Gambling Republic VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 03/27/2011

Gambling Republic

VIEWPOINTS

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

03/27/2011
Considering the nature of such government corporations as the Pagcor promoting all conceivable forms of gambling plus the PCSO that is another official gambling provider in different modalities with different names, and add thereto the continuous proliferation of a good number of both “legal” and “illegal” gambling syndicates in the country, it is definitely not mere poetry to call the Philippines a “Gambling Republic.”

This is not because Filipinos are born gamblers as gambling providers avidly claim – but rather because the government provides and encourages them to gamble. Truth to tell, there are rather very few countries where the government is a downright gambler itself. This is anything but a national pride.

Never mind the poverty that is pulsating and threatening the peace and order in all the regions of the country. And forget about the graft and corruption still alive and kicking in many of the departments of government. Forget as well the dejection of a big number of people eagerly and continuously seeking work but in fact remain workless, desirous of having their children educated but who. However, become more and more ignorant in the course of time. To all these big social problems, the government appears to be loudly and repeatedly saying “Go and gamble!”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110327com5.html

The wrath of God TABLETS OF STONE Larry Faraon, OP 03/27/2011

The wrath of God

TABLETS OF STONE

Larry Faraon, OP

03/27/2011
With this latest 6.9 jolt that cracked bridges and tumbled edifices and structures in Myanmar, it would seem that the high end earthquakes are deliriously circling our beloved island country. My hunch seems to tell me that the earthquake “syndicate” may just be waiting for one single fatal mistake the Philippines would be making and tectonic smack would be on its way to jostle our surfaces and waterbeds — a devastation in the waiting. But what exactly would trigger such is what God would be so mad about.

In the Bible, earthquakes are described basically as articulations of God’s wrath over his people, especially over disobedience to his will and crass violations of his law on life and death.

The prophet Isaiah writes: Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger (Isaiah 13:13)..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110327com6.html

French diplomacy: 2 wins, 1 loss on Libya FEATURE 03/27/2011

French diplomacy: 2 wins, 1 loss on Libya

FEATURE

03/27/2011
PARIS — France scored diplomatic victories during the international imbroglio over Libya in the form of two UN resolutions, but has failed in its bid to limit the role of Nato in future operations, French diplomats say.

Paris helped spearhead Security Council Resolution 1970, which opens up the possibility of Moamer Kadhafi or his top lieutenants being hauled before the International Criminal Court; and Resolution 1973, which mandates “all necessary measures” to protect Libyan civilians.

Both are unprecedented in the breadth of action they enable against a dictator in power, analysts say.
“It is a high point for the credibility of the United Nations, and above all a signal to the Arab people, whose aspirations for liberty and democracy we all salute,” French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110327com8.html

Alvarez’s questionable appointments in Customs BLURBAL THRUSTS Louie Logarta 03/27/2011

Alvarez’s questionable appointments in Customs

BLURBAL THRUSTS

Louie Logarta

03/27/2011
Customs Commissioner Lito Alvarez has, for the umpteenth time, proved to his constituents that good deeds are no guarantee for longevity in office, in no small way lending credence to the expression that in the Philippine government success depends not on what you know but whom you know.

The case of District Collector Talek Pablo of the Port of Subic clearly demonstrates the point we’re driving at. Despite having excelled in his post during the few months he has been at the helm of the office (he was appointed there only during the second semester of 2010 as replacement for District Collector Tita Zamoranos. Collector Pablo was unceremoniously shoved out in the cold in favor of Collector Errol Albano, himself another controversial character.

Collector Albano, a member of the politically influential Albano clan of Isabela, had earlier been implicated in 2008 by no less than Undersecretary Antonio Villar Jr. of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group in the alleged smuggling of several expensive racehorses from Australia that were said to be consigned to certain individuals associated with the Philippine Racing Commission and also a relative of President Arroyo. The allegations were subsequently denied by Albano..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110327com4.html

Ghost purchases, overpricing found in P125-M PCG racket 03/27/2011

COA REPORT FINDS DIVERSION OF P450-M OIL SPILL FUND

Ghost purchases, overpricing found in P125-M PCG racket

03/27/2011
Anomalies involving the manipulation of funds are not an exclusive domain of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) based on revelations in the current Senate inquiry into corruption in the military but also in the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) which is under the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC), documents provided the Tribune showed.

The documents consisting of a Commission on Audit (CoA) report and a complaint filed with the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for the military raised possible anomalies in the disbursement of P125 million in 2007 from a P450 million allotment for the so-called National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NAOSCP).

A complaint filed last March 18 by Mario Dichoso with the Ombudsman stated that sometime in 2007 then Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya issued a special allotment release order (SARO) for 2008 to DoTC for the P450 million funding of the NAOSCP..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110327hed1.html

Lacson surfaces, planes in from Hong Kong 03/27/2011

Lacson surfaces, planes in from Hong Kong

03/27/2011
After the Court of Appeals ordered the immediate lifting of arrest warrants against him, erstwhile fugitive Sen. Panfilo Lacson reapeared from more than a year of hiding late yesterday morning at the Mactan International Airport (MIA) in Cebu disembarking from a flight that came from Hong Kong.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) confirmed Lacson flew in from Hong Kong aboard a Cathay Pacific flight (CX 921) at 11:42 a.m., PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz said.

Cruz said the senator was met by officials of the Bureau of Immigration.

Based on a lower court order for his arrest, the Interpol earlier went after Lacson but never got him. A March 18 Court of Appeals decision to lift the arrest warrants “immediately” allowed the international police to formally strike off Lacson’s name from its wanted list..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110327hed2.html

Malacañang unfazed by anti-RH rally? By Aytch S. de la Cruz 03/27/2011

Malacañang unfazed by anti-RH rally?

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 03/27/2011
President Aquino’s headstrong position on the issue of reproductive health (RH) insofar as his five-pronged responsible parenthood policy is concerned will not, in anyway, get affected by the massive interfaith rally held by the forces of the Catholic Church the other day in their relentless pursuit to kill the RH Bill which has been gaining grounds at the House of Representatives.

Two of Malacañang’s chief communicators made this clear yesterday with both presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda and Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning (PCDSP) Secretary Ramon Carandang merely expressing respect toward this mass action held by the Church..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110327hed5.html

PAL spinoff OK’d; outsourced workers may appeal plaints to courts — Palace By Aytch S. de la Cruz 03/27/2011

PAL spinoff OK’d; outsourced workers may appeal plaints to courts — Palace

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 03/27/2011
Malacañang has formally ended its mediation efforts on the longstanding labor disputes between the Philippine Airlines management and the members of its union, the PAL Employees Association (Palea) whose bid for a presidential intervention over the flag-carrier’s plan to outsource 2,600 of themto other companies turned out unsuccessful.

This developed as President Aquino decided to uphold the earlier ruling made by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, allowing PAL to layoff a number of its workers, only that the transition benefit packages that the flag-carrier previously offered them were modified by the Office of the President (OP).

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., in a press statement released by his office yesterday, said the OP empathized with the concerns of Palea and addressed the apprehensions of its members being employed by an entity other than the airline company and the remuneration they would receive..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110327hed6.html

Weak law enforcement makes RP center for money laundering By Aytch S. de la Cruz 03/27/2011

Weak law enforcement makes RP center for money laundering

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 03/27/2011

Malacañang yesterday attributed the Philippines’ inclusion on the list of countries that are said to be global centers for the laundering of money from international drug traffickers to weak law enforcement by the authorities as well as the lack of concerted effort between the three branches of government.

Deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte, however, said they will continue to exert more efforts to curb this problem in cooperation with the local government units and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to ensure that drug laws in the country are better executed this time around.

Valte was referring to the 2011 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report released by the US State Department Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs which placed the Philippines in the “Jurisdictions of Primary Concern,” a roll of countries said to be engaged in heavy narco-money laundering activities..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110327nat3.html

Army seizes 3,700 bd. ft. of ‘hot’ narra flitches in Kalinga 03/27/2011

Army seizes 3,700 bd. ft. of ‘hot’ narra flitches in Kalinga

03/27/2011
GAMU, Isabela — Army troops from the 77th Infantry Battalion (IB) based in Kalinga province confiscated 3,700 bd. ft. reportedly of “hot” narra flitches at a checkpoint they were manning last Thursday.

According to reports, the various sizes of the narra flitches were seized by troops from the 77th IB led by M/Sgt. Roberto Antonio at a checkpoint in Calanan, Tabuk City around 11:59 p.m.

The suspected hot lumbers were loaded aboard a white Elf truck driven by Joey Palyan, including helpers Jun Panglayan and Mark Olinares, all are living in Bulanao village.

The Cordillera police in La Trinidad, Benguet, said they received information that the alleged owners of the seized products worth P350,000 were a certain Jun Aragon reportedly vice mayor of Paracelis town in Mountain Province; Amboy Agnaya and Masli Lardizabal..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110327nat6.html

Disturbing EDITORIAL 03/26/2011

Disturbing

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

03/26/2011
A very disturbing comment was made by Noynoy Aquino to reporters after a business forum in the province.

He was quoted as saying, in justifying his call for people support for the removal of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, that, as a private citizen, he “demands a certain level of quality of functions of public service,” which is why he wants her removed.

He, as president and a private citizen, so he claims, can demand a certain level of quality, and even go to the extent of not being content with the work done by the Ombudsman. But, whether as president or private citizen, and especially as president, Noynoy cannot and should not interfere in the functions of the legislature or even call on the people to engage in mob rule to oust the Ombudsman, simply because she is seen by him as a stumbling block to his claimed reform program.

The House has been prostituted by Noynoy, and all to get the House to give him what he wants: The impeachment of Merci, and perhaps others whom he judges to be stumbling blocks. All it took was for Noynoy to bribe these congressmen with an additional P20 million pork barrel for their yes vote..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110326com1.html

Cause for alarm, for Noynoy FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 03/26/2011

Cause for alarm, for Noynoy

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

03/26/2011
It all depends on how one wants to interpret the numbers in a survey — especially if one believes such surveys, and most politicians do.

Still, certain numbers do tend to show certain things, such as the drops and rises of those being surveyed.

Pulse Asia, in a second release of its trust and approval ratings, showed that Vice President Jojo Binay has surpassed the approval and trust ratings of Noynoy Aquino, with Binay obtaining an 83 percent rating, making him the most appreciated high official, as against Noynoy’s 74 percent, or a nine percentage point difference.

In trust ratings, again, Binay emerged as the most trusted public official, rating higher than Noynoy, who obtained a 75 percent, with his VP getting 81 percent, or a difference of six percent..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110326com2.html

Oldest US nuclear reactor ‘disaster waiting to happen’ focus 03/26/2011

Oldest US nuclear reactor ‘disaster waiting to happen’

focus

03/26/2011
LACEY — A sleepy New Jersey town has come onto people’s radar screens because it has the oldest running nuclear power plant in the United States — and some say the most dangerous.

Named for a Revolutionary War general, Lacey, New Jersey is the kind of American town that few from outside the seaside settlement knew much about before the earthquake and tsunami in Japan triggered a nuclear crisis.

Down the road from the 1950s-style diner and across from the bridge that locals use as a fishing pier stands the Oyster Creek nuclear plant.

It uses a GE Mark I Boiling Water reactor identical to those at Japan’s Fukushima plant that lost power in the March 11 earthquake and then had their backup generators knocked out by the tsunami, causing cooling functions to fail..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110326com3.html

Indigenous Center for Lumads Decry Military Abuses, Attacks Against Schoolchildren

Indigenous Center for Lumads Decry Military Abuses, Attacks Against Schoolchildren

Soldiers belonging to the 73rd Infantry Battalion forced 10-year old Jimboy Saya to hold a chain of sub-machine gun bullets and carry an M-16 rifle. The soldiers then photographed the child and distributed it to local media with the caption “NPA child warrior going to school in Dlumay.”
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
Evidently not content with tagging ordinary civilians as members of the New People’s Army (NPA), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) continue to use children in its campaign to demonize the revolutionary forces.

According to a report by Katribu Party-list, soldiers belonging to the 73rd Infantry Battalion forced 10-year old Jimboy Saya to hold a chain of sub-machine gun bullets and carry an M-16 rifle. The soldiers then photographed the child and distributed it to local media with the caption “NPA child warrior going to school in Dlumay.”

Jimpoy is a Blaan student living in the remote village of Dlumay.

Katribu Party-list has released a statement saying that this was the latest in a series of vicious and systematic acts of harassment the 73rd IB against has perpetrated against the Center for Lumad Advocacy and Services (CLANS) and its projects in the communities it serves in Upper Suyan, Malapatan, Sarangani Province.

The organization of indigenous people said that since November 2010, Clans staff, schoolchildren and their parents, and community leaders have been subjected to interrogation, harassment, vilification and ridicule.
“The soldier even went as far as ordering a Blaan family to exhume their dead pastor, who died of lingering illness, because he was suspected as an NPA killed in action,” said Clans.

Staff members of Clans said they tried to document these atrocities in detail.

“For the past months we have been trying hard to stand our ground in defense of our school and our community against against the platoon of gun-toting government soldiers who would not let us have a day of peace,” they said..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/03/25/indigenous-center-for-lumads-decry-military-abuses-attacks-against-schoolchildren/

Next on the Agenda of the GPH-NDFP Peace Talks: Socio-economic Reforms

Next on the Agenda of the GPH-NDFP Peace Talks: Socio-economic Reforms

 Speaking before members of people’s organizations, Randall Echanis, a member of the NDFP’s Reciprocal Working Committee on Socio-Economic Reforms (RCW-SER) said the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-economic Reforms is the meat of the peace negotiations as it aims to address the roots of the armed conflict.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — During these times when the country is reeling from a global economic crisis, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) said, a Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (Caser) could never be more opportune.

The item on socio-economic reforms is the second in the substantive agenda in the peace negotiations between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the NDFP. The first agenda item was the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL),which was signed in August 1998.

After the initial round of peace talks last February, both panels agreed to start discussing Caser by June this year and to sign the agreement by August.

Speaking before members of people’s organizations, Randall Echanis, a member of the NDFP’s Reciprocal Working Committee on Socio-Economic Reforms (RCW-SER) said the Caser is the meat of the peace negotiations as it aims to address the roots of the armed conflict.

Echanis said the NDFP and the GPH, which was formerly called as the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP), exchanged drafts on Caser on March 16, 1998. Discussions, however, did not start at once.

Echanis recalled that bilateral talks on Caser took place in February and April of 2004. “The NDFP draft became the de facto working draft. The talks did not advance though. We only finished discussing the Preamble and the Declaration of Principles,” Echanis related.

Echanis said the two panels have different frameworks, citing as an example the refusal of the GPH panel members to use the phrase “national industrialization” in the Declaration of Principles.

Talks were stalled until the resumption of formal talks this February. After six years of impasse, the Caser is once again on the table.

On the NDFP side, Juliet de Lima serves as the RWC-SER chairwoman. Besides Echanis, Rafael Baylosis is the other member of the RWC-SER. Meanwhile, the GPH’s RWC-SER is chaired by Ednar Dayanghirang. He is joined by Fr. Bert Alejo and Prof. Fernando Aldana.

During the first round of formal talks, both panels identified the initial topics to be discussed in Caser. Echanis said the NDFP proposed agrarian reform and nationalist industrialization. The GPH later on agreed, citing assets reform and industrial policies as counterparts to the NDFP’s proposal. Both panels said they would revise their respective original drafts, which were submitted in 1998..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/03/25/next-on-the-agenda-of-the-gph-ndfp-peace-talks-socio-economic-reforms/

Burgos Family Urges Government, AFP to Surface Jonas After CHR Found Army Culpable

 Burgos Family Urges Government, AFP to Surface Jonas After CHR Found Army Culpable

“After almost four years of waiting, we finally see a glimmer of hope…While we seem to have won this battle, the real measure of success is the recovery of my son. We shall continue the fight until Jonas is returned to us, alive and well and justice is served.” – Edita Burgos

By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – While the family of missing activist Jonas Burgos welcomes the latest report of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) implicating the military in the abduction, Jonas’s mother Edita said the real measure of success is the recovery of her son. Jonas’s brother JL, meanwhile, said the perpetrators must be brought to justice.

“Our theory has been right all along. The evidence gathered by the CHR confirms our family’s theory that the Philippine Army is involved in the abduction of my son and elements of the police and military are participating in a cover up to hide the identity of the abductors and those involved,” Mrs. Burgos said in a statement.

Jonas, son of press freedom icon Jose “Joe” Burgos Jr., was abducted on April 28, 2007 at the Ever Gotesco mall in Commonwealth, Quezon City by suspected elements of the Philippine Army. He remains missing to this day.

The CHR investigation led by Commissioner Jose Mamauag found that the abduction of Jonas is “not a simple case of kidnapping done by some individuals within the military, but is, in fact, a part of the entire counter-insurgency program of the past administration wherein both military and police forces played a crucial role in its enforcement.”

The CHR was tasked by the Supreme Court to investigate the abduction of Jonas. In its resolution, the high court noted that there were “significant lapses” in the police investigation. The Burgos family filed a petition seeking the reversal of the decision of the Court of Appeals denying their petition for writ of amparo and absolving police and military officials implicated in the Burgos case.

In the report signed by Mamauag, the CHR has asked the Supreme Court to direct Army Lt. Harry Baliaga Jr. to produce Jonas. Baliaga was known to have been assigned to the 56th Infantry Battalion in Bulacan. The license plate of one of the vehicles used in Burgos’ abduction was traced to a vehicle under the custody of the Army battalion.

The CHR recommended the filing of kidnapping charges against Baliaga who was identified by two witnesses as among those who abducted Jonas. The commission also urged the high court to grant the petition for writ of amparo filed by Mrs. Burgos.

“After almost four years of waiting, we finally see a glimmer of hope…” Mrs. Burgos said. “While we seem to have won this battle, the real measure of success is the recovery of my son. We shall continue the fight until Jonas is returned to us, alive and well and justice is served.”

Command Responsibility
 
The Burgos family deems that Baliaga “will not act without orders from higher authorities.”
The CHR said the assignment of criminal responsibility must not be confined to the few soldiers who executed the crime. “If ever, they are mere henchmen of the hierarchy of fear that held sway in the past. What is more fundamental is how the principle of command responsibility may be made to bear against the higher-ups who ordered the disappearance of Jonas Burgos, an activist and critic of the former regime,” the CHR said in a statement..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com


URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/03/23/burgos-family-urge-government-afp-to-surface-jonas-after-chr-found-army-culpable/

Negros Rights Advocates Launch “Free Rogina Quilop Movement”

Negros Rights Advocates Launch “Free Rogina Quilop Movement”

“ Rogina’s name only came out in the 5th amended warrant of arrest, together with Romulo Bitoon who was arrested April 5, 2010, three other names, and other John Does; and that the warrant of arrest served to her last March 3 only contained hers and Romulo Bitoon.”
By KARL G. OMBION
Bulatlat.com

BACOLOD City – Rights advocates, kin and friends of detained development worker Rogina Navarro-Quilop launched here early this week the “Free Rogina Quilop Movement” (FRQM) to intensify their coordinated campaign for her release.

Fr. Armand Onion, FRQM coordinator, said during the launching that “the assault on Rogina is an assault on the Filipino people because at the time of her illegal arrest she has dedicated her life in solidarity with the poor.”

“Rogina is a symbol of the struggle of the people for freedom and justice; her freedom will also mean justice for the people,” Fr. Onion added.

Fred Cana, secretary general of Karapatan Negros said Rogina, administrative officer of Bacolod-based non-government service organization Center for People’s Resources and Services (CPRS) and a board director of Ma-ao Parish Multi-Purpose Cooperative Inc. (MPMPCI), was arrested on March 3 at the Bacolod-Silay airport by fully armed elements of Silay City Police Office, Provincial Police Office and civilian operatives believed to be intelligence members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

She was arrested for alleged arson case on the strength of a warrant of arrest issued by Judge Katherine Go of San Carlos City Regional Trial Court.

She was arrested in the presence of her children and husband Joe Quilop who fetched her at the airport. They also confiscated her laptop, micro flash drives, and P 5,000 in cash..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/03/24/negros-rights-advocates-launch-%e2%80%9cfree-rogina-quilop-movement%e2%80%9d/

DoJ orders probe on ex-AFP brass plunder scam By Benjamin B. Pulta, Angie M. Rosales and Aytch S. de la Cruz 03/26/2011

DoJ orders probe on ex-AFP brass plunder scam

By Benjamin B. Pulta, Angie M. Rosales and Aytch S. de la Cruz 03/26/2011

Their woes are far from over.
A full-fledged fact-finding investigation into the misuse of funds and corruption in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has been ordered by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

Speaking to reporters, De Lima said a recently formed team would gather more evidence on former generals or officials who could be held liable.

She said the panel, which would be formally created on Monday, is tasked to “start collating all pieces of evidence, information and reports from both houses of Congress and also from the AFP” ahead of a preliminary investigation on a delayed complaint affidavit of whistleblower retired military budget officer, Col. George Rabusa..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110326hed1.html

DoJ issues guidelines for military, police checkpoints 03/26/2011

DoJ issues guidelines for military, police checkpoints

03/26/2011
A public advisory has been issued by the Depart-ment of Justice (DoJ) on police and military check-points for motorists.

The DoJ handed down the 10-point guideline detailing how motorists should deal with authorities in check-points to protect their rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima signed the DoJ’s Advisory Opinion No. 1 last March 15 “in line with the thrust of the department to take a pro-active stance and dynamic approach in criminal justice concerns.”

The “Advisory” is intended to address and advise the public on the proper conduct of checkpoints to protect citizens, to serve as warning to erring law enforcers and to weed out illegal checkpoints..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110326hed1.html

Binay appeals anew for 3 Pinoys on China death row 03/26/2011

Binay appeals anew for 3 Pinoys on China death row

03/26/2011
Vice President Jejomar Binay yesterday appealed to Chinese Presi-dent Hu Jintao to grant executive clemency to the three convicted Filipino drug smugglers who will be executed next week despite the government’s acceptance of the verdict.

Binay, concurrent presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers’ concerns, wrote to Hu, asking him to commute the sentences on the Filipinos, saying they were “merely victims of international drug
syndicates.”

“On humanitarian grounds and on the basis of the strong friendship and cooperation between our two countries and peoples, I once again appeal to Your Excellency to grant clemency to these three Filipinos,” Binay said in his letter to the Chinese leader..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110326hed6.html