saying he will turn over the position “in a silver platter” if they have the numbers.

“If they can tell me today that they have the numbers, I will give them my signed consent,” Enrile told reporters in an interview.

“I’m not making any challenge. It’s up to anyone. They are free to campaign, to gather together and put up a bloc of 13. I’m not, I will not, I shall not, (make any counter move),” the Senate chief emphasized..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110115hed2.html

Solon: Binay could be the first casualty in Roxas’ appointment By Gerry Baldo 01/15/2011

Solon: Binay could be the first casualty in Roxas’ appointment

By Gerry Baldo 01/15/2011

The impending appointment of Liberal Party (LP) president and defeated vice presidential candidate Manuel “Mar” Roxas in the Aquino government could adversely affect the working relationship between President Aquino and Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay.

Maguindanao Rep. Simeon Datumanong yesterday speculated that Binay could well become the first casualty in the Aquino government once Roxas takes on his post as the chief government “troubleshooter.”

“Of course, somehow this (Roxas appointment) may affect the working relationship between Binay and Aquino. However, this is a matter within the discretion of the President,” said Datumanong who was the Justice Secretary during the time of former President Arroyo.

He is currently a member of the House minority bloc..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110115hed3.html

SC dares Vizconde to prove claims vs Justice Carpio By Benjamin B. Pulta 01/15/2011

SC dares Vizconde to prove claims vs Justice Carpio

By Benjamin B. Pulta 01/15/2011
An official of the Supreme Court (SC) has challenged the camp of Lauro Vizconde to prove its claim that Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio convinced his fellow justices to acquit Hubert Webb and six others previously convicted for the 1991 massacre of his family in Parañaque City.

“If they (Vizconze camp) don’t have any evidence and all will be just hearsay, then I think it’s their responsibility to keep quiet first until they have substantial evidence to prove their allegations,” SC spokesman and court administrator Jose Midas Marquez told reporters at a press conference.

“File it. They always say that. They better come up with evidence,” he added, reacting to a reported statement of the camp of Vizconde that it is planning to file an impeachment complaint against the magistrate for alleged “betrayal of public trustand graft and corruption” after meeting three members of the judiciary “privy to the alleged efforts of Carpio..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110115hed5.html

Gov’t, MILF to resume formal talks next month 01/15/2011

Gov’t, MILF to resume formal talks next month

01/15/2011
Formal peace negotiations are in the offing between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front starting Feb. 9, GRP-MILF peace panel chairman Marvic Leonen said yesterday after holding an informal meeting with members of the MILF panel in Kuala Lumpur last Thursday.

Both Leonen and Peace Process Adviser Teresita Quintos-Deles considered the meeting as fruitful since it has allowed both parties to come up with a consensus on various administrative issues that ultimately paved the way for the formal resumption of the peace talks.

“We agreed to resume the negotiations with exploratory talks on Feb. 9 and 10 in Kuala Lumpur, each side bringing in their personal panel. We agreed to positively act on the extension of the mandate of the International Monitoring Team which is part of the ceasefire mechanism of both government and the MILF and the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group,” Leonen told a news conference in Malacañang..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110115hed6.html

$7.5 million compensation to Marcos’ victims 01/15/2011

A BREAKTROUGH

$7.5 million compensation to Marcos’ victims

01/15/2011
Malacanang yesterday considered as a breakthrough the recent United States federal court’s approval of the compensation to human rights violation victims under the Marcos regime which was reportedly amounting to $7.5 million.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte told reporters that this is certainly a welcome development for the Aquino administration and the government is currently looking into it to see how it can go about this matter..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110115nat8.html

FASAP slams PAL for retiring 8 flight attendants By Mina Diaz 01/15/2011

FASAP slams PAL for retiring 8 flight attendants

By Mina Diaz 01/15/2011
Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP) president Bob Aduiza denounced the Philippine Airlines (PAL) management for retiring eight female flight attendants despite an order from the labor department raising the retirement age of all PAL flight attendants to 60 years old.

He said the PAL management’s move to retire its female flight attendants at 55 years old is an utter disregard toward Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz’ s recent order.

“This is an affront not only to FASAP but also in utter disregard toward Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz’s recent ruling” Anduiza said in a statement..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110115nat1.html

Straight path downhill EDITORIAL 01/14/2011

Friday, January 14, 2011

Straight path downhill

EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
01/14/2011
People outside looking in seem not all impressed by Noynoy who trumpets daily his so-called straight path his administration is taking. The conservative United States think tank Heritage Foundation, however, believes that the country is even retrogressing in terms of the government’s battle against corruption.

In the index of economic freedom that it undertakes yearly with the authoritative Wall Street Journal, the Philippines was found at the lower half of the ranking, at 115 of 179 nations and among countries with a “mostly unfree” economy.

A major factor for the poor showing of the country was the existence of still “pervasive corruption” more than half a year into the Aquino administration. The Heritage index showed the performance of the country in the index had reached its highest around the period 1997 to 2000, which was the time when Joseph Estrada was President but who, ironically, was forced out of office on trumped-up corruption charges by the very same elite people who are now allied with Noynoy and who imposed Gloria on the nation as successor of Erap who, to this very day, has never claimed to have abdicated his post..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110114com1.html

Piecemeal amendments? FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 01/14/2011

Piecemeal amendments?

FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
01/14/2011
Obviously following Noynoy’s line that the Charter should not undergo changes during his presidential term, presidential ally Sen. Serge Osmeña Wenesday proposed a no-additional expense mode for a Charter change (Cha-cha) move, either through a constituent assembly (con-ass), i.e. two chambers voting separately on a three-fourths vote to amend only certain provisos of the Charter, or do it the American way, which was, he informed the reporters, by legislating amendments to the US Constitution, which took anywhere from 10 to 15 years introducing some 26 amendments to the original American Constitution.

That sounds easy enough, despite providing all the amendments necessary within a decade and a half span, but which is certainly not practical at all and too long a time to effect changes in the Charter. Besides, another chief executive can have the Charter amended.

Serge says that calling for a duly elected constitutional convention is much too dangerous. An elected con-con can be no more dangerous than electing members of Congress. And if we can elect members of Congress which has proven much too dangerous since majority of its members become instant political turncoats and lapdogs of the Malacañang tenant, why should it be dangerous to elect delegates to the con-con to draft a new Charter?

The easy answer to this is that those who reject a change in the Charter are those who fear the system changing from presidential to parliamentary, where obviously their anointed will be a nobody in Parliament..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110114com2.html

Philippine traffic woes worsen as car sales boom focus 01/14/2011

Philippine traffic woes worsen as car sales boom

focus

01/14/2011
MANILA — Lawyer Meg Gutierrez gets up before dawn in an effort to beat the worst of Manila’s traffic but still ends up spending almost two hours driving the short distance to work.

In the evening Gutierrez often has to navigate her car through the Philippine capital’s peak commute period, meaning the return home is longer and she can waste up to five hours a day in bumper-to-bumper frustration.

“I spend so much time on the road. When I get home, I just sleep, and then wake up again the next day. I really have to budget the time for my responsibilities, my errands, my work,” Gutierrez, 28, told AFP.

But Gutierrez said she would still prefer making the 20-kilometer (12-mile) trip by car than public transport, as the irregular bus schedules, crowded buses and lack of trains make that an even more arduous option..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110114com3.html

I have a puppet? NO HOLDS BARRED Armida Siguion-Reyna 01/14/2011

I have a puppet?

NO HOLDS BARRED
Armida Siguion-Reyna
01/14/2011
And it’s no less than Grace Poe-Llamanzares, chairman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), as alleged by one Michael Reyes mikerey70@yahoo.com, in an e-mail he sent me Jan. 3, 2011, and which I put out here in full last Jan. 11. If it’s not the best example of a little learning that’s a dangerous thing, I don’t know what is.

Offended by the trailer of the Dolphy-starrer Father Jejemon, he not only liked it that the supposedly offensive scenes were voluntarily excised by the producers and that “concerned citizens and officials of the Catholic Church” issued a call to boycott Father Jejemon WITHOUT HAVING SEEN THE FILM AT ALL.

Movie critic and Philippine Star Entertainment columnist Butch Francisco did not like the same “offensive” scenes, but he didn’t call to boycott the movie, because he took care to see the movie first in its entirety before rendering an opinion, which isn’t what the zealots and the bigots in the Catholic Church have done, e-mail sender Reyes included.

To spoon-feed, the computer dictionary says a zealot is one “who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of his religious, political, or other ideals,” but the bigot “causes the most trouble, exhibiting obstinate and often blind devotion to his or her beliefs and opinions, is intolerant and contemptuous of those who do not agree.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110114com4.html

The Federal Reserve is a private bank! DIE HARD III Herman Tiu Laurel 01/14/2011

The Federal Reserve is a private bank!

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
01/14/2011
It was on a Jan. 11 episode of a morning radio program that I realized how very few even among our society’s most well read really understand the core of the global financial and economic problem. To this day, only a handful are able to narrow the issue down to the very character of the so-called “Central Bank of the World,” the US Federal Reserve.

And whenever this happens, such as on that day when one bright texter conveyed this very important point to Teddy “Boy” Locsin during his radio broadcast, saying that “the US Federal Reserve is a private bank,” it is no longer strange that a lame retort that goes, “No.
 The Federal Reserve is a government bank; that is why it is called Federal,” will fly back almost without a nanosecond of thought from the supposed erudite’s lips. Yet even as Locsin believes this to be too obvious, it will definitely do him good if he can shift his attention to the case, Lewis v. United States, 680 F.2d 1239 (1982), US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, where the court ruled that: “The Federal Reserve Banks ‘are independent, privately-owned and locally controlled corporations,’ and there is not sufficient ‘federal government control’ over ‘detailed physical performance’ and ‘day to day operation’ of the Federal Reserve Bank for it to be considered a federal agency.”

The case involved a plaintiff who was injured by a vehicle owned and operated by a Federal Reserve bank, who brought action alleging jurisdiction under the Federal Tort Claims Act. The district court under Judge David Williams dismissed it, holding that a Federal Reserve bank was not a federal agency within the meaning of the Act.

The Center for Research on Globalization (CRG) report on this issue is very thorough and anyone can access its Web site (http://globalresearch.ca/) to check out the documents involved. At the end of the long analysis, the CRG says: “The common claim that the Fed is accountable to the government, because it is required to report to Congress on its activities annually, is incorrect. The reports to Congress mean little unless what the chairman reports can be verified by complete records. From its founding to this day, the Fed has never undergone a complete independent audit. Congress time after time has requested that the Fed voluntarily submit to a complete audit, and every time, it refuses.”

After the 2008 Wall Street collapse, the clamor for the audit of the Federal Reserve has intensified with former and soon-to-run-again “independent” Republican and Tea Party-backed presidential bet Ron Paul leading the charge. The Federal Reserve is still refusing the audit and the US Congress can’t do much about it so far because its character as a private bank allows it to set up many barriers to auditing.

The many Web sites on the issue say there’s an easier way to confirm if the Federal Reserve is or isn’t a private bank by looking into the US’ Yellow Pages. Indeed, the Federal Reserve does not appear in the pages’ government listing — but it comes after Federal Express in the commercial listing!

Enterprising investigators have dug up the private interests that own the controlling stocks of the Fed: Rothschild Banks of London and Berlin; Lazard Brothers Banks of Paris; Israel Moses Seif Banks of Italy; Warburg Bank of Hamburg and Amsterdam; Kuhn, Loeb Bank of NY (now Shearson American Express); Goldman Sachs of NY; National Bank of Commerce NY/Morgan Guaranty Trust (where JP Morgan Bank, Equitable Life, and Levi P. Morton are principal shareholders); Hanover Trust of NY (where William and David Rockefeller and Chase National Bank NY are principal shareholders); and Lehman Bros. (prior to 2008). Is it just a coincidence that all of them are Jewish interests?

In the final analysis, the Philippines — being tied to American economy and finance — is also under the control of this system. It’s no surprise then that many of our Finance secretaries have been recommended by Hank Greenberg — yes, another prominent Jewish money master.

It is therefore important for the likes of Teddy “Boy” Locsin to appreciate the real nature of the Federal Reserve. As a very popular communicator, it will be a boon to public enlightenment if he starts explaining this.

The control of money is the control of society; and control open to the public such as that of the “Bank of China,” which makes no bones about its being under the control of the Chinese government, is better than control hidden behind the cloak of terms such as “Federal” or “Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas” (BSP) that mislead the people, when their money is actually controlled by unaccountable and self-interested parties that continue to exploit, abuse, and steal from them and the nation’s wealth.

The banking system that China maintains, similar to that of many other countries that are still state-controlled or dominated (e.g., India and, of course, Vietnam), is coined by some as the “National Bank” system. The Philippines, in contrast, has an absurd set-up where the BSP Board is dominated by private directors, even as the Philippine President appoints the BSP chief.

The famous and infamous quote from Amschel Rothschild, father of the Rothschild banks of Germany, Paris and Britain goes thus: “Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes her laws…” And, if I may add, neither will they care about who votes in these elections or who counts these votes as many of these (including those PCOS machines) can be bought anyway. And since there are no elections in China, the Rothschilds of this world are not able to control such state-centered countries, including Cuba.

In the end, it’s a choice between the dictatorship of Money or the dictatorship of the People, represented by a National Economic Development program geared toward popular economic democracy. Whose side are you on?

(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; TNT with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on GNN, Destiny Cable Channel 8, on “2011: Year of Fighting Phil. Oligarchy” with Butch Junia and FDC’s Job Bordamente; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

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

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110114com5.html

Evacuees huddle in flood-hit Brisbane FEATURE 01/14/2011

Evacuees huddle in flood-hit Brisbane

FEATURE

01/14/2011
BRISBANE — A fluorescent yellow bracelet is the sign of loss for hundreds of Brisbane families, as they cram evacuation centers and pray for their flood-hit homes and possessions.

More than 500 people are sleeping on rows of mattresses at the city’s sprawling RNA Showground exhibition center, all wearing the little bracelets handed out on registration.

Iraqi student Issam, and his wife and child who recently joined him from Baghdad, were among those forced to flee at a moment’s notice as the floods struck, clutching just two plastic bags full of belongings.

“It was a terrible night. We live 40 meters (yards) from the river, on the first floor,” he told AFP, in the cavernous, neon-lit conference hall transformed into a teeming refugee center..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110114com6.html

Duchess Habsburg, a tenant in her own palace FEATURE 01/14/2011

Duchess Habsburg, a tenant in her own palace

FEATURE

01/14/2011
ZYWIEC — After 60 years in exile in Switzerland, Duchess Marie-Christine von Habsburg, 87, is living out her golden years as a tenant in two rooms of her family’s vast palace in southern Poland.

“Well, isn’t that funny? I live here as a tenant in my own palace” in the town of Zywiec, she says, making light of the situation.

But she insists she is “the happiest of tenants” in one of the properties of the famed Habsburg dynasty, this one expropriated by communists after the war and which her family never tried to reclaim after the 1989 demise of communism.

“I’m delighted to be back where I was born, where I spent my childhood,” says the octogenarian confined to a wheelchair and dressed in her trademark black.

A member of the House of Habsburg, a dynasty originating in what today is Austria that reigned over much of Europe from the 15th to the 20th century, she was able to return to the 19th-century palace only after the fall of communism two decades ago. Her family had been driven out by the Nazis during World War II and the communists prevented their return after 1945..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110114com7.html

Drilon, Noy allies seen dumping JPE By Angie M. Rosales 01/14/2011

Drilon, Noy allies seen dumping JPE

By Angie M. Rosales 01/14/2011

A coup in the Senate is said to be in the offing, but nobody wants to confirm it.

Talk of a brewing “coup” in the Senate circulated loudly yesterday, just three days before Congress reconvenes and resumes sessions, with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile allegedly ending up as the casualty.

Enrile was the compromise choice of both the Liberal Party and Nacionalista Party (NP) camps, as neither LP members Senators Francisco “Kiko” Pangilinan and Franklin Drilon could get the numbers to gain the Senate presidency.

Neither could the camp of Sen. Manuel Villar nor the group of Sen. Ed Angara.

Enrile garnered the numbers because all three camps decided to support the incumbent Senate president who did not even seek the high Senate post. Enrile has always said that if the senators no longer want him to lead them, he would gladly step down to give way to a new Senate leader..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110114hed1.html

Palace points to Gloria for dismal Heritage rank Aytch S. de la Cruz 01/14/2011

Palace points to Gloria for dismal Heritage rank

Aytch S. de la Cruz 01/14/2011

As expected, the Palace yesterday blamed the past administration of former President Arroyo for the poor showing of the country in the Index of Economic Freedom that the conservative Washington-based think tank The Heritage Foundation (Heritage) released the other day placing the Philippines among countries with a “mostly unfree” economy.

Malacañang yesterday claimed the index jointly published by Heritage and The Wall Street Journal was the result of surveys conducted between the second half of 2009 and the first half of 2010 which were all under Arroyo’s watch.

The Philippines ranked at 115th spot among 179 nations included in the index that showed its economic freedom score this year slipped by 0.1 point from last year to 56.2. It scored lowest in the “Freedom from Corruption” category where it got a grade of 24 mainly as a result of perceptions that corruption in the country remains pervasive.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda argued that there was nothing in the report that can possibly be attributed to the current administration because the information that factored in the study was as of June 2010..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110114hed2.html

Mar ‘pressuring’ Noy to appoint Macalintal to top poll post By Gerry Baldo 01/14/2011

Mar ‘pressuring’ Noy to appoint Macalintal to top poll post

By Gerry Baldo 01/14/2011

Losing Liberal Party (LP) vice presidential candidate and former Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas is reportedly putting pressure on President Aquino to appoint election lawyer Romulo Macalintal to the top post at the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

A source from the LP yesterday said Roxas and a host of ranking LP members trooped to Aquino’s “Bahay Pangarap” to force the President to immediately appoint Macalintal instead of lawyer Sixto Brillantes to the post left vacant by Comelec Chairman Jose Melo.

“Senator Roxas is trying to move mountains to have Macalintal appointed to the Comelec,” the source said.
But presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda downplayed reports that Roxas is backing the potential appointment of his legal counsel in the last 2010 elections, Macalintal, who is among the candidates in the race for the next Comelec chief..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110114hed3.html

DoJ seeks raps against Sollano, insists mall was methane blast By Benjamin B. Pulta 01/14/2011

DoJ seeks raps against Sollano, insists mall was methane blast

By Benjamin B. Pulta 01/14/2011

Prosecutors have recommended criminal charges against retired Army bomb expert Col. Allan Sollano who had disputed official findings that the explosion in Glorietta 2 mall in Makati City three years ago was caused by leaking methane gas.

In a 12-page report, the Department of Justice (DoJ) panel led by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Peter Ong said that “after a judicious examination of the evidence, (it) finds the claim of Col. Allan Sollano that the Glorietta 2 explosion on Oct. 19, 2007 was caused by an IED/bomb, not worthy of credence,

“It is recommended that an investigation be conducted by the PNP (Philippine National Police) and/or the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) on the culpability of Col. Allan Sollano and other persons who may have acted with him, for possible violation of PD 1829 (penalizing obstruction of apprehension and prosecution of criminal offenders),” the panel concluded..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110114hed4.html

Noy under fire over luxury Porsche 01/14/2011

Noy under fire over luxury Porsche

01/14/2011
The claimed “straight path” of President Aquino has led him to the luxurious path of a P4.5-million luxury Porsche sportscar amid a population mired in poverty and a hunger rating of Filipinos going higher under his government along with the tragedy of the flood-stricken and landslide victims who have been rendered homeless.

Not even his claimed prudent management of public funds speaks of the “righteous way, with a President, all decked out in very snazzy German Porsche, speeding it up in a race track.”

Aquino admitted yesterday he had splashed out on a luxury Porsche sportscar, sparking criticism
in a country where a third of the population live on less than a dollar a day.

“It appeared to be out of character. He had campaigned against luxury cars and here he is, buying a Porsche,” Milo Tanchuling, secretary general of the activist group Freedom from Debt Coalition, told Agence France Presse..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110114hed6.html

Lim questions guilty admission in amnesty 01/14/2011

Lim questions guilty admission in amnesty

01/14/2011
Former Scout Ranger chief retired Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim yesterday questioned the admission of guilt provision of the implementing rules and regulations (IRRs) of Proclamation 75, branding it as “unacceptable” as he maintained that what they did during the Arroyo administration has constitutional basis.

At a chance interview during yesterday’s court martial hearing, Lim said that while he welcomes the amnesty proclamation of President Aquino, he expressed apprehension over the IRR which included admission of guilt in its provisions.

“I am thankful to the President for giving amnesty to the soldiers who were involved in political uprising. I think this is recognizing the sacrifices and efforts of our soldiers who really stood for the truth against corruption,” said Lim.

“But I am wondering why the need to add in the implementing rules and regulations the portion about admission of guilt because that is not in the proclamation. Why do they have to go out of their way to include that in the IRR,” asked Lim..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110114nat2.html

Pimentel: Gov’t should move as one to solve squatting problem 01/14/2011

Pimentel: Gov’t should move as one to solve squatting problem

01/14/2011
The whole government structure from the national to the local levels should unite to effectively address the longstanding problem of squatting, according to former Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel.”

In remarks before a recent gathering of governors and mayors, Pimentel observed that squatting is “one of the most pressing problems” facing the nation as “the blight of squatter colonies not only mars the beauty of this country but more importantly demeans the dignity of the squatters who are also human beings like the rest of us.”

Pimentel suggested that the only way to solve the squatter problem is “to bring together under clearly defined parameters the powers of the central government and the functions of local governments.”

The national official in charge of implementing the national shelter program, Pimentel said, should have full jurisdiction over the national agencies dealing with homelessness, and he has to harness the support of the local executives, including governors, mayors and even barangay officials..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110114nat7.html

Silly fear EDITORIAL 01/13/2011

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Silly fear

EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
01/13/2011
Like it or not, there is popular support for a change in the Charter this time around, although there will always be those who will spurn it, bringing up the fear of Gloria Arroyo returning to power and position through a Charter change (Cha-cha) that they fear will bring about a parliamentary system.

But why make the fear of Gloria becoming the first prime minister under a parliamentary system the reason for opposing Cha-cha? Why have this fear dominate the lives of the Filipinos by insisting on retaining a very flawed and contradictory Constitution whose many provisions moreover have been prostituted by too many chief executives?

The 1987 Charter provides that the fundamental law can be revised or amended by Congress on a three fourths vote, while Congress transforms itself into a constituent assembly (con-ass) to draft a new constitution that will have to be ratified by the voters in a plebiscite; or through a constitutional convention (con-con) with an election for delegates, that will then draft a new Charter..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110113com1.html

Wrong move FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 01/13/2011

Wrong move

FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
01/13/2011
From reports, Noynoy Aquino confirmed that he had interviewed at least two election lawyers — one, the election lawyer of Gloria Arroyo in 2004, Romulo Macalintal, and his election lawyer in his 2010 presidential run, Sixto Brillantes, for the position of chairman of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), which is to be vacated by Jose Melo.

Apparently, Noynoy does not care about appointing individuals who would be in a conflict of interest situation, as both Macalintal and Brillantes, perhaps between them, have cornered about 60 percent, if not more, of the number of protesting candidates, and there are many.

At the same time, there is doubt that these two, even if they are admittedly knowledgeable in matters of election laws, may nevertheless not be computer-savvy, that is, if we are to again have computerized polls, which may not happen mainly because despite claims of a successful automated presidential poll exercise, and with too big a budget, there certainly was not only automated fraud, but also a highly unconstitutional way of a recounting and the validation of votes cast for a candidate protesting his loss, to check whether or not he really won or lost.

The poll body is merely making false claims and the Yellows are hardly complaining about the fraudulent presidential polls, because their anointed won the race..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110113com2.html

Mass fetus find stokes Thai abortion debate FEATURE 01/13/2011

Mass fetus find stokes Thai abortion debate

FEATURE

01/13/2011
BANGKOK — Nitancha, 17, ended her five-month pregnancy herself, causing severe bleeding. In a Buddhist nation where abortion is illegal and pregnant teens are stigmatized, the young Thai saw no other option.

Rejected by the baby’s father and frightened at the idea of talking to her family, she sought a solution on the Internet, where suggestions ranged from throwing herself down the stairs to illegal clinics and abortion pills.

After saving for several months to scrape together 5,300 baht ($175), Nitancha — who was 16 at the time — last year used a drug against stomach ulcers, because a possible side effect was to cause miscarriage.

It had the desired result — accompanied by a lot of blood in the toilet of her new boyfriend’s house, and an emergency trip to hospital..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110113com3.html

CDC dinosaurs hang tough BLURBAL THRUSTS Louie Logarta 01/13/2011

CDC dinosaurs hang tough

BLURBAL THRUSTS
Louie Logarta
01/13/2011
The Clark Development Corp. (CDC), six months into the term of President Noynoy Aquino, is practically the last high-profile public office that remains untouched by Malacañang despite the fact it is packed full with cronies of former President Arroyo who are reportedly receiving more than generous salaries and perks for their sinecures, just like their president Benny Ricafort whom the Commission on Audit found out made off in 2009 with some P14.5 million, thus making him one of the highest-paid officials in the government.

President Aquino is said to be agonizing over the replacements for the incumbent CDC board, many of them lightweights who have been sitting in office for 10 years (which is practically an eternity), because several of them are his friends since his days as Tarlac congressman and then senator, not to mention the fact they are also politically well-connected.

Last December, Malacañang spokesman Edwin Lacierda, who was guest on the weekly televised public affairs program “Meet the Press” of the National Press Club, admitted that the Palace search committee indeed was encountering some difficulty in filling up certain positions in the government, among them the CDC postings, but chose not to elaborate.

Just the other day, Undersecretary Abigail Valte announced that the board of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority — which incidentally is headed by Administrator Armand Arreza who was also one of the best-paid government officials in 2009 with some P26.8 million in salaries and benefits — had been partially revamped with the appointment of six of the 12 directors, including former Ayala Land head Francisco Licuanan..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110113com4.html

No to wang-wang; yes to jueteng VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 01/13/2011

No to wang-wang; yes to jueteng

VIEWPOINTS
Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz
01/13/2011
There is something not only quite strange but also very wrong when someone proclaiming himself as the incarnation of honesty and integrity, wants no wang-wang in the streets in Metro Manila, yet allows jueteng to thrive in many parts the country. The tabooed sound merely inconveniences some motorists every now and then. But the illegal numbers’ game continuously exploits the poor millions of the population, and incessantly corrupts a big number of local officials plus their Philippine National Police counterparts.

No to wang-wang! It is hard to wake up in the morning to be on time for a given occasion. It is taxing to arrive on time to be present at a public event. Arriving late is thus readily justified because wang-wang is not used. It has to be conceded that this scheme is not only convenient but also ingenious.

Yes to jueteng! Why? It is downright illegal, yet on and on it goes, all the days of the week, all the weeks of the year. Money is consistently taken precisely from those who have less in life. And the money infallibly goes to the big and deep pockets of those precisely tasked to stop the illegal activity.

The previous administration said something and did exactly the opposite as far as jueteng is concerned. It even had a special law enacted supposedly to stop the illegal numbers game. Among the many and impressive penalties supposedly for imposition against the violators is not only cash but also imprisonment. And the law was dead the moment it was signed..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110113com5.html

US gun-culture, wars helped shot lawmaker focus 01/13/2011

US gun-culture, wars helped shot lawmaker

focus

01/13/2011
WASHINGTON — America’s gun-culture and overseas wars may ironically have helped surgeons hone some of the techniques they used to save the life of US lawmaker Gabrielle Giffords after she was shot in the head.

“Wars are — I wouldn’t use the term necessary evils, but there’s no question that they have taught us how to treat people who have been shot in the head,” Dr Anders Cohen, chief of neurosurgery at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York, told AFP.

“If we’re hurting people on a massive schedule, then I guess we have to figure out ways to patch them up,” he said.

Six persons died, including a nine-year-old girl and a federal judge, and 14 were wounded when 22-year-old Jared Loughner allegedly fired 31 rounds from a semi-automatic Glock pistol at a public meeting Saturday in Tucson, Arizona.

Doctors in Arizona said they had removed a part of Congresswoman Giffords’s skull to reduce swelling after she was shot point-blank in the head..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110113com6.html

Of mistahs gone wrong COMMENT By Ronald Roy 01/13/2011

.Of mistahs gone wrong

COMMENT

By Ronald Roy 01/13/2011
I find disturbing Chief Public Attorney Persida Rueda-Acosta’s announcement two weeks ago that there was a good chance Webb’s acquittal verdict in the Vizconde massacre case would be overturned on the basis of revelations by eight new witnesses and an intervention by former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. We all recall her leap for joy when she exclaimed: “I can’t believe it, no less than Vice President Guingona is willing to convince the Supreme Court to reverse its ruling!” — or words to that effect.

Without meaning to diminish the luster of the former Vice President’s prominence in our country’s chronic search for truth and justice, his lofty standing is generally not expected to dent the acquittal judgment. As the Justice secretary at the time of the investigation and trial of the case, he is presumed to have been in effective control of the prosecutorial efforts to convict the accused, thereby rendering weak any “new” argument he now presents — unless of course he can show the acquittal verdict was void, or otherwise was rendered with such an abuse of authority as bars the operation of the double jeopardy doctrine.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110113com7.html

More deaths, misery from Philippine rains 01/13/2011

More deaths, misery from Philippine rains

01/13/2011
Widespread flooding in the Philippines has claimed seven more lives, raising the death toll from two weeks of heavy rain to 40, officials said Wednesday.

The seven deaths occurred over the past four days as floods engulfed Samar, the country’s third-largest island, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in its latest bulletin..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110113hed2.html

Balay-Samar factions at odds over poll chairman choice By Angie M. Rosales 01/13/2011

Balay-Samar factions at odds over poll chairman choice

By Angie M. Rosales 01/13/2011

They are at it again, the two warring factions within the support group of President Aquino.

The subject of the tug of war between the two warring factions this time around revolves around the each faction’s choice of candidate for the top position in the Commission on Elections (Comelec), as replacement of outgoing chairman Jose Melo.

The Yellows (Samar group) are said to be for Sixto Brilliantes, while the Blues (Balay group) are for Romulo Macalintal.

The prime post of the Comelec chairman is seen as crucial to the fate of political affairs, not only of Aquino’s Liberal Party (LP) but also of ally-personalities within the presidential circle..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110113hed3.html

Gov’t sale of camps unauthorized — solon 01/13/2011

Gov’t sale of camps unauthorized — solon

01/13/2011
The proposal to sell Camps Aguinaldo and Crame in Quezon City would be illegal unless sanctioned by an enabling law.

House Minority Leader Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman yesterday stressed that not even the President or any Philippine official for that matter can sell the military and police headquarters without an enabling law.

“No executive official, including the President, can sell, lease or encumber Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame or portions thereof without any authority from Congress through an enabling statute or law,” he said.
Lagman noted that Section 48 of Book I of the Administrative Code of 1987 provides that conveyance of real property of the government should be authorized by law.

He said the Supreme Court in a number of cases has ruled that legislative authority is necessary for the Executive to sell, alienate or encumber erstwhile properties of the public dominion after they have been declared as disposable partimonial properties of the state..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110113hed4.html

Magdalo soldier, 10 other ‘mutineers’ apply for amnesty By Mario J. Mallari 01/13/2011

Magdalo soldier, 10 other ‘mutineers’ apply for amnesty

By Mario J. Mallari 01/13/2011

A Magdalo officer, who was among the nine junior officers who were pardoned by former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo, yesterday applied for amnesty offered by the Aquino administration.
Former Army Capt. John Andres, a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1995, formally filed his application for amnesty before the Department of National Defense (DND) amnesty committee in Camp Aguinaldo.

Andres was among the 11 officers and enlisted personnel yesterday who applied for amnesty under President Aquino’s Proclamation 75 which covers the Oakwood mutiny, the February 2006 standoff at the Marine headquarters in Fort Bonifacio and the November 2007 siege of the Manila Peninsula Hotel all in Makati City.

At press time, a total of 137 officers and enlisted personnel have already submitted their applications for amnesty before the Azcueta committee..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110113hed6.html

Pervasive RP corruption remains, says Heritage 01/13/2011

SCORE ON ECONOMIC FREEDOM SLIDES

Pervasive RP corruption remains, says Heritage

01/13/2011
Despite the supposed “straight path” taken by President Aquino who assumed power in June last year, the annual Index of Economic Freedom still cited corruption as being pervasive in the country that has resulted in the Philippines under Aquino ranking a poor 115 out of 179 countries in the annual list compiled by The Heritage Foundation (Heritage), a conservative Washington-based think tank, and The Wall Street Journal.
The ranking showed that the Philippines’ freedom score of 56.2 this year even fell from 0.1 point from last year placing it among countries with a “mostly unfree” economy.

It ranked lower than Cambodia which placed 102nd and Sri Lanka, at 107th, in the index.

The Philippines scored the lowest on the “Freedom from Corruption” category where it got a 24 grade.
Heritage Foundation said corruption (in the Philippines) is perceived as pervasive.

“A culture of corruption is long-standing. The government has worked to reinvigorate its anti-corruption drive, but these efforts have been inconsistent,” it said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110113hed1.html

Prioritize anti-dynasty bill not Cha-cha, says Casiño By Charlie V. Manalo 01/13/2011

Prioritize anti-dynasty bill not Cha-cha, says Casiño

By Charlie V. Manalo 01/13/2011

Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño yesterday proposed that instead of going through a complicated Charter change process, the country’s leaders can start changing the political landscape by simply passing the long overdue bill prohibiting political dynasties.

Reacting to former Chief Justice Reynato Puno’s call for Charter change to reform the political system, Casiño said more than changing the Constitution, what is needed is to ensure that its anti-dynasty provision and other progressive sections are followed to the letter.

“The former Chief Justice rightfully observed that power has been monopolized by the economic and political elite, especially powerful political clans. So why not pass the enabling law that would make the Constitutional ban on political dynasties a living reality in our national life?” the lawmaker said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110113nat1.html

CPP-NDF demand to gov’t: Release Alcantara By Mario J. Mallari 01/13/2011

CPP-NDF demand to gov’t: Release Alcantara

By Mario J. Mallari 01/13/2011

The Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front of the Philippines (CPP-NDFP) has formally demanded the release of the New People’s Army (NPA) top commander Tirso Alcantara who is claimed to be among theconsultants in the peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the CPP-NDFP.

In a letter to GRP negotiating panel head Alex Padilla, NDFP chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni confirmed the earlier pronouncement of the CPP that Alcantara is among the holders of a Document of Identification issued by the NDFP to its personnel participating in the peace negotiations.

The CPP said the government should immediately release Alcantara, alias Ka Bart, to enable him to sit as a consultant of the NDFP and represent the Southern Tagalog region once formal peace negotiations with the GRP resumes on Feb.19 to 25 in Oslo, Norway. ”The continued detention of Ka Bart and other NDFP peace consultants and their staff constitutes a blatant violation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees or Jasig,” said the CPP..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110113nat2.html

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