For shame, for big shame! EDITORIAL 11/16/2011

For shame, for big shame!

EDITORIAL

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11/16/2011
Noynoy and his Justice chief, Leila de Lima, have really thrown out the window not only due process, but justice itself as they clearly railroaded the joint panel probe investigating the 2007 electoral fraud — and all because Noynoy had imposed a deadline to charge Gloria and Mike Arroyo for electoral sabotage this month, and get them jailed before Christmas.

Every move made by De Lima, all done upon instructions of her vindictive boss, was geared toward getting the Arroyos quickly charged and jailed.

This was the reason De Lima placed Gloria and Mike under the unconstitutional watch list order despite the fact that there was no justifiable reason to do so, and the reason De Lima and Noynoy went through all the motions of seeking more and more requirements to allow her departure..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111116com1.html

Along political lines? FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 11/16/2011

Along political lines?

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

11/16/2011
Granting the temporary restraining order in favor of Gloria and Mike Arroyo by the majority of Supreme Court (SC) justices should end the issue on whether the Arroyos can travel abroad to seek Gloria’s medical treatment, although this TRO grant does not necessarily settle the issue of whether the Noynoy-De Lima watch list order-allow departure order (WLO-ADO) is to be junked, but the odds are that this would be deemed unconstitutional, given the fact that no law authorizes the Department of Justice to issue such an order that belongs to the judiciary through a hold departure order and its lifting on persons already under the jurisdiction of the courts, as well as the fact that the three constitutional exemptions — national security, public safety and public health — have not been invoked as Malacañang insists on the issue being grounded on national interest.

From reports, the grant of the TRO had the vote of eight justices as against five justices.

Those who voted for a TRO grant were Chief Justice Renato Corona, Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr., Arturo Brion, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Roberto Abad, Martin Villarama and Jose Perez..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111116com2.html

(w/ VIDEO) WMD deja-vu: Iran replaces Iraq

 (VIDEO) WMD deja-vu: Iran replaces Iraq

America’s whipping up hysteria over the Iranian nuclear program, with the same figures that used to accuse Iraq of possessing chemical and nuclear weapons now repeating themselves with frenetic conviction.

­Iran has long been a hot topic in the West and anti-Iranian sentiments are at a high right now, so – with a little help of some dubious “expert” analysis – it could follow in Iraq's footsteps.

Many remember Senator John McCain giggling “Bomb Iran… bomb, bomb, bomb…”

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney also signed in, saying “The gravest threat that America and the world faces and faced is a nuclear Iran.”

But it has heated up since last week's report from the UN’s nuclear watchdog IAEA, sparking fears Iran was pursuing atomic weapons..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/iran-nuclear-programme-danilenko-441/

(W/ Video) Occupy Wall Street – A look back at the last two months

  

Occupy Wall Street – A look back at the last two months

 
You could say Occupy Wall Street started with a whisper - a call by Canadian activist group Adbusters that spread on Facebook to gather on September 17, 2011.

But before long that whisper turned into a roar, a collective anger at Wall Street corruption, at growing income inequality in America, and at a system in which government policy is often dictated by corporate greed.

Before long the crowds brought police, and police brought pepper spray. A September 26 video of officers spraying young women only brought on more protesters. On October 1, 700 of them were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Instead of scaring people away, scenes of police using batons outraged the masses, and before long occupy movements multiplied, from Los Angeles to Chicago to Boston, forcing the mainstream media to start covering the protest they had largely ignored..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/occupy-wall-street-last-435/

Progressive organizations protest against ‘un-mutual treaties’ during Clinton visit

Progressive organizations protest against ‘un-mutual treaties’ during Clinton visit

By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – There is freedom of expression according to the Philippine Constitution, but according to the marchers who protested the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the country, the Aquino government is “giving more priority to Clinton’s stature rather than the Filipinos’ rights.” The protesters who came from various progressive organizations were twice barred by the police from marching nearer toward the US Embassy Tuesday, hours before Clinton’s scheduled arrival. The protesters were thus forced to hold their program, which included burning a US flag, along Kalaw Avenue.

Warning the Filipinos to “beware of the US government’s make-believe friendship,” the progressive groups said Hillary Clinton’s visit is “more for strengthening the lopsided US-Philippine relationship, enhancing the means with which the US can further take advantage of the Philippines, and attacking our sovereignty.” The protesters held their program inches away from columns of shield and baton-wielding members of the police.

Broken promises

After 60 years of Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) and “broken promises” about helping to develop the Philippines, particularly its armed forces, Renato Reyes Jr. of Bayan said, Filipinos have “no more illusions” that it can ever be of real help. In fact, after decades of this “myth of cooperation and reciprocity,” he pointed to the Philippines being “shamefully the most backward in the region” as proof of MDTs’ utter uselessness for the country.

Protesters show their sentiments.(Photo by Marya Salamat / bulatlat.com)

The MDT was forged when the US government used the Cold War as justification for dragging the Philippines into wars, Reyes said.

“The MDT which made the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) possible, and which Benigno Aquino III had promised to review while campaigning for the presidency because of its many problematic provisions, is still not reviewed up to now– over a year since he became president,” said Reyes.
In a statement, Bayan has previously said, “Mutuality and reciprocity are the biggest myths fostered by the MDT and the VFA. These instruments are in place primarily to secure support for US hegemonic interests in the region and not for anything else.” They also urged the Philippine government to “wake up from the pipe-dream that we are treated as equals and with respect by the US.”

Clinton will announce new support for the Philippines in her latest visit, based on an Agence France-Presse report. Officials accompanying Clinton on her trip to “key allies” in the Pacific were quoted as saying she would hold talks with President Benigno Aquino III and tour a warship.

The United States has provided the Philippines recently with a second-hand World War II-vintage destroyer, amid high tension between Manila and Beijing over the Spratlys. Officials accompanying Clinton also said she will discuss offering another one.

Progressive organizations in the Philippines are wary of Clinton’s visit. “January 2012 will mark 10 years of permanent presence of US troops in Mindanao. While US troops in Iraq are set to leave at the end of 2011, US troops in Mindanao appear to be staying indefinitely. There is no known timetable or duration for their presence. Secretary Clinton’s visit will likely reinforce this unequal and illegal arrangement,” Reyes of Bayan said in a statement.

Protesters suspect Clinton will discuss the Mindanao conflict with Aquino. (Photo by Marya Salamat / bulatlat.com)

It is precisely because of such military aid that the Philippine government “refuses to abrogate these two agreements (MDT and VFA), even at great cost to our sovereignty,” said Reyes.

Thanks but no

“If Mrs. Clinton came to our country only to fortify their intervention over Philippine military and economic affairs, then she should go home and take away with her all the non-mutual treaties between the US and the Philippines,” said the Anakpawis Partylist in a statement.

“There had been no mutual ties between the US and the Philippines. These treaties only benefited the US and its global hegemony,” Joel Maglunsod, Anakpawis Executive Vice President, said of the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT). He added that “the only tie that binds the Philippines and the US is the one that hangs the Filipino people by the neck.”.... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/11/16/progressive-organizations-protest-against-un-mutual-treaties-during-clinton-visit/

One year and still no justice for the Kanangga 3

 One year and still no justice for the Kanangga 3

“Leonard’s family and the public continue to thirst for justice in the face of the turtle-pace investigation. It angers us that already a year has passed and still not a single word or action can be felt from the Aquino administration.” – Dr. Giovanni Tapang, convenor of the Justice for Leonard Co Movement.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL and INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO

Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Friends, colleagues and the family of slain botanist Leonard Co held a picket at the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Nov. 15, Tuesday as they mark the first death anniversary of the renowned botanist and his two companions, Julius Borromeo, a farmer and Soforonio Cortez, a forest guard.

The 50-year old Cortez worked as a forest guard and a regular employee of the EDC for the past 26 years. He left behind his wife, Arsenia, and three children.

A farmer, Borromeo was the only breadwinner and the father of six. He was among the contractual guides hired for Co’s five-day fieldwork.

“Leonard’s family and the public continue to thirst for justice in the face of the turtle-pace investigation. It angers us that already a year has passed and still not a single word or action can be felt from the Aquino administration,” said Dr. Giovanni Tapang, convenor of the Justice for Leonard Co Movement.

“It is my son who got killed. What we want is justice,” said Lian Seng Co, father of Leonard Co.(Photo by Anne Marxze D. Umil / Bulatlat.com)

On Nov. 15, 2010, Co, Borromeo and Cortez were gunned down inside the compound of the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) in Kananga, Leyte allegedly by elements of the 19th Infantry Battalion (IB) Philippine Army. Co’s group was working on a research for EDC when soldiers fired at his team. According to the military there was an encounter with the New People’s Army. But evidences and the statements of surviving witnesses Ronino Gibe and Policarpio Balute (part of Co’s team) reveal that there was no other armed group in the area aside from the soldiers of the 19th IB.
Co was cremated on November 23 in Quezon City; part of his ashes were scattered over a dita tree in UP and in Palanan, Isabela. Borromeo and Cortez were laid to rest by their families on November 25, in Leyte.

On January 26, 2011, Co’s family led by his widow Glenda filed murder charges at the DOJ against members of the 19th IB. The accused soldiers numbering 38 in all were all present during the massacre; among those named as respondents are a two junior officers, 1Lt. Ronald Odchimar and 2Lt. Cameron Perez.

Earlier that same month, the DOJ and National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) own fact-finding team released its report, which cleared the 19th IB in the killing. On January 26, Co’s family protested against the DOJ report and filed formal criminal charges of murder against the 19th IB, seeking a formal preliminary investigation.

On February 22, 100 days after the killing, the Justice for Leonard Co Movement picketed the DOJ and called on DOJ Secretary De Lima to replace the head of its investigating panel, who was also part of the original DOJ-NBI team. Both the CHR and the DOJ have conducted more hearings since then, but neither agencies have released their conclusive reports to date.

Aquino’s inaction

(Photo by Anne Marxze D. Umil / Bulatlat.com)

The group criticized President Benigno S. Aquino III for his continuing silence on the killings of Co and his group.

“If it’s true that the President is taking the straight path, then the perpetrators should be in jail by now. But one year has passed and still he is silent on Co’s death,” Tapang said . He said Aquino’s inaction perpetrates the culture of impunity that reigned in the country since the past administrations. “It makes him no different from the regimes that preceded him,” Tapang added.

“If he can talk about Manny Pacquiao’s victory, how can he not talk about Leonard’s case?” Tapang said..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/11/16/one-year-and-still-no-justice-for-the-kanangga-3/

RP calls for meet on Spratlys, pits Asean vs China By Michaela P. del Callar 11/16/2011

RP calls for meet on Spratlys, pits Asean vs China

By Michaela P. del Callar 11/16/2011

BALI — The Philippines yesterday called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to hold an unprecedented meeting of China and other rival Asian claimants to South China Sea territories in a last-ditch diplomatic effort before considering launching a legal battle in the United Nations.

Frustrated by Asean’s failure to endorse a Philippine proposal aimed at untangling the overlapping claims over the Spratly Islands, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario challenged the 10-member bloc to rise “at a critical junction” and play a vital role in resolving the disputes, which have sparked armed conflicts in the past.

“Asean must play a decisive role at this time if it desires to realize its aspirations for global leadership,” Del Rosario said in a statement delivered by the Philippine delegation at the Asean ministerial meeting in Bali, Indonesia. The statement was simultaneously released in Manila..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111116hed3.html

Basis for 2012 budget ‘overstated’ — Miriam By Angie M. Rosales 11/16/2011

Basis for 2012 budget ‘overstated’ — Miriam

By Angie M. Rosales 11/16/2011

The Senate debate on Malacañang’s proposed P1.816-trillion 2012 budget, dubbed by Palace’ supporter in the Senate results-focused, kicked off yesterday with a senator saying the estimates on the economic performance are bloated that is expected to throw off revenue targets.

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago said the Aquino administration’s 2012 economic growth forecast of 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent was “grossly overstated.”

“It is not possible to hit that high, considering the debt crisis in Europe, budget crisis and economic weakness in the US, and the triple tragedy in Japan,” she said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111116hed4.html

Osmea insists $90-M govt loan to Ongpin firm behest By Angie M. Rosales 11/16/2011

Osmea insists $90-M govt loan to Ongpin firm behest

By Angie M. Rosales 11/16/2011

The recent denials of businessman Roberto V. Ongpin that the $90-million loan granted to one of his companies to buy Metro Rail Transit (MRT) securities in Dec. 2008 did not involve any undue influence from those in power during the previous administration defy logic and that unseen hands paved the way for the transactions to be realized, Sen. Sergio Osmea III  said yesterday.

For two government banks to do the same thing at the same time and break the same laws, there is only one explanation: there was an order from the top, said Osmea referring to the loan granted by the government-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) to offshore firm Global Air Services (GAS) despite the absence of a loan application and an alleged GAS capitalization of only $2.

It is inconceivable to think that several people in high places would rather put public interest to extreme prejudice instead of protect it, as they are expected and duty-bound to do. Conspiracy has raised the legal stakes for those involved and the ongoing Senate inquiry will plumb the dark depths of this transaction, he added..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111116hed6.html

Aquino gov’t gets flak for inaction on botanist’s murder 11/16/2011

Aquino gov’t gets flak for inaction on botanist’s murder

11/16/2011
The Aquino administration was severely criticized by friends and colleagues of scientist Leonard Co for what they called “the year of silence and inaction” by prosecutors on the botanist’s murder.

Co was killed along with his escorts Julius Borromeo and forest guard Sofronio Cortez by an Army unit in the area last year.

Supporters of the Justice for Leonard Co Movement went to the Department of Justice to reiterate calls to speed up the resolution of the case of the three who were murdered in Kananga, Leyte on Nov. 15, 2010.
“It angers us that already a year has passed and still not a single word or action can be felt from the Aquino administration,” said Dr. Giovanni Tapang, a convenor of the Leonard Co Movement..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20111116met5.html

Angry Mexicans almost lynched Filipino solons By Charlie V. Manalo 11/16/2011

Angry Mexicans almost lynched Filipino solons

By Charlie V. Manalo 11/16/2011

Members of the House of Representatives who watched the third fight between Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez at the ringside of the MGM Grand Garden Arena yesterday revealed they were almost lynched by angry Mexicans whom they engaged in partisan cheering at the height of the fight.

Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said he nearly came to blows with a Mexican had it not for former Negros Oriental Rep. Jacinto Paras who pacified him.

Evardone said Paras’ timely intervention saved them and other Filipinos from being lynched as Mexicans in the arena clearly outnumbered pro-Pacquiao audience at least 20 to 1.

According to Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing, the former Negros Oriental lawmaker quickly intervened when he saw a burly Mexican trying to get something from the bag of a female companion..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20111116met1.html

Win some, lose some as Pinoy bets charge on 11/16/2011

VETERAN ATHLETES LEAD WINNERS

Win some, lose some as Pinoy bets charge on

11/16/2011
PALEMBANG, Sumatra — Filipino athletes ignited a mini gold rush on Tuesday, collecting six precious mints in as many disciplines to mark a new beginning to their campaign in the 26th Southeast Asian Games.

Limited to just eight gold medals after three days, fencer Walbert Mendoza, bowler Frederick Ong, wrestler Jayson Balabal, 8-ball billiards\' emerging princess Iris Ranola and taekwondo jins Kirstie Elaine Alora and John Paul Lizardo injected new life to the country\'s bid that is now expected to speed up as favored sports are about to begin in the 11-day schedule.

Back to settle a score before finally closing a colorful stint in his sport, Mendoza reclaimed the title he lost to a Thai in the 2007 edition of the Games by beating Vietnam’s Than An, 15-14, at a West Java venue..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/sports/20111116spo1.html