Gloria’s student EDITORIAL 10/09/2010

Gloria’s student

EDITORIAL

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10/09/2010
Gloria Arroyo was Noynoy Aquino’s economics teacher at the Ateneo. And from the way his 100 days speech went, it can be concluded that he has learned a lot from Gloria — so much so that he has picked up most, if not all, of her ways.

Take the way he quickly took credit for having brought about an improved economy, as he substantiated this claim with the upswing in the stock market, and the strengthening peso, as indicators of a robust economy under his stewardship.

Wasn’t that what Gloria claimed too, during her time in Malacañang? She used to point to the uptick in the stock market, claiming that there is now so much investor confidence in the country, with her at the saddle. As for the claim of the strengthened peso, she too, boasted about it, claiming too that this was a clear indication of investor’s confidence. Oh, and she also said, just as Noynoy is saying now, that the Philippines is now open for business..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101009com1.html

Mind conditioning by the Palace? FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 10/09/2010

Mind conditioning by the Palace?

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

10/09/2010
Over the past several days, the press has been coming out with purported contents of the Malacañang lawyers’ review of the IIRC report, all of which smells like a deliberate leak by the Palace to the media, but all of which report content carries one single theme: DILG Undersecretary Puno does not deserve to be punished, while all others indicted by the IIRC report are getting lesser charges such as negligence.

The presidential mouthpieces reaction to the leak, however, is pretty strange. They deny that the Palace report has been leaked out by anyone from Malacañang and again claim that there will be an investigation on this.

But what is strange is that when asked to confirm or deny the reports, they do neither, merely saying that the public can wait for the report scheduled again for Monday.

Strangely enough, those who should not have been charged, such as the two broadcast personalities who interviewed the hostage-taker, are reportedly to be charged for “reckless imprudence,” whatever that means in relation to media interviews..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101009com2.html

US-Pakistani tension exposes contradictory aims: experts ANALYSIS 10/09/2010

US-Pakistani tension exposes contradictory aims: experts

ANALYSIS

10/09/2010
WASHINGTON — A surge in US-Pakistani tension this week exposes deep contradictions in their aims for Afghanistan but both sides will try to repair ties because they still need each other, experts say.

The core of the problem, experts say, is Pakistan refuses to cut ties to the Afghan Taliban and other extremists because it fears an eventual US pullout from Afghanistan will create a vacuum that its old rival India will exploit.

They said tensions came to a head now as Washington — under pressure from an Obama administration goal to begin drawing down forces next year — loses patience with Islamabad’s failure to crush militants on its side of the border.

“Field commanders are feeling pressed by the prospect of having to show improvements because of the looming deadline,” said Ashley Tellis, an analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“They’ve simply become more aggressive in their efforts to root these guys out,” Tellis told AFP.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101009com3.html

Gabriela-Sponsored RH Bill to Provide Comprehensive Health Services to Women

Gabriela-Sponsored RH Bill to Provide Comprehensive Health Services to Women

Published on October 9, 2010

“To reduce this measure to a debate that focuses only on artificial versus natural methods of contraception is a myopic approach to the issue.” – Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com

Sidebar: Dissecting The Comprehensive Reproductive Health Act 

MANILA – Ofelia Lubat, 45, has nine children. Her youngest son Marvin who turned one last September looks malnourished. Em-em, her eighth child is naked and was as small as a three year-old child. Only four out of her nine children are going to school because they cannot afford the expenses. Her eldest son Micheal, 20, only finished grade 5. He is presently unemployed.

And because of the death of her son, Marlon, 17, due to leptospirosis last January, they are paying a loan amounting to P200,000 ($4,545) to her husband’s employer. “His salary is P9,000 ($204), but because we’re paying a debt, he’s only taking home from P1,500 ($34) to P1,000 ($22),”Ofelia said. She has a variety store but what she earns from it is not enough to feed 10 mouths including the couple. “We earn at least P200 a day ($4.5) from the store. That’s for my children’s needs. For our food, we have dried fish, vegetable with fish sauce or just anything.”

Ofelia with son Marvin (Photo by Anne Marxze D. Umil / bulatlat.com)

Ofelia is only one of the many Filipino women who suffer the burden of having many mouths to feed with their meager income. Like other poor mothers, Ofelia also wants the Reproductive Health (RH) bill to be passed in Congress not only to prevent her from getting pregnant but also to avail of health care services that she has not been able to avail of in her nine previous pregnancies.

Amid the heated debate between the Catholic church and supporters of RH bill, Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) Rep. Luz Ilagan said the reproductive health bill they filed in Congress includes more than giving a choice between the different methods of fertility planning and contraception. It is, she said, beyond the issue of population control.

“To reduce this measure to a debate that focuses only on artificial versus natural methods of contraception is a myopic approach to the issue,” Ilagan said.

A Health Issue for Both Mother and Baby

“The poor women, adolescent women, rural and indigenous women are the ones most affected by the lack in a reproductive health care policy. They are the ones who have the most unintended and closely-spaced pregnancies. Their birth deliveries are commonly unattended by trained health professionals,” said lawyer Clara Rita Padilla, executive director of Engenderights, Inc. said..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/10/09/gabriela-sponsored-rh-bill-to-provide-comprehensive-health-services-for-women/

DOLE Order Vs PAL Flight Attendants Denounced; Workers Now Await Noynoy’s Action Published on October 9, 2010

 DOLE Order Vs PAL Flight Attendants Denounced; Workers Now Await Noynoy’s Action

Published on October 9, 2010

Now that the assumption of jurisdiction order has taken away the flight attendants’ right to strike, they are left with no recourse but to appeal to the media and the Filipino riding public “to join us and await how this new government will resolve the labor dispute.”

By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – The unprecedented strike planned for early November this year by the union of Philippine Air Lines (PAL) flight attendants was stopped from even taking off by the PAL management and the labor department, after the latter acceded to PAL’s request for it to assume jurisdiction over the three-year labor dispute. The assumption of jurisdiction (AJ) order legally prevents the union from further holding protest actions and, most particularly, a strike.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz warned the flight attendants that if they push through with the planned strike, it will be “considered illegal” and the strikers will run the risk of sanctions, including dismissal.

The Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) decision to assume jurisdiction over the dispute has come as no surprise — for weeks PAL president Jaime Bautista has been announcing that no strike would happen among members of Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP), the union of PAL flight attendants, because “PAL will ask DOLE to assume jurisdiction.”

The issuance of the AJ, announced ahead of the scheduled last-ditch mediation talks between PAL and FASAP, is being criticized by the labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (May First Movement) as “directly responsible for the collapse of the last-ditch mediation talks” between the two parties..... MORE


Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/10/09/flight-attendants%E2%80%99-wings-vs-discrimination-and-wage-freeze-clipped-by-aj/

Strike Defies Assumption of Jurisdiction Order in RP’s Largest Palm Oil Company Published on October 9, 2010

Strike Defies Assumption of Jurisdiction Order in RP’s Largest Palm Oil Company

Published on October 9, 2010

Workers in Filipinas Palm Oil Industries launched a strike after months of negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement hit a deadlock, despite an assumption of jurisdiction order from the labor department. A first strike in defiance of AJ under the Aquino administration.
By MARYA SALAMAT

Bulatlat.com
MANILA — In the Philippines’ largest palm oil plantation and milling plant, workers have been forced to launch a strike since two days ago in protest of a “wage freeze” and anti-strike AJ or assumption of jurisdiction.

(Photo by Marya Salamat / bulatlat.com)

Like in the case of workers in Philippine Air Lines, the workers in Filipinas Palm Oil Industries, Inc (FPII) decided to go on strike after negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with their company hit a deadlock. Their protest has also been met with an assumption of jurisdiction (AJ) order issued by the labor department in response to a company request as early as two months ago, when the deadlock in the negotiations has prompted the union to file for a notice of strike.

FPII, formerly NDC-Guthrie, is a joint venture of a Malaysian company and Filipino billionaire Dennis T. Villareal, who is also FPII’s president and chief operating officer. Malaysia is the world’s largest producer and exporter of palm oil. In the Philippines, FPII has the largest plantation and milling capacity for palm oil. Its plantation covers no less than 8,000 hectares in Agusan del Sur, or more than four times the size of other palm oil plantations in the area. Its milling capacity in Agusan alone is also more than twice as big as other palm oil milling plants in the area. On top of that FPII also has another milling plant in Metro Manila.

FPII employs 1,000 workers, but only 400 have regular status. The rest are either contractual or casual workers who are paid lower than.... MORE
Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/10/09/strike-defies-assumption-of-jurisdiction-order-in-rp%E2%80%99s-largest-palm-oil-company/

Kin of Victim of Extrajudicial Killing Find Justice in the UN Published on October 7, 2010

The main perpetrator in the extrajudicial killing of human rights defender Benjaline Hernandez was granted bail by a local court and was reportedly acquitted recently. But the United Nations Human Rights Committee found the Philippine government accountable for her death.
By RONALYN V. OLEA

Bulatlat.com
MANILA — Eight years since human rights defender and campus journalist Benjaline “Beng”Hernandez was killed, justice remains elusive. The family saw a ray of hope when the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) recently held the Philippine government responsible for her death.

Beng was killed, along with three others in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato on April 5, 2002. Beng, then deputy secretary general of Karapatan-Southern Mindanao Region and vice president for Mindanao of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), was conducting a research on the impact of the peace process on the local community. She and three residents were about to take their lunch when six members of the Citizens Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU), led by Sgt. Antonio Torilla of the 7th Battalion (Airborne) of the 12 Special Forces of the Philippine Army strafed the hut they were in. The autopsy disclosed that two bullets had been fired at Beng from close range and that she had been lying on her back when she was shot.

The family filed a multiple murder case against the perpetrators. Only Torilla was named respondent while the charges against the others were dismissed. The local court in Kidapawan handling the case granted bail to Torilla and the junior military officer remains in active service in the Philippine Army.

In March 2006, Beng’s mother Evangeline decided to file a case against the Philippine government, as a state party, at the UNHRC under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Philippine government signed the ICCPR in January 1986 and the Optional Protocol on ICCPR in November 1989. The Philippines is also a member of the UN Human Rights Council.... MORE
Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/10/07/kin-of-victim-of-extrajudicial-killing-find-justice-in-the-un/

GMA gets P2.2B DPWH pork; solons given extra P50M By Gerry Baldo 10/09/2010

IN EXCHANGE FOR PASSAGE OF NOY’S ‘LUMP SUM’ ALLOCATIONS WITHOUT QUESTION

GMA gets P2.2B DPWH pork; solons given extra P50M

By Gerry Baldo 10/09/2010

President Aquino and his Budget chief Florencio “Butch” Abad will get what they want from Congress by way of its members no longer questioning the lump sum appropriations insisted on by Malacañang in the 2011 national budget, with former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo getting the biggest “pork barrel” from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) “pork” for her district’s projects.

In exchange for the House of Representatives looking the other way on Aquino’s non-transparent lump sum appropriations in the tens of billions, congressmen will be getting P50 million for their districts’ projects from the DPWH’s budget.

This is apart from their P70 million each in their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), more commonly known as pork barrel, with Arroyo getting a cool P2.2 billion for her Pampanga district alone.

This came about after congressmen, disgruntled over the claimed inequitable distribution of the national budget, got that additional P50 million each, over and above their P70 million pork barrel allocation for their respective congressional districts through the DPWH, in effect creating a pork on pork barrels for themselves.
.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101009hed1.html

PNCC officials among top GOCC execs with fat pay, bonuses By Angie M. Rosales 10/09/2010

PNCC officials among top GOCC execs with fat pay, bonuses

By Angie M. Rosales 10/09/2010

Officials from the Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC) are alleged to be among the government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) enjoying excessive salaries and perks, with its president taking home a monthly pay of P7.5 million and the 15 other executives receiving a total of P58.8 million in basic salaries last year.

Sen. Franklin Drilon stumbled upon this information as he probed into the issue of the non-remittance of some P2.3 billion toll revenues from the operations of North Luzon and South Luzon Expressways that they continue to exact from motorists despite the prohibition by the Supreme Court.

The PNCC, which had been granted by law during the Marcos era to operate and maintain the various limited-access toll highways, was no longer authorized to collect toll since its franchise had expired, the high court said in its 2007 ruling.

Yet it continues to have a share in the toll collections and these failed to be remitted to the national treasury, senators learned during the hearing held on the proposed P2.7-billion budget of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for 2011 Thursday evening..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101009hed2.html

Palace: Gloria bashing natural; Estrada: ‘Give Noy a chance’ By Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/09/2010

Palace: Gloria bashing natural; Estrada: ‘Give Noy a chance’

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/09/2010

President Aquino’s public tirades against the administration of former President Arroyo are inevitable but, in the same breath, he re-cognizes the achievements of the programs she had implemented during her reign, particularly the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program which, Aquino boys admit, is “very effective”.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda yesterday claimed that bringing up the Gloria past by invoking the ills of the past administration is “just natural” and it can hardly be avoided since 100 days are too short a time to eliminate the effects of the so-called problems supposedly inherited by Aquino from Arroyo as they are still pervasive.

Former President Joseph Estrada, reacting to the 100 day speech of Aquino, appears to agree, saying that the damage from the Arroyo  government is too much for the new president to address and solve in just 100 days.

But Estrada also said that he hopes Aquino would focus more on pro-poor policies..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101009hed3.html

Gov’t tracing source of ‘leaked’ IIRC report — Noy By Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/09/2010

Gov’t tracing source of ‘leaked’ IIRC report — Noy

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/09/2010

President Aquino wants the source of the alleged “leaked” copies of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) report along with the study made by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Eduardo de Mesa that have been obtained by select media outlets in the country.

But his spokesman Edwin Lacierda finds the idea futile, especially since nothing happened to the previous investigation ordered by the President in the case of the State of the Nation Address (Sona) copy that was previously leaked to the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) last July.

Various media organizations from print, radio and television recently wrote about their supposed exclusive copies of the drafts of the revised IIRC report which they said were furnished to them by an anonymous source from Malacañang. The contents of the documents they were holding, however, were neither verified nor dismissed by the Palace..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101009hed4.html

Senate freezes Lacson’s budget, closes office By Angie M. Rosales 10/09/2010

Senate freezes Lacson’s budget, closes office

By Angie M. Rosales 10/09/2010

Fugitive Sen. Panfilo Lacon has been effectively stripped of his salary and budget by the upper chamber, it was gathered yesterday.

A memorandum order was handed down by Senate Secretary Emma Lirio-Reyes and signed by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to the senator’s son and office chief of staff Ronald Lacson, effectively dismantling the operations of the lawmaker’s office.

The decision was arrived at during Wednesday’s closed-door caucus, according to the memorandum dated Oct. 7, the reason of which was not disclosed.

It could only be surmised that Lacson’s continued absence and inability to perform his official functions prompted the issuance of the directive, stopping the release of budget for his office, specifically the maintenance, operations and other expenses (MOOE), “including the salary of the good senator until such time that he is fully able to perform his duties.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101009hed5.html

Housing policy reforms mark Binay’s 1st hundred days 10/09/2010

Housing policy reforms mark Binay’s 1st hundred days

10/09/2010
Instituting systemic and policy reforms in housing was the focus of Vice President and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Chairman Jejomar Binay during his first 100 days in office.
These include addressing the controversy involving Globe Asiatique, a property developer, and Home Development Mutual, or the Pag-IBIG Fund, over “ghost borrowers,” directing a review of lending and financing policies, revisiting the government’s relocation programs and strengthening partnerships with the private sector and civil society groups in meeting housing goals.

As Vice President, Binay also hosted leaders and representatives of foreign and local governments, agencies and organizations, visited and held dialogs with local government executives and made his first official visit to South Korea.

While in Seoul, Binay paid courtesy visits to ranking government officials led by Prime Minister Chung Un-Chan, met with investor groups and urged them to venture in housing programs and projects in the Philippines, and held dialog with the overseas Filipino community..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101009hed6.html

CA rules on ERC WESM transactions By Benjamin B. Pulta 10/09/2010

CA rules on ERC WESM transactions

By Benjamin B. Pulta 10/09/2010

A ruling by the Court of Appeals (CA) has turned down a petition filed by the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) challengiing how the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approved the budget for the operation of the country’s wholesale electricity spot market (WESM), three years ago.

In a 16-page decision by Associate Justice Amy Lazaro Javier and concurred in by Associate Justices Rebecca de Guia Salvador and Sesinando Villon, the CA’s Fifth Division upheld the authority of ERC to review and approve the budget of PEMC.

The appellate court said Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) of 2001 empowers ERC to regulate participation in the WESM and imposition of market transaction fees.

Under the law, WESM serves as a trading facility for power generators and buyers of electricity such as distribution utilities. Prices at WESM are governed by market forces. WESM is presently run by government through PEMC..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20101009nat1.html