Sugar better than vinegar EDITORIAL 10/21/2010

Sugar better than vinegar

EDITORIAL

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10/21/2010
As Noynoy Aquino is confrontational and arrogant, so is his spokesman, Edwin Lacierda.

Reacting to the issue of members of the House of Representatives calling for the resignation of another equally arrogant Cabinet Secretary Teresita Deles, the presidential adviser on the peace process, with their call being ignored, Lacierda added fuel to the fire by saying that Malacañang does not buy the story of Rep. Fatima Dimaporo that she was yelled at by Deles after getting furious over her questions during Congress’ budget deliberations.

He said it was not Deles who started the problem but Dimaporo herself with the aid of Davao del Sur Rep. Marc Douglas Cagas who Lacierda said issued a different narration of facts to the media that obviously pictured Deles as the villain in the story.

Lacierda claimed to have witnesses to corroborate their statements on what exactly happened between Deles and Dimaporo last week. He also belied perceptions that Deles by nature is a grumpy lady and has a hard time getting along with anyone..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101021com1.html

Standard for one but not for all FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 10/21/2010

Standard for one but not for all

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

10/21/2010
With suggestions that presidential aunt in law Tingting Cojuangco should replace Peace Adviser Teresita Deles, who has been called by many members of the House of Representatives to resign due to her arrogance and condescending and superior attitude toward the congressmen in replying to questions during her budget hearing, the presidential spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, invoked the anti-nepotism rule in thumbing down the suggestion, saying that it would be impossible for Aquino to heed the solons’ advice and sack Deles to make room for his aunt-in-law because of the existing provision in the Constitution that forbids any sitting President from appointing his or her relatives to national offices.

“It’s against the Constitution. She is within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity with the President and therefore you cannot appoint her to a position. It’s against the Constitution and Sulu Rep. Tupay Loong maybe was not aware of the constitutional prohibition on relatives in government,” Lacierda said, also condescendingly.

Lacierda however, failed to satisfactorily explain why Tingting Cojuangco continues to hold on to her position as president of the board of trustees in the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC), an umbrella organization under the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), while her husband, Peping, is still at the helm of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC)..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101021com2.html

China’s next leader a political mystery man ANALYSIS 10/21/2010

China’s next leader a political mystery man

ANALYSIS

10/21/2010
BEIJING — Xi Jinping, the man who would be China’s next leader, is a market-friendly but politically enigmatic figure whose weak power base may prevent him putting a stamp on the nation for some time, analysts say.

China’s vice president appeared to have his path to power in 2013 cleared on Monday when the all-powerful Communist Party named him to a military post seen as the final medal on the next leader’s chest.

His ascension to vice chairman of the Central Military Commission — the country’s top military body — will set off three years of scrutiny into what type of man Xi is politically, but so far observers have little to go on.
The son of a revolutionary hero, Xi, 57, is widely seen as friendly to market reform from his years as the top party boss in China’s financial hub Shanghai and the economically dynamic eastern provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian.

“He is very market-friendly and it is highly likely that he would speak on behalf of the middle class and private sector and deal with state monopolies,” said Cheng Li, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a US think-tank..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101021com3.html

Power crisis now at hand BLURBAL THRUSTS Louie Logarta 10/21/2010

Power crisis now at hand

BLURBAL THRUSTS

Louie Logarta

10/21/2010
The National Press Club (NPC) is going to ask Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, in behalf of one of its members, to sanction an enterprising fiscal in Pangasinan province for allegedly lawyering for the accused in an “acts of lasciviousness” case.

We are told that in the process, a huge amount of moolah was supposed to have exchanged hands. So what else is new?

Aside from this, NPC legal counsels are also suggesting a simultaneous petition for disbarment with the Supreme Court because the concerned fiscal had acted unethically in using his/her powerful position in the prosecutor’s office to try and influence the outcome of the case to the liking of the accused.

All this stems from an urgent letter to the NPC from a longtime member seeking assistance in the criminal complaint for “attempted rape” she had lodged against a media colleague last year.

“I appeal for your help because I feel the litigation process is tilting to favor the accused who had filed a libel suit against me as a tactic to get even with me,” she said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101021com4.html

‘Above Faith’ VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 10/21/2010

‘Above Faith’

VIEWPOINTS

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

10/21/2010
No less than the holder of the highest public office in the country, in tenure wherefore of awesome governing power all over the land and likewise in command of all available personnel and possible means to execute not only the laws of the Philippines but also his official options as well as personal preferences, was described or identified as someone “Above Faith.”

This is not only an announcement that is highly dangerous but also downright frightful to people in general under such a faith-less leadership.

Among other things, when someone is said be “Above Faith,” this means that the individual concerned may say publicly correct statements but with dishonestly in the private context, may pronounce externally acceptable plans, programs and projects, yet deliberately entertains vicious or vitiated thoughts about them.

Worse, it is an imputation that does not simply mean that someone is without God but in effect even above divinity — if any. It is already perilous when an atheist relates with others who have a given faith they live with and morals they subscribe to. It is very much worst and risky when someone is not only godless also devoid of morality..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101021com5.html

The Trojan horse COMMENT 10/21/2010

The Trojan horse

COMMENT

10/21/2010
The analogy would be far from perfect, but if I dwelt on a bit of Homer’s Iliad, the Greek epic poem, I would liken our honorable Supreme Court to a Trojan horse out to secretly overthrow President “P-Noy” Aquino. Like the beautifully wrapped mythical horse, there it is: A college of 15 Trojans so handsomely shrouded in majestic black robes that beholders would gawk in reverential awe before the so-called last bastion of democracy.

Betcha by golly wow! Awesome! When the Trojan college neighs: “That’s it, P-Noy, that’s the law, follow it like a good little boy, and that’s final, okay!?” And final it is — as the judicial process would have it — leaving P-Noy limp in a dilemma, what with other GMA-led Trojans everywhere gearing up for his rapid fall from power. Or so they think!

For under the rules of the same democracy, P-Noy’s congressmen and senators have a retaliatory remedy, albeit extremely remote, in impeachment: The only constitutional way of removing Supreme Court Justices from office. Impeachment, although lacking in justifiable basis under current circumstances, nonetheless underpins a strategic threat of a potential Homeric conclusion between democracy and its enemies.

The funny thing is: What cannot be avoided is the usual scenario of two opposite sides proclaiming themselves as democracy’s champions. Ha ha ha… here we go again… the winners, either way, will be the self-proclaimed democrats ironically permitted under a shared rule of law to perpetuate an ailing democracy!
.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101021com6.html

Growing disenchantment among US Jews with Obama, Democrats focus 10/21/201

Growing disenchantment among US Jews with Obama, Democrats

focus

10/21/2010
MIAMI — American Jews, among the nation’s most reliable liberal voters, are likelier than ever to give Republicans a long hard look in upcoming elections, as enthusiasm wanes for President Barack Obama and his Democratic Party.

Unless Democrats succeed in rallying under-motivated base voters — including African Americans, young people and Jewish Americans — for the Nov. 2 polls, Republicans are given good chances of winning several governors’ seats and gaining control of one or both houses of Congress.

But here in South Florida, as well as across the United States, Obama’s popularity has fallen sharply among American Jews.

Friction between the US President and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is partly to blame.
“Obama is perceived, rightly or wrongly, of having been less supportive of Israel than previous presidents,” said Ira Sheskin, director of the Jewish Demography Project at the University of Miami..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101021com7.html

Relief workers rush aid to ‘Juan’ victims; foreign donations pour in By Mario J. Mallari and Michaela P. del Callar 10/21/2010

Relief workers rush aid to ‘Juan’ victims; foreign donations pour in

By Mario J. Mallari and Michaela P. del Callar 10/21/2010
Super typhoon “Juan” inched away from the country yesterday after killing 15 persons as relief workers scrambled to deliver aid to remote towns that were devastated by the typhoon.

Latest reports from the Camp Aguinaldo-based National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said of the 15 fatalities, seven came from Pangasinan, and one each from the provinces of Ilocos Sur, also in Region 1; Cagayan in Region 2; Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Zambales in Region 3; Kalinga, Benguet and Baguio City in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

The NDRRMC also reported that a total of 63,437 families composed of 332,299 persons were affected by the onslaught of Juan which battered Regions 1, 2 and CAR with strong winds and heavy rains since Monday.
Gov. Faustino Dy of the hardest-hit province of Isabela said residents in three coastal towns had suffered massive damage to their homes and were left with limited food supplies after huge waves washed away roads.

“Their food supply is only up to Sunday. But going there is very difficult. There is no road to reach them,” Dy told reporters in Cauayan, the closest city to the worst-hit towns.

Regional Social Welfare chief Arnel Garcia said the government planned to send food and tents to the affected towns of Maconacon, Palanan and Divilacan but that both air and sea travel were dangerous.
.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101021hed2.html

Delay seen in rebels’ release from detention 10/21/2010

Delay seen in rebels’ release from detention

10/21/2010
Protracted floor debates could delay the release from detention of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, with the likelihood of this taking place in December and not immediately when Congress resumes sessions early next month.

“My gut feel is that it could be (before Christmas),” Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona, chairman of the committee on peace, unification and reconciliation, said yesterday.

The senator was referring to the process that Presidential Proclamation No. 50 will have to go through before the plenary of the two houses of Congress, for it to be given concurrence by lawmakers and for it to take into effect.

The presidential issuance which grants amnesty to junior officers and soldiers who participated in three incidents of failed coups during the Arroyo administration will also benefit Trillanes.

“When Congress resumes sessions (in November), I will submit my committee report in the plenary and I will move that it be adopted by the Senate.

“Of course there will be a debate but I suppose it will not be a lengthy debate because in the previous (Senate).... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101021hed3.html

RP falls heavily in new press freedom ranking By Michaela P. del Callar 10/21/2010

RP falls heavily in new press freedom ranking

By Michaela P. del Callar 10/21/2010

The Philippines fell near the bottom of a watchdog’s world press freedom index after more than 30 media workers were slaughtered in an election-related Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre that also killed 27 other persons last year.

From 122nd spot in 2009, the Philippines slid 34 notches down, ranking 156th of 178 countries in the 2010 Press Freedom Index of Paris-based Reporters Without Borders/Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF).

The Philippines has long been considered a hot spot for journalists in many aspects with very few perpetrators brought to justice and media killings continue unabated.

There have been an alarming number of killings of journalists all over the country prior to that Maguindanao province attack — the single deadliest attack on media workers in the world..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101021hed4.html

Move for Deles ouster mounts By Gerry Baldo 10/21/2010

Move for Deles ouster mounts

By Gerry Baldo 10/21/2010

The move to relieve Office of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) Secretary Teresita Deles is growing even as more lawmakers yesterday poured their disgust over her actions, further fueled, others said, by the presidential spokesman’s claim that it was not Deles who was at fault but Reps. Fatima Aliah Dimaporo and Douglas Cagas, whom Malacañang had accused of having maliciously twisted the facts.

According to Camiguin Rep. Pedro Romualdo, the call for Deles to resign or be removed by President Aquino is a legitimate response to the insults heaped by the Cabinet member on members of Congress.

“The call for Deles to resign is a legitimate response of the House of Representatives against her inappropriate treatment of a member of this institution. Her action against a colleague is an affront to the institution,” Romualdo said yesterday.

He pointed out that the resolution issued by the House asking President Aquino to remove Deles from her post is tantamount to saying that Congress does not trust her..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101021hed5.html

SC chief scores ‘hostile’ Noynoy By Benjamin B. Pulta 10/21/2010

CITES TRIBUNAL’S CONSTITUTIONAL MANDATE

SC chief scores ‘hostile’ Noynoy

By Benjamin B. Pulta 10/21/2010

Without directly mentioning the name of President Aquino for his earlier blasting of the Supreme Court (SC) in issuing a status quo ante order on one alleged “midnight appointee” who had petitioned the court against Aquino’s Executive Order 2, removing her from her position, Chief Justice Renato Corona yesterday openly said that a hostile Executive Branch will not stop the judiciary from upholding its mandate under the Constitution.

In a speech during the 49th anniversary celebration of the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) at the Manila Hotel, Corona pointed out that the 1987 Constitution vested the SC with the power to review actions of co-equal branches of government.

“When the Supreme Court invokes its power of judicial review, it does not assert its moral or constitutional ascendancy over the other two co-equal branches of government. It only reminds all and sundry of the non-negotiable supremacy of the Constitution,” he said.

Corona said the judiciary may not have either the power of the sword as wielded by the executive or the purse as controlled by Congress, but “it wields the power of the pen or the authority to interpret the Constitution and the laws..”

He also said that contrary to criticisms, the judiciary does not encroach on the powers of its co-equal branches nor violate the principle of separation of powers in exercising its power of judicial review..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101021hed1.html

Malacañang ignores her reaction to enforcers’ failure to nab Lacson By Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/21/2010

Malacañang ignores her reaction to enforcers’ failure to nab Lacson

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/21/2010

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima apparently continues to be out of the Aquino loop as Malacañang yesterday practically downplayed the seeming frustration on her part to the government’s law enforcement authorities who remain utterly “clueless” on the whereabouts of Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

It has been eight months since the dormant legislator reportedly took a flight off to an undisclosed territory to escape the warrant of arrest served by the Manila Regional Trial Court last February based on witnesses’ accounts that he was allegedly the brains behind the murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000.

De Lima last Tuesday was quoted as saying that it is already “becoming an embarrassment” for the Aquino administration that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is still unable to locate Lacson which ostensibly brings almost everyone into conclusion that he is just inside the country.

She also expressed that the mere fact Lacson refuses to surface and submit himself to legal processes indicates that he is “guilty” of the charges being leveled against him by his former subordinates, Glenn Dumlao and Cezar Mancao, who incriminated him to the murders of the victims..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20101021nat1.html

Solon wants RP consulate, embassies cut By Angie M. Rosales 10/21/2010

Solon wants RP consulate, embassies cut

By Angie M. Rosales 10/21/2010

Some Philippine em-bassies and consulate offices may have to be shut down, unless the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) justifies their continued operations to help cut government expenditures.

Sen. Franklin Drilon yesterday said he had recently asked DFA Secretary Alberto Romulo to review the existence of some consular offices and embassies, vis-à-vis the standards set in the establishment of such diplomatic posts abroad.

“We are not a rich country that can just keep on opening embassies all over the place… It is as if our finances are never ending,” the senator said during a hearing on the proposed P10.98 billion DFA budget for next year.

To maintain an embassy abroad, government spends about P57 million to P125 million annually. Currently, there are 67 embassies and 23 consular offices and four missions abroad..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101021hed6.html