Campaign turns dirty as NP calls LP ‘Topak’ By Angie M. Rosales 04/06/2010

Campaign turns dirty as NP calls LP ‘Topak’

By Angie M. Rosales 04/06/2010 The mudslinging between the presidential bets of the Nacionalista Party (NP) and the Liberal Party (LP) camps turned vicious yesterday with the NP branding the LP as “Topak,” a contraction for “Trapos” or traditional politicians, “Opportunists And Kamag-Anak Inc.” and the camp of LP bet Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III of practicing necropolitics for digging into the supposed incon-sistencies in NP standard Manuel Villar Jr.’s claim of the death of his brother being the result of the Villar family’s poverty. NP senatorial candidates said the tirades on the death of the senator’s late brother was already too personal and below-the-belt. NP secretary-general Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano also branded the LP as Topak, which is gutter language for insane in Tagalog.  “It is time to reveal who are the brains behind the smear campaign (against Villar). They are no other than the ‘Topak’ who served as core group of President Arroyo and who now form the core group of LP and of (Sen. Benigno) ‘Noynoy’ Aquino’s campaign team. These are the same people who launched the smearc ampaign against (the late movie icon) Fernando Poe Jr., the same people who orchestrated the proclamation of Mrs. Arroyo in 2004, the same people who tried to save her from the ‘hello, Garci’ scandal and the same people who left her when they tried to grab power for themselves and failed,” he said.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100406hed6.html

HEADLINES Palace wants VAT hiked anew to 15% Comelec uncovers P700-M poll scam Erap vows poor to feel progress if elected RP travel dangerous due to poll-related violence, says US Pinoy-Swiss businessman abducted in Zamboanga Campaign turns dirty as NP calls LP ‘Topak’ Speaker warns PNP, AFP, Comelec on gun ban, clean  polls

Erap vows poor to feel progress if elected By Conrado Ching 04/06/2010

Erap vows poor to feel progress if elected

By Conrado Ching
04/06/2010

Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) standard bearer former President Joseph Estrada said yesterday that if he’s elected to a new term, he would see to it that any economic gains of the country under his watch would trickle down to the masses. Estrada arrived from Hong Kong with his wife Loi, vice presidential candidate Jejomar Binay and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. He explained that poverty is entwined with peace and order. “ A hungry stomach knows no law,” Estrada stressed at the press briefing held at the dignitaries lounge, adding that his trip to the former crown colony was to meet with thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). In response to the clamor of the OFWs, Estrada said he had requested Hong Kong authorities to provide a special immigration lane for Filipinos since many have complained about the strict regulations imposed on OFW’s by immigration and airport officials in the territory..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100406hed3.html

HEADLINES Palace wants VAT hiked anew to 15% Comelec uncovers P700-M poll scam Erap vows poor to feel progress if elected RP travel dangerous due to poll-related violence, says US Pinoy-Swiss businessman abducted in Zamboanga Campaign turns dirty as NP calls LP ‘Topak’ Speaker warns PNP, AFP, Comelec on gun ban, clean polls

Gibo, Manny and Noynoy EDITORIAL 04/06/2010

Gibo, Manny and Noynoy

EDITORIAL Click to enlarge 04/06/2010 No matter how the Palace and its “official” presidential bet spin it, Gilbert Teodoro’s resignation from the chairmanship, as well as the resignation of two others in the Lakas-Kampi-CMD’s hierarchy, speaks volumes and it would be extremely difficult for people to believe that this move has nothing to do with the Arroyos’ junking of Teodoro, and for that matter, his vice presidential bet, Edu Manzano. Perhaps, at the start, Gloria was still for Teodoro, but as too many Lakas officials started switching support and started to support Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar, plus the fact that Teodoro was rating poorly in those many pre-election surveys, it was just as clear that Gloria, and naturally, her spouse, Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, would have to start supporting another presidential bet, whom they feel could win — given a lot of Palace push and support, albeit silently.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100406com1.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Gibo, Manny and Noynoy FRONTLINE The dark side of genes focus Child sex abuse cost US Roman Catholic church $3 billion NO HOLDS BARRED It’s hit the fan AN OUTSIDERS VIEW When justice becomes a favor SILVER LINING April fools? LETTER A ‘win-win situation'

The dark side of genes FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 04/06/2010

The dark side of genes

FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 04/06/2010 Oftentimes, it just doesn’t pay to be a sanctimonious person, or better still, a national candidate portraying himself as cleaner than clean and an anti-corruption presidential bet. It doesn’t pay because for one, no matter the campaign spiel of no corruption and good governance, the reality is that it is impossible to eliminate corruption in government — no matter how well intentioned one is. In the end, even if one gets to sit in Malacañang, he will fail miserably in delivering on his promise, and he will leave Malacañang an utter failure. Even a lesser official, who takes on the image of a graft-buster, can’t deliver on his pledge, and ends up with a worse tag, such as a protector of the corrupt. A good example of this is Sen. Joker Arroyo, who not only came to the staunch defense of the Arroyos despite all the scams and scandals that were bared, but also did not even come up with an anti-corruption law, even as he portrayed himself as a graft-buster during the campaigns.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100406com2.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Gibo, Manny and Noynoy FRONTLINE The dark side of genes focus Child sex abuse cost US Roman Catholic church $3 billion NO HOLDS BARRED It’s hit the fan AN OUTSIDERS VIEW When justice becomes a favor SILVER LINING April fools? LETTER A ‘win-win situation'

Child sex abuse cost US Roman Catholic church $3 billion focus 04/06/2010

Child sex abuse cost US Roman Catholic church $3 billion

focus 04/06/2010 CHICAGO — The pedophile priest crisis has cost the US Roman Catholic church nearly $3 billion, but only a fraction of the perpetrators faced prison and little has been done to punish those who covered up the crimes. After years of painful revelations, massive payouts, soul searching and reforms, the child sex abuse scandal has spread across the globe and in recent weeks has struck the church at its very core. Pope Benedict XVI, long celebrated for speaking out against abuse, faces allegations that he helped to protect predator priests as archbishop of Munich and later as the Vatican’s chief morals enforcer. “We now face the largest institutional crisis in centuries, possibly in church history,” the US-based National Catholic Reporter wrote in an editorial demanding “direct answers” from the Holy Father.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100406com3.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Gibo, Manny and Noynoy FRONTLINE The dark side of genes focus Child sex abuse cost US Roman Catholic church $3 billion NO HOLDS BARRED It’s hit the fan AN OUTSIDERS VIEW When justice becomes a favor SILVER LINING April fools? LETTER A ‘win-win situation'

It’s hit the fan NO HOLDS BARRED Armida Siguion-Reyna 04/06/2010

It’s hit the fan

NO HOLDS BARRED Armida Siguion-Reyna 04/06/2010 So it’s raining on us, the crap that gets thickest mostly during elections, spread by purveyors who must think us so dumb we’d swallow lies hook, line and sinker. Take the news that grabbed the headlines last Wednesday, about the alleged failure of Smartmatic-Total Information Management to supply the correct ink to enable the printing of ultraviolet (UV) security markings on ballots. It was announced on the last wakeful day of the week, as if purposely timed. Sure enough, with every activist Tom, Dick and Harry set to take either a holiday break or penitensiya, public reaction was somewhat muted.  It’s bad enough that the wrong ink renders the ballots unreadable by the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS), because “Nagbabago yung intensity... magkaiba yung specs ng reader sa specs ng printer,” according to Ramon Casiple of the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) Advisory Council..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100406com4.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Gibo, Manny and Noynoy FRONTLINE The dark side of genes focus Child sex abuse cost US Roman Catholic church $3 billion NO HOLDS BARRED It’s hit the fan AN OUTSIDERS VIEW When justice becomes a favor SILVER LINING April fools? LETTER A ‘win-win situation'

When justice becomes a favor AN OUTSIDERS VIEW Ken Fuller 04/06/2010

When justice becomes a favor

AN OUTSIDERS VIEW Ken Fuller 04/06/2010 Afew weeks ago, the New York Times reported that federal and state officials are going after rogue employers who misclassify their workers as individual contractors. It seems quite a lot of this is going on in the land of the free, the most common victims being home-health aides, high-tech engineers, construction workers and truck drivers. Officials estimate that the scam affects 3.4 million workers and that 30 percent of companies — including some household names — are doing it. The crackdown — the biggest ever, says the Times — is good news, but not as good as it might be. The official cause for concern turns out to be the fact that these criminal employers are, by this misclassification, cheating the state and federal governments of social security, medicare and unemployment insurance payments.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100406com5.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Gibo, Manny and Noynoy FRONTLINE The dark side of genes focus Child sex abuse cost US Roman Catholic church $3 billion NO HOLDS BARRED It’s hit the fan AN OUTSIDERS VIEW When justice becomes a favor SILVER LINING April fools? LETTER A ‘win-win situation'

April fools? SILVER LINING Dean Ernest Maceda 04/06/2010

April fools?

SILVER LINING Dean Ernest Maceda 04/06/2010 The lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client (and an idiot for a lawyer). The same can be said for a candidate who wants to run his own campaign. It was this thought, perhaps, that convinced Lakas-Kampi-CMD (Lakas) presidential standard bearer Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. to step down from his post as party chairman. The conspiracy theories can be quite creative, several pointing to the hidden hand of FVR. The timing of the announcement, coming as it did a day after FVR’s enigmatic statement: “I suggested to him to do one thing. It has not happened but he is likely to do it” has surely fueled the speculation. Is he really “laying the predicate” as some would like to believe?... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100406com6.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Gibo, Manny and Noynoy FRONTLINE The dark side of genes focus Child sex abuse cost US Roman Catholic church $3 billion NO HOLDS BARRED It’s hit the fan AN OUTSIDERS VIEW When justice becomes a favor SILVER LINING April fools? LETTER A ‘win-win situation'

A ‘win-win situation’ LETTER 04/06/2010 Dear Editor:

A ‘win-win situation’

LETTER 04/06/2010 Dear Editor: With regard to the editorial titled “Gibo may have found his Ace” in the April 5 issue of the Daily Tribune, we would like to point out that the resignation of Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential bet Gibo Teodoro as party chairman provided a “win-win situation” for our standard-bearer and the ruling party because it will enable the former Defense chief to devote full-time to his campaign and at the same allow the new party chairman, Deputy Speaker Amelita Villarosa, to attend to the needs of all its candidates 24 hours a day and seven days a week.  Gibo’s campaign strategy in the remaining days before the elections will focus on developing and strengthening local strongholds nationwide that will deliver the votes for him on May 10. This includes non-reliance on survey numbers, and the Gibo team concentrating on campaigning in tandem with the Lakas-Kampi–CMD local bets all over the country to personally woo voters.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100406com7.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Gibo, Manny and Noynoy FRONTLINE The dark side of genes focus Child sex abuse cost US Roman Catholic church $3 billion NO HOLDS BARRED It’s hit the fan AN OUTSIDERS VIEW When justice becomes a favor SILVER LINING April fools? LETTER A ‘win-win situation'