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Noong isang buwan, nang unang bumulaga ang krisis pinansyal sa Amerika na kumalat na sa ibang parte ng mundo, sinabi ni Gloria Arroyo hindi raw masyadong apektado ang Pilipinas dahil malakas daw ang pundasyon ng ating ekonomiya.
“Fundametals are strong”, yan lang palagi ang kanyang pinagyayabang. At yan daw dahil magaling daw siyang ekonomista kahit na garapalan ang kurakutan sa kanyang administrasyon.
Anong “strong fundamentals” ang pinagsasabi niya samantalang alam naman natin lahat na ang bumubuhay lang sa ekonomiya ng Pilipinas ay ang mga dolyares na pinapadala ng mga Overseas Filipino Workers na hindi bababa sa sampung milyon sa lahat na parte ng mundo, kahit sa kasulok-sulokan ng Alaska at Africa.
Updates:
Golez wants Resado probed.
Resado resorts to the classic strategy: when trapped, create confusion.
At the House hearing Friday, Resado claimed he was offered a bride by PDEA lawyer Alvaro Lazaro.
Related stories: PDEA: Drugs threaten national security
Narco-politics a factor in 2010
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez yesterday ordered the NBI to reopen its probe on John Resado, one of the state prosecutors who dismissed the drug charges against the so-called Alabang Boys after allegedly receiving bribe money.
Gonzalez asked the Anti-Money Laundering Council for advise over the bank deposits of Resado following the circulation of a one-page anonymous letter faxed to his office, and to NBI Director Nestor Mantaring and ABS-CBN news anchor Ces Drilon.
The letter sender, signed “Juan dela Cruz,” claimed that he has personal knowledge of the alleged P800,000 deposit to the joint account of Resado and his wife Rowena in Banco de Oro (BDO) in Bacoor, Cavite.
Natawa ako sa reaction ni Rep. Roilo Golez sa rekomendasyon ng Integrated Bar of the Philippines na suspindihin ang justice secretary ni Gloria Arroyo na si Raul Gonzalez.
Sabi ni Golez, dahil sa rekomendasyon ng IBP, dapat ng mag-resign si Gonzalez dahil yan ay galing sa kapwa niya abogado. Hindi lang magiging mababa ang paningin sa knayna gpagkatao, pati na rin ang posisyon.
Inulit ni Golez, na kababayan ni Gonzalez (pareho silang Ilonggo), ang kanyang panawagan na ang natira na lamang na marangal na alternatibo para sa kanya ay mag-resign.
From Malaya:
Gloria Arroyo yesterday reshuffled three Cabinet positions, naming Presidential Management Staff chief Cerge Remonde as press secretary vice Jesus Dureza, who is now the chief presidential legal counsel, and Hermogenes Esperon as Remonde’s replacement.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Avelino Razon, National Security Council deputy director for the National Peace and Order Council, takes the place of Esperon as presidential adviser on the peace process.
Ermita said Transportation Undersecretary Ma. Elena Bautista was named administrator of the Maritime Industry Authority, a post she used to head as officer in charge, while Land Transportation Office chief Alberto Suansing was transferred to the DOTC as undersecretary.
(Photo from MSNBC)
Fellow citizens:
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
Update from Malaya: Comelec pins down Gonzalez
See story in comments.
Case was his 2007 elections offer of P10,000 for 12-0 win of administration senatorial candidates
by Evangeline de Vera
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines has recommended the suspension of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez for obstruction of electoral processes.
In a one-page notice, the IBP Commission on Bar Discipline through its national secretary Tomas Prado took note of the Board of Governors’ Resolution dated Nov. 20, 2008 that “resolved to reverse… the Report and Recommendation of the Investigating Commissioner and approve the suspension from the practice of law for one year of Gonzalez for his reprehensible conduct of openly and publicly offering P10,000 to any barrio captain in his area (Iloilo) of political influence who can give a 12-0 vote in favor of President Arroyo’s senatorial candidates and taking into consideration his previous professional misconduct.”
As mandated, the IBP through the Commission on Bar Discipline acted as prosecutor in the complaint that investigated the case for finding of probable cause.
By Ellen Tordesillas
VERA Files
The soldier who stirred a hornet’s nest by accusing Department of Justice officials of bribery in the so-called “Alabang Boys” case could have been a millionaire by now.
Marine Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino, chief of the Special Enforcement Service of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, has experienced being bribed by smugglers, politicians and drug dealers in his 14-year career as a military officer.
But Marcelino, who belongs to the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1994, said he has made it a point to give back the thick envelopes stuffed with cash, and was not even curious enough to count the money and see how much he is worth.
By VERA Files
(Conclusion)
Last Jan. 13, President Arroyo proclaimed herself the country’s anti-drug czar, stepping into the feud between the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Department of Justice over the “Alabang Boys,” the three young men arrested and detained for illegal drug pushing and who allegedly tried to bribe their way to freedom.
Except for ordering DOJ officials and prosecutors to go on leave, Arroyo has kept mum on the charges of bribery, inefficiency and conflicts of interest that were exchanged between prosecutors and antinarcotics officials and agents. Her move has resulted in an uneasy peace between warring agencies that are supposed to work closely together in the anti-drug effort.
“The anti-drug campaign requires a united front, a harmonious relationship with other agencies,” a senior police official said. But he lamented that the attacks on both the PDEA and DOJ have “destroyed institution(s), including those who are innocent.”
Law enforcers say there has been a long running feud, with antinarcotics agents frustrated at the frequency with which prosecutors drop charges against suspects, and prosecutors complaining that law enforcers fail to build cases strong enough to stand up in court. Judges have also been accused of acquitting known drug lords.