Shameless obfuscation DIE HARD III Herman Tiu Laurel 07/29/2011

Shameless obfuscation

DIE HARD III

Herman Tiu Laurel

07/29/2011
What is P1 billion over nine years of graft to P800 billion in debt service corruption each year, totaling P7.2 trillion the past nine years? The former is just coffee money while the latter is a gargantuan scam by the financial institutions. Officially adopted as policy in past administrations, this national swindle has even worsened under PeNoy after a fresh new round of debts was incurred, beginning with P300 billion in December 2010. And that’s despite the fact that the foreign debt, which the country no longer needs, can even be reduced by paying off substantial portions while renegotiating the rest. But has PeNoy made a squeak, much less, thought about it?

Indeed, this problem has gone on for decades; but the present regime has now been handed the golden opportunity to end it by tapping the OFW remittances accumulated and idled in the Special Deposit Account (SDA), as well as the surplus Gross International Reserves (GIRs) regularly bragged about by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). So why does PeNoy keep mum on all this? Could it be ignorance, cowardice, or both?

Consumer woes brought about by inflation are one of the most serious crises ever to hit the Filipino people — from the astronomical rise in the price of National Food Authority (NFA) rice (P11/kilo during Erap’s time to today’s P23/kilo) to the high cost of public utilities (including our highest electricity rates in Asia and our highest cellphone interconnection rates in the Asia-Pacific).

In past annual assessments made by former presidents, inflation has always been a key emphasis, with the lowly galunggong as the standard. Nowadays, even galunggong is way beyond the reach of poor Filipinos and is no longer mentioned. Discussions on commodity prices are relevant only if the people have the jobs and the decent income to purchase such goods and services.

However, one of the centerpiece programs of PeNoy, the CCT (Conditional Cash Transfer) or his political doleout program, where pro-PeNoy rallyists are rewarded, and which doesn’t create jobs — confirms his government’s failure at jobs creation.

One of the commodities that define Filipino living standards today is electricity. PeNoy praised Congress for two laws extending the lifeline rate subsidy and the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC) set-up to oversee electricity privatization.

Upon hearing this, power consumer advocate Butch Junia immediately texted us: “I do not know what to make of P-Noys’ claiming credit for the lifeline rate and extension of the JCPC. Did he endorse the lifeline rate knowing full well that those consuming 101 kWh or more per month are the ones paying that subsidy? That is P25 additional cost for a 150 kWh household. Did he know that the Epira administered by the JCPC increased our power rates to the highest in Asia? If he knew these, what kind of a president is he to lay the subsidy burden on unknowing customers?... If he did not know these fundamental realities… what kind of president is he?”

PeNoy boasted of reducing unemployment from 8 percent as of April 2010 to 7.2 percent. But Ibon Foundation contradicted this, citing the failure of 1.2 million new entrants to be absorbed into the job market. PeNoy, as expected, reacted acerbically, saying: “Kung ayaw n’yong makita, ‘di ba, sorry, ‘di ba, wala akong magagawa do’n.”

To settle the question, I checked on data banks culled from the International Labor Organization (ILO) figures placing RP’s 2010 unemployment rate at 7.2 percent — no different from what PeNoy is claiming today. Only, PeNoy and his speechwriters tried to distort the picture by presenting seasonal against annual trends — which is no different from Gloria Arroyo’s style in claiming better stats.

But as they all obfuscate, they have invariably classified tricycle drivers as among the employed when such is the recourse of those who lose their jobs, same with their tact of considering unpaid family workers as among the employed.

This jobs crisis should be seen against the backdrop of the economic environment — from Cory Aquino down to her son — characterized by liberalization, deregulation and privatization. Trade liberalization undercut Philippine industries that deregulation and privatization made uncompetitive with predatory rate fixing of privatized public utilities (electricity, water, irrigation, tollways, port services, telecoms). Add to this increasing tax burden on both industry and consumers and the humongous annual debt service and you have a recipe for disaster.

As the Philippines became uncompetitive, the middle class shrank and the underground economy expanded, thus narrowing our tax base and causing government capabilities to collapse with escalating graft and corruption. Kilusan para sa Makabansang Ekonomiya (KME) chairman Jimmie Regalario summed this all up in our Destiny Cable TV show entitled, “So-Ano Na?”: PeNoy has nothing on any of these.

A long decade after mainstream broadcast media stopped inviting me to their TV debates, I was invited again last Monday to a 1 p.m. GMA News show. Winnie Monsod sat across me. She gave PeNoy a passing mark based on the Movement for Good Government (MGG)’s rating of 10 indicators — this, despite the fact that the MGG actually rated PeNoy a failure, with a score of only 4.75 out of 10.

Furthermore, Monsod crowed about the anti-corruption drive of the “daang matuwid,” which I said was belied by PeNoy’s appointment of several corrupt personalities — from the DILG and DoTC undersecretaries, to the sweepstakes agency chief who was with the Arroyo and FVR boards where she consented to and undoubtedly partook of all the graft and corruption there. While I was at it, I also cited Joker Arroyo’s alleged use of that agency’s funds for his 2001 campaign which they choose to keep silent about.

Finally, PeNoy’s flagship Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program was not mentioned because it’s still an absolute zero; same with the bluster around the Spratlys and the boasted acquisition of vintage Hamilton cutters, which are laughable. These are why PeNoy’s cheering squad in mainstream papers such as the Inquirer can only praise his “greatness” in oratory (like an Amorsolo in speech) and the oversold “wang-wang” spiel… All in the spirit of shameful and shameless obfuscation.

(Tune in to Radyo OpinYon, Monday to Friday, 5 to 6 p.m., and Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; Talk News TV with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on GNN, Destiny Cable Channel 8; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com for our articles plus TV and radio archives)


(Reprinted with permission from Mr. Herman Tiu-Laurel)

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110729com5.html

Dirty, wicked politics EDITORIAL Click to enlarge 07/29/2011

Dirty, wicked politics

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

07/29/2011
The horse trading between the House and Malacañang on the 2012 budget has started and to describe these as wretched would be an understatement.

President Aquino had submitted a P1.8-trillion budget that included more than P40 billion in lump sum for the centerpiece cash transfer program or what his administration calls the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) that was even copied from the previous administration of Gloria Arroyo.

On the day that the House received the proposed budget, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte’s first move was to strike a deal with the Budget secretary on the release of congressmen’s pork barrel or the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for which Belmonte nearly faced a mutiny earlier.

Belmonte, who is an ally of Noynoy, but was a staunch ally of Gloria when she was in Malacañang, bluntly told Budget Secretary Butch Abad that unless the pork barrel is released the budget would be consigned to the dust bin..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110729com1.html

Noy embracing the ‘wang-wang’ culture FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 07/29/2011

Noy embracing the ‘wang-wang’ culture

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

07/29/2011
Noynoy claims to be treading the straight path and has even called on the nation to do away with what he calls the “wang-wang” culture representing abuse of power and privilege. He says that as president, his vision is the nation’s social transformation. He also says that he is there to strengthen the institutions and even speaks even of instilling independence in such institutions.

But what he says is not necessarily what he does, that’s for certain.

Noynoy called for an end to corruption, yet he and his aides are heavy into corrupting the House of Representatives by dangling the congressional pork barrel release in exchange for the swift passage of his proposed national budget.

But if, as he claims, he wants to strengthen the institutions, one of which is the House, whose members are said to be representatives of the people, why is he resorting to bribery and further corrupting the already corrupt congressmen? Why should there be a quid pro quo for the congressmen’s pork barrel, when this is what is really due them, as allocated in the national budget?.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110729com2.html

Afghan army fights for respect, equipment in south focus 07/29/2011

Afghan army fights for respect, equipment in south

focus

07/29/2011
COMPANY OUTPOST WARE — Afghan commander Maqim Sediqi has spent more than half of his life on battlefields but says that these days he is more preoccupied fighting for respect than firing his gun.

The army captain leads some 100 men battling alongside American forces to keep control of the critical Arghandab Valley in southern Kandahar province, where a surge of US troops last year has seen some successes against a trenchant insurgency.

But this year’s traditional summer fighting season comes as thousands of US troops prepare to leave Afghanistan, putting the fledgling force under pressure to show what they can do for themselves.

And while commanders cite gains in the outlying areas of the province, the birthplace of the Taliban, a string of political assassinations in Kandahar city a few kilometers (miles) south has brought fresh fears of an insurgent comeback..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110729com3.html

Norway’s aristocrat PM voices grief of a nation focus 07/29/2011

Norway’s aristocrat PM voices grief of a nation

focus

07/29/2011
OSLO — Jens Stoltenberg, whose government and party was targeted by last week’s deadly attacks, has been unanimously hailed for his dignified and quintessentially Norwegian handling of the crisis aftermath.

According to a poll published on Wednesday, 94 percent of Norwegians have been satisfied with the prime minister’s performance in the aftermath of last week’s massacre while only two percent have been dissatisfied.

“Stoltenberg has been a fantastic leader under exceptional circumstances, humane and yet firm at the same time.
 He has never been so impressive, Harald Stanghelle, a columnist for the leading Aftenposten daily, told AFP.

When a massive car bomb exploded outside his office on Friday afternoon, the 52-year-old was rushed into hiding by his security detail for fear that his life was in danger..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110729com6.html

How Norway’s police moved in on the gunman FEATURE 07/29/2011

How Norway’s police moved in on the gunman

FEATURE

07/29/2011
OSLO — Bullets were still hitting the water when police arrived to stop the massacre on the Norwegian island of Utoeya, the officer who led the operation said Wednesday.

Haavard Gaasbakk, who headed the intervention team, defended his men against criticism from some quarters that they were too slow to get to the scene.

Gaasbakk said he was proud of his men’s work Friday, the day self-confessed killer Anders Behring Breivik went on the rampage and shot dead 68 people on the island.

“They were extremely solid and showed much courage right down the line,” Gaasbakk said.

According to the official version of events, it took police just over an hour after receiving the first message about the shootings on the island, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Oslo, to arrest Behring Breivik..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110729com7.html

Letter from Mika Ortega C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 07/29/2011

Letter from Mika Ortega

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

Jonathan De la Cruz

07/29/2011
Mika Ortega is the daughter of murdered broadcast journalist and environmentalist Dr. Gerry Ortega whose case remains unsolved, mired in bureaucratic limbo at the Department of Justice (DoJ).

Last we heard, the panel investigating Doc Gerry’s murder has recommended the filing of charges against members of the “hit team” — all from Quezon — who confessed to the crime. But, wonder of wonders, the panel did not even bother to look at the confessions of these people implicating in no uncertain terms, prominent Palaweños, including former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes whom the Ortega family and a growing number of those who have been monitoring this case allege have something to do with this dastardly act. But Mika and her family, though doubly heart broken as a result of the panel’s decision, continue to plod on. Before P-Noy’s second State of the Nation Address (Sona), Mika and her mother made the rounds requesting friends in media and in other sectors, including the religious, to please remind the Chief Executive not only of Doc Gerry’s fate but all other unsolved media and extra-judicial killings. They were hoping that at the very least P-Noy would say something to get the investigating bodies, especially the DoJ back on their feet and move even faster to solve these cases. No such luck. But they remain hopeful. Yesterday, Mika guested in our daily morning show Karambola over dwIZ and repeated her plea. In response to her call and P-Noy’s pledge to do away with the “wang-wang” culture of abuse of power and impunity, we are giving space to her latest plea. We hope Malacañang will listen not only to her family’s plea but those of other victims whose cases remain in limbo. Here goes:.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110729com4.html

Police brass stonewall Senate on choppers probe By Angie M. Rosales 07/29/2011

PROBERS FAIL TO LINK ARROYOS TO DEAL

Police brass stonewall Senate on choppers probe

By Angie M. Rosales 07/29/2011

Officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) placed in the hot seat at a Senate probe into the acquisition of two used helicopters supposedly owned by the family of former President Arroyo, passed off and paid for as brand new units, tried to wash their hands off the anomalous purchase while at the same time tried covering up for the real owners of the aircraft in the raw deal which, in turn, incensed the senators.

As a result, Senate probers failed to establish at the hearing yesterday the true owners of the choppers who were alleged to be the Arroyos or the former First Family were the original owners of two of the three choppers the PNP purchased.

Appearing before the Senate blue ribbon committee, PNP officials privy to the transaction of the alleged irregular P105 million purchase of light operational helicopters from Manila Aerospace Trading Corp. (Maptra) failed to provide solid information on the purchases that happened in 2009 despite admitting that the PNP supply contract specified that the helicopters to be purchased should be “unused” or brand new. One official admitted to Senate probers that they were actually deceived by Maptra, the supplier..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110729hed1.html

DoJ set to probe ’04 vote fraud; GMA camp says ER switch ridiculous 07/29/2011

DoJ set to probe ’04 vote fraud; GMA camp says ER switch ridiculous

07/29/2011
There is no let-up from the Aquino administration in its bid to pin down former President now Rep. Gloria Arroyo on poll fraud, with the Department of Justice (DoJ) yesterday saying it will be investigating fresh allegations that Arroyo used the police to steal the 2004 presidential election.

The inquiry will look into claims by a senior police officer that he broke into the House of Representatives in 2005 to switch election documents stored there so that Arroyo’s victory would survive a recount, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said.

“We’ve always known that in each election there’s cheating, but the scale of it in 2004, based on the various bits and pieces that we’ve been getting from our sources... it’s really mind-boggling,” De Lima told reporters.
She said Arroyo’s win could not be overturned by a finding of fraud, but the evidence could be used to file criminal charges against those involved..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110729hed2.html

Australia probes Philippine organ allegations 07/29/2011

Australia probes Philippine organ allegations

07/29/2011
SYDNEY — Australian police said yesterday they had launched their first organ trafficking investigation after an elderly kidney patient reportedly brought a Filipina to Sydney for harvesting purposes.

Police said a house had been raided in March in relation to “suspected organ trafficking” and a probe was under way.

“This is the first organ trafficking case investigated by the Australian Federal Police,” a spokesman told AFP.

Officers usually tasked with people trafficking and sex slavery crimes were examining the case, she added, declining to detail the specific allegations..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110729nat6.html

Tropical storm ‘Juaning’ leaves 35 dead; 130,225 families affected By Mario J. Mallari 07/29/2011

Tropical storm ‘Juaning’ leaves 35 dead; 130,225 families affected

By Mario J. Mallari 07/29/2011
Tropical storm “Juaning” yesterday left the country, leaving at least 35 people dead, including four policemen and personnel of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) whose truck stalled in Ifugao province while conducting hazard mapping in the area on Wednesday and was hit by a massive landslide.

National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) executive director Undersecretary Benito Ramos said that four bodies have been recovered by rescuers from the landslide that hit a portion of the national highway in Aguinaldo town.

At around 7 a.m. yesterday, two bodies were unearthed from the landslide while two others were discovered hours later.

On Wednesday, three personnel of the MGB-Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) were conducting hazard mapping in the area at around 4 p.m. when their pickup truck stalled. Two policemen assisted the MGB inspectors but unfortunately the landslide happened, burying the victims..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110729nat1.html

Lawmakers urge House to speed up probe into ballot-switching By Gerry Baldo 07/29/2011

Lawmakers urge House to speed up probe into ballot-switching

By Gerry Baldo 07/29/2011

Lawmakers yesterday urged the House leadership to expedite the investigation into the alleged switching of ballots at the time these were being canvassed at the House of Representatives after the 2004 elections.

According to San Juan Rep. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, the admission of the police officer that there was switching of election returns during the Batasan canvass is a major evidence during the 2004 electoral fraud.

“All those who have knowledge of the cheating and those who allowed this to happen should be included in the investigation,” Ejercito said yesterday even as he called for a wider probe into the allegations.

“I am encouraging those involved to come out and shed light regarding the 2004 electoral fraud and 2001 conspiracy that both stole the presidency from the rightful persons,” Ejercito, son of former President Estrada, said. Estrada was ousted in a coup led by then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2001..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110729met2.html

1,305 smoking ban violators fall in Caloocan City, penalized 07/29/2011

1,305 smoking ban violators fall in Caloocan City, penalized

07/29/2011
Joint operatives of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and Reformed Department of Public Safety and Traffic Management (RDPSTM) of the Caloocan City government have apprehended a total of 1,305 smoking ban violators all over the city.

This was revealed by RDPSTM chief Al Sta. Maria in his report to Mayor Enrico “Recom” Echiverri updating the latter on the number of apprehensions that the two agencies have made since July 1.

Most of the violators were individuals caught smoking cigarettes at the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Monumento Station which is frequented by thousands of commuters daily, Sta. Maria said.

Smoking ban is strictly observed not only in public places like the LRT but also in and around the city hall, he said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110729met3.html

Unacceptable then, acceptable now? EDITORIAL 07/28/2011

Unacceptable then, acceptable now?

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

07/28/2011
Sometime in 2010, shortly after Noynoy became the Malacañang resident, and when the weather bureau failed to announce the occurrence of stormy weather with heavy rains pouring into Metro Manila, Noynoy publicly berated the weather bureau chief, firing him on the spot, saying that it was unacceptable to him that the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) failed to predict the stormy weather accurately and warn residents as well as the Coast Guard, which he said left the government unprepared for such a calamitous situation.
The then Pagasa chief, who was fairly respected and held in esteem by the Pagasa employees, tried to explain that the equipment they had was obsolete, along with many more explanations besides. But none of these explanations mattered. He was told to go by Noynoy, without as much as a probe.

Last heard of the old Pagasa chief was that he had left for work abroad..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110728com1.html

Whither independence? FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 07/28/2011

Whither independence?

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

07/28/2011
The hype over the appointment of a former high court justice was that, finally, the nation is to have an independent Ombudsman.

But by independent, as measured by Noynoy and his Yellows, is meant for one who is seen as biased against his predecessor, Gloria Arroyo.

Noynoy devotees speak of the new Ombudsman’s voting record as a dissenter in many Supreme Court (SC) decisions that favored the then administration. But what is being omitted is the fact that before the fall- out of a law firm with the Arroyos, which firm earlier served as her personal lawyers, the new Ombudsman, former Associate Justice of the SC Conchita Carpio-Morales’ voting record was certainly Malacañang-friendly, just as friendly as that of her cousin, SC Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.

Evidently, Noynoy and his Yellows see being “independent” to mean anyone friendly to him and biased against his predecessor..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110728com2.html

Hezbollah on edge in face of Syria revolt ANALYSIS 07/28/2011

Hezbollah on edge in face of Syria revolt

ANALYSIS

07/28/2011
BEIRUT — The unprecedented revolt threatening the regime in Syria has placed key ally Hezbollah in a tight spot and prompted the Lebanese militant group to adopt a more measured attitude, analysts say.

“Hezbollah’s margin of maneuver is currently very limited because the strategic Iran-Syria-Hezbollah axis is threatened by the revolt and this forces the group to act prudently,” said Paris-based Middle East expert Agnes Levallois.

The Shiite party, also backed by Iran, is the most powerful military and political group in Lebanon and is a key player in the new government formed last month.

But the upheaval in neighboring Syria caught Hezbollah off guard and threatens its position, analysts say..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110728com3.html

The nightmare of love across the West Bank barrier focus 07/28/2011

The nightmare of love across the West Bank barrier

focus

07/28/2011
JERUSALEM — When Sana, who comes from the West Bank city of Hebron, married her Jerusalem-born husband Mohammed 13 years ago, she never imagined their union would lead to a life of fear and hiding.

At first, their different residency permits — hers for the West Bank, his for Jerusalem — weren’t much of an issue. She could live with her husband in Arab east Jerusalem with a temporary permit, and movement between the city and the West Bank was still fairly easy.

But, with the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000, travel restrictions gradually tightened until in 2003 Israel effectively stopped issuing Jerusalem residency permits to Palestinians, catching Sana and Mohammed in an impossible bind.

Without an Israeli permit, Sana can’t live in Jerusalem with her husband and children. But if Mohammed moves to the West Bank, he risks losing his Jerusalem residency and all access to the city of his birth..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110728com6.html

Iraqi jihadists back anti-regime protests in Syria focus 07/28/2011

Iraqi jihadists back anti-regime protests in Syria

focus

07/28/2011
BAGHDAD — Iraqi jihadists have strongly backed protests against President Bashar al-Assad even though his regime purportedly aided the militants by allowing arms and fighters to cross into Iraq.

One Internet posting on jihadist Web site Honein, a forum for al-Qaeda supporters, equated Assad’s Alawite regime to Iran’s former Safavid dynasty, in an effort to show that both are Shiite heresies.

“The Syrian Safavid regime has destroyed the country, tortured and murdered Muslims and showed no mercy to sheikhs (religious leaders), women or children,” said a posting signed Ibn Ard al Nahwi (Son of the land of courage).

The jihadists regularly invoke Iran’s Safavid past, referring to the Shiite dynasty that ruled between the 16th and 18th centuries in Persia, and conquered part of Iraq..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110728com7.html

Mendicant nation INSIDE CONGRESS Charlie Manalo 07/28/2011

Mendicant nation

INSIDE CONGRESS

Charlie Manalo

07/28/2011
In Noynoy’s second State of the Nation Address Monday, he boasted to high heavens of the more than a million job his administration had generated in his one year in office, the positive effects of which was immediately dismissed by analysts saying they were more than offset by a growing labor force of 1.2 million people and an 829,000-increase in underemployment.

However, almost overlooked in Noy’s Sona was his assessment of the conditional cash transfer which he claimed to have yielded positive results. But if we are to believe that his CCT, which targets 2.3 million family-beneficiaries this year, is indeed successful, along with his job-generation program, then how come his administration seeks to increase the CCT beneficiaries to 3 million families this year, almost doubling the budget for the dole outs from P21 billion in 2011 to P39 billion next year?

Aren’t the objectives of these two programs totally contradictory?

If indeed Noy is successful in his economic program (which until now has been vague) that includes job generation to be made possible by enticing foreign investors through his private-public partnership agenda, then he has no reason to increase the number of CCT beneficiaries, much more its budget..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110728com5.html

‘Pork’ dangled for swift OK of 2012 budget By Charlie V. Manalo 07/28/2011

ABAD AGAIN WITHHOLDS MANDATED IRA

‘Pork’ dangled for swift OK of 2012 budget

By Charlie V. Manalo 07/28/2011

Once again Malacañang and the House leadership are into bribery as they dangled the early release of their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) in exchange for the swift passage of the 2012 Palace-proposed national budget, which again has not included the automatic appropriation of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) due the Local Government Units (LGUs) as mandated by the Constitution.

What the bribe offer to the members of Congress translates to is that the House will not even bother to scrutinize the budget and will pass it without question and without anything slashed.

Recognizing the fact that many members of the House of Representatives are grumbling over the non-release of their PDAF, more commonly known as the congressional “pork barrel,” Speaker Feliciano Belmonte personally asked Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad to immediately release the congressmen’s pork barrel to ensure the swift passage of the P1.816 trillion proposed national budget for next year..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110728hed1.html

Migrant group hits Noy’s ‘contempt’ for OFWs 07/28/2011

Migrant group hits Noy’s ‘contempt’ for OFWs

07/28/2011
A Hong Kong-based Filipino migrant workers group yesterday slammed President Aquino for his alleged disparaging comments against overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) during his State of the Nation Address (Sona) last Monday.

Dolores Balladares, chairman of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong, accused the President of allegedly showing contempt toward Filipinos who choose to work abroad for better opportunities.

“We detest the implication that OFWs chose to serve foreigners instead of their countrymen,” she noted.

In his July 25 Sona, Aquino told Filipinos to express their gratitude to those nurses who continue to care for their countrymen when they could be easily treating foreigners for a higher salary..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110728hed6.html

Outcome of probe vs Mariano will be submitted to Pama By Mario J. Mallari 07/28/2011

Outcome of probe vs Mariano will be submitted to Pama

By Mario J. Mallari 07/28/2011

The special investigating committee, probing Marine Col. Generoso Mariano who called for the replacement of the government, is expected to wrap up its investigation and submit its recommendation to Navy Flag Officer in Command Vice Admiral Alexander Pama next week.

Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Omar Tonsay said that the special investigating committee, headed by Marine deputy commandant Brig. Gen. Eugenio Clemen, has already convened and just awaiting for Mariano’s memorandum of his position regarding the issue.

“On Monday, he will submit his memorandum as requested by his lawyers, so the result of the investigation will be after the deliberation of the facts and the memorandum,” Tonsay said.

“But the convening of the special investigating committee is done, only the results would be deliberated for their recommendation to the FOIC (Pama),” Tonsay added..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110728nat1.html

Hundreds of commuters stranded in Nueva Ecija 07/28/2011

Hundreds of commuters stranded in Nueva Ecija

07/28/2011
BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – Hundreds of commuters were stranded as mudslides and debris blocked the road along the boundary of Nueva Ecija and Cagayan, especially in Puncan village, Carranglan, Nueva Ecija brought about by Typhoon “Juaning.”

According to reports, part of the national highway in Quirino province to Dipaculao, Aurora was also impassable to all types of vehicles after the road was being covered by landslides.

Likewise, residents from low-lying towns near Magat River were ordered to evacuate to safer grounds after disaster officials raised the alarm level for flash floods from Typhoon Juaning.

Townfolk of Bagabag, Bambang, Solano and Bayombong living in makeshifts along Magat River were ordered to leave their homes in advance due to the possibility of flash floods..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110728nat2.html

Legalize annulment of marriages by religious sects, urges lawmaker 07/28/2011

Legalize annulment of marriages by religious sects, urges lawmaker

07/28/2011
A lawmaker has filed a bill recognizing annulment of marriages by various religious congregations in the country.

Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia, author of House Bill 1290 to be known as An Act Legalizing Church Annulment or Dissolution of Certain Marriages, said under the Civil Code of the Philippines, only Muslim divorces or dissolutions of marriages are recognized by the Philippine government.

Garcia said the government does not recognize annulment of marriages by other religious sects because there is no pertinent law to allow it.

Among the religious sects in the Philippines are the Roman Catholic Church, Aglipayan Church, Mormons, Assemblies of God, Iglesia ni Cristo, Jesus is Lord, Ang Dating Daan, United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Victory Christian Fellowship and El Shaddai..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110728met2.html

Vicki Belo loses libel case she filed vs legal rights advocate 07/28/2011

Vicki Belo loses libel case she filed vs legal rights advocate

07/28/2011
An Antipolo regional trial court has dismissed a libel complaint filed by “plastic surgeon to the stars” Dr. Vicki Belo against noted legal rights advocate, lawyer Argee Guevarra, who questioned Belo’s qualifications and professional affiliations in postings in the popular social Internet network site Facebook.

Judge Mary Josephine Lazaro dismissed the criminal libel case against Guevarra who was the former counsel for Josephine Norcio who, Guevarra said, underwent a hydrogel butt augmentation in Belo’s clinic.

Norcio reportedly nearly died as a result of the subsequent infection.

Guevarra launched a Facebook information campaign against Belo in his private Facebook account among his circle of friends, exposing Belo and describing her as “a quack doctor” and who he said is not even a member of the Philippine College of Surgeons, Philippine Dermatological Society and the Philippine Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110728met3.html

Bleak future under Noy EDITORIAL 07/27/2011

Bleak future under Noy

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

07/27/2011
Recapturing an “exhilarating” condition that may have existed in the past is near nigh impossible and usually results in depressive failure.
Such an attempt to recapture that which is clearly lost was what Noynoy tried to do when he came up with his second State of the Nation Address (Sona) where he brought back the “wang-wang” speech during his inaugural address in June last year, in a bid to make it the symbol of past government abuse and his “success” at eliminating this wang-wang which he tried to portray his “success” in doing away with government abuse and in transforming society.
Noynoy and his speechwriters failed, as usual, but perhaps Noynoy had nothing by way of achievement and performance and even vision in his full year as president, which explains the total absence of a road map to follow in the next year and throughout his term..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110727com1.html

Directionless Noynoy FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 07/27/2011

Directionless Noynoy

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

07/27/2011
Looks like we will have five more years of a directionless government, with the nobody home president in the saddle.

One would have thought that after a year in office, and with the Palace hype on Noynoy’s State of the Nation’s “where-we-came-from-where-we-are-at-what-we-have-done-and where-we-will-be-headed-to-in-the-next-five-years,” Noynoy would have, for a change, a speech with substance and vision, complete with a road map for the five-year future.

No such luck, but then again, what can one really expect from a throughly incompetent president, who, after one year in office, still hasn’t even started to learn the ropes, as shown by his brainless Sona filled with lies and exaggerations to make himself look good, not even realizing that all his lies and exaggerations could be checked out with official data that show up his lies.

All his, and his administration’s failures were nowhere to be found in his wang-wang Sona which was billed as a social transformation Sona..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110727com2.html

Czech ‘rent-a-goat’ attraction helps African families FEATURE 07/27/2011

Czech ‘rent-a-goat’ attraction helps African families

FEATURE

07/27/2011
BOSKOVICE — A wild west theme park in the Czech Republic has teamed up with a local humanitarian organization to buy goats for rural African families through its novel “rent-a-goat” attraction.
Holiday makers visiting the park in Boskovice, southeast of the capital Prague, can have fun and do their bit to help others by renting goats to feed or romp around with for 10 Czech koruna (0.40 euros, 0.60 dollars) as part of a project called “Goats for Africa.”
“Last year we sent 214,000 koruna to buy 214 goats — that’s a decent number,” said Lubos “Jerry” Prochazka, the “sheriff” and founder of the popular theme park that draws 60,000 to 100,000 visitors a year.
A local aid group called People in Need uses the funds to buy goats — hardy creatures that produce highly nutritious milk — for rural families in Africa and at times Asia..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110727com3.html

Floods rupture Pakistani feudal ties FEATURE 07/27/2011

Floods rupture Pakistani feudal ties

FEATURE

07/27/2011
SUKKUR — Bakhsh Ali Lashari has spent the last year living in a tent since floods devastated a third of Pakistan. His home is no longer under water, but death threats mean he’s never going back.

The monsoon-triggered floods — the worst in Pakistani history — affected up to 21 million people, killed another 1,750 and ran up losses of $10 billion; a year later a shattered economy has barely recovered.

Lashari’s part of southern Pakistan was one of the worst hit areas, submerged in gushing waters that took months to recede.

But the disaster gave him a chance to break free from centuries of oppression. He is one of thousands who prefer life in rotting camps to returning to feudal estates where debts and marriages can end in death..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110727com5.html

The lost containers C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 07/27/2011 I will now take P-Noy at his word and take the fight against this “culture of wang-wang,” that is abuse of power and privilege, and, yes, graft and corruption, personally. I will begin by asking Customs Commissioner Lito Alvarez and his anti-smuggling (RATS) czar, Deputy Commissioner Greg Chavez, to join me in going after the hooligans, in and out of the bureau, who engineered that Houdini act resulting in the disappearance of 1,624 containers (were these 20 or 40 footers?) released from the Port of Manila and the Manila International Container Port (MICP) transiting to the Port of Batangas. These containers never got to Batangas. How did this happen at all? And where are these containers now? As first reported by Batangas Port Collector Juan Tan, only 305 container vans being transhipped by importers Sea Eagles Trading, LCN Trading and Monvellian Enterprises from the two Manila ports to his area actually got there. The rest, 595 all in all, never reached port. Then came Customs Intelligence Chief Dino Tuason with an even more startling revelation. Based on documents in his possession, Tuason said there were actually 2,219 containers released from the Manila ports for transshipment to Batangas. So, we are not talking here of only 595 missing containers but a whooping 1,624 containing God knows what goods. These must have cost billions of pesos worth of goods and yes, an equally huge sum, maybe in the hundreds of millions at least, in grease money which oiled this Houdini operations. It is impossible for such a large number to simply disappear into the night, as it were. There must at least be a trace and it should be easy to account for these. Unless the perpetrators so organized this operation they were able to blindside everybody to look elsewhere while they covered their tracks. Up to now, Alvarez and Chavez have yet to issue any report on this highly mysterious disappearance right under their very noses. Yet these guys usually go out of their way to trumpet their weekly RATS reports targeting all kinds of “malcontents,” in their view of course, for all kinds of “misdeeds” committed at the ports. How come they have not spoken a word about this caper? This is definitely an open and shut case which Alvarez and Chavez can easily uncover and bring to light if they are so minded. But the public remains in the dark wondering where these guys are at a time when P-Noy just announced a transformational breakthrough of sorts, well we await with bated breath what Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima whose handling of the economy over the past 365 days was one of P-Noy’s major Sona revelations. Then, once we get a satisfactory answer on these lost containers, I will proceed to ask P-Noy and his team to kindly advise if indeed they have reviewed the BOT contract of this publicly listed Malaysian firm, MTD Bhd., for the rehabilitation, upgrading and operation of the South Luzon Expressway (Slex) from Alabang to Calamba (or is it Sto. Tomas?). After all, if P-Noy can just cancel “big ticket” projects such as the P18 billion Laguna Lake Project despite serious legal and diplomatic consequences presumably on the say-so of his reviewers like DPWH Secretary Babes Singson and, yes, Finance Secretary Purisima, it is impossible to have missed out on this multi-billion, multi-year project. In case they have actually failed to look into this project then they better get going now. For the record, the representations of MTD Bhd before the TRB when it was defending its toll increase was a complete lie. In filings in Malaysia, the company said it spent P12 billion on the entire Alabang-Lucena City portion of the expressway. Yet, before the TRB it said it spent exactly the same amount only for the Alabang-Calamba-Sto. Tomas leg. The TRB took the firm’s representations hook, line and sinker and proceeded to approve the increase rates despite the objections of oppositors led by lawyer Ernesto Francisco who personally told the TRB about MTD Bhd’s false claims in Kuala Lumpur. I hope the TRB headed by newly appointed DoTC Secretary Mar Roxas with Singson and Purisima as members will rectify this manifest error immediately and make good on P-Noy’s anti-culture of wang-wang and daang matuwid mantras, And, we are just talking here of this Slex BOT contract. And yet this company has the gall to advise that it will join the bidding for the Daang Hari PPP project? What about showing this firm the door before it is too late and before it hazards to even dip its fingers again into the pie at the government’s and the public’s expense? And while they continue with their reviews why not include the other BOT contracts which have been in place for sometime or even those which are in the signing stage which government and the public will let go to their woe and despair. And while he is at it, how about working to standardize the rate setting frame for basic utilities such as electricity and water which, as reports have it, are being handled under divergent, sometimes, inchoate, arrangements leading to undue spikes in these basic needs? Throw in as well executive action on basic commodities including oil and oil products which, if P-Noy wants it, can at least be tamed like what the NFA did with rice importations? And then, get the LGUs and national government agencies to work on synchronizing actions on a host of measures to simplify rules and make way for investor friendly arrangements down to the lowest barangays. that will go a longer way in uplifting our marginalized sectors than all the CCT dosages across the board? And, finally, how about working on jueteng (at least minimize it if you cannot entirely eradicate), the cases of carnappings, extra-judicial and media killings, the Freedom of Information (FoI) initiative which P-Noy can jumpstart at the executive branch level while the bill is being shepherded through Congress. And so, as as we laud P-Noy for insisting against all comers to take the anti wang-wang and anti corruption drives, personally, we ask him and his advisers now to go get the perpetrators of the scams, the protectors of ill conceived and implemented projects and all others who have adapted to the wang-wang culture without any hint that indeed they have realized their mistakes and are now on the bend. I will be happy to know that jueteng operators are now on the run, the containers have all been accounted for and the perpetrators handed their just desserts. Let’s go...go...go... | More .COMMENTARY. EDITORIAL Bleak future under Noy FRONTLINE Directionless Noynoy FEATURE Czech ‘rent-a-goat’ attraction helps African families C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S The lost containers FEATURE Floods rupture Pakistani feudal ties HE SAYS How simple? SHE SAYS So now what?

The lost containers

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

Jonathan De la Cruz

07/27/2011
I will now take P-Noy at his word and take the fight against this “culture of wang-wang,” that is abuse of power and privilege, and, yes, graft and corruption, personally. I will begin by asking Customs Commissioner Lito Alvarez and his anti-smuggling (RATS) czar, Deputy Commissioner Greg Chavez, to join me in going after the hooligans, in and out of the bureau, who engineered that Houdini act resulting in the disappearance of 1,624 containers (were these 20 or 40 footers?) released from the Port of Manila and the Manila International Container Port (MICP) transiting to the Port of Batangas. These containers never got to Batangas. How did this happen at all? And where are these containers now?

As first reported by Batangas Port Collector Juan Tan, only 305 container vans being transhipped by importers Sea Eagles Trading, LCN Trading and Monvellian Enterprises from the two Manila ports to his area actually got there. The rest, 595 all in all, never reached port. Then came Customs Intelligence Chief Dino Tuason with an even more startling revelation. Based on documents in his possession, Tuason said there were actually 2,219 containers released from the Manila ports for transshipment to Batangas. So, we are not talking here of only 595 missing containers but a whooping 1,624 containing God knows what goods. These must have cost billions of pesos worth of goods and yes, an equally huge sum, maybe in the hundreds of millions at least, in grease money which oiled this Houdini operations. It is impossible for such a large number to simply disappear into the night, as it were. There must at least be a trace and it should be easy to account for these. Unless the perpetrators so organized this operation they were able to blindside everybody to look elsewhere while they covered their tracks..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110727com4.html

FVR dictated OK of lease contract —ex-PCSO chief By Angie M. Rosales 07/27/2011

FVR dictated OK of lease contract —ex-PCSO chief

By Angie M. Rosales 07/27/2011
It was on orders of then President Fidel V. Ramos to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office chairman and his board to disregard public bidding and the approval of lease equipment agreement, and not necessarily what the PCSO wanted.

This was what former PCSO chairman Manuel Morato disclosed to the senators during the hearing on the PCSO yesterday.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile saw this extended contract as a sellout of the Philippine interest, referring to the extension of the contract and the distribution of lease agreement granted by PCSO to suppliers of lotto machines during the Ramos administration which cost the government an additional P13 billion.

Senate probers were told yesterday, during the continuation of the inquiry into the PCSO fund mess, that Malacañang, under the Ramos administration, “dictated upon” its then chairman Morato to disregard the conduct of public bidding for the extension of another eight years of the lease.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110727hed1.html

Palace admits it still has no case vs GMA; Gloria has surgery By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan and Charlie V. Manalo 07/27/2011

Palace admits it still has no case vs GMA; Gloria has surgery

By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan and Charlie V. Manalo 07/27/2011
After one year of throwing accusations of massive corrup-tion against Presi-dent Aquino’s predecessor, Malacañang admitted yesterday that it still had no solid evidence to pin down and effectively charge former President Arroyo who is scheduled to undergo surgery.

At a press briefing, presidential spokes-man Edwin Lacierda admitted that the administration is still in the process of gathering evidence even just for the purpose of estab-lishing probable cause in its claims of graft and
corruption against the Arroyo administration, but failed to explain why Aquino and his aides continue with their trial and conviction by publicity if the Palace has no solid evidence of what it accuses Arroyo.

“If ever cases will be filed, it will be filed only after the evidence has been gathered and collected and after the assessment that there is probable cause. These would all be based on legal parameters, so I cannot say if it will have any effect on the evidence-gathering at this point. Certainly, I think the work of reform goes on regardless of who is going to be affected,” Lacierda said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110727hed2.html

FG Arroyo lined up for grilling in Senate over choppers scam By Angie M. Rosales 07/27/2011

FG Arroyo lined up for grilling in Senate over choppers scam

By Angie M. Rosales 07/27/2011

Former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo has been lined up for grilling in the Senate on the impending probe on the Philippine National Police’ (PNP) in the acquisition of alleged second-hand helicopters in the amount of P105 million in 2009.

It was earlier alleged by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who filed resolution No. 518, that the documents he obtained on the said transaction supposedly indicated that the Arroyos were the former owners of the helicopters “forcibly” sold and priced as brand-new to the PNP.

Public hearings on this issue has been set this Thursday by blue ribbon committee chairman Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, with the present and former PNP officials as the first batch of invited guests.

“Then we will call on (representatives from) MAPTRA (Manila Aerospace Products Trading Corp.),” Lacson said, referring to the company that was awarded the contract in July 9, 2009 by the PNP negotiation committee for one Robinson R44 Raven II and two Robinson R44 Raven I helicopters, supposedly intended for use by the elite Special Action Force (SAF)..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110727nat1.html

UK invites talented nationals, including Pinoys, to live in England 07/27/2011

UK invites talented nationals, including Pinoys, to live in England

07/27/2011
The United Kingdom is encouraging exceptionally talented nationals, including Filipinos, who excel in the fields of science, humanities, engineering and the arts to come and live in Britain.

UK’s new ‘Exceptional Talent’ immigration scheme will begin accepting applications on August 9 for up to 1,000 exceptionally talented migrants.

“Our new exceptional talent route will ensure that we continue to attract the brightest into the UK and keep the UK a global leader,” the British Embassy in Manila said, adding that it “will facilitate not only those who have already been recognized but also those with the potential to be recognized as leaders in their respective fields.”

This new policy comes at a time when the UK overhauls its immigration system to bring migration levels to the country lower, tackle abuses against illegal migrants and ensure that the system effectively meets the needs of the country..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110727nat5.html

Makati distributes mobility aid devices to PWD, elderly 07/27/2011

Makati distributes mobility aid devices to PWD, elderly

07/27/2011
The city government of Makati has distributed a total of 142 mobility aid devices for free to differently-abled and elderly residents in the first six months of the year.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay said a budget of P2 million has been allocated this year for the provision of free wheelchairs and walking canes to persons with disability (PWD) and senior citizens in the city.

“Our PWD and elderly receive free mobility aids from the city government, aside from the unique privilege of watching movies in any Makati cinema for free, without limits,” Binay said.

The mayor added the Makati Social Welfare Department (MSWD) distributed 85 adult wheelchairs, 5 kid wheelchairs, 21 canes, 15 quad canes, 14 crutches, and two walkers to qualified recipients in the first half of the year..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110727met3.html

Bus falls from Parañaque Skyway; 3 killed, 4 injured By Gina Peralta-Elorde 07/27/2011

Bus falls from Parañaque Skyway; 3 killed, 4 injured

By Gina Peralta-Elorde 07/27/2011

Three persons were confirmed killed while four others were injured when a passenger bus fell from the Parañaque Skyway yesterday morning.

Reports reaching the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters at Camp Crame, Quezon City said the Dimple Star Transport Corp. bus No. 7511 was on its way to Alabang in Muntinlupa when it fell from the Skyway onto the west service road in Marcelo Green Village in Parañaque City.

The bus came from Lawton in Manila.

The driver of the bus, Joven Justo, was declared dead on arrival at the Parañaque Medical Center. The other fatalities were identified as Anthony Ibarra and Lorenzo Gabo, both passengers of the ill-fated bus..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110727met1.html

Rehash EDITORIAL 07/26/2011

Rehash

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

07/26/2011
If the aim of Noynoy’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) was to bring about a “transformation” in the mindset of the Filipino people, specifically on the way they think of government and even bring about a change in public perception of Noynoy as a competent leader of the nation, he failed at it, and his speech was a disappointment. It was mainly a repeat of the speeches made during his inaugural and first Sona.

It hardly inspired the people, but it was obvious that his speechwriters thought that, as his inaugural speech inspired his supporters and even some non-supporters, they stuck to the same thing and ended up with a flop.

The Sona harked back to his inaugural speech of the wang-wang business, which he said he believes was the start of the transformation of the Filipinos, and used this symbol of the wang-wang in claiming that there were still those who insist on defying the transformational wang-wang. And he again brought up the people are his boss spiel, which hardly means anything these days, when he hardly listens to the people’s voice, but that of his KKK..... MORE
Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110726com1.html

Remembering 2004 FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 07/26/2011

Remembering 2004

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

07/26/2011
Past sins always find a way of catching up with the “sinners,” in this case, the former rah-rah boys of Gloria Arroyo, especially during the 2004 presidential elections, but who are now the lapdogs of the new Palace tenant.

Among those who are now being called to disclose the alleged election fraud are two Liberal Party stalwarts with Noynoy Aquino who are now rabid anti-Gloria. These are Senators Franklin Drilon, Kiko Pangilinan, National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) officials and many more.

Yet today, they have this irritating holier than thou attitude, as though they were neither active nor passive participants in the election fraud.

Both Pangilinan and Drilon were instrumental in facilitating the canvass in Congress of the votes that led to Arroyo’s proclamation with Pangilinan being remembered for breaking his gavel while uttering “noted” on every protest raised by the camp of Fernando Poe Jr. on election documents..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110726com2.html

White South African farmers seek new life in Georgia FEATURE 07/26/2011

White South African farmers seek new life in Georgia

FEATURE

07/26/2011
SARTICHALA — A long way from his South African birthplace, amid the sweeping wheat fields of eastern Georgia, farmer Piet Kemp says that he has found a new home in this former Soviet republic.

And if the government gets its wish, hundreds more like Kemp will follow to help revive Georgia’s ailing agricultural sector, bringing in both cash and expertise.

Shaken by violent attacks and reforms to transfer land to blacks in South Africa, many white farmers have been emigrating, and 10 have already relocated to Georgia to set up businesses under a program launched by the government.

Kemp was the first of them to make the move, lured by local business opportunities — and the promise of security..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110726com3.html

Outsider beats holy chum AN OUTSIDERS VIEW Ken Fuller 07/26/2011

Outsider beats holy chum

AN OUTSIDERS VIEW

Ken Fuller

07/26/2011
A Filipino correspondent has sent me an article entitled “Godlessness has doomed Britain,” by one Shmuley Boteach (my favorite anagram of which is “Beats Holy Chum,” hence the title of this piece. Doubtless Boteach, an American rabbi, would prefer “Holy Beats Much”).

Appearing in the Jerusalem Post on July 4 as, presumably, Rabbi Boteach’s contribution to American Independence Day, the article seeks to demonstrate that the rise of the former colonial subjects and the decline of their colonial ruler can be measured by the extent to which the citizens of each country believe in a deity. To say that the article is poorly-argued is an understatement. If, therefore, the intention of my correspondent is to convert this godless outsider, he’ll have to do a lot better than this.

Although, says Boteach, Europeans tend to look upon “American evangelicals as backward religious knuckle-draggers who believe Adam and Eve actually ate apples with a talking snake,” they represent “the single largest voting bloc in the world’s main superpower.”

Well, yes, Rabbi. This perhaps explains why young Americans have been sent to kill and be killed in Afghanistan and Iraq with minimal congressional opposition. And while young Britons have been sent on the same missions, they were dispatched not by an atheist but by that fervent believer, Tony Blair..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110726com4.html

‘P-Noy, have mercy’ VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 07/26/2011

‘P-Noy, have mercy’

VIEWPOINTS

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

07/26/2011
In the context of sincerity and with the spirit of urgency, this can be readily considered as an ardent prayer said with bowed head and on bended knees even.

It is a fervent supplication based on objective truth and ground reality about a disturbing and distressing national phenomenon. It is a loud plea addressed to someone in the highest governing office in the country, repeatedly professing its unquestionable integrity and loudly declaring its consuming crusade against corruption.

Thus it is that this some kind of a litany is directed to someone supposedly in tenure of all the authority and wherefore empowered to act accordingly — if he wants to. He has in command of the entire Philippine National Police plus the intelligence of the whole National Bureau of Investigation in addition to the extensive authority of the Department of Justice..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110726com5.html

Fashion ‘political’ statements in Noy’s second Sona INSIDE CONGRESS Charlie Manalo 07/26/2011

Fashion ‘political’ statements in Noy’s second Sona

INSIDE CONGRESS

Charlie Manalo

07/26/2011
Oversha- dowed in Noynoy’s Second Annual Bashing of the Arroyos yesterday were the fashionable political statements some members of the House of Representatives tried to convey as they walked down the aisle of the largest bastion of conservatism in the country.

Militantly yet femininely, Emmie de Jesus of Gabriela donned a baby pink panuwelo creatively crafted by Marikina’s fashion designer par excellence, Ruel Rivera, with lilac nouveau art text spelling out her call to “Scrap eVAT.”

With a minimalist silver gray Italian gazar-cut gown, Emmie’s dress was accented with embroidered fuschia leaves and flowers, complementing the panuwelo with its political call.

According to Emmie, the Rivera-designed gown reflects her duty as a representative of the women sector to bring the voices and demands of poor women to Noy’s Sona..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110726com6.html

Small peace dividends in Taliban’s southern gateway focus 07/26/2011

Small peace dividends in Taliban’s southern gateway

focus

07/26/2011
ARGHANDAB VALLEY — Lt. Chris Choi receives a mix of stares and scowls as he shakes hands with curious Afghans on their way to prayer in the restive Arghandab district of southern Kandahar.

But he says the mere presence of the turbaned men walking through heavy traffic to the Haji Baba Wali shrine is a sign of progress stemming from the brittle peace in an area that was once a key Taliban supply route.

Nearby, half-dressed children dart in and out of the murky canal waters that help irrigate fertile pomegranate fields.

Such scenes would not have been possible a year ago, when the Arghandab valley resembled a chessboard of American forces vying with the Taliban for control of Afghanistan’s southern heartlands..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: hhttp://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110726com7.html

Noy’s Sona a rehash of ‘wang-wang’ speech By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 07/26/2011

Noy’s Sona a rehash of ‘wang-wang’ speech

By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 07/26/2011

President Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) may have done away with human props but he relied on heavy symbolism on the old practice by government officials of using “wang-wang,” the local term for car sirens, in a bid to evoke a vivid picture of the nation’s past, present and future under his administration.

But his speech neither inspired nor excited, as this was a repeat and rehash of his inaugural speech as well as his maiden Sona. Both substance and presidential style were missing.

Like a homily of a non-practicing believer, his Sona was absent of any battlecry to which every Filipino could rally. Neither was there a roadmap that was specific, measureable and time-bound. There was no-forward looking vision of how his administration can lift the nation from low economic growth status to high growth that would impact positively on the poor.

In the process, Aquino got at least 50 by way of applause counts for his speech that lasted for about an hour but it was noticeable that the applause mostly came from the president’s Cabinet members and Sona guests in the gallery, composed of his yellow supporters, and not from the legislators who were at the plenary..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110726hed1.html

Special court for Arroyo sought as Noy names new Ombudsman 07/26/2011

Special court for Arroyo sought as Noy names new Ombudsman

07/26/2011
Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo should be tried in a special court in the event that cases filed against her prosper.

Former President Joseph Estrada, in a chance interview after the State of the Nation Address (Sona) of President Aquino, said given the numerous cases that have been filed and are going to be filed, the current administration should create a special court to try her and her allies.

“There is a need to create a special court,” Estrada stressed.

He also raised the possibility of filing charges against Arroyo for her involvement in the alleged cheating during the 2004 presidential elections.

“She corrupted all the agencies of the government,” he noted..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110726hed6.html

Sotto urges colleagues to speak out in 2004 polls fraud By Angie M. Rosales 07/26/2011

Sotto urges colleagues to speak out in 2004 polls fraud

By Angie M. Rosales 07/26/2011

Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III yesterday joined those urging colleagues who took part in the canvassing procedures during the 2004 presidential elections where alleged massive rigging of votes took place to speak out on the issue.

“This is a good chance for them to air their side and clear their names. It cannot be avoided that their names will be mentioned whenever we talk about it,” the lawmaker said, referring to the period when Congress, during the 13th Congress, was convened as National Board of Canvassers (NBC) for the presidential and vice presidential elections.

Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano likewise backed up the call saying that now is the time to “tell all.”

Sotto recalled that lamentable moves taken by then colleagues aligned with the Arroyo administration in acting on the complaints and other motions the opposition bloc filed before the NBC with regard to alleged tampered election returns..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110726nat2.html

House to drop Ecleo from roll soon By Gerry Baldo 07/26/2011

House to drop Ecleo from roll soon

By Gerry Baldo 07/26/2011

The House of Representatives is going to drop Dinagat Islands Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr. from its roll soon as the Supreme Court (SC) rules with finality on the three cases against him.

Belmonte explained that all three cases are interrelated and that one is still pending before the Supreme Court.
“All of which are interrelated and one case is still pending in the Supreme Court which in my view has some repercussions on three cases,” Belmonte told reporters.

The House Speaker stressed that he is diligently monitoring the status of Ecleo’s cases so that appropriate action can be made in accordance to the existing rules of the House..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110726nat1.html

CA freezes assets of expat drug suspects in many banks By Benjamin B. Pulta 07/26/2011

CA freezes assets of expat drug suspects in many banks

By Benjamin B. Pulta 07/26/2011

Access to funds in three dozens bank accounts under the names of four foreigners suspected of trafficking prohibited drugs in the country have been frozen by the Court of Appeals (CA) for six months.

In a five-page resolution, the CA through Associate Justice Jane Aurora Lantion extended from a period of 20 days to six months the effectivity of the freeze order until Nov. 7, 2011 against the accounts of Sally Ang Nina, Tian Gang Shi, Sarah Lee Jessica and Evelyn See Ting. Associate Justices Andres Reyes Jr. and Japar Dimaampao concurrred to the ruling.

“The motion for extension of effectivity of freeze order is hereby granted. The order covering all concerned banks is extended for a period of six months from July 11 or until Nov. 7, 2011,” the ruling stated.

The freeze order covered several bank accounts of Ang Nina in Metrobank, China Bank, Banco de Oro, Security Bank, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. and Malayan Insurance Co. Inc. The CA also recapped its order against Metrobank due to its failure to freeze the bank account of Ting..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune


URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110726met1.html

Lim rejects developer’s offer of 50 hectares of land in exchange for Manila Zoo By Pat C. Santos 07/26/2011

Lim rejects developer’s offer of 50 hectares of land in exchange for Manila Zoo

By Pat C. Santos 07/26/2011

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim has rejected the developer’s offer of a 50 hectares of land in Cavite and Tagaytay in exchange for the historic Manila Zoo located in Malate, Manila.

Lim made mention of the offer yesterday during the 52nd anniversary celebration of the oldest zoo in Asia which was built at the time of the late Manila Mayor Arsenio Lacson.

Lim reiterated the zoo will remain in the city as long as he is still the mayor of Manila.

“This is a heritage to the people of Manila which is a priceless gift by our predecessor, and thousand of students are benefitted from it as they can see the real animals alive not only in pictures and in books or on films but in real life as well,” Lim said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110726met2.html

More taxes – the real game DIE HARD III Herman Tiu Laurel 07/25/2011

More taxes – the real game

DIE HARD III

Herman Tiu Laurel

07/25/2011
While the country gets increasingly distracted by the “Hello Garci” and Lintang Bedol dramas, the many Gloria Arroyo plunder cases that seem to have a number of legal loopholes, as well as today’s worn-out “anti-corruption” State of the Nation Address (Sona), the real game in the system — the financial mafia’s blood-sucking of the people — continues to intensify.

The Supreme Court (SC)’s approval over the weekend of the 12-percent Value Added Tax (VAT) on toll fees by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), affecting among others, the North and South expressways, is just the latest in a string of backbreaking tax burdens and price hikes. What this SC decision also makes clear is that nothing can stop the toll operators from passing it on to commuters.

Perhaps to soften the impact of its decision, the SC ponente resorted to some semantic play. It claimed that while “the seller (of the toll service) remains directly and legally liable for payment of the VAT... the buyer bears the burden since the amount of VAT paid by the former is added to the selling price,” arguing that “Once shifted, the VAT ceases to be a tax and simply becomes part of the cost that the buyer must pay in order to purchase the good, property, or service,” thereby declaring that the “VAT on tollway operations cannot be a tax on tax even if toll is deemed as a ‘user’s tax’… since VAT is assessed against the tollway operator’s gross receipts and not necessarily on the toll fees.”

But is there really a difference if VAT were to be based on the operator’s receipts since all of it will be taken from commuters’ pockets anyway?

The problem with this new, additional expanded VAT (eVAT) in the life of Filipinos is the eVAT law itself — a law that has opened the floodgates to endless regressive taxes. A little history of the tax system in RP would thus be helpful.

Before Edsa I, the country had progressive taxation based on income tax where those who can afford paid more while those who earned less paid less. The VAT law that came with the Cory Aquino regime changed all that. It introduced the VAT system, which is based on taxing consumption, with the end-users shouldering much of the burden. It is regressive since it taxes the poor more than the rich.

A tax on toll fees, for example, would be the same for a brand new Mercedes Benz and a 20-year-old dilapidated Toyota Corolla whenever such vehicles pass through the toll booth.

Early on, when the VAT was made part of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP), it was touted as the last time any new tax would have to be raised. But, as we all know, the VAT was immediately expanded under Fidel Ramos. Of course, it was the IMF-WB that lobbied for all of it; but since it was our Congress that capitulated (as usual), it only exemplified the idiocy of our politicians for crafting such a law.

One such fellow, Nueva Ecija Rep. Renato V. Diaz, is now ironically one of two petitioners at the SC, challenging the Department of Finance (DoF) and the BIR’s imposition of the toll eVAT (the other being former Trade Assistant Secretary Aurora Timbol).

Since the high court in its decision was able to state, “The VAT on franchise grantees has been in the statute books since 1994 when Republic Act 7716 or the Expanded Value Added Tax law was passed. It is only now, however, that the executive has earnestly pursued the VAT imposition against toll way operators,” clearly, Diaz has been ignorant of the full meaning and impact of the law he co-authored all along.

That said, the imposition of the tax is still a political as well as an ideological issue. Even as Gloria Arroyo’s supporters say that she stalled on the VAT on toll ways throughout her nine years in office (as opposed to Aquino III, who only put the brakes because it was challenged before the SC), the truth is, she only withheld its implementation because of political expedience, whereas Aquino III, without a similar sense of the limits of his “political capital,” merely allowed his BIR appointee and Finance Secretary, both IMF assets, to get the better of him.

The case brought before the SC actually saved Aquino III for a while. Now that he has to face the music and decide on whether to impose or not, his campaign promise of “no new taxes” will surely be tested. Still, given his administration’s financial and economic thrust, there isn’t any hope for an ideological shift to progressive taxation, which is our only liberation from the continued tax exploitation and extraction.

But as bad as this recent development already is, the pressure to raise the eVAT from 12 to 15 percent is still on, as reflected in the official pronouncements of the DoF, Neda (National Economic Development Authority), BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas), and the BIR.

Consumers and commuters desiring to stop the VAT’s march to more perilous heights, though, do not have the law on their side. As in the VAT on toll ways, they are only limited to making appeals for the Chief Executive’s better sense (if that’s even possible at all).

However, since Malacañang is still in the mode of fending off pressure to hike the eVAT to 15 percent, it is more than likely to give in to the temptation of the green-lighted VAT on toll ways.

As such, Filipino consumers and commuters will never have a permanent respite from increasing regressive taxes unless the country returns to progressive taxation — which will only happen after a genuine popular revolution.

(Tune in to Radyo OpinYon, Monday to Friday, 5 to 6 p.m., and Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; Talk News TV with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on GNN, Destiny Cable Channel 8, on “DoST Expo 2011: IGNITE THE FILIPINO MIND”; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com for our articles plus TV and radio archives)
(Reprinted with permission from Mr. Herman Tiu-Laurel).

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110725com5.html

No potential, no nothing EDITORIAL 07/25/2011

No potential, no nothing

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

07/25/2011
Today’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) of Noy, his second under a lackluster presidency thus far, is not expected to deviate from the usual fare of the repetitive promises of trudging the straight path and no corruption, no poverty lines, all of which irritate the ear, and spiced with the never-ending Gloria bashing.

For the past so many speeches of Noynoy since the first Sona and even from his presidential campaign, he had nothing to offer by way of his speeches to give Filipinos hope that a solution is forthcoming for their economic miseries.

At the campaign trail, Noynoy’s attack on Gloria may sound new, novel and may have sparked some form of hope among a handful and may have swayed decisions at the polls but a year of the exact dish tosses one’s cookies.

A given is that it would be in the local vernacular since his speechwriters believe that Noynoy is more in his fiery element when speaking in the native tongue but the bet is that the spiel which is supposedly intended to persuade members to go along with his administration’s legislative agenda would be an enumeration of his imaginary achievements and likely revelations of newly conceived corruption cases during Gloria’s watch..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110725com1.html

Sona: Too much hype FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 07/25/2011

Sona: Too much hype

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

07/25/2011
State of the Nation Addresses are always portrayed by Malacañang as a most important yearly event, as if such speeches would effect major changes in the life of a country and its people. Yet all these Sonas are merely a list of rosy promises made by political leaders with exaggerated claims of accomplishments by the Palace tenant, none of which will bring about great changes and reforms.

There are, of course, great presidential speeches that succeed in their aim of bringing about attitudinal changes in the people, but by and large, the Sonas and other speeches being churned out by Malacañang for presidents are puffed up pieces to make presidents look good with even more promises to the nation that would hardly be delivered during their terms.

Truth is, Noynoy had that rare chance of bringing about an attitudinal change in the people shortly after being proclaimed president. He could have brought this about during his 100 day in office speech, and followed this up during his maiden Sona..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110725com2.html

Kazakh strongman’s absence exposes succession uncertainty focus 07/25/2011

Kazakh strongman’s absence exposes succession uncertainty

focus

07/25/2011
ALMATY — President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s sudden absence from work and reported hospitalization has the exposed the uncertainty over who could succeed the man who has ruled Kazakhstan for over two decades.

The 71-year-old Nazarbayev has dominated short history of independent Kazakhstan, constructing a system of power around himself following the fall of the Soviet Union.

German newspaper Bild on Tuesday reported that Nazarbayev underwent a prostate operation at University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Hamburg as the president disappeared from public for almost two weeks.

The official silence that followed in the glitzy Kazakh capital, Astana, on the president’s whereabouts or his state of his health, only fueled speculation..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110725com3.html