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Mayuga report: not yet the truth

Published by Ellen on August 18, 2011

Sen. Antonio Trillanes was not exactly surprised that the “Mayuga Report” was a dud.

It actually did not add much more to the one page press statement that the Arroyo government released in April 2006, at the start of the Lenten week when everybody was either in a holy retreat or holiday mood, that cleared all the generals mentioned in the “Hello Garci” tapes of any complicity in the election cheating that allowed Arroyo to keep the presidential powers she grabbed in 2001 from elected President Joseph Estrada.

Trillanes, a former navy officer and imprisoned for more almost seven years for standing up to Arroyo, said the 15-page report, “ per see, as expected, was sanitized.”

But, he said, “the attachments which contain the testimonies of the resource persons and witnesses are loaded with revelations about some officers’ involvement in the election cheating in 2004.”

The Mayuga Report: The story is in the transcripts

Published by Ellen on August 17, 2011

By VERA Files

Retired Vice Admiral Mateo M. Mayuga once said he would bring the results of his factfinding mission on the purported involvement of the military in the cheating in the 2004 presidential elections that enabled Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to stay in power to his grave.

But Mayuga isn’t getting his way. Recently, President Benigno S. Aquino III declassified his “secret” report, popularly known as the Mayuga Report, and the 15-page executive summary has made its way to the news media.

The document, however, does not contain the sensitive revelations offered by resource persons invited by the commission—70 in all, including 68 officers and enlisted personnel of the Armed Forces, a AFP civilian employee and Commission on Elections Region 9 director Helen Flores.

The revelations are instead buried in the voluminous transcripts of the investigation that measure a meter.

One of the most important revelations excluded from the 15-page report was the testimony of then AFP Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, commander of the 2004 Task Force HOPE (Honest, Orderly, Peaceful Elections), who urged the Mayuga Commission to have the funds allotted to his task force audited.

Will Lee defend PH sovereignty over Recto Bank in Beijing?

Published by Ellen on August 16, 2011

Update: Domingo Lee was not confirmed by the Commission on Appointments last Aug. 24 which prevents him from assuming his post as ambassador to China before the state visit of President Aquino starting Aug. 30.

To justify his inclusion in the official delegation, the President named Lee presidential adviser for the China visit.

Domingo Lee, President Aquino’s choice as ambassador to China, has been given briefing by the Department of Foreign Affairs in preparation for his taking up the post in Beijing last week of August in time for the President’s state visit to China starting Aug. 30 to Sept. 2.

There cannot be a discussion about Philippine-China relations without touching on the complex issue of conflicting claims in the Spratlys.

When the issue of sovereignty over West Philippine Sea came up, a source said, Lee said that would not be his priority because he will concentrate more on “business, business.”

Aquino has asked Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr to facilitate the confirmation of Lee next week and it is expected that would be done on Aug. 24.

Lim’s resignation puts Mark Lapid issue in Aquino’s court

Published by Ellen on August 14, 2011

Mark Lapid 2 — Mark Lapid: a test of Aquino's 'tuwid na daan' crusade

Now that Bertie Lim will soon be out of the Department of Tourism, the issue about Mark Lapid rests squarely with President Aquino.

People in the DOT are keenly watching the case of Lapid because it would prove to them that the President’s pledge l to lead the people through the “matuwid na daan” is more than just sloganeering.

I would like to make it clear here that the case of Lapid is a separate issue from Lim’s lackluster performance as tourism chief.

I think that quitting the DOT was a good decision for Lim. His one year stint with the DOT showed that he is not cut for that job which requires more than sincerity, honesty and dedication.

Anyway, sometime in May, Lim reported to Aquino about his problem with Lapid, chief operating officer of Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), formerly Philippine Tourism Authority. The report allegedly involved deals with suppliers.

Ang mas masakit na dagok kay Gloria Arroyo

Published by Ellen on August 13, 2011

gloria arroyo neck — An unenviable situation

Habang binabasa ko ang mga report tungkol sa sakit ni Gloria Arroyo, parang naninigas na rin ang aking leeg at likod.

Hindi biro ang sakit sa spine at naintindihan ko ang hirap ng isang maysakit.

Unang dinala si Arroyo sa hospital noong Hulyo 25 nang may naramdaman siyang may naiipit na ugat sa kanyang leeg. Inoperahan siya ngunit pagkatapos ng ilang linggo, nakaramdan siya sakit sa braso. Lumabas sa X-ray natanggal daw sa kinalalagyan ang titatium implant.Mahina na raw kasi ang mga boto ni Arroyo.

Inaayos nila ang implant ngunit pagkatapos ng ilang araw, balik na naman sa ospital si Arroyo dahil may infection daw.

Dahil wala raw ang implant na siyang sumuspurta ng kanyang spine, kinabitan daw si Arroyo ng “halo vest”, mga bilog daw na metal na nakadikit sa kanyang bungo na may mga “bars” na sumuporta ng kanyang leeg.

Lim resignation leaves Lapid ‘safe’?

Published by Ellen on August 13, 2011

VERA Files The resignation of Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim has left unresolved the problem with a politically well-connected tourism official he has brought to the…

Astang siga pa rin si Mike Arroyo

Published by Ellen on August 9, 2011

Ganun pala si Mike Arroyo kapag nabubulgar ang mga katarantaduhan- nakakalimutan na may sakit.

Nang dumating mula Hongkong noong Lunes, astang siga siya. Malakas ang hakbang at hindi kinakailangan ang saklay na bitbit ng alalay na sumusunod sa kanya.

Kadalasan, mailap siya sa media. Ngunit sa sobrang inis niya siguro sa mga nagtuturo sa kanya bilang utak ng maraming hindi kanais-nais na transakyun nang nasa kapangyarihan pa sila, nagpa press con siya sa airport.

Sabi niya:“To my detractors, I’m back. You should be ashamed for peddling lies to the public while I was away,” he said at a press conference at the airport. (Sa mga naninira sa akin, bumalik na ako. Mahiya-hiya naman kayo sa mga kasinungalinngan na kinakalat nyo sa publiko habang wala ako.)

Mike Arroyo back, in fighting mood

Published by Ellen on August 8, 2011

Ex-FG Mike Arroyo arrives, hits foes for ‘peddling lies’
abs-cbnNEWS.com

Arrival Aug. 8, 2011 — Thanks to ABS-CBN online for this photo by Raoul Esperas

Former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo arrived in Manila on Monday after a medical check-up in Hong Kong last week, saying he is now ready to defend himself from accusations leveled against him by his detractors.

“To my detractors, I’m back. You should be ashamed for peddling lies to the public while I was away,” he said at a press conference at the airport.

He said he is ready to face all accusations hurled against him by what he called a “dictatorial” administration.

Arroyo said he would take legal action against the Aquino government for placing him on the immigration watch list, saying it violates his constitutional right to travel.

The untouchable Jesus Verzosa

Published by Ellen on August 7, 2011

Is it believable that then Philippine National Police Chief, Jesus Versoza, signed the documents for the purchase of three new helicopters in the amount of P104.9 million without knowing that two of those aircraft were second-hand and previously owned by Mike Arroyo, husband of Gloria Arroyo?

Is it also believable that Mike Arroyo would decide to involve PNP in this anomalous deal without making sure that the PNP chief is into his scheme?

The seemingly velvet glove treatment of Verzosa in this anomalous deal that cost the reportedly cash-trapped PNP, and in a larger picture, the Filipino people millions of pesos, is intriguing and disturbing.

Nawala ang pag-asa ni Zubiri nang nawala si Angara sa SET

Published by Ellen on August 6, 2011

Sa totoo lang, kaya naman nag-resign si Migs Zubiri sa Senado dahil alam niyang sa bagong composisyun ng Senate Electoral Tribunal, wala na siyang pag-asa. Wala na kasi ang kanyang mentor at tagapagtanggol, si Sen. Edgardo Angara.

Ang malas pa niya, ang pumalit kay Angara ay si Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, na kung maala-ala natin mula-mula pa noong 2007, naniwala na hindi naman talaga nanalo si Zubiri. Kaya minus one na si Zubiri sa bilang niya sa SET at plus one si Pimentel.

Ang SET, na siyang dumidinig ng protesta sa Senado, ay kinabibilangan ng tatlong Supreme Court justices (Antonio Carpio, Arturo Brion, at Teresita de Castro) at anim na senador na ngayon ay maliban kay Trillanes, sina Pia Cayetano, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Lito Lapid, Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr., Gregorio Honasan.

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