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Month: November 2008

Hamon sa oposisyon na kongresista

House Justice Committee junks MOA-AD intervention

Nang isinampa ng mga bloggers sa pangunguna ni Manuel L. Quezon III ang impeachment complaint laban kay Gloria Arroyo noong Miyerkoles, walang kongresista na nag-indorso.

Ayaw kasi ng mga Bayan Muna at ng Gabriela ang isyu ng MOA-AD (Memorandum of Agreement-Ancestral Domain) dahil kakampi nila ang Moro Islamic Liberation Front, na siyang makinabang sa pag parte-parte ng teritoryo ng Pilipinas ng lupain sa Mindanao na ginawa ni Gloria Arroyo.

Naniwala ang mga bloggers na nag-file ng impeachment complaint na kaya ginawa ang MOA-AD ay paraan yun para maisulong ni Arroyo ang charter-change na siyang magpapalawig ng kanyang hawak sa kapangyarihan. Ito ay labag sa batas at isang impeachable offense.

Villar ousted as Senate president; Enrile sworn in

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile was sworn in this afternoon as the new Senate president in a coup that caught Senate President Manuel Villar and his allies by surprise.

Enrile, whose oath of office was administered by Sen. Gregorio Honasan Jr. at 4 p.m. when the chamber opened its plenary session, was supported by administrator senators and several senators, including Sen. Rodolfo Biazon.

Following Villar’s ouster, Senators Francis Pangilinan and Aquilino Pimentel Jr. resigned their posts as majority and minority leaders.

Proteksyun raket

Habang sinusulat ko itong kolum, nanood ako ng hearing ng mga “Euro generals”, ang tawag sa mga opisyal ng Philippine National Police na pumunta sa Moscow noong isang buwan at ang isa ay nahulihan na may perang dala sobra sa legal na limit sa pagdala ng pera sa Europe.

Lalong nagkandabuhol-buhol ang kuwento kung saan galing ang 105,000 euros (P6.9 milyon) na nahuli ng Russian customs kay Maria Fe de la Paz, asawa ni Police Director Eliseo de la Paz, nang paalis na sila sa Moscow papuntang Poland pagkatapos nila dumalo sa isang InterPol conference.

Lumabas na 150,000 euros pala ang dala ni de la Paz dahil may isang negosyante na nagpadala ng 45,000 euros sa kanya pambili ng relo. Grabe namang mahal na relo yun.

The AFP’s original sin (Adam and Esperon)

By BGen Danny Lim

Before the Filipino people, the raison d’etre for its existence, the Armed Forces of the Philippines is currently in a state of disgrace. This alienation is the price soldiers pay for the Original Sin committed by their senior officers, Esperon and his rogue accomplices, who allowed themselves to be “used” and in the process unconscionably got the institution involved in the massive electoral fraud in 2004.

Like Adam and Eve who were unable to resist the crafty snake’s temptation and ate from the Tree of Knowledge, Esperon and his self-aggrandizement group succumbed to the offers of immoral political leaders and helped themselves to the “tree of Garci.” But unlike the Garden of Eden’s original sin, Esperon’s partakes of a mortal character, not merely venial. It was a grievous criminal offense when he and his gang knowingly and willfully violated our election laws and thwarted the people’s sovereign political mandate. And being mortal, such stain cannot be cleansed by Baptismal waters alone. The sin can only be forgiven and the soldier reconciled with his people through a sincere Act of Contrition and the corresponding Acts of Penance.

Joc-joc clears Gloria; senators dumbstruck

Download audio files of Nov. 13 Senate hearing
Download documents related to fertilizer fund scam

VERA FILES

by JP Lopez and Dennis Gadil
Malaya

The former agriculture undersecretary tagged as master architect in the illegal diversion of P728 million in fertilizer funds in 2004 yesterday cleared his “benefactor” President Arroyo.

But senators, both allies and critics of the President, were unconvinced about the claim of Jocelyn “Joc Joc” Bolante, saying it is hard to accept that such huge amount would be released without presidential approval.

Binay: Obama ng Pilipinas?

Marami ang nagulat sa pormal na deklarasyon ni Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay bilang kandidato sa pagka-presidente.

Okay ang timing. Idinikit pa ng kanyang mga promoters sa panalo ni Barack Obama sa pagka-presidente sa Amerika.

Sinakyan nila ang biro na kung may Barack Obama ang Amerika, ang una-unang itim (African-American) na presidente, mgkakaroon din ang Pilipinas. Little black president pa.

Rotarian tell Bolante: tell the truth

In many of the exhortations to former Agriculture Secretary Jocelyn “Joc-joc” Bolante to tell the truth about the P728 million fertilizer scam, he is always reminded of the Rotary’s four way test: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Many Rotarians are dismayed that the name of the prestigious organization has been dragged into this Bolante mess. As director of Rotary International, Bolante had used his official Rotary duties in evading Senate arrest.

Bakit praning si Gloria?

Napadalas yata ang biyahe ni Gloria Arroyo sa Amerika, ah.

Noong Septiembre nandoon din siya kahit na katakot-takot na batikos ang nakuha niya sa biyahe niya doon noong Hunyo sa gitna ng bagyong “Frank”.

Kagabi umalis na naman siya papuntang New York para raw dumalo sa Interfaith conference. Nakahanap lang siya ng rason para pumunta ulit sa Amerika.

Trapped

I think Col. Feliciano Loy’s tantrum near the end of last Friday’s court martial hearing of the mutiny case against Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda and 27 other officers was more panic than anything else as reality dawned on him that what he has is a losing case.

“We believe that the prosecution has been trapped, We will have to withdraw from the pre-trial,” he said eliciting surprise, disgust, anger and amusement from the defense lawyers.

Col. Loy is the head of the prosecution team implementing the order of former AFP chief Hermogenes Esperon to have the 28 officers convicted for allegedly planning to withdraw support from Gloria Arroyo in February 2006 following the revelations in the “Hello Garci” tapes that she cheated in the 2004 elections.