South Lebanon eager to see Ahmadinejad at Israel’s doorstep focus 10/08/2010

South Lebanon eager to see Ahmadinejad at Israel’s doorstep

focus

10/08/2010
KFAR KILA — People in southern Lebanon are brimming with excitement ahead of a visit by Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, who is expected to stand at the border with his arch-enemy Israel in a message of defiance.

“I can’t wait to see Ahmadinejad get close to the barbed wire and show the Israelis that he has them by the throat,” said Abdullah, a resident of the border village of Kfar Kila, who refused to give his real name.

“Can you imagine? He is going to stand barely a meter (yard) from Israel and that’s so symbolic,” added Abdullah, who runs a restaurant at Fatima Gate, just beyond the border fence between the two countries.

The Iranian leader will visit Lebanon on Oct. 13 and 14 at the invitation of his counterpart, Michel Sleiman, and will be his first to the tiny Mediterranean country.

The official first day of the trip is expected to proceed smoothly. It is the unofficial part the following day, when he Ahmadinejad is set to be taken on a tour of the south by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah — considered a proxy of Iran — that has prompted jitters..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101008com6.html

Mystery masterpiece emerges from dusty Paris flat FEATURE 10/08/2010

Mystery masterpiece emerges from dusty Paris flat

FEATURE

10/08/2010
PARIS — When an auctioneer entered a dust-covered old Parisian flat in June to take inventory of the deceased owner’s possessions, he had the impression of creeping into Sleeping Beauty’s castle.

In the gloom of the flat that had been shut-up for decades, he came across a portrait unknown to art experts of a beautiful woman by one of 19-century Paris’ most prized portrait artists, Italian Giovanni Boldini.
“There was a smell of old dust,” said auctioneer Olivier Choppin-Janvry.

The painting recently fetched 2.1 million euros ($2.9 million) in frenzied bidding, making a record for one of the artist’s works.

The flat’s last occupant, who was the grand-daughter of Boldini’s muse, had shut it up before World War II to go live in the south of France and never returned..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101008com7.html

More promises, Gloria bashing, 100 days on By Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/08/2010

NOY SILENT ON JUETENG, HOSTAGE FIASCO, HACIENDA ISSUES

More promises, Gloria bashing, 100 days on

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/08/2010

In what sounded as a reprise of a speech he made 100 days ago during his inaugural at the Quirino Grandstand which was filled with promises punctuated by attacks on the previous administration for leaving a host of problems on him, President Aquino rattled off non-achievements while warning his detractors whom he called as those seeking a return to the crooked path that their days are numbered in his 100-day report to the nation.

Aquino’s address sidestepped all the critical issues that faced his administration from the hostage crisis fiasco that claimed the lives of eight Hong Kong tourists where he received international humiliation, the jueteng scandal in which a close aide was accused of receiving payolas from jueteng lords and the thorny Hacienda Luisita issue in which he is accused of inaction on an age-long land reform problems in a huge farmland owned by his family.

Instead, Aquino harped on what he called “fruits” of good governance which he claimed included the strengthening of the stock market and the peso, which was, however, more the result of investors shunning away from the still weak developed economies and putting their money into the developing markets where the returns are higher.

Aquino also sounded more like his predecessor, former President Arroyo, in seeking refuge in his supposed economic achievements and blaming controversies hounding him to maneuverings of political detractors..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101008hed1.html

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Noy shows no commitment to justice By Michaela P. del Callar 10/08/2010

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH:

Noy shows no commitment to justice

By Michaela P. del Callar 10/08/2010

A New York-based human rights watchdog said President Aquino has yet to fulfill his campaign promise to address human rights abuses and eradicate private armies, which according to the group, “jeopardizes his stated commitment to justice.”

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said 100 days into his presidency, Aquino has not yet carried out his pledge to abolish private armies, provide justice for human rights abuses, and address impunity by the police and military. Aquino, it said, must address these persistent problems with long-term measures.

“President Aquino came into office with a mandate to abolish abusive forces and pursue justice for serious abuses,” Elaine Pearson, HRW deputy Asia director, said Wednesday. “He made impassioned promises, but 100 days on, we’re still waiting for action.”

Since Aquino took office on June 30, 2010, human rights organizations have reported killings of three journalists and 16 leftist activists..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101008hed2.html

After leak, Palace to alter, delay report again By Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/08/2010

After leak, Palace to alter, delay report again

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/08/2010

With the Palace reviewed report of the Aug. 23 botched hostage crisis having been leaked to a newspaper that quoted from it liberally yesterday, which stated that the Palace report had absolved Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Rico Puno, Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, and former Philippine National Police Chief Jesus Verzosa from any administrative and criminal liability, Malacañang yesterday said the report will be delayed once more, as more individuals would be held liable.

The Palace’s reviewed report on the botched hostage rescue which saw eight Hong Kong tourists dead has been altered radically from the Incident Investigation and Review Committee’s report and recommendations, with virtually all indicted by the IIRC in its report getting off with a limp slap on the wrist by Malacañang.

Changes are to be expected as the government officially releases the entire contents of the report to the public alongside the evaluation made by the Palace legal team on Monday, a Palace lawyer said.

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Eduardo de Mesa told reporters yesterday that among those changes is the additional list of persons they have recommended to be charged for the mismanagement of the hostage crisis that transpired last Aug. 23..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101008hed3.html

Pag-IBIG dared to file case vs Globe Asiatique; Fund not yet off the hook By Angie M. Rosales 10/08/2010

Pag-IBIG dared to file case vs Globe Asiatique; Fund not yet off the hook

By Angie M. Rosales 10/08/2010

Officials from Home Development Mutual Fund, popularly known as the Pag-IBIG Fund, face possible gross negligence while Globe Asiatique Realty Corp. Inc. could be held liable for falsification and estafa, if it cannot disprove charges of alleged “ghost borrowers,” currently the center of controversy in the P7-billion housing loan mess.

Pag-IBIG executives yesterday found themselves at the receiving end of intense grilling from Senate probers, during the initial public hearing on the matter conducted by the committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies chaired by Sen. Sergio Osmeña III.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile challenged Pag-IBIG Fundofficials to file falsification charges against Globe Asiatique (GA) for allegedly making accounts of hundreds of questionable buyers just to get some P7-billion loan.

“Pag-IBIG should file falsification case against this guy,” Enrile said, referring to GA chairman and president Delfin Lee who attended the Senate inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the housing loan transactions between Pag-IBIG and GA.

“I challenge you to file falsification case against him so that he can be examine in the court and we will punish him,” the Senate leader added..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101008hed4.html

Wrap up jueteng probe — Angara By Angie M. Rosales and Benjamin B. Pulta 10/08/2010

Wrap up jueteng probe — Angara

By Angie M. Rosales and Benjamin B. Pulta 10/08/2010

Unless a witness is willing to come out to attest to the alleged jueteng payoffs to high officials in government, the Senate should seriously consider terminating its ongoing investigation.

Sen. Edgardo Angara yesterday made the call as he expressed pessimism on whether his colleagues will be able to extract truth over purported jueteng payola scandal in the absence of a testimony from a credible witness.

He said they must break the public perception that legislators “keep on launching investigations but never get around to finishing them.”

“Otherwise, our credibility and authority are diminished in the eyes of the public to whom we owe our mandate,” he stressed.

“Bribery is one of the most difficult crimes to prove unless there is a credible whistleblower
who would testify. In this case, not just any ordinary man has come forward, but a man of the cloth, an archbishop. That, in large part, already speaks about his credibility and that of his claims,” Angara said, referring to retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz, who exposed the latest alleged jueteng scandal.
These accusations are difficult to investigate so the role of witnesses is crucial, he added..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101008hed5.html

P400 million for condoms can be used to hire 3,000 doctors, says solon By Charlie V. Manalo 10/08/2010

P400 million for condoms can be used to hire 3,000 doctors, says solon

By Charlie V. Manalo 10/08/2010

The proposed P400 million allocation for contraceptives in the 2011 budget of the Department of Health (DoH) can be put to better use if spent for the salaries of about 3,000 medical specialists, a lawmaker said yesterday.

Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay said that in the order of priorities doctors “clearly come ahead of condoms and pills.”

With only one government doctor for every 29,000 Filipinos, “there is no doubt that doctor shortage is one problem area in the health system that needs to be addressed,” Magsaysay said.

Magsaysay said rechaneling the “birth control devices fund” to the hiring of doctors “would yield more benefits and serve the public interest more than using it for its original purpose.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20101008nat2.html

DSWD chief’s planned purchase of ‘luxury’ vehicles scored By Gerry Baldo and Charlie V. Manalo 10/08/2010

DSWD chief’s planned purchase of ‘luxury’ vehicles scored

By Gerry Baldo and Charlie V. Manalo 10/08/2010

With tens of billions of pesos in the hands of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWS), its chief prefers to splurge it in new vehicles.

Amid the cuts in the budgetary allocations from most of the government agencies, the planned purchase of a fleet of vehicles by the DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman, was off tangent in the Aquino administration’s claimed tight national budget.

According to Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño, Soliman’s plan to purchase sport utility vehicles and four-wheel drive pick-ups was “rather lavish” considering the cuts in capital outlay of public hospitals and state universities.

Such purchase runs counter to Budget Secretary Florencio Abad’s repeated declarations that no motor vehicles would be bought in the remaining months of 2010 and under the national budget for 2011. The said policy was outlined by Secretary Abad as No. 6 of the general budget principles under the proposed P1.645 trillion budget for next year..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101008hed6.html

Satisfied with what? EDITORIAL 10/07/2010

Satisfied with what?

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

10/07/2010
Every new Philippine president gets a high satisfaction rating in surveys. At times, even those who cheated their way to the presidency, also get a high survey rating. But quite frankly, these “satisfaction” and “performance” ratings on presidential performances, or for that matter, on vice presidential performances, rarely mean anything worthwhile, save for bragging rights for the Malacañang occupant — which will normally swear by the surveys when the results favor the president, but question the results when, as time progresses, the ratings spiral downwards for the Malacañang tenant.

Already, the Palace mouthpieces have started to put a spin on the high ratings of Noynoy, with presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda being quoted by BusinessWorld as saying that “The President’s social contract with the Filipino people is being implemented in ways our fellow citizens see and feel in their daily lives. This rating is a reminder for the whole team to stay focused on reforms needed to make opportunities for fighting corruption and lowering poverty as reality.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101007com1.html

Whitewash up FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 10/07/2010

Whitewash up

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

10/07/2010
Delaying the Malacañang reviewed Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) report further, with a Palace plea for more time to further review it, as well as the panel’s recommendations, can only mean one thing: A lot of alterations are being done with justifications being made by Noynoy Aquino and his Palace boys to merely provide a slap on the wrist of those personalities who have been implicated in the IIRC fact-finding report.
Noynoy’s explanation for the delay in the release of the full IIRC report was that this was submitted to him before he left for the United States (not quite accurate, since he had at least four days to read it) and that he was only able to read some 45 pages of the IIRC, after which, he claimed that the IIRC came up with corrections, so that he had to read the full report upon his return.

But before he left for the US, he said he had ordered his legal team to review the IIRC report, which he said he had already read. And when did the IIRC make the corrections? This was never bared by the IIRC panel. What the panel stated that it would be submitting addendums, which would consist of the forensic report of the police crime lab as well as the surviving hostages’ affidavits.

It is getting pretty evident that the overly long delay in baring the reviewed report is being done justify the sparing of many of his allies named in the IIRC report..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101007com2.html

French take to the barricades over Internet piracy law FEATURE 10/07/2010

French take to the barricades over Internet piracy law

FEATURE

10/07/2010
PARIS — French Internet users are taking a centuries-old tradition into the cyber age and erecting barricades against a new law aimed at clamping down on film and music piracy through illegal file sharing.

The law — known as Hadopi — is being touted as an example for other countries and the best way to protect artists’ income but critics see the threat of having their Internet connection cut as a human rights infraction.

The conflict has been brewing since President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government in 2009 set up the High Authority for Dissemination of Works and Protection of Rights on the Internet (Hadopi) to fight piracy and promote legal online sales.

Hadopi’s procedure is this: they ask Internet service providers (ISPs) to hand over IP addresses — a string of numbers that constitutes a fingerprint unique to a computer on a particular network — being used for file sharing..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101007com3.html

Business names for sale in the Department of Trade BLURBAL THRUSTS Louie Logarta 10/07/2010

Business names for sale in the Department of Trade

BLURBAL THRUSTS

Louie Logarta

10/07/2010
Democratic Independent Workers Association (DIWA) party-list Rep. Amy Legaspi has a gem of a bill in the pipeline that would conceivably alleviate the financial woes plaguing millions of workers all over the country, a great majority of whom have to cope with hand-to-mouth existence on a daily basis, who are continually being exploited by big business.

Entitled “The Security of Tenure Act of 2010,” Legaspi’s proposed bill, should it be passed by Congress, is going to prohibit the pernicious practice being resorted to by several large corporations in hiring rank-and-file level “contractual employees” in order to circumvent existing labor laws so that they could maintain their impressive profits.

Explaining the need for it to be passed into law, Legaspi said that many of the nation’s large business firms, who can be found in the Top 100 list compiled by the respected Forbes Asia magazine, have for the longest time been subverting workers’ rights to full employment opportunities as provided in the Constitution and the Labor Code through the accepted practice commonly referred to as “contractualization.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101007com4.html

Santiago’s privilege speech: DILG + PNP = Jueteng VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 10/07/2010

Santiago’s privilege speech: DILG + PNP = Jueteng

VIEWPOINTS

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

10/07/2010
Thus goes the title of the speech made by the lady senator which stands in command of the following attributes: One, it was delivered with someone not only known for her personal courage but also in command of a sharp legal mind. Two, it is premised on the concrete information gathered from the many sources and much resources of her long standing office. Three, it must be wherefore attentively read and seriously understood for its proper reference and practical observance.

Among the distinct and signal data provided and forwarded by the said speech about jueteng, are the following — with immense social significance and ethical implications to both the present and the future situation of this country, more specifically in conjunction with the much trumpeted “Matuwid na Landas” — or something of the like — with manifest relevance to the gross graft and consuming corruption from the local to the national levels of governance:.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101007com5.html

Thousands in Russia make pilgrimage to relic of saint’s hand FEATURE 10/07/2010

Thousands in Russia make pilgrimage to relic of saint’s hand

FEATURE

10/07/2010
MOSCOW — Pilgrims stood patiently in line to kiss the silver-clasped fingers of Saint Spyridon, and to pray for the fourth-century saint to lend a divine hand in their family and money worries.

A queue outside Moscow’s Danilovsky monastery stretched back several kilometres this week as thousands waited to see the relic of the Greek saint’s right hand, which is briefly on loan to the Russian Orthodox Church.

But Russian believers said it was well worth the wait.

“Something happens to your soul that can’t be put in words. It’s some kind of warmth inside,” Tatyana Makhmutova, a 40-year-old civil servant, told AFP, with tears in her eyes.

“His spirit is present here. It is as if he comes closer to us with his right hand. He blesses us,” pensioner Inna Svezhentseva, 72, told AFP..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101007com6.html

Bullies in cassocks COMMENT By Ronald Roy 10/07/2010

Bullies in cassocks

COMMENT

By Ronald Roy 10/07/2010
A Schism is, one: A split or division between strongly opposed sections or parties, caused by differences in opinion or belief; the formal separation of a Church into two Churches — as in the case of the Great Schism between the Eastern and Western Churches (1054-1472); or three, a secession of a group of the laity owing to doctrinal and other differences with their Church. In light of the brewing contraceptives controversy between the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and non-ecclesiastics, it is suggested that focus be laid on definition three.

Ecclesiastics and laymen are currently embroiled in the throes of a schism. Many among the faithful are prepared to bolt the Catholic Church in protest to the bullying tactics of the CBCP, with many minor Christian Churches, sects and born-again ministries awaiting recruits to beef up their ranks. It can only be hoped that the only Catholic Asian country will not follow the path of the Great Schism or Martin Luther, the German theologian who was excommunicated in 1521 for attacking papal authority and simony (the sale of indulgences)..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101007com7.html

Whitewash seen in Noy’s delay in baring hostage report By Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/07/2010

Whitewash seen in Noy’s delay in baring hostage report

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/07/2010

For the umpteenth time, President Aquino delayed making public the charges against those indicted by the Incident Investigation and Review Committee’s (IIRC) report, and the actions he will be taking against them, saying that he still needs to review his counsels’ reviewed report, which was supposed to have been reviewed by his communications group to cut the “legalese.”

With the long delay in baring these two reports to the public, strong suspicion of Malacañang sanitizing the charges as well as a widescale Palace whitewash rose, as Department of Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Rico Puno, whom Aquino described as being the “most trustworthy” with qualities that are hard to find in others, told Senate reporters in a chance interview yesterday that he is no longer going to resign his post or submit a courtesy resignation since Aquino told him to continue with his job at the DILG.
“I was about to resign but the President told me to continue on,” Puno told reporters after attending a Senate hearing on the jueteng controversy.

Aquino the other day promised that by yesterday, he would make public the withheld portions of the IIRC report simultaneously with the review of the report conducted by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr.
and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Eduardo de Mesa, saying he will be devoting more of his time in writing his own report to the nation on his achievements accomplished during his 100 first days..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101007hed1.html

GMA files counter plea on airport plunder raps By Benjamin B. Pulta

GMA files counter plea on airport plunder raps

By Benjamin B. Pulta 10/07/2010

It’s now her turn.
Former President Arroyo appeared before government prosecutors yesterday and filed a counter affidavit to a plunder complaint against her for the sale of the old Iloilo airport three years ago to a private corporation.
Arroyo left her lawyer, former solicitor general Estelito Mendoza, who was also one of the lawyers of former President Joseph Estrada during the plunder trial at the Sandiganbayan court, to talk to the press after filing under oath, her sworn statement before prosecutors.

The counter affidavit answered a complaint filed by whistleblower Danilo Lihay-lihay who accused Arroyo of violating Republic Act (RA) 7080 or the Anti Plunder Law and also claimed the former chief executive failed to pay the appropriate taxes for the transaction.

The counter affidavit was filed in compliance to a subpoena issued on Sept. 2, 2010 by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Peter Ong, Assistant State Prosecutors George Yarte Jr. and Cresencio delos Trinos who are handling the case..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101007hed2.html

Puno admits Pineda sought to meet him By Angie M. Rosales 10/07/2010

Puno admits Pineda sought to meet him

By Angie M. Rosales 10/07/2010

Embattled Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Rico Puno admitted yesterday in a Senate probe that alleged big-time gambling lord Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda tried to seek an appointment with him through an emissary but remained ambiguous on the identity of the supposed go-between.

Puno had been accused by retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz as allegedly being on the take of jueteng payola along with former Philippine National Police (PNP) Dir. Gen. (ret.) Jesus Verzosa.

Senate probers found it strange that Puno could not name the purported emissary.

In testifying in the resumption of the Senate hearing on the juetengate controversy, Puno reiterated he could no longer remember who among his friends and relatives paid him a visit in his office and broached the possibility of holding a meeting with alleged jueteng operators.

“In the last hearing, you said you could not remember who your friends or relatives visited you to talk about jueteng. Now that you have the written logbook in front of you, maybe your memory will be refreshed,” Blue ribbon committee chairman and overall lead in the jueteng probe, Sen. TG Guingona said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101007hed3.html

Reintegration for ‘mutineers’ to cause demoralization, warn AFP brass By Mario J. Mallari and Angie M. Rosales 10/07/2010

Reintegration for ‘mutineers’ to cause demoralization, warn AFP brass

By Mario J. Mallari and Angie M. Rosales 10/07/2010

The possible reintegration of mutinous officers and soldiers, if granted amnesty by the Commander-in-Chief, PresidentAquino, back to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) may cause demora-lization among the military ranks.

This was according to Department of National Defense (DND) spokesman Eduardo Batac, who clarified the position of Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin regarding the proposal in the Senate to grant amnesty to officers of the AFP who plotted against the Arroyo administration.

“As far as the AFP is concerned, they (mutinous soldiers) violated regulations of the AFP so while they can be granted the presidential amnesty, it would cause demorali-zation on the part of the AFP. So the concern there is the organization itself,” Batac noted.

He, however, stressed that Gazmin fully respects the presidential prerogative to grant amnesty to AFP officers..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101007hed4.html

De Lima sends confidential report on ‘Morong 43’ to Palace Benjamin B. Pulta 10/07/2010

De Lima sends confidential report on ‘Morong 43’ to Palace

Benjamin B. Pulta 10/07/2010

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has submitted her report on the so-called Morong 43 detainees to the President and will leave it to him to disclose the content of her review.

“I have my recommendations already, but it’s a confidential memorandum to the President, so I cannot preempt any action on the part of the President by announcing my recommendation,” she said when sought for comment by reproters on the fate of 43 detainees arrested by the military on suspicion of undertaking terrorist activities.

Aquino ordered a review of the case of the so-called Morong 43 following the calls made by some human rights groups and even the international community, including the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

De Lima had been tasked by Malacañang to conduct a review of the ruling of state prosecutors of the Department of Justice (DoJ) finding probable cause for illegal possession of firearms and explosive against the militants, who were arrested by law enforcers on Feb. 6 in a farmhouse in Morong, Rizal..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20101007nat4.html

Palace: pleased with Noy’s high marks; Opposition: Mere post poll euphoria 10/07/2010

Palace: pleased with Noy’s high marks; Opposition: Mere post poll euphoria

10/07/2010
Malacañang was pleased with the +60 satisfaction survey rating the Social Weather Stations gave President Aquino.

In its survey of 1,200 adults nationwide from Sept. 24-27, the SWS said Aquino received “very good” ratings in all geographical areas, with a net score of +60 (71 satisfied, 11 dissatisfied) in Metro Manila, +65 in the Balance of Luzon (73 satisfied, 8 dissatisfied), +54 in the Visayas (68 satisfied, 14 dissatisfied) and +52 in Mindanao (67 satisfied, 15 dissatisfied).

It is not the highest initial rating for a Philippine president, however, based on SWS data beginning 1986. While better than the +53 received by his late mother, Corazon Aquino, in May 1986 and well above the +24 notched by his predecessor, Gloria Arroyo, in March 2001, Aquino’s starting score just matches that of Joseph Estrada (+60, Sept. 1998) and is topped by Fidel V. Ramos’ +66 (September 1992), Business World, which has first printing rights, said.

An earlier poll placed his net trust rating at +83.

The political opposition in the House said the +60 rating obtained by Aquino in his first 100 days stemmed from post-election euphoria..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101007hed5.html

Twelve Pinoys nabbed for joining Mass in Saudi 10/07/2010

Twelve Pinoys nabbed for joining Mass in Saudi

10/07/2010
Saudi police raided a secret Catholic Mass in Riyadh last week and arrested a dozen Filipinos and a Catholic priest on charges of “congregating in a religious activity” outside of the Islam faith, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh reported.

The raid took place as some 150 Filipinos were attending the Mass in a Riyadh rest house last Friday, the second day of the weekend in Saudi Arabia, a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

The 12 Filipino men and the French priest were “charged with proselytizing,”

Ezzedin Tago, chargé d’affaires at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, said.

The worshippers were taken to the Rawdah Police Station for questioning, Tago added.

Tago said two diplomats had been sent to to assist the detained Filipinos.

The two embassy officials explained to them that the issuance of a kafala might mean only a temporary liberty for them..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101007hed6.html

First 100 days EDITORIAL 10/06/2010

First 100 days

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

10/06/2010
Noynoy Aquino can dismiss his non-performance in his first 100 days in Malacañang — that gave him barely passing marks — as a non-issue. But the reality of it all is, it is during the first 100 days of his presidency wherein he is judged. And unfortunately for him and his administration, they have been found wanting by the Filipino public.

Yet Noynoy could have done a lot, with his political capital in abundance then. He could have taken a leaf from US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who electrified America and gave its people hope in his first 100 days — and to think that Roosevelt rose to power during the time of the Great Depression.

Roosevelt’s first day in office, it has been recorded, was to call Congress to a special session, and directed a series of legislative measures, among them, bills that created jobs, which were needed during the Depression.
By the time his 100 days were over, all the bills had been enacted, and his government, remembered for his “New Deal” was off and running..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101006com1.html

Past catching up on them FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 10/06/2010

Past catching up on them

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

10/06/2010
Impeachment is a congressional political tool that is feared by constitutional officers, until of course Gloria Arroyo came into the picture and, with the aid of her allies in Congress — which included Sen. Franklin Drilon and then Speaker Jose de Venecia, as well as the Supreme Court (SC) justices — made it an annual inoculation against the impeachment virus.

Then, the required number of congressmen to send the impeachment complaint against then SC Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. to the Senate was met, but this was thwarted by the Speaker, as well as then Senate President Drilon, then a Gloria ally, who made it clear that the Senate would not accept the impeachment complaint and instead brought the issue up to the high court to decide. This was also when a status quo ante order on Davide’s impeachment was issued.

Not surprisingly, the high court came up with a ruling on the so-called start of the initiation proceedings, which it said comes when the first impeachment complaint is filed, which made it easy for a constitutional officer to evade impeachment via a bogus complaint. At the same time, the House allies of Gloria rejected consolidating another impeachment complaint with the first complaint, which is now the issue on the case brought before the high court by Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

It is to be noted that the House allies of Gloria then included now Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, who went along with the Gloria majority..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101006com2.html

US, Europe face specter of Mumbai-style attack focus 10/06/2010

US, Europe face specter of Mumbai-style attack

focus

10/06/2010
WASHINGTON — A possible terror plot against European cities has confirmed longstanding fears among Western security services that al-Qaeda and its allies could try to recreate the 2008 onslaught on Mumbai.

European and US security officials, citing recent intelligence, say that al-Qaeda may be planning Mumbai-style attacks with heavily-armed gunmen, a tactic that inflicts mass carnage and terror without the risks associated with bomb-making.

“Compared to trying to smuggle explosives on to an airplane, this is much easier. You just drive to the target, get out and start acting,” Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer, told AFP.

“It’s a relatively simple idea. You get a handful of terrorists willing to commit mass murder and suicide and let them loose in an urban environment,” said Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who has advised President Barack Obama..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101006com3.html

China’s Great Wall crumbles as tourism soars FEATURE 10/06/2010

China’s Great Wall crumbles as tourism soars

FEATURE

10/06/2010
BADALING — Empty gin and whisky bottles, crumpled beer cans and tattered food boxes are piled up after a rave in China — perhaps not so unusual, except that the garbage is on the fabled Great Wall.

The filthy remains of the full-moon techno party, which drew several hundred foreigners to one of the sections of the wall at Badaling, about 60 kilometers (35 miles) from Beijing, left Colombian tourist Francisco Garcia in a sad mood.

“It’s very bad for the environment,” Garcia told AFP, summing up a major problem facing Chinese authorities — how to preserve the Unesco World Heritage site while allowing visitors to take advantage of its majestic beauty.

The sun rises, gently illuminating the impressive structure snaking over the hills. In a lookout tower, nine brightly-coloured tents have been set up for intrepid campers who spent the night in the early autumn chill..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101006com5.html

Your life is what you make it HE SAYS Aldrin Cardon 10/06/2010 It’s a matter of fre

Your life is what you make it

HE SAYS

Aldrin Cardon

10/06/2010
It’s a matter of free choice, this very controversial Reproductive Health bill that seems to have divided the nation after President Aquino sparked a debate with the Catholic Bishops, who threatened to excommunicate him but backtracked.

A “ceasefire’ is now in effect, meaning the church leaders will no longer issue detrimental statements and government, for its last word, saying it is standing pat on its support of family planning and co-related issues in the bill which deal unwanted pregnancies, post-abortion care, freedom to information and care, prevention and management of reproductive tract infections, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases and others.

Where this “ceasefire” would take us is anybody’s guess, but I believe government will no longer backtrack from its pushing the RH bill, especially with a president who had made his stance on birth control clear even when he was just campaigning for Malacañang before the last May polls.

Aquino won the presidency on a number of issues and promises, and even members of the Catholic church and its lay leaders have openly supported Ninoy and Cory’s only son, despite his clear stand on reproductive health, which he reiterated with the inclusion of Akbayan’s Risa Hontiveros, who has become the foremost face of the RH issue, in his senatorial ticket..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101006com6.html

Torn SHE SAYS Dinah S. Ventura 10/06/2010

Torn

SHE SAYS

Dinah S. Ventura

10/06/2010
The Reproductive Health (RH) bill, formally known as House Bill 5043, or “Reproductive Health and Population Development Act of 2008,” is once more at the root of a maelstrom involving Church, State and everything in between.

I say “everything in between” because it sure feels like the citizens of the Philippines, whether or not Catholic, are caught in between an age-old tug of war between two powers that have never seen fit to meet halfway.

Religion and politics are polar opposites, and never the twain shall meet. But at what cost to the people who are members of a Church and are citizens of a nation? What of them who must daily balance on the beliefs of their religion while relying on their government for basic services and protection of human rights?

When it comes to the issue of reproductive health, the Church is adamant about the preservation of life and natural methods of family planning. The State, for its part, puts laws in place to declare the taking of a life as crime and to provide the people with the necessary information and services to promote a healthy family life and population control..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101006com7.html

Amending Epira and other initiatives C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 10/06/2010

Amending Epira and other initiatives

C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S

Jonathan De la Cruz

10/06/2010
Here’s what Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras told the House committee on energy when confronted with the lengthening rotating brownouts in Mindanao and the ever increasing power rates across the board: “There are a number of solutions being worked out to ease the power situation in Mindanao. We should be able to do things soon. Quite apart from this, we are also urging the amendment of the Epira. We are nine years into the Epira implementation so it’s really about time that we do these changes. These companies are actually looking for signals such as that we are willing to look at the laws, look at the rules, look at the structures that we have today and adjust them to the realities that we are presently at..” So, if you are from Mindanao or you are a lowly employee staring at monthly increases in your electric bill will you be assuaged by these words of comfort? I don’t think so. In fact, you may even raise a finger and ask what is really in store for us campesinos as we race toward the third decade of this century.

As far as Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez is concerned he is aware of only one solution for Mindanao now in the pipeline — a 150 MW coal fired plant being put up by the German firm Stetyer. This is on top of the plant it is now operating inside the Phividec complex in Tagoloan. The rest are mere face lifts of existing facilities including those being worked out for the transmission lines and sub stations some of which need to be upgraded already. Which is why Almendras’ advice for the Epira’s amendment may be a step in the right direction — but how soon the needed facilities and at how much is the question..... MORE
Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101006com4.html

Glitches, blunders, errors, failure marked 2010 polls — CenPeg By Charlie V. Manalo 10/06/2010

Glitches, blunders, errors, failure marked 2010 polls — CenPeg

By Charlie V. Manalo 10/06/2010

Despite a Supreme Court ruling ordering the Commission on Elections to release to several groups involved in checking on the integrity of the automated election system adopted by the Comelec on May 10, 2010, the source code and other pertinent documents for their testing purposes, the poll body has still not done so, and will likely be cited in contempt by the high court.

Despite the absence of the source code and other documents at the Post Election Summit (PES) organized by the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPeg) yesterday at Club Filipino in San Juan, Professor Felix Muga pointed to a high incidence of technical glitches and hitches, blunders, voting procedural errors, and other operational failures throughout the country during the May 10, 2010 automated elections, citing among other things the: (a) Precinct Count Optical Scan malfunctioning, breakdowns as shown in many precinct incidents across the country, with the late deliveries, malfunction and shutdowns, unreliable back-up batteries, and equipment shortage marred the disposition and operation of PCOS machines, thus causing delays in the opening of voting, counting, and thewhole election day process itself;

(b) Defective compact flash cards. The delays in the delivery of reconfigured CF cards (in some cases, absence or loss of the memory cards) and using defective memory cards figured in the high-incidence reports, delaying Final Testing and Sealing (FTS) and voting, or absence of FTS. A high percentage of CF cards being brought manually to canvassing, and precincts resorting to manual voting were also reported. In many cases, this problem also resulted in failure of elections or in electoral protests involving the manipulation of CF cards; (c) Use of unofficial thermal Paper; (d) Failure to verify the authenticity of ballots as provided by law with the non-use of UV scanners by a significant number of precinct (Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs); (e) Irregularities in voting procedures & voter disenfranchisement; (f) Transmission snafus. The fact about extensive transmission glitches – not simply an isolated case – shows an unsound decision to enforce an election technology when the required telecommunication infrastructure is unreliable. The satellite contingency hit snags..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101006hed1.html

Ombudsman withdraws corruption case against Abalos 10/06/2010

Ombudsman withdraws corruption case against Abalos

10/06/2010
Claiming it made a mistake in filing a corruption case against former Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr., the Office of the Ombudsman yesterday granted the former Comelec chairman’s Motion to Withdraw Information as it withdrew the corruption case it filed three months ago against Abalos before the Mandaluyong City Metropolitan Trial Court.

Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro approved the filing of the information on Aug. 27, 2009 based on the recommen-dations of graft investigation and prosecution officer III Mary Rawnsle Lopez and Deputy Special Prosecutor Robert Kallos.

The information was filed at the Mandaluyong City MTC docket on June 9, 2010 and landed with the Branch 59 on June 15, 2010.

On Sept. 21, 2010 Prosecution Bureau IV acting director Rabendranath Uy and assistant special prosecutor III Ireneo Paldeng withdrew the case. Again, Casimiro approved the move..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101006hed2.html

Noy ready to bare revised IIRC report 10/06/2010

Noy ready to bare revised IIRC report

10/06/2010
President Aquino is poised to divulge portions of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee report which he had withheld from the public today alongside the study conducted by his legal team in an effort to formally impose the corrective actions he wants implemented in relation to the Aug. 23 hostage crisis in line with the recommendations of the IIRC panel on the charges that would be filed against the personalties whom they have found liable for the hostage fiasco.

Aquino issued this statement in a quick chance interview he granted to reporters following his attendance at the 10th National Philippines Employment Service Office Congress in Tagaytay City yesterday. He earlier announced that he is likely to adopt most of the recommendations submitted to him by the IIRC after its three-week fact-finding probe on the hostage tragedy in Quirino Grandstand.

“We’re coming out hopefully by tomorrow with the IIRC report and the specific charges that would be filed against the individuals involved. All those, more or less, (are) in line with the recommendations,” he said.
Malacañang, for its part, assured the public that the administrative and criminal charges meted the officials and individuals held liable for the incident will hold up in court once these are properly filed before the appropriate venue,.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune


URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101006hed3.html

Military modernization gets paltry P5B in DND budget By Angie M. Rosales 10/06/2010

Military modernization gets paltry P5B in DND budget

By Angie M. Rosales 10/06/2010

Less than five percent, or P5 billion, of the P104.6 billion budget of the Department of National Defense (DND) for 2011 will be allotted for the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) modernization program despite a crying need for the upgrade of AFP’s logistical requirements, the Senate found during a hearing yesterday on the DND budget for next year.

The DND, which is among the agencies that will receive a major share of the P1.6-trillion national budget, is
providing 80 percent of its appropriations for personnel services and 20 percent for capital outlay, maintenance, operations and other expenses (MOOE), including the P5 billion modernization fund.

Payment for pensioners and retirees also eat up the bulk of its budget but the number of supposed beneficiaries appear to be also questionable, committee chairman, Sen. Franklin Drilon told reporters in a briefing.

In the light of these revelations, approval of the DND’s proposed budget is likely to undergo intense scrutiny in the upper chamber..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101006hed5.html

Solon bats for 20% discounts on milk, diapers, medicines By Charlie V. Manalo 10/06/2010

Solon bats for 20% discounts on milk, diapers, medicines

By Charlie V. Manalo 10/06/2010

A lawmaker representing an anti-poverty party-list group has filed a bill seeking to give 20 percent discounts on milk, diaper and medicine products to an estimated 14 million solo parents — especially those with infants — and who are considered among the most “vulnerable” members of society.

In filing House Bill 3391, Rep. Carol Jayne Lopez of the You Against Corruption and Poverty (YACAP) party-list group sought for the giving of up to 20 percent discounts to solo parents purchasing milk or formula products, medicines and supplements, diapers and other necessary infant items for their babies.

“Being a solo parent doubles the responsibility of raising a child and it makes both solo parents and their children vulnerable to all of life’s hardships. As members of the society’s vulnerable protection groups, solo parents need all the help they can get from the government,” said Lopez, a single parent herself.

Although unverified estimates puts the number of solo parents to 50 percent of the population, a World Health Organization-funded study done by the Department of Health (DoH) and the University of the Philippines – National Institute for Health (UP-NIH) places the number of solo parents at 14-15 percent of estimated 94 million Filipinos..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20101006nat5.html

Jinggoy slams politically motivated report on Erap’s ‘Log Cabin’ 10/06/2010

Jinggoy slams politically motivated report on Erap’s ‘Log Cabin’

10/06/2010
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada yesterday denounced reports attributing ownership to his father, former President Joseph Estrada, a property at Camp John Hay in Baguio City now up for bidding by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).

The senator took the floor to condemn what he claimed was another apparent politically motivated move to besmirch the former leader.

“The manner in which (former) President Estrada’s name was bannered in this piece was unfair, uncalled for, and quite malicious. It was obviously done to create theimpression that he owns the property. And since the newspaper in question is readily available anywhere and likewise has an online edition, the general public may unwittingly be led to believe this fallacy. Questions may arise on the source of funds used for the purchase of this very expensive piece of real estate, especially from my father’s detractors – the few of them who remain, as their numbers have been reduced drastically over the years,” Senator Estrada said in a privilege speech.
.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101006hed6.html

Low rating on Noynoy blamed on ‘NPA’ execs By Angie M. Rosales 10/06/2010

Low rating on Noynoy blamed on ‘NPA’ execs

By Angie M. Rosales 10/06/2010

The poor rating the Senate gave President Aquino in his first 100 days should be blamed on his advisers and other Malacañang officials, who are non-performing assets (NPAs), Sen. Joker Arroyo said yesterday.
“His staff, his ministers have not done him good. They’re inadequate. And their performance issue, undesirable,” Arroyo told reporters.

Arroyo said he disagreed with the assessment made by his peers in the Senate who mostly gave Aquino a six to seven rating out of a perfect 10 saying the President deserves a higher grade because the enormous trust and faith the people bestowed on him remains steadfast and unwavering.

“The very important fact here is that despite all the shortcomings of his ministers, the President has been able to maintain people’s faith and confidence in him. That is the test of leadership, when you’ll able to maintain the faith of the people,” he said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101006hed7.html

Dead end EDITORIAL 10/05/2010

Dead end

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

10/05/2010
Civil disobedience, say the Catholic bishops, is an option the Church leaders would be taking, should Malacañang go ahead with its plan of making available contraceptives.

This is all bravura on the part of the bishops, because they certainly know that they can’t implement this clear threat, even as they claim to have successfully called for civil disobedience in 1986, leading to the ouster of then President Ferdinand Marcos.

As usual, the bishops are into deliberately portraying a different historical account, to benefit themselves.
The Church never called for civil disobedience in 1986. The political opposition did, through a boycott and refusal to pay taxes to the government, both of which calls were a failure, if truth must be told. The boycott of products identified with the Marcos regime certainly was no success, although the political opposition then claimed this to have been a huge success. As for the non-payment of taxes which the business groups claimed to have supported, this too was a failure, since business was so scared of not remitting the withheld income tax of employees..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101005com1.html

A non-issue? FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 10/05/2010

A non-issue?

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

10/05/2010
Malacañang mouthpieces yesterday reportedly said that it is a non-issue, as far as Noynoy Aquino is concerned, whether he gets a passing or failing mark for his 100 days in office performance.

That’s by far the most arrogant statement made by Aquino, through his mouthpieces.
Fail or pass does not matter to Noynoy, when a failing mark given by his constituents means that he is being seen as a most incompetent president who does not deserve to lead the nation? And he doesn’t care?

But then again, Noynoy and his Palace team already know by now that they haven’t done anything and wasted their 100 days, as his mouthpieces have also earlier stated that which is important is that they are on the right track. Right track to where? More non-performance?.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101005com2.html

Mexican drug war crimes go live on the Internet focus 10/05/2010

Mexican drug war crimes go live on the Internet

focus

10/05/2010
MEXICO CITY — In the midst of the brutal drug trafficking war encroaching on their lives, thousands of Mexicans every morning check social network Web sites to see if they will encounter any unpleasant surprises on the way to work or school.

But they are not the only ones.

While average citizens go online to let others know where in their neighborhood a body has been uncovered or if they can expect disruptions from cartels or the Mexican military, the drug gangs themselves also use the tools to manipulate public opinion by making threats and warnings.

The spread of vital information ahead of the daily commute, via social networking technology and sites like Facebook and Twitter, is especially useful in the country’s north, near the US border, which has become ground zero for the country’s drug war.

More than 28,000 persons are believed to have been killed in drug cartel-related violence in Mexico in the last four years, when President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown, making residents increasingly desperate for ways to avoid the bloodshed..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101005com3.html

Bald men or battleships? AN OUTSIDERS VIEW Ken Fuller 10/05/2010

Bald men or battleships?

AN OUTSIDERS VIEW

Ken Fuller

10/05/2010
An interesting – and, despite its serious content, amusing — duel has developed between Rigoberto Tiglao and Dr. Bernardo Villegas in the pages of the Inquirer. Initially, rather than either mentioning the other’s name, they were like two battleships exchanging salvos from either side of the horizon.

Tiglao opened the exchange on Aug. 12 with a column entitled “There are 100 million of us now” in which he complained: “It is amazing how a few top-notch economists, particularly those belonging to the Vatican’s vanguard, Opus Dei, can still argue in this day and age that there is no connection between population growth rates and economic well-being.”

Economist? Opus Dei? Who fits that description?

On Sept. 25, Villegas, (economist and Opus Dei member) fired off “The Philippine population is not exploding.” This contained a reference to “ignorant journalists or commentators who talk about an exploding population.” Now who could that possibly be?.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101005com4.html

Ladysmith Black Mambazo still strong, 50 years on FEATURE 10/05/2010

Ladysmith Black Mambazo still strong, 50 years on

FEATURE

10/05/2010
PRETORIA — As a young black man in apartheid South Africa, Joseph Shabalala dreamed of forming a Zulu capella choir whose music could change the world.

Fifty years later, Ladysmith Black Mambazo have won three Grammys, recorded with giants like Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder, and performed at the closing of the World Cup in July.

But as the group turns 50, they are celebrating with a “Back to eKasi” tour, translated roughly as “Back to the ‘Hood,’” performing through the townships whose support launched them to international fame.

Shabalala first brought the choir together on a farm near the town of Ladysmith. They started out singing at weddings, then took to the airwaves in radio singing contests, where they were eventually banned — because they won every time.

“It is a good way to go back with people. They show up, that means they love you,” Shabalala said before a concert in Atteridgeville, a township outside Pretoria..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101005com5.html

Saudi women fight for control of their marital fate FEATURE 10/05/2010

Saudi women fight for control of their marital fate

FEATURE

10/05/2010
RIYADH — Women in Saudi Arabia are fighting back against tribal traditions that make them hostage to the whims of their fathers and male guardians who alone can decide who their future husbands will be.

Faced with a lifetime of being forced to remain single, an increasing number of Saudi women, many of them university graduates with good jobs, are going to court to dispute their fathers’ refusal to sign off on their marriages.

In July, a Medina court rejected a 42-year-old doctor’s petition to override her father and brothers’ refusal to allow her marriage to a surgeon she works with, because he did not belong to their tribe.

The court ruled that the father was justified, and that she was not being obedient by trying to marry someone outside the clan.

“Unfortunately we have a strange paradox in society, where young girls only 10 years old can be married, but an adult woman can be prevented from marrying for illogical reasons,” Suhaila Zainal Abidin of the National Society for Human Rights told AFP..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101005com6.html

Dinosaur trove spills more secrets focus 10/05/2010

Dinosaur trove spills more secrets

focus

10/05/2010
CUENCA — Decades after a mechanical pine-tree digger first unearthed it, an extraordinary trove of dinosaur fossils in central Spain is revealing its secrets.
When the digging machine cut a furrow to plant pines in the arid soil near the medieval town of Cuenca in the 1980s, it sliced through more than 100 million years to one of Europe’s richest seams of fossils.

It was a fluke that opened the way to a series of discoveries about the creatures that walked our planet in the Cretaceous period, between 65 and 145 million years ago.

The latest secret: A strange hump-backed dinosaur, fossilized after it had devored its prey about 125 million years ago.

Six meters (20 feet) long from snout to tail tip, the dinosaur had jaws and small, clawed forelimbs, a curved spine and small hump.

Pepito, as the creature has been nicknamed by the team from Autonomous University of Madrid who dug it out, was a fast and powerful hunter.

And it had apparently eaten recently. The unique, nearly complete fossil contained the remnants of its prey in the abdominal cavity..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101005com7.html

Low marks for 100 days a non-issue—Noy By Aytch S. dela Cruz and Angie M. Rosales 10/05/2010

Low marks for 100 days a non-issue—Noy

By Aytch S. dela Cruz and Angie M. Rosales 10/05/2010


President Aquino barely made it in getting a passing grade, in his first 100 days as the country’s 15th president, senators said yesterday when asked for an assessment on his performance.

His critics, however, gave Aquino a failing mark, while Aquino himself shrugged all these off, saying that giving him a failing or passing mark is a non-issue to him.

In giving Aquino a rating for his 100 day performance, with 10 being the highest grade, most senators gave this answer: Between six to seven.

His allies in the Senate, however, were quick to defend Aquino, citing the difficulties he had inherited from the previous administration.

“You know he has done well but the cards were stacked against his administration. Talk about midnight appointees, the bureaucracy....MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101005hed1.html

Collusion cited in DND-BAC’s P4-billion PAF-Navy choppers deal deferment By Mario J. Mallari 10/05/2010

P4-billion PAF-Navy choppers deal deferment

By Mario J. Mallari 10/05/2010

The Department of National Defense-Bids and Awards Committee (DND-BAC) yesterday announced the deferment of the acquisition of P4 billion worth of Air Force and Navy helicopters, citing reports of collusion between the suppliers and members of the technical working group.

DND-BAC chairman Assistant Secretary Ernesto Boac made the announcement during the committee’s meeting in the presence of members of the Defense Press Corps (DPC), taking note of previous statements made by Representatives Teddy Casiño and Tomas Osmeña and media reports.

“Here is now a memorandum of the secretary of national defense to defer the bidding of the multi-role helicopters of the Philippine Navy. Another decision is that we will further defer action on the post qualification of the multi-attack helicopters of the Philippine Air Force,” announced Boac.

The contracts in question were the seven units of attack helicopters worth P3.2 billion intended for the Air Force and P860 million worth of two multi-role helicopters for the Navy..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101005hed2.html

No timetable for US troops’ presence in RP — envoy By Michaela P. del Callar 10/05/2010

No timetable for US troops’ presence in RP — envoy

By Michaela P. del Callar 10/05/2010

The United States will agree to any Philippine government plan to review a defense treaty allowing American military presence in the country, Ambassador Harry Thomas yesterday said, but added US troops would remain as long as the government wants them to help fight continuing terror threats.

Thomas also stressed that Ame-rican troops have not engaged in local combat and that Washington has no plans to reopen US military bases in the country — both are banned by the Philippine Constitution.

Some Filipino senators have sought a review of the Visiting Forces Agreement, which the Philippine Senate ratified in 1999, eight years after the closure of US military bases in the Philippines.

The VFA came under fire when the American Embassy won custody of a US Marine accused of raping a Filipina in 2006. Left-wing groups demanded the abrogation of the VFA, prompting senators to take a second look at the treaty, particularly a provision which specifies which of the two allied countries should take custody of any soldier who would face local prosecution for any crime..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101005hed3.html

Palace folds, seeks truce with Church By Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/05/2010

Palace folds, seeks truce with Church

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 10/05/2010

A Church official yesterday said the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is accepting a ceasefire that he said Malacañang had sought on the exchange of threatening statements over the Reproductive Health bill issue but added that silence will not mean that the Church is “foregoing a strong position” on the controversial legislative proposal seeking active government promotion of artificial contraceptives.

Fr. Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the CBCP’s Commission on Family and Life, said the CBCP is withdrawing from giving “unnecessary statements” until a formal dialog is finally held.

“We respect the request of Malacañang for a ceasefire to calm everybody… and as we wait for a face-to-face dialog with the bishops and the president,” Castro said.

The Palace, however, was in a state of flux over the supposed dialog on whether or not one was already held or if it is planning to hold one with Church leaders..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101005hed4.html

Ilocos Sur judge shot to death, SC seeks gun ban exemption 10/05/2010

Ilocos Sur judge shot to death, SC seeks gun ban exemption

10/05/2010
Unidentified gunmen shot dead another judge in Ilocos Sur yesterday in an attack that could be related to his job, police said.

Vigan Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 20 Judge Reynaldo Lacasandile was killed at dawn in the northern town of Tagudin by two men on a motorcycle who shot him twice and sped off, Ilocos Sur police director Senior Supt. Dopale said.

Lacasandili was waiting for a ride bound for Vigan when shot at around 4:45 a.m. Monday, he added.
“This was possibly work-related. We are verifying what cases he was handling,” Dopale told reporters..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101005hed5.html

House asks SC to lift status quo ante By Charlie V. Manalo 10/05/2010

House asks SC to lift status quo ante

By Charlie V. Manalo 10/05/2010

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. yesterday asked the Supreme Court (SC) to lift its status quo ante order and to respect the “exclusive power” of the House of Representatives in initiating the impeachment case against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

In his Motion for Leave to Intervene and Comment in Intervention Ex Abundanti Cautela, the Speaker said the status quo ante order issued by the Court “emasculates the power of the House of Representatives to exact any form of accountability” from the Ombudsman, and endows Gutierrez with “the status of an untouchable.”

The Speaker also defended the House committee on justice against allegations that it violated the constitutional provision which bars the initiation of impeachment proceedings against the same official more than once within a period of one year.

Two impeachment complaints against the Ombudsman were filed separately but they were referred to the committee on justice simultaneously..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101005hed6.html

US diplomat says South China Sea within ‘America’s interest’ By Michaela P. del Callar 10/05/2010

US diplomat says South China Sea within ‘America’s interest’

By Michaela P. del Callar 10/05/2010

The United States’ top diplomat to the Philippines yesterday said stability and unfettered access to the disputed South China Sea waters is within America’s “national interest,” saying this will ensure a freer flow of trade in the region.

Ambassador Harry Thomas called for the adoption of a strong and legally binding code of conduct, which is aimed at preventing South China Sea territorial disputes from erupting into armed conflict.

“We think that it is important for the United States to remain engaged in Asia. Asia is a huge trading partner for us and contributes so much to exports and imports to our economy. In order to have that we need freedom of navigation, we need freedom of seas and we need stability,” Thomas told foreign correspondents in a briefing.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for unimpeded access to the area that China claims wholly as its own, and accused Beijing of adopting an increasingly aggressive stance off the South China Sea..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20101005nat1.html

Shedding light on issues LETTER 10/04/2010 Dear Editor:

Shedding light on issues

LETTER

10/04/2010
Dear Editor:
This is to shed light on the issues raised by your opinion columnist Jonathan de la Cruz in his column Crossroads, published in your respected newspaper on Sept. 27.

Secretary Robredo has said nothing against Undersecretary Rico E. Puno especially in public. Much more, he never has encouraged his supporters “to muddle” the situation, he has good working relationship with his undersecretary.

Secretary Robredo is not absolving himself from any responsibility. President Aquino himself clarified that Secretary Robredo did not have direct role in the crisis management committee tasked to handle the Quirino Hostage Crisis..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101004com8.html

Noy not fit to prevail EDITORIAL 10/04/2010

Noy not fit to prevail

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

10/04/2010
Without the Church and the Palace accepting it, Noynoy and the bishops appear definitely headed for a collision course over the Reproductive Health (RH) bill issue.

Noynoy and the leaders of the Church are both saying that it was media that were blowing the issue out of proportion while both sides at the same time are insisting on being firm on their respective stands.

Noynoy appears to have raised its level of commitment to the use of contraceptives to control the runaway population growth after his working visit to the United States where he received a $434-million grant from the Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC). The grant, however, requires the meeting of criteria for his administration to draw down the huge amount and the government’s commitment to limit population growth should be one of these.

The Church, on the other hand, has been consistent in its antiquated view on birth control..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101004com4.html

Who will blink first? FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 10/04/2010

Who will blink first?

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

10/04/2010
With two opposing positions, the planned dialog between Noynoy Aquino and the Catholic bishops are hardly expected to get anywhere — unless compromises are made.

But it is certain that no compromise on their position will come from the bishops, who hew the Vatican line.

It stands to reason therefore, that if a compromise is reached, it will have to be Noynoy who will be giving in.

And the way for him to give in, and not lose face with the public, is to ensure that the Reproductive Health (RH) bill that is supported by both senators and congressmen, as well as the majority of Filipinos, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, will never be enacted into law — at least during his term as president.

What the bishops are against really is the RH bill, since they do not make such noise and raise the specter of hellfire when local executives announce that they are giving their constituents contraceptives for their use — and for free..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101004com5.html