Controversial tourism chief announces resignation By Virgilio Bugaoisan and Michaela P. del Callar 08/13/2011

Controversial tourism chief announces resignation

By Virgilio Bugaoisan and Michaela P. del Callar 08/13/2011

One supposed headache of President Aquino is gone.

Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim announced his resignation yesterday following a bruising term in which he oversaw a marketing disaster and quarrelled with the travel industry.

Lim, 61, said he was stepping down to spend more time with his family after just 13 months in the job, but he also conceded that frequent criticism of him may have impacted his ability to carry out his duties.

His resignation came amid lingering speculations that he was the Cabinet official being pointed to by Aquino as his “headache,” although it is more likely that Lim was asked to resign by the President.

At a press briefing shortly after personally tendering his courtesy resignation to the President yesterday, Lim told media he could no longer take the stress that comes along with his job as Tourism secretary and had grown tired of being separated from his family for long periods of time because he is required to travel a lot..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110813hed2.html

Delays in renewable energy too costly — solon 08/13/2011

Delays in renewable energy too costly — solon

08/13/2011
Sen. Edgardo Angara reiterated his call on government to hasten efforts in implementing mechanisms for the promotion of a Renewable Energy (RE) industry in the Philippines.

Angara, chairman of the Congressional Commission on Science, Technology and Engineering (COMSTE), made the statement after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) suspended its public hearing on the feed-in-tariff (FIT) rates petitioned by the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB), after it was discovered that NREB failed to publish the full proposal due to a lack of funds.

NREB Chairman Pedro Maniego, however, hinted that the deficiency may be resolved soon saying: “It’s good that the Department of Energy (DoE) will help us, as NREB itself does not have any budget.”

“With these delays, the window becomes narrower for our country to capitalize on the business opportunities presented by the global shift to renewables. Aside from the obvious environmental benefits of renewable energy, the government should also consider the large number of green jobs the industry could generate,” Angara said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110813nat6.html

Koko could have been proclaimed senator 2 years ago — Cayetano By Angie M. Rosales 08/13/2011

Koko could have been proclaimed senator 2 years ago — Cayetano

By Angie M. Rosales 08/13/2011

Proclamation of Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III should have taken place as early as two years ago, one of the members of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) said yesterday, pointing out that his lead over then rival in the poll protest case, Sen. Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, was estasblished at over 258,000 votes.

“At that time when the evidence of the counter-protest already showed that after the 25% of the counter-protest (of Zubiri) had been counted, that even if we (SET) proceeded in counting the remaining 75 percent (of his supposed spurious ballots), it can no longer overcome the lead of the protest (Pimentel). At that point, we could have already declared (the winner in the protest cast) based on my understanding and interpretation of our rules,” said Sen. Pia Cayetano.

The senator was referring to the tabulations made in the recount proceedings sometime in 2009 where the spurious ballots deducted from Pimentel was 88,561 while those deducted from Zubiri was at 365,246.

After revision and appreciation, the difference in the total number of votes of Pimentel against Zubiri was 258,166..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110813nat1.html

Motorcycle owners urged to install security devices on their units to prevent theft 08/13/2011

Motorcycle owners urged to install security devices on their units to prevent theft

08/13/2011
The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) has urged owners of motorcycles to install security devices on their units to prevent robbers from stealing them while parked or left unattended.

QCPD director Chief Supt. George Regis issued the call yesterday after he met with the city government officials led by Mayor Herbert “Bistek” Bautista at the city hall where they assessed security measures being undertaken by the former in connection with the city’s peace and order campaign.

Regis admitted due to a series of apprehensions of suspects and groups involved in stealing four-wheeled vehicles, thieves have shifted to stealing motorcycles instead of four-wheeled units.

Owners of motorcycles should cooperate with police authorities so that the latter can effectively act on the problem and lessen if not totally stop this new trend of motorcycle theft, the QCPD chief said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110813met2.html

‘Mikey’ told: Arroyos no longer infallible, face charges now By Gerry Baldo 08/13/2011

‘Mikey’ told: Arroyos no longer infallible, face charges now

By Gerry Baldo 08/13/2011

San Juan Rep. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito yesterday told Ang Galing Pinoy party-list Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo to be man enough to face the consequences of their actions during the nine-year incumbency of his mother, former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

“Just face the music,” Ejercito said yesterday, in reaction to a statement issued by Mikey that his family is being persecuted by the Aquino administration.

Mikey Arroyo claimed this is the first time in Philippine history that a political family is being persecuted.
“It’s not persecution. It’s just that justice is being served now after nine long years,” Ejercito said.

Ejercito, son of former President Joseph Estrada who was ousted by an elite coup led by then Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2001, noted that when the Arroyos were in power they were infallible..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110813met1.html

CCP imbroglio, a distraction DIE HARD III Herman Tiu Laurel 08/12/2011

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Flogging a dead horse EDITORIAL 08/12/2011

Flogging a dead horse

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

08/12/2011
What was there about the Bangsamoro substate to talk about when the Supreme Court (SC) has already ruled in 2008 that creating such an entity would be a violation of the Constitution?

Noynoy and the spokesman of Al Haj Murad who cannot even claim to speak in behalf of the entire fractious group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front met in Japan recently to discuss what is lately emerging as a modification of the aborted Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain that brought so much misery to residents in Mindanao after some of the MILF commanders took it upon themselves to take over areas that would have been included in the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) had the MoA-AD pulled through.

The SC, however, ruled that the BJE, which was practically a Muslim substate, would have required amending of the Constitution.

The effort to form the BJE was dropped and the treasonous act of those who sought to create it wormed their way out saying they were unaware of the contents of the agreement including the giving away of portions of the country’s territory..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110812com1.html

A skunk is a skunk is a skunk FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 08/12/2011

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BlackBerry helps Britain’s rioters organize focus 08/12/2011

BlackBerry helps Britain’s rioters organize

focus

08/12/2011
LONDON — The rioters causing havoc on British streets have eschewed traditional social networking sites as a way of organizing, instead using the encrypted instant chat service on their BlackBerry handsets.

Although BlackBerrys are normally associated with white-collar workers keeping up with their emails, they are used by 37 percent of young adults and children in Britain, according to recent industry figures.

They are popular because the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service offers a free alternative to texting and can send messages to many people at once. It is also encrypted, unlike Twitter which was used by protesters in Iran and Egypt.

“If you use Blackberry Messenger it’s usually just you or your local group of contacts you’ve personally approved who can see your messages. That’s why they’ve been preferring to use it,” said Alastair Paterson, chief executive of cybersecurity firm Digital Shadows..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110812com3.html

Picking up the cudgels NO HOLDS BARRED Armida Siguion-Reyna 08/12/2011

Picking up the cudgels

NO HOLDS BARRED

Armida Siguion-Reyna

08/12/2011
\"Those angry at Mideo Cruz’s works, can they be as angry for every stolen ballot, for every centavo filched from government, for every student unable to enroll because of the budget cuts given SUCs, for every desaparacido, for every slain activist and community worker, and the unjustly and illegally detained?”

I didn’t write that, my daughter-in-law did, in Facebook. I hear there’s been a good number of responses to it, including one from London-based theater actor/director Monique Wilson, “and why are these same people not OUTRAGED at how many Filipina women, girls, children are sex trafficked everyday, are incested, are abused by their husbands, fathers, uncles, are sold like commodities. why are they not OUTRAGED at that? Why do they not rush to the streets to protest against that and in defense of women’s rights?”

There’s a huge base of qualitative support for the artist-of-the hour, even as “Christian groups” have proclaimed their intention to file charges against the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Cruz, himself, because, as lawyer Jo Imbong puts it, “the Christian nation has been offended.”

It’s quite clear Imbong has a specific set of organizations and people in mind that make up her “Christian nation.” And these are those who kept quiet in the face of massive electoral fraud in 2004 and 2007, one of them an election lawyer who worked to keep the Unelected President in place, hello. As in, “Hello, Garci.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110812com4.html

Where are the containers now? C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 08/12/2011

Where are the containers now?

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

Jonathan De la Cruz

08/12/2011
It has been more than a month since Customs Commissioner Lito Alvarez triumphantly told the public that his office has been able to uncover the contemptuous practice of unscrupulous importers and their cohorts at the bureau of “diverting’ cargoes on transhipment” from one port to the other to avoid the payment of the correct duties and taxes. This scandalous practice which Alvarez apparently had an inkling of even when he was still in the private sector came to fore yet again when Batangas Port Collector Juan Tan reported during a recent congressional inquiry that out of 2219 container vans which were supposed to have been transhipped from the Port of Manila (PoM) and the Manila International Container Port (MICP) to their final destination, that is, the Batangas Port, only 309 actually arrived. Meaning, 1910 container vans containing highly dutiable goods got lost in transit and nowhere to be found..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110812com5.html

Mayuga Report now a ‘top secret’ document By Gerry Baldo 08/12/2011

Mayuga Report now a ‘top secret’ document

By Gerry Baldo 08/12/2011

The Mayuga Report which contains the results of the investigation into the alleged massive fraud in the 2004 presidential elections is now a “top secret” document by the Department of National Defense (DND).

Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares, during the budget hearing for the defense department, lamented that the Mayuga Report, which was done by former Navy Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga on orders of then President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is still being kept from the public eye.

“I am shocked that is now a secret document, that the Mayuga report that former President Arroyo said should be opened to the public for public interest has now been translated into top secret document,” Colmenares said.

Colmenares, during the hearing, asked for a copy of the report from officials of the DND led by Secretary Voltaire Gazmin.

Gazmin, when asked about the Mayuga Report said: “Top secret, your honor.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110812hed4.html

‘Koko’ Pimentel proclaimed as 12th senator in 2007 polls 08/12/2011

‘Koko’ Pimentel proclaimed as 12th senator in 2007 polls

08/12/2011
The Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) yesterday proclaimed lawyer Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel the 12th winning senator in the 2007 elections, ending his almost five-year and tedious protest against resigned Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri.

Based on Pimentel’s protest, the SET proved that Pimentel actually garnered a total of 258,166-vote lead over Zubiri after the recounting of ballots from 26,587 precincts in 44 municipalities in seven Mindanao provinces namely: Maguindanao, Lanao del Norte, Sharrif Kabunsan, Basilan, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Sur and Sulu.

The SET tally showed that Pimentel garnered a total of 10,898,786 votes as compared to Zubiri’s 10,640,620 votes.

“The decision is immediately executory,” lawyer Irene Guevarra, the SET secretary, said in the proclamation held at Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110812hed3.html

MILF warring factions escalate; 14 dead By Mario J Mallari 08/12/2011

MILF warring factions escalate; 14 dead

By Mario J Mallari 08/12/2011

Violence between warring forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) escalated yesterday as the firefight, which has already resulted in the killing of 14 fighters, started to spill over to another town in Maguindanao province with reinforcements for both sides joining the conflict.

Army 6th Infantry Division (ID) spokesman Col. Prudencio Asto said that fighting between the forces of MILF’s 106th Base Command chief Adzmie Kasim and Carialan Indong, alias commander Abunawas, of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) has shifted to nearby Guindulungan town from Datu Piang.

Asto said that gun battles were monitored at around 12 noon yesterday.

“It escalated again there, it seems it started again,” said Asto of the sporadic clashes between Adzmie’s and Abunawas’ groups. “We are still checking if there are any casualties there,” said Asto..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110812nat1.html

AFP claims foiled bomb plot by NPAs By Mario J. Mallari 08/12/2011

AFP claims foiled bomb plot by NPAs

By Mario J. Mallari 08/12/2011
The military foiled a possible bombing plot by the New People’s Army (NPA) following the arrest of a notorious communist bomber in Quezon province on Wednesday.

Military Southern Luzon Command (Solcom) spokesman Col. Generoso Bolina identified the captured NPA bomber as Alberto Macasinag, alias JY, tagged as squad leader of a communist group operating in Quezon province.

Bolina said Macasinag was arrested by combined elements of the Army’s 85th Infantry Battalion (IB), led by Lt. Col. Rodolfo Labadia, and Lopez Municipal Police Station (MPS) during an operation in Barangay Danlagan in Lopez town at around 11 a.m.

Macasinag, 45, was captured by virtue of a standing warrant for his arrest issued by Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 61 in Gumaca for charges of frustrated murder, among others. He is now under custody of the Lopez MPS..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110812nat4.html

DFA warns public on passport ‘fixers’ By Michaela P. del Callar 08/12/2011

DFA warns public on passport ‘fixers’

By Michaela P. del Callar 08/12/2011

Passport fixers continue to thrive and victimize Filipino applicants despite increased government efforts to curtail this illegal trade, the Department of Foreign Affairs admitted yesterday.

Even if the passport section has moved to a new building along Macapagal Avenue in Paranaque City from the DFA’s head office in Pasay City, the DFA said there are still fixers who have been capitalizing on their knowledge of the application procedures to lure first-time applicants to take an easier and hassle-free route in filing their applications but for an exorbitant fee.

Victims are mostly first-timers from the provinces or newly arrived overseas Filipino workers. Fixers usually charge between P2,500 and P15,000 with a promise of expediting the application procedure. The DFA charges P950 for regular processing and P1,200 for rush processing of e-passports.

“In view of these illegal activities carried out by these unscrupulous individuals, the DFA strongly advises the public not to deal or transact any business with these people,” a department notice said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110812met1.html

Big mistake EDITORIAL 08/11/2011

Big mistake

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

08/11/2011
Noynoy Aquino is placing the Philippines in great peril by forging a peace accord with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels, and obviously on their terms and conditions, which are, among others, the creation of a Moro substate with awesome state powers and an expanded territory while granting the rebels a national identity of BangsaMoro nation, said to be composed of not just Muslims, but Lumads and Christians who reside in the substate.

Christians and Lumads, neither of whom are Muslims, are to be known as BangsaMoro nationals under the rule of the MILF even in Christian settlements, such as Zamboanga Sibugay?

The MILF claims that secession is out of the picture as its people will remain Filipinos, but demands a substate with state powers, including having a BangsaMoro police force under its control and command, and expects a peace accord to be finalized in two years time.

Noynoy is apparently swallowing this MILF line, as already he is talking about the grant of greater autonomy for the MILF through a plebiscite, as though such a move would finally bring peace to Mindanao, assuming the high court will rule such an accord as constitutional..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110811com1.html

More than meets the eye FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 08/11/2011

More than meets the eye

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

08/11/2011
There is more than meets the eye about the meeting between Noynoy and China’s foreign minister, accompanied by the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines in Malacañang.

The Chinese officials were Ambassador Liu Jianchao and Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin, who went to the Palace to deliver a message from Chinese Premier Hu Jintao.

Prior to the meeting, Noynoy told reporters he would be meeting with the Chinese officials who are handing him a letter from the Chinese premier.

“They (Chinese officials) asked for the meeting. I understand there’s a message from Premier Hu Jintao. They did not tell me exactly what the message was. So, I’ll be meeting them around two o’clock,” Noynoy said prior to the meeting..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110811com2.html

Syria to snub international pressure — for now ANALYSIS 08/11/2011

Syria to snub international pressure — for now

ANALYSIS

08/11/2011
BEIRUT — Though its days are seen as numbered, Syria’s regime is likely to press on with its ferocious crackdown on dissent, despite fellow Arab states and allies joining international condemnation, analysts say.

That was underscored when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, under growing pressure from abroad, stood his ground on Tuesday and said he would pursue a relentless war against the “terrorist groups” he says are behind the unrest.

“We will not waver in our pursuit of terrorist groups,” Assad told visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Rami Khouri, head of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, said “the regime has been fiercely resistant to international pressure and the moves by the Saudis, the Gulf.... MORE
Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110811com3.html

Selling out the Philippines INSIDE CONGRESS Charlie Manalo 08/11/2011

Selling out the Philippines

INSIDE CONGRESS

Charlie Manalo

08/11/2011
Contrary to claims by militant fisherfolk group, Pamalakaya, that President Noynoy Aquino has no concrete plans to shield the country from another round of global recession and that he appears just as if he is waiting for the grand massacre of the Philippine economy as global markets collapsed due to the first ever US credit rating downgrade and falling European economies presided by festering debt woes, Noy indeed is making the necessary contingency plan. That is to prepare the Philippine economy for the “grand massacre” by selling the Philippines via amendments to the economic provisions.

The other day, a staunch ally of Aquino, presented the administration’s grand design to sell the Philippines by opening up vital industries and natural resources to foreign investors and that include the education and media industry.

With global economists warning that the US economy is heading back into recession which could be more painful compared to the December 2007 recession, Aquino is virtually inviting investors from that part of the world to invade our country and dump to the trash bins local capitalists.

And that is not without basis as Pamalakaya, quoting international wires, claimed that the world stocks racked up more losses on Monday based on rising worries about a double-dip global recession, deep-rooted jitters over the current downgrading of US credit rating and the growing debt problems across Europe..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110811com5.html

Asia faces tougher battle in new world slowdown focus 08/11/2011

Asia faces tougher battle in new world slowdown

focus

08/11/2011
SINGAPORE — Asian economies still scarred by the 2008 world recession are likely to have a harder time grappling with a new round of turmoil than they did three years ago, regional analysts said.

Fears of a new global meltdown are growing after the United States received a credit downgrade for the first time and markets tumbled on expectations that Italy and Spain could join other European countries in seeking a bailout.

“Back in 2008, rotten debt in the banks was the problem,” Singapore’s DBS Bank said in reference to global financial rescue measures that helped bring economic growth back on track.

“Governments took the debt off the banks — and spent a lot of money propping up economies — and now they themselves are in trouble. That’s why the situation may be worse than before: there’s no one left to turn to.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110811com6.html

Sick and sickening VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 08/11/2011

Sick and sickening

VIEWPOINTS

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

08/11/2011
An image of Jesus Christ with an attached wooden replica of a male genital protruding directly over His face. The genital is draped with a Holy Rosary, hanging by the base and the tip of the replica. Is this art?

A Crucifix and Cross draped with a pink stretched condom. Is this art?

To a Crucifix is attached a red male organ. Is this art?

“Yes, oh yes!” So says in substance a group of so-called “artists” exhibiting the above consummate sacrilege! So essentially implies nothing less than the “Pontifical” and “Royal” University of “Santo Tomas” indulging the group whose products they are and who engage in the big blasphemy! So basically claims the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) is displaying the radical vulgarity instead at nurturing and promoting Filipino positive cultural values as defined by its Mission Statement..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110811com7.html

Noy-MILF secret deal: Reframing MoA-AD By Mario J. Mallari 08/11/2011

UMBRA KATO, MURAD’S REBELS CLASH, LEAVE 8 DEAD

Noy-MILF secret deal: Reframing MoA-AD

By Mario J. Mallari 08/11/2011

There was a secret deal forged between President Aquino and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chieftain Al Haj Murad during the secret meeting held in Tokyo last Thursday, after all.

MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal made a freudian slip yesterday when he let out that the agreement reached between the two parties was for the MILF to “reframe” the discredited Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD) which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2008.

Part of the deal involving the “reframed MoA-AD,” which Iqbal hinted to which Aquino during the secret meeting did not object, is that provinces under the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and adjacent

areas of North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and Sultan Kudarat and the municipalities of Balabac and Batarasa in Palawan province, will be placed under the control of the Bangsamoro state which will be sharing powers with the national government..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110811hed1.html

FM is a hero fit for burial in Libingan ng mga Bayani—Imelda By Gerry Baldo and Mario J. Mallari 08/11/2011

FM is a hero fit for burial in Libingan ng mga Bayani—Imelda

By Gerry Baldo and Mario J. Mallari 08/11/2011

Former First Lady and incumbent Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos yesterday said former President Ferdinand Marcos is a hero who deserves to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Mrs. Marcos, reacting to news reports that her family had agreed to bury the former President in Ilocos Norte, said she and Vice President Jejomar Binay have not agreed on the burial site of the former President.

She said she and Binay, who went to Ilocos Norte a few days back, had talked about housing programs and not about the burial of the former President.

Vice President Binay yesterday maintained there is nothing definite about the controversial burial of the late President, stressing that his job on the issue is purely recommendatory and that Malacañang has the final say on the matter..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110811hed4.html

2 missing in sea crash; oil slick unleashed 08/11/2011

2 missing in sea crash; oil slick unleashed

08/11/2011
Two cargo vessels have collided off the coast of the southern Philippines, leaving two persons missing and unleashing a small oil slick, the Coast Guard said yesterday.

Two crew members of a locally-registered bulk carrier are missing after it was in collision late Tuesday with the Monrovia-registered container vessel HS Puccini off the southernmost tip of the southern island of Mindanao, it said.

The much-larger Puccini rescued 16 crew from the smaller vessel while the another five swam to shore and safety, a coastguard statement said.

The Puccini is sailing to the nearby port of General Santos as scheduled with the rescued crew members, it said, while the exact status of the other vessel was not specified..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110811hed6.html

Gov’t has no moral ground to question NDF’s sincerity on peace talks — CPP By Mario J. Mallari 08/11/2011

Gov’t has no moral ground to question NDF’s sincerity on peace talks — CPP

By Mario J. Mallari 08/11/2011

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) scored President Aquino for questioning the sincerity of its political arm, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), in the ongoing peace negotiations.
“The Philippine government does not have the moral high ground to question the sincerity of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in the peace talks,” the CPP said.

“How can Aquino question the sincerity of the NDFP when it has been his government that has failed to show good faith in peace talks after carrying out the arrest earlier this year of at least two key NDFP peace consultants and failing to fulfill its obligations to effect the release of at least 17 peace talks consultants of the NDFP,” CPP pointed out.

The CPP-NDFP is clamoring for the release of the consultants, including New People’s Army (NPA) leader Tirso “Ka Bart” Alcantara and CPP Central Committee member Alan Jazmines..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110811nat4.html

Noy won’t sack CCP board over ‘Kulo’ row By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 08/11/2011

Noy won’t sack CCP board over ‘Kulo’ row

By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 08/11/2011
Despite their bad artistic taste, President Aquino is not firing the members of the board of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

At a press briefing yesterday, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that President Aquino is not inclined to heed growing clamor for the purging of the CCP board which allowed the “Kulo” exhibit and even publicly defending it, without due regard to religious sensitivities.

“There is no action on our part, in the Palace, to do that,” Lacierda said when asked if the President would sack the CCP board, or ask for their resignation, for their oversight in allowing the exhibit of so-called art pieces which practically desecrated the image of Jesus Christ.

Lacierda said that it is already enough that the CCP management has decided to finally close down the exhibit although the reason for doing so is about safety issues and not about impropriety of the “Kulo” exhibit. The CCP board even appeared remorseless and maintained that these so-called artworks were part of an artist’s freedom of expression..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110811nat1.html

DoE chief warns oil firms: Roll back prices or face raps By Gerry Baldo 08/11/2011

DoE chief warns oil firms: Roll back prices or face raps

By Gerry Baldo 08/11/2011

The Department of Energy (DoE) yesterday warned oil companies they could be sued if they do not roll back their prices by at least P2 per liter.

Secretary Jose Almendras, who was at the House of Representatives to defend the DoE’s P8.8-billion budget, said the roll back should be implemented between now and Monday next week.

“We are expecting a P2 rollback on their oil products until Monday. If not, we will ask them to explain and the Department of Justice will take over for investigation for possible action,” Almendras said yesterday in answer to Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño’s query on whether the people could expect a price rollback given the huge drop in the world market price.

Oil prices dropped from $120 last month to only $77 this month..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110811met1.html

DoH hit for allowing hospital to engage in ‘pawnshop operations’ 08/11/2011

DoH hit for allowing hospital to engage in ‘pawnshop operations’

08/11/2011
Lawmakers yesterday lambasted the Department of Health (DoH) for allowing the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) to collect personal items from their patients in exchange for discharge slips.
According to Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño, the practice at the PCMC has been going on since 2009 as shown by a memorandum number 45 issued by PCMC Director Dr. Julius Lecciones.

Casino said he will file a resolution to investigate the hospital and the DoH for allowing such practice even as he showed Health Secretary Enrique Ona copies of the memorandum circulars issued by Lecciones during yesterday budget hearing on the DoH. Lecciones is an appointee of former President Arroyo.

“This practice of public hospitals engaging in pawnshop operations is very deplorable and we expect Secretary Ona to immediately stop this. He should know what is happening in government hospitals and the desperate practices they engage in just to shore up their budgets. One way to stop this is to restore the budgets of our public hospitals as contained in their original proposals. This means raising the DoH budget by at least P20 billion,” Casiño said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110811met4.html

Treason EDITORIAL 08/10/2011

Treason

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

08/10/2011
No wonder the country’s foreign policy is shot and why Noynoy Aquino continues to go about state things very undiplomatically and unprofessionaly.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) high officials apparently do not, or fear to, advise Noynoy on diplomacy and protocols. Instead, they cover up for his many undiplomatic moves, denying that he broke protocol and that he did a good thing, as well as praise him and his undiplomatic deeds to high heavens.

What is even more laughable is the sight of DFA high officials stating that there will be an investigation to flush out the unnamed diplomat in a newspaper report who called the secret meeting between Noynoy and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief Al-HaJ Murad treason, while pointing out what a president of the country, both the head of state and government, should not have done.

It is laughable because there is only one way for the DFA to know just who the unnamed diplomatic source is: Getting the newspaper reporter to disclose the diplomat’s identity..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110810com1.html

The crooked, crooked path FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 08/10/2011

The crooked, crooked path

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

08/10/2011
Who says there has been a change in the Aquino government officials’ mindset, such as their having done away with the anti-wang-wang culture?

Just Noynoy and his rah-rah boys who claim to be treading the straight path, a line which is already much too sickening, being so hypocritical.

To cite an example: Four members of a Singaporean syndicate said to be involved in a P150-million scam in government casinos have been allowed to leave the country, despite a Department of Justice (DoJ) hold departure order (HDO), it was admitted by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) during a House hearing two days ago.

It might as well be asked: Why isn’t Justice Chief Leila de Lima screaming at the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and subjecting the four scammers to the usual trial by publicity, as she always does in the case of the Arroyos and those identified with them?.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110810com2.html

Sudan regime survives partition, troubles loom focus 08/10/2011

Sudan regime survives partition, troubles loom

focus

08/10/2011
KHARTOUM — One month after allowing the south to secede, Sudan’s government has not reaped the hoped-for rewards but it has so far resisted strong international pressures and mounting domestic challenges.

Khartoum was expecting to be swiftly removed from the US terror blacklist, as Washington promised, in return for its cooperation over January’s referendum and the resulting independence of South Sudan on July 9.

An easing of sanctions and help with its crippling debts were also hoped for.

But none of this has happened yet, while the ongoing conflict in the ethnically-divided border state of South Kordofan has focused unwanted foreign attention on Sudan’s internal problems..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110810com3.html

Lessons from Kosovo crisis C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 08/10/2011

Lessons from Kosovo crisis

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

Jonathan De la Cruz

08/10/2011
Before Marvic Leonen gets to open his mouth one more time to sing paeans to his so-called “out of the box” solution to the decades old secessionist problem in Mindanao and let P-Noy be lulled by that MILF siren song enjoining us to turn from “adversaries into problem solvers” he and his associates, including the GRP’s financiers, i.e., Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Butch Abad and their friends in the private sector, better listen to the voices of past “talks” and read up on the lessons of conflicts in other parts of the world.

The latest MILF brainstorm issued by Leonen and confirmed somehow by the MILF Vice-Chairman for Political Affairs Ghadzali Jaafar that henceforth the secessionist group is no longer interested in independence but a broader autonomy, that is, having a substate with broader powers within the Republic is a giveaway. This is what Kosovo, the Albanian dominated province within the old Serb dominated Yugoslav Federation, got in 1945 yet and look what has happened since..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110810com4.html

Hide the biggest Pagcor scam; enjoy the fruits and perks N.O . N.O.N.S.E.N.S.E Jacinto 08/10/2011

Hide the biggest Pagcor scam; enjoy the fruits and perks

N.O . N.O.N.S.E.N.S.E

Jacinto

08/10/2011
Recently we were gratified that the new Pagcor officials were doing their job of running after the shenanigans of the past Pagcor administration by exposing and filing cases on the anomalies such as the BIDA project, the personal use by a Pagcor official of the rice donation, the excessive coffee purchases and the Baler movie investment, but all these exposés and cases were mere decoys of a bigger scam that the new Pagcor officials were trying to hide from the public. The grand scam which is the illegal grant or award of a license to operate and manage casino to Resorts World, Thunderbird and the others is outrageous and unconscionable because it deprives the government of billions of pesos of foregone income.

The Pagcor official under Gloria should have properly and legally negotiated a better terms for the government but they did not and the new officials under P-Noy are consenting and perpetuating this irregularity instead of exposing and filing cases against those involved in this scam. It seems the deal must have provided fruits and perks to these new officials..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110810com5.html

Gov’t, MILF to have joint powers under substate By Mario J. Mallari and Gerry Baldo 08/10/2011

NOY ALLY SAYS SUBSTATE UNCONSTITUTIONAL, CHA-CHA NEEDED FOR BANGSAMORO STATE

Gov’t, MILF to have joint powers under substate

By Mario J. Mallari and Gerry Baldo 08/10/2011

President Aquino and his Malacañang aides refuse to divulge what was discussed during the Tokyo “secret meeting” between the President and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front chietain, Al Haj Murad, but his vice chairman and his chief negotiator appear to be free to spill the beans on the secret meeting, including telling reporters of the joint power sharing between the Bangsamoro government and Malacañang, as well as the MILF having “residual” powers even, apparently, in the matter of those departments that were said to have been “excluded.”

The two-hour secret meeting between Aquino and Murad in Japan last Thursday centered on the proposed Bangsamoro substate by the MILF and the need to fast-track the peace negotiations.

MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, who was brought along by Murad during a one-plus-one meeting with Aquino who was with government negotiator Marvic Leonen, said Murad personally explained the MILF’s proposed Bangsamoro substate to the President.

“That (Bangsamoro substate) was the center (of discussion) and the need to fast-track
the negotiation,” said Iqbal..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110810hed1.html

Noy tight-lipped on China meet, Chinese premier’s letter By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 08/10/2011

Noy tight-lipped on China meet, Chinese premier’s letter

By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 08/10/2011
Keeping everything secret appears to be the fad under the claimed transparent Aquino presidency as neither President Aquino nor his Malacañang officials divulged details of Aquino’s meeting with Chinese officials Tuesday afternoon, triggering speculations that the letter personally hand-carried by the assistant Chinese foreign minister is related to the worsening diplomatic rift between the two countries over the disputed Spratlys Islands.

Strangely, the meeting which took place inside Malacañang, was even supposed to be open for “photo ops” but was scrapped for some unknown reason. A briefing by presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda in relation to the meeting was also canceled, with claims that it was being done on the request of the Chinese Embassy.

The Chinese officials, Chinese Ambassador Liu Jianchao and Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin, went to the Palace to deliver a message from Chinese Premier Hu Jintao.

This was earlier disclosed to reporters by Aquino himself, who said he does not know what the letter contained..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110810hed2.html

Binay unveils first housing project for Aetas 08/10/2011

Binay unveils first housing project for Aetas

08/10/2011
LAOAG — The Board of the National Housing Authority (NHA) has approved the first housing project for members of the Aeta community, Vice President and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Chairman Jejomar Binay said yesterday.

Other indigenous communities will also be beneficiaries of the housing program for Indigenous People (IP), a new program approved by the NHA Board chaired by Binay.

Binay said the housing project will benefit the Tribung Ayta ng Nabuklod (TAN) association, whose members are residents of the municipality of Floridablanca, Pampanga. The provincial government of Pampanga earlier expressed its intention to resettle around 3,000 homeless Aetas.

“Initially, we have allocated P14 million for this project for the construction of 350 housing units for members of Aeta community,” Binay said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110810nat4.html

CCP execs, personnel losing jobs over ‘blasphemous’ exhibit By Angie M. Rosales 08/10/2011

CCP execs, personnel losing jobs over ‘blasphemous’ exhibit

By Angie M. Rosales 08/10/2011

The management of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) is now in hot water and is in peril of losing jobs as they stand to earn a “zero” budget for their office next year in the light of the controversy stirred by what most critics described as blasphemous art exhibit.

Senate leaders are now out to get the head of CCP executives as they are in unison in dipping their fingers into the art exhibit “Kulo.”

Although CCP closed down the main gallery where the said exhibit has been on display, this did not stop Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada from bringing up the matter anew on the floor during their afternoon plenary session.

Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III was first to condemn the said exhibit, calling it a sacrilegious and an affront to the sensibilities of Filipinos as some groups are claiming these form of art as part of freedom of expression..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110810nat1.html

Art exhibit at Cultural Center showing poster of Jesus with penis glued to His face closed By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 08/10/2011

Art exhibit at Cultural Center showing poster of Jesus with penis glued to His face closed

By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 08/10/2011

In another demonstration of his belated decision-making skills, President Aquino finally stepped into the raging ruckus at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) over its controversial art exhibit.

He said he had scolded the members of the CCP board for allowing the display of pieces that trample on the rights and beliefs of other people.

In an interview shortly after his visit to the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project onshore gas plant in Tabangao, Batangas, Aquino said he called on some members of the CCP board to be more circumspect and to exercise utmost diligence before allowing the use of the government’s cultural center for certain activities.

“I was in contact with several board members yesterday and I told them that I’m a Christian, and the country is 85% Christian as well. The CCP is bounded by public value, also it should be in service of the people, so when you insult most of the people, I don’t think that is of service (of the people),” Aquino said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110810met2.html

Stop sale of sequestered television station — solon 08/10/2011

Stop sale of sequestered television station — solon

08/10/2011
An administration lawmaker yesterday asked the government to take immediate legal steps to stop the sale of the sequestered television station built on a 4.1-hectare property in Quezon City which was opposed by the Commission on Audit (CoA),saying she will call for a congressional probe into the matter.

Ang Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy bared she will file this week a resolution calling for the immediate investigation in aid of legislation into the circumstances surrounding the joint venture agreement (JVA) entered into by the government-run broadcast network Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC-13) and RII Builders Inc./Primestate Ventures Inc. that was finalized on March 10, 2010.

Citing the 2010 audit report on the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), Herrera-Dy said state auditors asked the agency to seek the legal assistance of the Office of the Solicitor General to stop the implementation of the JVA by filing a temporary restraining order before civil courts.

“The CoA recommendation was submitted to the PCGG last March. We hope legal steps have already been taken to address the audit agency’s concern,” Herrera Dy said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110810met4.html

Smart football on EDITORIAL Click to enlarge 08/09/2011

Smart football on

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

08/09/2011
The case of Benjamin Pinpin, the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) lawyer who took his own life, is worthy of an Alfred Hitchcock mystery thriller as new and strange twists happen almost everyday and personalities involved could lead to the very doorsteps of the seat of power.

Available facts from people in the know who understandably want to remain anonymous related that trouble started to percolate at the state-owned bank when DBP chairman Jose Nuñez took office. Nuñez appears to be a pawn of Buddy Zamora who in turn is becoming the most prominent of Noynoy’s associates in business.

Zamora was a major campaign financier of Noynoy and was rumored to be Noynoy’s benefactor of his most prized toy, the Porsche, that he supposedly only recently sold.

Zamora, who is into heavy industries, including Philphos — a major maker of fertilizer — and Nonoc mining, apparently owed the DBP P3 billion upon the assumption of Nuñez. To pay off the maturing loans, Zamora supposedly applied for new loans with the same bank..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110809com1.html

Sneaky Noynoy FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 08/09/2011

Sneaky Noynoy

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

08/09/2011
Bits and pieces regarding the discussions of the secret meeting that obviously has resulted in a secret deal with Noynoy giving in to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s demands are now being gathered, with the MILF, through vice chairman Ghazali Jaafar, being quoted as saying a day after the Tokyo secret meeting between Noynoy and MILF chairman Al-Haj Murad, that the MILF does not want autonomy, which is “inutile,” but a substate, which is a state within a state.

Jaafar explained what a substate is, saying that under a sub-state, Mindanao Muslims would have control over major aspects of governance, except national defense, foreign affairs, currency and coinage, as well as postal services.

What is not being stated and explained, however by Jaafar and Noynoy, is that under the MILF substate terms, this Bangsa Moro government, which, as the MILF is going to be given by Noynoy its “national identity,” will be fairly a copy of the Palestinian Authority (PA), a substate lodged somewhere in Israeli-controlled territory.

The Oslo Accords afforded the Palestinian Authority control over both security-related and civilian issues in Palestinian urban areas and only civilian control over Palestinian rural areas. The remainder of the territories, including Israeli settlements remain under exclusive Israeli control. The PA has police control within the territories that have been included..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110809com2.html

Madonna’s Malawian school a barren field of failed dreams FEATURE 08/09/2011

Madonna’s Malawian school a barren field of failed dreams

FEATURE

08/09/2011
CHINKOTA — The abandoned site looks more like a quarried mine than a pop superstar’s multimillion-dollar dream to groom girls into Malawi’s next leaders and doctors.

But the bleak, levelled terraces of gravelly sand near Malawi’s capital are the only evidence of Madonna’s $15 million (10.6 million euros) academy that was ditched in a cloud over misused funds and disgruntled locals.

“This has just become a football ground now,” said local chief Binson Kalenga.

The bulldozers are long silent where Madonna — who adopted two children from Malawi — laid a foundation stone engraved “dare to dream” in April 2010, in a simple village in a desperately poor African country that many could not find on a map..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110809com3.html

Bad experience in Rome NO HOLDS BARRED Armida Siguion-Reyna 08/09/2011

Bad experience in Rome

NO HOLDS BARRED

Armida Siguion-Reyna

08/09/2011
The cause célèbre I shall of course get involved with, for to my last breath I shall be involved with all that’s got to do with freedom of expression, and no one, no priest, no group of priests, no threat of ex-communication, can stop me. No, sir, not even at my age.

But first, indulge me. I’m not merely complaining here, but actually issuing a warning to those setting out to vacation in Rome, where one is supposed to gather receipts for items that cost beyond 155 to 170 euros, in order to avail of at least an 11 percent value added tax (VAT) exemption.

Glad that the Italian Embassy here in Manila gave me a SchenGen visa for one year, I left for Rome July 14, so as to do away with jet lag before the official July 18 start of our “eating” tour to Florence and its environs. The boutique hotel we were in was snug and comfy, the one downer was not having my husband with me for the first time.

Sig and I both loved Italy, for its food, glorious music, wondrous works of art, and scenic spots. We’d been there countless of times, so I wanted to reconnect, and again went with a group comprised of my children Monique, Dodie and Luz, Carlitos and Bibeth, grandchildren Dara Tere, Tonito, Aya and Rafa; my sister Irma Potenciano and her daughter Virma, Virma’s husband Bonnie Vergel de Dios, and their son Mark; Lirio Vital, her two sons Roland and Chris; and Menggie Cobarrubias..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110809com4.html

No Pinoys hurt AN OUTSIDERS VIEW Ken Fuller 08/09/2011

No Pinoys hurt

AN OUTSIDERS VIEW

Ken Fuller

08/09/2011
For some time, I have been tempted to comment on the Philippine media’s habit of focusing on the number of Filipinos hurt or killed (often none) in foreign disasters, whether natural or man-made. To a degree, this practice is understandable, given the fact that Filipinos are to be found in most countries of the world. But it’s always struck me as somewhat unhealthy, conveying the impression of a compassion, to the extent that such exists, that is narrow and selfish, assigning secondary importance to the victims who are not Filipino — even if that’s all of them.

On Friday, July 22, scores of people were killed as a result of a bomb blast, followed by the lone rampage of a gunman in Norway. What was the Philippine Star’s headline on July 24? “No Pinoys hurt in Norway attacks.”

You don’t need to be a foreigner to find that offensive. Several online commentators took issue with it, one pointing out that the “attack was on Norwegian people by a Norwegian,” and therefore asking “why all this talk about Filipinos in Norway?” Another found that the article conveyed a “typical Pinoy and parochial perspective.” Why should readers’ first interest be “to know whether there are Pinoys involved? Victims of tragedy belong to common humanity…” More bluntly, a third asserted that the report merely proved that “Pinoys only care about other Pinoys,” not that “there are 91 people dead who are not Filipinos.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110809com5.html

The czar of disaster INSIDE CONGRESS Charlie Manalo 08/09/2011

The czar of disaster

INSIDE CONGRESS

Charlie Manalo

08/09/2011
Over the weekend, an eager-beaver lawmaker called on President Noynoy Aquino to assume the role of disaster management czar.

While acknowledging the fact that the law, Republic Act 10121, or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, categorically names the Defense secretary as chairman of the National Disk Reduction and Management Council, this lawmaker claims the key and decisive disaster management player is the President.

As the take-charge guy in every calamitous situation, the disaster management czar, the lawmaker said, will have to address four major areas: disaster preparedness, disaster mitigation, emergency response, and post-disaster rehabilitation of victims.

He then called on Congress to look into the possibility of providing the President with additional powers to become the disaster management czar, particularly post-disaster rehabilitation of victims, which is considered crucial in disaster management..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110809com6.html

Deregulation VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 08/09/2011

Deregulation

VIEWPOINTS

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

08/09/2011
More often than not, the meaning and implications of the word “deregulation” bring to mind not only a good amount of happy thoughts but also uncertain feelings among the general public. It ushers in not merely the joyful expectation of freedom from law but also the horrible feelings of exploitation from avaricious and voracious individuals and companies.


Reason: The idea of “regulation” sounds offensive to human rights and dignity. On the other hand, the thought of “deregulation” makes the heart beat faster while the mind becomes fanciful. In other words, especially during these times when the laws of the land are only applicable to the poor while the rich are above the rules of social norms — the absence of regulatory provisions appears not only welcome but also very inspiring.

Specifically in the Philippines, a concrete example comes to mind: The reality of the regulation of salaries on one hand, and the deregulation of fuel on the other hand. The common people perfectly know and feel the contradiction in this practice of rather long observance in the country. While the government carefully and even grudgingly counts every peso added to the salaries of workers and employees in the private sector, it however plays practically deaf, blind and dumb when the different fuel corporations decidedly and repeatedly raise their respective selling prices — lowering these a little now and then in order to confuse their buyers, not really to lessen their financial burden..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110809com7.html

Noy, MILF dead set on setting Muslim substate By Mario J. Mallari 08/09/2011

TALKS OF CONGRESSIONAL ACTION FOR BANGSA MORO STATE PLEBISCITE

Noy, MILF dead set on setting Muslim substate

By Mario J. Mallari 08/09/2011

President Aquino and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are dead set on establishing for the MILF a Bangsa Moro substate with great government power and authority and wants this approved through a congressional act to provide his still secret deal with the Moro rebels the cloak of legality and “constitutionality.”

In a press briefing yesterday after the 110th service anniversary of the Philippine National Police at Camp Crame, Aquino refused to disclose details of the secret meeting with MILF chairman Al Haj
Murad held last Thursday in Tokyo, although it could be gleaned that he would be seeking congressional approval for the secret deal forged with the rebel Muslim group, which could lead to an expansion or contraction of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, saying that a plebsicite will be called to get the people to decide on whether they agree to an expanded, or contracted ARMM.

The MILF has made it clear that it wants a substate with the Bangsa Moro people having a national identity, which could well be the secret deal forged with Aquino, and this will likely result in an entity called the Bangsa Moro Authority, patterned after the Palestinian Authority that currently governs in Israeli-controlled territory..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110809hed1.html

Disbarment case filed against Davao mayor 08/09/2011

Disbarment case filed against Davao mayor

08/09/2011
A sheriffs group yesterday filed before the Supreme Court (SC) a disbarment case against Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, a lawyer.

In a five-page complaint-affidavit for disbarment, the Sheriffs Confederation of the Philippines (Scophil) led by Patermoscio Labayani, Roberto Galing and Fernando Regino asked the high tribunal to oust Duterte as lawyer for assaulting Davao City Court

Sheriff Abe Andres while acting on lawful orders from the court for demolition of houses in Davao City.

The group said Duterte-Carpio is not an ordinary mayor, she is a lawyer and an eminent member of the bar, hence, “she is an officer of the court.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110809hed5.html

Tagoloan mayor to file charges vs Hanjin Co. at DoJ 08/09/2011

Tagoloan mayor to file charges vs Hanjin Co. at DoJ

08/09/2011
The complainants led by Tagoloan Mayor Mighty Dimakuta will file charges against Hanjin Construction Co. at Department of Justice (DoJ)  for violating the contract forged between the company and Lanao del Norte provincial government that the former should maintain the three road projects of the province for at least one year after completion.

At the same time, Dimakuta will ask the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to deport the officers or leaders, including all personnel (Koreans) to South Korea as they become undesirable aliens in the country.

Landslides and flooding in Tagoloan prompted Dimakuta to seek legal assistance and impose disciplinary action against the leaders, officers and personnel of Hanjin to instill lesson that they cannot just take it lightly their responsibility of their duty and function as foreigner contractor in the country.

“The Hanjin leaders or officers must be serious in their dealings with the local residents or provincial leaders particularly about forged contract they signed as every provision or agreement stated in the contract should be complied,” Dimakuta said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110809nat3.html

Elite AFP troops kill 3 Abu Sayyaf terrorists in clash By Mario J. Mallari 08/09/2011

Elite AFP troops kill 3 Abu Sayyaf terrorists in clash

By Mario J. Mallari 08/09/2011

At least three Abu Sayyaf terrorists were killed after government troops last Sunday caught up with the band of Radullan Sahiron and Isnilon Hapilon which perpetrated the killing of seven Marines, five of them beheaded, last week in the outskirts of Sulu province.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) deputy chief of staff for operations (J3) Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr. said that the successful military operation was launched by combined Marines and elite Army forces along the vicinities of Barangay Bungkaong in Patikul town around 8:45 a.m.

Mabanta said that combined elements of the Army’s 3rd Light Reaction Company (LRC), 63rd Force reconnaissance Company (FRC) and the Marines clashed with more or less 40 to 50 Abu Sayyaf bandits. The firefight lasted for about 30 minutes..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110809nat1.html

Magsaysay, Carandang showdown looms By Charlie V. Manalo 08/09/2011

Magsaysay, Carandang showdown looms

By Charlie V. Manalo 08/09/2011

A showdown looms today at the House of Representatives as Zambales Rep. Ma. Milagros “Mitos” Magsaysay gets the chance to confront Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO) Secretary Ricky Carandang over the issue of the alleged overpriced purchase of Apple computers the latter had acquired without a public bidding.

In a privilege speech, Magsaysay said Carandang has a lot of explaining to do regarding the unsavory remarks uttered by the Cabinet secretary against the solon when they meet in today’s budget hearing for Presidential Communications Operation Office (PCOO) budget. The PCDSPO is under the PCOO.

“Magpaliwanag na lang siya sa budget hearing,” Magsaysay exclaimed in relation to Carandang’s attack against her.

Last week, Carandang accused Magsaysay feeding to the media wrong information regarding his office’s purchase of 24 units of Apple laptop computers, alleging the solon of spreading rumors he tried to force his assistant secretary to sign a purchase order even without the benefit of a proper bidding..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110809met1.html

CCP officials should resign over sacrilegious’ exhibit — lawmaker By Charlie V. Manalo and Gerry Baldo 08/09/2011

CCP officials should resign over sacrilegious’ exhibit — lawmaker

By Charlie V. Manalo and Gerry Baldo 08/09/2011
Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing yesterday called on the officials of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) to immediately tender their resignations for refusing to shut down an “offensive, sacrilegious and blasphemous” art exhibit.

“CCP’s showcasing of the exhibit, especially Mideo M. Cruz’s ‘Polytheism,’ is a misuse of public funds and government facilities for which CCP officials can be and should be made to answer for,” said Bagatsing in a privilege speech.

“Heads must roll over this affront to humanity masquerading as art, especially since CCP officials have stubbornly refused to close the curtains on this exhibit using their mistaken notion of freedom of expression.”

Bagatsing also called on the Dominican leadership of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) to issue an emphatic condemnation of the exhibit because while it is not an official activity of UST’s Quadricentennial Celebration, it is being held in conjunction with the school’s 400th anniversary..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110809met3.html