China mudslides highlight cost of rapid economic growth focus 08/15/2010

China mudslides highlight cost of rapid economic growth

focus 08/15/2010 BEIJING — Mudslides devastating northwest China are a grim reminder of the high cost of the country’s breakneck economic growth — a development model experts say policymakers know must be changed. Activists have blamed the deadly landslides in Gansu province on years of unchecked development in the mountainous region as local governments cut down trees, built roads and developed hydroelectric dams in the name of growth. It is a scenario that has been played out across the country as authorities try to lift millions of people out of poverty and further their own careers by attracting investment and spurring growth — with scant regard to the local environment. “The tragedy in Zhouqu is a reflection of the challenges and risks economic growth brings to poor regions,” Li Yan, climate change and energy campaigner for Greenpeace China, told AFP..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100815com3.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Thrown to Basilan FRONTLINE Willing to throw out all focus China mudslides highlight cost of rapid economic growth BLURBAL THRUSTS Justice Del Castillo’s white knight C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Let go VIEWPOINTS Mother Earth TABLETS OF STONE ‘Let’s move on'

Justice Del Castillo’s white knight BLURBAL THRUSTS Louie Logarta 08/15/2010

Justice Del Castillo’s white knight

BLURBAL THRUSTS Louie Logarta 08/15/2010 The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza) has been omitted by the Commission on Audit (CoA), for reasons only it can fathom, from its list of government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) that was released recently to the public. The Ceza, which supervises the operations of the Cagayan Special Economic Zone located in Port Irene, Santa Ana, Cagayan, functions in the exact same manner as, let’s say, the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) which oversees activities in the Clark Special Economic Zone inside the old Clark Air Base in Pampanga or the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) in the former Subic Naval Base in Olongapo, Zambales. Of late, nationwide attention has been focused on the SBMA and CDC after it was revealed (again based on CoA data) that officials working for them were among the highest paid in government with fantabulous salaries in 2009. SBMA Chairman Armand Arreza is supposed to have netted P26.8 million, while CDC president Benny Ricafort came away with P14.6 million. Several questionable omissions in the CoA’s list of highest-paid government officials in 2009 included those of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Chairman Efraim Genuino who is alleged to have had at his disposal intelligence funds, that aren’t subjected to normal audit strictures, amounting to around P500 million, as well as some subordinates like former Pagcor president Butch Francisco and members of the Pagcor board..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100815com4.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Thrown to Basilan FRONTLINE Willing to throw out all focus China mudslides highlight cost of rapid economic growth BLURBAL THRUSTS Justice Del Castillo’s white knight C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Let go VIEWPOINTS Mother Earth TABLETS OF STONE ‘Let’s move on'

Let go C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 08/15/2010

Let go

C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 08/15/2010 Of course, it is easier said than done. I mean letting go of Hacienda Luisita the traditional way — actually distributing the land to accredited farmer beneficiaries. After all, If then President Cory Aquino whose centerpiece program in 1986 was “land for the landless” could not do it in her time how can we expect her son, P-Noy, to do it this time around given all the intervening developments since? The Cojuangco-Aquino heirs have probably tripled since (P-Noy says his family’s part of the hacienda at this time would be less than 5 percent), a good part of the land has been used for other purposes (we understand only about 4,000 plus hectares of the original 6,000 something are available for distribution) and, perhaps more ominously, the record of the CARPed lands remain spotty at best. We still have to get the actual score on the CARPed areas but we are told that, unlike in China, Taiwan and Japan, to name just three of the more successful ones, our agrarian reform program never really reached its full potential as a tool of economic development and social justice. In fine, instead of banishing the fears and dire predictions of the oppositors, the CARP’s record over the past 24 years gave them the traction and the experiential support to bolster their arguments. The promised “land for the landless” plan has fallen short of expectations. Which is why Congress passed the CARPer Law last year in the hope of breathing fresh air to this faltering social justice and economic development platform — a hope which President Aquino can nurse to fruition by taking his mother’s promised land for the landless to its logical conclusion at least as far as Hacienda Luisita is concerned. .... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100815com5.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Thrown to Basilan FRONTLINE Willing to throw out all focus China mudslides highlight cost of rapid economic growth BLURBAL THRUSTS Justice Del Castillo’s white knight C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Let go VIEWPOINTS Mother Earth TABLETS OF STONE ‘Let’s move on'

Mother Earth VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 08/15/2010

Mother Earth

VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 08/15/2010 A mother is a both a tender and sturdy person, a delicate yet resourceful lady, a loving and at the same time a woman of discipline. The mere mention of the word “Mother” immediately brings to mind someone who has brought children to the world, which has nurtured and cared for them as youngsters, and even continues to follow them up with her maternal concern and motherly attention.  She would rather go hungry and become sick, undergo pain and suffering in place of her children. These can forget, hurt and even abandon her — but remember and worry about them, wish them well and safe, these she does and continues so doing until she no longer can on account of ultimate demise. And here is “Mother Earth” that is delicate in her situation but remains strong in her constitution that continues to secure and serve humanity that continuously tries to feed and house men, women and children — one generation after another. These frequently hurt and pain her with their indifference and the pursuit of their own selfish interests.  More often than not, they even forgot about her good and even actually do not care at all about her welfare. The truth is that the more humanity becomes professionally able and technically prepared, the less they mind and care for her — their own loving and caring Mother Earth..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100815com6.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Thrown to Basilan FRONTLINE Willing to throw out all focus China mudslides highlight cost of rapid economic growth BLURBAL THRUSTS Justice Del Castillo’s white knight C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Let go VIEWPOINTS Mother Earth TABLETS OF STONE ‘Let’s move on'

‘Let’s move on’ TABLETS OF STONE Larry Faraon, OP 08/15/2010

‘Let’s move on’

TABLETS OF STONE Larry Faraon, OP 08/15/2010 Just what does Rep. Manny Pacquiao mean by “Let’s move on,” when he manifested or in short interjected between the anti- and pro-Arroyo speeches at the House floor. Of course, there was a thundering applause from the hall not because it was a solomonic counsel from a neophyte but because the honorables thought it was cute — coming from a popular boxing icon. If he means that we have to forget and forgo the past sins of the Arroyo administration and bury their hachets on each other’s back, then the applause is cynical and the remarks moronic. If Representative Pacquiao feels uneasy or uncomfortable with his colleagues throwing “punches” or balls of fire on his former coddler, the honorable gentle lady from Pampanga, then either he is in the wrong place or his congressional orientation wanting. A boxer’s canvass is so totally different from the carpets and podiums of the session halls — Pacquiao would soon realize. Politics and governance are unlike boxing matches where a winner would magnanimously approach the loser’s corner and offer embraces despite bloodied and mangled faces! But I won’t be surprised if one day, the boxing icon would be so pissed off that he would challenge a colleague to settle things outside the halls of Congress at the boxing arena! However, soon the people’s champ will adopt and integrate himself into the congressional culture of endless privilege speeches, interpellations, interventions, debates, discussions, tirades, insults, grandstanding and invectives, among others. And the normal usual excuse, “in aid of legislation,” precisely the valid point of Rep. JV Ejercito in his privilege speech, in hitting the EO 464..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100815com7.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Thrown to Basilan FRONTLINE Willing to throw out all focus China mudslides highlight cost of rapid economic growth BLURBAL THRUSTS Justice Del Castillo’s white knight C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Let go VIEWPOINTS Mother Earth TABLETS OF STONE ‘Let’s move on'

Noynoy in hacienda to defuse Luisita flap By Aytch S. de la Cruz 08/15/2010

PALACE SAYS AQUINO TO SEEK INFO NOT TO INTERVENE Noynoy in hacienda to defuse Luisita flap By Aytch S. de la Cruz 08/15/2010 President Aquino has been in the Hacienda Luisita estate in Tarlac since early morning yesterday in what many believe as a fireman mission to douse what is turning out to be the first big crisis that his nascent administration is facing, which is the allegations of bribery by members of his landed family on farm workers to silence them on their demand for land distribution.  Aquino, who is officially on vacation in the vast sugar estate, is expected to speak with his relatives who own the biggest share of assets in the Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) in relation to the controversial compromise agreement they signed with the HLI farm beneficiaries who are queueing for doleouts lately and whose situation he also plans to check but these will be done “not on a formal basis,” according to his spokesman, Edwin Lacierda. Lacierda sent these broad hints in response to queries sent by the Tribune yesterday on whether the President has these particular agenda in his mind when he decided to spend his Saturday at the Hacienda Luisita farmlands in Tarlac province. Col. Ramon Dizon, chief of the Presidential Security Guard (PSG), confirmed in a phone interview that Aquino was at Luisita yesterday but only to take a vacation there, saying that his visit is not in any way related to the issues that hound the HLI lately. Lacierda echoed this information shared by Dizon, saying that “the President is careful in treading the fine line of being informed and meddling,” especially since the compromise agreement issue is now being handled by the Supreme Court (SC)..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100815hed1.html

HEADLINES Noynoy in hacienda to defuse Luisita flap Palace advice to solons on toll row: ‘Amend VAT law’ Mancao cries ‘harassment’ after Gatdula takes NBI rein No need to replace legal team — Palace Miriam hails Noy’s first SC appointment Arrest warrant out for ex-solon over 2007 Batasan explosion

Palace advice to solons on toll row: ‘Amend VAT law’ By Aytch S. de la Cruz 08/15/2010

Palace advice to solons on toll row: ‘Amend VAT law’

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 08/15/2010 Amending the value added tax (VAT) law is the only recourse to stop Malacañang from pursuing the enforcement of the imposition of the 12-percent VAT on tolls nationwide as part of its additional revenue generation measures, the Palace said yesterday after the Supreme Court (SC) issued lat Friday an order to withhold its implementation along with the 300 percent increase in the South Luzon Expressway (Slex) fees. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said changes in the law is the only remedy to comply with the lawmakers’ advice for President Aquino to carefully pore over the VAT law which did not include tollway fees among those to be charged with the VAT. “If the legislative does not agree with the executive branch, I guess they can, once and for all, amend the law (on VAT) — that would be better,” he said. Lacierda insisted that their intention to impose this 12-percent VAT on toll does not violate any tax laws insofar as their interpretation of the VAT law is concerned, citing as well as the tax reform code which supposedly allows the government to enforce taxes on toll operators. He, nonetheless, reiterated that they would abide by the Supreme Court’s (SC) temporary restraining order (TRO) which compelled the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to postpone its intended implementation of the 12-percent VAT on toll tomorrow and will just defend their stand on this particular issue in the said forum..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100815hed2.html

HEADLINES Noynoy in hacienda to defuse Luisita flap Palace advice to solons on toll row: ‘Amend VAT law’ Mancao cries ‘harassment’ after Gatdula takes NBI rein No need to replace legal team — Palace Miriam hails Noy’s first SC appointment Arrest warrant out for ex-solon over 2007 Batasan explosion

Mancao cries ‘harassment’ after Gatdula takes NBI rein By Pat C. Santos 08/15/2010

Mancao cries ‘harassment’ after Gatdula takes NBI rein

By Pat C. Santos 08/15/2010 State witness in the double murder case of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito, former Senior Supt. Cesar Mancao III, complained yesterday of serious harassment by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) which placed him under detention despite being under the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) Witness Protection Program, his lawyer said yesterday. In a statement issued to media yesterday, Ferdinand Topacio, counsel for Mancao, denounced an attempt to detain his client at the NBI compound Friday night. “(That is) contrary to the terms and conditions of the Witness Protection Program signed by my client with the Department of Justice when he entered the program last year.” Topacio said in a statement. Mancao’s testimonies were largely the basis of the arrest order on fugitive Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who he pinpointed as the mastermind in the double murder that happened way back in November 2000. Topacio attributed the change in the NBI’s treatment of Mancao started when the NBI transferred leadership to “people closely identified with Lacson.”... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100815hed3.html

HEADLINES Noynoy in hacienda to defuse Luisita flap Palace advice to solons on toll row: ‘Amend VAT law’ Mancao cries ‘harassment’ after Gatdula takes NBI rein No need to replace legal team — Palace Miriam hails Noy’s first SC appointment Arrest warrant out for ex-solon over 2007 Batasan explosion

No need to replace legal team — Palace By Aytch S. de la Cruz 08/15/2010

No need to replace legal team — Palace

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 08/15/2010 Employing better and wiser legal counsels is no longer necessary even as President Aquino’s first wave of presidential issuances and executive orders (EOs) has met loud criticisms to the extent that it has spawned fresh political firestorms in the country, Malacañang yesterday said. According to presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda, Aquino stands firm on his belief that he has very competent lawyers in his legal team who give him sound legal advice before coming up with his presidential orders hence there is no need to replace them. Aquino’s legal team is headed by Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Eduardo de Mesa who is often in close coordination with Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. in crafting the memorandum circulars and EOs released so far by Malacañang. Lacierda relayed that in the future orders to be released by the President, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima will be joining the presidential legal team perhaps to reduce, if not totally get rid of, the same criticisms that their issuances have attracted lately..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100815hed4.html

HEADLINES Noynoy in hacienda to defuse Luisita flap Palace advice to solons on toll row: ‘Amend VAT law’ Mancao cries ‘harassment’ after Gatdula takes NBI rein No need to replace legal team — Palace Miriam hails Noy’s first SC appointment Arrest warrant out for ex-solon over 2007 Batasan explosion

Miriam hails Noy’s first SC appointment 08/15/2010

Miriam hails Noy’s first SC appointment

08/15/2010 Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago yesterday welcomed the appointment of Maria Lourdes Sereno as new justice of the Supreme Court even as she said President Aquino’s first appointee to the high tribunal will likely be the first female chief justice in the future. “She is brilliant. It is fortuitous that she was appointed very young. She will earn the necessary seniority and eventually become the first female chief justice of the Philippine Supreme Court,” Santiago, in a statement, added. The senator also hailed Aquino for making Sereno his first appointee to the Supreme Court..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100815hed5.html

HEADLINES Noynoy in hacienda to defuse Luisita flap Palace advice to solons on toll row: ‘Amend VAT law’ Mancao cries ‘harassment’ after Gatdula takes NBI rein No need to replace legal team — Palace Miriam hails Noy’s first SC appointment Arrest warrant out for ex-solon over 2007 Batasan explosion

Noynoy in hacienda to defuse Luisita flap By Aytch S. de la Cruz 08/15/2010

PALACE SAYS AQUINO TO SEEK INFO NOT TO INTERVENE Noynoy in hacienda to defuse Luisita flap By Aytch S. de la Cruz 08/15/2010 President Aquino has been in the Hacienda Luisita estate in Tarlac since early morning yesterday in what many believe as a fireman mission to douse what is turning out to be the first big crisis that his nascent administration is facing, which is the allegations of bribery by members of his landed family on farm workers to silence them on their demand for land distribution.  Aquino, who is officially on vacation in the vast sugar estate, is expected to speak with his relatives who own the biggest share of assets in the Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) in relation to the controversial compromise agreement they signed with the HLI farm beneficiaries who are queueing for doleouts lately and whose situation he also plans to check but these will be done “not on a formal basis,” according to his spokesman, Edwin Lacierda. Lacierda sent these broad hints in response to queries sent by the Tribune yesterday on whether the President has these particular agenda in his mind when he decided to spend his Saturday at the Hacienda Luisita farmlands in Tarlac province. Col. Ramon Dizon, chief of the Presidential Security Guard (PSG), confirmed in a phone interview that Aquino was at Luisita yesterday but only to take a vacation there, saying that his visit is not in any way related to the issues that hound the HLI lately..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100815hed1.html

HEADLINES Noynoy in hacienda to defuse Luisita flap Palace advice to solons on toll row: ‘Amend VAT law’ Mancao cries ‘harassment’ after Gatdula takes NBI rein No need to replace legal team — Palace Miriam hails Noy’s first SC appointment Arrest warrant out for ex-solon over 2007 Batasan explosion

The height of Noynoy’s hypocrisy EDITORIAL 08/14/2010

The height of Noynoy’s hypocrisy

EDITORIAL Click to enlarge 08/14/2010 Proof of the exploitation of the poor by the wealthy and again politically powerful Cojuangco-Aquino clan can be proven in a photograph of an out of job Hacienda Luisita farm worker, getting a measly P260 for having signed away his right to own the hacienda land and agreeing to retain the Stock Distribution Option (SDO), while another worker, a limping 76-year-old man was paid P347, the equivalent of his 2,400 shares in the Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI). The reason the old man chose the SDO? He chose the SDO to be able to work again, because owning the land would not be enough. What an injustice it is, for the poor to be reduced to selling their legal right for a few hundred pesos, which is peanuts to the Cojuangco-Aquinos, who know just the right but immoral and illegal buttons to push the poverty-stricken farm workers into submission and for a song. Yet Noynoy Aquino pledged to give justice to all, when he is part and parcel of that illegal and immoral SDO, and part as well of the blatant bribery engaged in by the clan. He certainly knew what the clan was doing and what it is after. Noynoy claims he owns merely 1 percent or so of HLI and that he will not interfere with the problem at HLI because he claims he won’t involve himself in an intra-corporate dispute. That is a pure hypocritical stand, and he and his boys in Malacañang know it. Noynoy, like his mother before him, and like his hacendero relatives, want the SDO retained even if illegal. They want to keep the land, and continue shortchanging and exploiting further the poor workers.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100814com1.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL The height of Noynoy’s hypocrisy FRONTLINE A not in control president focus Monk’s crusade helps Korean history go home

A not in control president FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 08/14/2010

A not in control president

FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 08/14/2010 Amazing! Noynoy Aquino is supposed to be the President of the Republic, but it is not he who makes the decisions. It is his subalterns who do, without as much as discussing their orders with him. In other words, Noynoy wants to hold the position and the title, but he is neither in charge of anything, nor in control of his people. This has been gleaned from statements issued by Internal Revenue chief Kim Henares who clarified Friday in an early morning TV interview that the idea of imposing the expanded value-added tax (eVAT) on toll fees did not come from President Aquino. She said: “He (Noynoy) did not give us any order to impose the tax. What he had directed me to do, when he appointed me as BIR chief, is to just implement the law.” Whaaaat? The order and decision on that imposition of the 12 percent eVAT on toll fees are solely the BIR chief’s and that Noynoy has absolutely no say in this, merely giving Henares free rein to interpret the “law” as she sees fit and even impose whatever without bothering to discuss this issue with a highly indecisive and laidback, if not a know-nothing Noynoy, who probably does not bother either to make any decision on virtually everything? Noynoy doesn’t seem to care either that the South Luzon Expressway toll management will be implementing a whooping 250 percent increase on its fees on Monday, the day the eVAT is slapped on the toll fees..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100814com1.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL The height of Noynoy’s hypocrisy FRONTLINE A not in control president focus Monk’s crusade helps Korean history go home

Monk’s crusade helps Korean history go home focus 08/14/2010

Monk’s crusade helps Korean history go home

focus 08/14/2010 TOKYO — A pledge by Japan to hand over cultural artefacts from the Korean peninsula’s last dynasty has been welcomed in South Korea — particularly by a monk who spent four years trying to make it happen. Shocked to discover that valuable items — including royal records of the Chosun Dynasty (1392-1910) — were still held by Japan after its 1910 annexation of the peninsula, Hye Moon, now 37, began a campaign for their return in 2006. “I wondered why such precious cultural properties had yet to be returned to our country,” Hye, who lives in Seoul, told AFP. Then on Tuesday, after more than 40 trips to Japan intended to persuade politicians and lawmakers, Hye finally got the news he had long sought ahead of the Aug. 29 centenary of the annexation. Japan’s government issued a fresh apology for the 1910 to 1945 colonial rule and said it would hand over the items South Korea had been demanding “in the near future.”.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100814com1.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL The height of Noynoy’s hypocrisy FRONTLINE A not in control president focus Monk’s crusade helps Korean history go home

Contrary to What Cojuangco-Aquinos Say, Farming Improved Lives of Many Luisita Folk Published on August 14, 2010

Contrary to What Cojuangco-Aquinos Say, Farming Improved Lives of Many Luisita Folk

Published on August 14, 2010

MANILA — One of the arguments put forth by Hacienda Luisita management in pushing for the stock distribution option (SDO) and the recent compromise agreement is that the farmer beneficiaries could not possibly survive on less than an hectare each of land. This argument, however, had been demolished by a NEDA study that said a family in Luisita can earn more from 0.78 hectares of land than from stocks — a study that was conveniently ignored by the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council under then President Corazon Aquino when it allowed the implementation of the SDO.

After the strike and massacre and after the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council ordered the revocation of the SDO in 2005, the farmer beneficiaries launched what they call a “bungkalan” or the cultivation of idle Luisita land. It was both a political statement and a matter of survival for the beneficiaries who were, and still are, facing extreme poverty in the hacienda owned by President Benigno S. Aquino III and his family. Farmers who participated swear that their lives improved after the “bungkalan.”.... MORE

Source:  

URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/08/14/contrary-to-what-cojuangco-aquinos-say-farming-improved-lives-of-many-luisita-folk/

NDFP Questions Sincerity of Aquino Government in Pursuing Peace Talks But Still Open to Resumption Published on August 14, 2010

NDFP Questions Sincerity of Aquino Government in Pursuing Peace Talks But Still Open to Resumption

Published on August 14, 201

By RONALYN OLEA
Bulatlat.com

So far, the Aquino administration has not shown positive indications for the resumption of peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). In a statement, Luis Jalandoni, NDFP spokesman, enumerated what he calls as negative indications regarding the stand of the Aquino administration on the peace talks.

The NDFP expressed disappointment over Aquino’s insistence for a prolonged ceasefire before holding peace talks. The NDFP said it is a violation of The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992.... MORE

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URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/08/14/contrary-to-what-cojuangco-aquinos-say-farming-improved-lives-of-many-luisita-folk/

Abortion Ban in Philippines Results in Dire Human-Rights Crisis

Abortion Nation: Dire Human-Rights Crisis in Face of Increasing Acceptance

Published on August 14, 2010  

A study on abortion in the Philippines argues that the government has committed violations of human rights by criminalizing abortion regardless of circumstance. As a result, the Philippines has failed to fulfill its obligation to international bodies that seek to protect women’s health and human rights.

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — In the Philippines, it’s not enough that women who wish to terminate their pregnancies do not have legal and safe means to do it. In many hospitals and clinics across the country, Filipinas who undergo abortion and then seek medical treatment because of complications are routinely harassed and violated by health-care providers.

There are among the findings of a study done by the Center for Reproductive Rights, a New York-based advocacy group. It concluded that because of the criminal ban on abortion in the Philippines, a dire human-rights crisis has emerged, which it blamed on the Philippine government and the powerful Roman Catholic Church..... MORE

Source:  

URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/08/14/abortion-nation-dire-human-rights-crisis-in-face-of-increasing-acceptance/

Drivers to Protest Double Whammy of Impending Hike, VAT on Toll Fees Published on August 14, 2010

Drivers to Protest Double Whammy of Impending Hike, VAT on Toll Fees

Published on August 14, 2010

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – The widely opposed 277-percent increase in toll fees in Southern Luzon Expressway (SLEX), along with the imposition of VAT on toll fees— both set for implementation this Monday— were halted temporarily by the Supreme Court.

With the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued last Friday, the Supreme Court enjoined the government from imposing beginning August 16 the 12-percent value added tax on toll fees in the NLEX and SLEX and other toll ways. It issued another TRO against the implementation of the 277-percent increase in toll fees at the SLEX..... MORE

Source:  

URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/08/14/drivers-to-protest-double-whammy-of-impending-hike-vat-on-toll-fees/

SC hands TROs on toll VAT, expressways hikes By Benjamin B. Pulta and Aytch S. de la Cruz 08/14/2010

Palace plays the blame game, slams GMA for toll VAT ‘law’ non-implementation SC hands TROs on toll VAT, expressways hikes By Benjamin B. Pulta and Aytch S. de la Cruz 08/14/2010 Two restraining orders have been handed down by Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Renato Corona, effectively stopping the scheduled toll rate increases in the country’s expressways next week and the imposition of the 12 percent expanded value added tax (eVAT) on toll fares. Malacañang did not hide its disappointment at the high court’s issuance of the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on the implementation of the eVAT on the toll fare, but quickly laid the blame on the Arroyo administration that had issued two Memorandum Circulars (MCs) in 2005 and 2009 on the implementation of the eVAT on toll fares. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda insinuated that President Aquino did the right thing, as his administration was merely implementing Arroyo’s MCs on the VAT imposition. “Why they (Arroyo administration) haven’t imposed the VAT on toll is the biggest question since it was very clear that the BIR said ‘let’s collect taxes on the VAT on toll’. So now that we are implementing it, we’re being perceived as being persistent on the imposition of these taxes when in fact it has been there since 2005,” Lacierda argued. Lacierda insisted that the motorists and the general public should understand that the Aquino administration acted all the while in “good faith” in ordering the imposition of the 12-percent VAT on toll..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100814hed1.html

HEADLINES SC hands TROs on toll VAT, expressways hikes Probe sought on 300% Slex toll hike Palace to go on with review of midnight appointments Drilon defends truth body from GMA allies Palace: VFA under review but no talk on abrogation Noynoy names newest SC justice

Probe sought on 300% Slex toll hike By Gerry Baldo 08/14/2010

Probe sought on 300% Slex toll hike

By Gerry Baldo 08/14/2010 Despite the high court’s issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the increase in toll rates to be charged by expressways, which would have been implemented on Monday, a lawmaker from the party-list Bayan Muna yesterday sought an investigation into the impending 300 percent hike in toll rates at the 30-kilometer South Luzon Expressway (Slex). Rep. Teddy Casino said there is a need to pry into the decision of the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) to allow the management of the Southern Luzon Tollway Corp. (SLTC) to increase the toll rates that would affect a quarter of a million vehicles that ply the route everyday. He pointed out that the proposed toll rates are allegedly part of the Supplemental Toll Operations Agreement (STOA) entered in behalf of the government by TRB with SLTC.  SLTC is owned 80-percent by MTD Manila Expressways, Inc. (MTDME), a Malaysian company, and 20-percent by Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC).  The STOA gave a 25-year concession of Slex rehabilitation, expansion, operation and maintenance to SLTC. “The TRB committed grave abuse of discretion by entering into STOA which fixes the toll rates without prior notice and public hearing as mandated in Section 3(d) of PD No.1112,” Casino said yesterday..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100814hed2.html

HEADLINES SC hands TROs on toll VAT, expressways hikes Probe sought on 300% Slex toll hike Palace to go on with review of midnight appointments Drilon defends truth body from GMA allies Palace: VFA under review but no talk on abrogation Noynoy names newest SC justice

Palace to go on with review of midnight appointments By Aytch S. de la Cruz 08/14/2010

Palace to go on with review of midnight appointments

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 08/14/2010 Malacañang yesterday sounded as it were impervious to the Supreme Court’s (SC) appeal for the executive branch to refrain from rushing its bid to relieve all of former President Arroyo’s so-called “midnight appointees” pending its decision to rule on the temporary restraining order (TRO) sought by the aggrieved parties that will be affected by President Aquino’s Executive Order (EO) 2. According to presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda, the review of the status of these alleged illegally appointed officials in various government offices shall push through unless the SC brings down a “legal order” asking the executive branch to stop the process. “Legally, as a body, as an institution, the Supreme Court did not issue a temporary restraining order. Therefore, it doesn’t stop us from reviewing the midnight appointees… We can still do that,” he said. The SC did not, however, stop the Palace from its review process, merely saying that the Palace should not push through as yet the firing of these so-called midnight appointees. SC Administrator Jose Midas Marquez on Thursday urged Malacañang to observe “judicial courtesy” in view of Lacierda’s declaration the day before that the high court’s failure to act on the TRO sought by the petitioners served as green light for the executive branch to sack Arroyo’s midnight appointes. Lacierda argued that this statement by Marquez is quite a “nuance” from the way it was delivered because it is somehow in line with the position taken by Malacañang regarding the issue..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100814hed3.html

HEADLINES SC hands TROs on toll VAT, expressways hikes Probe sought on 300% Slex toll hike Palace to go on with review of midnight appointments Drilon defends truth body from GMA allies Palace: VFA under review but no talk on abrogation Noynoy names newest SC justice

Drilon defends truth body from GMA allies By Angie M. Rosales 08/14/2010

Drilon defends truth body from GMA allies By Angie M. Rosales 08/14/2010 An ally of President Aquino in the upper chamber yesterday criticized the move of opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives seeking to nullify the creation of the Truth Commission before the Supreme Court, claiming that this was nothing but an effort to shield former President Arroyo, now a representative of Pampanga’s second district, from being subjected to an investigation. “I would not want to put motive into this but it seems to be gearing toward that, their intention in filing the petition, because of the many anomalies of the previous administration that are the subject of probes by the Truth Commission,” Sen. Franklin Drilon said in a radio interview, referring the observation of many that members of the House minority bloc are out to “protect” Arroyo. Some minority bloc members from the lower chamber have asked the high tribunal to declare Executive Order (EO) 1 that effected the creation of the truth body as unconstitutional. House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman, along with opposition Representatives Rodolfo Albano Jr. (Isabela), Simeon Datumanong (Maguindanao) and Orlando Fua Jr. (Siquijor), stood as petitioners in the case. The said congressmen, known close political allies of Arroyo, argued, among others, that EO 1 violates the separation of powers as it arrogates the legislative authority of Congress to create a public office and appropriate funds for its operation. Drilon, however, echoed the statement of Malacañang that it has sufficient legal basis and that it did not violate the 1987 Constitution.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100814hed4.html

HEADLINES SC hands TROs on toll VAT, expressways hikes Probe sought on 300% Slex toll hike Palace to go on with review of midnight appointments Drilon defends truth body from GMA allies Palace: VFA under review but no talk on abrogation Noynoy names newest SC justice