Ellen Degeneres wants Charice Pempengco of Manila

to guest on her show.

Arroyo administration declares curfew in Metro Manila, nearby provinces

"This is not Martial Law."

Meanwhile, some journalists were arrested. ala pakistan?

UPDATE: Less written-about findings on the Alston Report

From the PDI Editorial:

Some of Alston’s sharpest words, for example, are aimed at Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. Her office, he writes, “has done almost nothing in recent years to investigate the involvement of government officials in extrajudicial executions.” That kind of track record is simply indefensible, but Alston, a professor of law, probes deeper and concludes that the “Office of the Ombudsman has surrendered its constitutionally-mandated independence from the executive branch.” Considering the special role the powerful office plays in the administration of justice, this is a chilling but not unjustified conclusion. What exactly does he mean by that? He offers several answers, including possibly the most damaging of them all: “The Office of the Ombudsman often operates as a de facto subsidiary of the Department of Justice.”

That a constitutional officer like Gutierrez, one of the few so-called impeachable officials in the government, finds herself effectively a subordinate to a rankly political alter ego of the President like Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez is a legal calamity. It explains why, as Alston writes, “Despite having received a significant number of complaints alleging extrajudicial executions attributed to state agents, no information was provided by the Ombudsman’s office indicating that it had undertaken any productive investigations.” It also explains why, to give just one of many possible examples, the Mega-Pacific anomaly became the perfect crime.

Alston also takes aim at National Security Adviser Bert Gonzales: “Senior government officials are attempting to use prosecutions to dismantle the numerous civil society organizations and party-list groups that they believe to be fronts for the CPP [Communist Party of the Philippines]. While this project is sometimes discussed as if it were a dark conspiracy, it was explained to me openly and directly by numerous officials as the very function of IALAG [Inter-Agency Legal Action Group], which was established in 2006.” And who runs IALAG? Real “institutional power and legal authority over its operations is concentrated in the Office of the National Security Adviser.”

Alston concludes: “The most deleterious role played by IALAG bodies may be to encourage prosecutors to act as team players with the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] and PNP [Philippine National Police] in counterinsurgency operations and to de-prioritize cases involving the deaths of leftist activists.” This explains not only the rehashed charges against party-list leaders but also the administration’s convenient resurrection, as necessity dictates, of the communist bogeyman.

UPDATE: An Arroyo adminitration's handpicked Melo commissioner from the CBCP, Bishop Juan de dios Pueblos disputes the Alston report, claiming that Communists insurgents were the major cause of the extrajudicial killings of leftist activists.

Though, he admitted that insurgency is also a major cause of the killings, the AFP, Pueblos said was acting only to eradicate "communism" since they are now considered "terrorists".

Buy High, Sell Low

Lito Banayo: "When this government buys anything, the price must be high. When this government sells its assets, the price must be low."

CNN Republican debate tommorrow morning

LIVE 9:00am Manila Time. I'll be taping it and maybe blog about it afterwards.

I am a Moderate Centrist

leaning slightly towards the right/libertarianism

Sarkozy's new Girlfriend

is smokin hot! Hey Anna, do you know any more info re this?

Some photos of her:

McCain's New Ad

I like this new ad:



Andrew Sullivan likes it too.

Earthquake...

medyo malakas.

Lito Atienza is in no position to make demands

The writing is on the wall, and Lito Atienza and his Arroyo loyalists will find themselves out of power by 2010. So they're desperately trying to go back into the fold with the Liberal Party.

But that fool atienza of the so-called "atienza wing" of the LP is in no position to make demands. mar roxas is in the ascension and will be the LP candidate for 2010, while atienza's madam Arroyo will be out by that same time.

There's going to be a new sheriff in town by 2010, and Lito needs to ally himself more with rising star Mar Roxas, and not than the other way around. Kumbaga, Mar Roxas is the "strong horse", and Lito Atienza is the "weak horse".

(Unless Atienza loyalists want ally themselves to the other potential candidates from the Villar/Erap camp or the Loren/Danding side.)

One thing the LP and Mar Roxas doesn't want right now is to be seen as pro-Arroyo. And Lito Atienza and other ex-LP Arroyo loyalists have yet to disassociate themselves from Arroyo or turn opposition vs. the administration...

Atienza’s faction snubbed the LP meet. He said his faction was not invited.

But he did have a few words about Roxas’ election. He said:

“Congratulations, Sen. Roxas, at your installation as president of the Liberal Party faction led by Frank Drilon and his merry cabal of destabilizers. We were hoping we would be congratulating Mar as our president, the head of a newly-united Liberal Party, but it seems the worst fears of our group became reality after all,” referring to former Senate president and outgoing party chief Franklin Drilon.

Atienza, together with other LP stalwarts loyal to President Arroyo including former presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor, ousted Drilon’s group in a rump session in late 2005, which elected Atienza as party president.

If you're anti-Arroyo, you're a "destabilizer".

The Ultimate 2008 Presidential Candidate Matcher

Take the test.

My results:

Ultimate 2008 Presidential Candidate Matcher Your Result: Rudy Guiliani   The former New York City mayor emphasizes his tough foreign policy stance. His primary issue is national security, and would continue to pursue Bush's war on terrorism. Guiliani is liberal on social issues, favoring civil unions for gays and abortion rights. He is more conservative on tax policy, healthcare, and social security. He wants to expand nuclear energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
John McCain
Hillary Clinton
Barack Obama
John Edwards
Dennis Kucinich
Mitt Romney
Ron Paul
Ultimate 2008 Presidential Candidate Matcher Take More Quizzes

"How do you make the country's most disliked politician electable?"

For Hillary, it's to apply Nixon's 1968 strategy. John Ellis:

All good strategies have an antecedent. The antecedent strategy for the Clinton campaign of 2008 is the Nixon strategy of 1968. Then, the problem was: how do you make the country's most disliked politician electable? Frank Shakespeare and Fred McWhorter started by trying to make Nixon warmer, friendlier, your next door neighbor. A young turk named Roger Ailes came in, took a look and said (and I am paraphrasing here): "forget it. No one will ever warm to the guy. He's un-likeable. We've got to change the narrative. This is about a man in the arena; this is about grit and determination and hard work and brains and perseverance." Ailes went on to create televised "Man in the Arena" town hall meetings, at which Nixon answered voter questions, by himself, being himself. Voters didn't need to like Nixon to elect him. He only needed to earn their respect.

Like Nixon, Senator Clinton is widely disliked. Like Nixon, she cannot be made warm, even by a modern-day Roger Ailes. Like Nixon, she is a politician whose resentments are always close to the surface. And like Nixon, she is a politician about whom her peers have real doubts.

But also like Nixon, she is intelligent and diligent and determined and tough and she has been through hell and back. She is experienced in a way that only her husband and President George W. Bush are experienced. She knows what it's like to get her head kicked in every day, day after day after day, for months and years on end. She endures.

That was the whole point of the 1968 Nixon campaign narrative. He wasn't perfect by any means, but he was formidable and he endured. It's a narrative that fits Senator Clinton's campaign like a glove.

Intersting. Mickey Kaus comments.

Sabi ni Ann Althouse:

Ha ha. They need to explain to us how to vote for Hillary, even though we don't want to.

But I'm not really laughing. Actually, I picture myself doing exactly that. I don't like her, and I don't want to vote for her, but somehow, I assume that in the end I will. I'm resisting now — look at all my recent Hillary posts — but it's probably because I see myself ending up doing what I don't want to do.

UPDATED: "The Senate President wants his Senate to investigate. Tama na, please. Wala namang mangyayari."

They will just invoke executive privilege and all kinds of other excuses. And if they do appear, they will just lie before your senators. There are after all at least three of your senators who will abet any form of lying, accept all obfuscations, and even bellicosely treat whoever dares to tell the truth in that chamber.

- Lito Banayo, on the World Bank accusations of irregularities.

Yup, walang kwenta talaga yang Senate President natin na yan. In bed kasi si Villar sa administration, kaya marami sa mga importanteng committee chairmanship ay napunta sa administration--which SHOULD NOT have been the case kung hindi niya inilagay ang personal ambitions niya ahead of the opposition goals. Kaya hanggang ngayon, FECKLESS pa rin ang senado under villar's leadership pagdating sa administration abuses and obstruction of justice attempts even though nanalo ang opposition sa senate elections (although the maguindanao situation didn't help.)

If Villar can't stand up against EO 464, if the senate is under his compromised leadership is being given the run around by the Arroyo admin, then Villar is one person I feel will not bring any meaningful changes if he replaces Arroyo.

Ang taong namamangka sa dalawang ilog... that person I don't trust.

UPDATE: Besides, Mr. Villar, wouldn't this only add more to the "political bickerings" kung iimbestigahan pa nyo yan?

UPDATE: How Manny Villar set the neophyte Sen. Cayetano up for failure by making his job a LOT harder.

And it's obvious that Lacson should have been the Opposition appointee to the Blue Ribbon committee position. Just sayin.

Tribune website infected with Soraci virus AGAIN

clean your website guys!

Clinton and Obama embrace the Bush Doctrine?

Are they neocons too?

Damn, wala na si Patsadakarajaw

entire blog's deleted.

Redacted

I did not know it was Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, who produced this vile film.

UPDATE: Interview with the director of the film, Brian de Palma.

UPDATE: Reactions on comments made by Brian de Palma, the film's director.

Swift Kids for Truth

another Republican attack ad on Democrat Presidential candidate John Edwards:

Triangulation vs "Bridge-Building"

what's the difference, and which is more effective? Obama claims to be a "bridge builder", while Clinton (Bill) is the master Triangulator. (via instapundit)

Stephon Marbury does "an Enrile"

Starbury, the self-proclaimed "best point guard in the league" and the guy who sells cheap shoes, threatened to dish some dirt on coach Isiah Thomas (aka mr. sexual harassment) if he doesn't start him in the NY Knicks-Phoenix Suns game.

From NY Daily News:

'Isiah has to start me,' Marbury fumed, according to the source. 'I've got so much (stuff) on Isiah and he knows it. He thinks he can (get) me. But I'll (get) him first. You have no idea what I know.'

Here's a roundup of the Marbury-Isiah feud.

Project Runway 4 is back

Althouse is ready to live-blog it. Si Manolo excited rin.

UPDATE: Season 4, Episode 1 is up.

UPDATE: Enrile's bark worse than bite

if Enrile wanted to tell all, he would have already done it, instead of making silly threats that only impugns the character of his targets by insinuation. But I don't think Enrile has the guts to tell all because Yoda knows too many secrets about maam Arroyo too. Mutually Assured Destruction.

So if I were JDV, i'd tell Enrile he's making a mistake, and he should apologize for attacking him just because his son exposed the ZTE corruption scandal.

UPDATE: Manuel Buencamino delivers an Enrile smackdown. Sweeet. And Enrile's stunt reminded me this Raul Gonzales move vs. Lacson. More on that here.

UPDATE: Lito Banayo comments.

Will this appease Rodel Rodis?

ABC Network to hire more Fil-Ams:

After the indignation in the Filipino-American community for a racial slur on Philippine nurses in a "Desperate Housewives" episode, ABC-TV now says it will hire Filipino- American actors and actresses, and even scriptwriters, directors, and producers.

Villar, Roxas, Legarda, Lacson

Continuation ito ng post ko dito. Konting adjustment lang sa prediction ko.

Only two candidates have a good chance of getting erap's endorsement: Villar and Legarda. I think Villar will get Erap's endorsement.

I also sense too that both Villar and Legarda are the most likely to flipflop from Opposition to Admin if they don't get Erap's blessing. Since malamang makukuha ni Villar ang endorso ni Erap, magiging defacto candidate ng administration si Legarda at official candidate for the president ng NPC ni Cojuangco. Pero kung si Legarda naman ang maging kandidato ni Erap, si Villar ay magiging unofficial candidate ng Malacanang.

I think Mar Roxas doesn't mind getting erap's endorsement and be the main opposition candidate for the presidency. Sa tingin ko hindi siya lilipat sa admin kapag hindi niya nakuha ang basbas ni estrada. Same with Lacson.

But I don't see Erap picking Ping and Mar, so both of these two will run as third force type candidates.

Mar Roxas will most likely be civil society's anti-Arroyo candidate (as opposed to Villar as ERap/GO candidate). And Lacson once again will run as an Independent candidate. Legarda will be the NPC and the admin's candidate.

The Latest on GMA's favorite Bishop

that's Fernando Capalla. From Lito Banayo:

I know that Joker Arroyo grieves deeply the passing away of Dulce, and prays that his good friend Rene would recover from such tragedy.

But one wonders what possessed Joker to suddenly author a resolution "expressing the concern of the Senate that the number of Filipino cardinals is grossly disproportionate to the huge number of Catholics" in this benighted land. Joker further notes that the Philippines has the second largest concentration of Catholics in the world.

While I do not think Joker’s resolution violates the constitutional provision on the separation of Church and State, as expressed on the floor by one of his colleagues, I wonder if he was asked (tasked?) by the Boss Lady in Malacañang to lay the predicate to her soon-to-be-made importuning to the Holy Father, for a fourth Philippine cardinal.

In 1999, there was talk in Church circles that then Pope John Paul II would name a cardinal from among one of the archbishops of Mindanao. My good friend Carmelo Morelos, DD, Archbishop of Zamboanga and before that Butuan, was prominently mentioned. But that did not come to pass, and with the death of the beloved pope, a new sovereign in the Vatican reigns.

Guess who the Boss Lady wants to see elevated by Pope Benedict to the College of Cardinals before her term is over, if it ever gets over? Her lord Archbishop Fernando Capalla of Davao, the previous president of the CBCP who stood by her during the dark days of Hello Garci in 2005.

This is the same bishop who early in the days of Gloria tried to broker a solution to the impounded 40 billion-peso coconut levy, along with Norberto Gonzales, then presidential adviser on "special" concerns. That did not materialize when legitimate representatives of coconut farmers began to question the terms of their arrangement.

Sometime last year, after he had forgotten the slightly soured relations we had because I refused to support his bosom buddy FPJ in the presidential run, Erap told me that in April of 2004, this archbishop from Davao visited him in Tanay. Capalla supposedly asked him to withdraw his support from FPJ, and thus pave the way for a GMA victory. In exchange, Capalla said the Boss Lady would ensure his acquittal before the Sandiganbayan. Erap refused.

I mention this now, without leave from Erap, and pray that the CBCP or the newly appointed papal nuncio could verify this highly immoral intervention on the part of Capalla not only in secular matters, but in favor of his patroness Gloria, even to the point of promising that the "rule of law" could be so easily thwarted by the political compromise he proffered.

And this is the man who the Boss Lady would want to be the next cardinal from the Philippines?

I was schooled in the thought that "Deus" precedes even "Patria". It would seem that in the illegitimate reign of the Boss Lady in the stinking palace, where she arrogates "patriotism" to mean her self-interest, even matters of the Church are within the sphere of her habitual "transactions".

I scratch your back, you scratch mine.

Photo: Yao and Yi!

Did you see the game kanina? Bakit wala sa ESPN PHil?


(photo from Yahoo NBA)

Peso surges to 42.79:$1

Link. I'm sure Arroyo's economic team would like to take credit for that.

But the peso gaining stregth has probably more to do with the weak US dollar. Read this Washington Post article: Bush's Disastrous Dollar Policy

Even French President Sarkozy is complaining:

Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a joint session of the U.S. Congress the Bush administration must stem the dollar's plunge or risk triggering a trade war.

``The dollar cannot remain `someone else's problem,''' Sarkozy said today on Capitol Hill. ``If we are not careful, monetary disarray could morph into economic war. We would all be its victims.''

Sarkozy's complaints that the U.S. currency's drop against the euro is undermining European competitiveness struck a discordant note in a summit intended to demonstrate an improving U.S.-French relationship. His comments came as the euro surged to a record high against the dollar. The currency touched $1.4731 today, a 65 percent gain since the end of 2001.

Concern that the euro is too strong has been a Sarkozy theme since his presidential campaign earlier this year. Since his May 6 election, he has urged European Central Bank officials to lower interest rates to weaken the currency.

Loony Rep. Kucinich offers bill to impeach Cheney

Dems don't like the move and tried to stop the bill by tabling the motion, a move that effectively kills the debate on the pending issue. But Kucinich got suprise help from the Republicans who supported the Kucinich bill in an effort to embarass their Democrat colleagues.

From the NYTIMES:

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 ? It is hard to know which effort has longer odds, the bid by Representative Dennis J. Kucinich, Democrat of Ohio, to become president of the United States, or his bid to unseat Vice President Dick Cheney by impeaching him.

Both efforts got a brief burst of publicity on Tuesday when Mr. Kucinich brought his bill to impeach Mr. Cheney to the House floor and, with the surprise help of Republicans aiming to embarrass Democratic Congressional leaders, nearly succeeded in securing an hour of debate.

After a motion to table Mr. Kucinich’s bill failed , the majority leader, Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland, stepped in with a motion to refer the bill back to the House Judiciary Committee. That motion succeeded, by a near-party-line vote of 218 to 194, and spared the Democrats a potentially embarrassing distraction.

House Republicans initially opposed the effort to debate Mr. Kucinich’s impeachment measure, and briefly there were 290 votes in favor of tabling it.

But then the Republicans sensed an opportunity to irritate the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi of California, who has said the Democrats have no interest in impeaching Mr. Cheney or President Bush over the Iraq war. The Republicans began changing their votes, and by the end, the tally was 251 to 162 not to table it, with 165 Republicans voting no.

Grrr... those evil republicans!

MORE: An old MLQ3 post tries to compare our situation with the US, pero mali ang basa niya, IMO.

NBA Southwest Division aka "The Group of Death"

Tignan nyo ang mga teams

1) San Antonio Spurs
2) Houston Rockets
3) Dallas Mavericks
4) New Orleans Hornets (currently 4-1)
5) Memphis Grizzlies (just watch)

More on this from Truehoop.

PinoyBigBriber

GMA Edition. Go here to vote and evict the corrupt illegitimate occupant.

Whistleblower Vidal Doble charged with wiretapping

From the Tribune:

Government prosecutors have decided to throw the book at former military intelligence officer-turned whistle-blower T/Sgt. Vidal Doble Jr.

The Department of Justice (DoJ), in a statement yesterday, said it has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to file criminal charges against Doble for violations of Republic Act (RA) 4200, or the Anti-Wiretapping Law.

Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor said the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office has already assigned a team of prosecutors to handle the investigation into the complaint.

The directive to the NBI came following a report submitted by NBI Deputy Director for Intelligence lawyer Ruel Lasala.

The NBI has been directed to charge Doble before the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office based on a complaint-affidavit submitted by NBI head agent Regner Peneza, chief of the Counter-Intelligence Division, that the former agent is liable for violation of Sections 1 and 2 of RA 4200.

In his two-page affidavit-complaint, Peneza said the offenses involved incidents and admissions allegedly made by Doble on Sept. 7, 17, 25 and Oct. 1, 2007.

Peneza revealed in the hearings conducted by the Senate joint committees on national defense and security, accountability of public officers and investigation and constitutional amendments, revision of codes and laws that the former agent of the Intelligence Services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp) described acts which the DoJ said were in violation of the wiretapping law.

Among the actions Doble allegedly committed was when admitted monitoring, taping and transcribing conversations of particular cellular phones from Sept. 3, 2003 to April 2005.

Doble is also being charged for reducing to tape recordings and compact discs the monitored conversations and that he gave some master tapes to a certain Angelito Santiago.

It was Santiago who, in turn, handed the tapes to former NBI Deputy Director for Intelligence Samuel Ong.

Doble also admitted having received P2 million for the tapes.

On Sept. 3, 2007, Peneza was ordered by acting deputy director for intelligence lawyer Edward Villarta to monitor the proceedings at the Senate, especially those that have bearing on violations of criminal laws.

“Due to wide publicity on the alleged wiretapping activities, the bureau took interest in intently monitoring the hearings of the committees, where Doble, under oath, testified in detail on the alleged wiretapping he conducted,” the Justice department stressed.

There were no indications yet on whether Doble would be charged for his allegedly womanizing, which was also revealed before the Senate hearing which also uncovered Doble’s presence at the Solid Mills building in Makati City in 2000, when he was with the now-defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force.

After two years in hiding, the former Isafp agent surfaced last August and testified before the Senate the wiretapped conversations between President Arroyo and former Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, apparently to ensure Mrs. Arroyo of victory in the 2004 presidential elections.

UPDATE: Ping Lacson's blog comments.

Hillary playing the victim role again

It worked the last time in 2000, maybe it'll work again. To me though, she's tough, she's formidable, she's ruthless, she's disciplined. But "victim"??? Haha!

More: I'm seeing more and more dems turning 9/11 into a joke or using it as a punchline when talking about Rudy Giuliani.

Biofuels are now officially evil

The Guardian: The western appetite for biofuels is causing starvation in the poor world. (ht instapundit)

Early Thoughts on 2010 Presidential Race

I believe Corruption will be the main issue in 2010. People want change, and not a return to the status quo. They want more transparency. The COMELEC needs to be fixed and somebody needs to root out the corrupt and the criminal operators within the body to regain people's trust.

I like Lacson but I have to admit he's not the favorite for now to win the Presidency. Si Mar Roxas at si Manny Villar ang 1-2 sa presidential race. Third si Lacson. As for Legarda, i'd put her at number 4 for now. and Noli at 5th place.

I guess one thing going for Lacson is his campaign against wasteful spending and pork barrel politics. If you're disgusted with the amount of money being thrown around by this administration to bribe governors and congressmen and want to put a stop to it, then you should take a second look at Lacson.

And unlike Mar Roxas (who I like) and Manny Villar, who I don't trust--the guy pretty much gave the administration control of the senate and most of the important committees in exchange for the senate presidency--Lacson has been a consistent and vocal opposition since day one.

(Roxas btw, only became an official "opposition" senator after the 2007 elections after fence-sitting on the Garci issue most of the time.)

While it is not inconceivable for Roxas, Villar or Legarda to flip flop from being "opposition" to becoming an administration bet, I don't see it happening with Lacson.

(Paano lilipat sa administration sila Roxas, Villar or Legarda? Ganito. Let's say napagkasunduan ng Opposition (o si Erap) na si Roxas ang magiging Opposition bet para sa 2010, I wouldn't be surprised if Villar or Legarda suddenly switched sides and started jockeying with each to become GMA's annointed. Pusta! Ganyan rin ang mangyayari kung si Villar naman ang napili na maging Opposition standard bearer. kung decided na ang opposition bet, sila Legarda at Roxas ang magsasabunutan para makuha ang endorso ng Malacanang.)

At habang maaga pa, gusto ko lang sabihin kay Lacson na hindi niya makukuha ang endorso ni Erap, just like in 2004. The sooner he realizes that, the better. It doesn't mean na he should sever his ties the opposition, but he will be disappointed again kung iniisip niya ulit na makukuha niya ang suporta ni Erap. He has to be prepared to run without erap's endorsement, kung balak niyang tumakbo sa 2010.

MORE: And what to do with Arroyo, the COMELEC and wiretapping should also be one of the issues in 2010. I want all candidates to weigh in on these issues. This should be make for intersting debate. AND there WILL be presidential debates this time. I hope the format will be similar to the one implemented on FOXNEWS for the last Republican candidates' debate in florida this month.

MORE: Filipino voters also want candidates who can reach out to the other side and work with people they disagree with (and i'm not talking about that phony Villar.) Lacson should pledge that if he's elected, he is willing to appoint opponents or competent people from the other side to important positions in government.

Filipino voters I believe are tired of the same old dirty campaigns and want candidates to run a more positive campaign. Not the type of BS we saw during 2004 where the administration used phony documents to question FPJ's citizenship. Or 1998, when FVR released ex-con/kidnapper Rey Berroya early to make false accusations about Erap being a "kidnapping mastermind."

Cardinal Rosales: Give Arroyo's COMELEC Appointee Macarambon a chance

From Manila Standard Today:

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales yesterday asked critics of the appointment of Iligan City Judge Moslemen Macarambon to give the Malacañang appointee the benefit of the doubt. Rosales said that the designation of Macarambon was apparently the result of a selection process. “I heard there was a committee in Malacañang that selects who should qualify and that was what the President did through that committee,” the Manila prelate said. But he declined to elaborate when asked if he knew the members of the selection committee.

I don't trust Cardinal Rosales . And whenever he injects himself on any political issue, his statements causes skepticism in me instead of reassures.

And I certainly don't trust Arroyo.

- Previous:
- "Leftist Killings a mere speck"
- "We have bigger fish to fry than Arroyo"

C'mon Bedol, take one for the team!

At least you're not going to jail for rigging the Maguindanao elections 12-0 for "Team Unity."

Ya only have to do 6 months jail time and pay a measly P1,000 fine for so called "indirect contempt" charges. That's a very very small price to pay for giving the Administration and Sen. Dayanara Zubiri their "victories". And you get to keep your job at the COMELEC once you're free again.

So kaya mo yan.

Teresita de Castro will be the next Arroyo SC justice appointee

She's on the shortlist. But to me it looks like she's a 99.999% lock for the SC post after "The Pardon."

I thought at the beginning that there's no chance in hell she would be seriously considered by Malacanang dahil gustong labanan ni Erapsky ang desisyon ng Sandiganbayan. But Erap finally blinked and accepted the pardon (and tacitly bowed to the decision of the kangaroo court Sandiganbayan).

UPDATE: Nasa huli na ang pagsisisi. Erap slams rewarded Sandigan justice’s rise to SC.

UN Expert: Converting food crops to biofuels "a crime against humanity"

From the AP:

UNITED NATIONS — A U.N. expert on Friday called the growing practice of converting food crops into biofuel "a crime against humanity," saying it is creating food shortages and price jumps that cause millions of poor people to go hungry.

Jean Ziegler, who has been the United Nations' independent expert on the right to food since the position was established in 2000, called for a five-year moratorium on biofuel production to halt what he called a growing "catastrophe" for the poor.

Scientific research is progressing very quickly, he said, "and in five years it will be possible to make biofuel and biodiesel from agricultural waste" rather than wheat, corn, sugar cane and other food crops.

Reaction on this from Dean Jorge Bocobo.

Complete Philippine NBA schedule 2007-2008

UPDATE: NBA Schedule 2008-2009 (Philippines)

International Day of Protest

on GMA's pardon of Erap. Sa Nov. 9, 2007 gaganapin.

Go to Black and White Movement for the details