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On the road to dictatorship EDITORIAL 11/09/2011

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

On the road to dictatorship

EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
11/09/2011
Vindictive Noynoy and his power-hungry Justice secretary must be stopped by the high court from usurping the court’s power to issue a hold departure order (HDO) disguised as a watch list order (WLO) that can only be lifted with an allow departure order (ADO) and by the Department of Justice (DoJ) chief.

That judicial power usurped by the executive departure on the basis of a DoJ ruling must be immediately be struck down by the high court as unconstitutional for the simple reason that other powers not within the realm of the executive power can also be usurped, which is a great danger posed on the citizenry’s other constitutionally-guaranteed rights that can moreover lead to a dictatorial regime.

If the Justice chief uses a mere department ruling that she and her office have ruled upon to constrict the constitutional rights of citizens, what then is to stop a Justice chief, on orders of the Chief Executive, stemming from vindictiveness, from coming up with a ruling that grants herself the power to issue search and seizure orders, apart from invading one’s privacy, all of which belong to the province of the judiciary?.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111109com1.html

About time FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 11/09/2011

About time

FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
11/09/2011
Any which way it is cut, the Noynoy government, through its finance and BIR chiefs and the solicitor-general, did not act in good faith when they claimed that the temporary restraining order (TRO) from the high court in the case of the collecting the 20 percent tax imposed by the Finance department on the PEACe Bonds payment of some P35 million, was already moot and academic as the withholding tax was already remitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

The high court has asked the the Department of Finance (DoF) and BIR to explain why these offices should not be cited for contempt, despite their claim that the TRO came a day late after the tax amount was remitted.

The point really is the fact that the issue was still in the high court for resolution then and the TRO, whether it was received a day later, as claimed by the solgen, they should have exercised a bit of prudence..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111109com2.html

Washington’s enemy ‘doesn’t exist’



Washington’s enemy ‘doesn’t exist’

Americans are in the crosshairs of terrorists worldwide purely due to Washington’s policy in the Muslim world, not because there is an Islamic enemy whose only aim is to kill Americans for their freedoms and lifestyle, insists a former CIA officer.

­Historian Michael Scheuer, an author of "Through our enemies’ eyes", who worked for the agency for over 20 years till 2004 and at one time was the chief of the CIA’s ‘Bin Laden unit’, says America’s greatest enemy – radical Islam – never existed: neither when Bin Laden was alive, nor now..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/us-muslim-policy-sheuer-895/

Lawlessness in Al-Barka C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 11/09/2011

Lawlessness in Al-Barka

C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S
Jonathan De la Cruz
11/09/2011
Now it can be told: If only Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and his twin, DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo, did some hard nosed appraisal of the security situation in the entire ARMM area in the run up to the implementation of P-Noy’s initiative postponing the elections and appointing OICs to administer the region’s affairs until May 2013, then we would not be gnashing our teeth over the death of 19 of some of our finest fighting men and some of the “lawless elements” they were after in that Al-Barka firefight weeks back, not to mention the displacement of thousands of residents in and around the area.

Indeed, had they as much as asked their people on the ground to update them on the priority “areas of conflict,” then they would have been told that Al-Barka was one such “lawless area.” It was not just an “area of temporary stay” (ATS) as the MILF leadership wants the public to believe. It was a lawless area. Period. Records show that Al-Barka has not had a functioning local government office since May 2010 when the Comelec itself declared a failure of elections in the town..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111109com4.html

w/ VIDEOS: ‘It's a Revolt!' Students March in London



‘It's a Revolt!' Students march in London


Students took to the streets of London en masse on Wednesday to fight government funding cuts and a massive hike in tuition fees. But rubber bullets and police intimidation threaten to turn the demonstration into a bloody affair.

­



The demonstrators gathered at the University of London in the center of the city around noon. Some 10,000 people were expected to take part in the march against the privatization of education and other attacks on the welfare state.
However RT’s Ivor Bennett, who is reporting from the scene, estimated that only several thousand had shown up as the march began.



Having been criticized for their mishandling of previous protests, the police announced they would be out in force.  With 4,000 officers being deployed, the run-up to the march was fraught with tension..... MORE


SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/students-march-london-police-911/

Mining-related deaths, destruction haunt celebration of Mine Safety Week

Mining-related deaths, destruction haunt celebration of Mine Safety Week

“With the celebration of Mine Safety Week, the mining industry is portraying itself as a socially responsible industry, but in truth it is nothing but a self-serving, destructive and exploitative industry.” – Kakay Tolentino, a Dumagat spokeswoman of Katribu Partylist

By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – “There is life in mining,” said the oft-repeated ad of a mining company. But life for whom?
On the first day of the “celebration” of Mine Safety Week, representatives of Filipino farmers and indigenous peoples, scientists and environmentalists, expressly distanced themselves from the government celebrations and instead held protest rallies across the Philippines against what they described as liberalized, plunderous mining, which also often comes with brutal militarization.

In Manila, the protesters marched to the Mendiola Bridge (now Chino Roces) and held a brief program there. They condemned “the continuing environmentally destructive impact to communities and key ecosystems attributed to foreign mining companies.” They unfurled an image of what they said as real “righteous path,” a paved road to national industrialization and an end to destructive, extractive and largely foreign-controlled mining.

The activists reminded Aquino that the 29th anniversary of the first recorded mining disaster in the Philippines coincided with the opening of Mine Safety Week.


Intensifying people’s resistance to mining

Long before the much-criticized Mining Act of 1995, on November 8, 1982, the walls of the tailings pond of the Maricalum Mining in Negros crumbled and collapsed, unleashing a torrent of million tons of mine wastes on the river system and agricultural fields of Negros, recalled Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan, an environmentalist group.


Critics of ‘plunderous large-scale mining” arrive at Mendiola Bridge. (Photo by Marya Salamat / bulatlat.com)
The incident, said Bautista, “poisoned the rivers, submerged the farmers’ crops and inundated with toxic wastes thousands of hectares of farmlands in Negros. It drove away thousands of hungry families from the towns of Sipalay and Cauyan in Negros.”
“With the celebration of the Mine Safety Week, the mining industry is portraying itself as a socially responsible industry, but the truth is, it is nothing but a self-serving, destructive and exploitative industry,” said Kakay Tolentino, a Dumagat and spokeswoman of the Katribu Partylist.

“President Benigno Aquino III, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Chamber of Mines wish to portray the current state of mining in the Philippines as responsible and nurturing both for the environment and the citizens, but it is just a cover-up,” said Natalie Pulvinar of Advocates for Science and Technology for the People (AGHAM).

In celebrating Mine Safety Week, “Aquino just wants to make a show as if the Mining Act of 1995 is still good and functioning despite protests and the very ugly effects of large-scale mining,” Pulvinar added..... MORE

SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/11/09/mining-related-deaths-destruction-haunt-celebration-of-mine-safety-week/

Aquino faces 2nd impeach try over P5-M MILF dole By Gerry Baldo 11/09/2011

Aquino faces 2nd impeach try over P5-M MILF dole

By Gerry Baldo 11/09/2011

President Aquino would likely have his second impeachment complaint when Congress resumes session next week mainly over the P5 million donation the government handed over to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that Anad party-list Rep. Pastor Alcover Jr., who plans to file the complaint, said constituted betrayal of public trust.

Legislators, however, this early doubts the impeachment case will prosper particularly since Marcos loyalist lawyer Oliver Lozano has beaten Alcover to the gun.

Lozano sought Aquino’s impeachment for refusing to provide state honors for the burial of the late former President Ferdinand Marcos..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111109hed3.html

Noy, RP officials to defy China’s opposition on Spratlys issue By Michaela P. del Callar 11/09/2011

Noy, RP officials to defy China’s opposition on Spratlys issue

By Michaela P. del Callar 11/09/2011

President Aquino and other Philippine officials will defy China’s opposition and continue to seek support for a proposal to prevent South China Sea armed conflicts during a summit of Association of South East Asian Nations and world leaders led by US President Barack Obama in Indonesia next week, a top Foreign Affairs official said yesterday.

Legal and maritime experts from the Asean, who met in Manila in September, affirmed the Philippines’ position for a rules-based approach in settling the disputes, but stopped short of fully backing the Philippines’ Zone of Peace, Freedom, Friendship and Cooperation (ZoPFFC) in the South China Sea..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111109hed6.html

Solon hits gov’t for piecemeal release of funds to ARMM By Angie M. Rosales 11/09/2011

Solon hits gov’t for piecemeal release of funds to ARMM

By Angie M. Rosales 11/09/2011

An opposition senator lashed out government against the piecemeal approach in infusing funds to the southern region, specifically the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

“We must move past this piecemeal approach to ARMM’s growth and development,” said Sen. Edgardo Angara, noting the recent’s release by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) of a P1.97B funds for social services in ARMM.

The funding will go toward housing assistance, livelihood and feeding programs, as well as the construction of 845 daycare centers throughout the region.

Angara, vice chairman of the Senate finance committee, pointed out that ARMM needs improved access to social services..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20111109nat1.html

RP vows safe release of 3 abducted Koreans By Michaela P. del Callar 11/09/2011

RP vows safe release of 3 abducted Koreans

By Michaela P. del Callar 11/09/2011

The government yesterday vowed to ensure the safe and immediate release of the three Koreans abducted by armed men in Lanao del Norte three weeks ago.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario met with Korean Ambassador Hye-min Lee to discuss the developments in the investigation of the case.

“In a meeting with the South Korean ambassador, we have given our government’s assurance that all appropriate assistance will be given to ensure the safe recovery of the abducted Koreans,” Del Rosario said..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20111109nat2.html

QC government warns anew barangay officials vs coddling informal settlers By Arlie O. Calalo 11/09/2011

QC government warns anew barangay officials vs coddling informal settlers

By Arlie O. Calalo 11/09/2011
The Quezon City government has warned anew barangay officials against allowing informal settlers to build new colonies within their jurisdictions, particularly in areas along waterways or danger zones.

In a huddle with members of the Quezon City Press Club, Mayor Herbert Bautista said he was expecting the entire village officials to be more cooperative with the local government in keeping these danger areas away from the informal settlers.

“We will not hesitate to prosecute local officials who fail to curtail the proliferation and further increase of informal settlements in their respective areas,” he said..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20111109met2.html

Lim supports PPUR bid to be included in ‘Seven Wonders of Nature’ By Pat C. Santos 11/09/2011

Lim supports PPUR bid to be included in ‘Seven Wonders of Nature’

By Pat C. Santos 11/09/2011

The City of Manila has expressed full support to the country’s bid for the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) to be included in the “Seven Wonders of Nature.”

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim during a breakfast meeting over the weekend directed chief of staff and media bureau director Ric de Guzman and all the other city officials to convince Manileños to cast their votes either online or via text messaging.

The same directive was given by Lim to Manila Police District director Senior Supt. Alex Gutierrez and all the station commanders whom the mayor personally asked to do everything possible within their means to disseminate the information on why the people should vote so that PPUR may get the coveted spot..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20111109met4.html

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