MANILA, Philippines (AP) — At least five foreign extremists have been hiding on a remote southern Philippine island and could help link Filipino radicals to potential overseas financiers and combat trainers like the al-Qaida terrorist network, a military commander said Tuesday.
The five, who have been roaming the tropical jungles of Jolo island in Sulu province, are led by U.S.-trained Malaysian engineer Zulkifli bin Hir, one of the remaining key terror suspects in Southeast Asia, regional military commander Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer said.
"They seem to be actively moving around Sulu," Ferrer told reporters.
U.S. troops have been providing training, intelligence and other noncombat help to underfunded Filipino troops for years to help crush local Abu Sayyaf militants and the foreign extremists they shelter, including members of the Indonesia-based militant network Jemaah Islamiyah.
U.S.-backed Philippine offensives have been credited for the capture and killing of hundreds of Abu Sayyaf fighters and their foreign allies in Sulu, an impoverished Muslim region about 590 miles (950 kilometers) south of Manila, and in outlying island provinces.
Washington has offered huge rewards for some of the terror suspects, including $5 million for Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan. The Malaysian has been accused of involvement in past bombings and of helping secure funds and weapons for the Abu Sayyaf from foreign donors.
Ferrer said the other foreign militants are a Singaporean identified as Abdullah Ali who uses the guerrilla name Muawiyah, and an Indonesian identified only as Qayim. The two others are Amin Baco, probably a Malaysian who uses the alias Abu Jihad, and another Indonesian identified as Sa'ad, he said.
Troops have obtained pictures of Marwan and Muawiyah, Ferrer said.
Ferrer, who heads the military's Western Mindanao Command, said he was unaware of other foreign militants outside his command. A government threat assessment report issued last year seen by The Associated Press lists 12 identified foreign terror suspects, including those named by Ferrer.
Aside from a yearslong military manhunt, troops have been launching offensives to kill or capture Abu Sayyaf militants and destroy their strongholds to deny foreign radicals sanctuaries, Ferrer said.
Military officials have accused hard-line commanders of a larger Philippine rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, of harboring Jemaah Islamiyah militants in southern Mindanao region's marshy heartland. The 11,000-strong Moro group, which is engaged in peace talks with the government, has denied any links with foreign terrorist groups.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
News Update House: CJ bought P14.5-M condo
Chief Justice Renato Corona and his wife bought a condominium unit and three parking slots at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City for P14.5 million in 2009, documents have revealed.
Kopi Talk Blood, Volcano in Alvarado’s Art
MANILA, Philippines - Negros-based artist Nunelucio Alvarado, who is known for his social realist works, has two items in his must-do list in 2012. First, he wants to revisit 20 black and white drawings that he exhibited in a show entitled "Lust" 10 years ago at the Big & Small Art Co., at Mandaluyong City's SM.
The other item is to look for the families of displaced fishermen from Negros who are now living in Manila's slum areas. The coastal people of Negros are the most endangered of his favourite characters on canvas.
The "lust" pieces include "Makadiyos, Makatao (The Godly and the Humanist)," which shows a man and a woman in dog-style sex, his depiction of sex for power and not for love; "Papa Sam," a well dressed foreigner seated before a dinner of steak and wine, with a small doll-like woman perched on his left shoulder, refers to US post colonialism, a favorite theme of social-realist artists in the Philippines; "Samonay" a tall woman with a bayonet stuck into her private organ, in reference to sexually violated women overseas workers in Japan; "Papikup," depicts a big woman with open belly, her entrails about to be consumed by a snake that rises up from the teeth of a man's face that is horizontally placed on the foreground, the artist's elegy for prostitutes; "Estudyante" has two bodies, one shapely, the other in shapeless school uniform; her one leg has a high-heeled shoe, the other in bobby sox, her handbag has a photo of a nude woman, the artist's depiction of the innocent vamp who earns money as a prostitute to pay for her school tuition; "Tulo" depicts a man with sexually transmitted disease, Alvarado's moral piece for sexual transgressions.
"Lust" as a social comment
"I'll make bigger pieces of my "Lust" series. Originally on 9" x 12" drawing sheets, they will be on 4 x 5 feet canvases. Kukulayan ko sila ng mga dark colors. In 2012, I'll leave Sagay (Negros) and finish these art works in Manila, the center of political power," says Alvarado. His aim is to stretch the sexually graphic visuals of "lust" for them to gain clearer political (or spiritual) statements.
Developing his "lust" pieces into an essay on vice and virtue, or to portray modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah in the Philippines in order to raise social issue by not depicting clash of class struggle on canvas will make Alvarado a firm believer of the notion that social volcano originates from man's own hellish acts, the ramifications of which begin in the bedroom. It might seem a curious approach, but Alvarado's production for this project should make a case for it.
When Alvarado made his psychologically-driven "lust" pieces in 2002, he was also bent on making clear, objective and unmistakable progressive social comments, on mural-sized canvases, about class struggle of the poor and the rich. He has populated his colourful canvases with portraits of sugar cane workers, factory workers, merchants and fishermen in Negros.
Looking for lost fisherfolks of Negros in Manila's slum areas
Talking about the lost coastal people of Negros, Alvarado vows, "Hahanapin ko sila saan man sila napadpad. They are now in squatter areas in Manila. For several years, binigyan sila ng boundary sa dagat ng Negros, pero hindi nila kaya ang lumayo at makipag-compete. Maraming sumuko sa pangingisda. As a result, rich consigners who also own hotels have monopolized the fishing industry in my hometown in Negros," he laments.
Alvarado started edifying the fisherfolks since early 2000. Portraits of fisherfolks were a major part of "Himbis" (scales), a show at Galerie Anna at SM on EDSA in 2010. "Pinakita ko silang nangingisda, namimingwit, nagdadaing,"says Alvarado.
Alvarado is expected to fill his future canvases of fisherfolks with images of pain and suffering - and also of perseverance - of the lost fishermen he will find in Manila's harsh earth-bound life. How to paint his arduous search and the surprising things he will see, is a difficult and challenging theme to handle and translate into images for the less verbal and one dimensional visual art.
For a long time, Alvarado never left behind the social volcano of Negros. Now, his search for the hot and untouchable embers of class struggle (of people from Negros) in Manila, is a journey that could deepen his philosophy of aesthetics.
"I am always based in Sagay where my studio is near the sea. Sometimes I intermittently stay in Manila for one or two years. I rent a place to be by myself and to paint (the concepts that I have developed in my studio, by the sea, in Sagay)," he says. His incessant interaction with the characters he has depicted on canvas, a method he has done since he decided to be a social realist in the late '70s, will help him push through with his new project in 2012.
Interactive creative process
Alvarado is not new in stimulating a sharp palette for the argumentative and dialectical social realist art. Like a journalist, he wants to smell the scene and taste the blood of pain on site. But unlike a parachuting documentarist, he stays longer for the pain to touch his heart and sear his mind. Unlike an anthropologist, he takes in the colors of other lives, breathe them in to a point of dying only to shake them off on canvas, and perhaps cry in the process until he gets a ferment of understanding and deep love for the side he picks from life's eternal ring of struggle.
Talking about his interactive creative process, Alvarado says, "To produce art works on sugar cane farmers, I used to live with sugar planters in different haciendas in Negros."
For six months, Alvarado stayed in a farm owned by Benjie Rodriguez in La Carlota, south Negros and produced art works on men and women sugarcane workers that comprised "Kaupod" (Companion), an art exhibit at Manila's Hiraya Gallery in 1981. He also stayed six months at Hacienda Margarita in Victorias, north Negros, then managed by Arom Sorbito, and produced artworks on women sugarcane farmers, which he presented in a show entitled "Kababayehan sa Uma", at Quezon City's Heritage Art center in 1982.
Since the late '70s, Alvarado has continued portraying stolid-looking, inscrutable, gigantic, muscular and persevering farmers, fishermen and merchants in Negros, a veritable social volcano where rich hacienderos and other powerful sectors, a minority, control 90 percent of the economy. In his canvases where the colors clash as they interact in a sea of possibilities (and they also appear as interesting as rainbows), Alvarado has always placed towering figures of the oppressed at the center stage while their oppressors leer and lurk like mighty animals, at the background.
Struggle-fatigue or class struggle in praise of co existence
It is easy to assess that Alvarado has already reached struggle-fatigue, or has morphed class-struggle on canvas as praise for co-existence, in at least two shows: "Minoro" (Pople in the Community), a project of Galerie Anna at SM's Art Centre in Mandaluying last November 2011; and "Arkabala" (Tax for Flea Market Merchants) at the AyalaMuseum in Makati in 2009.
Defending "Minoro" and his depiction of placid and accepting workers, Alvarado says, "My art works are laughing on the outside, but crying in the inside." He has tried to suppress the so-called poor's pain because, "Damang dama ko and sense of life ng mga tao sa community."
In Arkabala, Alvarado has almost obliterated the evil tax collector by presenting suggestions and not graphic depiction of their animalistic nature.
"Uso sa Negros ang tiangge. A stall in a flea market is not just a space, but a life for merchants. They keep paying taxes, but they do not get anything good in return, like a clean, safe and secure setting," Alvarado complains. But his point in portraying tax collectors who do not give anything in return as animals (with broken teeth) in the "Arkabala" show is, says Alvarado, to portray the oppressed class in a stage of fruition and overcoming their slavery.
"For me, the poor and the oppressed have the courage to stand still; the will and energy to live on despite the decadence, oppression, problems and the presence of animals (and tax collectors) around them," he explains. Prophesying a timely and historical overcoming of the lower class, he says, should not nullify the value of his art.
Art, a colorful teach-in for change
Art-making for Alvarado has always been a colourful and heartfelt teach-in. "Ang pagpipinta hindi lang para sa pera o sa pogi points. May obligasyon ang artist na gumawa ng makabuluhang singing, ang kanyang sining," he lectures.
Justifying four decades of dedication to committed art, and developing his very own expressionistic and powerful forms, Alvarado says, "If I haven't painted the wrong things (that are happening in my country), then nothing will change. While I am alive, I will keep on painting the inequities that I see in my society. I will not stop doing that. I truly hope that my art can help bring about changes."
Alvarado's way of art
The sources of his inspiration are the sources of his strength. "I work early from four to five in the morning until lunch. I usually take a siesta, sa duyan. At night, I don't work. I go out, eat, drink, chat, sing or dance with people in the community. Talking with them is very important for me. I don't just look at them or take photos of them," he says of his life as an artist.
Assessing the works of his hands, heart and mind, Alvarado boasts, "My images are relevant to what is happening in my country - the way I have perceived them. Objectively, they are made in the Philippines."
Reacting to criticism that his style of making towering figures of the oppressed and placing their heads near the top edge of his canvas that seem to damage his favoured class, Alvarado says, "May pasan-pasan ang mga trabahador ko. The ceiling on the head of the workers in my paintings is a symbolic composition. It's a symbol of the limitations imposed on them, na parang nasabihan sila, hanggang dyan ka na lang, nakakahon ka na lang."
Compressing his powerful portraits of poor people with other elements seems to cage them in and not give them a sense of space or liberation. Noting this, Alvarado says, "Gusto ko puno ng tao at iba't ibang elemento ang canvas ko. Gusto ko siksikan sila, or compressed. Otherwise, I'm not happy with my work."
This is also culturally and empirically influenced. "Punong puno ang mga bahay ng mga taong pinupuntahan ko sa community. Iniipon-ipon nila ang mga bagay-bagay sa bahay nila. That is our culture, too. Asians believe that there should be no vacant space in their house, otherwise it will become the nest of bad spirits," he says.
The hard-edged angle and stolid nature of his characters on canvas give them power, not mute resignation, insists Alvarado. "Some critics say my figures are sharp-angled and severe, they don't dance and move, the way the peasants are depicted by Fernando Amorsolo and Botong Francisco. I think their works are not depicting the Asian form," he says.
His mural-sized canvases for little people are clues to his true feelings for the characters he has been depicting for more than 40 years. "My big canvases are symbolic of what I feel about the working class. They work hard. They are exposed to sunlight. They are robust."
Last struggle on canvas, looking for true Negros
Is Alvarado's creative journey bringing him deeper into nuances of purity, of symbolically eradicating evil from good, to see not only himself, the powerful and the oppressed, but the true Negros, the beloved heart of his art, for others to see the deep colors of the origin of its origins?
"In the past, Negros was a forested heaven, or Panilungan (a deep shelter) for everyone. Walang tao sa bundok. The original settlers were black people. They were driven up to the mountains when the Malays came. They hid higher when the Spaniards came; when other foreign business entered Negros, when planters established sugar plantations, when the lowlanders lorded over all of Negros lower areas," narrates Alvarado.
He knows that in a multi-colored pallete, the color white is spread last on canvas for it to remain white because when all colors are mixed, they turn black. How Alvarado will make an allegorical portrait of Negros is worth waiting for.
(filipina.lippi@yahoo.com)
The other item is to look for the families of displaced fishermen from Negros who are now living in Manila's slum areas. The coastal people of Negros are the most endangered of his favourite characters on canvas.
The "lust" pieces include "Makadiyos, Makatao (The Godly and the Humanist)," which shows a man and a woman in dog-style sex, his depiction of sex for power and not for love; "Papa Sam," a well dressed foreigner seated before a dinner of steak and wine, with a small doll-like woman perched on his left shoulder, refers to US post colonialism, a favorite theme of social-realist artists in the Philippines; "Samonay" a tall woman with a bayonet stuck into her private organ, in reference to sexually violated women overseas workers in Japan; "Papikup," depicts a big woman with open belly, her entrails about to be consumed by a snake that rises up from the teeth of a man's face that is horizontally placed on the foreground, the artist's elegy for prostitutes; "Estudyante" has two bodies, one shapely, the other in shapeless school uniform; her one leg has a high-heeled shoe, the other in bobby sox, her handbag has a photo of a nude woman, the artist's depiction of the innocent vamp who earns money as a prostitute to pay for her school tuition; "Tulo" depicts a man with sexually transmitted disease, Alvarado's moral piece for sexual transgressions.
"Lust" as a social comment
"I'll make bigger pieces of my "Lust" series. Originally on 9" x 12" drawing sheets, they will be on 4 x 5 feet canvases. Kukulayan ko sila ng mga dark colors. In 2012, I'll leave Sagay (Negros) and finish these art works in Manila, the center of political power," says Alvarado. His aim is to stretch the sexually graphic visuals of "lust" for them to gain clearer political (or spiritual) statements.
Developing his "lust" pieces into an essay on vice and virtue, or to portray modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah in the Philippines in order to raise social issue by not depicting clash of class struggle on canvas will make Alvarado a firm believer of the notion that social volcano originates from man's own hellish acts, the ramifications of which begin in the bedroom. It might seem a curious approach, but Alvarado's production for this project should make a case for it.
When Alvarado made his psychologically-driven "lust" pieces in 2002, he was also bent on making clear, objective and unmistakable progressive social comments, on mural-sized canvases, about class struggle of the poor and the rich. He has populated his colourful canvases with portraits of sugar cane workers, factory workers, merchants and fishermen in Negros.
Looking for lost fisherfolks of Negros in Manila's slum areas
Talking about the lost coastal people of Negros, Alvarado vows, "Hahanapin ko sila saan man sila napadpad. They are now in squatter areas in Manila. For several years, binigyan sila ng boundary sa dagat ng Negros, pero hindi nila kaya ang lumayo at makipag-compete. Maraming sumuko sa pangingisda. As a result, rich consigners who also own hotels have monopolized the fishing industry in my hometown in Negros," he laments.
Alvarado started edifying the fisherfolks since early 2000. Portraits of fisherfolks were a major part of "Himbis" (scales), a show at Galerie Anna at SM on EDSA in 2010. "Pinakita ko silang nangingisda, namimingwit, nagdadaing,"says Alvarado.
Alvarado is expected to fill his future canvases of fisherfolks with images of pain and suffering - and also of perseverance - of the lost fishermen he will find in Manila's harsh earth-bound life. How to paint his arduous search and the surprising things he will see, is a difficult and challenging theme to handle and translate into images for the less verbal and one dimensional visual art.
For a long time, Alvarado never left behind the social volcano of Negros. Now, his search for the hot and untouchable embers of class struggle (of people from Negros) in Manila, is a journey that could deepen his philosophy of aesthetics.
"I am always based in Sagay where my studio is near the sea. Sometimes I intermittently stay in Manila for one or two years. I rent a place to be by myself and to paint (the concepts that I have developed in my studio, by the sea, in Sagay)," he says. His incessant interaction with the characters he has depicted on canvas, a method he has done since he decided to be a social realist in the late '70s, will help him push through with his new project in 2012.
Interactive creative process
Alvarado is not new in stimulating a sharp palette for the argumentative and dialectical social realist art. Like a journalist, he wants to smell the scene and taste the blood of pain on site. But unlike a parachuting documentarist, he stays longer for the pain to touch his heart and sear his mind. Unlike an anthropologist, he takes in the colors of other lives, breathe them in to a point of dying only to shake them off on canvas, and perhaps cry in the process until he gets a ferment of understanding and deep love for the side he picks from life's eternal ring of struggle.
Talking about his interactive creative process, Alvarado says, "To produce art works on sugar cane farmers, I used to live with sugar planters in different haciendas in Negros."
For six months, Alvarado stayed in a farm owned by Benjie Rodriguez in La Carlota, south Negros and produced art works on men and women sugarcane workers that comprised "Kaupod" (Companion), an art exhibit at Manila's Hiraya Gallery in 1981. He also stayed six months at Hacienda Margarita in Victorias, north Negros, then managed by Arom Sorbito, and produced artworks on women sugarcane farmers, which he presented in a show entitled "Kababayehan sa Uma", at Quezon City's Heritage Art center in 1982.
Since the late '70s, Alvarado has continued portraying stolid-looking, inscrutable, gigantic, muscular and persevering farmers, fishermen and merchants in Negros, a veritable social volcano where rich hacienderos and other powerful sectors, a minority, control 90 percent of the economy. In his canvases where the colors clash as they interact in a sea of possibilities (and they also appear as interesting as rainbows), Alvarado has always placed towering figures of the oppressed at the center stage while their oppressors leer and lurk like mighty animals, at the background.
Struggle-fatigue or class struggle in praise of co existence
It is easy to assess that Alvarado has already reached struggle-fatigue, or has morphed class-struggle on canvas as praise for co-existence, in at least two shows: "Minoro" (Pople in the Community), a project of Galerie Anna at SM's Art Centre in Mandaluying last November 2011; and "Arkabala" (Tax for Flea Market Merchants) at the AyalaMuseum in Makati in 2009.
Defending "Minoro" and his depiction of placid and accepting workers, Alvarado says, "My art works are laughing on the outside, but crying in the inside." He has tried to suppress the so-called poor's pain because, "Damang dama ko and sense of life ng mga tao sa community."
In Arkabala, Alvarado has almost obliterated the evil tax collector by presenting suggestions and not graphic depiction of their animalistic nature.
"Uso sa Negros ang tiangge. A stall in a flea market is not just a space, but a life for merchants. They keep paying taxes, but they do not get anything good in return, like a clean, safe and secure setting," Alvarado complains. But his point in portraying tax collectors who do not give anything in return as animals (with broken teeth) in the "Arkabala" show is, says Alvarado, to portray the oppressed class in a stage of fruition and overcoming their slavery.
"For me, the poor and the oppressed have the courage to stand still; the will and energy to live on despite the decadence, oppression, problems and the presence of animals (and tax collectors) around them," he explains. Prophesying a timely and historical overcoming of the lower class, he says, should not nullify the value of his art.
Art, a colorful teach-in for change
Art-making for Alvarado has always been a colourful and heartfelt teach-in. "Ang pagpipinta hindi lang para sa pera o sa pogi points. May obligasyon ang artist na gumawa ng makabuluhang singing, ang kanyang sining," he lectures.
Justifying four decades of dedication to committed art, and developing his very own expressionistic and powerful forms, Alvarado says, "If I haven't painted the wrong things (that are happening in my country), then nothing will change. While I am alive, I will keep on painting the inequities that I see in my society. I will not stop doing that. I truly hope that my art can help bring about changes."
Alvarado's way of art
The sources of his inspiration are the sources of his strength. "I work early from four to five in the morning until lunch. I usually take a siesta, sa duyan. At night, I don't work. I go out, eat, drink, chat, sing or dance with people in the community. Talking with them is very important for me. I don't just look at them or take photos of them," he says of his life as an artist.
Assessing the works of his hands, heart and mind, Alvarado boasts, "My images are relevant to what is happening in my country - the way I have perceived them. Objectively, they are made in the Philippines."
Reacting to criticism that his style of making towering figures of the oppressed and placing their heads near the top edge of his canvas that seem to damage his favoured class, Alvarado says, "May pasan-pasan ang mga trabahador ko. The ceiling on the head of the workers in my paintings is a symbolic composition. It's a symbol of the limitations imposed on them, na parang nasabihan sila, hanggang dyan ka na lang, nakakahon ka na lang."
Compressing his powerful portraits of poor people with other elements seems to cage them in and not give them a sense of space or liberation. Noting this, Alvarado says, "Gusto ko puno ng tao at iba't ibang elemento ang canvas ko. Gusto ko siksikan sila, or compressed. Otherwise, I'm not happy with my work."
This is also culturally and empirically influenced. "Punong puno ang mga bahay ng mga taong pinupuntahan ko sa community. Iniipon-ipon nila ang mga bagay-bagay sa bahay nila. That is our culture, too. Asians believe that there should be no vacant space in their house, otherwise it will become the nest of bad spirits," he says.
The hard-edged angle and stolid nature of his characters on canvas give them power, not mute resignation, insists Alvarado. "Some critics say my figures are sharp-angled and severe, they don't dance and move, the way the peasants are depicted by Fernando Amorsolo and Botong Francisco. I think their works are not depicting the Asian form," he says.
His mural-sized canvases for little people are clues to his true feelings for the characters he has been depicting for more than 40 years. "My big canvases are symbolic of what I feel about the working class. They work hard. They are exposed to sunlight. They are robust."
Last struggle on canvas, looking for true Negros
Is Alvarado's creative journey bringing him deeper into nuances of purity, of symbolically eradicating evil from good, to see not only himself, the powerful and the oppressed, but the true Negros, the beloved heart of his art, for others to see the deep colors of the origin of its origins?
"In the past, Negros was a forested heaven, or Panilungan (a deep shelter) for everyone. Walang tao sa bundok. The original settlers were black people. They were driven up to the mountains when the Malays came. They hid higher when the Spaniards came; when other foreign business entered Negros, when planters established sugar plantations, when the lowlanders lorded over all of Negros lower areas," narrates Alvarado.
He knows that in a multi-colored pallete, the color white is spread last on canvas for it to remain white because when all colors are mixed, they turn black. How Alvarado will make an allegorical portrait of Negros is worth waiting for.
(filipina.lippi@yahoo.com)
Kopi Talk Who's the better Asiong, Erap or E.R.?
At yesterday’s thanksgiving presscon for his Metro Filmfest entry Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story at Club Filipino, Laguna Gov. E.R. Ejercito (a.k.a. Jeorge Estregan) was asked by Ethel Ramos who played the real-life Tondo gang leader better…he or his uncle former Pres. Joseph “Erap” Estrada (who starred in it back in the early ’60s, with now San Juan City Mayor Guia Gomez as leading lady)?
Without batting an eyelash and in good humor, E.R. answered, “Erap was 21 when he played Asiong Salonga. I’m 47 so mas marami akong pinaghugutan. Palagay ko mas maganda ang performance ko.” (Salonga was about 26 when he was shot dead. He was known as “the Robin Hood of Tondo.”)
I promptly called Erap for his reaction (he was at home just at the back of Club Filipino) and, as usual, it was he himself who answered the phone.
“Tell E.R. congratulations,” started Erap also on a light vein. “Sabihin mo sa kanya, ako marami ng Best Actor award, he has none. Naging presidente na ako, siya governor pa lang. He should thank me. Kung walang original, wala sanang remake.”
In short, without saying so, Erap considered himself the better Asiong Salonga.
Told after the presscon about Erap’s comment, E.R. said still joking, “Naging president na rin ako…ng Actors Guild.” Then, he started laughing.
With the movie earning more at the tills (almost P40M as of yesterday) after bagging 11 awards at the Metrofest’s Gabi ng Parangal, including Best Director for Tikoy Aguiluz who has an issue with E.R and the movie’s producers but with E.R. losing the Best Actor plum to Dingdong Dantes (for Segunda Mano), E.R. felt magnanimous. He expected the movie to gross P60M during the official Metrofest run (until Jan. 7), excluding the P10M ABS-CBN has paid him for the TV rights.
“What’s flattering is that pinipilahan at pinapalakpakan ang pelikula namin, nakapangingilabot,” adding tongue-in-cheek, “maganda rin ang Segunda Mano (so far second grosser after Enteng ng Ina Mo), pero mas maganda ang Asiong Salonga dahil Best Picture kami.”
At the start of the presscon, E.R. said that he was happy for Dingdong, describing him as one of the finest actors of his generation.
“He deserved the award more than I did,” he added, without losing hope. “After all, there are six more award-giving bodies this year, at sana maka-tsamba ako.”
Before the awards night, Kris Aquino (Dingdong’s co-star and co-producer, with Star Cinema) said in a Startalk interview, addressing Dingdong, “Kapag hindi na nanalo, magwawala ka na. Itataya ko ang pangalan ng pamilya ko.” Because she is Kris Aquino, her comment was taken seriously and blown out of proportion, even if I’m sure she said it in her usual tactless style.
“It would have been better if she didn’t say it,” said E.R. who held no hard feelings against Kris. “Ninang siya sa binyag ng anak ko.”
He dismissed the billing (non-)issue involving Phillip Salvador (who lost the Best Supporting Actor award to John Regala, for Asiong) as “biruang-kaibigan,” but was seriously taking the issue with Tikoy who demanded that his name be removed from the credits in the movie and on the billboards/posters/ads and filed a TRO against Scenema Concepts, the movie’s co-producer (with Viva Entertainment).
“He texted me at humingi siya ng dispensa,” disclosed E.R., “at ako naman, mapagpatawad na tao.”
In a text message to Funfare, Tikoy confirmed, “Nag-text na kami n’ung New Year. Now nag-uusap na kami with our lawyers at ng Scenema Concepts. I hope na ma-resolve na at lessons learned na…”
Hopefully, the kinks will be ironed out and both parties will agree to have Tikoy’s name put back where it should be.
Tikoy has shot E.R.’s other starrer, El Presidente for six days. Asked if he’s going to continue with the project, he said, “I’ll answer you kapag na-resolve na ang Asiong issue.”
Let’s hope for a happy ending, especially since E.R. is planning to submit (for competition) Asiong to the Cannes Filmfest and other international film festivals — with Tikoy’s name returned to its credits.
***
Correction: 2012 is the leap year and not 2011 as erroneously mentioned in yesterday’s Funfare.
(E-mail reactions at entphilstar@yahoo.com. You may also send your questions to askrickylo@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.) - FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo
Without batting an eyelash and in good humor, E.R. answered, “Erap was 21 when he played Asiong Salonga. I’m 47 so mas marami akong pinaghugutan. Palagay ko mas maganda ang performance ko.” (Salonga was about 26 when he was shot dead. He was known as “the Robin Hood of Tondo.”)
I promptly called Erap for his reaction (he was at home just at the back of Club Filipino) and, as usual, it was he himself who answered the phone.
“Tell E.R. congratulations,” started Erap also on a light vein. “Sabihin mo sa kanya, ako marami ng Best Actor award, he has none. Naging presidente na ako, siya governor pa lang. He should thank me. Kung walang original, wala sanang remake.”
In short, without saying so, Erap considered himself the better Asiong Salonga.
Told after the presscon about Erap’s comment, E.R. said still joking, “Naging president na rin ako…ng Actors Guild.” Then, he started laughing.
With the movie earning more at the tills (almost P40M as of yesterday) after bagging 11 awards at the Metrofest’s Gabi ng Parangal, including Best Director for Tikoy Aguiluz who has an issue with E.R and the movie’s producers but with E.R. losing the Best Actor plum to Dingdong Dantes (for Segunda Mano), E.R. felt magnanimous. He expected the movie to gross P60M during the official Metrofest run (until Jan. 7), excluding the P10M ABS-CBN has paid him for the TV rights.
“What’s flattering is that pinipilahan at pinapalakpakan ang pelikula namin, nakapangingilabot,” adding tongue-in-cheek, “maganda rin ang Segunda Mano (so far second grosser after Enteng ng Ina Mo), pero mas maganda ang Asiong Salonga dahil Best Picture kami.”
At the start of the presscon, E.R. said that he was happy for Dingdong, describing him as one of the finest actors of his generation.
“He deserved the award more than I did,” he added, without losing hope. “After all, there are six more award-giving bodies this year, at sana maka-tsamba ako.”
Before the awards night, Kris Aquino (Dingdong’s co-star and co-producer, with Star Cinema) said in a Startalk interview, addressing Dingdong, “Kapag hindi na nanalo, magwawala ka na. Itataya ko ang pangalan ng pamilya ko.” Because she is Kris Aquino, her comment was taken seriously and blown out of proportion, even if I’m sure she said it in her usual tactless style.
“It would have been better if she didn’t say it,” said E.R. who held no hard feelings against Kris. “Ninang siya sa binyag ng anak ko.”
He dismissed the billing (non-)issue involving Phillip Salvador (who lost the Best Supporting Actor award to John Regala, for Asiong) as “biruang-kaibigan,” but was seriously taking the issue with Tikoy who demanded that his name be removed from the credits in the movie and on the billboards/posters/ads and filed a TRO against Scenema Concepts, the movie’s co-producer (with Viva Entertainment).
“He texted me at humingi siya ng dispensa,” disclosed E.R., “at ako naman, mapagpatawad na tao.”
In a text message to Funfare, Tikoy confirmed, “Nag-text na kami n’ung New Year. Now nag-uusap na kami with our lawyers at ng Scenema Concepts. I hope na ma-resolve na at lessons learned na…”
Hopefully, the kinks will be ironed out and both parties will agree to have Tikoy’s name put back where it should be.
Tikoy has shot E.R.’s other starrer, El Presidente for six days. Asked if he’s going to continue with the project, he said, “I’ll answer you kapag na-resolve na ang Asiong issue.”
Let’s hope for a happy ending, especially since E.R. is planning to submit (for competition) Asiong to the Cannes Filmfest and other international film festivals — with Tikoy’s name returned to its credits.
***
Correction: 2012 is the leap year and not 2011 as erroneously mentioned in yesterday’s Funfare.
(E-mail reactions at entphilstar@yahoo.com. You may also send your questions to askrickylo@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.) - FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo
News Update BSP urges Aquino admin to spend more
MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) urged the Aquino administration to spend more to boost the country’s economic performance amid the uncertainties in the US and the debt crisis in Europe.
In a forum hosted by the Tuesday Club at EDSA Shangri-La, BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said the underspending by the government has pulled down economic growth to 3.6 percent in the first three quarters of last year.
“The National Government has room to spend. Weak government spending has been credited as a factor for the recent growth numbers,” Tetangco stressed.
The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by only 3.2 percent in the third quarter of last year from 7.3 percent in the same period in 2010.
The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) lowered the GDP growth target to a range of 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent instead of the revised five percent to six percent last year due to weak global trade and government underspending.
The government has committed to trim the budget deficit to P300 billion or three percent of GDP last year from a record level of P314.4 billion or 3.7 percent of GDP in 2010.
Due to underspending, the government managed to trim the deficit by 64 percent to P96.25 billion in the first 11 months of last year from P267.328 billion in the same period in 2010.
The government’s revenue collections inched up by 13.13 percent during the 11-period to P1.25 trillion while actual expenditures fell two percent to P1.35 trillion.
For November alone, the Aquino administration incurred a budget deficit of P22 billion due to the higher spending as the administration launched a P72 billion stimulus package.
“The national government is reported to have accelerated expenditures,” Tetangco said.
The BSP chief explained that the government needs to be mindful that spending should be targeted at sectors that would lead to greater employment generation and on infrastructure projects.
“Together with an appropriate monetary policy stance, targeted government spending and the participation of the private sector could ensure that all the engines of growth are firing up,” Tetangco said.
The Aquino administration has committed to trim the deficit to two percent of GDP starting 2013 until 2016.
Earlier, multilateral lender International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged the Aquino administration to spend more, attract higher investments, and widen its tax revenue base to survive the turbulence in regional financial markets over the last two months brought about by fragile economic growth in the US and the debt crisis in Europe.
IMF assistant director Vivec Arora earlier said the Philippines needs to raise its spending level, attract more private investors and strengthen its social safety nets.
Arora pointed out that the Aquino administration’s PPP scheme would address the need for higher infrastructure spending.
He cited the need for the Philippines to broaden its tax base and strengthen tax administration by overhauling its excise tax system on sin products and rationalizing its fiscal incentives to raise much needed revenue to bankroll social and infrastructure spending. - By Lawrence Agcaoili
In a forum hosted by the Tuesday Club at EDSA Shangri-La, BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said the underspending by the government has pulled down economic growth to 3.6 percent in the first three quarters of last year.
“The National Government has room to spend. Weak government spending has been credited as a factor for the recent growth numbers,” Tetangco stressed.
The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by only 3.2 percent in the third quarter of last year from 7.3 percent in the same period in 2010.
The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) lowered the GDP growth target to a range of 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent instead of the revised five percent to six percent last year due to weak global trade and government underspending.
The government has committed to trim the budget deficit to P300 billion or three percent of GDP last year from a record level of P314.4 billion or 3.7 percent of GDP in 2010.
Due to underspending, the government managed to trim the deficit by 64 percent to P96.25 billion in the first 11 months of last year from P267.328 billion in the same period in 2010.
The government’s revenue collections inched up by 13.13 percent during the 11-period to P1.25 trillion while actual expenditures fell two percent to P1.35 trillion.
For November alone, the Aquino administration incurred a budget deficit of P22 billion due to the higher spending as the administration launched a P72 billion stimulus package.
“The national government is reported to have accelerated expenditures,” Tetangco said.
The BSP chief explained that the government needs to be mindful that spending should be targeted at sectors that would lead to greater employment generation and on infrastructure projects.
“Together with an appropriate monetary policy stance, targeted government spending and the participation of the private sector could ensure that all the engines of growth are firing up,” Tetangco said.
The Aquino administration has committed to trim the deficit to two percent of GDP starting 2013 until 2016.
Earlier, multilateral lender International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged the Aquino administration to spend more, attract higher investments, and widen its tax revenue base to survive the turbulence in regional financial markets over the last two months brought about by fragile economic growth in the US and the debt crisis in Europe.
IMF assistant director Vivec Arora earlier said the Philippines needs to raise its spending level, attract more private investors and strengthen its social safety nets.
Arora pointed out that the Aquino administration’s PPP scheme would address the need for higher infrastructure spending.
He cited the need for the Philippines to broaden its tax base and strengthen tax administration by overhauling its excise tax system on sin products and rationalizing its fiscal incentives to raise much needed revenue to bankroll social and infrastructure spending. - By Lawrence Agcaoili
News Update Petron import coming with Alex English
MANILA, Philippines - Petron import Nick Fazekas is arriving with NBA Hall of Famer Alex English in two or three weeks to reinforce the Blaze Boosters in the PBA Fiesta Conference starting Feb. 10. English was recently in town for a week on Petron’s invitation and will return to join the squad as a skills coach.
Fazekas, 26, comes with impressive credentials. The 6-11, 240-pound center was the Dallas Mavericks’ second round pick in the 2007 NBA draft after leading the University of Nevada at Reno varsity to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances with an overall record of 106-27. He averaged 18.8 points and 9.6 rebounds in 131 collegiate games with the Wolf Pack.
Fazekas, who is of Hungarian descent, is in the elite roster of varsity players with over 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in their careers, joining stars like Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Julius Erving, Oscar Robertson and Larry Bird. He will become the sixth PBA import in the cast after Joe Binion, Harry Kelly, Daren Queenan, Byron Houston and Arizona Reid.
Although a dominant center, Fazekas gained a reputation as a team player at Nevada where a teammate was recent Manila visitor JaVale McGee. He never cared about individual honors and set as a priority the varsity’s goals. “That’s what it’s all about as a player,” said Fazekas at the height of his NCAA career. “To see how you match up against the nation’s best. Our team is young but that could be a good thing. Sometimes, when you’re young, you don’t know any better. We want to do well in the regular season and hopefully, that will lead to good things in the post-season.”
Petron coach Ato Agustin hopes Fazekas’ attitude will translate into a championship conference for the Boosters. Nevada coach Mark Fox said Fazekas’ maturity was a factor in bringing the Wolf Pack to the NCAA Tournament four years in a row. Fazekas was recommended by agent Paul Kevin who also represents Fil-Am Chris Banchero, a mainstay on San Miguel’s ABL squad.
Fazekas will be only the 27th white import to play in the PBA since 1975. The last two were Alex Compton and Jason Keep who both played for Welcoat in the 2007-08 Fiesta Conference. The San Miguel franchise had previously recruited four white imports – Steve Smith (San Miguel Beer, 1975), Mike Rozenski (Royal Tru-Orange, 1977), Frank Gugliotta (Royal Tru-Orange, 1978) and Chris Burgess (San Miguel Beer, 2004-05).
Fazekas led Ralston Valley High School to the Class 4A state championship in Colorado in 2002-03, averaging 26.4 points, 11.7 rebounds and 3.9 blocked shots. He gained international experience playing with the US Under-21 team at the FIBA World Championships in Argentina in 2005.
In four years with the Nevada varsity, Fazekas developed a deadly touch from three-point distance, expanding his offensive repertoire. He knocked down 116-of-340 triples for a .341 clip in his Wolf Pack career. His overall field goal mark was 53 percent. Fazekas was thrice named Player of the Year in the Western Athletic Conference.
In the NBA, Fazekas played 26 games for Dallas and the Los Angeles Clippers in 2007-08. He went on to suit up in Belgium and France before averaging 14.6 points for the Reno Bighorns in the NBA D-League this season.
Fazekas’ father Joe, a 6-10 center, played varsity basketball at Wyoming and Idaho State. His grandfather Albert was a freedom fighter in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and escaped from a Soviet-controlled prison in Hungary by setting himself on fire as a diversion. Fazekas once said he is willing to play for the Hungarian national team.
The Fiesta Conference will allow each team to recruit an import of unlimited height. - By Joaquin Henson
Fazekas, 26, comes with impressive credentials. The 6-11, 240-pound center was the Dallas Mavericks’ second round pick in the 2007 NBA draft after leading the University of Nevada at Reno varsity to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances with an overall record of 106-27. He averaged 18.8 points and 9.6 rebounds in 131 collegiate games with the Wolf Pack.
Fazekas, who is of Hungarian descent, is in the elite roster of varsity players with over 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in their careers, joining stars like Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Julius Erving, Oscar Robertson and Larry Bird. He will become the sixth PBA import in the cast after Joe Binion, Harry Kelly, Daren Queenan, Byron Houston and Arizona Reid.
Although a dominant center, Fazekas gained a reputation as a team player at Nevada where a teammate was recent Manila visitor JaVale McGee. He never cared about individual honors and set as a priority the varsity’s goals. “That’s what it’s all about as a player,” said Fazekas at the height of his NCAA career. “To see how you match up against the nation’s best. Our team is young but that could be a good thing. Sometimes, when you’re young, you don’t know any better. We want to do well in the regular season and hopefully, that will lead to good things in the post-season.”
Petron coach Ato Agustin hopes Fazekas’ attitude will translate into a championship conference for the Boosters. Nevada coach Mark Fox said Fazekas’ maturity was a factor in bringing the Wolf Pack to the NCAA Tournament four years in a row. Fazekas was recommended by agent Paul Kevin who also represents Fil-Am Chris Banchero, a mainstay on San Miguel’s ABL squad.
Fazekas will be only the 27th white import to play in the PBA since 1975. The last two were Alex Compton and Jason Keep who both played for Welcoat in the 2007-08 Fiesta Conference. The San Miguel franchise had previously recruited four white imports – Steve Smith (San Miguel Beer, 1975), Mike Rozenski (Royal Tru-Orange, 1977), Frank Gugliotta (Royal Tru-Orange, 1978) and Chris Burgess (San Miguel Beer, 2004-05).
Fazekas led Ralston Valley High School to the Class 4A state championship in Colorado in 2002-03, averaging 26.4 points, 11.7 rebounds and 3.9 blocked shots. He gained international experience playing with the US Under-21 team at the FIBA World Championships in Argentina in 2005.
In four years with the Nevada varsity, Fazekas developed a deadly touch from three-point distance, expanding his offensive repertoire. He knocked down 116-of-340 triples for a .341 clip in his Wolf Pack career. His overall field goal mark was 53 percent. Fazekas was thrice named Player of the Year in the Western Athletic Conference.
In the NBA, Fazekas played 26 games for Dallas and the Los Angeles Clippers in 2007-08. He went on to suit up in Belgium and France before averaging 14.6 points for the Reno Bighorns in the NBA D-League this season.
Fazekas’ father Joe, a 6-10 center, played varsity basketball at Wyoming and Idaho State. His grandfather Albert was a freedom fighter in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and escaped from a Soviet-controlled prison in Hungary by setting himself on fire as a diversion. Fazekas once said he is willing to play for the Hungarian national team.
The Fiesta Conference will allow each team to recruit an import of unlimited height. - By Joaquin Henson
News Update Farm output to grow by 3%-4% if weather cooperates, says think tank
Farm output may grow by 3 to 4 percent in 2012 if the weather permits it, think tank University of Asia and the Pacific's Center for Food and Agribusiness (CFA) said Tuesday. "A 3 to 4 percent growth is doable under normal weather in 2012. But if we get hit by another Pedring-type typhoon, the farm sector may be hard pressed to grow by this much," said CFA executive director Rolando T. Dy. Dy said that the crops subsector, which includes palay and corn, will lead the growth of the industry this year. The poultry and aquaculture sectors are also expected to contribute to industry growth. Because of the typhoons that ravaged the country in the last quarter of 2011, government had cut its growth expectations for the farm sector to 3 percent to 3.5 percent. The Department of Agriculture (DA) expects farm output to grow by 5 percent in 2011, "barring any adverse conditions." Bureau of Agricultural Statistics data showed that the farm sector grew by 4.28 percent in January to September last year, with the crops subsector contributing 50 percent of farm output because of the combined performance of palay and corn. In the same nine-month data, palay production reached 10.75 million metric tons (MMT), up 16 percent from 2010, while corn rose almost 16 percent to 5.49 million MT. However, the DA said that due to the destruction caused by typhoons in the second half of 2011, the country will have difficulties in producing more than 17 million MT of rice. The damage from Tropical Storm Sendong alone, the DA said, amounted to P8.1 million. The DA previously said that as much as 1.4 million MT of paddy rice were destroyed by the six consecutive typhoons that hit the country from June to September last year. Meawnwhile, the DA estimates that palay production will grow by 1.37 percent in the first quarter of 2012, and corn production by 3.82 percent. — AL/VS
News Update No gov't ceasefire violations - AFP
MANILA, Philippines - The holiday truce declared by the government ended Monday without violations by government soldiers and rebels.
“There was no violation by the military. Perhaps when our troops were attacked, they conducted a hot pursuit but that was a law enforcement action,” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Lt. Gen. Jessie Dellosa said yesterday.
Dellosa said there were at least three attacks by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels, but said these actions could not be regarded as truce violations since the rebels had not declared a ceasefire when the attacks happened.
“During that time, the AFP declared a unilateral SOMO (suspension of military offensives) so we cannot blame them if they attacked us. But we were ready that time,” he said.
The government’s ceasefire with communist rebels took effect from Dec. 16 to Jan. 2. The rebels reciprocated by declaring a ceasefire that took effect from Dec. 24 to Dec. 26 and from Dec. 31 to Jan. 2.
Insurgents staged two offensives against state troops in Surigao del Sur while the truce declared by the government was in effect.
On Dec. 16, the rebels attacked soldiers conducting development projects in Tandag City. Five soldiers were killed.
The second attack happened on Dec. 19 in Bislig City, resulting in the death of a 63-year-old woman and the wounding of seven soldiers.
On Dec. 20, a soldier died and another was wounded in an attack staged by the NPA in Las Navas, Northern Samar.
The communist rebels, however, have accused the government of violating its own ceasefire.
In a statement, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said the violations happened in the provinces of Abra, Surigao del Sur, Isabela and Rizal. CPP claimed the military occupied villages and conducted offensives despite the complaints of local residents.
“The 18-day ceasefire order is an empty declaration that serves only to cover up the continuing terrorist activities of the military, police and paramilitary forces,” CPP said in a statement. - By Alexis Romero
“There was no violation by the military. Perhaps when our troops were attacked, they conducted a hot pursuit but that was a law enforcement action,” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Lt. Gen. Jessie Dellosa said yesterday.
Dellosa said there were at least three attacks by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels, but said these actions could not be regarded as truce violations since the rebels had not declared a ceasefire when the attacks happened.
“During that time, the AFP declared a unilateral SOMO (suspension of military offensives) so we cannot blame them if they attacked us. But we were ready that time,” he said.
The government’s ceasefire with communist rebels took effect from Dec. 16 to Jan. 2. The rebels reciprocated by declaring a ceasefire that took effect from Dec. 24 to Dec. 26 and from Dec. 31 to Jan. 2.
Insurgents staged two offensives against state troops in Surigao del Sur while the truce declared by the government was in effect.
On Dec. 16, the rebels attacked soldiers conducting development projects in Tandag City. Five soldiers were killed.
The second attack happened on Dec. 19 in Bislig City, resulting in the death of a 63-year-old woman and the wounding of seven soldiers.
On Dec. 20, a soldier died and another was wounded in an attack staged by the NPA in Las Navas, Northern Samar.
The communist rebels, however, have accused the government of violating its own ceasefire.
In a statement, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said the violations happened in the provinces of Abra, Surigao del Sur, Isabela and Rizal. CPP claimed the military occupied villages and conducted offensives despite the complaints of local residents.
“The 18-day ceasefire order is an empty declaration that serves only to cover up the continuing terrorist activities of the military, police and paramilitary forces,” CPP said in a statement. - By Alexis Romero
News Update Gloria Arroyo, three others facing graft charges barred from travel
The Sandiganbayan 4th Division has issued a hold departure order (HDO) against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, her husband Jose Miguel, and two former officials of her administration in connection with graft charges filed against them. Former Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza, and former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos were also named in the HDO, GMA News TV's "Balitanghali" reported Tuesday. In a phone interview on Tuesday, Sandiganbayan Fourth Division executive clerk of court Atty. Joffre Gil Zapata told GMA News Online the one-page HDO was issued Monday afternoon by Associate Justices Gregory Ong, Jose Hernandez, and Maria Cristina Cornejo. Mrs. Arroyo, now a congresswoman, is facing two counts of violating Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and one count of violating RA 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the botched $329-million national broadband network (NBN) deal with the Chinese firm ZTE Corp. She is currently under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in connection with electoral sabotage case filed against her by the Commission on Elections on Dec. 7. Mr. Arroyo, Mendoza, and Abalos are also facing one count each of violating RA 3019 in connection with the NBN deal. The NBN-ZTE deal The Philippine National Broadband Network controversy (also known as the NBN/ZTE deal) involved allegations of corruption in awarding China’s telecommunications giant ZTE the contract to build a nationwide connectivity network. (See the ZTE controversy timeline here.) The contract with ZTE was signed on April 20, 2007 in Hainan, China, but Mrs. Arroyo was forced to cancel the project in October 2007 when accusations of irregularities were made public. Last week, the Office of the Ombudsman filed two graft cases against Mrs. Arroyo for the NBN-ZTE deal, saying the former President allowed the contract with ZTE to be signed even though she was “fully aware” of the irregularities involved. The cases were raffled off to the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division on Monday. Ombudsman failed to comply with procedure Zapata noted, however, no schedule has been set so far to hear the case because the Ombudsman failed to comply with one vital procedure. He explained that the Office of the Ombudsman was supposed to give the accused five days to file a motion for reconsideration against its resolution. "Ang determination ng court ‘di sila nabigyan ng ganyang pagkakataon. Karapatan nila ‘yun, pero puwede din nila i-waive," he said. The case will be brought back to them once this procedure has been fulfilled, Zapata noted. Once this requisite is met, the Sandiganbayan will determine the need for a warrant of arrest. Mrs. Arroyo was arrested at the St. Luke's Medical Center in Taguig City on Nov. 18, the same day the Comelec filed an electoral sabotage case against her for the alleged rigging of the 2007 polls. She was confined at St. Luke’s for a bone problem. Mrs. Arroyo’s camp has yet to comment on the graft charges. — KBK/VS,
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
DID YOU KNOW THAT? Chinese New Year in the Philippines
新年 农历新年
In the Philippines, a Tsinoy is a Filipino of Chinese heritage. It is a combination of "Tsino" meaning Chinese and the slang word "Pinoy" meaning Filipino. (The term Intsik has fallen out of favor.)
There has been a significant Chinese presence in the Philippines even before the Spaniards arrived in the 15th century. Chinese Filipinos currently number four million, making up five percent of the Philippine population.
Chinese Filipinos celebrate the Lunar New Year in January or February. It is not an official holiday in the Philippines, but students in Chinese schools are let out early.
CHINESE-FILIPINO TRADITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE LUNAR NEW YEAR
The food most fondly looked forward to during Chinese New Year in the Philippines is tikoy, a treat made from sticky rice. You can buy it from stores only at this time of the year (January and February) but don't forget that you have to cook it first before eating!
RED ENVELOPES. Red is considered the luckiest color and everyone tries to dress in it and have red things all around. Children expect to receive fresh peso bills inside bright red envelopes on which are written Chinese characters. They are called hong bao in Mandarin or ang pao in Hokkien, the language used by Chinese Filipinos.
DRAGON AND LION DANCE. There is a parade of dancing lions or a dragon in the Binondo district of Manila (the primary Chinatown) and even in a few other cities in the Philippines where there is a sizable Chinese presence.
The lion's head is large and has a body of long, colorful fabric. Dancers must be strong in holding it up and skillful in manipulating it in an animated way. Homeowners leave ang pao on top of their entrance gates or hang it by their door for the lion dancers to pick up while dancing in costume.
How can you tell if it's a dragon or a lion that's dancing? The dragon has a longer body and is controlled by eight or more people. Its body is propped up with poles. The lion has four legs (two dancers — one in charge of the head and the other of the tail end). The dancer in front who holds the lion's head can make its ear wiggle and blink its eyes. He's the one in charge of picking up the ang pao.
CHINESE GREETING. In the Hokkien language that most Chinese Filipinos speak, the Chinese New Year greeting is Kiong Hee Huat Tsai. To compare, the Cantonese version dominant in Hong Kong is Kung Hei Fat Choi and the Mandarin is Gong Xi Fa Cai. It means "Congratulations and Be Prosperous."
HOW TO PREPARE FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR:
1. Decorate house doors with red scrolls on which Chinese characters are written and hang up red paper lanterns.
2. Make sure there are healthy, preferably blooming, plants around the house. They symbolize life and renewal.
3. Settle all debts. You must not owe anyone money.
4. Thoroughly clean the house before the first day of the year.
5. Get a haircut and wear new clothes.
In the Philippines, a Tsinoy is a Filipino of Chinese heritage. It is a combination of "Tsino" meaning Chinese and the slang word "Pinoy" meaning Filipino. (The term Intsik has fallen out of favor.)
There has been a significant Chinese presence in the Philippines even before the Spaniards arrived in the 15th century. Chinese Filipinos currently number four million, making up five percent of the Philippine population.
Chinese Filipinos celebrate the Lunar New Year in January or February. It is not an official holiday in the Philippines, but students in Chinese schools are let out early.
CHINESE-FILIPINO TRADITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE LUNAR NEW YEAR
The food most fondly looked forward to during Chinese New Year in the Philippines is tikoy, a treat made from sticky rice. You can buy it from stores only at this time of the year (January and February) but don't forget that you have to cook it first before eating!
RED ENVELOPES. Red is considered the luckiest color and everyone tries to dress in it and have red things all around. Children expect to receive fresh peso bills inside bright red envelopes on which are written Chinese characters. They are called hong bao in Mandarin or ang pao in Hokkien, the language used by Chinese Filipinos.
DRAGON AND LION DANCE. There is a parade of dancing lions or a dragon in the Binondo district of Manila (the primary Chinatown) and even in a few other cities in the Philippines where there is a sizable Chinese presence.
The lion's head is large and has a body of long, colorful fabric. Dancers must be strong in holding it up and skillful in manipulating it in an animated way. Homeowners leave ang pao on top of their entrance gates or hang it by their door for the lion dancers to pick up while dancing in costume.
How can you tell if it's a dragon or a lion that's dancing? The dragon has a longer body and is controlled by eight or more people. Its body is propped up with poles. The lion has four legs (two dancers — one in charge of the head and the other of the tail end). The dancer in front who holds the lion's head can make its ear wiggle and blink its eyes. He's the one in charge of picking up the ang pao.
CHINESE GREETING. In the Hokkien language that most Chinese Filipinos speak, the Chinese New Year greeting is Kiong Hee Huat Tsai. To compare, the Cantonese version dominant in Hong Kong is Kung Hei Fat Choi and the Mandarin is Gong Xi Fa Cai. It means "Congratulations and Be Prosperous."
HOW TO PREPARE FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR:
1. Decorate house doors with red scrolls on which Chinese characters are written and hang up red paper lanterns.
2. Make sure there are healthy, preferably blooming, plants around the house. They symbolize life and renewal.
3. Settle all debts. You must not owe anyone money.
4. Thoroughly clean the house before the first day of the year.
5. Get a haircut and wear new clothes.
News Update Philippine exchange begins extended hours
The Philippine Stock Exchange marked the first day of trading in 2012 by extending its trading into the afternoon in a bid to attract more foreign cash, the exchange and traders said on Monday.
Previously operated only until noon, the bourse in the capital Manila will now stay open till 3:30pm (0730 GMT).
"The goal of the exchange was really to tap into the foreign investors who would be present in the market during the afternoon in Manila time," said Jose Vistan of AB Capital Securities.
"There is growing interest in emerging economies like the Philippines with the prospects of possibly getting upgraded in terms of our credit rating," he said.
The Philippine exchange experimented with longer hours in February 2002, when trading was extended to 2:30pm. However, poor trading volumes forced the exchange to return to half-day trading by October.
The market closed 0.57 percent, or 25.12 points, higher on Monday at 4,3907.08.
Previously operated only until noon, the bourse in the capital Manila will now stay open till 3:30pm (0730 GMT).
"The goal of the exchange was really to tap into the foreign investors who would be present in the market during the afternoon in Manila time," said Jose Vistan of AB Capital Securities.
"There is growing interest in emerging economies like the Philippines with the prospects of possibly getting upgraded in terms of our credit rating," he said.
The Philippine exchange experimented with longer hours in February 2002, when trading was extended to 2:30pm. However, poor trading volumes forced the exchange to return to half-day trading by October.
The market closed 0.57 percent, or 25.12 points, higher on Monday at 4,3907.08.
Kopi Talk 97.6 million and growing
The country’s population is galloping closer to the 100-million mark, with the number expected to hit 97.6 million this year at the average annual growth rate of 2.04 percent, according to the Commission on Population. The Aquino administration should take note of those figures even as it busies itself this year with its anti-corruption campaign, efforts to deal with natural disasters, and creation of more livelihood opportunities through local activities and foreign investment.
The best economic performance of the previous administration, under former economics professor Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was hardly felt at the grassroots, as even her economic managers later admitted. The economic growth was not enough to meet the demands of the booming population. In her final months in power, Arroyo, who put the national family planning program on ice for nine years, no longer stood in the way when her health secretary revived the program.
President Aquino, a principal proponent of the Reproductive Health bill when he was a lawmaker, should be consistent in his stand and give priority to pushing for congressional approval of the measure this year. Women with education and financial means do not need the RH bill, but millions of poor women do. While senators dither over the measure, the President can urge his political supporters in local governments to promote their own reproductive health programs.
The Philippines has committed to achieve the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. Goal No. 5 of the eight MDGs is improving maternal health, of which one of the two objectives is universal access to reproductive health by 2015. That’s one year after the Philippine population is expected to hit 101.2 million, at the current average of 1.7 million births every year, according to Popcom.
You can’t dump every unwanted baby in the trash bin of an airplane lavatory, at a church doorstep, or the gates of Sen. Tito Sotto and every male chauvinist determined to suppress women’s right to reproductive health. If the Aquino administration truly wants to make a dent against poverty, it must give priority to the reproductive health program
The best economic performance of the previous administration, under former economics professor Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was hardly felt at the grassroots, as even her economic managers later admitted. The economic growth was not enough to meet the demands of the booming population. In her final months in power, Arroyo, who put the national family planning program on ice for nine years, no longer stood in the way when her health secretary revived the program.
President Aquino, a principal proponent of the Reproductive Health bill when he was a lawmaker, should be consistent in his stand and give priority to pushing for congressional approval of the measure this year. Women with education and financial means do not need the RH bill, but millions of poor women do. While senators dither over the measure, the President can urge his political supporters in local governments to promote their own reproductive health programs.
The Philippines has committed to achieve the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. Goal No. 5 of the eight MDGs is improving maternal health, of which one of the two objectives is universal access to reproductive health by 2015. That’s one year after the Philippine population is expected to hit 101.2 million, at the current average of 1.7 million births every year, according to Popcom.
You can’t dump every unwanted baby in the trash bin of an airplane lavatory, at a church doorstep, or the gates of Sen. Tito Sotto and every male chauvinist determined to suppress women’s right to reproductive health. If the Aquino administration truly wants to make a dent against poverty, it must give priority to the reproductive health program
Kopi Talk Ban logs from Rizal Park
MANILA, Philippines - Coffins and corpses row on row; splinters that once were homes; mud everywhere; survivors lining up for water, food, clothes; officialdom appealing to Manila, the Red Cross, anyone, for help-familiar sights. Photo captions now read Cagayan de Oro; not long ago, they read Ormoc, Quezon, Aurora, Leyte, Gingoog.
President Aquino releases millions; relief agencies mobilize; the media appeal for donations; people send old clothes and canned goods; international organizations respond; the Navy dispatches ships; soldiers and locals do "retrieval and rescue" work (of bodies, and survivors, respectively).
DENR says, "I told you so." Two years ago, we are reminded, a study showed that certain areas including some in Cagayan de Oro were vulnerable to flash floods. The recommendation was to relocate. But no, residents remained and more were allowed to move in.
Lonely voices like those of U.P. and Ateneo academics, ABS-CBN Foundation's Gina Lopez, have been warning: protect trees and prevent flash floods. Like sponges, forests absorb and hold rainfall and release them gradually via springs and brooks, thereby providing power, irrigation and drinking water during dry months. Bare mountains, on the other hand, shed rainwater (and topsoil) immediately. Water rushes to low ground, overflows river banks and sweeps away everything in its path. Debris, including logs, borne by powerful currents ram homes and people.
A logging ban was announced by President Aquino and pre-massacre, a similar ban was reportedly imposed at ARMM by ex-Gov. Mangudadatu. Obviously no one takes such directives seriously. I've seen log-laden trucks on P. Burgos Drive, Quirino Avenue, San Marcelino Street alongside Manila's Western Police District headquarters-all within hailing distance of Malacañang. Could it be that blanket bans are imposed, but are lifted case-to-case on quid-pro-quo?
A permit or a daintily-entitled "Forest Management Agreement" is all it takes to make illegal logging legal. Not only that, speaking up against logging is bad for the health. Forest guards doing their duty don't last long. Scientists take a stand for the environment and opposing PR campaigns quickly follow. Alberto Pinagawa, Mindanao community leader, received 20 bullets allegedly from influential loggers for protesting the cutting of old-growth trees within his Higaonon ancestral domain. That was two years ago (Wala Lang, February 1, 2010) and I'd be surprised if anyone has been charged and justice meted.
One wonders, then, about loggers denuding forests; farmers converting uplands into cabbage patches and flower beds; miners digging pits in mountains or chopping trees to shore up tunnels; zoning authorities allowing construction on landslide-and flood-prone sites; officials and law enforcers turning blind eyes (and maybe open palms) to environmental destruction. Do their consciences twinge over death and misery, property and crop losses? Do they care that they gain tainted money, while others pay for repair and relief?
Dispatching relief goods is fine, but for the long run, shouldn't we try preserving virgin forests; serious reforestation, having commercial tree farms supply mines, plywood factories, builders; and putting honest checkpoints at key rivers, ports and roads-maybe starting with Manila's Rizal Park?
Comments are cordially invited, addressed to walalang@mb.com.ph.
President Aquino releases millions; relief agencies mobilize; the media appeal for donations; people send old clothes and canned goods; international organizations respond; the Navy dispatches ships; soldiers and locals do "retrieval and rescue" work (of bodies, and survivors, respectively).
DENR says, "I told you so." Two years ago, we are reminded, a study showed that certain areas including some in Cagayan de Oro were vulnerable to flash floods. The recommendation was to relocate. But no, residents remained and more were allowed to move in.
Lonely voices like those of U.P. and Ateneo academics, ABS-CBN Foundation's Gina Lopez, have been warning: protect trees and prevent flash floods. Like sponges, forests absorb and hold rainfall and release them gradually via springs and brooks, thereby providing power, irrigation and drinking water during dry months. Bare mountains, on the other hand, shed rainwater (and topsoil) immediately. Water rushes to low ground, overflows river banks and sweeps away everything in its path. Debris, including logs, borne by powerful currents ram homes and people.
A logging ban was announced by President Aquino and pre-massacre, a similar ban was reportedly imposed at ARMM by ex-Gov. Mangudadatu. Obviously no one takes such directives seriously. I've seen log-laden trucks on P. Burgos Drive, Quirino Avenue, San Marcelino Street alongside Manila's Western Police District headquarters-all within hailing distance of Malacañang. Could it be that blanket bans are imposed, but are lifted case-to-case on quid-pro-quo?
A permit or a daintily-entitled "Forest Management Agreement" is all it takes to make illegal logging legal. Not only that, speaking up against logging is bad for the health. Forest guards doing their duty don't last long. Scientists take a stand for the environment and opposing PR campaigns quickly follow. Alberto Pinagawa, Mindanao community leader, received 20 bullets allegedly from influential loggers for protesting the cutting of old-growth trees within his Higaonon ancestral domain. That was two years ago (Wala Lang, February 1, 2010) and I'd be surprised if anyone has been charged and justice meted.
One wonders, then, about loggers denuding forests; farmers converting uplands into cabbage patches and flower beds; miners digging pits in mountains or chopping trees to shore up tunnels; zoning authorities allowing construction on landslide-and flood-prone sites; officials and law enforcers turning blind eyes (and maybe open palms) to environmental destruction. Do their consciences twinge over death and misery, property and crop losses? Do they care that they gain tainted money, while others pay for repair and relief?
Dispatching relief goods is fine, but for the long run, shouldn't we try preserving virgin forests; serious reforestation, having commercial tree farms supply mines, plywood factories, builders; and putting honest checkpoints at key rivers, ports and roads-maybe starting with Manila's Rizal Park?
Comments are cordially invited, addressed to walalang@mb.com.ph.
News Update Children among 739 victims of New Year-related accidents
Children are among the victims New Year-related accidents, the number of which may have gone down by 7 percent compared to last year but remains high at 739 and may go higher still as the Department of Health (DOH) receives more data, GMA News’ “24 Oras” reported Monday. According to the DOH, most injuries and deaths were caused by relighting or retrieving firecrackers that fizzled out, as in the case of John Vincent Gonzales, a nine-year old boy who died Jan. 1 after he supposedly gathered and played with gunpowder from unexploded firecrackers. In a separate “24 Oras” report, Gonzales died just outside his family’s sari-sari store in Nueva Ecija’s Cabanatuan City. Two of his playmates, 10-year-old Roel Pobre and nine-year-old Richard Rivas also sustained injuries from the same explosion that killed Gonzales. “Yung dyaryo po, nilagyan po ng luces, bigla po sumabog 'yung ‘Goodbye Philippines,’” said Gonzales’s playmate. “Inipon daw po ‘yung pulbura ng paputok, inano daw po sa lalagyanan ng fountain,” a neighbor added. Stray bullets hit the young and the innocent Stray bullets also contributed to the number of injuries and deaths in New Year-related revelries, hitting 22 people including two children and a senior citizen. According to another “24 Oras” report, one of the victims, seven-year-old Angelita Dela Cruz, was standing outside her family’s house in Binondo when a 9-mm bullet pierced her chest that killed her almost instantly. The girl’s mother, Cristina Dela Cruz, said that they still have no idea where the bullet came from. “Karamihan po kasi dito samin puro pulis, puro bagong pulis,” she said. In tears, Angelita’s grandfather appealed to whoever the gunman was, saying “Sana makonsesiya ka, ‘yung natamaan mong bata, apo ko ‘yan, mabait na bata ‘yan.” In Malabon, two-year-old Kirby was in his home when a bullet went through the roof of their house and grazed the toddler’s head. Though injured, he survived the incident. Marina Derder of Caloocan was also injured when a stray bullet through the window of her house hit her left hip. “Parang bigla akong pinalo dito sa balakang. Nag-iyakan ‘yung mga anak ko kasi nakita nila na dumudugo na itong balakang ko,” she said. Attention victims, gun owners The victims urged gun owners to consider the lives they are putting in danger by firing their weapons. Amid the outbreak of New Year-related injuries, Health Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag advised people to have their injuries treated, no matter how small. “’Yung mga sugat po diyan, ‘wag niyong babalewalain sapagkat marami na kaming binuksan na sugat sa ospital, nakabaon ‘yung papel ng paputok, pulbura, makikita naming nabubulok na pala ‘yung laman. ‘Yan po ang pag-uugatan ng tetanus,” he said. — With Amanda Lago/VS, GMA
News Update Big Four ready for semis showdown
MANILA, Philippines - All four protagonists, a good mix of old champion ballclubs and emerging powers, have expressed readiness for the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals which fires off tomorrow at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and the Powerade Tigers believe they have all bases covered two days before the start of their best-of-seven showdown.
The Talk n Text Tropang Texters and the Petron Blaze Boosters are pumped-up, both raring to come out in their own semis duel which begins Friday.
The Texters hope to be the first team in almost three decades to successfully defend the all-Filipino crown, the Boosters are out to follow up their Governors Cup championship while the Elasto Painters and the Tigers are both determined to nail down a breakthrough win.
“Our game plan is in place. We’re ready,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.
“Our team is excited. We are about to experience a semifinals appearance for the first time in so many years,” said Powerade coach Bo Perasol.
All four semifinalists worked hard during the holidays to be in the best shape possible for the Final Four grind.
“We only took a break on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. Greenhorns as we are, we will not err on the side of exerting our fullest effort and truly believing in our capability as a team,” said Perasol.
The Elasto Painters rested for four days but Guiao is convinced they’ve made the right preparation against the Tigers.
“We’ll just do little walkthroughs of our plays tomorrow (today),” Guiao said.
Powerade main man Gary David said they’ve done the same.
“Kasado na,” said David. “We’re ready with our defensive and offensive plans.”
Both the Elasto Painters and the Tigers have no health woes. Guiao’s little concern is the status of JR Quinahan for Game Two.
Quinahan is definitely playing Games One and Three but is doubtful for Game Two as he’s flying to Cebu Thursday for his wedding.
The Tigers are just ready to come out.
Right at his playing weight of 180 pounds, David believes he’s in the best condition to take on any defender to be thrown at him by Rain or Shine.
“I just took a look at my weight. I’m right there at 180. That’s my playing weight, and I feel I’m at peak form,” said David, the league top scorer averaging 22.5 points an outing.
“Right after they (Rain or Shine) beat Ginebra to make the semifinals, I’ve prepared myself against them. It’s going to be a physical game and I’ll be ready,” David also said.
“I anticipate what they’re saying that they’ll put taller, quicker and physical defenders on me. But I don’t think it’s just me against Rain or Shine. Marcio Lassiter, Jvee Casio and my other teammates are now also at peak form,” David added. -
The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and the Powerade Tigers believe they have all bases covered two days before the start of their best-of-seven showdown.
The Talk n Text Tropang Texters and the Petron Blaze Boosters are pumped-up, both raring to come out in their own semis duel which begins Friday.
The Texters hope to be the first team in almost three decades to successfully defend the all-Filipino crown, the Boosters are out to follow up their Governors Cup championship while the Elasto Painters and the Tigers are both determined to nail down a breakthrough win.
“Our game plan is in place. We’re ready,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.
“Our team is excited. We are about to experience a semifinals appearance for the first time in so many years,” said Powerade coach Bo Perasol.
All four semifinalists worked hard during the holidays to be in the best shape possible for the Final Four grind.
“We only took a break on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. Greenhorns as we are, we will not err on the side of exerting our fullest effort and truly believing in our capability as a team,” said Perasol.
The Elasto Painters rested for four days but Guiao is convinced they’ve made the right preparation against the Tigers.
“We’ll just do little walkthroughs of our plays tomorrow (today),” Guiao said.
Powerade main man Gary David said they’ve done the same.
“Kasado na,” said David. “We’re ready with our defensive and offensive plans.”
Both the Elasto Painters and the Tigers have no health woes. Guiao’s little concern is the status of JR Quinahan for Game Two.
Quinahan is definitely playing Games One and Three but is doubtful for Game Two as he’s flying to Cebu Thursday for his wedding.
The Tigers are just ready to come out.
Right at his playing weight of 180 pounds, David believes he’s in the best condition to take on any defender to be thrown at him by Rain or Shine.
“I just took a look at my weight. I’m right there at 180. That’s my playing weight, and I feel I’m at peak form,” said David, the league top scorer averaging 22.5 points an outing.
“Right after they (Rain or Shine) beat Ginebra to make the semifinals, I’ve prepared myself against them. It’s going to be a physical game and I’ll be ready,” David also said.
“I anticipate what they’re saying that they’ll put taller, quicker and physical defenders on me. But I don’t think it’s just me against Rain or Shine. Marcio Lassiter, Jvee Casio and my other teammates are now also at peak form,” David added. -
News Update House asks Senate to junk Corona plea
MANILA, Philippines - Prosecutors of the House of Representatives in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona asked the Senate yesterday to junk his motion to dismiss the case against him.
In a 38-page comment on Corona’s motion, the 11-member House panel asked the Senate acting as an impeachment court to “proceed to trial forthwith and convict the Chief Justice” for corruption, betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution for accepting his “midnight” appointment by then President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
“This is a reply to the answer filed by the respondent Chief Justice. Basically, we just stressed four points. We refuted point by point the issues raised by the Chief Justice (CJ) in his affirmative defense,” lead prosecutor Neil Tupas, chairman of the House committee on justice, said in a press conference after the filing of their comment with the Senate.
“We challenge the CJ of SC not to resort to legal technicalities. It’s just a delaying tactic on the part of the Chief Justice to avoid technicality and accountability, to delay the process,” Tupas said.
“The respondent has said that he has engaged a powerhouse defense legal team. We presume that the legal team is ready for trial. The prosecution panel is also ready for trial. The people want the truth to come out so Mr. Chief Justice, let’s get it on for the sake of the nation,” he said.
Deputy Speaker and Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III, one of the spokespersons for the prosecution team, said the impeachment trial in the Senate must push through to send a message that all in government are accountable for their actions.
“The heart and soul of our reply is that all public officials in all three branches of government are accountable for their actions. Chief Justice Corona is not exempted from this provision of the Constitution,” Tañada said.
“We will prove that he is morally unfit to hold the position of Associate Justice, much more chief justice, of the SC,” Tañada said.
“Corona is not immune from accountability. For all his self-serving, grandiose and arrogant claims, his impeachment is not an attack on the independence of the judiciary, or the rule of law, or the system of checks and balances,” the prosecutors said. “Corona’s impeachment is purely a response to the people’s clamor to hold him accountable for his sins and offenses, and purge the highest court of a morally unfit officer who has betrayed their trust,” they added.
Members of the House prosecution panel are Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, Dasmariñas City Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, Marikina City Rep. Romero Quimbo, Mindoro Oriental Rep. Reynaldo Umali, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares, Akbayan party-list Rep. Arlene Bag-ao, Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao, Deputy Speaker and Northern Samar Rep. Raul Daza, Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption party-list Rep. Sherwin Tugna, and Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya as manager. Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara was elected as alternate prosecutor and spokesman along with Quimbo and Tañada.
A total of 188 lawmakers impeached Corona last Dec. 12 based on several grounds, including alleged partiality and subservience to the Arroyo administration, flip-flopping on decisions, and failure or refusal to account for the Judicial Development Fund and special allowance for the judiciary.
“There is no factual basis for Corona’s claim that President Noynoy Aquino wants to appoint his own chief justice who will be at his beck and call. Firstly, this argument only betrays his deepest secret: that he is beholden to the person who appointed him: GMA (Arroyo’s initials),” Quimbo said.
“Secondly, if that were the objective of P-Noy, it should be noted that the three appointees of P-Noy voted against the Hacienda Luisita issue. This completely belies Corona’s contention,” Quimbo added.
The panel also said Corona is not being singled out and that “neither can he hide under the pretext that the decision assailed is collegial in nature.”
Colmenares said one of the strongest arguments for Corona’s impeachment was his issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the Department of Justice’s placing Arroyo on the immigration watch list. The TRO would have allowed Arroyo to seek medical treatment abroad for her troublesome cervical spine.
“Article VII (of the Articles of Impeachment) is the betrayal of public trust through his partiality in granting a TRO in favor of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo in order to give them an opportunity to escape prosecution and to frustrate the ends of justice, and in distorting the Supreme Court decision on the effectivity of the TRO in view of a clear failure to comply with the conditions of the Supreme Court’s own TRO,” Colmenares said.
“His ‘impeach all justices or no one at all’ defense is absurd because this would render useless the constitutional requirement that each justice should be impartial and independent,” Colmenares said. “Just like any public official, justices are judged on their individual actions.”
“The Chief Justice and his defense team would really have a hard time with all the charges, especially this case because it is as airtight as a case can get,” he added.
Luisita not the issue
House prosecutors also debunked Corona’s claim that it was the SC’s order on the Hacienda Luisita case that prompted Aquino’s allies in Congress to move for the Chief Justice’s ouster.
“What Corona failed to mention, however, is that even President Aquino’s appointees in the Supreme Court (Justices Sereno, Reyes and Bernabe) voted in favor of the distribution, which belies Corona’s claim that President Aquino appoints justices who will protect his perceived interests,” the prosecution panel said.
“While President Aquino may be passionate in his campaign against graft and corruption and for accountability and reform, this impeachment is not a scheme of President Aquino,” they said. The prosecutors also rebuffed Corona’s likening his impeachment to “a thief in the night.”
“If he did not sense his impeachment coming, then he is truly deaf to the cry of the people. Any objective observer would have readily seen it in the public outrage that attended Corona’s acceptance of his midnight appointment from GMA in May 2010,” they added.
“The truth is, impeachment did not immediately come, as Corona was given a chance for over a year to prove himself and fulfill his promise to faithfully and impartially discharge his office,” the panel added.
The prosecutors said lawmakers had been vocal about their intention to have Corona impeached since December 2010 in the wake of the SC’s issuance of a status quo ante order against the impeachment of then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, and its nullification of the Truth Commission.
“Both cases involve the core issue of holding GMA accountable,” the prosecution panel said.
“Corona’s unfailing and unwarranted fealty to GMA shows that he is not independent-minded - he votes or resolves cases not on the merits, but on what would best serve GMA.
“At the moment, the evidence against Corona is stronger and more apparent than against the other justices. Moreover, it would be difficult to impeach and prosecute several justices at the same time. But this does not necessarily mean that other justices will not later on be similarly held accountable,” it added.
No SC-Senate face-off
The SC is unlikely to stop the Senate from proceeding with the impeachment trial of Corona despite some legal challenges to the constitutionality of the ongoing ouster move against the SC chief, lawyer Romulo Macalintal said.
“For sure, SC will not stop the Senate from performing its constitutionally mandated task to hear and decide impeachment cases,” Macalintal said. “As a matter of fact, SC may dismiss the said petitions for lack of jurisdiction since the Senate had already been convened as impeachment court and Corona himself submitted to its jurisdiction when he filed his answer with motion to dismiss,” he told The STAR.
Macalintal said Corona’s case was different from the earlier impeachment of retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., which was still in the House of Representatives when questioned before the SC.
“What is consoling is that Corona decided to fight it out in the Senate, thereby preventing any possible collision between Congress and the SC on issue which the Senate is constitutionally mandated to resolve,” he said.
“For sure, Corona’s motion to dismiss is not intended to delay but part of the rules which lawyers resort to protect the interest of their clients,” he said. - With Edu Punay
- By Paolo Romero and Christina Mendez
In a 38-page comment on Corona’s motion, the 11-member House panel asked the Senate acting as an impeachment court to “proceed to trial forthwith and convict the Chief Justice” for corruption, betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution for accepting his “midnight” appointment by then President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
“This is a reply to the answer filed by the respondent Chief Justice. Basically, we just stressed four points. We refuted point by point the issues raised by the Chief Justice (CJ) in his affirmative defense,” lead prosecutor Neil Tupas, chairman of the House committee on justice, said in a press conference after the filing of their comment with the Senate.
“We challenge the CJ of SC not to resort to legal technicalities. It’s just a delaying tactic on the part of the Chief Justice to avoid technicality and accountability, to delay the process,” Tupas said.
“The respondent has said that he has engaged a powerhouse defense legal team. We presume that the legal team is ready for trial. The prosecution panel is also ready for trial. The people want the truth to come out so Mr. Chief Justice, let’s get it on for the sake of the nation,” he said.
Deputy Speaker and Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III, one of the spokespersons for the prosecution team, said the impeachment trial in the Senate must push through to send a message that all in government are accountable for their actions.
“The heart and soul of our reply is that all public officials in all three branches of government are accountable for their actions. Chief Justice Corona is not exempted from this provision of the Constitution,” Tañada said.
“We will prove that he is morally unfit to hold the position of Associate Justice, much more chief justice, of the SC,” Tañada said.
“Corona is not immune from accountability. For all his self-serving, grandiose and arrogant claims, his impeachment is not an attack on the independence of the judiciary, or the rule of law, or the system of checks and balances,” the prosecutors said. “Corona’s impeachment is purely a response to the people’s clamor to hold him accountable for his sins and offenses, and purge the highest court of a morally unfit officer who has betrayed their trust,” they added.
Members of the House prosecution panel are Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, Dasmariñas City Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, Marikina City Rep. Romero Quimbo, Mindoro Oriental Rep. Reynaldo Umali, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares, Akbayan party-list Rep. Arlene Bag-ao, Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao, Deputy Speaker and Northern Samar Rep. Raul Daza, Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption party-list Rep. Sherwin Tugna, and Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya as manager. Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara was elected as alternate prosecutor and spokesman along with Quimbo and Tañada.
A total of 188 lawmakers impeached Corona last Dec. 12 based on several grounds, including alleged partiality and subservience to the Arroyo administration, flip-flopping on decisions, and failure or refusal to account for the Judicial Development Fund and special allowance for the judiciary.
“There is no factual basis for Corona’s claim that President Noynoy Aquino wants to appoint his own chief justice who will be at his beck and call. Firstly, this argument only betrays his deepest secret: that he is beholden to the person who appointed him: GMA (Arroyo’s initials),” Quimbo said.
“Secondly, if that were the objective of P-Noy, it should be noted that the three appointees of P-Noy voted against the Hacienda Luisita issue. This completely belies Corona’s contention,” Quimbo added.
The panel also said Corona is not being singled out and that “neither can he hide under the pretext that the decision assailed is collegial in nature.”
Colmenares said one of the strongest arguments for Corona’s impeachment was his issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the Department of Justice’s placing Arroyo on the immigration watch list. The TRO would have allowed Arroyo to seek medical treatment abroad for her troublesome cervical spine.
“Article VII (of the Articles of Impeachment) is the betrayal of public trust through his partiality in granting a TRO in favor of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo in order to give them an opportunity to escape prosecution and to frustrate the ends of justice, and in distorting the Supreme Court decision on the effectivity of the TRO in view of a clear failure to comply with the conditions of the Supreme Court’s own TRO,” Colmenares said.
“His ‘impeach all justices or no one at all’ defense is absurd because this would render useless the constitutional requirement that each justice should be impartial and independent,” Colmenares said. “Just like any public official, justices are judged on their individual actions.”
“The Chief Justice and his defense team would really have a hard time with all the charges, especially this case because it is as airtight as a case can get,” he added.
Luisita not the issue
House prosecutors also debunked Corona’s claim that it was the SC’s order on the Hacienda Luisita case that prompted Aquino’s allies in Congress to move for the Chief Justice’s ouster.
“What Corona failed to mention, however, is that even President Aquino’s appointees in the Supreme Court (Justices Sereno, Reyes and Bernabe) voted in favor of the distribution, which belies Corona’s claim that President Aquino appoints justices who will protect his perceived interests,” the prosecution panel said.
“While President Aquino may be passionate in his campaign against graft and corruption and for accountability and reform, this impeachment is not a scheme of President Aquino,” they said. The prosecutors also rebuffed Corona’s likening his impeachment to “a thief in the night.”
“If he did not sense his impeachment coming, then he is truly deaf to the cry of the people. Any objective observer would have readily seen it in the public outrage that attended Corona’s acceptance of his midnight appointment from GMA in May 2010,” they added.
“The truth is, impeachment did not immediately come, as Corona was given a chance for over a year to prove himself and fulfill his promise to faithfully and impartially discharge his office,” the panel added.
The prosecutors said lawmakers had been vocal about their intention to have Corona impeached since December 2010 in the wake of the SC’s issuance of a status quo ante order against the impeachment of then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, and its nullification of the Truth Commission.
“Both cases involve the core issue of holding GMA accountable,” the prosecution panel said.
“Corona’s unfailing and unwarranted fealty to GMA shows that he is not independent-minded - he votes or resolves cases not on the merits, but on what would best serve GMA.
“At the moment, the evidence against Corona is stronger and more apparent than against the other justices. Moreover, it would be difficult to impeach and prosecute several justices at the same time. But this does not necessarily mean that other justices will not later on be similarly held accountable,” it added.
No SC-Senate face-off
The SC is unlikely to stop the Senate from proceeding with the impeachment trial of Corona despite some legal challenges to the constitutionality of the ongoing ouster move against the SC chief, lawyer Romulo Macalintal said.
“For sure, SC will not stop the Senate from performing its constitutionally mandated task to hear and decide impeachment cases,” Macalintal said. “As a matter of fact, SC may dismiss the said petitions for lack of jurisdiction since the Senate had already been convened as impeachment court and Corona himself submitted to its jurisdiction when he filed his answer with motion to dismiss,” he told The STAR.
Macalintal said Corona’s case was different from the earlier impeachment of retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., which was still in the House of Representatives when questioned before the SC.
“What is consoling is that Corona decided to fight it out in the Senate, thereby preventing any possible collision between Congress and the SC on issue which the Senate is constitutionally mandated to resolve,” he said.
“For sure, Corona’s motion to dismiss is not intended to delay but part of the rules which lawyers resort to protect the interest of their clients,” he said. - With Edu Punay
- By Paolo Romero and Christina Mendez
News Update Special deposit accounts jump 34% to P1.66 trillion
MANILA, Philippines - Funds parked in the vault of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in the form of special deposit accounts (SDAs) rose 34 percent last year as investors continued to seek high yielding investment instruments due to a lack of major infrastructure and development projects in the country.
Latest data from the BSP showed SDAs reached P1.66 trillion last year or P420 billion higher than the P1.24 trillion booked in 2010.
The SDA facility consists of fixed-term deposits by banks and by trust entities of banks and non-bank financial institutions with the BSP. It was introduced in November 1998 to enable the BSP to expand its toolkit in liquidity management.
In April 2007, the BSP expanded access to the SDA facility by allowing trust entities to deposit in the SDA facility in order to better manage liquidity in the face of strong foreign exchange inflows.
SDAs widened the scope of funds that could be deposited to the BSP and the central bank resorted to the use of SDAs after it ran out of government securities to conduct its open market operations.
SDA interest rates were then set at a high-enough level, outbidding the private sector for securities up to the volume needed in mopping up liquidity
As a result, the BSP has been posting huge losses arising from the payment on higher interest on SDA placements.
On the other hand, placements under the central bank’s reverse repurchase window inched up by 1.9 percent to P290.72 billion in 2011 from P285.14 billion in 2010.
Latest statistics showed that the amount of money circulating in the domestic economy or M3 grew at a slower pace of 6.9 percent in October to P4.305 trillion after monetary authorities imposed a higher reserve requirement ratio to siphon off excess liquidity from the financial system.
Liquidity growth is one of the important vehicles considered in determining the central bank’s monetary policy. At a time when the economy is booming and money supply is expanding rapidly, the central bank would normally step in to mop-up in order to ensure that inflation would not surge.
- By Lawrence Agcaoili
Latest data from the BSP showed SDAs reached P1.66 trillion last year or P420 billion higher than the P1.24 trillion booked in 2010.
The SDA facility consists of fixed-term deposits by banks and by trust entities of banks and non-bank financial institutions with the BSP. It was introduced in November 1998 to enable the BSP to expand its toolkit in liquidity management.
In April 2007, the BSP expanded access to the SDA facility by allowing trust entities to deposit in the SDA facility in order to better manage liquidity in the face of strong foreign exchange inflows.
SDAs widened the scope of funds that could be deposited to the BSP and the central bank resorted to the use of SDAs after it ran out of government securities to conduct its open market operations.
SDA interest rates were then set at a high-enough level, outbidding the private sector for securities up to the volume needed in mopping up liquidity
As a result, the BSP has been posting huge losses arising from the payment on higher interest on SDA placements.
On the other hand, placements under the central bank’s reverse repurchase window inched up by 1.9 percent to P290.72 billion in 2011 from P285.14 billion in 2010.
Latest statistics showed that the amount of money circulating in the domestic economy or M3 grew at a slower pace of 6.9 percent in October to P4.305 trillion after monetary authorities imposed a higher reserve requirement ratio to siphon off excess liquidity from the financial system.
Liquidity growth is one of the important vehicles considered in determining the central bank’s monetary policy. At a time when the economy is booming and money supply is expanding rapidly, the central bank would normally step in to mop-up in order to ensure that inflation would not surge.
- By Lawrence Agcaoili
News Update Kidnappers demand P1-million ransom for Aussie
MANILA, Philippines - Suspected Muslim militants have demanded ransom for a kidnapped Australian and have sent proof that he is alive, police said Sunday.
The kidnappers mailed four pictures of 53-year-old Warren Richard Rodwell before Christmas to his Filipino wife, then called her to demand an initial ransom of $23,000 (P1 million). Rodwell appeared to have been wounded in the hand by gunfire in one picture but looked well, Senior Superintendent Ruben Cariaga said.
Rodwell, a former university teacher in Shanghai, was seized by about six men on Dec. 5 in southern Ipil town in Zamboanga Sibugay province. It was the latest abduction of a foreigner in the country’s volatile south where several kidnappings for ransom have been blamed on the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.
No group has claimed responsibility for Rodwell’s kidnapping, but officials suspect the Abu Sayyaf and its allied gunmen may have been responsible.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said that her government had established a task force to investigate the kidnapping.
Rodwell married his wife, whom he met via the Internet, in June, police said.
Cariaga said Rodwell’s wife told him there was no way she could raise the ransom, “She told me she could not pay because she even finds it hard to raise money to feed herself,” he said.
Government troops and police have been searching for Rodwell in the Zamboanga Peninsula and nearby Basilan island, where the Abu Sayyaf is active.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a large Muslim rebel group engaged in peace talks with the government, said Sunday it would intensify efforts to help secure Rodwell’s freedom in coordination with authorities. The rebel group did not provide other details.
The rebels said they have heard about the ransom demand for Rodwell’s and his mailed pictures. Cariaga, who heads the Zamboanga Sibugay provincial police, welcomed the rebels’ effort to help solve the kidnapping.
The rebels have an agreement with the government that allows them to help capture Muslim extremists and outlaws, who venture near their strongholds. - By AP
The kidnappers mailed four pictures of 53-year-old Warren Richard Rodwell before Christmas to his Filipino wife, then called her to demand an initial ransom of $23,000 (P1 million). Rodwell appeared to have been wounded in the hand by gunfire in one picture but looked well, Senior Superintendent Ruben Cariaga said.
Rodwell, a former university teacher in Shanghai, was seized by about six men on Dec. 5 in southern Ipil town in Zamboanga Sibugay province. It was the latest abduction of a foreigner in the country’s volatile south where several kidnappings for ransom have been blamed on the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.
No group has claimed responsibility for Rodwell’s kidnapping, but officials suspect the Abu Sayyaf and its allied gunmen may have been responsible.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said that her government had established a task force to investigate the kidnapping.
Rodwell married his wife, whom he met via the Internet, in June, police said.
Cariaga said Rodwell’s wife told him there was no way she could raise the ransom, “She told me she could not pay because she even finds it hard to raise money to feed herself,” he said.
Government troops and police have been searching for Rodwell in the Zamboanga Peninsula and nearby Basilan island, where the Abu Sayyaf is active.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a large Muslim rebel group engaged in peace talks with the government, said Sunday it would intensify efforts to help secure Rodwell’s freedom in coordination with authorities. The rebel group did not provide other details.
The rebels said they have heard about the ransom demand for Rodwell’s and his mailed pictures. Cariaga, who heads the Zamboanga Sibugay provincial police, welcomed the rebels’ effort to help solve the kidnapping.
The rebels have an agreement with the government that allows them to help capture Muslim extremists and outlaws, who venture near their strongholds. - By AP
News Update 2 Supreme Court justices to step down in 2012?
Owing to mounting pressure from the executive department following the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona, two justices of the 15-member Supreme Court (SC) are reportedly contemplating stepping down this year, sources revealed yesterday.
Three separate sources revealed the two appointees of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would cut their term short and have made known their intention of relinquishing their posts, even if their retirements go beyond the term of President Aquino.
The STAR, however, is withholding the names of the two magistrates and the circumstances under which they would be retiring early by way of resignation.
Vaguely, the first justice is supposed to retire in 2019 while the other one retires in 2017. Aquino will be stepping down from the presidency on June 30, 2016, after his fixed six-year term in office.
Of the 15 justices, Aquino only has three appointees - Justices Maria Lourdes Sereno, Bienvenido Reyes and Estela Perlas-Bernabe. The rest were appointees of Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative.
While the 13 are Arroyo appointees, one of them - Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio - has been vocal against the former president, whose family had been his client for a long time until their falling out sometime in 2006, or after the “Hello, Garci” election fraud scandal broke out.
Carpio’s law firm had been opposing Corona’s appointment, but failed. But now with the impeachment trial, hopes have again resurfaced, especially because he has been sympathetic to Aquino, and his law firm advises Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.
While the current impeachment is focused on Corona, Aquino is open to the idea of having all the Arroyo-appointed justices impeached, if only for his reform agenda to bear fruit, as he sees them as stumbling blocks to his efforts to reform government.
Preparing a replacement
Aquino has asked his legal advisers for a list of candidates who might replace Corona even in the absence of a vacancy.
“He’s not a lawyer that’s why he needs to rely on his legal team to look into (such list),” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said earlier.
Lacierda though clarified this is not in any way an encroachment on the turf of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).
“Very clearly, the President did not instruct the JBC, the President instructed his legal advisers in case that there will be a removal of a chief justice to look for a chief justice but there is still shortlist yet. Let me clarify, there is still no shortlist yet,” he said.
The nine-man JBC is the constitutional body that screens nominees to the judiciary, comes up with a shortlist and submits it to the President, who shall choose from among the list on who he wants to appoint.
The JBC can only screen candidates to a post once it is declared vacant. In this case, Corona has yet to undergo trial at the Senate impeachment court starting Jan. 16, and has yet to be acquitted or convicted, which means there is no vacancy for the top SC post.
“This is merely an eventuality but he has asked his legal advisers to look into names for possible chief justice. But there is no shortlist yet. There’s no legal issue because we’re just preparing for a contingency. This is just a contingency,” Lacierda said.
Aquino also has the option of appointing an outsider - or a lawyer who does not come from the ranks of the 15 Supreme Court justices.
“The President mentioned that he’s open to an outsider,” Lacierda said.
In an interview with veteran reporter Lynda Jumilla, host of ABS-CBN News Channel’s “Strictly Politics,” Aquino admitted having asked his legal team to give him a list of possible candidates who could replace Corona.
Aquino said he is not yet looking at Corona’s replacement but wants to be ready in case the Chief Justice is removed.
When asked if he wants Carpio as Corona’s replacement, Aquino said, “There’s no shortlist yet.”
Three separate sources revealed the two appointees of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would cut their term short and have made known their intention of relinquishing their posts, even if their retirements go beyond the term of President Aquino.
The STAR, however, is withholding the names of the two magistrates and the circumstances under which they would be retiring early by way of resignation.
Vaguely, the first justice is supposed to retire in 2019 while the other one retires in 2017. Aquino will be stepping down from the presidency on June 30, 2016, after his fixed six-year term in office.
Of the 15 justices, Aquino only has three appointees - Justices Maria Lourdes Sereno, Bienvenido Reyes and Estela Perlas-Bernabe. The rest were appointees of Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative.
While the 13 are Arroyo appointees, one of them - Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio - has been vocal against the former president, whose family had been his client for a long time until their falling out sometime in 2006, or after the “Hello, Garci” election fraud scandal broke out.
Carpio’s law firm had been opposing Corona’s appointment, but failed. But now with the impeachment trial, hopes have again resurfaced, especially because he has been sympathetic to Aquino, and his law firm advises Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.
While the current impeachment is focused on Corona, Aquino is open to the idea of having all the Arroyo-appointed justices impeached, if only for his reform agenda to bear fruit, as he sees them as stumbling blocks to his efforts to reform government.
Preparing a replacement
Aquino has asked his legal advisers for a list of candidates who might replace Corona even in the absence of a vacancy.
“He’s not a lawyer that’s why he needs to rely on his legal team to look into (such list),” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said earlier.
Lacierda though clarified this is not in any way an encroachment on the turf of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).
“Very clearly, the President did not instruct the JBC, the President instructed his legal advisers in case that there will be a removal of a chief justice to look for a chief justice but there is still shortlist yet. Let me clarify, there is still no shortlist yet,” he said.
The nine-man JBC is the constitutional body that screens nominees to the judiciary, comes up with a shortlist and submits it to the President, who shall choose from among the list on who he wants to appoint.
The JBC can only screen candidates to a post once it is declared vacant. In this case, Corona has yet to undergo trial at the Senate impeachment court starting Jan. 16, and has yet to be acquitted or convicted, which means there is no vacancy for the top SC post.
“This is merely an eventuality but he has asked his legal advisers to look into names for possible chief justice. But there is no shortlist yet. There’s no legal issue because we’re just preparing for a contingency. This is just a contingency,” Lacierda said.
Aquino also has the option of appointing an outsider - or a lawyer who does not come from the ranks of the 15 Supreme Court justices.
“The President mentioned that he’s open to an outsider,” Lacierda said.
In an interview with veteran reporter Lynda Jumilla, host of ABS-CBN News Channel’s “Strictly Politics,” Aquino admitted having asked his legal team to give him a list of possible candidates who could replace Corona.
Aquino said he is not yet looking at Corona’s replacement but wants to be ready in case the Chief Justice is removed.
When asked if he wants Carpio as Corona’s replacement, Aquino said, “There’s no shortlist yet.”
Monday, January 2, 2012
News Update Government dared: Disclose loggers in ARMM, northern Mindanao
SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines – The government should name all loggers, both legal and illegal, in northern Mindanao and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and charge them with “environmental plunder and other heinous crimes” as a result of the tragedy that befell the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan during tropical storm “Sendong.”
The militant Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) also urged President Aquino to immediately scrap all six Integrated Forest Management Agreements (IFMAs) granted in northern Mindanao covering a total of 55,578 hectares, saying that these logging sites were merely about 100 kilometers from the two devastated cities.
Pamalakaya said the Aquino administration should identify the corporate loggers and their protectors from the national government and the military and the local government units that granted them permits to operate in northern Mindanao and the ARMM.
Pamalakaya national chairman Fernando Hicap said Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje should disclose the list of companies allowed by the government to cut trees in the two regions over the last 20 years and “determine their accountability.”
He said the list should include companies allowed to operate under the present administration, as well as those operating illegally.
Hicap said government officials should stop blaming the residents for the tragedy. “It was not their fault,” he said, adding that both the Arroyo and Aquino administrations should be blamed for tolerating “logging clients in Mindanao and the military generals who are enrolled in the payroll of these logging firms.”
Despite the logging ban ordered by Aquino, Hicap said the forests in northern Mindanao and the ARMM “remain open to big-time loggers whether they are legal or illegal.”
Hicap recalled that last May, illegal timber was seized in Cagayan de Oro City, suspected to be large-scale logging operations in northern Mindanao and in the critical Lake Lanao watershed in Lanao del Sur.
“It appears to us that the log ban is toothless and it is still business as usual for large-scale legal and illegal loggers in northern Mindanao and ARMM,” he said. - By Ding Cervantes
The militant Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) also urged President Aquino to immediately scrap all six Integrated Forest Management Agreements (IFMAs) granted in northern Mindanao covering a total of 55,578 hectares, saying that these logging sites were merely about 100 kilometers from the two devastated cities.
Pamalakaya said the Aquino administration should identify the corporate loggers and their protectors from the national government and the military and the local government units that granted them permits to operate in northern Mindanao and the ARMM.
Pamalakaya national chairman Fernando Hicap said Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje should disclose the list of companies allowed by the government to cut trees in the two regions over the last 20 years and “determine their accountability.”
He said the list should include companies allowed to operate under the present administration, as well as those operating illegally.
Hicap said government officials should stop blaming the residents for the tragedy. “It was not their fault,” he said, adding that both the Arroyo and Aquino administrations should be blamed for tolerating “logging clients in Mindanao and the military generals who are enrolled in the payroll of these logging firms.”
Despite the logging ban ordered by Aquino, Hicap said the forests in northern Mindanao and the ARMM “remain open to big-time loggers whether they are legal or illegal.”
Hicap recalled that last May, illegal timber was seized in Cagayan de Oro City, suspected to be large-scale logging operations in northern Mindanao and in the critical Lake Lanao watershed in Lanao del Sur.
“It appears to us that the log ban is toothless and it is still business as usual for large-scale legal and illegal loggers in northern Mindanao and ARMM,” he said. - By Ding Cervantes
News Update Noy: 2011 a good year
MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino said he considers 2011 a fruitful year, and includes better economy, an independent Supreme Court and fewer or no natural calamities in his wish list for this year.
“If you look at our efforts in reducing poverty and corruption, there were successes,” Aquino said.
He cited the higher budgets for health and education, which have enabled his administration to expand coverage of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and to introduce kindergarten in public schools with over 1.7 million enrollees for this school year alone.
“These additional revenues became available because we revised significantly the way government spends money, minimizing corruption. And we have managed to allocate these savings to social programs without raising taxes,” Aquino said in a written interview for The STAR’s Sunday magazine Starweek.
“In minimizing corruption, we have been moving forward despite all the resistance. We are bringing (former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal) Arroyo to a legal process to determine her guilt or innocence, which is not easy because there are too many roadblocks. But no one will deny that we have moved forward,” the President said.
In an earlier interview with ABS-CBN News, the President said the administration was also able to generate P42 billion in savings as of September due to tighter procedures for implementing programs and projects. He stressed that better use of resources - not underspending - had generated savings for the government.
The President also said the government managed to save P7.7 billion by increasing rice production and importing less. He said the savings came from interest payments.
He also noted the credit rating upgrade that the Philippines earned from various agencies.
“We’re inching closer and closer to investment grade but it (the upgrade) has impacted already on how much we have to pay for the loans we do have. We’ve been able to replace the higher interest rate with cheaper interest rates, there is also acceptance on the global peso bond,” Aquino said.
He said the number of jobs was at 2.1 million as of October. “Again, it tells us that, one, we’re on track in fulfilling that promise of job generation and we expect more and more of it,” he said.
“While the external environment looks uncertain, we will be able to improve the domestic economy through tourism, which we expect to experience a boost after we launch the branding campaign early next year, and to increase agriculture investments and productivity in 2012,” the President told StarWeek.
“These are labor intensive sectors where more people will be employed. Government resources are in place, and the savings we have generated have given us the fiscal space to accelerate spending on infrastructure. These three - tourism, agriculture and infrastructure - will be the drivers of the economy next year. These are economic drivers that lead to inclusive growth. Hopefully, this will insulate us from whatever happens overseas,” Aquino said.
“I also hope that next year, we will have a truly independent Supreme Court to allow the wheels of justice to proceed in the case of Mrs. Arroyo, free from any partisan considerations,” the President said.
Aquino said over ANC’s “Strictly Politics” program that he was very excited about the new tourism campaign but the launching would all be up to the Department of Tourism.
“Each component will be introduced at a specific time and I would not want to disrupt their plans. But let me just put it this way that each tourist that comes in brings us about a thousand dollars and the secretary of tourism’s new target for 2016 or by 2016, we will get 10 million from the present (that is) about three million. We’re up about 12 percent already as of September if I’m not mistaken,” Aquino said.
He said new infrastructure projects could help boost tourism as well as stepped up promo campaign for top tourism spots such as the Puerto Princesa Underground River in Palawan.
“They are now at the level that they have to schedule people who want to see it. There are limits on human traffic so as not to destroy the natural wonders but they are already saying that (the number of tourists really increased),” Aquino said. “I’m very, very excited about that.”
The President also said he hopes there would be no or fewer natural calamities this year.
“It is said that God would not give us trials that we could not deal with... But of course if I have a wish for our countrymen, I hope next year there will be less typhoons... and volcanic (eruptions),” Aquino said. - By Aurea Calica
“If you look at our efforts in reducing poverty and corruption, there were successes,” Aquino said.
He cited the higher budgets for health and education, which have enabled his administration to expand coverage of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and to introduce kindergarten in public schools with over 1.7 million enrollees for this school year alone.
“These additional revenues became available because we revised significantly the way government spends money, minimizing corruption. And we have managed to allocate these savings to social programs without raising taxes,” Aquino said in a written interview for The STAR’s Sunday magazine Starweek.
“In minimizing corruption, we have been moving forward despite all the resistance. We are bringing (former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal) Arroyo to a legal process to determine her guilt or innocence, which is not easy because there are too many roadblocks. But no one will deny that we have moved forward,” the President said.
In an earlier interview with ABS-CBN News, the President said the administration was also able to generate P42 billion in savings as of September due to tighter procedures for implementing programs and projects. He stressed that better use of resources - not underspending - had generated savings for the government.
The President also said the government managed to save P7.7 billion by increasing rice production and importing less. He said the savings came from interest payments.
He also noted the credit rating upgrade that the Philippines earned from various agencies.
“We’re inching closer and closer to investment grade but it (the upgrade) has impacted already on how much we have to pay for the loans we do have. We’ve been able to replace the higher interest rate with cheaper interest rates, there is also acceptance on the global peso bond,” Aquino said.
He said the number of jobs was at 2.1 million as of October. “Again, it tells us that, one, we’re on track in fulfilling that promise of job generation and we expect more and more of it,” he said.
“While the external environment looks uncertain, we will be able to improve the domestic economy through tourism, which we expect to experience a boost after we launch the branding campaign early next year, and to increase agriculture investments and productivity in 2012,” the President told StarWeek.
“These are labor intensive sectors where more people will be employed. Government resources are in place, and the savings we have generated have given us the fiscal space to accelerate spending on infrastructure. These three - tourism, agriculture and infrastructure - will be the drivers of the economy next year. These are economic drivers that lead to inclusive growth. Hopefully, this will insulate us from whatever happens overseas,” Aquino said.
“I also hope that next year, we will have a truly independent Supreme Court to allow the wheels of justice to proceed in the case of Mrs. Arroyo, free from any partisan considerations,” the President said.
Aquino said over ANC’s “Strictly Politics” program that he was very excited about the new tourism campaign but the launching would all be up to the Department of Tourism.
“Each component will be introduced at a specific time and I would not want to disrupt their plans. But let me just put it this way that each tourist that comes in brings us about a thousand dollars and the secretary of tourism’s new target for 2016 or by 2016, we will get 10 million from the present (that is) about three million. We’re up about 12 percent already as of September if I’m not mistaken,” Aquino said.
He said new infrastructure projects could help boost tourism as well as stepped up promo campaign for top tourism spots such as the Puerto Princesa Underground River in Palawan.
“They are now at the level that they have to schedule people who want to see it. There are limits on human traffic so as not to destroy the natural wonders but they are already saying that (the number of tourists really increased),” Aquino said. “I’m very, very excited about that.”
The President also said he hopes there would be no or fewer natural calamities this year.
“It is said that God would not give us trials that we could not deal with... But of course if I have a wish for our countrymen, I hope next year there will be less typhoons... and volcanic (eruptions),” Aquino said. - By Aurea Calica
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