Malacañang: Ampatuans’ LP endorsement debt payment By Angie M. Rosales 04/22/2010

Malacañang: Ampatuans’ LP endorsement debt payment

By Angie M. Rosales 04/22/2010 Malacañang took Maguindanao massacre suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr.’s and the entire Ampatuan clan’s endorsement for the candidacy of Liberal Party (LP) presidential tandem Sen. Noynoy Aquino and Sen. Manuel Roxas as payment for a debt of gratitude the clan owes late President Corazon Aquino who Palace officials said was responsible for the Ampatuans rise into political power in Maguindanao. President Arroyo’s men said they respect the Ampatuans’ decision to openly express their support for Aquino’s presidential bid as it was everybody’s right to do so.  However, they said they would not condone how detained Andal Jr. was able to hold a formal press conference inside the supposedly maximum-security penitentiary. The Liberal Party (LP), nevertheless, accused Nacionalista Party (NP) vice presidential candidate, Sen. Loren Legarda, of being behind what it called as a fake “endorsement” of Ampatuan Jr. .... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100422hed5.html

HEADLINES Bangit, service chiefs take up junta issue Erap campaign surges as election day nears Reveal favored bets, Lakas dares pollsters 21 Pinoy seamen snatched Malacañang: Ampatuans’ LP endorsement debt payment Dominant majority-minority status in limbo with SC TRO

Evil comes disguised as ‘Good’ EDITORIAL 04/22/2010

Evil comes disguised as ‘Good’

EDITORIAL Click to enlarge 04/22/2010 Underhand are the ways of Liberal Party standard bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, as well as the LP itself. He holds clandestine meetings with active and retired Philippine Military Academy (PMA) officers, then claims that he met with them separately to find out what their role and response would be, in the event of a failure of elections and electoral fraud in May. He justified his talks with these PMAyers as being part of his status as a public servant, and that the military officers are part of the public he serves. Even granting that these military officers are part of the public he serves, what does this “serving” have to do with meeting them separately and finding out what the role and response of these same officers would be, should poll failure and electoral fraud occur?... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100422com1.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Evil comes disguised as ‘Good’ FRONTLINE Underhanded focus Kyrgyz Islamists eye chaos with eager eyes SILVER LINING Moral choices BLURBAL THRUSTS Take care of the Earth; it’s the only one we’ve got COMMENT Like lolo like father like son? VIEWPOINTS Election. Deception. Execution

Underhanded FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 04/22/2010

Underhanded

FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 04/22/2010 When Andal Ampatuan Jr., the prime suspect in the Maguindanao massacre wore an orange band, the yellow media were quick to spot that and portrayed it negatively as an Ampatuan endorsement of the Nacionalista bet, Manny Villar, and just as quickly featured a comment made by Esmael Mangudadatu that Villar’s wife had met with Andal Sr. in Davao seeking the Ampatuan’s endorsement. Even more quickly, there went Noynoy Aquino and his spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, tying up the Ampatuan endorsement of Villar his being Gloria Arroyo’s secret anointed. But a few days later, there went Andal Jr., at a press conference in jail, wearing a yellow shirt and yellow band, stating that the Ampatuan family had made a decision to endorse and support the candidacy of Noynoy Aquino.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100422com2.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Evil comes disguised as ‘Good’ FRONTLINE Underhanded focus Kyrgyz Islamists eye chaos with eager eyes SILVER LINING Moral choices BLURBAL THRUSTS Take care of the Earth; it’s the only one we’ve got COMMENT Like lolo like father like son? VIEWPOINTS Election. Deception. Execution

Kyrgyz Islamists eye chaos with eager eyes focus 04/22/2010

Kyrgyz Islamists eye chaos with eager eyes

focus 04/22/2010 KARA-SUU — Lazily fingering a string of prayer beads outside a mosque in southern Kyrgyzstan, Ayubkhan smiles when asked about the violence which wracked his country earlier this month. A member of Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, he said he had no doubt of what the violent images flashing across his television screen meant for him and for his group’s vision of a pan-Central Asian Islamic caliphate. “I thought to myself: so, it has begun,” he said. Amid the power vacuum which has followed the violence Hizb ut-Tahrir, effectively banned in Kyrgyzstan and most Central Asian countries, is waiting to reap the long-term benefits the turbulence will bring to its cause.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100422com3.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Evil comes disguised as ‘Good’ FRONTLINE Underhanded focus Kyrgyz Islamists eye chaos with eager eyes SILVER LINING Moral choices BLURBAL THRUSTS Take care of the Earth; it’s the only one we’ve got COMMENT Like lolo like father like son? VIEWPOINTS Election. Deception. Execution

Moral choices SILVER LINING Dean Ernest Maceda 04/22/2010

Moral choices

SILVER LINING Dean Ernest Maceda 04/22/2010 At the Nuremberg and Tokyo War Crimes Trials at the end of World War II, lesser lieutenants employed the defense that “I was only following legal orders” to profess their innocence. As we know, this defense was repudiated by the International Military Tribunals for as long as a moral choice was, in fact, available to the individual. Of course, the International Military Tribunals were established to try and punish the major war criminals from the Axis countries. The situation demanded prompt, resolute action. The judges from the Allied countries did not have the luxury to assess the individual levels of complicity of the accused subordinates and to make distinctions. The situation is different in the electoral politics context. Politics is also war — even the most cursory look into strategies and tactics involved in candidates’ campaigns will yield parallels with the best of Von Clausewitz and Sun Tzu. It is even less honorable than war (have you been able to wipe off the LP-NP mud from your eyes?). And there are no laws of politics as there are laws of war. There is no tribunal but your own conscience to remind you about moral choices. And in the end, the only judgment is the people’s vote.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100422com4.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Evil comes disguised as ‘Good’ FRONTLINE Underhanded focus Kyrgyz Islamists eye chaos with eager eyes SILVER LINING Moral choices BLURBAL THRUSTS Take care of the Earth; it’s the only one we’ve got COMMENT Like lolo like father like son? VIEWPOINTS Election. Deception. Execution

Take care of the Earth; it’s the only one we’ve got BLURBAL THRUSTS Louie Logarta 04/22/2010

Take care of the Earth; it’s the only one we’ve got

BLURBAL THRUSTS Louie Logarta 04/22/2010 Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., the principal suspect in the Maguindanao Massacre that claimed at least 57 innocent lives last Nov. 23, 2009, has made his political preferences in the fast approaching polls known to all and sundry. When he was transferred last week from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) jail to the Philippine National Police’s maximum security facility in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, Ampatuan was espied by mediamen, who were assigned to cover the event, to be wearing two rubber wristbands colored purple and orange bearing the names of certain candidates that had been embossed on them. Curious, a television reporter called out to an unmanacled Ampatuan, who was freely moving about awaiting the processing of his papers, from outside the iron-barred reception office of the detention center to get a closer look at the attractive ornaments.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100422com5.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Evil comes disguised as ‘Good’ FRONTLINE Underhanded focus Kyrgyz Islamists eye chaos with eager eyes SILVER LINING Moral choices BLURBAL THRUSTS Take care of the Earth; it’s the only one we’ve got COMMENT Like lolo like father like son? VIEWPOINTS Election. Deception. Execution

Like lolo like father like son? By Ronald Roy COMMENT 04/22/2010

Like lolo like father like son?

By Ronald Roy COMMENT 04/22/2010 In a way, I feel sorry for Noynoy. He looks like a little boy suddenly thrust in the man-size war zone of politics. Egged on by opportunists, misguided clerics, arrogant elitists, and lately the meddlesome Time Magazine, he now basks in the vanishing afterglow of Edsa l, proclaiming a right to the presidency on the basis of family relations. He would have us vote him for president because he is the son of Ninoy the slain martyr and Cory the revered saint, the grandson of a public servant named Benigno Aquino Sr., the brother of famous TV host Kris and the brother-in-law of basketball superstar James Yap. Unfortunately, Noynoy has nothing much to show for himself except as an alleged participant in the massacre of farmers in the family-owned Hacienda Luisita and the owner of a sub-standard legislative record. The scary part is he now threatens to hose down a nation on fire. But for the fact that Noynoy seriously exalts his lineage as the underpinning of his quest for the presidency, I would hate to rake up the past of dead people. However, we now stand in the electoral doorway to freedom, and it would be rank treason if I chose not to uphold the truth that is supposed to set us free..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100422com6.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Evil comes disguised as ‘Good’ FRONTLINE Underhanded focus Kyrgyz Islamists eye chaos with eager eyes SILVER LINING Moral choices BLURBAL THRUSTS Take care of the Earth; it’s the only one we’ve got COMMENT Like lolo like father like son? VIEWPOINTS Election. Deception. Execution

Election. Deception. Execution. VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 04/22/2010

Election. Deception. Execution.

VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 04/22/2010 It is meant to be an eminent expression of the sovereignty of the people in a republican democracy. But now, in effect it means their subservience and subjugation. It is supposed to be a much welcomed blessing for the change and renewal of their government. This is Philippines election. And the same event now stands for much uncertainly and reservation, for a good number of worries and fear, precisely on the part of the electorate. It is on record that the nearer the forthcoming national elections are, the more public disorder and social disturbance come to fore therewith. The administration is shunned as an incurable disease, being even abandoned as a rotting sinking ship. The opposition is made synonymous to gutter politics. Meantime, the people are still praying and hoping for peace and order — although all realities and signs are precisely saying violence and disturbance.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100422com7.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Evil comes disguised as ‘Good’ FRONTLINE Underhanded focus Kyrgyz Islamists eye chaos with eager eyes SILVER LINING Moral choices BLURBAL THRUSTS Take care of the Earth; it’s the only one we’ve got COMMENT Like lolo like father like son? VIEWPOINTS Election. Deception. Execution

Noynoy in clandestine talks with PMAyers; AFP denies meet By Mario J. Mallari 04/21/2010

Noynoy in clandestine talks with PMAyers; AFP denies meet

By Mario J. Mallari 04/21/2010 Liberal Party standard bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino confirmed he has been holding several separate meetings with various classes of Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and its officers on the probability of a failure of elections and electoral fraud, and what kind of role these elite military officers will be playing. Aquino, in a statement issued to the media, confirmed that indeed he met with various classes, said to be Class 1977 and younger, but the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) denied that there were such meetings held with Aquino. But even as the AFP officers denied that such meetings were held with Aquino, military Chief of Staff Gen. Delfin Bangit yesterday admitted there are ongoing investigations of the supposed meetings and consultations between the LP standard-bearer and some active military officials.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100421hed2.html

HEADLINES GMA to appoint CJ—SC Noynoy in clandestine talks with PMAyers; AFP denies meet Palace denies greasing Lakas-Kampi congressmen Ampatuans to support Noynoy, says Andal Jr. Dropping of massacre raps prelude to fraud, says Erap High court issues status quo ante on NP-NPC merger

Dropping of massacre raps prelude to fraud, says Erap By Charlie V. Manalo 04/21/2010

Dropping of massacre raps prelude to fraud, says Erap

By Charlie V. Manalo 04/21/2010 TAGAYTAY CITY, Cavite — Former President and Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) standard bearer Joseph “Erap” Estrada said yesterday he has reasons to believe the release of the Ampatuans, primary suspects in the infamous Maguindano massacre, have something to do with the forthcoming elections as the Ampatuan patriarch had once been involved in the Hello Garci scandal in 2004 that proved massive cheating which gave President Arroyo a fresh six year term. In an interview, Estrada said indications are strong the administration might be using the Ampatuans to execute massive cheating in the May 10 polls aside from silencing them from spilling the beans on the Hello Garci scandal wherein President Arroyo was caught on tape talking to a Commission on Elections com-missioner inquiring on the status of her votes in Maguindanao. Re-electionist Sen. Jinggoy Estrada also directly accused his former Ateneo classmate Justice Secretary Alberto Agra of blindly following an order from Malacañang and allowing himself to be used as a “willing tool of the administration” in repaying its political gratitude to the powerful Ampatuan clan. “While I know Secretary Agra personally because we used to attend the same school, I cannot in conscience agree with what he just did. I feel sorry for him because he allowed himself to be used as a tool by the administration in repaying a debt which was not his,” Estrada said..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100421hed5.html

HEADLINES GMA to appoint CJ—SC Noynoy in clandestine talks with PMAyers; AFP denies meet Palace denies greasing Lakas-Kampi congressmen Ampatuans to support Noynoy, says Andal Jr. Dropping of massacre raps prelude to fraud, says Erap High court issues status quo ante on NP-NPC merger

Ampatuans to support Noynoy, says Andal Jr. By Angie M. Rosales 04/21/2010

Ampatuans to support Noynoy, says Andal Jr.

By Angie M. Rosales 04/21/2010 Main Maguindanao massacre suspect Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. had a change of heart yesterday, saying he now supports the presidential bid of Liberal Party (LP) bet Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, and this is a family decision, a few days after he declared that he will vote for NP standard bearer Manuel Villar Jr. Ampatuan Jr. stated his endorsement for Aquino at the same time that he insisted he was innocent of the multiple murder cases at a bizarre jailhouse press conference. Ampatuan, wearing a yellow prison T-shirt but was not cuffed, was relaxed and smiled as he gave his most expansive comments to the media since being arrested last year for the slaughter of 57 people.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100421hed4.html

HEADLINES GMA to appoint CJ—SC Noynoy in clandestine talks with PMAyers; AFP denies meet Palace denies greasing Lakas-Kampi congressmen Ampatuans to support Noynoy, says Andal Jr. Dropping of massacre raps prelude to fraud, says Erap High court issues status quo ante on NP-NPC merger

Birds of same feather EDITORIAL 04/21/2010

Birds of same feather

EDITORIAL Click to enlarge 04/21/2010 Joey Salceda, Albay governor who defected to the Liberal Party (LP) a few days ago, won’t be able to live down his “no palabra de honor” reputation. He may not know it, but he has lost more than what he believes he gained by joining the LP and pledging his loyalty and support to Noynoy Aquino. Not even when he claims he turned his back on Gloria Arroyo and Lakas for “love of country” will repair the damage done to his reputation. What his jumping over the LP fence is seen, by most, is hardly love for country, but political opportunism, because he believes it will be Noynoy and Mar who will be in Malacañang in June, and he expects to be with what he believes is the “winning side” and thus, still be in power and position under a new regime.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100421com1.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Birds of same feather FRONTLINE Setting the stage for a yellow coup focus Pacific fight against AIDS hampered by shame, ignorance HE SAYS Time’s up. Almost SHE SAYS Election nearing (again) FEATURE Pope says he leads a ‘wounded and sinner’ church FEATURE Fight al-Qaeda with satire, ridicule — researchers

Setting the stage for a yellow coup FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 04/21/2010

Setting the stage for a yellow coup

FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 04/21/2010 he Supreme Court (SC) has ruled with finality. Gloria Arroyo can appoint the next Chief Justice (CJ), and the Judicial and Bar Council will have to submit a list to her, as ordered by the high court, within this time up till May 17, 2010. So what do Noynoy and his yellows do now? Refuse to recognize the decision of the majority of the high court justices and refuse too, to recognize the Gloria-appointed CJ? Stage a street protest to oust the new CJ? Fire the CJ and all the other justices who will recognize the next CJ? Have the CJ impeached because, as claimed by Noynoy and his yellows, the high court erred in granting Gloria the power to appoint the next CJ? Noynoy and the yellows are now looking like fools, since none of these threats they issued earlier can be applied. They look foolish because, in the first place, the frigging yellows and their bet haven’t even won the presidential race for Noynoy to even threaten not to recognize the Gloria-appointed CJ. Neither does he have the power to fire any of them, nor for that matter, threaten impeachment.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100421com2.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Birds of same feather FRONTLINE Setting the stage for a yellow coup focus Pacific fight against AIDS hampered by shame, ignorance HE SAYS Time’s up. Almost SHE SAYS Election nearing (again) FEATURE Pope says he leads a ‘wounded and sinner’ church FEATURE Fight al-Qaeda with satire, ridicule — researchers

Pacific fight against AIDS hampered by shame, ignorance focus 04/21/2010

Pacific fight against AIDS hampered by shame, ignorance

focus 04/21/2010 MAJURO — In the staunchly Christian Pacific islands, the battle to combat HIV/AIDS is struggling to overcome shame surrounding the disease, which results in many patients being ostracized by their families. An AIDS conference bringing together representatives from US-affiliated Pacific island nations and territories in the Marshall Islands capital of Majuro last week heard of the discrimination faced by those living with HIV/AIDS. “People think everyone with HIV is a sinner and that God will not forgive them,” said Cathy Samuel from the atoll of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia. Samuel’s family was forced to move to another island to get away from what she described as the “embarrassment” of having a family member who died from AIDS. Another woman from Chuuk, who did not want to be named, said she was forced to move to Guam when her husband died after infecting her with HIV.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100421com3.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Birds of same feather FRONTLINE Setting the stage for a yellow coup focus Pacific fight against AIDS hampered by shame, ignorance HE SAYS Time’s up. Almost SHE SAYS Election nearing (again) FEATURE Pope says he leads a ‘wounded and sinner’ church FEATURE Fight al-Qaeda with satire, ridicule — researchers

Time’s up. Almost HE SAYS Aldrin Cardon 04/21/2010

Time’s up. Almost

HE SAYS Aldrin Cardon 04/21/2010 We’re almost in the homestretch, and anomie, that feeling of anxiety and isolation, is fast catching up on some candidates, whose campaign did not catch fire or whose pitches have been razed to the ground along the way. The next few days before the May 10 exercise would reveal much of some candidates’ personalities, through exposures of their lies and deceit, either by design or accident, that bandwagons may crumble and personal idolatries may wane. Philippine electoral history, however, would prove right that money would still play a big part in this process of selection, with local support hinging on how much a candidate may have promised or given, proof that we have yet to reach political maturity on which most democracies lean.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100421com4.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Birds of same feather FRONTLINE Setting the stage for a yellow coup focus Pacific fight against AIDS hampered by shame, ignorance HE SAYS Time’s up. Almost SHE SAYS Election nearing (again) FEATURE Pope says he leads a ‘wounded and sinner’ church FEATURE Fight al-Qaeda with satire, ridicule — researchers

Election nearing (again) SHE SAYS Dinah S. Ventura 04/21/2010

Election nearing (again)

SHE SAYS Dinah S. Ventura 04/21/2010 As the days pass too quickly for comfort, the election hubbub rises and the resounding echo seems to be that a failure of elections is “highly” possible. Administration Sen. Edgardo Angara warned last Friday that “there’s a 70 percent chance that elections will fail” come May 10. In a recent newspaper report, he told the press that this scenario was “possible given the Commission on Elections’ admission that there was a 30 to 40 percent chance it would revert to manual elections, and that would disenfranchise many voters.” If such a case happens, Angara added that “a military-instigated power grab could ensue, which could result in a widespread chaos…,” the April 17 article said. The senator pointed out the country’s general lack of readiness for automated polls, as well as the power interruptions in key areas in the Philippines.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100421com5.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Birds of same feather FRONTLINE Setting the stage for a yellow coup focus Pacific fight against AIDS hampered by shame, ignorance HE SAYS Time’s up. Almost SHE SAYS Election nearing (again) FEATURE Pope says he leads a ‘wounded and sinner’ church FEATURE Fight al-Qaeda with satire, ridicule — researchers

Pope says he leads a ‘wounded and sinner’ church FEATURE 04/21/2010

Pope says he leads a ‘wounded and sinner’ church

FEATURE 04/21/2010 VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI admitted to world cardinals that he led a “wounded and sinner” Church, as he marked five tumultuous years in charge, most recently mired in pedophile priest scandals. The pontiff “evoked the sins of the Church,” describing it as “wounded and sinner” to some 50 cardinals gathered for his anniversary, the Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano said Monday. He “feels very strongly that he is not alone,” the paper reported the pontiff as saying, he “has at his sides the whole college of cardinals who are sharing with him vicissitudes and reassurance.” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi defended the embattled Pope, telling Radio Vatican the priorities Benedict had defined after his election were being “pursued with coherence and courage” despite “tensions” and “obstacles.” Waves of allegations sweeping the Church in Europe and the Americas had also been the backdrop to a tearful meeting between the Pope and abuse victims on Sunday in Malta, one of the latest countries to be hit by sex abuse scandals.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100421com6.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Birds of same feather FRONTLINE Setting the stage for a yellow coup focus Pacific fight against AIDS hampered by shame, ignorance HE SAYS Time’s up. Almost SHE SAYS Election nearing (again) FEATURE Pope says he leads a ‘wounded and sinner’ church FEATURE Fight al-Qaeda with satire, ridicule — researchers

Fight al-Qaeda with satire, ridicule — researchers FEATURE 04/21/2010

Fight al-Qaeda with satire, ridicule — researchers

FEATURE 04/21/2010 LONDON — Satire and ridicule can help win the fight against al-Qaeda by stripping it of its glamor and mystique, a team of British researchers argue in a report released in London and in comments to AFP. Beating the Islamist movement is as much about winning the battle of ideas and undermining al-Qaeda’s counter-culture cachet as it is about conventional anti-terrorism operations, said the report. “Terrorism must be defeated through the deliberate ‘toxification’ of the al-Qaeda brand; not by making it seem dangerous, but by exposing it as dumb,” Jamie Bartlett, one of the report’s authors, told AFP. “Al-Qaeda has to be ridiculed as the equivalent of a middle-aged dad at a school disco: Enthusiastic, incompetent and excruciatingly uncool.”... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100421com7.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Birds of same feather FRONTLINE Setting the stage for a yellow coup focus Pacific fight against AIDS hampered by shame, ignorance HE SAYS Time’s up. Almost SHE SAYS Election nearing (again) FEATURE Pope says he leads a ‘wounded and sinner’ church FEATURE Fight al-Qaeda with satire, ridicule — researchers

Gloria reins in Lakas solons, stems boltings By Aytch S. de la Cruz, Charlie V. Manalo and Angie M. Rosales 04/20/2010

As Palace funds flow to congressmen Gloria reins in Lakas solons, stems boltings By Aytch S. de la Cruz, Charlie V. Manalo and Angie M. Rosales 04/20/2010 One hundred sixty one Lakas-Kampi congressmen swore allegiance to President Arroyo and the administration, after being reined in by her in an outward support of the adminstration candidate, former Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro. Sources, however, told the Tribune yesterday that some of the congressmen’s hands were greased with between P100 million to P200 million each, for them to openly declare their loyalty to Arroyo and to follow her orders -— whatever they may be come election day. The same sources identified with the administration party, also said that local officials belonging to the ruling party expressed discontent, if not disgust, as the funds flowed only for the congressmen, and not to the local executives, saying what it looks... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100420hed1.html

HEADLINES Gloria reins in Lakas solons, stems boltings Gov’t prosecutors score Agra over Ampatuan ruling Comelec brags: Transport fees trimmed down by 50% Erap in the pink of mental health RP Church leaders to move US priest over sex scandal ‘Architects of poverty’ now with Noynoy — NP

Erap in the pink of mental health 04/20/2010

Erap in the pink of mental health

04/20/2010 Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) standard-bearer former President Joseph Estrada is in the pink of health both physically and psychologically. “I was fit for the presidency in 1998, I am still fit to be the next President,” Estrada said in a radio interview yesterday — his 73rd birthday. Estrada disclosed that he went through psychiatric tests and other medical examinations even before other presidential candidates had come up with a challenge for them to undergo psychiatric tests. He, however, said the medical examination was for his own consumption and he does not plan to challenge his presidential rivals to go through the same process.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100420hed4.html

HEADLINES Gloria reins in Lakas solons, stems boltings Gov’t prosecutors score Agra over Ampatuan ruling Comelec brags: Transport fees trimmed down by 50% Erap in the pink of mental health RP Church leaders to move US priest over sex scandal ‘Architects of poverty’ now with Noynoy — NP

Gov’t prosecutors score Agra over Ampatuan ruling By Benjamin B. Pulta and Angie M. Rosales 04/20/2010

Gov’t prosecutors score Agra over Ampatuan ruling

By Benjamin B. Pulta and Angie M. Rosales 04/20/2010 Government prosecutors yesterday publicly criticized the controversial decision of Justice Secretary Alberto Agra to clear two members of the Ampatuan clan of multiple murder charges in last November’s Maguindanao massacre which saw 57 individuals killed. “The Department of Justice (DoJ) is supposed to be the sword and shield of law and order. We are deeply concerned that the resolution will all the more convince a long skeptical public that our criminal justice system is impotent when the accused are politically influential,” the panel of prosecutors who built the case said in a manifesto. “We pray and hope that despite difficulties and setbacks, justice will ultimately be served to the victims of this tragedy. It is along this line that we earnestly and respectfully request Acting Secretary Agra to revisit his resolution. Otherwise, we dishonor the primary reasons for which our institution existsand its very name: the DoJ,” the manifesto added.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100420hed2.html

HEADLINES Gloria reins in Lakas solons, stems boltings Gov’t prosecutors score Agra over Ampatuan ruling Comelec brags: Transport fees trimmed down by 50% Erap in the pink of mental health RP Church leaders to move US priest over sex scandal ‘Architects of poverty’ now with Noynoy — NP

‘Architects of poverty’ now with Noynoy — NP By Angie M. Rosales 04/20/2010

‘Architects of poverty’ now with Noynoy — NP

By Angie M. Rosales 04/20/2010 The Liberal Party (LP) is indeed growing in number, but its core is now made up of the “architects of poverty” under President Arroyo’s leadership, according to the Nacionalista Party (NP). “I think the Filipino people should always remember that when you vote for a president, you’re not voting for one person, you’re voting for his team, also his family. So we should be very careful when choosing a president,” lawyer Adel Tamano, NP senatorial bet and party spokesman said, as he cited names of personalities formerly highly-identified with Arroyo who now supposedly comprise the panel of advisers of the LP standard bearer. “That assumption is not based on nothing. In the past, it has been a historical precedent that the closest advisers to a presidential candidate, would become his Cabinet members as well because the membership in Cabinet, is a matter of highest trust and confidentiality. He will choose his advisers and he will not pick someone whom he does not personally know or not a known supporter..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100420hed6.html

HEADLINES Gloria reins in Lakas solons, stems boltings Gov’t prosecutors score Agra over Ampatuan ruling Comelec brags: Transport fees trimmed down by 50% Erap in the pink of mental health RP Church leaders to move US priest over sex scandal ‘Architects of poverty’ now with Noynoy —NP