Same time, same budget OK next year EDITORIAL 11/24/2011

Same time, same budget OK next year

EDITORIAL

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11/24/2011
The Senate Tuesday approved the Malacaang-proposed 2012 national budget of P1.816 trillion, apparently without any cuts.

It only took the Senate just one week of deliberations and almost unanimous approval of the budget, despite the budget items being not only a non-transparent spending budget but also one that is not attuned to what is needed by an administrations pledges made during its campaign to spend on.

On the issue of transparency, there were again lump sum appropriations, along with the Palaces stubborn stand to make the judiciary specifically the Supreme Court (SC) bow to Malacaang, with its insistence and approval of Congress for constitutional offices to provide the Palace with reports on how many positions have been filled, despite the claim of Noynoys puppy in the Senate, Sen. Franklin Drilon, that the fund release will be automatic, even when funds will only be released when the quarterly reports to Malacanang will show that the constitutional offices have filled the positions..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111124com1.html

Egyptian military inspired by OWS crackdown

 Egyptian military inspired by OWS crackdown

Dozens have died on the streets of Cairo this week as the Egyptian Army continues to fire blindly into clusters of demonstrators in hopes of dissolving protests against government imposed-austerity measures.

According to Egyptian state television, it was the fantastically efficient police response to the Occupy Wall Street movement in America that motivated this slew of executions overseas.

"We saw the firm stance the US took against OWS people (and the German government against green protesters) to secure the state," an Egyptian state television anchor said on Sunday (as translated by Sultan Sooud al Qassemi). While it’s without a doubt a hyperbole to compare the deaths of at least 33 of this writing with the indeed brutal but comparably tame assaults carried out by US police departments, it still says something to the forces in the States that their ridiculous response to protests so far has spawned a lethal follow-up in Egypt..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/ows-police-cairo-protests-883/

Cairo carnage: Shock footage shows cop atrocities

Cairo carnage: Shock footage shows cop atrocities

Riot police are spreading tear gas and firing rubber bullets as the crowd of stone-throwing protesters at Egypt’s Tahrir Square begins to swell. RT’s Paula Slier reports from Cairo that the situation on the ground remains extremely tense.

­Some of the rubber bullets have gone astray, hitting residential buildings nearby and starting fires. Paula has encountered at least a dozen ambulances and a fire brigade quickly responding.

Tear gas was burning Paula’s eyes, and RT’s crew had to go inside one of the nearby buildings to take shelter so they could rinse their eyes with water..... MORE
Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/egypt-protesters-disperse-bullets-813/

The top 0.1 percent earns half of American capital gains

 The top 0.1 percent earns half of American capital gains

Maybe “one-tenth of a percent” doesn’t have the same ring to it or else protesters have only now uncovered the truth? Regardless, a newly published analysis reveals that those at the top of the 1 percent have used dirty tricks to get them there.

In an article posted over the weekend to the website of Forbes, its revealed that the richest-of-the-rich in America — the 315,000 or 0.1 percent of the country — has managed to make a pretty penny off of a shriveling capital gains tax which they have used to line their wallets while forgoing any scrutiny from Uncle Sam.

That small sample of the 315 million or so Americans can thank profits made through capital gains for being placed into that exclusive bracket... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/percent-half-capital-gains-887/

OWS protesters interrupt Obama's speech (VIDEO)

OWS protesters interrupt Obama's speech (VIDEO)


The 99 percent approached President Barack Obama this afternoon, surprising the commander in chief with a “mic check” during a speech he was making in New Hampshire.

Speaking from Manchester, NH Tuesday to discuss the American economy, President Obama was interrupted by protesters employing the “People’s Microphone,” a method of spreading news and alerts made popular by the Occupy Wall Street movement after demonstrators were denied usage of megaphones.

“Mic check,” a lone voice yelled during the president’s speech, which prompted a boisterous echo from other protesters in the crowd. A series of call-and-response quips ensued, overwhelming the president and causing him to momentarily stop his speech..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/obama-occupy-wall-street-985/

Did US 'climate weapon' knock-out Russian probe?

 Did US 'climate weapon' knock-out Russian probe?

Russian space experts are struggling to decode fresh telemetry signals received from the stricken Phobos-Grunt probe. Meanwhile, rumors are circulating that America’s ionosphere research site in Alaska caused the spacecraft’s failure.

On Wednesday night, the European Space Agency’s station in Perth, Australia, established communication with Phobos-Grunt, which has been rotating helplessly around the Earth since its engines failed to fire two weeks ago.

The Perth station sent a command to the Russian craft which caused it to transmit long-awaited telemetry data, which was duly forwarded to Russian specialists..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/phobos-grunt-climate-weapon-129/

‘Do you believe in Santa Claus?’ VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 11/24/2011

‘Do you believe in Santa Claus?’

VIEWPOINTS

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

11/24/2011
There is this innocent and lovable seven-year-old boy who lives in his little world of sights and sounds, who loves joyful occasions and enjoys simple gatherings prepared by his parents. But more than anything else, he looks forward to Christmas.

Oh, Christmas! It is a magical day. Lights go on and off. Many songs are sung. Great food is on the table. For him, Christmas is a day of marvels and delights. While it is a most profound and very significant day commemorating the birth of the Lord Jesus, and while it is a signal day reminding Christians about His Mother Mary and foster father Joseph, for the little innocent boy, it is a day of Christmas trees, Christmas gifts — not to mention Santa Claus.

Hence, he asks the question that has been his little head long since, and that has been somehow bothering him although deep in his heart, he knows the answer..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111124com6.html

Noy hints at defying all unfavorable SC rulings Charlie V. Manalo and Pat C. Santos 11/24/2011

SAYS TRUTH, MORAL RIGHT AND PEOPLE ARE BEHIND HIM

Noy hints at defying all unfavorable SC rulings

Charlie V. Manalo and Pat C. Santos 11/24/2011

All signs and presidential speeches point to moves being made by President Aquino to ensure worsening the ongoing constitutional crisis and bringing it to a head in his bid to establish a dictatorship.

In his speech delivered during the National Bureau of Investigation’s 75th anniversary yesterday, he implied that no matter what the law or legal order coming from the highest court in the land says. as long as he believes these to be biased against him and favor only a select few, he intimated broadly at defying the Rule of Law, saying that he is ready to do this because “at my side are the moral right and judgment, and truth, and more than anything, the Filipino people are on my side,” he said in Tagalog.

His speech came a day after the media reported that Hacienda Luisita, the Aquino-Cojuangco case filed by the farmers who asked for the distribution of the lands to them through a motion for reconsideration, has been resolved but its promulgation delayed due to an Arroyo-appointed high court justice’s refusal to submit her dissenting opinion..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111124hed1.html

Prosecutors ‘fear’ lost cause in Dacer case By Benjamin B. Pulta 11/24/2011

Prosecutors ‘fear’ lost cause in Dacer case

By Benjamin B. Pulta 11/24/2011

State lawyers said they fear it is a lost cause in their bid to prosecute the case against administration lawmaker Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Michael Ray Aquino for the November 2000 killing of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.

The development arose after the Manila regional trial court announced that the Supreme Court had ruled to dismiss the appeal filed by the daughters of Dacer to reverse a ruling of the Court of Appeals nullifying the criminal charges against Lacson and declared that prosecution witness, former policeman Cesar Mancao, is “not a credible witness.”

Senior State Prosecutor Phillip Kimpo said with the ruling of the high court on Lacson’s discharge as suspect, the prosecution panel is in quandary on how to treat Mancao’s testimony insofar as Mancao’s alleged role in the killing is concerned..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111124hed3.html

Too much politics eating up RP sports By Aldrin Cardona 11/24/2011

WHAT CAUSED SEAG TRAGEDY?

Too much politics eating up RP sports

By Aldrin Cardona 11/24/2011

Two deaths resulting from a football final stampede as the 26th Southeast Asian Games closed the other day did not dampen Indonesia\'s overwhelming triumph in the biennial meet that is nearing the level of the bigger, tougher Asian Games.

Indonesia is back on top of the sporting region after 14 long years of absence when it was relegated from being Asean\'s powerhouse to second fiddle, sometimes a happy third.

It arrived with a big push, the kind of rev expected from a muscled up car, as it hosted the Games for the first time since 1997..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/sports/20111124spo1.html

NPC unveils marker for martyred Maguindanao journalists 11/24/2011

NPC unveils marker for martyred Maguindanao journalists

11/24/2011
The National Press Club of the Philippines (NPC) unveiled yesterday a memorial marker containing the names of the 32 journalists who were murdered in Maguindanao two years ago.

The marker will serve as an eternal reminder of the violence faced by journalists in this time and day, said NPC president Jerry Yap as he condemned the culture of impunity that fuels the unabated attacks on journalists and on press freedom.

“This is an affront to the freedom we cherish. Two years after the gruesome Maguindanao massacre, justice remains elusive for all the victims and their families,” he said in a statement emailed to various media organizations..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20111124met5.html

Solon slams delay in release of SC decision on Luisita dispute 11/24/2011

Solon slams delay in release of SC decision on Luisita dispute

11/24/2011
“The delivery of justice requires no less than a decision for the immediate and unconditional redistribution of Hacienda Luisita. If the magistrates of the Supreme Court (SC) have already penned their decision then time must not be wasted in making the Supreme Court decision public.”

This is according to Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan following news that the SC is set to release a ruling on the dispute involving the 6,000-hectare sugar plantation owned by the Aquino-Cojuangco family.

Ilagan stressed the delay in the release of the Hacienda Luisita ruling not only denies justice to the farm-worker beneficiaries, it also raises suspect on the high court’s intent..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20111124met4.html

Impunity in the City of Gentle People

Impunity in the City of Gentle People

“Here we have a political climate blanketed by fear and submission, and a system that promotes such.” Karapatan
By RITCHE T. SALGADO
Bulatlat.com
DUMAGUETE CITY — Around 4 o’clock in the afternoon of June 10, 2009, three gunshots echoed in a quiet street of Dumaguete City, a place reputed as the City of Gentle People.

In an instant, Fermin Lorico, 52, a farmer activist, was killed. He was on his way to a meeting after attending an otherwise successful anti-charter change rally in the city.

Lorico’s murder is just one of the many human rights cases in Negros Oriental that remains unsolved.
In 2009 alone, Karapatan recorded 95 cases of abuse, including five extrajudicial killings, four cases of torture, and 22 cases of various forms of harassment, among others. This does not include cases from previous years, which, up until today remains unsolved.

Karapatan is an independent human rights watchdog critical of government abuses, especially those committed by military personnel against the disadvantaged sectors of society like farmers and the urban poor.

The most recent case of abuse recorded by Karapatan against farmers in Negros Oriental was the burning of two houses in Sitio Avocado, Barangay Talalac, Sta. Catalina last June 2011. The people who responded to the incident were slapped with criminal charges that could land them in jail for six months and fined with up to 5,000 pesos ($ 115.45).

Task Force Lorico

The gruesome murder of Lorico in the heart of the city prompted then City Mayor Agustin Ramon M. Perdices to direct the city police into forming a task force. Two years after, Lorico’s family has yet to find justice.

Task Force Lorico boasted of an elite group of individuals coming from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, the Scene of the Crime Operatives, and investigation and intelligence personnel from the city and provincial headquarters of the Philippine National Police. But these were empty boasts as no arrests were made albeit leads that would point to any suspect to the killing.

P/Insp Philippedes Sillero, investigation officer of the Dumaguete City Police Office, confirmed this.
“I thought that case was already closed,” Sillero said when asked by Bulatlat.com for an update. He admitted that since he returned to the post last September he is no longer up to date on the case.
Sillero headed the investigation of the case in 2009 until late last year, when he was assigned to another post for promotion.

Juliet Ragay, a colleague of Lorico in the local farmers group Kaugmaon, questioned the sincerity of the Dumaguete police in solving the case.

Ragay currently chairs a local peasant women’s group called Babayeng Negrense Isulong ang Kalingkawasan (Banika-Amihan) and replaced Lorico as member of the board of trustees of the Central Visayas Farmers Development Center..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/11/23/impunity-in-the-city-of-gentle-people/

Occupy Wall Street's first fatality (VIDEO)

Occupy Wall Street's first fatality (VIDEO)

 A protester in Seattle, Washington aligned with Occupy Wall Street says that an assault from a cop last week has caused a miscarriage, which if true marks the first loss of life from police brutality since the demonstrations began two months ago.

Photographers were on hand November 15 to document 19-year-old Jennifer Fox being pepper-sprayed by police in Seattle while participating in an Occupy protest on the West Coast. Along with an assault on an 84-year-old activist, the incident involving Fox, then pregnant, was arguably not only the most disturbing scene out of the Occupy Seattle movement but out of the international demonstrations altogether. Less than a week later now, Fox says that she has suffered a miscarriage and according to her, doctors say that an attack from police is to blame.

"Everything was going okay until yesterday, when I started getting sick, cramps started, and I felt like I was going to pass out," Fox tells The Stranger out of Seattle..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/occupy-miscarriage-fox-seattle-959/

Storm Watch: Arab Spring

 Storm Watch: Arab Spring
“Arab Springs” are not as spontaneous as the Western mainstream media would have us believe. Their behind-the-scenes instigators always get “a little help from their Global Power Elite mega-planning friends...”
­Isn’t it rather odd that after long decades of slumber, starting in early 2011 millions upon millions of Arabs throughout North Africa and the Middle East suddenly woke up, took to the streets, violently clashed with police and security forces, overthrew their governments and in one instance – Libya – managed to deliver their country to a perverse alliance of foreign terrorists, local thugs, CIA operatives and NATO bombers, eventually murdering their own exceptional leader, Muammar Gaddafi, live on global TV?

Question: just how spontaneous are these major social convulsions that lead to revolution, chaos, battles on streets and squares, thousands dead and injured, and the violent overthrow of entire governments?  To a certain degree they are, no doubt, spontaneous: people are growing weary of their national governments’ growing inability to resolve vital collective problems.  .... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/arab-spring-western-help-025/

(s/ Video) Cluster bombs dropped on Libya funded by Spanish banks

Several major Spanish banks are reported to have been financing controversial arms-producing companies which have supplied cluster bombs to Libya.

­Annie Yumi Joh, an anti-war campaigner, told RT a Human Rights Watch report suggests the Instalaza SA Company supplied bombs used by the Libyan leader forces against his own people.

“Instalaza SA produced cluster bombs to be sold to Gaddafi in 2007. We had to figure out who exactly had granted loans to this company and we were surprised to find a number of Spanish banks, even small saving banks, that had provided loans to this company, which undoubtedly had been used to finance the production of cluster arms,” she explained..... MORE
Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/libya-spain-gaddafi-cluster-bomb/

Group formed to ensure Arroyo brought to court

Group formed to ensure Arroyo brought to court

“The Arroyos will not run out of cards to play as long as they have the numbers in the Supreme Court. So what really matters now, apart from sound legal tactics, is the political decisiveness of the Aquino administration.”

By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO and RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — In anticipation of maneuvers by the Arroyo’s counsels to ensure that their client escapes accountability,various groups and personalities formed the Gloria Panagutin Movement (Hold Gloria Accountable Movement).

Sr. Mary John Mananzan, Pagbabago! co-chairperson and co-chair of the Association of Major Religious Superiors, veteran actress and writer Bibeth Orteza, whistleblower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, Edre Olalia of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), Bayan chairwoman Dr. Carol P. Araullo, Mrs. Edith Burgos and Pagbabago! convenor Fr. Joe Dizon came together and resolved to act to thwart the Arroyo camp’s maneuvers and to push the Aquino administration to file more cases against the former president.
The group called on the public to be vigilant on the Arroyo camp’s various maneuvers to escape accountability. The group joined a protest at the Supreme Court during Tuesday’s en banc session.

Benedictine sister Mananzan said the Supreme Court should not allow Arroyo to leave the country. “If she goes out of the country, it is certain she would not come back. She must be held accountable for her sins,” Mananzan said in her speech during a rally in front of the Supreme Court, Nov. 22.

“The Arroyo camp still has a hefty war chest and a reliable ally in the Supreme Court. We take vigilance as majority of the Supreme Court justices may still act according to political patronage. The Supreme Court could still give Arroyo a ticket out of jail and even out of the country,” said Dizon, Pagbabago! spokesman.
NUPL’s Olalia said while the Aquino administration has legal options in prosecuting the Arroyos, the latter could always go to the Supreme Court where they have the numbers.

“The Arroyos will not run out of cards to play as long as they have the numbers in the Supreme Court. So what really matters now, apart from sound legal tactics, is the political decisiveness of the Aquino administration,” he said.

Despite the downpour, activists hold a picket rally in front of the Supreme Court, Nov. 22, demanding the prosecution of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo(Photo by Ronalyn V. Olea / bulatlat.com)

“What we are facing now is a Supreme Court that boasts of upholding the rule of law. Is the right of an ordinary citizen to travel abroad the issue here? Can Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and husband Mike Arroyo be considered as ordinary citizens? If they are ordinary citizens, do you think the Supreme Court would prioritize the petitions they filed?” Carol Araullo, Bayan chairwoman, said.

Araullo pointed out that the watch list order was initiated by Arroyo’s Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez. “They did not question it. They did not consider reviewing it. At that time, they never thought they were violating the right of ordinary citizens to travel. But now that they are at the receiving end of what might be a questionable watch list order, they were too quick to file a petition for TRO (temporary restraining order).”

“Did you not notice how fast Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo got the TRO? Did you not notice that instead of waiting for the DOJ to receive the TRO order, the Supreme court spokesperson made the announcement over the radio and television very early in the morning? The repeatedly announced that the TRO was final and executory and that Arroyo can travel. Is this not enough proof of collusion? Even the conditions they gave, that Arroyo must deposit two million pesos. Two million? That’s only for her snack, right?”.... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/11/23/group-formed-to-ensure-arroyo-brought-to-court/

In Photos: 2nd anniversary of Ampatuan massacre marked with protests

 In Photos: 2nd anniversary of Ampatuan massacre marked with protests

MANILA – On the eve of the second anniversary of the Ampatuan massacre, members of the campus press and human rights groups called for an end to impunity.

The Ampatuan massacre on November 23, 2009 claimed the lives of 58 individuals, of whom 32 are journalists. One victim, Reynaldo Momay, photographer of Midland Review remains missing. Suspects are members of the Ampatuan clan, an influential political family inMaguindanao province.

At around 10 a.m., members of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) tied black ribbons along España avenue in Manila as a sign of mourning and injustice for the victims of the massacre.

“It has been two years since the Maguindanao massacre happened but still no justice,” said Antonio Perdigon, CEGP-National Capital Region chairman.

Photo by Bulatlat.com

Later in the afternoon, church people and members of cause-oriented groups gathered at the Boy Scout Circle in Quezon City and lit candles and lanterns bearing words “End Impunity”

“Seven hundred and thirty days have passed since the Maguindanao massacre, President Aquino is in power for more than 500 days, still the case is not yet resolved,” Nardy Sabino, secretary general of Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR), said.

“The killings continue under the new administration and one is the killing of Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio who was shot ten times just to make sure that he is dead. The killings will continue if the counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan will not be scrapped by the President,” Sabino added..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/11/23/back-story-a-look-back-at-arroyo%E2%80%99s-many-sins-and-why-she-should-pay/

GMA hit with massacre lawsuit 11/23/2011

GMA hit with massacre lawsuit

11/23/2011
Relatives of 57 people killed in the Philippines’ worst political massacre plan to sue then President Arroyo for arming and supporting the alleged murderers, their lawyer said yesterday.

The civil suit seeking P15 million ($345,000) in damages will force Arroyo to fight another tough legal battle, after police charged her last week with conspiring to rig the 2007 senatorial elections.

The lawyer for the victims’ relatives, Harry Roque, said the lawsuit would be filed at a Manila court on Tuesday afternoon, deliberately timed just ahead of Wednesday’s two-year anniversary of the massacre..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111123hed4.html

Failed House support on Noy’s moves vs GMA, LP waters down resolution By Gerry Baldo and Charlie V. Manalo 11/23/2011

Failed House support on Noy’s moves vs GMA, LP waters down resolution

By Gerry Baldo and Charlie V. Manalo 11/23/2011

Former president, Rep. Gloria Arroyo, remains a force to reckon with under the Aquino administration as shown by a watered-down Resolution 1918 which expressed support for Pre-sident Aquino’s efforts to weed out corruption in government.

The earlier LP resolution was directly supporting the moves of Justice chief’s ban on Arroyo and lauding Aquino for his decision to place her under arrest, giving him a title of the only president who fights corruption.

According to House majority leader Neptali Gonzales II, the resolution was watered down to accommodate more members of Congress, including other political parties who may not want to sign an earlier resolution that expressed its support for what Justice Secretary Leila de Lima did in stopping Mrs. Arroyo.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111123hed2.html