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Useful idiot’s autocratic mission DIE HARD III Herman Tiu Laurel 12/23/2011

Friday, December 23, 2011

Useful idiot’s autocratic mission

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
12/23/2011
BS Aquino III had wanted to impeach the Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice (CJ) as far back as January, our informant tells us. Now, even the Senate President faces an ouster plot by a Liberal Party that wants to consolidate its hold on the upper chamber, with the last phase of the plan getting the Vice- President “boiled” in the proverbial “hot water.”

Eight demonstrably lame charges were raised against the CJ, such as his alleged “biased” decisions — despite the fact that SC decisions are collectively arrived at. What is indisputable is that this CJ ouster move would allow BS Aquino and his cohorts to appoint one of their own to the top post, such as (alleged Machiavellian) Justice Antonio Carpio of “The Firm” or Ma. Lourdes Sereno, a demonstrably biased magistrate for the ruling powers.

Our source, very high up in politics, was told in a visit to Malacañang last January — long before the Palace and its previous occupant figured in a “hold departure” imbroglio — that the maximum goal was to oust nine more SC justices. Why would Malacañang want this if the problem, as it is being made to appear, is simply the CJ (along with perhaps two of his associates)?

It should be clear by now that there is a bigger agenda to this impeachment: The replacement of as many sitting justices with BS Aquino’s appointees. Hence, the goal is full control of the SC, with justices beholden and compliant to the Executive. After this, there will be full control of the Senate; and an autocracy without a vice- president would soon follow.

Who could have thought of this? Like many of us, my informant does not think that either BS Aquino or his lieutenant is bright enough to conceive of such a plan. We are, of course, no stranger to PeNoy’s fecklessness throughout his stints in the House and the Senate; in his election campaign; and, now, his know-nothing, do-nothing presidency.

It is apparent that Renato Corona was speaking with more than just propaganda (or even Hacienda Luisita) in mind when he accused BSA III of fomenting a “dictatorship” — though I think by the time the VP is immobilized, the term “autocracy” would be more accurate. So, who could be so skillfully coaxing PeNoy into this direction and why?

Knowing the history of authoritarianism (of both President Marcos and Cory Aquino), we can only conclude that it is no one else but the US State Department.

Marcos kept Ambassador Henry Byroade on martial law plans, even as he had the brains to plan and carry it out all by himself. Cory, meanwhile, had her “revolution” and “revolutionary government” thanks to the US. BSA III’s candidacy was also conceived and run for him by the same forces that backed his mother. Kristie Kenney, the US envoy at that time, even appeared on national TV saying, “I wear Yellow,” in the run-up to the polls.

Later on, as PeNoy was in his first few months in office, one of his executives kept asking one of the Yellow veterans this question: “Has the US Embassy talked to you?”

When the executive no longer sought him for guidance, this Yellow veteran (who remains anonymous for now upon his request) then asked him about this and was told that the Palace was already in close touch with the Embassy.

Yes, the US State Department does micro-manage, especially when it’s a matter of national security — like when it micro-managed the transition from Marcos to Cory with the frenzied trips of Philip Habib and Stephen Solarz, or the earlier “snap election” TV interview with Nightline host, etc.

Marcos planned martial law from 1966 to the moment it was declared in 1972. While BSA III didn’t plan his mother’s death or his run for the highest seat, he did “win” after a confounded automated election system, which coincidentally used US-based Dominion Voting Systems software that faced many issues in New York’s elections.

With the gamut of social and economic challenges left unaddressed, BSA III curiously gives priority to his government’s conflict with the SC, as well as a foiled Senate shake-up. Amid this faltering governance, US State Department officials, namely, Hillary Clinton, seem to be more concerned with buttressing PeNoy’s “machismo” exertions on the South China Sea and “upgrading” Philippine naval assets with “junk” Hamilton cutters.

Last Nov. 17, Barack Obama declared before the Australian Parliament that the US will now “shift from the war on terrorism to economic and security challenges in the Asia-Pacific region,” as he deployed 2,500 US Marines to that country. Indonesia warned that such a ove will only spark tension and mistrust, on top of “irritating” China. It was then no accident that President Hu Jin Tao called on the Chinese Navy weeks later to “prepare for combat.”

All this is happening under a simmering new “cold war,” with Russia on the European front and us in the Pacific theater.

On Dec. 12, the little gun-loving PeNoy addressed the new Armed Forces chief “to shift the military’s focus from defending the country from internal threats to defending it from external (ones), particularly intruders… since the government’s separate peace negotiations with communist rebels and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are moving forward.”

I have always wondered why communist leader JoMa Sison went to the Netherlands, and not Cuba or China, for exile; or why Ninoy coddled and Cory released him. Now, he is rumored to be coming home to sanctify another Aquino in order to cap off the political consolidation.

With the many rebellions supposedly ending, with the MILF soon happy with its territories (having permanent US bases), and with BSA III as their unifying leader, what could be the end game? Is it to unite the nation in a “holy war” against the intruder in the now dubbed West Philippine Sea; is it to nettle and consternate the enemy of the US while inviting devastation the way the Philippines did in World War II? Useful idiots all indeed!

(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino/Radyo OpinYon, Monday to Friday, 5 to 6 p.m. on 1098AM; Talk News TV with HTL, Saturday, 8:15 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on GNN, Destiny Cable Channel 8; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com for our articles plus TV and radio archives)
(Reprinted with permission from Mr. Herman Tiu-Laurel)

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111223com5.html

Indefinite detention and torture act arrives at White House

Indefinite detention and torture act arrives at White House


Legislation that will let President Obama and future leaders of America detain and torture Americans indefinitely has made it to the White House, where it is expected to be soon signed into law by the commander-in-chief.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, of NDAA FY2012, was overwhelmingly approved by the House and Senate earlier this month. While the legislation indeed had its critics, the act was inexplicably missed by the mainstream media, who neglected to inform Americans of the dangerous blows to constitutional rights that will become a reality under the law..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/torture-act-white-house-461/

Pentagon gets the go-ahead for offensive cyberwars

Pentagon gets the go-ahead for offensive cyberwars


Within the 680 pages of the Congress-approved National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 are a lot of provisions that the American public might be peeved over if they could comb through all the contents.


In addition of establishing the ability for the president to detain and torture his own citizens indefinitely is also a tiny clump of text which will provide for the commander-in-chief to, once and for all, legally attack the enemies of America over the Internet..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/

Syria blames Al Qaeda for Damascus suicide blasts (w/ Video)



Syria blames Al Qaeda for Damascus suicide blasts

Two suicide car bombs apparently aimed at state security facilities rocked the Syrian capital on Friday leaving at least 40 dead and 100 wounded. The government dubbed the attacks “terrorist operations with involvement by al-Qaeda.”

RT’s Sara Firth, who has just returned from Damascus, says reports suggest the attacks might have been launched by an increasingly well-armed section of the opposition­.

Syrian officials took the Arab League observer group to the scene of the explosions in order to demonstrate that the violence in the country is, as they see it, the work of organized terrorist groups..... MORE\

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/us-soldiers-suicide-combat-487/

US war woe: Suicide kills more soldiers than combat (w/ Video)



 US war woe: Suicide kills more soldiers than combat

When guns fall silent and ceasefires are agreed, wars live on in the minds of the men and women who fought them. And a killer still stalks them, more deadly than the enemies they once faced.

­Being in a conflict environment is killing US soldiers. But surprisingly, the biggest killers are not enemy combatants.

For the second year in row, more US soldiers killed themselves than were killed in combat. In 2010, 468 soldiers took their own lives, compared to 462 killed in fighting..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/us-soldiers-suicide-combat-487/

Urban poor slams Aquino veto of debt cap in 2012 budget

Urban poor slams Aquino veto of debt cap in 2012 budget


By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
The country’s urban poor have one more reason to consider President Benigno an enemy of the poor: he vetoed a provision inserted by the House of Representatives into the 2012 national budget that would have forced the government to put a limit on borrowing funds from foreign sources. The removed provision would also have placed more stringent boundaries on spending for infrastructure and other government projects.

In reports, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad announced that Aquino used his executive prerogative to veto the imposition of a ceiling on public sector indebtedness. Aquino removed the provision before he signed the 2012 budget law December 15.

The said provision reads, “the total indebtedness of the national government and any of its agencies, offices, GOCCs, which carry the sovereign guaranty of the Republic of the Philippines, shall not exceed 60 percent of the latest GDP (gross domestic product).”

It further stated that any borrowing in excess of the ceiling requires prior consent from Congress.

Next year’s budget assumed a fiscal deficit of P286 billion ($6.65 billion) or 2.6 percent of the GDP. This is lower than 2011′s fiscal gap target of P300 billion ($6.97 billion) or 3 percent of GDP.

Abad justified the veto by saying that the public sector debt as of 2010 already stood at 73.3 percent of GDP which is beyond the 60-percent debt cap provision. He also said that the government will continue to utilize unspent funds from the 2011 budget that were originally intended for infrastructure-related projects that did not push through because of various considerations.

A budget obedient to the World Bank’s neo-liberal policies Malacanang’s reasoning, however, did not cut any ice with the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay). The group’s secretary-general Gloria Arellano said Aquino’s veto of the borrowing and spending limit provision is “A sign of the Aquino administration’s blind obedience to the neo-liberal policies and its thrust to continue borrowing from the World Bank (WB) and other multileral finance institutions.”.... MORE

SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/12/21/urban-poor-slams-aquino-veto-of-debt-cap-in-2012-budget/

Defense dep’t admits AFP ‘constricting’ plan exists By Mario J. Mallari 12/23/2011

Defense dep’t admits AFP ‘constricting’ plan exists

By Mario J. Mallari 12/23/2011

The Department of National Defense yesterday admitted the existence of the Defense Planning Guidance (DPG) but clarified that such is not meant to “constrict” the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Instead, the DND said, it is designed to synchronize and integrate military operations down at the area command level.
Interviewed by The Tribune, DND spokesman Peter Paul Galvez stressed that the DPG remains a plan and is still being studied under the “collaborative efforts” of the DND and the AFP.

“This is for planning purposes, it’s still under assessment. These are not final, these are just plans depending on the security assessment,” Galvez told The Tribune..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111223hed2.html

Palparan surfaces, admits he’s in hiding, blasts DoJ 12/23/2011

Palparan surfaces, admits he’s in hiding, blasts DoJ

12/23/2011
Fugitive retired Gen. Jovito Palparan admitted yesterday that he was in hiding over a decision which he blamed on Justice Secretary Leila de Lima who Palparan claimed as being biased against him in connection with a twin abduction cases on which a warrant of arrest by Malolos Regional Trial Court (RTC) was issued against him.

In a message sent to a local radio, Palparan admitted that he was in hiding after the court ordered his arrest for kidnapping and illegal detention charges on two University of the Philippines students who until now have yet to surface.

“Yes, I am missing because she (De Lima) is messing up with my case,” Palparan said..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111223hed3.html

IBP execs don’t know the law—Noy By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan and Benjamin B. Pulta 12/23/2011

CJ’S SPOUSE CRIES FOUL OVER REVIVED HARASSMENT RAPS

IBP execs don’t know the law—Noy

By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan and Benjamin B. Pulta 12/23/2011
Rattled by the support the legal community, more specifically, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, for Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice (CJ) Renato Corona, President Aquino, through his confrontational spokesman, yesterday slammed the IBP and its executives, virtually saying that the members of the lawyers’ group are legal ignoramuses and that the spokesman, who is also a lawyer, is the expert, not only in legal matters, but also the expert in interpreting the Constitution.

At the same time, both Aquino and his alter ego in the Justice department appear to have conspired against the CJ and his spouse, by suddenly reviving a year and a half old complaint filed against her, while the propaganda machine of the House prosecutors went on overdrive, charging that the CJ has been putting the pressure on private lawyers to desist from helping the congressmen-prosecutors’ in their impeachment case against Corona..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111223hed1.html

Palace defends Hataman’s ARMM OIC appointment By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 12/23/2011

Palace defends Hataman’s ARMM OIC appointment

By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 12/23/2011

Malacañang on Thursday defended the appointment of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao officer-in-charge Mujiv Hataman and dismissed the position of election lawyer Romeo Macalintal that this cannot take effect because the Supreme Court (SC) has yet to come up with a final ruling on the suspension of the ARMM polls and the appointment of OICs.

In a press briefing, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the SC has already lifted the temporary restraining order (TRO) on the appointment of ARMM OICs and even Court Administrator Midas Marquez has declared that there is no more any legal obstacle on Hataman’s appointment..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20111223nat1.html

9 killed, scores hurt in vehicular mishaps By Gina Peralta-Elorde 12/23/2011

9 killed, scores hurt in vehicular mishaps

By Gina Peralta-Elorde 12/23/2011

At least nine people were killed while undetermined numbers were reported injured in two separate vehicular accidents in Antipolo City and C-5 Taguig yesterday, police reports said.

Eight were confirmed dead in Antipolo and undetermined numbers were wounded when a truck slammed into a row of houses along Barangay Mambugan in Sumulong Highway.

Report said the truck’s brake malfunctioned causing to slam on the houses and undetermined numbers of people were hit, most of them were children who were pinned under the truck..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20111223nat3.html

LRT, MRT will operate on Christmas Day 12/23/2011

LRT, MRT will operate on Christmas Day

12/23/2011
Patrons of the Light Rail Transit Authority can still avail themselves of the Light Rail Transit and Metro Rail Transit (LRT/MRT) systems on Christmas Day, the LRT administration said yesterday.

In a statement, LRTA spokesman Hernando Cabrera said both rail systems will operate on Christmas Day, a Sunday, using the regular weekend schedule.

“Merong LRT at MRT operation on Dec. 25. For LRT, regular weekend schedule ang ipatutupad sa Dec. 25,” Cabrera said on his Twitter account..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20111223met3.html

Solon asks gov’t to block planned hike in water rates

Solon asks gov’t to block planned hike in water rates

By Charlie V. Manalo 12/23/2011

Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy yesterday asked the government to block the planned hike in water rates that could provide a gloomy start for 2012.

Describing the water rate increase as both unconscionable and unjustified, Herrera-Dy said Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Water Corp. should not be allowed to “impose their will” on the public until they have justified the numerous unwarranted service adjustments in the past.

“We expect the two water concessionaires to cite contractual provisions to justify what appears to be an insatiable thirst for profit. But can we expect government, including the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, to cite moral and legal justifications to quench the water consumers’ thirst for fairness?” Herrera-Dy said in a statement as she stressed that public interest requires government to step into the controversy..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20111223met1.html

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