The end is near EDITORIAL 05/24/2012

The end is near

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

05/24/2012
It looks like no quarter will be given to Chief Justice Renato Corona by the Senate Court, which really has been very lenient when it came to the testimony of the high court justice.

Senate President and Presiding Officer of the Senate impeachment court Juan Ponce-Enrile, after a caucus and a brief hearing to find out what the next move of the defense and the prosecution was, ruled, without any motion for reconsideration allowed, that by tomorrow, trial resumes, and if the Chief Justice cannot make it to the courtroom, oral arguments will then be held, giving each panel an hour to argue their points, after which, said the chief presiding officer, either the Senate gives it vote on the same day, or wait another day to cast their verdict in open voting.

But it also appears that the testimony of the Chief Justice will be included and not stricken out, as threatened, if no cross-examination is done..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120524com1.html

Addressing the public FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 05/24/2012

Addressing the public

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

05/24/2012
Clearly, the Chief Justice, in testifying before the Senate court was not just addressing the court, but the Filipino people, who were a captive audience on that day, as he bared his family’s side on the Basa-Guidote feud, which probably went over big — as a telenovela goes.

Still, Chief Justice Renato Corona must have felt that his family’s side must be aired, since this Basa feud was made public in interviews given by one Ana Basa with too many charges made against the Coronas.

That side of the Basa family was there during the testimony of the Chief Justice and while the family members complained that Corona’s attack was a low blow, as Jose Basa lll was already dead and could not defend himself, the truth is that the Basa family members, notably Ana, started these attacks on the Coronas while giving the media interviews, knowing then that the Coronas would not reply officially to these charges aired by Ana Basa.

In the end, with the Basas crying, they claimed that they would not answer those accusations made by the Chief Justice, as they would not go down to his level, even when they clearly did by bringing out the Basa dirty linen..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120524com2.html

Russia test fires AMD-piercing strategic missile

Russia test fires AMD-piercing strategic missile

The Russian military have successfully launched a top secret advanced intercontinental ballistic missile. It is designed to counter the American antimissile shield currently being deployed in several regions.

­The new weapon is an advanced version of the Topol-M and Yars missiles, already deployed by the Russian Strategic Missile Forces. The experiment was boosted off from the Plesetsk launch site in north-western Russia’s Arkhangelsk region on Wednesday. It delivered its test block to the Kura target range in Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East.

The main purpose of the launch was to confirm feasibility of the design approaches incorporated into the missile, spokesman for the Forces Colonel Vadim Koval told journalists..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/new-strategic-missile-test-970/

Rise to the top(less): Mexican politician stakes campaign on naked billboards

Rise to the top(less): Mexican politician stakes campaign on naked billboards

When 34-year-old Mexican congressional candidate Natalia Juarez saw her progressive campaign floundering in the conservative city of Guadalajara, she decided not to pander to her voters. Instead she is challenging them - with nudity.

­A Professor of Philosophy at the local university, Juarez is a political novice with a radical agenda. Among her proposal is the legalization of drugs – in the midst of a war between police and the powerful drug cartels that has killed tens of thousands.

“We need to tell people, 'Hey, wake up because if you don't, sharks are going to eat you up.' Wake up, you citizen and politician,” Juarez told CNN..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/topless-candidate-mexico-023/

Access Hollywood: Pentagon, CIA leaked Bin Laden raid info to filmmakers

Access Hollywood: Pentagon, CIA leaked Bin Laden raid info to filmmakers

aid that killed Osama bin Laden may have been leaked to Hollywood. The CIA and Pentagon are accused of dangerously tight involvement with the writers of a movie, denounced as pre-election Obama propaganda.

­The Judicial Watch group has released almost 300 pages of Pentagon and CIA documents indicating that the Obama administration and the Department of Defense worked in tight collaboration with Oscar-winning filmmakers Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal (the director and screenwriter of "The Hurt Locker").

The veteran moviemaking team is shooting a movie based on the covert operation that tracked down and assassinated Osama bin Laden, dubbed the Zero Dark Thirty..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/osama-raid-classified-data-leak-cia-pentagon-044/

Marriage VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 05/24/2012

Marriage

VIEWPOINTS

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

05/24/2012
A very precious and significant reality is under siege. A truly delicate and relevant institution is being subjected not only to question but also to contradiction. The law of nature itself is undergoing change — if not downright ridicule — through but the preference of law of man. The truth nevertheless remains that in all these “modern” desires and designs, the ultimate losers are always men, women and children especially.

Meantime, the reality remains as such, the institution stays the same, and futile remain any and all attempts for man to change the postulates of nature that were already there long before he appeared, and that will remain as such long after he is long gone.

As of now, both in the first world country and in this Third World Nation, there are individuals and groups thereof who want marriage to suit their personal preference and consequent option. How? By ardently inventing such curiosities as the following — all not only undermining but in effect making a mockery of marriage: Same Sex “Marriage.” Group “Marriage.” Renewable “Marriage.” Such novelties are both interesting and entertaining — not to mention their respective futility in attempting to change or deny reality as defined by natural law..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120524com6.html

IBP chief urges House accusers, Drilon to consider CJ challenge By Benjamin B. Pulta and Charlie V. Manalo 05/24/2012

IBP chief urges House accusers, Drilon to consider CJ challenge

By Benjamin B. Pulta and Charlie V. Manalo 05/24/2012

A leader of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) has called on lawmakers as well as Sen. Franklin Drilon to heed Chief Justice Renato Corona’s call to sign waivers allowing disclosure of their bank accounts in the spirit of full transparency and public accountability.

IBP president and lawyer Roan Libarios, however, yesterday said Corona should have issued his waiver to make his peso and dollar accounts in various banks without any condition “for the sake of solid credibility.”

“But we also share and join in his challenge to the good legislators to execute similar waivers,” he stressed.

Corona dared the 188 House complainants and Drilon, his staunch critic, to open to the public their bank accounts during his lengthy opening statement made before the Senate impeachment court last Tuesday where he addressed the alleged inaccuracies in his statement of assets, liabilities and networth (SALn)..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120524hea3.html

CJ statement admitted into impeach records By Angie M. Rosales, Benjamin B. Pulta and Fernan J. Angeles 05/24/2012

CORONA REMAINS IN ICU DUE TO HEART CONDITION

CJ statement admitted into impeach records

By Angie M. Rosales, Benjamin B. Pulta and Fernan J. Angeles 05/24/2012

The Senate impeachment court, despite an earlier threat from its presiding officer Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to strike out the testimony of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona if he failed to return to the witness stand, appeared to have relented yesterday and admitted the full narrative of Corona into the court’s records as his testimony on allegations hurled at him, including those not covered by the Articles of Impeachment such as the alleged $10 million to $12 million bank deposits in purported 82 accounts.

A coronary condition scuttled Corona’s scheduled appearance before the impeachment court yesterday where he was originally set to continue his turn on the witness stand.

Supreme Court spokesman Midas Marquez said Corona was taken to The Medical City (TMC) in Pasig City last Tuesday the other night and was brought to the hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) yesterday..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120524hea1.html

DENR probes cutting of trees in Palawan 05/24/2012

DENR probes cutting of trees in Palawan

05/24/2012
Alarmed by the reported massive cutting of trees perpetrated by an environment group which earlier occupied and converted into a resort a sacred place for indigenous people (IP) in Palawan, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) immediately ordered an investigation into the illegal activities.

DENR Secretary Ramon Paje said over the weekend that he has directed the DENR Region IV Office to look into the cutting by the ABS-CBN Foundation’s Bantay Kalikasan of 25 grown trees which served as banks protection of the river downstream of Sabsaban Falls and part of the IPs’ place of worship in Barangay Aribungos in Brooke’s Point town.

Paje tasked DENR Regional Executive Director Concordio Zuniga to investigate the complaint after he was informed that the department’s community officer who is concurrently the OIC-provincial officer is among those charged for complicity in the intrusion and cutting of trees..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120524nat3.html

Warrants out for arrest of Globe Asiatique execs 05/24/2012

Warrants out for arrest of Globe Asiatique execs

05/24/2012
Warrants of arrest have been issued against Globe Asiatique (GA) owner Delfin Lee and his co-accused after a judge found probable cause for the syndicated estafa case filed against them, Vice President Jejomar Binay said yesterday.

Binay, the chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, said Judge Amifaith Fider-Reyes of the Regional Trial Court Branch 42 in San Fernando, Pampanga, issued the warrants of arrest Tuesday with no recommendation for bail.

“Globe Asiatique defrauded the ordinary workers who are contributors of Pag-IBIG Fund. The company defrauded hardworking citizens of Pampanga by selling property they have purchased legitimately to other buyers, a practice known as double selling. The issuance of the warrants of arrest against Delfin Lee and his co-accused just shows that the law is on the side of the ordinary workers duped by Globe Asiatique,” he said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120524nat1.html

BI employees hit Mison for favoritism in hiring of new immigration officers 05/24/2012

BI employees hit Mison for favoritism in hiring of new immigration officers

05/24/2012
Disgruntled employees of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) have asked the Department of Justice (DoJ) to reject the recommendations to be made by the bureau officials on the hiring of new immigration officers to be assigned to the different ports and subports nationwide.

Citing a grave case of favoritism, employees said Justice Secretary Leila de Lima should review and rescind the list provided by the BI’s promotion and hiring board headed by Associate Commissioner Siegfred Mison.

They added that Mison, who is a lawyer and a former military officer, should exercise “delicadeza and fair play” when he allowed one of its trusted staff to take the qualifying examinations intended for the position of immigration officer I (IO-I)..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120524met3.html

Rampant smuggling killing local industries, says solon By Charlie V. Manalo 05/24/2012

Rampant smuggling killing local industries, says solon

By Charlie V. Manalo 05/24/2012

With the country’s unemployment rising by a full 10 percent for the first quarter of the year, members of the House minority bloc yesterday blamed the rampant smuggling which they claim is killing local industries.

At their weekly press briefing, House Minority Leader Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said that among the many evils which have resurrected under this administration, it is smuggling which he believes contributed mainly to the rise in the unemployment index.

“Last year saw the disappearance of 2,000 plus container vans from Customs in broad daylight. The other week, local hog growers threatened to declare a pork holiday because they’re losing up to P15 billion a year to smuggling. And most recently coconut oil refiners have complained about being victimized by smugglers of imported soya and palm cooking oil,” Suarez said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120524met1.html

No overzelousness, just dirty play EDITORIAL Click to enlarge 05/23/2012

No overzelousness, just dirty play

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

05/23/2012
Harvey Keh, the yellow leader of a claimed good governance group, has given his reply on the show cause order presiding judge Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile insisted on.
Keh claimed overzealousness in handing an envelope containing alleged bank transaction records of Chief Justice Renato Corona, saying that these are unauthenticated and that he cannot attest to its accuracy or veracity.

That’s just Keh’s way out, but there definitely was the intention on his, and his yellow group to portray Corona as guilty of having amassed illegal wealth, as shown by his anonymously given bank transactions which he claimed he downloaded from the Internet.

The way it looks, Keh, his group, Malacañang and the Ombudsman wanted these alleged bank accounts to come out in the trial and the only way to do it was to ensure that the Senate, through its chief, got hold of these documents..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120523com1.html

The law or mobocracy? FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 05/23/2012

The law or mobocracy?

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

05/23/2012
It was good thing that the Senate court deferred voting on the motion to cast a vote again on whether to disobey the Supreme Court (SC)’s temporary restraining order (TRO) on the baring of the dollar accounts deposited in the Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) belonging to Chief Justice Renato Corona.

The reason is simple: There would have been a constitutional crisis and a very serious one that could have easily destroyed the rule of law in this country.

Sure, the senators — or at least a majority of them, could vote to disobey the SC’s TRO, as too many senator-judges keep on claiming that the Senate impeachment court is sui generis — as if it could do what it pleases. But the fact is that if the majority had chosen to disobey the high court’s TRO, then the senator-judges would have led the way in telling the Filipino people that, whenever they do not believe that the ruling of the high court is the right ruling, they have every right not to obey the law, which would create chaos, followed by pure anarchy.

At the same time, say the majority of the senator-justices did vote to disobey the SC’s TRO, and the impeachment court now orders the PSBank and whatever else banks it wants to subpoena to open the alleged dollar accounts of the Chief Justice, just who will the bank officials obey? The Senate impeachment court or the SC?.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120523com2.html

Millions in the streets: Spain protests cuts to education (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Millions in the streets: Spain protests cuts to education (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

The majority of Spain's educational institutions have closed as teachers and students take to the streets to defend their rights. The government has cut billions of euros from educational sector expenses.

­The strike is taking place on all levels, from elementary schools to universities in all but three of Spain's 17 regions. As many as a million teachers and seven million students are expected to take part in Tuesday's demonstrations.

If the austerity package goes through, it will reduce government subsidies on education by more than 20 per cent. The measure, unions say, will result in worsening educational conditions, mass teacher layoffs and higher tuition costs..... MORE
Source:  RT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/spain-protest-austerity-education-895/

NDAA 2013: Congress approves domestic deceptive propaganda

NDAA 2013: Congress approves domestic deceptive propaganda

Reauthorizing the indefinite detention of US citizens without charge might be the scariest provision in next year’s defense spending bill, but it certainly isn’t the only one worth worrying about.

An amendment tagged on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 would allow for the United States government to create and distribute pro-American propaganda within the country’s own borders under the alleged purpose of putting al-Qaeda’s attempts at persuading the world against Western ideals on ice. Former US representatives went out of there way to ensure their citizens that they’d be excluded from government-created media blasts, but two lawmakers currently serving the country are looking to change all that.

Congressmen Mac Thornberry (R-TX) and Adam Smith (D-WA) introduced “The Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012” (H.R. 5736) last week during discussions for the NDAA 2013. It was voted on by the US House of Representatives to be included in next year’s defense spending bill, which was then voted on as a whole and approved..... MORE
Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/propaganda-us-smith-amendment-903/

The cost of downloading: Supreme Court says $675,000 fine remains for sharing 30 songs

The cost of downloading: Supreme Court says $675,000 fine remains for sharing 30 songs

A 29-year-old Rhode Island man is expected to pay $675,000 for the unauthorized downloading of 30 songs after the Supreme Court said on Monday that they will not weigh in on one of the record industry’s longest-running copyright infringement cases.

Joel Tenenbaum of Providence, RI will now go back to court to continue his fight against a penalty that a District Court judge once called “unconstitutionally” excessive.

Tenenbaum was hit with a $675,000 fine — $22,500 per song — after the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) took him to court over copyright infringement in 2009 and won their case..... MORE
Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/supreme-court-tenenbaum-riaa-891/

Opposition mounts as US increases military aid, sends nuclear submarine to Subic

Opposition mounts as US increases military aid, sends nuclear submarine to Subic

The Aquino government will again pin its hopes of armed forces modernization on US hand-me-downs, but the reality is that all these do not really help in strengthening Philippine sovereignty nor in asserting our claims over disputed territories.” – Renato Reyes, Bayan
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO

Bulatlat.com
MANILA — Patriotic people’s organizations led by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) have declared that there is no room for doubt that unless unequivocal protests are launched against it, the United States is set to reestablish its military bases in the Philippines. In the last week, protests erupted over the presence of a United States nuclear-powered attack submarine in the former Subic Nava Base in Zambales.

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said the entry of the USS North Carolina (SSN 777), a Virginia class attack submarine considered one of the “stealthiest, most technologically advanced” in the world, is a sign that the US is intent on reestablishing its military base in the Philippines.

Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes said that if developments are any gauge, it appears as if US military bases are back in the country.

“ Virtual basing and hosting of US warships are being justified by the Visiting Forces Agreement and the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement. Philippine ports like Subic are again providing logistics support for US ships. We might see more of these port calls now that the US is rebalancing towards Asia,” said Reyes said..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/05/21/opposition-mounts-as-us-increases-military-aid-sends-nuclear-submarine-to-subic/

China’s defense attache ‘lectures’ Pinoy media By Mario J. Mallari 05/23/2012

China’s defense attache ‘lectures’ Pinoy media

By Mario J. Mallari 05/23/2012
A Chinese defense attache yesterday “lectured” Filipino journalists on truthful reporting regarding the standoff between the Philippines and China over the disputed Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.

During a chance interview during the 114th founding anniversary of the Philippine Navy, Senior Col. Cheng Fangming, China’s defense and military attache in Manila, belied reports of harassment by Chinese ships against Filipino fishermen and media.

“It’s not true and I was told when you interviewed, some officers are sometimes misquoted. That’s not the way, right?” said Cheng who was at the Navy ceremonies as part of the diplomatic corps..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120523hea5.html

CJ defends self then takes leave By Benjamin B. Pulta and Angie M. Rosales 05/23/2012

ENRILE UPSET, ORDERS DEFENSE TO PRESENT CORONA FOR CROSS TODAY

CJ defends self then takes leave

By Benjamin B. Pulta and Angie M. Rosales 05/23/2012

In a surreal 40th day of the impeachment proceedings, Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona ended more than three hours of narration which made for his direct testimony by what was an apparent walkout from the proceedings that stunned the Se-nate court, primari-ly presiding justice Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile who threatened to strike out from the records his testimony and have the Senate court rule on the impeachment case.

Corona later returned to the Senate court room in a wheelchair, with his lawyers saying that the Chief Justice encountered a hypoglycemic episode as a result of his long bout with diabetes.

Enrile, who warned the lawyers of Corona on the apparent disrespect of the Senate impeach-ment court by the walkout, ordered that Corona be subjected to cross examination today regardless of his condition..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120523hea1.html