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Lawmakers, lawbreakers DIE HARD III Herman Tiu Laurel 06/11/2012

Monday, June 11, 2012

Lawmakers, lawbreakers

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
06/11/2012
The recent Corona impeachment and conviction displayed the situation our title highlights today: Lawmakers as lawbreakers. In a sense, that is the rule instead of the exception because those who make the laws have the power — the same power that allows them to break the laws they make with impunity.

The same thing happened in 2001 with Estrada’s impeachment and street mob ouster where the Philippine Establishment — from the oligarchs to the Church, to the “evil society,” all backed up by the US — ran roughshod over the Rule of Law to install the leader they wanted.

But make no mistake: The same also prevails in the international stage where the US violates with impunity the multifarious laws the West has written for the world through the UN. For instance, despite the many anti-terror statutes written into international law, it is common knowledge that the US is leading the supply of arms to anti-Assad terrorist rebels in Syria today.

Last week, lawyers Homobono Adaza and Alan Paguia, together with yours truly, filed a petition for “Certiorari and Prohibition with a Prayer for a TRO (temporary restraining order), writ of preliminary injunction” against the Congress and the Senate, as represented by their respective leaders, and an urgent motion for “oral arguments” on what we allege are violations of the Constitution and the Rule of Law in the conduct of the entire Corona impeachment and conviction process. When a few friends say that the petition is laughed at by some, I contend that it is because they are ignorant of its purpose.

On the morning of our filing, former congressman Teddy “Boy” Locsin on his radio program took a pessimistic view of our action. However, according to those who tuned in to his evening TV “editorial” just about 12 hours later, he had changed his position and agreed that the issues must be raised before the Supreme Court (SC), even if just for the benefit of “posterity.”

My personal experience in this has been the same as my opposition to Edsa II, where many old friends looked askance at me but four years later, after “Hello Garci,” turned around to say I was right.

In fact, some of my political friends from the Estrada camp today (like Rez Cortez) even ask me, “On whose side are you, Corona’s?” By answering that I am on the side of the Rule of Law, I hope that they’ve seen the very reason for my being an ally of Estrada.

When I was asked by another in the same group about the reactions to our petition from Senators Lacson, Drilon and Enrile, I merely cited the very proof that was presented before the Senate but which it had clearly disregarded — the testimony of Rep. Toby Tiangco showing how the House and its Speaker Sonny Belmonte ran roughshod over the Constitution and rules of verification to railroad the Articles of Impeachment; and why it was wrong for Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to have accepted it. But I don’t think these can be any worse than the non-action of the SC on a separate petition of ours last January — with colleague Rod Salandanan of Bataan and Raffy Tongco of Quezon City, represented by Paguia as counsel — questioning the severely infirmed and blatantly illegal Articles of Impeachment, plus five other petitions questioning the omissions and short cuts that had caused the grave injustice.

Enrile contradicts himself when he leads the conviction of his hapless victims then defends those victims by saying they committed no crime. If we are to go by the law, there should be a pursuit of all alleged guilty parties. But as Alan Paguia points out, the law and the matter of justice for the Filipino people in these cases of purported corruption and abuse of high government officials are merely made into chips in the horse trading of politics.

In the case of former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, for example, all corruption charges were immediately dropped in the wake of her resignation. You see: There should have been no compromise if she had been guilty; but, as all the politicians know, most of them are as guilty, if not more, than those they accuse.

I think Corona believes that those who have accused him are far worse than anything they can ever accuse him of, with his final act of exposition of all that he is a declaration of how much more honest he is. To this day, Corona’s major accusers, particularly Lacson and Drilon, still refuse to execute waivers for their bank accounts and other financial records.

The latest news is that senators allied with JPE got the biggest pork — a product perhaps of that last JPE meeting with Legarda et al. to convict Corona?

The Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) is a law inspired and lobbied for by the US, supposedly to track illegal and terrorist money. But guess what? The biggest illegal funds transacted globally involve the $500-billion annual drug money transfers that have the Philippines as one of the biggest sources. Even though we have no data on the Philippines yet, we can see how the West and the US banks break the global anti-money laundering regime, by reading “Western Banks, Immune, Enjoy Biggest Slice of Drug Money Profits” posted by The Agonist and “American Banks ‘High’ on Drug Money” about Martin Woods, an expert at “sniffing out dirty money passing through International Banking Systems.”

So, the US as the originator of the global anti-money laundering rules, is in reality the world’s chief violator. Thus, every law abiding citizen of the world today, without yet capturing power and supplanting the present plutocratic structure, can only expose the chicanery, fraud, hypocrisy and misanthropy; and hope the majority comprehensively imbibes the practice of the Rule of Law to lay the groundwork for a genuinely democratic culture and political structure.

(Tune in to 1098AM, dwAD, Sulo ng Pilipino/Radyo OpinYon, Monday-Wednesday-Friday, 5 to 6 p.m.; watch Destiny Cable GNN’s HTL edition of Talk News TV, Saturdays, 8:15 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11:15 p.m.; 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/20120611com5.html

Noy goes all in for Barack EDITORIAL Click to enlarge 06/11/2012

Noy goes all in for Barack

EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
06/11/2012
Noynoy is more than willing to become the United States government’s agent to facilitate its goal of reestablishing US military power and consequently strengthening its economic might in Asia Pacific, starting with efforts to gain wide access to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) which already has China as a working partner under the Asean plus three structure which is made up of the 10 Asean members and Korea, Japan and China.

The choice for Asia is logical since the region is the most economically dynamic corner of the world, particularly East Asia where growth is defying the overall global slowdown.

China, if it maintains its growth pace, is expected to threaten the stature of the United States as the only superpower in the world and the US is making sure that it will have its presented firmly planted in the region when that happens..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120611com1.html

Empty boasts FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 06/11/2012

Empty boasts

FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
06/11/2012
Noynoy keeps on boasting that he has brought change in the country in such a short time while using the conviction of ousted Chief Justice Renato Corona as an example, saying that he has reformed the judiciary this way.

Who is he kidding?

No changes have been brought about by Noynoy, despite his claims which are all propaganda. And reforms in the judiciary certainly hasn’t come about merely because a chief justice was convicted, especially since the entire trial was clearly political.

Worse, it was just as clear that in the case of the justice system, there can hardly be any reforms, since all of those being charged under his administration are his political foes, while his allies and cronies continue to be protected.

What cannot be denied is Noynoy’s vindictiveness and persecutorial nature and such can hardly be categorized as justice..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120611com2.html

Syrian rebels aim to use chemical weapons, blame Damascus – report

Syrian rebels aim to use chemical weapons, blame Damascus – report


The armed Syrian opposition has got their hands on chemical weapons, which they acquired from Libya, a media report claims. They allegedly plan to use it against civilians and pin the atrocity on the Bashar al-Assad regime.

­The report by DamPress claims the opposition group in possession of the weapons is being trained in its use inside Turkey. No further detail on the alleged conspiracy is given.

The Libyan stockpile of chemical weapons was a matter of great concern during last year’s civil war in the country. There were fears that they may end up in the hands of the terrorists and used elsewhere in the world. However unlike Libya’s portable surface-to-air arsenal, no reports of the weapons going missing was made public..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/syria-chemical-weapons-plot-532/

USA uses sex to control the world

USA uses sex to control the world

Ever since the end of World War 2, America has controlled the world using three tools-manipulations, sex and money.  These three factors have been responsible for the continual dominance of the American society above other societies across the world.

Interview between Chamakhe Maurieni, Moroccan-born writer and researcher*, and Lisa Karpova, PRAVDA.Ru

CM: I have come across articles, TV interviews, radio interviews, Internet videos and documentaries which talk about a banking order, a so-called Illuminati and other funny suggestions as being responsible for America's dominance of the world.  All of these are false..... MORE

SourcePravda.ru

URL: http://english.pravda.ru/society/sex/28-05-2012/121250-usa_sex_control-0/

Muslim slavery in the center of Europe


Several days ago, the world was shocked with the news from Europe. A family couple from Bosnia and Herzegovina had been keeping a young German woman as their slave for eight years. The victim of family violence is now 19 years of age.

The Bosnian couple - Milenko Marinkovic, 52, and his wife Slavojka Marinkovic, 45, - were torturing and starving an underage girl, whose name was Karla. The girl would be raped by other men on a regular basis.

It was the couple's neighbors, who called the police. One of them said that he saw Marinkovic harnessing the girl to a cart and whipping her, as if she was a horse. The couple made the German woman come into unnatural relations with dogs - just out of sadism, Austrian portal unzensuriert.at said. The victim was kept indoors. The woman was not allowed to communicate with other people at all. She had to eat the fodder that her masters would give to their pigs..... MORE

SourcePravda.ru

URL: http://english.pravda.ru/society/stories/30-05-2012/121267-muslim_slavery_europe-0/

‘Jasmin’ living example of the need to amend anti-rape law — Gabriela

‘Jasmin’ living example of the need to amend anti-rape law — Gabriela

“…it is our role as legislators to make sure that when victims turn to our legal system for redress, justice can and will be served in the fastest, least traumatic and least humiliating manner possible.” – Rep. Luz Ilagan, Gabriela Women’s Party
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – As ”Jasmin” and her mother pursue justice here in Manila, Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) said the accused, Pantabangan Vice Mayor Romeo Borja Jr., is using all means at his disposal to discredit the victim.

“The violence committed against Jasmin (not her real name) clearly shows why amendments on the present anit-rape law should be pushed,” Gabriela Rep. Emmi de Jesus said in a protest action in front of the Department of Justice on June 5, 2012.

Jasmin accused Borja of repeatedly raping her for six times since June 2011 when she was only 17 years old. She added that the official threatened to kill her and her family if she refused to give in to him. The victim is about to give birth to Borja’s child sometime this week or next week.

In a statement, Gabriela said Borja “had gone on a media spree and circulated text and audio communications between him and Jasmin allegedly proving that they had a consensual relationship. He also organized a rally in Pantabangan on May 9, 2012 to explain his side.”

De Jesus said Gabriela Women’s Party filed House Bill 6170 seeking to amend the Anti-Rape Law of 1997. “The amendments that GWP pushed included the redefinition of the term rape, the enumeration of circumstances where there is a presumption of lack of consent, the inclusion of cases where there is non-penile penetration, the repealing of Articles 266-C and 266-D and the specification of aggravating circumstances,” the lawmaker said.

“The moves of the Vice Mayor show how he can use his power to defend himself and to discredit Jasmin,” Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan said, “This is a tactic used to warn his other victims to continue their silence because he is capable of discrediting them with the means at his disposal. There are many victims who are forced to submit to the perpetrator who is a person of authority.”.... MORE

SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/06/09/%E2%80%98jasmin%E2%80%99-living-example-of-the-need-to-amend-anti-rape-law-gabriela/

Valte is a flibbertigibbet! CROSSROADS Jonathan De la Cruz 06/11/2012

Valte is a flibbertigibbet!

CROSSROADS
Jonathan De la Cruz
06/11/2012
An old respected teacher of mine who read my column “Syndicated hypocrisy” last Monday, June 4, wrote me a note advising that indeed it is the height of hypocrisy for administration officials, especially those within P-Noy’s inner circle to suddenly develop amnesia and start issuing out all kinds of excuses to shield them from the growing clamor for proper and responsible ‘”transparency and accountability” in public service. No less than P-Noy himself has been asked to abide by his campaign pledge to disclose his assets and issue an unconditional waiver for the Ombudsman and related agencies to look into his bank accounts.

“This volte face, “my teacher insisted, “is not only in complete disregard of P-Noy’s daang matuwid platform but a shameful demonstration of the administration’s tendency to flip flop on matters of critical concerns. It is disheartening and certainly does not augur well for the “new beginnings” which P-Noy and his crew have been trumpeting since day one of this administration.

A gentleman of the old school who has spent most of his years in the academe is especially critical of P-Noy’s spokesmen who have been issuing all kinds of excuses and half baked statements not only about this latest turn around but on such subjects as the imminent increase in power rates as well as the “sin tax” bill..... MORE
SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120611com4.html

Soniega, Palace insider, seeks to silence Cruz 06/11/2012

LLAMAS LINK TO JUETENG PAYOLAS?

Soniega, Palace insider, seeks to silence Cruz

06/11/2012

The illegal numbers game jueteng is very much alive and kicking under the Aquino administration and a close ally of President Aquino was confirmed to be behind efforts to convince outspoken Church leader Archbishop Oscar Cruz who is at the same time an anti-jueteng crusader to back down from attacking the lucrative trade.

Cruz revealed recently through the website of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) an attempt to stop him from linking President Aquino to the flourishing jueteng operations under his administration naming a certain “Zuñiga” as having sent feelers through jueteng whistleblower Sandra Cam, who is a friend of Cruz, to convince him to “go easy on Aquino.”

Zuñiga was supposedly an emissary of Aquino’s political adviser Ronald Llamas who denied having a member of his staff with that surname..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120611hea1.html

Dellosa claims revved up RP-US ties not aimed at China By Mario J. Mallari 06/11/2012

Dellosa claims revved up RP-US ties not aimed at China

By Mario J. Mallari 06/11/2012

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) maintained yesterday that US President Barrack Obama’s vow of enhanced defense ties with the Philippines should not raise any concern from China despite an ongoing standoff between Beijing and Manila at the disputed Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea which is what the Aquino administration prefer to call the South China Sea.

AFP chief of staff Gen. Jessie Dellosa said that the Obama’s pronouncements, supporting the Philippines’ defense capability upgrade, was discussed during the two-day visit of his US counterpart, Gen. Martin Dempsey, even before President Aquino had his official visit to the US last week.

“Actually, this should not raise concern from China, this is not intended for China. We really have the Mutual Defense Treaty with the US, and that is what we are holding,” Dellosa said..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120611hea4.html

Frustration dominates after Pacman’s controversial loss By Mario J. Mallari and Gerry Baldo 06/11/2012

Frustration dominates after Pacman’s controversial loss

By Mario J. Mallari and Gerry Baldo 06/11/2012
A mix of disappointment and outrage dominated the reaction of those who witnessed Filipino boxing icon Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao suffer his first setback in seven years at the hands of American Timothy Bradley Jr., which led some to draw a parallel to the close defeat of American idol finalist Filipino-American Jessica Sanchez.

Troops from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday were disappointed by the split decision awarded by the judges to Pacquiao, a lieutenant colonel in the Army’s reserve force.

AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Jessie Dellosa, who led the live free viewing of the fight at the AFP Gymnasium in Camp Aguinaldo, noted the frustration in the troops’ faces after the announcement came that two of the three judges scored the bout 115-113 for Bradley..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120611hea2.html

Pangasinan passes laws against smuggled meat By Benjamin B. Pulta 06/11/2012

Pangasinan passes laws against smuggled meat

By Benjamin B. Pulta 06/11/2012
With the continued failure of the Bureau of Customs (BoC) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) to curb rampant smuggling of agricultural products, local government units in Pangasinan have initiated local laws to protect their citizens from the unabated dumping of smuggled meat.

Officials of Urdaneta City, Pangasinan will consider this week the adoption of Resolution 156-2012 seeking “to ban the sale of all imported frozen mean within the territorial jurisdiction of Urdaneta City.”

The proposed measure stressed that “the sale of frozen meat in the markets of Urdaneta City results in several diseases and infections among the consumers because of the frequent brownouts” that foster the multiplication of bacteria..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120611nat2.html

SC asked to probe its Third Division’s irregular decision By Benjamin B. Pulta 06/11/2012

SC asked to probe its Third Division’s irregular decision

By Benjamin B. Pulta 06/11/2012

Officials of the Supreme Court (SC) have been asked to investigate the “undue haste and irregularity” in the handing down of a decision by the tribunal’s Third Division four years ago that affirmed the labor arbiter’s award of P60 million in compensation to a foreigner who had no alien employment visa to work legally in the country.

The plea was contained in letters sent by Eulalio Ganzon of E. Ganzon Inc. (EGI) to Justice Antonio Carpio, now acting chief justice, and to Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. who took over the chairmanship of the SC’s third division long after the decision was handed down in 2009.

Ganzon earlier had filed a motion to reconsider the SC’s Third Division resolution that denied his and his companies second motion for reconsideration and pleaded that the case be elevated to the full court..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120611met1.html

A ‘highway robbery,’ says Lim of Pacquiao’s loss to Timothy Bradley Pat C. Santos 06/11/2012

A ‘highway robbery,’ says Lim of Pacquiao’s loss to Timothy Bradley

Pat C. Santos 06/11/2012
“Highway robbery.”
This was how Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim described the loss of Sarangani Rep. and Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao to Timothy Bradley Jr. during their fight yesterday.

Lim was among those who came out of the San Andres Sports Complex highly disappointed over the decision which declared Bradley as the new WBO welterweight champion, stressing how Pacquiao clearly landed his punches on Bradley.

The mayor made the rounds of the city’s various sports complexes yesterday morning to monitor the measures in place for the orderly and peaceful free exhibition of the much-awaited fight..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120611met4.html

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