Prolonging a useless case FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 03/04/2012

Prolonging a useless case

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

03/04/2012
Lead prosecutor Niel Tupas Jr. denied there was a rift within the prosecution team due to his having rested the case on Article 7 without any reservation and failed to wait for Supreme Court junior Justice Lourdes Sereno to reply to their invitation, as charged by Leftist party-lister Rep. Neri Colmenares.

Perhaps there is, perhaps there is none, but the Senate court records will show that Tupas, at the start, did come out to state before the court that he was resting the case and tried to seek another reservation, this time on Article 7, on account of the Sereno invitation, but suddenly changed his tune, as he probably would have gotten another earful from the senators, for reviving that which he had pronounced as having rested his case.

Tupas had already stated the day before, that the prosecution was resting its case, save for a reservation on Article 2, on the issue of the evidence on Chief Justice Renato Corona’s alleged dollar accounts. To reopen Article 7 again would mean that the prosecution panel hadn’t rested at all and would keep on coming back, after the defense panel would have already produced its evidence and witnesses..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120304com2.html

Blast it or paint it: Deadly asteroid bounds towards Earth out of the blue

Blast it or paint it: Deadly asteroid bounds towards Earth out of the blue

To avert a new apocalypse – this time set for February 2013 – scientists suggest confronting asteroid 2012 DA14 with either paint, or big guns. The tough part of either scheme is that time has long run out to build a spaceship for any operation.

­NASA confirms the 60-meter (197-feet) asteroid, spotted by Spanish stargazers in February, has a good chance of colliding with Earth in eleven months.

The rock's closest approach to the planet is scheduled for February 15, 2013, when the distance between the planet and space wanderer will be under 27,000 km (16,700 miles). This is lower than the geosynchronous orbit kept by the Google Maps satellite..... MORE
Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/paint-asteroid-earth-nasa-767/

America suffers from ‘illusion of invulnerability’ - Putin

America suffers from ‘illusion of invulnerability’ - Putin

With the US showing no sign of halting the construction of a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe, Vladimir Putin says Washington’s single-minded quest for invulnerability is threatening prospects for lasting peace.

­Admitting that the Russia-US “reset” is “more than just a slogan,” the prime minister – who is running for president in elections on March 4 – said the program had failed to resolve the more serious problems hindering the bilateral relationship.

It is disputable if the (reset) yielded results, Putin told editors of foreign media outlets on Thursday. “In missile defense plans, it gave nothing.”.... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/politics/putin-us-meeting-media-reset-695/

Ron Paul slams “counterfeit” conservatives

Ron Paul slams “counterfeit” conservatives

After his rivals accused presidential hopeful Ron Paul of working to help the campaign of Mitt Romney, the congressman from Texas is taking on the Republican Party frontrunner — and the rest of the GOP establishment — with his latest mailer.

Some Republican voters in the state of Oklahoma received a political ad from Representative Ron Paul in their mailboxes this week urging them to discredit the congressman’s competition, which he considers a collective of “counterfeit” conservatives.

The advert also serves as the first time that the libertarian-leaning lawmaker has openly attacked former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney after Senator Rick Santorum suggested that the two were conspiring together..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/ron-paul-santorum-romney-727/

Russia defines path for next six years

Russia defines path for next six years

On March 4, Russians are electing a new head of state. Following a month of bitter campaigning, five contenders are fighting for the presidential chair.

Voting begins in each of the country’s nine time zones at 8am local time, and will last till 8pm on Sunday.
Russians in the country’s Far East are the first to have their say on who they want to see in the Kremlin. Exit poll results will be published after 9pm Moscow time (17:00 GMT), when polling stations close in Russia’s westernmost region, Kaliningrad..... MORE

Source: RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/politics/presidential-elections-day-russia-685/

Gambling unlimited VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 03/04/2012

Gambling unlimited

VIEWPOINTS

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

03/04/2012
Could virtue come from vice? Would avarice be the premise of integrity? Could addiction be the cause of prudence? Would fixation with chance and luck lead to industry, promote sweat and toil? These are rather relevant and significant questions when downright gambling is made official, when the government itself is the biggest gambler in the country. This is what Pagcor is all about, this is what the administration is fixated with — even with the blatant misinterpretation that gambling is categorized as but “gaming.” The open and even proud promotion of “legal” gambling — plus the covert acceptance of “illegal” gambling — these along are more than enough to make a mockery of the supposedly solemn and saintly profession of the now famous matuwid na daan.

It is anything but a surprise that the phenomenon of graft and corruption — not to mention criminality — is a regular accompaniment of gambling. Concretely in conjunction with Pagcor, the following are some of the more celebrated cases appended to the gambling GOCC: The complete disappearance of someone in charge of a CCTV. The murder of somebody known as an IOU purveyor. The infamous rice appropriation and misuse..... MORE
Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120304com6.html

Abusing the floor TABLETS OF STONE Larry Faraon, OP 03/04/2012

Abusing the floor

TABLETS OF STONE

Larry Faraon, OP

03/04/2012
Obviously, there have been many contemptuous actions committed by several personalities in the impeachment court since 26 days ago, but only the likes of private prosecutor Vitaliano Aguirre meted out a “contempt of court.” One contemptuous act is definitely the use of foul language in a court proceeding, for instance the Filipino colloquial gago! Indeed, it has become habitual for Senator-Judge Miriam Santiago to tongue-lash the prosecutors in dressing them down to the drain of idiocy and unpreparedness in the impeachment articles against CJ Corona. In fact, I am surprised at the tolerance and patience of the prosecution panel.

A nice joke relates that the manager of the hotel invited a guest who was caught peeing in the hotel’s swimming pool in order to reprimand him. The guest naughtily whispered to the manager, “C’mon, everybody in the pool does that!” The manager angrily replied, “Yes, but not from the diving board!”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120304com7.html

VP Binay: Speed up probe of Pinay maid’s death in HK 03/04/2012

VP Binay: Speed up probe of Pinay maid’s death in HK

03/04/2012
Vice President Jejomar Binay called on Philippine agencies in Hong Kong to coordinate closely with the island police in determining the cause of death of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Rowena Gloria Gomez, 34, who was working as a domestic helper at the time of her death.

Binay’s directive came on the heels of complaints by a Filipino expat group in Hong Kong over the Aquino government’s slow-paced investigation into Gomez’s death.

Gomez was found dead on Feb. 5 at the seashore near her employer’s house in Shau Kei Wan, a town in eastern Hong Kong..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120304hed5.html

$400-M Northrail contract not immune from suit — SC By Benjamin B. Pulta 03/04/2012

$400-M Northrail contract not immune from suit — SC

By Benjamin B. Pulta 03/04/2012

The Supreme Court (SC) has turned down a petition by the Chinese contractor of the controversial $421-million Northrail project with the high tribunal, saying the firm is not immune from suit.

In a decision, the court en banc through Associate Justice Lourdes Sereno denied the petition filed by the China National Machinery and Equipment Corp. (CNMEG) and said the latter “is not entitled to immunity from suit.”

The ruling also said the contract agreement it signed with the Philippine government is not an executive agreement and remanded the case to the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 145 for further proceedings..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120304hed2.html

Teenager hurt as 2 more blasts hit Cotabato City

By Gina Peralta-Elorde 03/04/2012
Local police investigators are looking deeper into the motives behind two explosions that took place in Cotabato City early Saturday which hurt one person.

A report submitted to the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City said the first blast happened at 6:30 a.m. behind a beauty parlor on Gutierrez Avenue in Rosary Heights 7, Cotabato City.

The bomb exploded about 100 meters from the main gate of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao offices. “The explosive was planted as a booby trap,” a member of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team who requested anonymity, explained..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120304hed6.html

Archbishop cites importance of education for lasting peace 03/04/2012

Archbishop cites importance of education for lasting peace

03/04/2012
Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo has cited the importance of education for the country to attain a genuine and lasting peace.

“You know what can make peace lasting? It’s education,” Lagdameo told officials of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) who visited him at his archdiocese office in Jaro, Iloilo City over the weekend.

Lagdaemeo, former president of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), advised the visiting OPAPP officials to put primacy in educating the young, and exert extra effort in putting the children of former combatants to schools.

“A good education will ensure that they will have better economic opportunities. They can help their parents who are former combatants rise from the cycle of poverty,” Lagdameo said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120304nat3.html

Defense: Nothing to worry about in offered evidence 03/04/2012

Defense: Nothing to worry about in offered evidence

03/04/2012
The defense panel in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona expressed confidence in countering the 400 or so documents that the House prosecutors presented in the formal offer of evidence as defense spokesman Karen Jimeno said there was nothing in the evidence offered that surprised the counsels for Corona.

The prosecution panel submitted to the Senate impeachment court 171 pages of documents with 242 pages of annexes gathered from 25 witnesses to support impeachment allegations against Corona.

Last Wednesday, the prosecution also rested its case with reservation to present evidence pertaining to Corona’s dollar account which is subject of a temporary restraining order (TRO) by the Supreme Court..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120304hed3.html

Malacanang to draft mining policy in consultation with stakeholders 03/04/2012

Gov’t mulls Laguna Lake for offshore mining

By Fernan J. Angeles 03/04/2012

The government is seriously studying the possibility of putting in place a considerably big mining operation in an island off Laguna de Bay, but Malacañang does not seem aware that the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau is cooking something that runs against what the administration has been espousing.

Reacting to a Daily Tribune query, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that he personally called on the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau (MGB) which denied “any mining operation in progress at the Talim Island.”
However, the MGB (according to Lacierda) did not make any denial on a plan that has been on the agency’s drawing board since Sept. 2010 on allowing the Explosive Consultation and Application (ECA) Philippines Inc., to explore some 1,366 hectares of Talim Island for basalt and filling materials....... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120304nat2.html

Conference renews push for Peoples’ Mining Bill

Conference renews push for Peoples’ Mining Bill

By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com
Sidebar: John Arcilla, actor, environmentalist attends Peoples’ Mining Conference
MANILA – “A hundred years after exporting our precious timber, have we become rich?” This is the question Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raymond Palatino threw to the participants of the 3rd Peoples Mining Conference happening until today in Tagaytay City.

The conference has drawn nearly 200 environmentalists from all over the Philippines who, in an earlier regional sharing of mining updates, have already detailed how, on the contrary, most ordinary citizens are becoming poorer and more miserable with every operation of huge mining corporations because of massive resource extraction in their midst.

Most lament how, for a pittance or nothing, they are left to contend with the damages to their sources of livelihood caused by denuded mountains and forests while huge corporations are repatriating billions of dollars in profits, Rep. Palatino, and earlier that day Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño and Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan, were talking to an audience who is evidently already eager for an alternative law that would correct the disastrous Mining Act of 1995. In fact, the alternative mining policy coauthored by the progressive party list groups in Congress “is not just a proposal of the said partylist groups,” said Palatino. House Bill 4315, or the Peoples Mining Bill, he said, “is a product of broad consultations in many regions, and through this, it embodies peoples’ aspirations in how mining can benefit the people.”.... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/03/02/conference-renews-push-for-peoples%E2%80%99-mining-bill/

Western bloodlust: Assad days ‘numbered’, ‘day of reckoning’ for ‘disgraceful’ regime

Western bloodlust: Assad days ‘numbered’, ‘day of reckoning’ for ‘disgraceful’ regime

Statements from Western leaders on Syria have grown harsh, if not menacing, as criticisms of the Bashar Assad government are unleashed and regime change becomes a common theme.

­The fury and thirst for blood can be heard around the world as Washington and Brussels make their views known on how the conflict in Syria should be resolved. The noose began tightening around Damascus after reports emerged in the previous week that several foreign journalists were killed and injured in a siege of the rebel stronghold Homs. And now, Western officials are taking advantage of the incident as an excuse for openly calling for the removal of Assad and his government. The new labels for the country’s president and his regime are growing creative in their severity..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/cameron-assad-rebels-crescent-711/

Rebels could use UN chief’s words as legal cover for free-for-all – Syrian ambassador to UN (w/ Video)

Rebels could use UN chief’s words as legal cover for free-for-all – Syrian ambassador to UN

Syria's Ambassador to the UN Bashar Jaafari condemned comments made by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, warning that they could be “interpreted by the armed groups as a legal cover to be able to act in a criminal fashion.”

­Jaafari, addressing the UN General Assembly after Ban, said the Secretary General's speech was “aggressive, virulent and slanderous.” 

“He said during his statement, that the Syrian government had failed in its responsibilities with regards to defending its people. I feel that this is a double injustice,” Jaafari asserted. He insisted that the UN resolution on Syria passed two weeks ago was unfair, unilateral, subjective and “completely unrelated to what is going on the ground in Syria.”.... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/un-syria-jaafari-government-745/

Tracking the trackers: Mozilla's anti-Big Brother add-on

Tracking the trackers: Mozilla's anti-Big Brother add-on

The owner of Firefox, the world’s second most popular browser, is backing an add-on which would allow users to monitor in real-time how their actions are tracked and shared by various websites as they surf the net.

­The tool currently in development visualizes the flow of information as a meshwork of bubbles representing different websites. It tracks the sites which the user visits and also shows their known partners – ad companies, behavior profilers and other third parties. As surfing continues, a pattern emerges revealing that different popular sites are linked to the same data collectors, which are building up their knowledge on the user’s habits and preferences..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/firefox-addon-tracking-privacy-759/

Air Force abandons $3 billion worth of drones

Air Force abandons $3 billion worth of drones

It has been quite an expensive week for the US Air Force. Not only did Congress halt funding on a surveillance blimp project that they already invested $140 million in, but now the Pentagon says $3 billion worth of drones could be canned as well.

The United States military has already ordered a dozen unmanned surveillance drones at a combined cost of $3 billion, but realizing that the stealth, high-tech spy crafts aren’t as capable as the antiquated, old-school planes already in their arsenal, the Pentagon is pulling the plug in terms of acquiring any more..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/air-force-drones-surveillance-737/

Women more affected, more vulnerable to calamities – CWR

Women more affected, more vulnerable to calamities – CWR

“In addition to the general effects of natural disasters and lack of health care, women are vulnerable to reproductive and sexual health problems, and increased rates of sexual and domestic violence.”
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com

The Center for Women’s Research has released its findings that the recent calamities that hit Northern Mindanao has hit women and children the hardest.
In a report, the CWR cited data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) that tropical storm Sendong (internationally known as Washi) left a trail of destruction leaving 1,268 dead, majority of whom were women and children. There were still undetermined number of missing persons. More than 6,071 were injured and 125, 256 families were affected.
The NDRRMC estimates the damage in infrastructure and agriculture to reach more than P1.7 billion. Thousands of houses were also ruined.

“Even without a strong typhoon like Sendong, many Filipinos are still being devastated by floods and landslides caused only by heavy monsoon rains. Based on NDRRMC reports, not a single typhoon has entered the country yet for this year, but many areas particularly in Visayas and Mindanao have already experienced floods and landslides. NDRRMC report showed 52 casualties, including the 42 from the landslide in Pantukan, Compostela Valley. Thousands of families are affected and many were brought to evacuation centers,” the CWR said.

According to the research center, calamities take the greatest toll on children and women, especially on pregnant, old-aged and women with disabilities.

“There is also high vulnerability of sexual abuse and harassment especially in evacuation centers,”it said.
A previous study made by the CWR revealed that women victims of calamities have to contend with at least four issues that are the result of falling victim to natural calamities. In the study, the group discovered that women are forced to take extra jobs.

“During calamities, the regular sources of income of husbands are disrupted. Women are expected to find alternative sources of living. Women take on various jobs such as house helpers, launderers, vending, sewing, etc. This is an added burden to women since they are still the ones expected to do the housework for their own homes,” the group said..... MORE
Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/02/27/women-more-affected-more-vulnerable-to-calamities-%E2%80%93-cwr/

Plan B FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 03/03/2012

Plan B

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

03/03/2012
Looks like Noynoy and his yellow allies are ready to set into motion their “Plan B” in the event that Chief Justice Renato Corona is acquitted by the Senate impeachment court.

And Plan B appears to be a presidential “coup me” scenario, given the out of the blue announcement of Noynoy Friday before his Presidential Security Group (PSG) where he spoke of a plot to oust him from Malacañang, using again his usual claim of the crooks who want to return to power and return to their corrupt ways as the culprit.

He then clearly wooed his PSG with pledges of taking more of his security along with him on his official travels, obviously abroad, since locally, there is always a PSG contingent that secures him..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120303com2.html