Toward a lynching mob EDITORIAL 08/04/2011

Toward a lynching mob

EDITORIAL

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08/04/2011
Sen. Ping Lacson is out to get former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo. He has been all over the airwaves saying that he has proof to pin down Mike, apart from proclaiming that the two witnesses who appeared before the Senate blue ribbon committee who testified that Mike is the real owner of two pre-owned helicopters passed off as new and sold to the Philippine National Police is true, as they have no reason to lie.

Apparently, the evidence Lacson says will pin down Mike are billings in the name of Arroyo himself on the maintenance check-ups for the choppers.

Unless stronger proof is presented, such as deeds of sale stating that Mike is the owner of the choppers or receipts of the money paid for such a purchase, as well as other documents, it will be very hard going to make the case against Mike Arroyo stick — at least on this controversial chopper business as it stands today.

Testimonies, even under oath, hardly carry weight, and Lacson should know it. After all, didn’t Lacson himself dismiss the testimony of his former aide, Cesar Mancao, regarding Lacson’s role in the murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito?.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110804com1.html

Class act FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 08/04/2011

Class act

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

08/04/2011
Sen. Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri announced yesterday his resignation from the Senate in defense of his, and his family’s honor during a privilege speech.

What he did was a class act, and as pointed out by Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile, this was the first time in history that a senator had resigned from the Senate in defense of his honor.

And in announcing his resignation, Migz won over more supporters and, perception-wise, virtually erased too much doubt on those charges of his having cheated in the 2007 senatorial polls.

This to me, was a class act, because if he had asked the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) instead to no longer continue with the protest and as the rumors went, would cede his seat to his election rival, there would have been suspicions from the public that he had resigned, because he knew the fraud would be discovered and that he would have lost in the 2007 polls..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110804com2.html

Asia’s top women keep it in the family — for now focus 08/04/2011

Asia’s top women keep it in the family — for now

focus

08/04/2011
BANGKOK — Thailand’s first female prime minister will this week join a long list of Asian women leaders whose power stems from family ties, with analysts saying the trend is a mixed blessing for equality.

Political novice Yingluck Shinawatra went from virtual unknown to election victor in a matter of weeks after her brother, fugitive former leader Thaksin, endorsed her Puea Thai party’s candidacy, assuring voters she was his “clone.”

Her stellar rise, set to be formally completed this week, mirrors stories from across Asia, with a collection of women whose family names — and often the death of a male predecessor — propelled them to power.

The assassination of a husband saw Sri Lanka’s Sirimavo Bandaranaike become the world’s first female premier in 1960 and, more than two decades later, thrust Filipino housewife Corazon “Cory” Aquino into the limelight..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110804com3.html

Noy’s bloody anti-wang-wang drive INSIDE CONGRESS Charlie Manalo 08/04/2011

Noy’s bloody anti-wang-wang drive

INSIDE CONGRESS

Charlie Manalo

08/04/2011
It seems everyone in the Aquino administration has gone gaga over Noynoy’s anti-wang-wang campaign. Even if it has to cost a man his life.

Last Wednesday, a lawyer at the Development Bank of the Philippines hanged himself inside one of the rooms in a small hotel in Las Piñas after he was reported to falsely testify against the previous administration.

According to reports, DBP chairman Jose Nuñez coerced him to sign an affidavit which was intended to pin down the Arroyos for alleged irregular transactions. Forced to sign the document, Benjie later regretted having affixed his signature on the affidavit and eventually decided to take his own life, by hanging.

Nuñez himself admitted DBP is in the midst of an investigation and that Benjie would play an important role in the probe..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110804com5.html

Norway vows not to change after attacks, but fears it must focus 08/04/2011

Norway vows not to change after attacks, but fears it must

focus

08/04/2011
OSLO — Long considered one of the world’s safest and most peaceful countries, Norway is braced for changes to its traditionally open society after the deadly twin attacks on July 22.

Sweden was shaken by the assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme and later foreign minister Anna Lindh, Denmark has lived with a constant threat of attacks since the Mohammed cartoon crisis, and Finland has suffered two large-scale school shootings.

For a long time, it has seemed that Norway had avoided the fate of its neighbors, but when rightwing extremist Anders Behring Breivik on July 22 first bombed government offices in Oslo before going on a shooting rampage at a Labour Party youth camp, killing in all 77 persons, the Scandinavian country in turn shed its sheltered innocence.

“There will be a before and after July 22,” acknowledged Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who has created an independent commission to draw up a report on the lessons that must be learned from the massacre..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110804com6.html

Wang-wang VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 08/04/2011

Wang-wang

VIEWPOINTS

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

08/04/2011
It is not only according to the dictate of reason but also in due deference to the truth that which people say and do — especially so when it is no less than the highest public official in the land who speaks — should be well analyzed and duly understood. Otherwise, downright lies or deliberate duplicity could easily stand for reality.

This is about the then infamous and now famous “wang-wang” issue. Before, it had a rather shameful significance and shameful connotation. Now, all of a sudden, it was given a glorious meaning to the extent that it was made to stand for the supposed value-transformation of both public officials and private citizens. In other words, while “wang-wang” was then but a big excuse, now it is made a great symbol..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110804com7.html

Zubiri resigns; Palace ‘blackmail’ rap aired By Angie M. Rosales 08/04/2011

SOURCES POINT TO LLAMAS’ PRESSURE, THREATS; JPE LAUDS MIGZ FOR ‘MORAL COURAGE’

Zubiri resigns; Palace ‘blackmail’ rap aired

By Angie M. Rosales 08/04/2011

Just a month before the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) is slated to come to an end on his counter-protest case against lawyer Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel in a recount of the contested votes during the 2007 elections, Sen. Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri announced his resignation from the Senate membership.Zubiri’s decision to give up his elected position, whose legitimacy he continues to be defending for four years now, was prompted by renewed charges of supposed cheating in the elections following the recent surfacing of purported new witnesses in massive poll fraud operations.

Zubiri, in a class act of resigning, said he is doing so to defend his, and his family’s honor and integrity, as power and position and even money cannot be more important than integrity and honor.

The surfacing of the former Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and former election officer Lintang Bedol, apparently aggravated Zubiri’s predicament as Tribune sources disclosed that Zubiri was being subjected to intense pressure as well as threats from Malacañang for quite sometime now, dating back when he was strongly opposing the Palace-backed bill postponing the elections in the ARMM..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110804hed1.html

Noy admits DoJ-Comelec probe body won’t pin down GMA By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 08/04/2011

Noy admits DoJ-Comelec probe body won’t pin down GMA

By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 08/04/2011
The joint Commission on Elections (Comelec) and Department of Justice (DoJ) body formed to probe allegations of fraud in the recent past elections may have to dig deeper in the investigations it will undertake to unearth related cases in allegations of cheating in the 2004 elections after the five-year prescription period on that particular exercise had lapsed, President Aquino admitted yesterday, in turn, saying the body will not be able to pin down former President Arroyo on charges she cheated to steal another six-year term.

The body was formed specifically to look into charges that former President Arroyo stole the vote for the presidency in 2004 through orchestrated and massive cheating.

Aquino said since the prescription period of cases related to the 2004 election had lapsed, he has instructed the joint body to review the Mayuga report and follow up leads on other cases from the report of the body that conducted investigations into the alleged participation of members of the military in the cheating operations.

Aquino in an ambush interview branded the Mayuga report as tailored to comply with what the past administration wanted to see and hear as he cited some instances when the lines of questioning were being deliberately diverted to stop the resource persons from issuing compromising statements..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110804hed3.html

Jemaah Islamiyah group tagged in Cotabato blast — AFP By Mario J. Mallari 08/04/2011

Jemaah Islamiyah group tagged in Cotabato blast — AFP

By Mario J. Mallari 08/04/2011

The military has tagged the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) as responsible in the bombing in Cotabato City last Tuesday that killed two civilians and wounded nine others.

Army 6th Infantry Division (ID) spokesman Col. Prudencio Asto particularly pointed to trainees of JI-special operations group (SOG), led by Basit Usman.

“This is a handiwork of the group of students of Basit Usman, special operations group of the Jemaah Islamiyah,” Asto said.

The same group was tagged in the foiled bombing in Tacurong City last June. Police and military authorities recovered several improvised explosive devices (IEDs) composed of rounds for rocket-propelled grenades.
.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110804nat1.html

Noy anti-wang wang stance costs life of DBP exec 08/04/2011

Noy anti-wang wang stance costs life of DBP exec

08/04/2011
With almost all of the President’s men going “gaga” over his call for an end to the wang-wang culture of corruption, a high ranking official of a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) tried to force one of his subordinates to sign an affidavit intended to pin down the previous administration for alleged irregular transactions resulting for his underling to commit suicide.

But President Aquino’s anti-wang-wang drive is limited to the anti-corruption drive against the previous administration, a Cabinet secretary allegedly tried to coerce his assistant secretary to sign a purchase order for computer sets without the benefit of a bidding, forcing the asec to resign from his post.

Last Wednesday, Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) lawyer Benjamin Pinpin hanged himself inside one of the rooms in one of the branches of Eurotel in Las Piñas after regretting he had signed the affidavit which would have linked the Arroyos in alleged irregular transactions the bank had entered into.

In his suicide note to his wife, Pinpin lamented he had signed the document which he described as the biggest mistake he had ever committed in his life..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110804nat3.html

De Lima’s close-in security nabbed for human trafficking By Benjamin B. Pulta 08/04/2011

De Lima’s close-in security nabbed for human trafficking

By Benjamin B. Pulta 08/04/2011

Criminal charges have been ordered by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima against VIP security personnel assigned to the Department of Justice (DoJ) caught for transporting 17 females from Bicol to Zamboanga.

De Lima who is the chairman of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking in Persons (IACAT) also ordered the immediate detention of the unnamed close-in security.

“We will be harsh on human trafficking syndicates who victimize our innocent women and we will be even much harsher on our own people engaging in such nefarious activities,” De Lima warned as she asked Zamboanga’s anti-human trafficking units to ensure that the security detail will not be able to escape so he can face the full weight of the law.

De Lima said she was saddened by the fact that the person involved belongs to the DoJ security family but angered because the security detail used his position and identification to traffic hapless would-be victims..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110804met1.html

BoC must explain disappearance of 2,000 container vans — solon By Charlie V. Manalo 08/04/2011

BoC must explain disappearance of 2,000 container vans — solon

By Charlie V. Manalo 08/04/2011
Zambales Rep. Ma. Milagros “Mitos” Magsaysay yesterday said the Bureau of Customs (BoC) should be held accountable for the almost 2,000 missing container vans which resulted in a loss of almost P3.6 billion in revenue for the government.

At a press briefing, Magsaysay said the BoC, through Commissioner Lito Alvarez, should be made to explain why 1,919 container vans did not make it to the Batangas port after they were transported from the Port of Manila and the Manila International Container Port (MICP).

“A stupendous anomaly on which the Aquino administration is ominously, albeit culpably silent, concerns 2,000 large container vans that supposedly just “vanished” into thin air and are now out of reach of our Bureau of Customs,” said Magsaysay reading a prepared statement..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110804met2.html

Only for the KKKs EDITORIAL 08/03/2011

Only for the KKKs

EDITORIAL

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08/03/2011
First off, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with congressmen having their allocation of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or congressional earmarks, more commonly known as pork barrel.

For Malacañang to deny them the congressional pork is in reality, denying their districts and constituents that which is due them, and denying too, the districts of whatever project, small or big, needed.

Congressmen need it for the benefit of their constituents and their districts who should have a share of the national improvements, whether they be concrete roads or scholarships for deserving students, health centers and even farm implements.

What is wrong with the pork barrel is its abuse, and there have been abuses in the past and even in the present, with abuses being committed by both Malacañang and Congress..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110803com1.html

Biased probe FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 08/03/2011

Biased probe

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

08/03/2011
Reports are out that the Justice Department and the Commission on Electionswill be forming a joint investigation into alleged massive election fraud committed in the 2004 and 2007. The joint probe will be headed by the DoJ, which is headed by Leila de Lima, while the Comelec is headed by Sixto Brillantes.

As reported, the probe body created is tasked to conduct a fact-finding and preliminary investigation into the alleged poll fraud, with the aim of being able to prosecute those responsible for the electoral fraud.

“It would be a combination of fact-finding and preliminary investigation. So it’s a go that if there are probable respondents, we are going to summon them and at the end of the proceedings, should there be probable cause, we will immediately file the charges,” De Lima was quoted as saying.

The panel will be composed of three DoJ officials and two from the poll body, open to the public save for instances where an executive session is warranted, which will be on a case-to-case basis, she said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110803com2.html

Obama diminished by debt debacle? Analysts think so ANALYSIS 08/03/2011

Obama diminished by debt debacle? Analysts think so

ANALYSIS

08/03/2011
WASHINGTON — A bruised President Barack Obama pulled the US economy back from the brink of disaster with a last-gasp debt deals, but at the cost of enraging his base by capitulating to foes ahead of his 2012 reelection bid, analysts said.

“He and the Democrats got rolled,” political science professor Dante Scala at the University of New Hampshire told AFP, offering his blunt assessment of Obama’s efforts to secure a deal that meets fiscal and moral muster with his Democrats.

“In the short term, he has (taken a hit),” Scala said. Even with a deal crafted that would avert a calamitous first-ever US default, “he’s certainly lost this particular battle.”

Obama faces fury from liberals who tarred him as a spineless compromiser for dropping his demand for tax revenues from the wealthy to balance out spending cuts, even though he managed to raise the debt ceiling through the end of 2012, after the election, and keep entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare untouched..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110803com3.html

Yale program a melting pot of elites FEATURE 08/03/2011 NEW HAVEN — A Tunisian cyberdissident and a Russian blogger may not appear to have much in common, but they were brought together at Yale University in a program drawing elites from around the globe. Established 10 years ago, Yale’s “World Fellows” initiative has lured a diverse group of mid-career professionals deemed to be “emerging leaders” to the prestigious Ivy League school northeast of New York. Each year, 14 to 18 persons earn the right to spend a semester on the leafy campus in New Haven, Connecticut. Fellows — whose fees and living expenses are fully funded by the university — take classes but also offer guest lectures to undergraduates and meet with students to share their experiences. Program veterans include prominent Chinese AIDS activist Wan Yanhai, who is now living in the United States due to fears for his safety; Lebanese gallery owner Saleh Barakat; and Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Maria Corina Machado.

Yale program a melting pot of elites

FEATURE

08/03/2011
NEW HAVEN — A Tunisian cyberdissident and a Russian blogger may not appear to have much in common, but they were brought together at Yale University in a program drawing elites from around the globe.

Established 10 years ago, Yale’s “World Fellows” initiative has lured a diverse group of mid-career professionals deemed to be “emerging leaders” to the prestigious Ivy League school northeast of New York.

Each year, 14 to 18 persons earn the right to spend a semester on the leafy campus in New Haven, Connecticut. Fellows — whose fees and living expenses are fully funded by the university — take classes but also offer guest lectures to undergraduates and meet with students to share their experiences.

Program veterans include prominent Chinese AIDS activist Wan Yanhai, who is now living in the United States due to fears for his safety; Lebanese gallery owner Saleh Barakat; and Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Maria Corina Machado..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110803com5.html

Yale program a melting pot of elites FEATURE 08/03/2011

Yale program a melting pot of elites

FEATURE

08/03/2011
NEW HAVEN — A Tunisian cyberdissident and a Russian blogger may not appear to have much in common, but they were brought together at Yale University in a program drawing elites from around the globe.

Established 10 years ago, Yale’s “World Fellows” initiative has lured a diverse group of mid-career professionals deemed to be “emerging leaders” to the prestigious Ivy League school northeast of New York.

Each year, 14 to 18 persons earn the right to spend a semester on the leafy campus in New Haven, Connecticut. Fellows — whose fees and living expenses are fully funded by the university — take classes but also offer guest lectures to undergraduates and meet with students to share their experiences.

Program veterans include prominent Chinese AIDS activist Wan Yanhai, who is now living in the United States due to fears for his safety; Lebanese gallery owner Saleh Barakat; and Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Maria Corina Machado..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110803com5.html

Camsur. Camfalse? C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 08/03/2011

Camsur. Camfalse?

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

Jonathan De la Cruz

08/03/2011
CamSun.CamSand.CamSur is the catchy appellation which Camarines Sur Gov. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte and his marketing team have come out with in a bid to cement the province’s standing as the country’s prime tourist destination. They have apparently succeeded with this sales pitch. The province continues to attract loads of tourists and is now on track to secure even more as it bids to move up the “tourism totem pole “eyeing events including such top notch activities as the Iron Man contest and, yes, the much coveted AD Congress.

Which is why I am saddened by their latest antic denigrating the processes which brought House Bill 4728 proposing the division of the province with the creation of a new one, Nueva Camarines, which incorporates the towns in the province’s 4th and 5th districts. They have gone to town claiming that the bill was railroaded through the House of Representatives purportedly on the prodding of its principal author, Deputy Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella, who has apparently a running feud with the governor over a number of issues relative to the province’s operations..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110803com4.html

Prescription hurdle faces 2004 poll fraud body By Benjamin B. Pulta 08/03/2011

Prescription hurdle faces 2004 poll fraud body

By Benjamin B. Pulta 08/03/2011

The government has formed a panel of prosecutors which Justice Secretary Leila de Lima or a senior state prosecutor would likely head to probe into widespread allegations of fraud in elections held during the term of President Arroyo, particularly in the 2004 presidential polls but a five-year prescription rule may turn all these efforts for naught.

The body will have two representatives each from the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Speaking to newsmen after a closed-door meeting with Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes, De Lima said the joint DoJ-Comelec body will immediately conduct a preliminary investigation into possible charges.
“I will be closely supervising the committee,” De Lima said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110803hed5.html

Mike A behind PNP choppers sale By Angie M. Rosales 08/03/2011

FORMER FIRST GENTLEMAN THREATENS TO FILE PERJURY VS ‘WHISTLE-BLOWERS’

Mike A behind PNP choppers sale

By Angie M. Rosales 08/03/2011
Two businessmen, under oath before the Senate blue ribbon committee, affirmed yesterday reports that former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo was the person behind the sale of the alleged highly-overpriced helicopters to the Philippine National Police (PNP).

One of them directly identified the former presidential spouse as the actual owner of the two choppers, even stating that he delivered personally the payment amounting to $700,000 in cold cash or P31.5 million at the Arroyo-owned LTA building in Perea St., Makati City, where Arroyo holds office, sometime April 2010.

Mike Arroyo’s new lawyer, Toto Ferrer also yesterday said in a TV interview that the former presidential spouse will file criminal charges against Archibald Po for perjury after his testimony in a Senate probe on the claimed questionable sale to the PNP..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110803hed1.html