Groups refute Aquino government’s claim of helplessness in curbing oil price hikes

Groups refute Aquino government’s claim of helplessness in curbing oil price hikes

In Congress there are 14 proposals and three resolutions calling for the review or scrapping altogether of the Oil Deregulation Law and Value-Added Tax on oil products.
Sidebar: Aquino’s VAT windfall, defense of oil firms’ ‘greed’ questioned
By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – After announcing that it would not increase pump prices during the week the nationally coordinated Peoples Protest against oil overpricing was held, oil companies went ahead with another price increase this week.

Price of petroleum products increased Tuesday by P.60 per liter of unleaded gas and P.70 ($0.02) per liter of gasoline and diesel. So far, it is the ninth round of oil price hike this year, despite massive unrest over the said hikes, noted the youth group Anakbayan in National Capital Region.

This week, different groups held protest actions in separate locations to lash out at the Aquino government’s “coddling of the oil cartel.” Last Monday, drivers’ group Piston and multi-sectoral alliance Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) picketed the offices of the energy department to pressure the government to curtail oil overpricing and act on oil price hikes.

Another transport group retraced the March 15 route of the Piston-led protest caravan, picketed the head offices of the big oil companies and aired the same calls shouted last March 15 about scrapping the Oil Deregulation Law and the Value-Added Tax on oil.

This Wednesday, as the Aquino government gave its provisional blessing for increasing transport fare by P0.50 ($0.01), youth groups and urban poor groups staged more protest actions against the oil price hike.

Members of urban poor group Kadamay marched to Mendiola Bridge (now Chino Roces Bridge) and urged President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to stop “noynoying” or doing nothing about price hikes.

“It is an outrage that Pres. Aquino chooses not to heed the clamor of poor Filipinos for relief from high prices of oil and basic commodities when more and more families are going hungry,” said Gabriela Women’s Partylist Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan.

The Gabriela solon criticized the Aquino government’s insistence on the continued implementation of its “Pantawid Pasada” transport subsidy program to jeepney drivers despite its marked failure. Rep. Ilagan pointed to the petitions for fare hikes as proof that Pantawid Pasada is a failure. “The fare hike petitions belie Malacañang’s claims that the transport subsidy program mitigates the impact of high prices of oil and petroleum products,” she said.

Aquino sleeping on calls to give people relief from oil overpricing

Contrary to what the officials and spokespersons of the Aquino government have been saying, they are not really without options in relieving the Filipino consumers of the increasingly high costs of oil products and its inflationary effects. In Congress there are 14 proposals and three resolutions calling for the review or scrapping altogether of the Oil Deregulation Law and Value-Added Tax on oil products..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/03/22/groups-refute-aquino-government%E2%80%99s-claim-of-helplessness-in-curbing-oil-price-hikes/

Is Pulse Asia liable? EDITORIAL Click to enlarge 03/22/2012

Is Pulse Asia liable?

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

03/22/2012
The ultimate trial by publicity tool are surveys that supposedly seek to determine the guilt or innocence of a person.

Yellow media splashed and gave prominence to the recent Pulse Asia survey that showed 47 percent of its 1,200 respondents purportedly saying that Corona was guilty.

A look at the results of the survey, however, showed that the results were not how it was made to look like in most pro-Aquino paper.
The result of the survey indeed showed 47 percent of the respondents saying that Corona is guilty but it was broken down to 33 percent entertaining doubts and saying that he was probably guilty while only 15 percent said he was definitely guilty.

The Pulse Asia result doesn’t even tally accurately as the probables and the definites add up to 48 percent..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120322com1.html

Labor groups slam Aquino’s ‘flawed’ computations in P125 wage hike

Labor groups slam Aquino’s ‘flawed’ computations in P125 wage hike

Even employers in other regions have reportedly told the House labor committee they can afford the said wage hike.
Sidebar: Malacañang told: Economy has enough profits to support wage hike
By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III could not be accused of ‘noynoying’ (doing nothing) by the country’s employers when it comes to blocking the legislation for a nationwide wage increase. Barely three days after the Congressional House Committee on Labor announced the likely approval of P125 ($2.91) wage hike bill (HB 375), Malacañang was already rejecting it. The Congressional Committee on Labor based its positive stance on the P125 ($2.91) wage hike proposal on the string of regional consultations it held in the past months.

In a press briefing yesterday, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III made some computations regarding the workers’ plea for a P125 across-the-board wage hike. He reportedly reached the conclusion that the P125 ($2.91) wage proposal is “not practicable.” Aquino was also quoted as saying the P125 wage hike is “too big” and “inflationary.”

But Aquino’s computation is “seriously flawed” and “stupid,” according to progressive labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU). Aquino’s computation used the total number of people in the labor force (38 million) as a multiplicand instead of only the wage and salary workers in the private sector (15.6 million). The P125 ($2.91) wage hike proposal will cover only the latter.

The labor group described Aquino’s “haste in upholding the interests of big foreign and local capitalists” as revolting and heartless. They also decried as “old tactic” this Malacañang portrayal of workers as overly or unreasonably demanding. “President Aquino merely brought the argument to the most absurd level so far,” Labog said, as he pointed to the bloated projection of Aquino’s “flawed” and “stupid” computations.

Independent think-tank Ibon Foundation had said an across the board wage increase multiplied by the actual number of wage earners in the private sector will only require P194.9 billion ($4.54 billion) a year, and not P1.6 trillion ($37.3 billion) as Aquino had warned.

P125 wage hike ok and practicable

Almost all Filipino labor groups, except for the government-backed Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), have been pressing the government to legislate the P125 ($2.91) nationwide wage hike bill, which has been pending in Congress for more than a decade now. The labor groups are also urging the government to padlock the regional wage boards, which they said are “inutile” based on their experience..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/03/22/labor-slams-aquino%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98flawed%E2%80%99-computations-in-rejecting-proposed-p125-wage-hike/

Month of March: 1,500 OWS protesters on the move in NY (w/ Photos)

Month of March: 1,500 OWS protesters on the move in NY

Over a thousand Occupy Wall Street protesters have gathered in NY’s Union Square late on Wednesday, activists say. This follows a violent crackdown on protesters earlier in the day which left one woman injured and at least one person arrested.

­The fresh OWS march started from Union Square, spilling into the streets of New York, which the city police were hurriedly trying to block. The Union Square subway station was also closed, organizers said in their live feed, in order to prevent more demonstrators joining the rally..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/ows-rally-new-york-163/

US reveals Iran petro penalty hit list after exempting allies

US reveals Iran petro penalty hit list after exempting allies

The US State Department has revealed the list of 12 countries which may be subjected to American financial sanctions for failing to cut oil imports from Iran.

The number of countries was mentioned earlier on Tuesday, as Washington announced a penalty waiver for Japan and 10 EU counties which complied with American demands and reduced their purchases. However, the names of the countries were not given..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/us-iran-sanctions-list-160/

Unidentified space object falls from the sky (VIDEO)

Unidentified space object falls from the sky (VIDEO)

A mysterious cylinder has fallen on a tiny village in Siberia, causing widespread speculation as to what it is.

­Russian media have identified it as a piece of space debris, while others say it is the fuel tank of a ballistic rocket..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/space-mystery-object-siberia-127/

Threat to life VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 03/22/2012

Threat to life

VIEWPOINTS

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

03/22/2012
Criminality as a matter of course. Killings left and right. Girls violated, murdered, thrown away. Bodies mutilated, blown away. Corpses placed in trunks, in sacks. Body parts found here and there. Fetuses left in toilets, garbage piles. Life is cheap. Living is dangerous. And life goes on as usual. There is nothing of the ordinary. Everything is OK. This is the standard lot of the ordinary Filipinos — men and women, boys and girls — under the present administration with all its investigative offices and police agencies, to point out a few.

But lo and behold! All of a sudden and from nowhere, someone alleges that his life is in imminent danger. He loudly claims that terrorists are out to kill him. And lo and behold again! With lightning speed and immediate resolve, those under the beneficial patronage of the man claiming a life threatening situation, readily and overwhelmingly came out with an extra-fast as well as extra-definitive resolution. This: The man should have a brand new and special car..... MORE
Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120322com7.html

Aquino says more US troops, drones welcome 03/22/2012

Aquino says more US troops, drones welcome

03/22/2012
The Philippines is allowing US drones to conduct reconnaissance flights over its territory but strikes from the unmanned planes are banned, President Aquino said.

Aquino added more US troops would be welcome to rotate through the Southeast Asian nation, but ruled out permanent bases.

Aquino told Agence France Presse in an interview that talks were under way for the longtime allies to hold more military training exercises in the Philippines, as well as increase the number of times that US Navy ships visited.

“We are talking with them. We will have more of the same, is what I am trying to say,” Aquino said, referring to a longstanding partnership that sees regular joint exercises and US port calls in the Philippines..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120322hea2.html

Jinggoy calls for apology on ‘45’ CJ properties 03/22/2012

Jinggoy calls for apology on ‘45’ CJ properties

03/22/2012
The prosecution panel appeared to have been furnished documents on alleged real estate properties of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona by the Land Registration Authority (LRA), including some that had already been “cancelled” by the agency and yet it proceeded in parading these to the public before actual impeachment trial proceedings could kick off.

The matter which senator-judges, are now fully aware of, wants this rectified publicly.

Senate President Jinggoy Estrada yesterday, in open court, put to task lead prosecutor, Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. to direct his team to correct what he claimed was a wrong impression given to the public.

“May I tell you, to advise your spokesmen to rectify the error and take back what they said in the media that indeed, the properties of Chief Justice Corona are not 45, because I think the damage has already been done. It was already instilled in the minds of the public, the minds of the people, or even in the minds of the court that Corona has 45 properties, when in fact, they are not 45. I am showing you a copy of this cancelled transfer certificates of title. Here it is, very big that says cancelled..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120322hea5.html

Planting of evidence rued vs Noy’s LRA man By Benjamin B. Pulta and Angie M. Rosales 03/22/2012

JUDGES CONDEMN PATTERN OF ABUSE BY PALACE HANDS

Planting of evidence rued vs Noy’s LRA man

By Benjamin B. Pulta and Angie M. Rosales 03/22/2012

A Palace-led conspiracy marked by “planting of evidence” and blatant abuse of functions by President Aquino’s men to smear Chief Justice Renato Corona earned more harsh condemnation from senator judges yesterday during the 33rd day of the impeachment trial.

Outspoken Senator-judge Miriam Defensor Santiago pulled no punches as she denounced Land Regis-tration Authority (LRA) administrator Eulalio Diaz III’s muddled admission that he had expanded the search of possible real estate holdings of Corona in a bid to beef up the house prosecution panel’s case against the embattled magistrate.

Diaz admitted the “computerized” search was limited to Metro Manila and not Batangas province from where Corona hails because they had hoped the the search would yield proof against Corona..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120322hea1.html

NPA rebs camp captured; firearms, explosives recovered 03/22/2012

NPA rebs camp captured; firearms, explosives recovered

03/22/2012
Another New People’s Army (NPA) encampment was captured while several high powered firearms and explosives were recovered after an intense firefight between government troops and communist rebels in Surigao del Sur province Tuesday, the military said yesterday.

Military Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) spokesman Col. Leopoldo Galon said that elements of the Army’s elite Scout Ranger, led by Capt. Joven Puyongan, clashed with more or less 20 fully-armed NPA rebels during a combat patrol operation in Barangay Lobo, Cantilan town at around 12:30 a.m.

Thereafter, troops seized the NPA encampment having 12 bunkers, said Galon..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120322nat3.html

Kidnappers want P4 million for 2 abducted Iligan teachers 03/22/2012

Kidnappers want P4 million for 2 abducted Iligan teachers

03/22/2012
The group responsible in the abduction of the two public school teachers in Iligan City on Monday has demanded P4 million for the safe release of the victims, a military official said yesterday.

Col. Daniel Lucero, commander of the Army’s 103rd Brigade and Task Force Makalintad, said that the P4 million ransom was contained in a letter left by the kidnap men after snatching Rene Somadang and Tino Sanchez along Barangay Rogongon in Iligan City.

Lucero said that authorities have already identified the group behind the kidnapping, describing them as “lawless elements” and “syndicated group.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120322nat2.html

EPD official linked to slay try on Tribune’s reporter By Rocky Nazareno 03/22/2012

EPD official linked to slay try on Tribune’s reporter

By Rocky Nazareno 03/22/2012

The Tribune reporter Fernan Angeles yesterday implicated a high-ranking Eastern Police District (EPD) official in his near-fatal shooting last March 11.

Angeles, in a painstakingly-written e-mail message he sent to media colleagues yesterday, recounted that “about 14 hours” before he was shot, he had sent a text message to EPD (deputy) director (Francisco) Manalo, “informing him of what I was told about another incident dragging the Pasig PNP and the EPD of a glaring involvement in the drug trade vis ‘arrest-seize drugs, sell liberty-re-sell seized drugs.’”

His text message to Manalo revealed that alleged Pasig drug lord Faisal Sangkopan had been arrested by Pasig PNP which also seized half a kilo of shabu (methampethamine hydrochloride), P850, two high-powered firearms, among other things..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120322met1.html