Poll machines can cope with 12-hour blackouts

Amid prospects of brownouts disrupting the 2010 automated elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) reassured the public Friday its counting machines can cope with power failures - but only for about 12 hours. BROWNOUT PROOF? Smartmatic sales director Cesar Flores briefs newsmen on the functions and reliability of the Smartmatic DRE (Direct Recording Electronic) machine during a media presentation in Manila for the 2010 elections. GMANews.TV file photo Comelec law department head Ferdinand Rafanan said they have also drawn up safety nets to cope with possible problems in the polls, particularly with their Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines.

"Even if there is a brownout, all our PCOS-Optical Mark Read machines have batteries that can last some 12 hours," Rafanan said in Filipino over dwIZ radio.

Rafanan chided doomsayers for insinuating that the Comelec is not competent enough to handle these problems. He did not elaborate on these solutions, however. [Read more about automated polls here.]

"We have foreseen possible problems, and put in place backup plans for each problems. The Comelec is thinking, it has foresight and it has solutions," he said.

Rafanan added they have thought of other possible scenarios, and have worked out solutions for them. Last July, the Comelec said it would tap some 80,000 information technology (IT) people to handle the voting machines.

Anticipating the possibility that not enough public school teachers would be able to fill the required staff, the Comelec plans to tap IT personnel from various government agencies. [See: Comelec to tap 80,000 IT people for 2010 elections]

Earlier this week, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes warned the country would be plagued by widespread power interruptions noting that Visayas and Mindanao have already been experiencing brownouts.

On Thursday, Malacañang ordered the Department of Energy (DOE) to back up its assurances of a zero-brownout situation during the election period.

“I heard from Sec. Reyes that his department is making sure there will be no brownouts, and especially no blackouts. It is the DOE’s job to make sure our energy supply will be stable and sufficient. Not only that, it should remain affordable," Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III said in Filipino in a separate dzXL radio interview.

Brownouts created by Malacañang

But Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Reyes’ prediction of brownouts in 2010 hints of a No-Election (No-El) scenario being cooked up by Malacañang.

Lacson told reporters that Reyes’ comment on possible brownouts was ill-advised, adding the timing of his claim was “suspect" if not tainted with “malice."

“Pwedeng sabihing kinukundisyon niya ang utak natin na magbabrownout sa eleksyon (His statements can be interpreted as an attempt to condition the public’s mind that there will be brownouts during the election) and that’s very dangerous," Lacson said.

"We will have computerized elections in 2010, the computerized counting machines will have backup power supply but I don’t think it will be enough," Lacson adedd. - GMANews.TV

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Noli no longer on Lakas-Kampi radar

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Noli de Castro, one of the frontrunners in surveys of presidential aspirants for the 2010 elections, is no longer on the “radar screen” of the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD in its search for a standard-bearer, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita disclosed yesterday.

Ermita, president of the party, said there has been “an unexpected groundswell from local executives… unanimously supporting one of our aspirants, (Defense) Secretary (Gilbert) Teodoro.”

Ermita, however, clarified that the party is not yet discounting the bid of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando to be the administration’s presidential candidate.

Lakas-Kampi-CMD has given aspirants wanting to be the administration standard-bearer until Sept. 15 to join the party’s selection process.

The deadline is apparently aimed at De Castro who has remained an independent. Fernando and Teodoro are already party members and have signified their intention to run for president.
“In our radar screen are only Secretary Teodoro and Chairman Fernando,” Ermita told radio dzRH.

When asked about De Castro, who is being pushed by some party leaders to be adopted as the standard-bearer, he said: “But Vice President Noli de Castro is not a party member.”

He said President Arroyo did not directly invite De Castro to join the party and become the Lakas-Kampi standard-bearer.

Mrs. Arroyo issued a statement last week after De Castro had told reporters that the President spoke with him on the matter, saying the Vice President would make “a good president.”

Ermita, however, clarified last night that he did not say that the party is letting go of De Castro as a possible standard-bearer.

“I did not say the Vice President was out of the running,” Ermita told The STAR in a telephone interview.

He said what he meant was that De Castro was not a party member and therefore could not be considered officially in the selection process.

Ermita said the party’s national executive committee “could still talk about it,” referring to the possibility that De Castro might join the party before the deadline lapses.

The Lakas-Kampi-CMD national executive committee led by Mrs. Arroyo will meet after the Sept. 15 deadline and announce before the end of the month the administration’s presidential candidate.

Presidential Adviser for Political Affairs Gabriel Claudio said the party could not move the deadline to accommodate other aspirants.

“In 10 days, we will announce our candidate,” Claudio said.

He said some party leaders were asking the President to make her choice so that the selection process will be faster “but she wants the decision to come from the party so that they will be the stakeholders to that decision.”

He said it was agreed that only a party member could be considered as the standard-bearer.

Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor said Lakas-Kampi-CMD might be forced to adopt a presidential candidate from another party if its own candidates do not improve their ratings in the coming popularity surveys.

“It would be suicidal, impractical, not pragmatic, and a total waste of time to have a candidate who is not popular,” he told the Serye Café news forum in Quezon City.

Defensor, a member of the Lakas-Kampi national executive committee, said members of the panel apparently have conducted a secret straw vote among themselves two weeks ago on who they would support as the party’s presidential candidate.

He said the members were asked to list down four to five names of presidential aspirants, including those identified with the opposition.

“My choices were Senators Manny Villar and Chiz (Francis) Escudero, Vice President Noli de Castro, and Sen. Mar Roxas in that order,” he said.

Villar is the presidential aspirant of the Nacionalista Party, while Escudero is the one of the bets of the Nationalist People’s Coalition; De Castro has remained an independent, and Roxas is a former presidential bet of the Liberal Party.

Roxas withdrew from the presidential race to give way to Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, son of former President Corazon Aquino who passed away last Aug. 1.

He said although the result of the straw vote has not been revealed, based on his conversations with his colleagues, his impression was that Villar and Escudero were the dominant choices.

“That is because Sen. Villar is the top performer in the surveys, while Chiz is coming in strong. So it’s possible that if we decide to just adopt a candidate, our choice would be confined to them,” he added.

Villar, Escudero and Roxas are identified with the opposition, while De Castro regards himself as an independent.

Lakas adopted De Castro in 2004 as President Arroyo’s running mate. Lakas members have been recruiting De Castro to join the party and participate in the selection process for the administration’s standard-bearer in next year’s elections.

Some news reports said that Claudio disclosed that Lakas-Kampi gave De Castro until Sept. 15 to decide.

Defensor said Teodoro was not among his choices because at the time the straw vote was conducted the defense chief had rated poorly in the surveys.

“But all is not lost for him. Gibo (Teodoro’s nickname) is brilliant and competent. I am sure he can improve his survey performance especially now that he has won the support of 49 provincial governors. Things can change rapidly,” he said.

He said the lists of preferences made by members of the Lakas-Kampi national executive committee were given to Ermita, the party’s president.

Defensor also urged his party’s leaders to announce their choice of a presidential standard-bearer soon.

He lamented that although Lakas-Kampi is the biggest political group in the country, it is still searching for its candidate while other aspirants for the presidency have already embarked on unofficial campaigning.

“We are losing out to the other political parties,” he said.

He warned party leaders that indecision on their part could prompt members in the provinces to commit their support to other candidates.

Jamby prepares list of corrupt people

Sen. Jamby Madrigal has made a list of corrupt citizens, including some of her relatives, who will face criminal prosecution if she wins the presidency in 2010.

“I will jail corrupt people, including my relatives, if elected president,” Madrigal told reporters during the weekly Daungan ng Balita at the Danarra Hotel in Quezon City.

She said the campaign against corruption is part of her platform of government in the coming elections.

She said arresting a “big fish” would set an example and curb graft and corruption in the country.

The senator said the list included elected officials, and some of her relatives who are smugglers and tax evaders.

“We must jail big fish. Big tax evaders, smugglers, “ she said.

She claimed that a nationwide network of supporters has already committed their support to her presidential bid.

Madrigal clarified that her supporters are unpaid and idealistic volunteers and not a network of real estate agents, apparently referring to Sen. Manual Villar’s real estate business.

She said that she would come out with her own infomercial that is different from the infomercials of other presidential candidates.

Aside from corruption, Madrigal also said that her political platform will be focused on the abolition of the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and review of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement, which she said is hurting the country. – With Jess Diaz, Perseus Echeminada

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Noynoy joins 2010 race

MANILA, Philippines - After days of soul-searching, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III finally declared yesterday that he will run for president in 2010 to “continue the fight” of his parents and unite the country against an unpopular but well-entrenched administration.

In declaring his candidacy, Aquino also acknowledged the tough fight ahead as he would have to battle it out with other opposition candidates, several of whom have long been unofficially on the campaign trail.

Aquino is the only son of the late president and democracy icon Corazon Aquino and Marcos nemesis senator Benigno Aquino Jr.

“I accept the call of the people,” Noynoy Aquino told supporters gathered at Club Filipino in Greenhills. “I accept the responsibility of continuing our fight for the people. I accept the challenge to lead this fight,” he said.

“I want to make democracy work not only for the rich and the well connected but for everyone,” Noynoy said.

Noynoy was with his sisters as well as girlfriend Valenzuela City Councilor Shalani Soledad when he made the announcement in the same hall where his mother took her oath of office shortly after the 1986 People Power revolution that ousted the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

After his announcement the crowd sang “Bayan Ko” while raising their hands in the “L” sign for laban or fight.

President Arroyo, who lost the support of the Aquinos over charges of corruption and election fraud, is scheduled to step down in June 2010 after serving more than nine years. She is not allowed to run for re-election but is widely believed to be scheming to extend her stay in office with the help of her supporters in Congress.

“Tinatanggap ko ang hamong mamuno sa labang ito. Bayang Pilipinas, tatakbo po ako sa pagka-pangulo sa darating na halalan. Itutuloy po natin ang laban. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Nawa’y pagpalain tayo ng Poong Maykapal (I am accepting the challenge to lead this fight. Philippines, I will run for president in the coming election. We will continue the fight. Long live the Philippines. May God bless us),” Noynoy said to wild cheers.

The declaration came on the 40th day of Mrs. Aquino’s death. The massive outpouring of sympathy for Aquino after her death from colon cancer last month prompted supporters of her son to urge him to run for president.

Noynoy and the Liberal Party where he belongs are primarily banking on his name, but the senator said he has his own track record and that he would no longer need to brag about his qualifications.

Own track record

A three-term congressman and an economist by training, he said that if elected he would ensure that government resources are utilized efficiently, criticizing Mrs. Arroyo – his former economics professor – for “forgetting what she has taught me.”

He said he witnessed during his mother’s funeral the yearning of the people for true democracy and freedom that his parents had fought for all their lives.

“Nakita natin ang pagbabalik ng pagmamahal sa bawat isa at handang magsakripisyo para sa ikabubuti ng nakararami. Maraming boses ang narinig sa mga sumunod na mga araw pagkatapos ng libing ng ating ina (We saw that love for one another and the readiness to sacrifice for the sake of others have come back. We heard a lot of calls following the death of our mother),” Noynoy said.

Noynoy said one man had egged him to run and offered one to two million signatures but he said he did not “take it seriously then.”

One prominent columnist sent him a text message about déjà vu of what transpired in 1986.

He said he also drew inspiration from fifth-graders he met during his spiritual journey.

He said it was the mounting calls for him to run that made him decide to go on a spiritual retreat in a Carmelite monastery to seek discernment and divine guidance.

“Somebody told me that once I had made the right decision, the path for you to take would already be easy,” Noynoy said.

Noynoy said the withdrawal from the race of long-time LP standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Roxas II made him reflect more on his options.

He praised Roxas for his “selfless act” and said he would like him to be his running mate.

It’s about time

The senator’s eldest sister, Maria Elena “Ballsy” Aquino-Cruz, said they already allowed Noynoy to make the announcement about his plan since he had made up his mind and had prayed over it, along with the whole family.

Ballsy said it was better for Noynoy to reveal his decision now than to keep the people waiting.

Noynoy said his opponents had started their “branding,” or image-building in their trips to the provinces to be with local leaders long before he even thought of joining the game.

“(I am late) if we run a traditional campaign. I think in this case the people will be the ones to carry the burden and as I moved around, I was able to verify there was indeed a clamor and the people would be the ones to push this forward,” Noynoy said in a press conference later at the Senate.

At Club Filipino in Greenhills, Noynoy was presented with coins as contributions for his campaign. Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, who as armed forces chief had helped the Aquino administration repulse several coup attempts, vowed to serve him with dedication and symbolically offered P100 contribution.

At the Baclaran Church in Parañaque City where a Mass was held to mark the 40th day of his mother’s death, Noynoy was mobbed by the people and he was applauded as he entered the hall. The choir sang “Bayan Ko” and a small piggy bank with a yellow ribbon tied around it was presented to him.

The priest said he was hoping that Noynoy would turn his back on corruption and serve the people with love and compassion.

LP stalwart and former Batanes Rep. Florencio Abad said they were counting on volunteers to help in Noynoy’s campaign.

Opposition unity dim

Noynoy’s entry in the presidential derby is not affecting the preparations of other parties with their own presidential candidates.

Noynoy said he is open to unity talks but said he is not sure if he has the right to call for a meeting, being the newest in the ball game.

He agreed with Sen. Loren Legarda that having one candidate for the opposition is ideal but difficult to achieve at this time.

Legarda is herself pining for her party’s endorsement of her presidential bid. Her party, the Nationalist People’s Coalition, has yet to decide if it’s she or Sen. Francis Escudero who will represent the party in 2010.

The Nacionalista Party, on the other hand, has Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. as standard-bearer.

Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino is also not giving way to Noynoy and will field former President Joseph Estrada.

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Corruption pulls down RP in global competitiveness

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines dropped from 71st place to 87th in the latest Global Competitiveness Index prepared by the World Economic Forum.

Corruption, an inefficient bureaucracy, inadequate infrastructure and policy instability were the top problem areas cited in the annual study, which ranked 133 economies.

Switzerland topped the overall ranking in The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010, released yesterday by the WEF ahead of its Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2009 in Dalian, China. (See story on B-9)

The United States, which has suffered through a financial crisis and macroeconomic instability, fell to second place from its previous top rank. It was followed by Singapore, Sweden and Denmark.

European countries remained the most competitive, with Finland, Germany and the Netherlands among the top 10. Japan ranked eighth and Canada ninth.

China led the large developing economies, ranking in the top 30 and moving up a notch. Brazil and India also improved in their rankings, which were based on publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey taken among 13,000 business leaders in the 133 economies.

The Global Competitiveness Index is based on 12 pillars of competitiveness: institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labor market efficiency, financial market sophistication, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation.

The report points out problem areas for reform in each of the 133 economies.

In the case of the Philippines, the biggest problem cited was corruption. This was followed by an inefficient bureaucracy, inadequate infrastructure, policy instability, access to financing and tax regulation.

Also cited as problem areas were theft and other crimes, tax rates, coup threats, restrictive labor regulations and the poor public health system.

The report also cited inadequate education and a poor work ethic in the Philippine labor force.

The Philippines ranked below Trinidad and Tobago but ahead of Libya.

Among Asian countries, the Philippines was ahead only of Pakistan, which placed 101st, Bangladesh (106), Cambodia (110), Nepal (125) and Timor-Leste (126).

Hongkong ranked 11th, Taiwan 12th, South Korea 19th, Malaysia 24th, China 29th, Brunei 32nd and Thailand 36th. The Philippines was behind Vietnam, which ranked 75th.

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Survivors of SuperFerry 9 recount ship tragedy

KORONADAL CITY , Philippines — Roger Chicharon and Vincent Gallaza prayed as other passengers panicked while M/V SuperFerry 9 slowly sank in the sea off Zamboanga del Norte early Sunday morning.

Both are from South Cotabato province.

Chicharon said he asked God to save him for the sake of his family.

“Before I jumped into the sea, I closed my eyes and whispered to God to save me for the sake of my family,” he said in Hiligaynon.

Chicharon said he also prayed that the other passengers, especially the children be saved from death.
“They were crying, pleading for help and fighting for lifeboats after the captain ordered ‘abandon ship’ at around 3:16 a.m.,” he said.

Chicharon said he saw from the ship’s sun deck hundreds of people floating on the sea.

“They were like fishes scampering inside a fish net,” he said. “It was dark and so cold that time.”

Gallaza, a seaman, said he asked God to give him another life.

As he made the sign of the cross, he saw the other passengers doing the same and praying before jumping into the sea, he added.

Rescuers found the survivors a mile away from the capsized ship.

Gallaza said when he boarded the SuperFerry 9 in General Santos City, he noticed that something was wrong with the ship.

“Bago kami umalis, napansin ko na nakatabingi ang barko na parang overloaded siya,” he said.

Chicharon, Gallaza and other surviving passengers thanked God for listening to their prayers.

However, other passengers did not make it to safety.

Barangay Kagawad Jener Janapon of Koronadal City Zone 4 said the family of passenger Nilda Dumaop, a former South Cotabato provincial employee, could not accept that she is gone.

Janapon is the brother-in-law of Dumaop.

Yesterday was the birthday of Dumaop, who also worked as a clerk of the Koronadal City police force.

The STAR learned that Dumaop’s name was not included in the passenger manifest released by Aboitiz Transport System’s office in General Santos City because she bought her ticket in Davao City.

Survivor hoisted to safety

ZAMBOANGA CITY - - Lita Casunlum escaped a grim fate in shark infested waters off Zamboanga del Norte when rescuers hoisted her to safety into a hovering Air Force helicopter.

She had been floating at sea with a life vest for more than 24 hours when she was spotted from the air.

Speaking from her hospital bed at Edwin Andrews Air Base in Zamboanga City, Casunlum said: “I never gave the thought of dying there and I know I can make it.”

Casunlum said she, her husband, Pepito, seven-year-old son, Christopher, and a teenaged nephew were separated after she was forced to jump into the sea because the life raft was already full.

“I kept on shouting and shouting but nobody heard me,” she said.

Casunlum said the strong waves caused her to drift away from the sinking ship.

“I was circling around wherever the waves brought me,” she said.

Casunlum said she held on with one arm on a life vest, which her husband had strapped on her before they escaped from the ill-fated ferry.

“I kept on praying that somebody, somehow will spot and rescue me,” she said.

After 24 hours of floating at sea, she suddenly heard the sound of an approaching helicopter and she started waving her arms, she added.

Casunlum was reunited with her husband, son and nephew at Edwin Andrews Air Base.

Sea marshal also prayed

Senior Police Officer 3 Loreto Justo, a sea marshal on board SuperFerry 9, prayed hard as the ship started to sink off Zamboanga del Norte.

“Nagdasal po ako sa Panginoon na iligtas kami at dininig po Nya ako,” he said, relating how he prayed that his life be saved. He did not mind having lost documents and personal effects so long as he was alive.

“Kahit po nawala na yung cellphone ko, passbook, driver’s license at ibang mga papeles na nakasamang lumubog ng barko, masaya na po ako at nabuhay kami.

Justo said he noticed that the ship was on its side after he had his lunch, and that when the ship began to list they had no time to go back to their cabins and retrieve their belongings.

“Tagilid po kasi hindi pantay yung baso namin pagkatapos po ay pumunta na kami sa cabin at nagpalit ng civilian clothes na T-shirt at shorts,” he said. – Ramil Bajo, Roel Pareño, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Evelyn Macairan

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Singson refuses to go on leave

Denies using gov't resources in his marital row

MANILA - Refusing to heed advice from the Office of the President, Deputy National Security Adviser Luis Singson said he would not voluntarily go on leave and denied he used government resources in his marital conflict.

In a long distance telephone interview with ABS-CBN News and dzMM on Monday, Singson said he will not go on leave despite getting an advice from the Palace that he should do so out of delicadeza.

"Hindi ako magleleave dahil inosente ako diyan. Ako ang biktima rito. Hindi ako mag-leleave," Singson told dzMM in an interview with Vic Lima and Karen Davila.

Singson said he has not spoken with Mrs. Arroyo since the wife battering and torture allegations against him came up last week. He said the Office of the President can fire him if it wants to.

"Puwede nila akong tanggalin kung gusto nila," he said.

President Arroyo has ordered National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales to investigate whether Singson misused government resources to case his wife and her boyfriend.

Singson admitted he had his wife investigated since he discovered her alleged affairs, but he indicated this was a private investigation.

He denied he used resources of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) for his domestic conflict, saying his office is too poor for this purpose.

"No, never. Hindi na kailangan gamitin," he said. "Pinasundan ko sa nag-susurvey. Hindi ko opisina yan e. Walang kaalam-alam ang opisina ko dahil opisina ko napakahirap. Yung 2 secretary ko up to now hindi sumusuweldo [sa gobyerno] e."

In one instance, Singson said the men he had ordered to follow and investigate his wife and her boyfriend nearly killed them both had he not intervened and told them not to do so.

"Kung wala ako doon, baka napatay na yung dalawa. Kung di ako dumating doon, namatay na sila," he said, denying that these people were not his bodyguards.

He also said he believes that wife battering is bad, pointing out that he had given Tiongson a chance.

Gonzales, meanwhile, said he will be talking to Singson Monday night upon his arrival from China. He clarified that Singson is not yet under investigation, adding that he considers his deputy's marital troubles as a personal tragedy.

"This is a very personal issue so maybe before I say anything I want to talk to him first and listen to his side. I can order an undersecretary to take a leave if it is needed. Chavit is one of our our most seasoned politciians. He can understand what is happening, how our situation is constantly evolving and the implications of his case...He may make his own decision on what is best for everyone," he told radio dzMM.

He added that he personally called up President Arroyo and told her that he wanted to speak to Singson.

He also said he does not believe that Singson would use government resources to spy on his wife. "Chavit has a lot of resources so it won't be surprising if he used his own. Besides, I would immediately know if he used government resources and so far no one has reported anything to me," he said.

Take a leave out of delicadeza

President Arroyo on Monday said she was "alarmed and seriously concerned" about the wife-battering charges leveled against Singson, and advised the official to voluntarily take a leave of absence out of delicadeza.

In a press conference, deputy presidential spokeswoman Lorelei Fajardo assured the public that justice will be served in the ongoing marital row between the 68-year-old Singson and Tiongson.

"The President as a woman as well as the head of our government is alarmed and seriously concerned by such charges against a person who is regarded as part of her circle, though not part of her official family,” Fajardo said in her opening statement.

While no administrative case has been filed against Singson, Fajardo said the former Ilocos Sur governor could take a leave of absence "out of delicadeza" instead of waiting for Mrs. Arroyo's instruction.

She said the President has ordered National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales to investigate whether Singson used official government resources to spy on Tiongson and make the necessary recommendations.

Asked her personal opinion about the matter, Fajardo said that no one should be considered above the law.

“We feel very strongly about this... I feel very strongly about this. I’m mad. I’m angry. We are professionals as well. This is a personal matter between the governor and his family. Any violence should not be tolerated. But he should be subjected to rule of law," she said.

She added that women should be loved and respected, and that any form of violence against women should not be tolerated.

Physical abuse, torture

Singson is considered one of the most influential politicians in the country. His testimony in the impeachment trial of President Joseph Estrada in 2000 led to the fall of the Estrada administration and the rise to power of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in January 2001.

Singson virtually admitted last Wednesday over dzMM that he beat up his wife last month after discovering she had an affair, and added she should be thankful he didn't kill her.

In an exclusive interview last week with ABS-CBN's Ces Oreña Drilon, Tiongson showed pictures of her badly-bruised face and arms allegedly caused by the beatings she suffered at the hands of Singson last August 22 after he found her with her boyfriend in an apartment.

She said Singson beat her up and even lashed her using the whip he uses to discipline his pet tiger.

Singson and his bodyguards also allegedly undressed Tiongson's boyfriend, took pictures of his penis, beat him up, and tortured him.

Singson's arrogance assailed

Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chair Leila de Lima on Saturday assailed Singson for his arrogance, and urged Tiongson to file a human rights complaint against her husband.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News, de Lima lamented Singson's statement in media interviews, including with dzMM and ABS-CBN News, that Tiongson and her boyfriend should be thankful he did not kill them for their affair.

"As a government official, he [Singson] is covered by the Code of Conduct of public officials. Kaya tamang pinagsabihan siya ng Palasyo, especially since he holds a public position. He is a powerful man and hindi dapat ganyan, fino-flaunt yung power. To me, there's arrogance there," de Lima said, when asked to comment on the incident involving Singson and his wife.

Under Republic Act No. 6713 or the Code of Ethics for Government Officials and Employees, public servants are supposed to respect human rights and to act with "justness."

A provision in RA 6713 states: "(c) Justness and sincerity - Public officials and employees shall remain true to the people at all times. They must act with justness and sincerity and shall not discriminate against anyone, especially the poor and the underprivileged. They shall at all times respect the rights of others, and shall refrain from doing acts contrary to law, good morals, good customs, public policy, public order, public safety and public interest...."

De Lima said the fact that Singson is a high-ranking official of the National Security Council "makes it more imperative na kailangan malaman talaga kung ano ang kanyang pananagutan diyan."

"To me, all the more that it should be deplorable because he's a powerful man, and hindi puwede yung ganun-ganun lang. And then you know, totoo ba yun? Na when he was interviewed, he even said, 'Buti nga hindi ko pinatay.' The mentality is there is alarming," she said.

De Lima said Singson could face administrative sanctions for violation of the Code of Ethics.

"We can recommend or not for possible prosecution and other sanctions like administrative," she added.

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9 dead, 926 rescued from capsized Philippine ferry

MANILA, Philippines _ Passengers leapt into the dark sea and parents dropped children into life rafts from a stricken ferry carrying nearly 1,000 people after it capsized in the middle of the night in the southern Philippines.

Nine people died and more than 30 were missing Sunday though rescue efforts saved about 900 terrified victims on the Superferry 9 after turned on its side 9 miles (15 kilometers) off Zamboanga del Norte province.

The vessel's violent rotation roused frightened passengers from their sleep and sent many jumping in the darkness into the water, coast guard chief Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said.

Many aboard panicked as the huge ferry listed, said passenger Reymark Belgira. He said he saw parents tossing children to people on life rafts below, but he could not immediately jump himself.

"I held on to the ferry for hours until day break. I couldn't jump into the water in the dark," Belgira said.

Rescuers transferred 926 of 968 passengers and crewmen to two nearby commercial ships, a navy gunboat and a fishing boat, Tamayo said. A search was under way for 33 missing people.

"We really hope they're just unaccounted for due to the confusion," Tamayo told The Associated Press.

A coast guard statement said rescue efforts were continuing through the night.

Passenger Roger Cinciron said he felt the ferry tilting at about midnight but was assured by a crewman that all was well. About two hours later he was awoken by the sound of crashing cargo below his cabin, he told DZMM radio.

"People began to panic because the ship was really tilting," he said as he waited for rescuers to save him and a group of more than 20 other passengers.

Navy ships were deployed and three military aircraft scoured the seas, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said. American troops providing counterterrorism training to Philippine soldiers in the region deployed a civilian helicopter and five boats, some carrying paramedics, to help, U.S. Col. William Coultrup said.

Teodoro said two men and a child drowned during the scramble to escape the ship. The bodies of two other passengers were later plucked from the sea by fishermen, the coast guard said, adding three people were injured.

A Canadian tourist, Jeffrey Predchuz, was among the survivors, officials said.

The cause of the listing was not clear. The ferry skipper initially ordered everyone on board to abandon ship as a precautionary step, said Jess Supan, vice president of Aboitiz Transport System, which owns the steel-hulled ferry.

There were reports the 7,268-ton vessel listed to the right because of a hole in the hull, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said.

Aerial photos from the navy showed survivors holding on to anything as the ferry tilted. Others climbed down a ladder on the side as a lone orange life raft waited below.

The ferry left the southern port city of General Santos on Saturday and was scheduled to arrive in Iloilo city in the central Philippines later Sunday but ran into problems midway, Tamayo said.

There were no signs of possible terrorism, he said.

Al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants bombed another Superferry in Manila Bay in 2004, setting off an inferno that killed 116 people in Southeast Asia's second-worst terrorist attack.

The weather was generally fair in the Zamboanga peninsula region, about 530 miles (860 kilometers) south of Manila, although a tropical storm was battering the country's mountainous north, the coast guard said.

Sea accidents are common in the Philippine archipelago because of tropical storms, badly maintained boats and weak enforcement of safety regulations.

Last year, a ferry overturned after sailing toward a powerful typhoon in the central Philippines, killing more than 800 people on board.

In December 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker in the Philippines, killing more than 4,341 people in the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster.

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Arroyo overspent P1.6B

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's expenses for her foreign trips since 2003 went beyond the allotted budget by around P1.6 billion, an opposition lawmaker said Friday.

Bukidnon Rep. Teofisto Guingona III said he obtained records from the Commission on Audit showing President Arroyo and her delegation had spent some P2.7 billion from 2003 to 2007, when the budget for the period was supposed to have been only P1.1 billion.

"Iyong ibang bagay na 'pag labag sa batas puwede mong i-explain pero ito numero lang. Ang question lang sumobra ka ba sa naka-budget pag sumobra lagot ka sa batas. Eh sumobra eh," Guingona said in a radio interview.

He said the COA report was dated August 12 this year.

The lawmaker, son and namesake of former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr., added that in 2008 alone, Mrs. Arroyo's entourage had spent P722 million for their trips abroad when the budget for them was only P244 million.

According to Guingona, the Palace was able to compensate for the remaining expenses beyond the budget by getting money from the national contingency fund, which is supposedly used in cases of national emergencies.

He said that under the law, the Office of the President can use the contingency fund when the President's travel expenses go overboard.

Guingona also cited the COA report as showing that Mrs. Arroyo had also spent P120 million beyond the P800 million contingency fund for 2008.

GMANews.TV called up Guingona several times to elaborate on his claims but the calls went unanswered.

A staff of Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, meanwhile, told GMANews.TV over the phone that Remonde was still in a Palace meeting as of posting time.

The Arroyo administration is being criticized over the reported $20,000-dinner of the President's party at Le Cirque in New York last week. Palace officials have since pointed to Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez as the one who footed the bill. [See: Arroyo dined lavishly in US before attending Cory's wake]

Soon after the controversy broke out, the Washington Post reported that the President and her entourage had dined at Bobby Van's Steakhouse in Washington DC hours after she met with US President Barack Obama. [See: Before NY, Arroyo entourage dined in Washington for $15K]

Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, another administration stalwart, said he footed the $15,000 bill at the steakouse held supposedly in celebration of the President and her husband Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo's 41st wedding anniversary. - GMANews.TV

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Noynoy mum on higher post despite growing support

Despite a growing clamor for him to seek a higher post, Senator Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III on Friday kept mum on his actual plans for the upcoming 2010 national elections.

Aquino, who is being pushed by some political figures to seek the presidency or the vice-presidency next year, said he "can just withhold comment" on the Noynoy for President Movement launched by the Heightened Ethics League of the Philippines (Help) Thursday until he talks to the group.

"Let me just say that it is truly heartwarming to see our countrymen actively participating our country's political life. In their action we can see an empowered people which is the focal point of my parent's advocacies," Aquino said in a text message to GMANews.TV.

The senator is the only son of the late senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., who has been hailed a martyr since his assassination on Aug. 21, 1983 during the Marcos era, and former President and democracy icon Corazon Aquino, who passed away August 1 this year after a year-long battle with colon cancer.

Clamor for the senator to seek a higher post in 2010 heightened after Mrs. Aquino's death, but his colleagues at the Liberal Party (LP) said they cannot speak categorically on their plans for the senator until he decides what post he wants to seek in the coming elections.

"It cannot be denied that Noynoy has support of the party, not necessarily for president," LP spokesperson and Quezon Re. Lorenzo Tañada III told GMANews.TV, as he pointed out that the party campaigned hard for both Senators Aquino and Francis Pangilinan in the 2007 elections.

LP convention

Pangilinan has earlier expressed his intention to seek the vice-presidency, while LP president and Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas II has declared his presidential bid.

"[But] it will be unfair to ask the question if he (Noynoy) has support for the presidency since he has not declared his intention to run either for the position of president or vice-president. Support for him will come out openly in the party for any position once he makes up his mind," Tañada said.

Noynoy, who still has three more years to his term, had said that he is not inclined to seek a higher post at this point in time.

Tañada said the LP will hold a convention and follow its selection process if two or more members express their intention to seek the same post in 2010.

But so far, since only Pangilinan and Roxas have declared their bids to run for the country's two highest elective posts, the party will just "let the other organizations outside the LP do what they want to do."

Muntinlupa City Rep. Rozzano Rufino Biazon, a member of the LP, likewise told GMANews.TV that the while the party respects the citizens' clamor, it cannot decide until Sen. Aquino does.

"While we respect the right of citizens to launch their own movement, we just hope there will be no other groups who will take advantage of the situation and try to sow intrigue and disunity in LP," Biazon added. - GMANews.TV

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AFP slams MILF over clash

MANILA, Philippines - The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will lodge a complaint against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for allowing its fighters to join Abu Sayyaf extremists in the gun battle with government troops in Basilan last Wednesday.

Military information chief Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said the AFP will file the complaint against the MILF’s 114th Base Command in Basilan before the joint ceasefire committee.

Brawner said the MILF had been notified of the planned military offensive against the Abu Sayyaf in the area so as not to antagonize MILF forces and prevent civilian casualties.

Still, MILF fighters helped the Abu Sayyaf in the firefight, leaving more than 50 people dead, including 10 MILF guerrillas, Brawner said.

“We did not use artillery and close air support. We did this in order to reduce the number of collateral casualties. This is precisely why the military launched the offensive at 3:30 a.m. (Wednesday), because there were no civilians around the area at that time,” Brawner said.

The firefight broke out early Wednesday after the military launched an assault on a suspected Abu Sayyaf training camp in Sitio Kurellem, Silangkum in Tipo-Tipo town.

Government forces encountered heavy resistance from a big group of Abu Sayyaf led by Furuji Indama and Khair Mundos.

The camp was overrun by government forces, but reports from the field said the day-long clashes that followed had been fierce and resulted to heavy casualties on both sides.

Western Mindanao Command chief Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino said the Abu Sayyaf were aided by MILF gunmen, but 10 of them were killed along with about double that number for the bandits during the firefight.

Dolorfino said the MILF guerrillas were helping the Abu Sayyaf by blocking government reinforcements to the area of operations.

Brawner revealed armed civilians firing weapons from the windows of their houses surprised the soldiers. The soldiers later learned the armed civilians have relatives in the Abu Sayyaf.

The troops had no option left but to fire back. Two hours later, gunmen from the MILF’s 114th Base Command opened fire on responding Marine troops killing 20 of them, he said.

Two junior officers identified as Army 1Lt. Chester Barela of the 4th Scout Ranger Company and 1Lt. Dhejun Evangelista of the Army’s 3rd Light Reaction Company (LRC) and Cpl. Renato Dindin of the Scout Ranger regiment were among those killed.

The daylong gunbattle ended after government troops succeeded in taking over the Abu Sayyaf training camp in the evening.

Brawner said Dolorfino has been designated by the AFP to file the protest against the MILF before the joint Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCH).

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu earlier confirmed the 10 were members of the front’s 114th base command in the area.

Kabalu claimed their forces were caught in the crossfire during the gunbattle between government forces and the Abu Sayyaf.

He said the MILF guerrillas were trying to prevent the Abu Sayyaf from taking refuge in their area but they were attacked by government troops.

Kabalu said the MILF would file a formal complaint before the CCH to investigate the incident.

The MILF also said the “misbehavior” of the military resulted in the deaths of 10 of its fighters.

The MILF accused the military of violating the suspension of offensive military operations (SOMO).

President Arroyo ordered the SOMO last month to allow the peace negotiations with the MILF to proceed.

No effect on peace process

Brawner added the complaint would not affect the government initiative to revive the stalled peace talks with the MILF.

“We are hoping that the incident will not affect the conduct of the peace talks… in the same way that MILF stated,” he said.

Presidential adviser on the peace process Avelino Razon said last Wednesday’s firefight that involved MILF forces would not affect the peace initiatives.

Razon said the Basilan gunbattle is only an “isolated incident” that would not compromise the peace process with the MILF.

Razon said he is even looking forward for the resumption of the peace talks between GRP panel chief Rafael Seguis and the MILF led by chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal in Malaysia scheduled to start next month.

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, on the other hand, said the government must “recalculate” its position in the peace process in the light of the Basilan gunbattle incident.

“It must be established first if it was the Abu Sayyaf or the MILF that the Marines fought there (in Basilan),” Biazon said.

Biazon, a former AFP chief, said he would also initiate an investigation at the Senate over the incident in Basilan.

“Aren’t we told that the Abu Sayyaf’s number has dwindled to only a few? Then why is it many of our soldiers were killed? What really happened?” he asked.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, for his part, said the orders to sustain the offensive against the Abu Sayyaf would continue despite the increasing number of government troops getting killed.

“Until after the Abu Sayyaf is wiped out, the orders remained the same —the Armed Forces (of the Philippines) is instructed to wipe them out in Basilan,” Teodoro declared before the ceremonies in Zamboanga City honoring the 23 soldiers killed in last Wednesday’s gunbattle.

Teodoro, visibly enraged upon seeing the number of mourning relatives weeping over the caskets of the slain soldiers, said there would be no time limit to annihilate the Abu Sayyaf.

He said the recent military operation was a big blow against the bandit group since they have been denied their sanctuary in Basilan aside from the killing of their top leader, Khair Mundos.

Teodoro also blamed the MILF for taking an active role in last Wednesday’s gunbattle.

Teodoro disclosed that the Abu Sayyaf are using some MILF guerrillas, as well as some civilians, including women and children, to carry ammunition and supplies as well as to retrieve the bodies of their fallen comrades.

Teodoro dismissed the MILF allegations that government troops attacked their forces. “They can allege anything but we know the truth,” he said.

Teodoro also stressed last Wednesday’s military operation did not violate the SOMO with the MILF.

He said the military operation was directed against the Abu Sayyaf, not the MILF.

“If some of the MILF guerrillas joined the Abu Sayyaf, then we might consider them outside the SOMO and part of the bandit group,” he said.

Teodoro also denied reports of civilian casualties during the gunbattle.

He said this is precisely why the military avoided using heavy artillery to avoid civilian casualties.

Teodoro said the MILF is responsible for the deaths of their fighters during the encounter.

He stressed though that the incident would affect the peace process in Mindanao. –With James Mananghaya, Roel Pareño, Jose Rodel Clapano, Artemio Dumlao, Cecille Suerte Felipe

- By Jaime Laude (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)

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Arroyo govt shopping for jet worth P1.2B

The Arroyo administration is shopping around for a used “presidential fixed-wing executive jet" worth at least P1.2 billion.

The prospective aircraft must be “factory new, twin-engine (turbo-fan engines), pressurized, fitted with auxiliary power unit, and with VIP cabin configuration," said an advertisement placed in the Philippine Star on Thursday.

“The type of aircraft to be offered should have been used as a VIP/Executive aircraft by the country of origin and by at least two countries," the advertisement continued.

As of this posting, Malacanang has not responded to requests for comment about the ad. But despite whatever justification it will make, news of the planned purchase will likely fuel the public outcry over official extravagance.

The President and her US entourage are being criticized for spending $20,000 and $15,000 respectively for expensive dinners in New York and Washington, DC. The uproar has come in the wake of the national mourning for the late former president Cory Aquino, who was known for her simplicity of lifestyle and personal modesty.

The newspaper ad for the new presidential jet invited interested bidders and suppliers to participate as long as they have a repair shop within the Southeast Asian region with the necessary tools, equipment, and skilled personnel.

These “should be ready and available before the delivery of the aircraft," the ad said.

Funds for the jet’s acquisition are expected to come from the Philippines’ 2009 national budget.

Interested bidders are required to pay a non-refundable fee of P100,000 until August 26, 2009.

The pre-bid conference is scheduled for the next day at the Mabini Hall in Malacañang while the bid submission deadline will be on September 10, 2009. The winning bidder will be chosen on the same day.

Under the Arroyo administration, the government acquired at least two brand-new choppers, one of which crashed in Ifugao province last April, killing Palace personnel, including Press Undersecretary Jose Capadocia.

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31 Abus, 23 troops killed in Basilan

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Opposition will no longer push for GMA impeachment

MANILA, Philippines -- Opposition legislators will just wait for President Arroyo to finish her term and file appropriate graft charges against her rather than file another impeachment complaint, Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño bared today (Aug. 12).

Casiño said there is a growing consensus among minority congressmen to merely wait for Mrs. Arroyo to step down on June 30, 2010, because many of them are now focusing on next year’s elections.

In an interview at Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan City, Casiño said that although there is still time to file the impeachment complaint against the President, opposition lawmakers have opted to let Mrs. Arroyo vacate her post instead.

"They can just file it (graft charges) at the Office of the Ombudsman when her (Mrs. Arroyo's) term ends in June," the party-list congressman said.

Fresh impeachment raps could only be lodged starting September, Casiño added.

He said among those impeachable offenses that could be included in the complaint are the recent alleged lavish dinner at a New York City restaurant by Mrs. Arroyo and her entourage, and her unexplained wealth. - By Dennis Carcamo (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)

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Filipino troops kill 20 Muslim extremists in raids

MANILA, Philippines – Hundreds of soldiers launched an assault on two jungle encampments of al-Qaida-linked militants in the southern Philippines on Wednesday, killing at least 20 gunmen and seizing bombs that had been set to explode, military officials said.

The simultaneous, pre-dawn attacks on two Abu Sayyaf encampments in hilly Silangkum and Baguindan villages on Basilan Island sparked fierce fighting that continued late in the day. The number of troop casualties was not known, Philippine navy Rear Admiral Alex Pama said.

About 500 army troops, marines and police special commandos targeted Abu Sayyaf chieftains Khair Mundus and Furuji Indama, but it was not immediately clear if they were among the dead, said Pama, who helped oversee the assault. Military officials have blamed the two for past bombings and kidnappings.

All the dead were recovered by troops in Baguindan. Soldiers and marines may find more slain militants when they scour Silangkum on Thursday, said regional military commander Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino, adding troops were pursuing small pockets of fleeing gunmen.

More than 100 troops staged the attacks against about 60 militants in the two strongholds. About 300 others blocked escape routes.

Troops found several bombs, booby traps and 15 assault rifles in Baguindan, Dolorfino said, adding the explosives have been safely detonated by troops.

"The bombs were already primed to explode," Pama told The Associated Press by telephone, adding the explosives may have been intended for another wave of terror attacks.

The Abu Sayyaf, which has about 400 gunmen on Basilan and nearby Jolo Island and the Zamboanga peninsula, is on a U.S. list of terrorist organizations because of bombings, ransom kidnappings and beheadings of hostages. The group is suspected of having received funds and training from al-Qaida.

The Abu Sayyaf has been weakened by yearslong U.S.-backed offensives, but has turned to kidnappings for ransom in recent months.

Security officials worry that ransom payments could revive the group and have been cracking down on the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo and Basilan _ two predominantly Muslim regions that are among the country's poorest.

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BSP studies new P500 bill design with Cory, Ninoy

MANILA - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Monday said they are now studying the possible design of a new P500 bill that would feature the late former president Corazon Aquino alongside her husband, the late former senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr.

The BSP Numismatic and Concept Committee said Mrs. Aquino is already qualified to have her image put in a bill or coin. (Read: BSP mulling to put Cory on P500 bill)

For a person to have his or her image printed on a bill, the person should already be dead, has made a significant contribution to the country, and should embody something unique about the Filipino people.

"To recognize the contributions of President Aquino to the cause of democracy, to the cause of national unity, how do we do that? We intend to put her portrait in the P500 notes," BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Gunigundo said.

The BSP expects to have the lay-out ready by October, and once approved, the first batch of bills with Cory and Ninoy's images will be out early 2010.

Along with this possible new design, the BSP is preparing to include new technologies on the current bills to heighten security and to prevent fraud.

This idea first came out after a possible design of a new P500 bill, made by 22-year-old Reno Naval, came out on the internet.

"I posted [the design] as my first post on my website (www.peaceloveandrevolution.com). And then surprisingly, there were a lot of people who saw it, and when the website was [published] on [the newspapers], it spread out like wildfire," Naval said about the spread of his design on the internet.

"Kung ano man ang ma-finalize na konsepto, as long as magkasama sila, masaya silang dalawa (sa disenyo), for sure buong buhay ng mga Pilipino maaalala natin 'tong dalawang bayani na ito," he said. With a report from Cecille Lardizabal, ABS-CBN News

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I have never profited from my office - GMA

MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo maintained yesterday that she has never and will never use her position for personal profit even as she strongly denied manipulating her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) that showed her net worth doubling in the last eight years.

Her lawyer, Romulo Macalintal, said the President vehemently denied “any report or speculation alleging defect or her non-compliance with the law in filing her SALN.”

A report from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) said that based on her SALNs, Mrs. Arroyo’s declared net worth more than doubled from P66.8 million in 2001 to P143.54 million in 2008, or bigger than the combined growth in declared wealth of her three immediate predecessors, including former President Joseph Estrada, who was convicted for plunder.

“The President reiterates that she has never used and will never use or take advantage of her position for personal profit as she had declared in her State of the Nation Address and as expected of her by the people,” Macalintal told a news conference at the Palace that was also attended by First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo’s lawyer, Ruy Rondain.

He said he spoke over the phone with the President who was in Ilocos Norte yesterday and received instruction that he speak for her on the matter. She did not sound upset, he said.

He said Mrs. Arroyo prepared and signed her SALN under oath to the best of her knowledge and in full compliance with the Constitution.

“She honestly believes that she has been very transparent on her assets and liabilities and she has nothing to hide,” Macalintal said.

He said the report insinuating irregularities in the preparation of her SALN “is most unfair and uncalled for.”

He said the report “would accuse the President’s SALN as somewhat irregular just because she reported an amount bigger or higher than her predecessors.”

“We do not know what standard used by the reporter in coming up with her analysis. It is as if that if you reported a big asset, this must be investigated; if small, it’s okay and there should be no more investigation,” Macalintal said.

He said Mrs. Arroyo is inviting anyone to question before the Office of the Ombudsman, where the SALNs are filed, “if he or she has any evidence that the President violated or did not comply with the constitutional requirements in the filing of such disclosure documents.”

He said the President filed her SALNs in good faith and without any intention to deceive anyone.

“Those who alleged otherwise should come up with evidence to prove their uncalled for or self-serving accusations instead of being speculative or judgmental on the matter,” he said.

Macalintal and Rondain said if there were any vagueness in the SALNs, the Office of the Ombudsman should have already pointed out the matter to the First Couple.

Rondain also criticized the article’s use of the term “token compliance” to describe the First Couple’s handling of the requirements of the law.

“Under the law, there’s no such thing as token compliance. Either you comply with the law, with the requirements or you don’t comply. Either you’re alive or dead,” Rondain said.

On the issue of the alleged non-disclosure of the First Couple’s business in the stock market, he said the data is open and available in the records of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

“My feeling is that if the PCIJ has any evidence, it would be better if they bring it out. Because the report is just full of insinuations,” Rondain said.

“It’s a clear indication that democracy is in action in the Philippines and nobody is prevented from making this report but of course the President expects the report to have evidence and not based on speculations,” Macalintal said.

A lot of explaining to do

Senators said the president has a lot of explaining to do regarding the allegations in the PCIJ report.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said every public official should account for the wealth he has acquired as stated in the Constitution and the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Sen. Manuel Roxas II said the Office of the Ombudsman should be the one to look into accountability of a public officials but it was unfortunate that the anti-graft body was sitting on many scandals involving the Arroyo government.

“Of course it will raise eyebrows and the people will wait for an explanation on how it happened because she has no other businesses that can be the source of (her additional wealth),” Roxas said.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said it would be wise to check the income taxes filed by Mrs. Arroyo.

Enrile said the figures must be justified. “I’m a lawyer, I know how to handle that,” he said.

Roxas said if the President and her financial advisers would say she earned from her shares of stocks, it would be good to check the rates at the time she said she made money out of them.

Sen. Francis Escudero said he had not seen the SALNs of the President but that her salary was considerably low.

Moreover, he said, there is always conflict of interest when a president ventures into a business.

“There is also a worldwide crisis not only in the Philippines, so you wonder why her wealth grew much bigger considering ordinary interest rates, ordinary return on investments on any business that one gets into,” Escudero said.

“I hope she will put that in her SALNs, the explanations of where her wealth came from and that she must be transparent along with the public officials,” Escudero said.

Escudero said it’s doubtful that the wealth had been acquired legally by the President and that her lawyers’ defense should be examined in detail.

Confirmation

The United Opposition (UNO) said it is seriously concerned over reports of “exponential growth” in the wealth of President Arroyo and her family during her term, which exceeded the growth in the wealth of all the three presidents before her, spokesman Ernesto Maceda said yesterday.

“The PCIJ report confirms what people have long known. Arroyo has flouted the rules on accountability and transparency in government and has made a bad example for the million and a half other civil servants running the government,” Maceda said.

“Now we know why she has made token compliance to the requirement of regularly stating a public official’s assets. It’s because she has much to hide. In her eight years in office, Arroyo’s declared net worth more than doubled, from P66.8 million in 2001 to P143.54 million in 2008. The increase of P76.74 million represents a growth rate of 114 percent.” Maceda said quoting the PCIJ report.

Maceda said the PCIJ report showed that the late President Corazon C. Aquino’s declared net worth grew by only 4.8 percent from 1989 to 1992.

He said, by comparison, Fidel V. Ramos’ rose by 34.2 percent from 1992 to 1998, and Joseph ‘Erap’ Ejercito Estrada’s, by 7.2 percent from 1998 to 1999.

If various allowances are thrown in, Mrs. Arroyo’s monthly pay would total P100,000 at most or P1.2 million a year before tax. Yet even then, this represents only 10 percent of the P10.97-million average annual increase in Mrs. Arroyo’s net worth since 2001.

The president’s SALNs, however, offer few clues to explain the big difference, or whether she has other lawful sources of income.

PCIJ said that since 2001, the president has apparently taken the path of “token compliance” instead of going for full disclosure in form and substance of her assets and liabilities, in accordance with the Constitution. As a result, her SALNs in the last eight years have been remarkably full of gaps in data.

Allies come to GMA’s defense

Mrs. Arroyo’s allies at the House of Representatives defended her from insinuations that she had enriched herself during her eight years in office.

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III saw nothing wrong in Mrs. Arroyo’s net worth since her wealth came from legitimate sources.

“Baka nga interes lang ng pera iyan sa bangko o kaya sa stocks, shares and other investments,” he said.

“Critics are trying to throw everything because they have no more legitimate issues to raise. It is very clear that politics is behind everything.”

Camiguin Rep. Pedro Romualdo said the report on Mrs. Arroyo’s wealth is incomplete.

“It should have included details about the increase on President Arroyo’s net worth,” he said.

Romualdo said being an economist, Mrs. Arroyo had made some good significant investments that earned dividends.

“It seems that the battle among newspapers to boost its circulations is to report negative stories,” he said.

“How about good news? What happened to the positive gains of this administration? Do these good stories and positive achievements of the administration have been given enough space and prominence?” — with Aurea Calica , Jose Rodel Clapano, Delon Porcalla, Jess Diaz - By Paolo Romero (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)

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Philippine leader criticized for New York dinner

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine lawmakers lashed out Monday against a reported $20,000 dinner bill racked up by the president and an entourage on a New York visit last week.

A report by the New York Post's online edition Friday said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was at the Le Cirque restaurant in Manhattan with a large group "enjoying the good life." Arroyo reportedly ordered several bottles of very expensive wine, pushing the dinner tab up to $20,000.

"Be it government or private money, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth for them to spend so lavishly while so many are poor in the Philippines," said opposition Sen. Francis Escudero.

About a third of the Philippine population of 90 million lives on less than $2 a day.

Arroyo's spokesman, Cerge Remonde, called the report "exaggerated," saying their group of less than 30 Philippine officials had a "simple late night dinner" from a set menu that included soup, salad, a choice of fish or meat, and a choice of drinks.

The restaurant's Web site currently lists two possible set menus for dinner _ a "Chef's Seasonal Menu" at $58 and a "Chef's Tasting Menu" at $120 per person, with $60 wine pairings.

The Web site also offers for sale copies of an HBO documentary called "Le Cirque: A Table in Heaven."

Remonde said Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez _ one of the richest members of Congress _ paid for the Aug. 2 dinner and it would have been "impolite" for Arroyo or her husband "to inquire from their host where they will be fed or what they will be fed."

"If it was really ostentatious we should apologize, but it is not really ostentatious and we stand by that," Remonde added.

Rep. Walden Bello of the left-wing Akbayan party, said he will charge Arroyo before the government Ombudsman for accepting such a dinner treat, which he called "unethical and not legal under our anti-graft laws."

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel said if Romualdez paid for the dinner, the case becomes more complicated because the Romualdez family is involved in mining and many have questioned the government's mining policies.

Romualdez could not be reached for comment. His staff said he was absent from the House session.

Also on Monday, lawyers for Arroyo denied irregularities in her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN). They were reacting to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism's report that Arroyo's net worth more than doubled in her eight years in office, and grew by 2,000 percent since she first served as senator 17 years ago, but that she gave little detail of how it happened.

"Since she had already submitted her SALN to the Ombudsman, the president invites anyone who may have reservations to question the same before the agency," lawyer Romulo Macalintal told reporters.

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Explain Arroyo's alleged $20,000 dinner in NY

MANILA - An activist group on Saturday asked Malacañang to explain President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her entourage's alleged $20,000 bill at a prestigious French restaurant in New York City during her recent US trip. “Malacañang has a lot of explaining to do about this latest allegation which came out in an American paper. Who spent for the lavish dinner? Is it appropriate for a head of state of a Third World country like Mrs. Arroyo to wine and dine in such a manner, given that we’re in the midst of a crisis?” Renato Reyes, secretary general of the militant group Bayan, said in a statement. Reyes was referring to a news article posted on New York Post online's "Page Six", which alleged that Mrs. Arroyo wined and dined with a big entourage at the famous French restaurant, Le Cirque, in Manhattan. The New York Post article, posted August 7, said: "Philippines President Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was at Le Cirque the other night with a large entourage enjoying the good life... Macapagal-Arroyo ordered several bottles of very expensive wine, pushing the dinner tab up to $20,000." This equivalent to almost one million in Philippine peso (P955,400). “This is one dinner that certainly leaves a bad taste in the mouth, at least for the rest of the Filipino people,” Reyes said. The activist leader said that even if the expensive dinner was paid by somebody else, "it still would not look appropriate" because of the Philippines' poverty and hunger rate.

President Arroyo met with US President Barack Obama last July 30 in Washington D.C. and visited New York before cutting short her trip just in time for the late President Corazon Aquino's wake at the Manila Cathedral August 5. Bayan said that the Gallup's World Food Day survey released last November 2008, showed 4 in 10 Filipinos experience hunger "often or sometimes" in the last 12 months. “It’s embarrassing for the Philippines to have such write-ups appear in a foreign paper. It begs the question, what is Mrs. Arroyo really doing during her trips? Are taxpayers being made to shoulder the lavish lifestyles of the so-called rich and famous?” Reyes said. He said the supposed lavish display at the prestigious restaurant bolsters perception that Philippine government officials are corrupt "and are living it up while others wallow in crisis." 'Food-poor' Filipinos Early this week, local research firm Social Weather Stations (SWS) released its second quarter 2009 survey, which showed that 7.2 families considered themselves as food-poor, 33 percent put themselves on the food-borderline while 28 percent considered themselves as not food-poor. SWS said the one-quarter rise in Self-Rated Food Poverty was also sharpest in Mindanao. It rose by 11 points, from 36 percent in February to 47 percent in June. The median food-poverty thresholds for poor households rose slightly to P5,000 in Metro Manila, while it stayed at P3,000 in Balance Luzon and Mindanao, and at P4,000 in the Visayas. These levels had already been reached several years ago. The Second Quarter of 2009 Social Weather Survey was conducted over June 19-22, 2009 using face-to-face interviews of 1,500 adults divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao, and 600 in the Balance of Luzon, the firm said.

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GMA New York dinner 'overly exaggerated'

MANILA, Philippines - The reported ostentatious dinner of President Arroyo and other officials in a New York City restaurant is "overly exaggerated," Press Secretary Cerge Remonde today (Aug.9) said.

In a radio interview, Remonde also denied a recent report in the New York Post that a known restaurant was closed to the public to accommodate Mrs. Arroyo and her entourage.

"I assure the public that not a single centavo of Filipino taxpayers' money was spent for that dinner," the Cabinet official added.

Remonde also clarified that it was not a party but an ordinary dinner with a set meal that consisted of a choice of fish or meat for the main course.

"It is not true that the President herself was ordering the waiters around," he said.

He noted that there were a lot of people, including Filipinos, inside the Le Cirque in New York City when they arrived.

The dinner was on the invitation of Leyte Rep. Martin Romuladez, who paid the bill, according to Remonde.

Remonde said he has no idea how much the dinner cost.

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'No need for upheaval, GMA steps down in 2010'

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang urged critics yesterday not to use the death of former President Corazon Aquino for their political agenda.

Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez and presidential economic spokesman Gary Olivar were commenting on the warning given by Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, president of the United Opposition, that the outpouring of support at the burial of Mrs. Aquino may turn into a “political upheaval” against Mrs. Arroyo if she tries to extend her term.

Olivar said there could be no upheaval because Mrs. Arroyo would step down from office next year.

“The mayor’s warning is gratuitous, redundant and unnecessary since the President has already stated she has no agenda of extending her term beyond 2010,” Olivar said.

Presidential adviser for political affairs Gabriel Claudio also scored Binay’s warning, saying such a statement was a far cry from the gesture of Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, who courteously received the President when she visited his mother’s wake at the Manila Cathedral.

“It would do greater justice to the solemnity and dignity of President Cory’s burial to refrain from using it for partisan ends,” Claudio said.

Golez said Binay should get his cue from the outpouring of love and respect for Mrs. Aquino from Filipinos and the rest of the world.

“We saw how everybody paid their last respects to the great leader. The people went there united or were one in paying their respects to a great leader regardless of any political affiliation,” Golez said.

“Let us not use this event for anybody’s personal and political interest.”

He said the people would be “angered” if some groups would try to capitalize on the passing of Mrs. Aquino for some political agenda.

Golez said he was not sure whether Mrs. Arroyo watched the funeral on television.

He said the Palace also welcomes the statement of Kris and Noynoy Aquino that they would continue the fight begun by their mother.

“I think everybody, every Filipino should have that privilege of defending our freedom. We’ve been through the dark ages already and I think it is a shared responsibility among Filipinos to make sure that we protect the democracy that we have gained and to protect the freedom that we have attained.”

He said the Palace is also supporting moves in Congress to declare her a national hero but fell short of saying that Mrs. Arroyo would certify the bill as urgent.

“He will just wait for the proposal to come out in order for us to study that,” he said.

No upheaval

Congressmen-allies of Mrs. Arroyo declared that no upheaval against the President is necessary because she will relinquish her post on June 30, 2010,

Deputy Speaker for Mindanao Simeon Datumanong said he hopes that Binay’s statements were not meant to provoke the people by capitalizing on the outpouring of support for the late president, dubbed as an icon of Philippine democracy.

“We should adopt an attitude of supporting the country and making sure our people live a peaceful, decent and progressive life. I’m very sure that President Arroyo will follow the Constitution and step down as president when her term expires,” he said.

Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, chairman of the committee on oversight of the House of Representatives, said Binay’s statements were uncalled for and “should not be given relevance at all.”

“The situation in 1986 and the situation now are entirely different. We were financially disturbed then. The economy was bad in terms of financial ratings with different international credit rating firms such as Fitch, Moody’s and S&P,” he pointed out.

Neophyte Rep. Elpidio Barzaga of Cavite said politics had no place during the funeral of the former president.

“I honestly feel that the statement is uncalled for and totally unnecessary. The outpouring of grief is for the death of President Cory and also in recognition of her role in the restoration of democracy in our country,” he said.

Tarlac Rep. Jeci Lapus, brother of Education Secretary Jesli Lapus, also assured the public that no upheaval is necessary.

Other congressmen, meanwhile, said the smooth and peaceful transfer of power is one of the legacies of former President Aquino.

“President Cory’s turnover of power to her elected successor, President Ramos, was one of the greatest moments of her presidency,” Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez told the Serye Café’ news forum in Quezon City.

“She could have considered running for president again, considering that she was swept to the highest office under a different Constitution, but that was against the democratic ideals she fought for, which included a smooth and peaceful transition from one president to another,” he said.

Rep. Satur Ocampo of the militant party-list group Bayan Muna said the late president could have stayed longer in office under her revolutionary government had she chosen to.

“But she regularized our democratic system by restoring democratic institutions and appointing the 1986 Constitutional Commission that wrote the present Constitution,” he said.

In the same forum, Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor said Congress does not have to declare Mrs. Aquino a national hero “because she is already a hero in the hearts and minds of our people.”

He said a congressional declaration that the late president is a hero “might just politicize the acts of heroism that she had done, which transformed our nation and affected the life of every Filipino.”

Golez said politicians should not meddle in determining who is a hero and who is not and just leave the matter to the National Historical Institute.

‘Help Pampanga’

Meanwhile, Rep. Mikey Arroyo appealed to his mother, President Arroyo, to go on helping Pampanga even after she has stepped down from the presidency next year.

“The people of Pampanga love you. This is your home. We want you to be with us always so that we can weather any storm,” he said during the President’s visit here yesterday.

His statement has further bolstered reports that the President will run for congresswomen in Pampanga’s second district, which she has visited at least 21 times this year.

Mikey, however, did not say what his political plans are, as he is only on his second term as congressman representing the same district.

Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio shrugged his shoulders over yet another visit of the President.

“We just have to be prepared in case she runs for Congress in her district,” he said.

Panlilio earlier said, however, that Mrs. Arroyo’s unusually frequent visits to the second district, which covers Lubao where she is a registered voter, indicated she would definitely run for Congress in next year’s elections.

“We should not be caught unaware,” said Panlilio, whose camp is seeking a candidate to run against the President should she run for Congress.

Panlilio’s group has yet to decide on whether to support the candidacy of professor Randy David who already announced he would run for congressman in the second district, but only if Mrs. Arroyo would run.

Aside from going around Sasmuan, the President also visited Macabebe in the fourth district to launch the 2009 Stimulus Fund School Building Repair and Construction Program (SFSBRCP).

There, she announced a P500-million fund for the repair of school buildings in various parts of the country.

“The SFSBRCP forms part of the P10-billion economic stimulus fund allocated in the 2009 General Appropriations Act that aims to perk up the economy in the midst of a worldwide financial crisis,” the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) said.

It noted that “of the P3-billion fund allocated for the SFSBRCP, P50 million will be distributed for the construction, repair and rehabilitation of classrooms in the fourth district of Pampanga that include the municipalities of Macabebe, Masantol, Apalit, Sto. Tomas, Minalin, San Simon.”

Also in Macabebe, the President distributed certificates of lot assignments to the beneficiaries of the San Antonio Housing Project of board member Catalina Bagasina in Barangay San Antonio.

In Sasmuan, continuous rains prompted the President to cancel her visit to Barangays Sta. Monica and San Pedro, Sasmuan. She was supposed to lead the groundbreaking of a bridge in Sta. Monica and inspect a site for a proposed barangay road upgrading in San Pedro.

The President also inspected the cleanup and de-clogging of the roadside waterways in Barangay San Nicolas by the Organized Youth Stewards of Esteros and Rivers or OYSTERS.

She then inaugurated the San Nicolas Second Municipal Road concreting project, before proceeding to Barangay Sto. Tomas for the launching of the 2009 SFSBRCP in the second District of Pampanga amounting to P60 million for the provinces of Guagua, Lubao, Sasmuan and Porac.

Her final stop was in Barangay Sto. Tomas where she issued the assignment orders of three new policemen for Sasmuan. – With Jess Diaz, Ding Cervantes - By Paolo Romero and Delon Porcalla (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)

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