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Gov’t mining firm faces contempt over Diwalwal

Published by Ellen on November 24, 2008

From Malaya

The Supreme Court has ordered the state-run Philippine Mining Development Corp. (PMDC) to explain why it should not be cited in contempt for starting the bidding process for the exploration and mining operation of the 8,100-hectare Diwalwal gold rush area in Compostela Valley.

The bidding was allegedly undertaken by the PMDC, an attached agency of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, despite the pendency of a legal dispute over the mining area before the high court.

(A VERA Files report said the government accepted on Oct. 14 letters of intent from mining firms to develop the Upper Ulip-Paraiso portion of Diwalwal consisting of 1,600 hectares. On top of this, there is an existing Memorandum of Understanding between the government and the Chinese firm Zhongxing Technology Equipment (ZTE) to explore and mine a still undisclosed part of Diwalwal.)

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Si Mike Arroyo sa sambayanang Pilipino

Published by Ellen on November 22, 2008

Diarrhea, not heart attack,downed Mike Arroyo : St Luke’s doctor

Nang unang lumabas ang balita na inatatake sa puso (na naman) si Mike Arroyo sa loob ng eroplano ng Philippine Airlines papuntang Los Angeles at nag-emergency landing sila sa Osaka, Japan, ang dami kaagad ang reaksyon sa mga text at sa blog.

Si Mike Arroyo at kasama ng presidential party papuntang Lima, Peru kung saan magtitipon na naman ang mga lider ng bayan na miyembro ng Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Hindi maganda ang mga reaksyon. Sample: sabi ni Atty36252 , “Heart attack? Wala namang puso yan eh. That was just an excuse so that he would be left off sa Japan, where someone i is waiting.”

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Cha-Cha train cranking up

Published by Ellen on November 20, 2008

Malaya report:

A separate resolution on the mode for Charter Change being circulated by Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo (Lakas, Pampanga) was also signed by 150 congressmen, a source from the majority bloc said.

The resolution, which calls for the convening of a Constituent Assembly (Con-ass), is authored by Kampi president and Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, the source said.

Inquirer: Mikey leads cha-cha bid

This is what the five bishops warned about just three weeks ago: Gloria Arroyo will ram Charter Change down the people’s throats.

The report from the House of Representatives yesterday said House resolution 737 amending the economic provision of the Constitution has been signed by 163 congressmen. House Speaker Prospero Nograles, who authored the resolution, needs only 15 more signatures to meet the required 175 signatures, representing three-fourth of the House of Representatives to bring the resolution to the Committee on Constitutional Amendments, then to the plenary..

The Cha-Cha train is cranking up and is expected to leave the station in the coming days to a destination beyond 2010.

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12 votes away from Cha-Cha

Published by Ellen on November 20, 2008

As I’m writing this, Malaya’s House reporter, Wendell Vigilia, sent a summary report that House Resolution 737, amending economic provision of the Constitution that would allow 100 percent owenership has now 163 signatures.

They need 175 signatures to bring it to take it up in the committee level, then to the plenary. They need only 12 signatures more. Kayang-kaya yan.

The Cha-Cha train has cranked up . Tsug…tsug… tsug…tsug…tsug…tsug…Beyond 2010.

Malaya’s story today :

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The morning after:Senate coup revisited

Published by Ellen on November 19, 2008

by Lito Banayo
Malaya

Speculations and spins always fly whenever something takes everyone by surprise. Thus did the Senate “coup” which replaced Manuel Villar as its president with 84-year old Juan Ponce Enrile come to most everyone.

One paper bannered an Erap hand in the coup, banking only on the supposed membership of Enrile in the latter’s party, and the perceived “closeness” of the two, which isn’t exactly true. They are friends, but they are not that close. Even when only the two of them survived the Cory juggernaut in the first elections under the 1987 Constitution that re-installed a two-chamber Congress, they were not that close. Estrada, who tries to be friendly with everybody, and forgives anyone and everyone at the drop of a tear, fake or feigned, knew the political value of the wise Ponce Enrile, so that even if the latter did not support his presidential run in 1998, he reached out. He needed the cooperation of the Senate, and so politically, he bedded even with other unlikely political “friends” as Miriam Defensor Santiago. That paper cited an “administration senator” as its source, but the guy, who can easily be identified by any political observer, was also just speculating.

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Blessing in disguise

Published by Ellen on November 19, 2008

Hindi ginusto ni Manny Villar na matanggal sa pagka- senate president ngunit maaring makakabuti pa sa kanyang political career itong nangyari.

Alam naman natin lahat na may plano si Villar na tumakbo para presidente sa 2008. Kaya nga siya kinukuyog ng ibang may ambisyon rin kasi bilang senate president, may lamang siya. Hindi lamang sa budget ng senado kung di na rin sa media mileage dahil lahat na nangyayari sa senado, dumadaan sa kanya. Nababanggit ang pangalan palagi.

Ngayon na hindi na siya senate president, hindi na masasabi ng iba pang presidentiables – Senators Ping Lacson, Mar Roxas at Loren Legarda – na lamang sa kanila si Villar.

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Lessons for Arroyo in Senate coup

Published by Ellen on November 18, 2008

Senator Panfilo Lacson told ANC after Juan Ponce-Enrile was sworn in as senate president after Manny Villar resigned, that “Nothing is spontaneous here in the Senate. These things are planned.”

To recall, Villar, who was re-elected as senator in 2007 under the Genuine Opposition ticket, was installed as senate president last July with a vote of 15-7 by what was described as a “mongrel” majority that included all of Malacañang allies. Given that kind of support base, Villar has been doing a delicate balancing act between Malacañang’s interest and the public’s expectation for the Senate to do a fiscalizing role to the Arroyo administration’s brazen violations of the Constitution.

Although initiated by four opposition senators – Lacson, Loren Legarda, Mar Roxas and Jamby Madrigal, Villar’s ouster last Monday was made possible when the very same people who were his allies just more than a year ago abandoned him.

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Dureza prays for Arroyo in Malacañang beyond 2010

Published by Ellen on November 18, 2008

by Jocelyn Montemayor
Malaya

“We pray for the President, that she may have forbearance, good health, and tolerance to lead this nation until 2010, and who knows, perhaps even beyond,” Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said yesterday as he recited his prayer at the start of the Cabinet meeting.

“Oh my God!” and a glare were what Dureza got from a shocked President Arroyo, who covered her face.

At the end of the prayer, a smiling Arroyo asked media men who were allowed to cover that portion of the meeting to leave the room as she said “that prayer is off the record.”

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