Arroyo's Police conducts illegal raid, seize election fraud evidence from opposition

No wonder puro delay ang ginagawa ng mga kakampi ni Arroyo sa Congress. They want enough time kasi to buy off or silence the witnesses and conduct illegal raids to seize and steal all the election fraud-related evidence na hawak ng opposition.

TO KILL ELECTION FRAUD EVIDENCE VS GLORIA
CIDG, Isafp in illegal raid, seize proof of GMA poll rig

Thursday, 08 18, 2005

Barely three days after President Arroyo exhorted the Armed Forces of the Philippines not to engage in partisan politics and to stay loyal to the Constitution, her police and military agents from the Philippine National Police (PNP)-National Capital Region Criminal Investigation and Detection Group NCR-CIDG and the Intelligence Service of the AFP (Isafp) yesterday engaged in partisan politics as they staged an illegal raid of a house in San Mateo, Rizal, carting off 40 boxes of original and photocopied election returns used in the 2004 national elections from a house where former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) handwriting expert and chief document examiner Segundo Tabayoyong lives.

The illegal raid was conducted by the CIDG-Isafp team at 2:18 a.m. on Wednesday while claiming to have found in Tabayoyong's room the 40 boxes of original and photocopied election returns, a .38 caliber pistol, a 9 mm pistol and ammunition for a Thompson submachine gun.

In a personal interview with the Tribune yesterday, Tabayoyong said the election documents, which he stressed were original Commission on Elections materials that belong to the political opposition, were used by him for his studies on the poll fraud, but denied vehemently that he had kept firearms and ammunition in the house in San Mateo, which served as his “safehouse,” for him to conduct his studies on the poll fraud. Also carted away by the CIDG-Isafp raiding team were documents related to the Jose Pidal signatures.

The President, as well as her aides, have shown desperation in getting hold of both witnesses and documents that can pin her on charges of election fraud.

“Those documents are not illegal and should not have been seized. These were handed to me for safekeeing and my studies on the poll fraud operations,” Tabayoyong said, adding the firearms the raiding team claimed to have seized were “planted,” hinting that, having been with the NBI for years as chief document examiner, he knew the ways of the police and Isafp in planting evidence and framing people up.

The poll documents, Minority Floor Leader Rep. Francis Escudero also yesterday admitted, were part of the evidence the minority would have used for the impeachment case.

Escudero blasted the administration and its raiding team for the illegal raid, and demanded that the Congress insist on having the CIDG and the Isafp explain why a raid was necessary and why election documents owned by the opposition would now be considered evidence of destabilization.

Tabayoyong, during the interview, said he feared that the raiding team that confiscated the documents would, by now, have “substituted” these with bogus documents, and was disconsolate over the fact that his year-long studies made, which were seized as well, would be gone.

The raiding team had no search warrant and no one in the neighborhood witnessed the raid, or what were carted away.

The PNP claim was that the raid of Tabayoyong's home in Our Lady of Peace Village, San Mateo, Rizal, yielded papers bearing signatures of Jose Pidal and compact disks with photographs of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. and ousted President Joseph Estrada.

CIDG Senior Insp.Oscar Ragmac said the police received a tip on the election returns before conducting the raid, but failed to explain why seizing the ERs was deemed justifiable for conducting an illegal raid and why the team produced no search warrant.

Tabayoyong earlier refuted a PNP Crime Laboratory report that said the Jose Pidal signature and the signature of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo were different.

Escudero said the explanation from the CIDG is in accordance with House rules that provide for the protection of a potential witness.

He added the ERs seized from Tabayoyong's residence came from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) - where the alleged poll fraud took place during the 2004 elections.

Malacanang, for its part, refused to denounce the illegal raid, with Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita intimating that the raid was justified.

During an interview, Ermita said Malacanang is giving PNP chief Arturo Lomibao time to defend the raid, on allegations of the opposition that it was conducted to subvert pieces of evidence that the opposition has that would pin the President in the impeachment case.

“We don't have the details on that raid but I have spoken with the PNP and the police have uncovered paraphernalia and materials to the effect of their raid. So let's just see their presentation of the contents,” Lomibao said.

“It's always their (opposition) doing -- to always throw the blame on us and make the connection that this raid is related to the impeachment (case) just because there's an impeachment hearing in Congress. That's not fair, “ he added, while appealing to the public not to take as “gospel truth” whatever the opposition feeds them.

But the President's seizure of the election returns is seen to backfire, as opposition members immediately demanded proper accounting of the items seized even as they accused the government of resorting not only to harassment and kidnapping of hostile witnesses but also of tampering with and illegal confiscation of damning evidence on the crimes of incumbent leaders.

The confiscated ERs are part of alleged evidence to show proof over a supposed plan by the administration to pad some six million votes in favor of Mrs. Arroyo's to ensure her poll victory.

Opposition senators cited loopholes over the authorities' claims on the incident while they noted its implications on the ongoing impeachment proceedings against the President.

If the actual intent of the raid, contrary to what the raiding team had claimed, is to defeat charges against Mrs. Arroyo to warrant in court, Malacanang is in for a surprise as there remain voluminous pieces of evidence that could ascertain allegations that electoral fraud took place during last year's presidential polls.

“If they thought they have wiped out (the evidence), that they have already seized all the evidence, they're wrong. There are still a number of these. They cannot get possession of all of those in the hands of Tabayoyong because there are plenty of ERs (election returns) more in the possession of other people,” Lacson told reporters during a press conference while stressing that the Arroyo government is that desperate to resort to illegal activities in getting evidence held by the opposition.

The senator said he had to stress so as reports on the raid are being attributed to the ranks of the opposition that even a colleague, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, cried foul over the insinuation.

“I don't know what they (government) are up to. I don't know what they want to come out of this (incident),” Lacson added.

Estrada viewed the incident as yet another example of the dirty tactics being employed by the PNP to plant evidence that would implicate the opposition leaders to electoral fraud.

He echoed Lacson's statements, saying the Arroyo administration is really getting desperate and has resorted to planting evidence to frame up opposition leaders.

“It is very clear that the PNP is engaging in partisan politics and it is being used by the attack dogs of Mrs. Arroyo to discredit the opposition.

“I think there is a blatant attempt by the PNP together with this administration to link Sen. Lacson, Rep. Escudero and former Rep. Didagen Dilangalen and myself in an alleged destabilization plot against the government.

“They want to make it appear that there is a supposed conspiracy of sorts by opposition leaders to destabilize this government. We are not part of any destabilization attempts and we are not part of any plan to topple this government... this government is destabilizing itself, we need not destabilize it,” Estrada told reporters.

Both he and Lacson also pointed out the fact that the raiding team had no search warrant.

“From this alone, it's already obvious that there is something fishy in this incident. It's clear that what they did was illegal,” Estrada said.

He maintained that he has no link or involvement whatsoever with Tabayoyong, saying he does not personally know the person.

Neither he is aware, Estrada said, of the issues surrounding the confiscated ERs.

“If ever there is a search warrant, what is the offense?” asked Lacson.

“If what they are trying to say is the ERs came from the opposition for supposed poll fraud scheme, this is not feasible because what will come out of this is that the prefabricated ERs would show a massive edge in number of votes of Mrs. Arroyo. If they claim that this is evidence to plant or produce or fabricate evidence against Mrs. Arroyo, it's still not correct, he said.

Authorities should render inventory of the seized items, Lacson added.

He urged colleagues to keep close watch of the accounting of the evidence.

Lacson said it is better that the documents are “officially confiscated by the Isafp and CIDG.”

Chiding the administration, he pointed out that the raiding team would not only be held accountable in having these documents presented but also be held responsible if there would be any attempt to dispose of these materials, which he claimed can be used as evidence in cheating.

“I keep wondering why the Isapf is involved in that raid... Gestapo-style (raid), sans any search warrant... The Isafp is supposed to be concerned over national security matters. The CIDG is part of the PNP, so why are they in the picture?

“I don't see any national security matter involved in whatever offense that they are contemplating against Tabayoyong. Keeping old ERs that are official documents during the last elections is not a criminal offense. So all these will surely backfire on them,” Lacson warned.

Tarantado talaga itong adminstration na ito. They're getting desperate.

But this is just a temporary loss.

Babagsak rin kayo.

More here, here, and here.

Previous:

- How Gangsters Operate

Napanice has lots of posts today

UPDATED: Please scroll down

- On Gloria Macapagal Arroyo using Gov't Philhealth cards (now expired) to buy off voters.

- Singapore gov't confirming Garci flights to Singapore, UK

- IS GARCILLANO TRAVELLING ON DIPLOMATIC STATUS?

It's a wonder why, with all the security measures in place worldwide to prevent terrorism, a fugitive like Virgilio Garcillano can move from one country to another without being traced or documented.

Unless of course, he is exempt from the normal screening process which means he is in possession of a diplomatic visa or something. And who would issue him such a special document in order to skip the photo and fingerprint?

Of course, it is the DFA who confer diplomatic status to anyone, as ordered by the higher authorities. Do we have any documentation to that effect?

- Another witness confirms tampering of Election Returns

DAGDAG:

- DFA Sec Alberto Romulo refuses to invalidate Garci's passport

- More here on OWWA money being diverted to fund PHILHEALTH card distribution to potential voters during the election campaign.

Pattern of coverup continues

From the Tribune editorial:

Gloria Arroyo and her congressional lapdogs had better think more than twice in junking the amended impeachment complaint, largely perceived by the public as the strongest case brought against the Malacañang incumbent.

They got away with their railroading ways in denying the Filipino people's search for truth though legitimate means twice and a third time may just be the last straw for a people ready to take the extra-constitutional route in getting rid of a clearly unwanted and unwelcome President and her government.

The first time Gloria and her allies forcibly suppressed the electoral truth was during the congressional canvassing, where, through the tyranny of numbers, both her Senate and House allies rejected any and all calls from the minority to return to the source election documents, in questioning the authenticity of specific certificates of canvass.

Instead, they, led by now Justice Secretary Gonzalez for the House and Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan, deliberately suppressed the electoral truth by merely noting the objections, earning for themselves the tag of Messrs. Noted.

The second time Gloria and her allies, now aided by the Davide Court, killed the truth was when the high court, acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), dismissed the electoral protest of the late Fernando Poe Jr. even as his widow appealed to the PET to continue with the protest, not for her to benefit by it, but for the greater objective of arriving at the electoral truth, for the people's benefit.

The Davide Court then ruled that the protest had to be dismissed, as Susan Roces was not the party in interest, a turnaround of the ruling by the same high court on the Davide impeachment complaint, where the SC trashed the complaint lodged by a congressman, who was certainly not the party in interest, since that party was specifically Hilario Davide Jr., Chief Justice.

In between these two strikes at suppressing the truth, there were other blatant instances where Gloria and her aides tried to kill the truth, such as the time when the presidential mouthpiece presented to the media two versions of the Hello Garci tapes, with Malacañang clearly covering up the crime of Gloria in poll-rigging through the vote padding, vote shaving scheme through a clearly doctored version which the Palace claimed to be the “original.”

The Bunye tape is definitely hard evidence to substantiate charges of official cover-up and obstruction of justice.

Not content with having committed such crimes, Malacañang again, this time through Environment Secretary Michael Defensor, presented yet another tape where, misusing the analysis content of a US forensic audio expert, claimed that the Hello Garci tapes were doctored, and by the opposition.

What Defensor does not disclose is the fact that there was the deliberate intent on the part of Gloria and her aides to send another Malacañang-doctored Hello Garci tape version to Barry Dickey, precisely to get him to state that the two tracks that had been doctored by Malacañang were anomalous.

Already, the local sound experts whom Defensor presented as his local experts, have debunked claims made by the Environment chief and his paid witness, Jonathan Tiongco, known more for his expertise in fabricating evidence.

Now comes the looming Strike Three, with the justice committee ready to trash the amended impeachment complaint submitted by the minority in the House, with the allies of Gloria ready to serve her, and their selfish personal interests, with no thought given to the public's cry for truth.

The dangerous and explosive mix for street justice is present.

Resignation calls on Gloria Arroyo have been muted with the steps taken by the minority to take the legal and constitutional route of impeachment.

Gloria and her allies should be reminded that impeachment is the last legal and constitutional route to remove an unwanted President who is moreover regarded by at least 80 percent of the Filipinos as an illegitimate President, having stolen the presidency twice.

Deny the Filipino people that last route by railroading the dismissal of the amended complaint and expect them to take to the streets. And at the losing end will be Gloria, her aides and her congressional allies because they will have been swallowed up by a revolt that is waiting to happen.

GMA isang "environmental problem"?

It certainly looks like it, based on all the attention DENR Secretary Defensor is giving to Arroyo these days.

Maituturing bang isang environmental problem si Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at kinakailangang itong bigyan ng buong atensyon ni Environment Secretary Mike Defensor?

Ito ang naging katanungan kahapon ni opposition Senator Jamby Madrigal sa isang pulong balitaan sa Dencio’s sa Greenhills, San Juan kahapon kung saan ito ang naging panauhing pagdangal.

Sinabi ni Madrigal na kung si GMA ay kasama sa description ng isang "environment" ay tama lamang ang ginagawa ni Defensor at mabuti at magaling.

Ngunit sinabi ni Madrigal na ang problema sa illegal logging ay patuloy pa rin na lumalakas at lumalabas na hindi na naasikaso dahil na rin sa pag-aasikaso ni Defensor sa pagtatanggol sa amo niya kaysa sa environment.

"He is defending the president more than the environment," pahayag nito.

Mukhang may sayad talaga ito, wawa naman...

Somebody from Mandaluyong Mental Hospital needs to check if there's a missing patient named Jonathan Tiongco.

THE "audio expert" who Environment Secretary Michael Defensor said had found that the "Hello Garci" tapes were spliced yesterday filed charges of conspiracy to commit sedition, insurrection and obstruction of justice against two senators, two congressmen, a former Cabinet secretary and two jueteng witnesses before the justice department.

The DOJ did not accept the complaint, saying it would refer Jonathan Tiongco’s complaint to the Manila Prosecutor’s Office.

In his five-page affidavit, Tiongco accused Senators Panfilo Lacson and Jinggoy Estrada, House minority leader Francis Escudero, Rep. Jesus Crispin Remulla, former Agrarian Reform Secretary Horacio "Boy" Morales, and jueteng witnesses Sandra Cam and Boy Mayor of conspiring to bring down the Arroyo adminsitration.

"I would have just kept quiet pero sobra na sila. After aiding Secretary Defensor to expose anomalies found in the Garci tapes, Sen. Lacson ungratefully made several libelous statements against me, like besmirching my family’s reputation by calling me ‘may sayad’ or retarded, and that I am a witness for sale," he said.

Tiongco said he had to break his silence on the "multi-faceted operations intended to unlawfully oust the President before the end of this year" after his father, a lawyer, suffered a stroke when he read Lacson’s statements in the papers.

Tiongco said he used to support President Joseph Estrada and Lacson. He said his association with Estrada started during the 1998 presidential campaign.

In 2002, he said that on Remulla’s orders he would help Lacson in "covert" operations against the Arroyo government. He did not elaborate.

In January 2004, he said Remulla called him up for another operation to help in the campaign of Lacson and Fernando Poe Jr. He said Remulla even endorsed him to Morales, then chief strategist of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, who became his superior.

Before filing his complaint with the DOJ, Tiongco said in an interview that contrary to the claims of the St. Luke’s Hospital, Poe did not die of aneurism but was poisoned by some members of the opposition. -

Charter Change won't solve RP woes, says EU envoy

From the Tribune:

The European Union's (EU) envoy to Manila yesterday said changing the Philippines' current system of government alone would not solve the country's political woes.

Saying he was airing only his personal opinion, Jan de Kok, head of the delegation of the European Commission (EC), the EU's executive body, said drastic political reforms and Charter change (Cha-cha) would not guarantee positive results for the country.

“Whatever system of government you're going to choose, the change of the political system in itself does not necessarily mean that the country will be doing better or worse. There are other things that need to go together. The change in the political system and a new Constitution are not enough,” De Kok told a press conference after the signing of a $43-million funding scheme by the EU for Philippine small-scale industries and good governance in Makati City.

He noted that changing the attitudes of those in politics and the strengthening of the local political party system are important factors that must be considered by the government.

That's Mr. Jan de Kok, just stating the obvious.

In other news, the "great debate on Charter Change" continues in the House, pero hindi kasali ang Senate. LMAO!

SENATE President Franklin Drilon yesterday said the Senate would "do just nothing" on proposals to amend the Constitution which he described as both a charade and a waste of time.

Drilon was reacting to the statement of Cagayan de Oro Rep. Constantino Jaraulla, chair of the House committee on constitutional amendments, that the House members would exclude senators in the "great Cha-cha debate."

Drilon said Jaraula’s move was "unconstitutional."

"The congressmen pushing this absurd idea will have to answer to the people should they insist on pursuing a course of action that is patently unconstitutional," Drilon said.

Drilon remained confident that "sensible members" in the House could still talk sense to Jaraula and convince him not to pursue his planned Cha-cha sans the senators’ participation.

Problema sa EVAT

From Lito Banayo:

Malaki ang suliranin ni Donya Gloria at administrasyon nito. Sa di kalaunan ay magdedesisyon na ang Korte Suprema ukol sa expanded value added tax o EVAT. Matatandaang nagsampa ang oposisyon ng kaso rito ukol sa pagiging konstitusyonal ng ginawa ng mga alipores ni Donya Gloria sa Kongreso, kung saan pinasa sa kanya ang pagtataas ng VAT mula sa diyes hanggang dose porsiyento sa darating na Enero ng susunod na taon.

Ngunit kaakibat ng bagong buwis ay ang pagsali ng mga produktong petrolyo, pati na ang kuryente, sa diyes porsiyentong VAT. Dati-rati ay hindi ito isinali. Masayang-masaya si Donya sa pagkakapasa ng dagdag na buwis na ito. Matatandaang tutol na tutol ang pitak na ito sa pagpapataas ng VAT. Noon pa man ay nakita na natin ang epekto nito sa kabuhayan ng nakararaming naghihirap.

Samantala, sumipa ng todo-todo ang halaga ng langis sa pandaigdigang pamilihan. Habang sinusulat natin ito, 67 dolyares na kada bariles. Ang kasalukuyang presyo ng ating krudo at gasolina ay base pa sa 58 dolyares. Sa totoo lang, hindi presyong Amerika ang ating krudo, kundi base sa Dubai, kaya’t mas mababa, ngunit ang pagtaas nito ay alinsabay sa pagtaas ng presyo ng Amerika at Inglatera pa rin.

Kapag pinairal na ang EVAT, at inaasahang magbababa na ang Korte Suprema ng desisyon ano mang araw nitong Agosto, mabubuwisan na ang petrolyo at kuryente ng diyes porsiyento, at tinatayang ang presyo ng gasolina ay papalo ng 40 pesos bawat litro. Ito’y dahil hindi naman dedesisyunan ng Korte ang ukol sa diyes porsiyento, kundi ang sa 12% na sa Enero pa sisipa.

Samantala, kung hindi naman ipatutupad ang EVAT gaya ng mungkahi nitong si Rep. Joey Salceda ng Albay na tutang-tuta ni Donya Gloria samantalang pinupursige noong nakaraang ilang buwan itong mismong EVAT na ito, magagalit naman ang mga pinagkakautangan natin. Ito’y dahil sa ang problema nga ng bansang ito ay sobra ang utang, sobra ang gastos at maliit naman ang kinikitang buwis ng pamahalaan. Kapag hindi natin pinairal ang karagdagang buwis na kapapasa lamang ng Kongreso sa pag-udyok pa mandin ni Donya Gloria, ibig sabihin, talagang walang kapararaka at pagkaseryoso ang tinaguriang mga reporma sa pananalapi at ekonomiya. Walang magpapautang sa atin, at meron man ay saksakan ng taas ang interes.

Parang naiipit sa nag-uumpugang bato itong si Donya Gloria. Takot na takot sa galit ng sambayanan dahil nga bukod sa pandaraya sa halalan, sa pagnakaw ng panguluhan, wika nga ni Aling Susan Roces Poe, ay pahirap pang sobra-sobra ang ginagawa sa sambayanan. Pag-iral kasi ng VAT, sipa ang presyo ng lahat ng pangunahing bilihin. Itigil mo naman ang VAT, walang magpapautang at walang itutustos ang pamahalaan sa paninilbihan sa edukasyon, kalusugan atbp. At sisipa ring pataas ang interes sa pagkakautang na lolobo ng lolobo.

Iyan ang suliranin ng isang lideratong takot sa sambayanan. Takot dahil nandaya. Takot dahil panay ang pagsisinungaling. Takot dahil sa walang humpay na kurakot na ngayon ay nabibisto na ng sambayanan. Hindi kayang magpairal ng mahihirap na reporma dahil sa lubhang takot sa poot ng sambayanang kay tagal nagtitiis, wala namang pag-asang umahon sa hirap at pighati.

Delaying Tactics sa impeachment hearings

The unnecessary delays na pinakulo ng mga kakampi ni Arroyo sa impeachment hearings is not helping the country at all. And it's not helping our economy either.

The only person that will benefit from stretching out the impeachment hearings is Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (to buy more time.)

Gago talaga yung mga kakampi ni Arroyo sa Congress.

Interesting Question from a PCIJ commenter

From Duck Vader. Ito siya:

Tanong lang, kung may wiling sumagot. In your opinon, kailan at paano papatayin ng allies ni GMA yung impeachment sa House? Hindi ko kasi alam kung gusto nilang mag-drag on ito hanggang magsawa tao, or papatayin nila kaagad bago pumunta si GMA sa US sa September (tuloy pa yun di ba?)

I think they'll drag this thing and stretch out the proceedings up to December, bago nila ito papatayin.

Simeon Datumanong

Magkakaroon ba ng Hustisya sa GLORIAGATE scandal at magiging fair ba ang proseso kung yung dating DPWH at DOJ Secretary ni Arroyo ang nagpapatakbo ng impeachment proceedings?

Eh ang alam lang nito ay puro delaying tactics eh.

From the Malaya:

REP. Simeon Datumanong, chairman of the House justice committee, refused to yield yesterday after being besieged with calls that he inhibit himself from presiding over the impeachment proceedings on the grounds of his alleged bias for President Arroyo.

Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez was the first to ask Datumanong to recuse himself from the hearings because he had allegedly "prejudged" the complaint when he told ANC cable channel in a taped interview aired last Thursday that all the impeachment complaints filed against the President should be treated separately in the light of the one-year ban.

Datumanong denied saying what Golez claimed he said. He also asked Golez to produce the tape of the interview.

Golez said he has a taped copy and transcript of the interview.

Datumanong left the decision on whether he should inhibit himself to the committee members, saying that he has been "very careful" in dealing with the three impeachment complaints.

"The chair would like to state that first, he’s not inhibiting himself, and second, that this is a political position which has been directed (to him) by the House in the plenary," he said.

Golez cited his own decision to relinquish the chairmanship of the committee on national defense, one of the five panels investigating the "Hello Garci" recordings, after the majority called attention to his bias against the President.

Rep. Clavel Martinez (Lakas, Cebu) reminded Datumanong that then House justice committee chair Pacifico Fajardo of Nueva Ecija inhibited himself from presiding over the deliberations on the impeachment case against President Estrada because he (Fajardo) was a relative of then Vice President Gloria Arroyo who stood to benefit if Estrada was ousted.

Rep. Antonio Serapio (NPC, Valenzuela) said since the rules of court are "supplementary" to the proceedings, Datumanong’s position is like that of a judge "so it won’t look good when he’s biased."

Here's Datumanong's photo.

UPDATE: I remember when Didagen Dilangalen was criticized, heckled and ridiculed for employing the same delaying tactics to defend Erap.

Pero bakit ngayon tahimik na ang mga bumatikos kay Dilangalen when a pro-Arroyo ally is using similar tactics to protect GMA?

Angara at Enrile out na sa opposition

From Abante-tonite:

Tuluyang isinara ng opposition bloc sa Mataas na Kapulungan ng Kongreso ang pintuan para sa dalawang kasamahan, patunay ang pagkaka-itsapuwera sa iba’t ibang pagpupulong at aktibidades ng grupo.

Bagama’t kapwa inaangkin nina Senador Juan Ponce Enrile at Edgardo Angara ang pagiging oposisyon, hindi itinuturing ng grupo ni Senate minority floor leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. na kasama sa kanilang hanay ang mga ito.

Ayon kay Pimentel, matagal nang nilisan ni Enrile ang minority bloc matapos ang mainitang salpukan sa botohan ng expanded value added tax (eVAT) kung saan isinuko ng dating kasamahan ang bersyon ng oposisyon.

Hindi naman aniya magawang sumilip sa pintuan o kaya’y makilahok ni Angara sa minority caucus dahil walang imbitasyon na ibinibigay ang kanyang opisina lalo pa’t meron itong ‘kaaway’ sa loob ng organisasyon na iniiwasang makaharap at makatabi ng upuan, partikular si Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

Long overdue na yan.

Ang taas na nga ng Gasolina, dadagdagan pa ng E-VAT

Ogags talaga ang administration na ito.

Sino pa ba ang makaka-afford na bumili ng mga bagay-bagay kung itataas pa ang buwis natin?

May kikitain pa ba ang mga small businessmen if they price their products to high because of additional taxes?

Neal Cruz:

The expanded VAT will raise the prices of everything to levels beyond the reach of the poor. Then watch the angry masses get together to kick Ms Arroyo out of Malacañang. We are seeing the start of this gathering storm in the many -- though still relatively small -- protest rallies in urban areas. We are seeing and hearing this in the angry faces and voices of the poor. But who wouldn't be angry if his or her family is hungry? In fact, even middle-class families will find themselves unable to make both ends meet, and they, who have kept away from the rallies so far, will eventually join in the storming of the presidential palace.

You don't raise taxes in the midst of poverty, when the price of oil is skyrocketing. A leader would be pretty stupid to do that. A leader who does that deserves to be kicked out on her butt. The price of fuel has a chain effect on the prices of everything else that is transported and requires the use of electricity.

A sensible leader will, in fact, ease taxes during such times to provide the people relief. Leave the people with more spending money and they will boost the economy as they buy more of the goods produced by factories that will, in turn, produce more and pay more taxes. Take more money out of them in the form of taxes and the economy contracts; factories will close shop and lay off workers, and people will suffer and get very angry.

Hindi lang mahihirap ang matatamaan dito. Pati ang mga small at medium-sized businesses, baka magsara na dahil sa additional taxes ng Arroyo admin.

Cruz adds:

How will the government get funds to support itself? Do the same thing that prudent families do when their income drops. Cut on spending and do away with the non-essentials. Plant "camote" [sweet potato]. Try to earn extra income somehow without violating the law.

If the government abolishes the wasteful and corrupt pork barrel system, it will save tens of billions of pesos. If it cuts all government allowances by just 20 percent across the board, it will save billions of pesos more. If it collects the fines from drivers and pedestrians who violate traffic rules, it will be able to collect additional billions of pesos. What's more, it will restore sanity in the streets and save billions of pesos in oil bills being burned by all those vehicles creeping along in the traffic and polluting the air. If it plugs all the holes in the tax collection system and jail the tax collectors pocketing collections, it will earn more and save more. There will be no need for the expanded VAT.

The expanded VAT is the lazy man's solution to the problem of lack of funds. Instead of collecting the tax himself, the government forces others to collect it-like it does in collecting the withholding tax and the excise taxes on liquor and tobacco.

I agree. The problem with Arroyo's so called "reform" is that it only involves increasing our taxes, pero walang spending cuts... ayaw bawasan ang pork barrel ng Malacanang at mga Tongressmen at Senatongs.

Tapos napaka-corrupt pa ng gobyerno na ito. Aside from diverting some of our government money to pidal accounts, she also used our tax money last year to help her cheat in the 2004 elections.

And now she is doing it again to buy off jueteng witnesses, congressmen's support in her impeachment case, and fund those so-called "pro arroyo" rallies.

Garci's "3 Million vote" dagdag

From Malaya:

A TWO-PAGE document submitted to the Senate by former Palace worker Michaelangelo Zuce detailed a "special operation plan" for the "acquisition" of three million votes in Mindanao for President Arroyo, Sen. Sergio Osmeña III said yesterday.

The handwritten document was of lawyer Francisco Pobe, a Comelec provincial election supervisor who has served in Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur and Misamis Occidental.

Osmeña described Pobe as an operator of former Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano who is accused with President Arroyo of rigging the May 2004 elections.

The document was presented during a Senate hearing last week by Zuce who said Comelec officials were bribed to ensure Arroyo’s victory in the May 2004 elections.

"I think this is one of the most damaging pieces of evidence presented by Zuce," Osmeña said. "But "I would like handwriting specimens of Attorney Pobe to determine first if it is his handwriting."

Osmeña on Monday said another document submitted by Zuce, which was prepared by Garcillano, listed the names of Comelec officials in Mindanao and the corresponding amounts given them.

Read the whole thing.

And PCIJ has lots of interesting stuff on the the impeachment proceedings yesterday.

De Quiros has his own modest proposal to solve GLORIAGATE

Check it out. Here's part 1.

UPDATE: Here's part 2

Key point, he is for snap elections:

My own proposal is a snap election for president. Only the presidency is vacant, the only position that needs to be filled up.

I have no illusions it will solve anything at the level at which the more serious alternative-seekers want to solve them, call it structural, fundamental, systemic. But I do think it is the one thing that advances those things, by giving them a crack at the bat, or a chance to be heard at all.

It is the one thing various groups can agree on that will evict the squatter from Malacañang posthaste. None of the scenarios being advanced by various groups can work with Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in power. She is the single biggest obstacle to them. At the very least, that is so because she works at cross-purposes with them. The entire thrust of the alternatives is to make the country's institutions more democratic; the entire thrust of Ms Arroyo's rule, particularly given its survival mode, is to make those institutions more dictatorial.

Read the whole article.

I have my own proposal too. ;)

Garcillano's Payola List

On the front page of today's Malaya. The list names who were bribed and how much.

Estrada, Sin reconciled before death of Cardinal

From the Daily Tribune:

Detained President Joseph Estrada and his erstwhile nemesis the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin had reconciled with each other two weeks before the cardinal's death in June 2005.

This revelation was made in open court by Estrada's surprise witness, Father James Reuter, a Jesuit priest and director of the office of Mass Media for the Catholic Church of the Philippines before the Sandiganbayan Special Division yesterday.

Reuter, the 67th witness for the defense said during yesterday hearing of the plunder case that Sin had accepted Estrada's conciliatory gesture through a letter when the detained leader asked to visit the ailing archbishop after learning about Sin's failing health.

...

Reuter told the court it was Estrada, whom he referred to as Erap during his testimony, who personally requested him to initiate reconciliation moves with the ailing cardinal, stressing it was the desire of Estrada to personally visit with the ailing prelate.

Reuter, however, added this meeting failed to push through.

At that time, Sin was already seriously ill but still managed to express his concern for Estrada's health and security.

Through Reuter, the two managed to exchange letters. Cardinal Sin's last letter to Estrada expressed his whole-hearted acceptance of the reconciliation offer and blessed the detained leader.

“Cardinal Sin replied to Erap (Estrada) in a very beautiful letter,” Reuter testified. “He said he had forgotten any mistake Erap may have made “ and pointed out that, as Estrada would be accompanied by security escorts that might attract the attention of reporters. He said the media were bound to misinterpret the visit,” Reuter told the justices of the Special Division.

It will be recalled that Estrada and his camp had openly accused the late cardinal of conspiring with the elite and members of the so-called civil society to oust him from power in 2001.

Reuter made four visits to the President's detention place in Tanay, Rizal.

“I thought it was a very good gesture on the part of Erap to seek reconciliation with Cardinal Sin,” Reuter said.

Wow.

One of the reasons why the CBCP loves Gloria

They have the same conservative beliefs when it comes to family planning. From Malaya:

ONE-THIRD of married Filipina women are using modern contraceptives but one out of every other woman shuns family planning, the 2004 family planning survey of the National Statistics Office showed.

The findings are nearly the same as those of the 2003 survey but the trend is toward sourcing of contraceptives from commercial providers, away from government outlets which provide them for free.

The NSO provided no explanation, but the shift apparently was a result of the Arroyo government’s decision to de-emphasis family planning in deference to the Church.

The survey said one out of 10 prefers traditional methods such as calendar, rhythm and periodic abstinence.

Virgilio Garcillano - A Technocrat of Fraud

From Sheila Coronel of PCIJ

Although he became a commissioner only three months before the polls, he was soon taking on a lot of tasks, including vetting appointments, even of utility personnel, say Comelec insiders. Before long, he had a say in who was going to be named to man election posts in sensitive areas. It eventually came to the point that all memos issued by Abalos passed through Garcillano. By election time, he was acting as the Comelec's de facto chair, says an elections official. He was therefore in a position to orchestrate large-scale, institutional fraud.

Ya. Tapos nagkasakit pa si Commish Ben Abalos at na-ospital during the election campaign season, IIRC. *shakes head*

Magaling pala itong si Garcillano. Siguro kung tatakbo ako sa election at kailangan kong mandaya, sa kanya ako lalapit. LMAO!

This is interesting too:

Still, while Garcillano is almost surely the one on the tape, he was probably not the overall fraud strategist. That role probably belonged to other aides of the president. His specialty was postelection fraud in Mindanao. As reported elsewhere and as alleged by the opposition, the rigging of the 2004 vote took place in many parts of the country, and was particularly intense in Cebu, Iloilo, and Bohol. Mindanao may have been typecast as the arena for fraud, but the reality is that candidates cheat where they are strongest and where the manipulation would be less obvious.

Sino kaya yung mga aides ni Arroyo at iba pang mga tao na sangkot rin dito? Gabby Claudio? Mike Defensor? Ermita? Her husband Jose Pidal?

Filing of impeach rap does not bar other complaints

Read this, para hindi kayo magago ng mga kakampi ni Arroyo sa Kongreso.

DOES the filing of a complaint for impeachment bar the House from receiving other impeachment complaints? A cursory reading of the Constitution would seem to so indicate. But a more careful reading would yield a different conclusion.

The Constitution provides in Section 3 (5): No impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year.

Who may initiate the proceedings? Only the House of Representatives, as is provided as follows: Section 3. (1) The House of Representatives shall have the exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment.

Now it says, the House of Representatives shall have the exclusive power to initiate. This presumes an act of the House of Representatives as a collegial body. When is that act performed? That act is performed when the Articles of Impeachment are filed before the Senate, because that is the only time that the House acts as one body. A complaint filed by a citizen or even a member is not one initiated by the House.

Note that the prohibition is on the House, when it files the Articles of Impeachment with the Senate sitting as the impeachment tribunal. There is no prohibition on citizens who plead before the House to file complaints against a president.

Note further, that the prohibition is on "proceedings" – that there be no more than one within a year.

"Proceeding" ‘is a word much used to express the business done in courts.’ [1] "It is any procedural means for seeking redress from a tribunal or agency." [2] A mere investigation is not a proceeding, for a prosecutor cannot grant redress. In fact, the prosecutor himself will seek redress in court, for and in behalf of the state. The same maybe said of the House, sitting as an investigatory body. It cannot grant redress (the removal of a president) - that is granted by the Senate.

The distinction between an investigation and a proceeding before a tribunal is material for this discussion, because impeachments partake of both an investigation and adjudication. The first step is the investigatory part conducted by the House, to determine whether a complaint is "sufficient in form and substance." The second step is the adjudicatory part, where proceedings are conducted by the Senate, to determine whether or not to remove the president.

The assertion that "proceedings" are made before a judge or tribunal is further supported by the language employed in the Rules of Criminal Procedure. The first time the term "proceedings" is used in the Rules of Criminal Procedure is in reference to a preliminary investigation conducted by a judge. [3] The next instance is in reference to bail, also applied for with a judge. Nowhere is the term "proceedings" used in association with a prosecutor.

Clearly, therefore, the impeachment "proceedings" that may be initiated only once a year, refer to the Articles of Impeachment filed before the Senate as the impeachment tribunal.

Seen in this light then, a Motion to Strike, Motion to Dismiss, or some similar motion may not be entertained by the House, when investigating impeachment complaints. Motions to Dismiss, as provided by the Rules of Court, are only filed in court, not before the investigating officer.

Again, using the analogy of a criminal action, when a complaint-affidavit is filed before a prosecutor, the proper action is to require the respondent to file a counter-affidavit. It is not unusual that several complaints are filed against a respondent.

In such a case, the respondent is required to file counter-affidavits in response to each complaint-affidavit. The better action, then, for the House, in regard to the several complaints filed against the president, is to require counter-affidavits in response to the complaints.

With regard to the amended complaint of the opposition, it is elementary, that an amended complaint retroacts to the date of the original complaint. The administration states that the amendment may be filed only with leave of court.

This would be correct, were the complaint already before the Senate. But the action is still in the investigation stage, so that interpretation does not apply. Neither is there a need to append the opposition complaint as an amendment to the Lozano complaint; it should be treated as a separate complaint-affidavit that must be responded to with a counter-affidavit.

Finally, a House committee is tasked to make a report to the entire House in assembly. The report may be adopted, modified, or even discarded; but it merely serves as an aid to floor debates. It cannot bind the House, for the servant cannot bind the taskmaster. So even if the complaints are dismissed by the committee, it cannot stop a member of the House from rising on personal and collective privilege to present a complaint for impeachment on the floor.

Let us hope that the House leaders read the Constitution and the Rules of Court carefully, so that the impeachment complaints may be given due process.

From ROLANDO GAMALINDA.

Defensorgate Roundup

- Malaya: Mike’s spliced tape tale starts to wobble

REBUFFED by his own sound experts, Environment Secretary Michael Defensor’s claims that the "Hello Garci" tapes were spliced started to wobble yesterday even as Malacañang said he is responsible for his own actions.

Defensor, who has been tapped by the Palace as spokesman on the "Hello Garci" controversy, said he never said that US forensics audio expert Barry Dickey had found that the wiretapped conversations between President Arroyo and former Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano tapes were spliced.

He said what Dickey said was that there were anomalies in the tape. He said he would call Dickey for "further explanation" on the findings. He expressed hope that someone would sponsor Dickey’s trip to the Philippines so that the expert could explain his findings himself to Filipinos.

Defensor told a press conference Friday the voice on tape was that of President Arroyo but that it was not Arroyo who was talking because the tape was digitally altered to make it sound like the President was engaged in electoral fraud. He said he submitted for analysis two tracks from the tapes.

He was quoted as saying in the conference: "Mr. Dickey says this (tape) should be thrown out into the garbage bin if this is going to be presented as evidence… And these (findings) will be submitted to Congress as formal evidence to junk the impeachment complaint."

Other reports quoted him as saying: "The tapes, as we have clearly shown, have been spliced and I dare the opposition to prove this otherwise."

Dickey clarified in an interview Saturday with the US correspondent of RMN-dzXL that he never said that the tapes were spliced. Dickey said it was Defensor’s local experts who said so.

Jim Sarthou, one of the local sound engineers present during Defensor’s press conference, claimed that he was set up because he was only told that he would participate in a forum on the tapes, and not be presented as someone who would corroborate Defensor’s claims.

Defensor said the tape analysis and press conference were his "own initiative." The press conference looked like a Palace offensive because it was aired live by government radio station Radyo ng Bayan (dzRB) and television station Nation Broadcasting Network (NBN 4) and government sequestered television channels RPN 9 and IBC 13.

Defensor said he was "challenged" by the bet that he had with the opposition, where he claimed that he and President Arroyo would resign if it is proven that Arroyo said "yung dagdag, yung dagdag" in the wiretapped conversations. He said Arroyo said "binalbag."

Opposition leaders vowed they would resign from their positions if Arroyo the tapes were found to have been tampered.

Defensor also said he would not use Jonathan Tiongco, a local disc jockey turned sound expert, as witness in the impeachment process. He said he would only use Dickey’s findings.

Tiongco, one of the panelists in Defensor’s press briefing, has a string of cases against him and was described by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile as "may sayad."

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita refused to comment on whether Defensor’s fresh attempt to defend Arroyo was good or bad for the President.

Ermita only said that "anything lifted from a wiretapped tape is inadmissible as evidence under RA 4200."

And Rep. Cayetano dared Defensor to not back out of his earlier "winner-take-all" challenge

Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano (NP, Taguig-Pateros), spokesman for the opposition’s impeachment team, reiterated his challenge for Defensor to make the President sign a Voluntary Truth Test (VTT) undertaking as proof that she would resign if it was her voice on the tape based on the finding of a voice authentication firm acceptable to both parties.

"The voluntary truth test is a fair, expeditious and the constitutional way of resolving this crisis. If tape is fake, not only will pro-impeachment congressmen resign but we will even serve the government for free under an Arroyo administration," Cayetano said.

More:

Former Sen. Francisco Tatad, the source of the three-hour tape submitted by lawyer Alan Paguia to the House, said the tape was previously authenticated by American and Australian experts, and by Arroyo herself on June 27 when she admitted and apologized for her participation in the conversations that had been tape-recorded.

Tama si Kit Tatad. The tapes have been authenticated twice already -- in the US by Tatad and in Australia by Lacson.
- Conrad de Quiros thanks Mike Defensor for reminding the people re the "Hello Garci" tapes again.

- I agree with Nap re Defensor and say bullshit to Malacanang's claim that they have nothing to do with "splice boy's" stunt.

Dapat mag-resign na Defensor sa DENR if he doesn't have time for it and focus on his "real job" instead, that of defending Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

- If you haven't read it yet, here's a must read article from PCIJ entitled “Anomalies” in Dickey’s analysis explained

FROM the looks of it, the two tracks that environment secretary Michael Defensor submitted to American audio forensic expert Barry Dickey for analysis may not have come from the Paguia tape as he claims.

READ. THE. WHOLE. THING.

- And Ellen Tordesillas makes a good point.

In that press conference, Defensor also demonstrated how a conversation can be digitally altered by making the public hear Arroyo saying "Will FPJ lead by one million?". In the Hello Garci tape, she was heard asking Garcillano, "So, will I still lead by more than one M, overall?"

I will not put it past Arroyo to record that "Will FPJ lead by one million?" just to make it appear that her conversations can be tampered with. It’s obvious that Malacañang was behind Defensor’s Dickey/Tiongco presentation, which was a continuation of the Chavit Singson and RJ Jacinto’s X-tapes. The purpose is to convince the public that that the Hello Garci tapes was digitally produced.

Maybe one can do that for a short conversation, but the whole three hours, involving more than 70 persons? How about the incidents at the places and on the dates mentioned that matched with the conversations? The Rashma Hali kidnapping. The Panguntaran mess up of election results by Gen. Gabriel Habacon. The case of Sultan Kudarat gubernational candidate Angel Montilla which was the subject of the call of former Isabela Gov. Faustino Dy, Jr. No one, especially the opposition who cannot even put their act together, could have done that.

The problem of Malacañang is that truth is not on their side. That’s why all their attempts to pre-empt and to discredit the Hello Garci tapes have boomeranged.

- Neal Cruz piles on and asks: What the hell is wrong with Mike Defensor?

Mike’s caper does look like an act of desperation. It is incredible why he wasted time and money (taxpayers’ money appropriated to his department?) to fly to the United States and hire an American sound technician to examine tapes that—their source himself, Paguia, admitted—were edited.

The tapes were taken by Paguia from an original that played at least three hours long—the tape supposedly now with former NBI Deputy Director Sammy Ong. Paguia said he edited it and provided a narration to make the listener understand the contents better. Therefore, any technician will find them “not authentic.” Elementary. Any damn fool will know that. Except Mike.

- And last but not the least, from the Malaya Editorial:

Defensor’s challenge goes to the heart of the issue: He said the opposition should withdraw the impeachment complaint before the House if it could be proven that the "Hello Garci" tapes were "spliced," meaning the voice of Gloria was inserted in the conversations with former Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

The opposition was quick to accept the challenge.

And if there is still "palabra de honor" in this world, it would easy enough to agree on how the authenticity of the tapes could be established. Both sides would agree on which version of the tapes should be analyzed and who would be in the best position, taking into account technical capability and impartiality, to undertake the testing.

In fact, such a proposal is nothing new. Defensor himself issued the same challenge last month which was promptly accepted by the opposition. The minority in the House had even prepared an undertaking known as the "Voluntary Truth Test." If the tapes would prove to be authentic, Gloria Arroyo would resign. If otherwise, the opposition legislators would resign.

The Palace, through Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye and PMS chief Rigoberto Tiglao, however, disowned Defensor’s challenge. The Palace said the presidency is not to be trivialized by making it an object of wagering. The Palace, of course, was being disingenuous. The question is whether the tapes are authentic or not. There are two possible outcomes, a situation where it is perfectly valid to place a wager.

There is nothing trivial in letting Gloria’s hold to power ride on whether she cheated or not. Such is, in fact, the least messy solution to the leadership crisis the country is in.

The most probable scenario in the House is that the justice committee will declare the tapes as inadmissible as evidence. It will come out with a finding dismissing the impeachment complaint. In the plenary, the arms of pro-Gloria solons will be twisted or, alternatively, their pockets will be stuffed with cash. The complaint dies with the failure of a minority to come up with the one-third vote to overrule the justice panel’s recommendation.

We’ll be back then to where we started. There will be renewed calls for Gloria’s ouster, this time with the additional indictment of her and her allies covering up the truth behind the tapes.

She will have gained time. But sooner or later she will have to go. Why prolong the agony? And by that we do not mean Gloria’s, which she deserves, but the people’s who ought to go on with their lives under a leadership they respect and trust.

Exactly.

UPDATE:

- JB Baylon says Bunye now has a new parter:

TO Secretary Ignacio Bunye I relay a Ninoy Aquinoesque message: hindi ka nag-iisa. You can now welcome tape expert Mike Defensor into your "obstructionists of justice" league.

To obstruct justice is what the erstwhile environment secretary did the other day when he tried to again be the "bida" in this beleaguered administration by trotting out so-called experts and citing an American one in an attempt to once and for all destroy the credibility of the "Hello Garci" tapes. But, as in any "too late the hero" attempts, the opposite was achieved: tape expert Mike has simply revived the "Hello Garci" issue, an issue the Malacañang propaganda machine had long been laboring to bury in the inside pages of most newspapers and in the distant memory of the concerned public.

Thank you, Secretary Mike. Because of your efforts, I am urging all UP students who still haven’t heard the original Garci tapes to find a copy and listen — yes, even to all three hours of it — because it is their bounden duty as scholars of the people to be informed of the high crimes that are committed in their name. (In fact maybe it is time the NTC stop threatening TV and radio stations and come down on the side of truth for once by allowing the playing of the Garci tapes? But I digress.)

- Tape expert ni Mike, extortionist -- Jinggoy

Lalo pang natanggalan ng maskara ang iprinisintang tape expert ni Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Mike Defensor na nagsasabing peke at dinoktor ang "Hello Garci" tape matapos ibisto ni Sen. Jinggoy Estrada ang umano’y pagkatao nito.

Matapos pagtawanan ng ilang miyembro ng Upper House ang tape expert ni Defensor, hindi napigilan ni Estrada na ibisto ang pagkatao ni Jonathan Tiongco bilang mangongotong o extortionist patunay ang makailang beses umano na paglapit sa kanyang opisina para manghingi ng malaking pera.

Sa rekoleksyon ni Estrada, humigit-kumulang 10 beses dumalaw sa kanyang opisina si Tiongco at inaalok ang serbisyo para ibagsak ang kredibilidad ni Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Angelo Reyes.

Unang inalok ni Tiongco ang sarili sa kanyang opisina, ayon kay Estrada nang maisalang sa kumpirmasyon ng Commission on Appointments (CA) ang nominasyon ni Reyes kung saan miyembro ang inang si Sen. Luisa "Dra. Loi" Ejercito Estrada.

"Kung anu-anong bintang ang ipinupukol niya kay Reyes. Hindi ko pinatulan kasi nakakapagduda iyong kanyang mga impormasyon. Saka nanghihingi ng pera," ani Estrada sa panayam ng TONITE.

Maging ang kanyang chief of staff (COS) na si dating Nueva Ecija Congressman Simeon Garcia, ayon kay Estrada nilapitan ni Tiongco para hingan ng P200,000, kapalit ang pagbibigay ng impormasyon laban kay Reyes.

Ang matinding rebelasyon ni Estrada ay makailang-beses umano itong tinatawagan sa cellular phone at i-text ni Tiongco tungkol sa panghihingi ng pera hanggang tuluyang nagalit nang balewalain ang mga request nito.

Nang walang pumapansin kay Tiongco, nagsimula na aniyang guluhin ng tape expert ni Defensor ang kanyang opisina, katulad ang pagpapadala ng masasamang mensahe at pananakot.

U.P. Grad became first woman White House head chef

Wala lang. Just passing on the news, is all. From the AP:

After a six-month search, First Lady Laura Bush announced Sunday that the new head chef at the White House will be Cristeta Comerford — the first woman to take the top spot in the executive kitchen.

Comerford has been an assistant chef at the White House for 10 years, working under former executive chef Walter Scheib III, who resigned in February.

Mrs. Bush has been trying out applicants for the job in recent months, asking them to prepare test meals at special functions and private meals at the residence.

Comerford developed the menu for last month's honorary dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The 134 dinner guests dined on chilled asparagus soup and lemon creme; pan-roasted halibut, ginger-carrot butter, basmati rice with pistachio nuts and currants and herbed summer vegetables; and salad of Bibb lettuces and citrus vinaigrette.

"I am delighted that Cris Comerford has accepted the position of White House Executive Chef," Mrs. Bush said in a statement. "Her passion for cooking can be tasted in every bite of her delicious creations."

Comerford has a bachelor's degree in Food Technology from the University of the Philippines. She has worked at Le Ciel in Vienna, Austria and at restaurants in two Washington hotels — the Westin and the ANA.

Cristeta? Hmmm... sounds Filipino. Pinay kaya siya?

UPDATE: Yes she is Filipina.

Biased ba ang Google Philippines?

I think lahat na ng major Philippine newspapers like PDI, Philstar, Bulletin, Sunstar, Manila Times ay napi-pickup ng Google News.

Pati yung Manila Standard Today, pasok na rin sa google news (as of August 7, 2005).

Pero bakit yung Malaya at Tribune, wala pa rin sa Google News? I think mas maraming nagbabsa ng Malaya at Tribune kaysa sa Manila Times or Manila Standard, pero pareho silang wala sa google news.

Talaga bang may pagka-biased ang Google?

UPDATE: Sabi ng isang commenter:

inorder for a website (domain name) to be listed in search engines, owners or account contacts should purchased "Search Engine Rankings" products like WebPosition™ Gold or Google AdWords™ and the like. its not about being a biased search engine.
its about business.

Ito naman ang sabi ng Google sa website nila re Google news:

What if I don't see my favorite news source in Google News?

We're as shocked as you are! If we're missing a publisher that we should be covering, please send us your ideas. While we can't guarantee that we'll heed your recommendation, but we do promise to review all the suggestions we receive without regard to political viewpoint or ideology.

Jim Shartou junks Tiongco’s claim of dagdag change

From the Tribune:

A day after Environment Secretary Michael Defensor presented the report of US forensic expert Barry Dickey's findings on what is perceived as a Malacañang manipulated tape to serve as a cover-up of the evidence of the crime of poll rigging, an audio engineer present in that telecast media conference went on television to debunk claims he was one of the audio engineers who had analyzed the tapes, stressing that he was not part of the press conference, but was merely invited for a meeting discussion by self-proclaimed audio expert Jonathan Tiongco, who is now being unmasked as a Palace man for hire in demolition jobs against the opposition.

Jim Shartou, during a television interview yesterday over ANC cable, also debunked Tiongco's claim that the words “yung dagdag, yung dagdag” (the padding, the padding) if played at slow speed would show that the words are “galvan at binagbag,” and played at high speed would then be heard as dagdag.

It was claimed by both Defensor and Tiongco, who has been found to be bereft of credentials, much less an audio engineering degree or expertise, that those words were digitally manipulated by the opposition to make it appear that President Arroyo held incriminating poll rigging conversations with fugitive election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano and use this to topple her and her government.

Shartou said the words “yung dagdag,” said twice, whether played slowly or fast, would still be dagdag.

He stressed that when he went to Sulo Hotel, he thought he was being invited to a group discussion on the results of the analysis done by Dickey on the Garci tapes.

Sarthou said he has no political inclination and that he felt uneasy joining the event.

He added he distinctively heard the word dagdag in the “Hello Garci” tapes contrary to the statement of other sound engineers contacted by Defensor.

It was also found that Tiongco had approached jueteng witnesses Sandra Cam and Wilfredo “Boy” Mayor a few weeks ago, in an attempt at getting them to recant their statements against members of the presidential family.

Plus, Nap has more on the Barry Dickey interview that exposed Defensor's exaggerations.

And read PCIJ's twin articles today:

- “Anomalies” in Dickey’s analysis explained
- Audio Forensics for Beginners

Cindy Sheehan

I'm afraid Cindy Sheehan is being used and taken advantage of by democrats and liberals for political purposes.

I hope other parents who supported the war against terror and the liberation of Iraq and have sons and daughters who went to iraq or afghanistan will come forward and also do a "Cindy Sheehan" -- but this time, in defense of the reconstruction effort in Iraq and criticize those around Sheehan who are using her to damage our fight against Islamic Terrorism and play dirty politics.

Defensor's theory debunked

Read. The. Whole. Thing. Nice job PCIJ.

(mp3 of "yung dagdag, yung dagdag..." is downloadable here.)

Hey Mainstream Media, listen up!

Why don't all the big media outlets like PDI, GMA7, ABS-CBN, PHILSTAR, and Manila Bulletin pool their resources/money together and have Samuel Ong's tapes verified sa isang credible na third party expert overseas (preferably the FBI), para matapos na ito once and for all -- since we have conflicting results from the admin and opposition's authentication efforts and the public doesn't know which side to believe.

What do you say? Let's end this na once and for all. I want to see you guys in the mainstream media do your jobs seriously on GLORIAGATE for once and tell us the truth na about the tapes.

P.S. At isa pang request, GMA7 and ABS-CBN should start playing the disputed parts of the tape on their news programs and talk shows and have their experts analyze the tape, para ma-inform ang publiko kung totoo ang sinasabi ni Mike Defensor o hindi? It's long overdue na eh.

UPDATE: Nap agrees:

If one man can recognize the cheating words uttered by Gloria Macapagal while talking on the phone to Comelec official Garcillano, so can the rest of the country and even the whole world. The one major reason Gloria's allies are trying to suppress this evidence is because the conversation itself is the smoking gun which even Gloria herself and her lawyer have admitted to have taken place.

Yes, enough of the hype and technicalities. Every Filipino has the right to hear what their alleged president had to say in that tape, let the people be the judge of her culpability or innocence.

AMEN!

"It was her voice, but she was not the one speaking."

From George Aguilar of Sunstar:

First of all, the President, despite her false apology, never admitted that she was indeed the one who was caught on tape speaking to Garcilliano on tape. Also, the Garci issue was already on its way to being an old issue, people were already focusing on the impeachment technicalities. But the Defensor fiasco of a presscon back succeeded only in getting the people's attention back on the Garci tapes once more. The people are now more certain that it was indeed Arroyo who was captured on tape because Defensor, and Atty. Pedro Ferrer, Arroyo counsel, in a different interview, admitted that it was so. When the media men pressed him about this point Mike Defensor made one of the most incredible statements in the history of this country, that "It was her voice (GMA's) but she was not the one speaking". Not even the resource technical people said that. They said that they could not conclude, based on the tapes alone, that it was or was not the president on tape.

For Defensor it was her voice but it wasn't her. That's just like saying that my hands are the ones pressing the keypad on this computer but I'm not the one writing this piece. Poor Secretary Defensor, his ground shaking revelation turned out to be a dud. The press was apparently confused and irked by the Defensor report judging from the number of clarificatory questions raised.

The Philosophy Department of USLS, after hearing the statements of Defensor, immediately created a whole new school of logic named in his honor. The new logic goes like this, x = ~x. According to the Defensor school of logic something is what it is not. This computer is, but at the same time not a computer. It was her voice but it wasn't her talking. Maybe we should add that it wasn't Garci that the president was talking to because it was him.

Mike Defensor should have saved his money and not spend it on an analysis of the Atty. Allan Paguia tapes. Attorney Paguia already admitted that he edited it so that only the juicy parts of the original were there and he also gave annotations. Naturally the Paguia tapes were spliced and Paguia has already said so. Three thousand US dollars is big money especially if the one who threw it away is one who has to get by with only a government salary. All that Defensor was able to do was to put the government tin a bad light some more.

Word.

And it's nice to see some in the media becoming more skeptical of the Arroyo administration:

It was also good to see the press people attack Defensor during the same press con. Dean Jorge Bocobo, in an email to fellow Lasallians, said the government is raining money on media these days. The government is spending money left and right to get media on the president's side. Fortunately, there are still a number of journalists, based on their reaction to the Defensor press con, who remain to be independent. They are better than some local radio station people who were critical of the president just a few months ago and are now vicious attack dogs for Malacañang right now. Money can make some people do a Defensor.

Read this too.

Citizen's Impeachment Watch

For all the latest news and info on the impeachment of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, visit Citizen Impeachment Watch's website. Maraming interesting links rin diyan.

Galban Binalbag???

Sabi ng expert ni Mike Defensor, si Jonathan Tiongco, na "Galban, Binalbag" raw yung comment ni Gloria Macapagal Arroyo kay Garci sa tape at hindi "Yung dagdag, yung dagdag..." .

(mp3 of "yung dagdag, yung dagdag..." is downloadable here.)

Here's how it would have sounded like using Defensor's version:

Conversation between Gary (V. Garcillano) and an unidentified female believed to be GMA (Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) on 31 23:17 hotel May 2004

Garcillano: Hello, ma’am.

GMA: Hello, tsaka ano yung kabila, they’re trying to get the Namfrel copies of the Municipal COCs.

Garcillano: Namfrel copies ho?

GMA: Uhm-um.

Garcillano: Ay wala naman, ok naman ang Namfrel sa atin. They are now sympathetic to us.

GMA (mumbling): Oo, oo … (garbled) …Namfrel does not tally. Pero yun nga, yung Galban, Binalbag...

Garcillano: Oho, we will get an advance copy ho natin kung ano hong kwan nila.

GMA: Oo, oo.

Garcillano: Sige po.

Heh.

The Mainstream Media has no more excuses

UPDATE: Bumped up again.

They should have the tapes independently authenticated na, in the interest of the public.

In-authenticate na ng opposition ang tape. Same with the administration (although hindi sa FBI).

Next step is for the mainstream media like ABS-CBN, GMA7, PDI, to determine the truth by having the tapes authenticated so that we can determine once and for all kung yung administration o yung opposition ang nagsasabi ng totoo.

There's no more excuse for them NOT to do it. Let's not waste anymore time, shall we?

Jonathan Tiongco

Hmmmm... sa dami ng mga audio experts sa bansa natin, bakit itong si Tiongco pa ang napili ni Mike Defensor? Kasi mukhang isang Ador Mawanay o Danny Devnani na naman ito eh.

Check out PCIJ's report on this guy.

UPDATE: don2x of Pinoyexchange sure does sound a lot like Jonathan Tiongco... Read don2x's posts below, then Tiongco's statement during Mike Defensor's Presscon and tell me what you think.

From the LAFI thread "Mainstream Media STILL won't play Gloriagate tapes"

Post 1:

what was the result of lacson authentication of the recordings? even the FBI signal analysis branch has admitted that it is difficult to detect some alterations when a recording is digitized into a computer system, physically or electronically edited. to authenticate, the original recording and the equipment/ components used to produce the recording must be provided. no wonder wycoco tried to cover the existence of gsm scanner during the hearings.

Post 2:

someone can digitally edit/ cut n paste voiceprints of gma and garci then re-record it to an analog tape recorder. it is very difficult to detect alteration on the re-recorded tape. it is like a xerox copy of an altered document. difficult to detect the alteration in the original. it would be credible if originality and content can be authenticated with forensic audio analysis. however the equipment/ components used in the recording must be present.

Post 3:

media and the opposition know that the cd/tape cannot be authenticated unless the one who made the original recording comes forward with all the gadgets used during the recording. best they could do is get expert's opinion which is not conclusive.

Post 4:

if they are not authenticated by credible forensic audio experts, then it is just like a xerox copy which is not conclusive. to authenticate, the equipment and components used in the recording must be present. i just assumed the recordings were just been given expert's opinion. perhaps they should release the audio analysis report.

And finally here's Mike defensor's expert, Jonathan Tiongco, during the press conference:

Take the report prepared by his "expert," Jonathan Tiongco. It sounds impressive enough with spectrographs and what not. But what does it say in the concluding paragraph, "Expert opinion/recommendation"?

"The recording are undeniably products of a series of wiretapped materials from most probably a landline or combination of landline and cellular. The authenticity of the alleged "Wiretapped Tapes" as material evidence may only be determined when; (1) the original tapes are examined; (2) matched to the recorder used; (3) the owner or operator of the tape recorder identified and (4) his/her "capacity to wiretap" verified. After submission of the alleged original tapes by Atty. Allan Paguia. which already contained labels indicating the time, date and other content details, it is therefore concluded that the tapes submitted, having been the product of review and overdubbed for labeling, are not the original first generation copies, if indeed there is any (underscoring in the original)."

Paguia has already told the House inquiry that his tape was a compilation of selected conversations from a much longer tape. What was the point of Defensor’s "expert" belaboring what is already on record?

What is more intriguing is that reference to the conditions (numbered 1 to 4) that must be fulfilled for the tapes to be considered material evidence.

Defensorgate Explained

Read the whole thing:

Trust Malacañang and loyal aide Mike Defensor to come up with yet another neat trick to confuse the Filipino people, and more importantly, provide their allies in Congress “justification” not to sign the impeachment complaint, which can be taken to mean that they are now in danger of losing some of their allies in the House on the impeachment complaint.

Defensor, in a press conference yesterday, showed the media a report from a reputable American tape recording analyst and merely on two tape tracts, saying the tape submitted to his company by Defensor was spliced and deemed “anomalous.”

The first sign of Malacañang's and Defensor's dirty tricks was that he had submitted the alleged Paguia edited tapes, which contained 14 to 15 recorded conversations between Gloria Arroyo and a poll commissioner said to be Virgilio Garcillano, and as Defensor claimed, was downloaded from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) Web site and not the three-hour tape.

It should be pointed out that the House of Representatives has a copy of both the Paguia-edited tape and the three-hour tape, yet instead of getting a tape copied from the tapes submitted to Congress, whether of the three-hour variety or the Paguia-edited tape, Defensor, as admitted said this was downloaded from the PCIJ Web site. Why get this from an unofficial Web site when congressional copies of the tape could be had, and easily, since Defensor is a former member of Congress and the House majority are allies of Gloria? And why not do it together with the minority so no questions would be raised as to its source and authenticity?

Very elementary. The Defensor tapes shown cannot be checked out for clear authentication by way of their origin, which is what was intended in the first place, for him to claim that the opposition had electronically and digitally manipulated two tracts of the claimed Paguia tape, where the contents focused on the 1 million lead and the dagdag-dagdag phrase, which, it should be pointed out, was admitted by the minority congressmen to have been enhanced, precisely because that phrase was muffled.

Therefore, if the tape submitted for authentication to the American company by Defensor is, from the start, edited and spliced, enhanced and even dubbed over and evidently by Malacañang itself rather than the opposition, it stands to reason that the US tape analyst would have to come up with a finding that the tape's integrity and contents are in question and that this has been spliced, edited and dubbed over and “anomalous” with a different voice added in.

Stated differently, Defensor et al. tapped the technical expertise of a US tape authenticity firm precisely to get it to state, on the basis of a clearly doctored tape submitted by Defensor and his dirty tricksters, that the tape without referring to its origin was altered, edited and everything else.

That would be akin to submitting to the US firm the Bunye-claimed original, which was obviously doctored to cover up the crime. The conclusion would be the same.

The second sign of the dirty tricks of Defensor is the fact that while he asked for an analysis from this American firm, it was only for two tracts. Why so? Why not the entire three-hour tape to get to the root of the issue? Defensor claimed lamely it was too expensive to have more than two tracts analyzed. Tell that to Marines — not when Gloria blows billions of public funds to get herself elected, proclaimed, and now, to ensure the impeach rap dismissal.

The third dirty trick performed by Defensor was the fact that he presented two tape studies — one from the US forensic expert and another from a couple of local sound engineers, who apparently do not even belong to to a specific sound analysis company, then merged the studies, as though the US expert also claimed the same conclusion the Filipino “experts,” one of whom is a Jonathan Tiongco, who can hardly be called a voice or tape authentication expert. This is the same Tiongco whom the Senate dismissed as a witness in a CA hearing.

It was noted during the press conference that the Filipino “sound engineers” except for Tiongco, who can hardly pass for an expert, were very careful not to destroy themselves and their reputations by not making categorical statements on the tape's authenticity or its source, only to state that yes, there was splicing, yes, there was alteration and no, they are not voice analysts.

So who is Tiongco? Suddenly he becomes an expert at examining a tape whose source cannot even be established?

Why is an unknown Tiongco whose credentials as a tape authentication expert have not been established and is largely unknown to the tape experts community, tapped by Defensor, along with the US expert?

The answer clearly rests on the fact that this had to be resorted to by Malacañang and its dirty tricks department to confuse the public and provide the military generals and the congressmen with yet another fabricated evidence to defend their stand.

That's how dirty they play the game. But who believes them?

Roger Ebert's review on "The Great Raid"

He gave it three stars.

Plus, Ebert has a longer article on the film and the director here. I did not know Cesar Montano's character was almost replaced by a caucassian.

Mapanood nga ito bukas.

Garbage in, Garbage out

If you're wondering what I think of Mike Defensor's "bombshell" today, it's this -- GIGO, Garbage in, Garbage out. The admin tampered with Paguia's tape before sending it to Barry Dickey to be authenticated, kaya lumabas na tampered rin ang resulta sa examination ng tape.

More: This is interesting

Wilfredo “Boy” Mayor confirmed in tonight’s newscast that it was Jonathan Tiongco who tried to convince him that since the Administration will be coming up this week with its so-called, “evidence” that the “Hello, Garci” tapes are fake, he should already switch sides.

Hmmm... akala ko ba sa FBI galing yung report na "fake" ang Garci Tapes? From Ellen Tordesillas "Operation Balik-Loob" article:

Mayor said he received a text message saying next week that a report from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation will be made public showing that the "Hello Garci" tapes are fake. The message asked, "Ano ang mangyayari sa iyo?" (What will happen to you?)

Mukhang nag-eexaggerate si Tiongco, hehe...

btw, if you want to know the latest on Defensor's so-called "bombshell", go to PCIJ blog. They're blogging up a storm over there. Just keep scrolling.

Whistleblower Capt. Marlon Mendoza

Sisiraan ng admin si Mendoza, katulad ng ginawa nila kay Zuce, saying na these people with "shady pasts" and cannot be trusted.

Of course they have "shady pasts", because that's the kind of people the Arroyo administration was looking for to run their massive election cheating campaign. Katulad rin yan ng mga ex-mafia hitmen like Sonny "The Bull" Gravano who testified against Mafia boss John Gotti. Hindi rin malinis si Mr. Gravano eh, but he was willing to tell the truth and testify against the Mafia bosses in exchange for a lighter sentence.

Besides, I don't recall the anti-Eraps worrying or complaining about Chavit Singson's character and credibility during Juetengate. In fact, they claim na Chavit was even more credible because he was a jueteng lord!

The source of Faustino Dy's discontent

The always excellent Ellen Tordesillas has the lowdown. Very interesting article.

"Inadmissible evidence"

Yan ang linya na gagamitin ng mga kakampi ni Gloria Macapagal Arroyo sa Congress on the "Garci tapes" because wiretapped raw ito, therefore "bawal" gamitin sa impeachment court.

PSG as Palace attack dogs

From the Malaya Editorial:

THE Palace yesterday admitted members of the Presidential Security Group were hunting for Army Capt. Marlon Mendoza last weekend. But Palace officials said it had nothing to do with Mendoza’s appearance yesterday before the Senate jueteng probe. The PSG, they said, entered the picture because of Mendoza’s links to Kawal Pilipino, a group of soldiers which early this year called for the ouster of President Arroyo.

They should tell that to the marines.

The PSG had all the time to take Mendoza into custody. He had never been in hiding, not until he decided just recently to appear before the Senate inquiry. It’s pure coincidence that the PSG decided to go after him only five days before his scheduled testimony?

The PSG pulled off the same caper when Udong Mahusay was scheduled to testify before the Senate on the Jose Pidal accounts. Had the PSG succeeded in taking hold of Mendoza last weekend, it’s likely he would by now be accusing the opposition of holding him against his will. Or if he was made of sterner stuff, he would have simply vanished like former Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

Malacanang tried to abduct Mendoza ala Mahusay, but they failed this time, thank god.

Sumali ako sa Pinoy Top Blog

Look at the button on the right side. If you like my blog, please click on the Pinoy Top Blog button and vote for my blog.

Justice delayed is justice denied

Binababoy na ng administration allies ang impeachment hearings, using all manner of delaying tactics and technicalities para i-sabotahe ito, and they succeeded somewhat, with the hearings suspended.

All sorts of barriers are being put up by the congressman-allies of President Arroyo in killing the amended impeachment complaint filed by the minority bloc, with human rights activist-turned-Arroyo protector and defender Albay Rep. Edsel Lagman immediately asking the House justice committee to first determine which of the three impeachment complaints would be the “legal” complaint that would be deliberated on, invoking alleged House rules while Malacañang allies attempted to “gag” the minority members and prevent them from participating in the process.

As if given the cue by Lagman, the lawyers of the President quickly submitted a motion to quash the amended impeachment complaint as well as a third one, taking the position that it is the original Lozano complaint that should be deliberated upon for form and substance.

The Arroyo allies know that the Lozano complaint would be quickly dismissed by the justice committee.

An uproar from lawmakers and the general audience came about after an “unusual “ ruling by the chairman, Rep. Simeon Datumanong, who immediately called for an executive session and a suspension of the hearing until Monday next week.

Datumanong ruled that non-members of the committee are barred from participating, which ruling immediately drew oppostion members of the minority, which has only six in the committee.

Disgusting, disgusting display. How can people have faith and put their trust in the impeachment process kung puro stonewalling, panloloko at cover ups lang ang ginagawa ng majority allies ni Gloria Macapagal Arroyo?

More details re this here and here.

Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano called it the admin's "Yo-yo tactic".

Mukhang totoo pala yung balita ni JB Baylon, where JDV was said to have remarked that the GMA impeachment will fail "whatever the evidence".

And their tactic is to delay and delay, para humina ang interes ng publiko. Here's how they plan to do it.

This is why Arroyo’s allies in the House are keeping the option of strangling the impeachment complaint at the House committee on justice. "Creeping" impeachment has been successfully blocked. There will be no automatic transmittal to the Senate even if the magic number of 79 endorsers is reached.

The committee on justice has 60 session days to come out with determination on the sufficiency of form and content of the complaint. That gives the committee time to dribble the ball possibly well into December.

After that, the findings go to the plenary. Whatever the findings, a vote by 79 members of the House is still needed to send the complaint to the Senate for trial. And if Gloria could steal an election wholesale, she could buy House members retail.

The Palace game plan is obviously to stretch out the proceedings in the expectation that the public will in time weary of the whole thing. If her allies can pull this off, Gloria would be in the clear all the way to 2010.

It’s not a bad game plan. But it’s based on the assumption that Gloria can continue fooling all the people all the time, an assumption difficult to make given the widespread perception she is the queen of lies and deceit.

I hope the admin allies will not make a huge waste of time out of the impeachment process. Sana wag nilang gaguhin ang mga mamamayan.

The reason why I'm for resignation or impeachment is because I want the system to work, even if my head tells me na rigged ang impeachment process because GMA has the numbers, just like in the canvassing of votes last year.

I don't want any shortcuts in removing pandak. I don't want the military or civil society to install a junta or a coup to oust the fake president. But I must admit that it is getting more and more difficult to keep the faith as long as Arroyo's allies are in charge of Congress and the impeachment hearings and we have a pro-Arroyo mainstream media that still refuses to tell the whole truth about Arroyo and her goons (so unlike the treatment they gave Erap and Lacson).

“Blueprint for a Viable Philippines”

Looks like a good plan.

From the PCIJ:

USING what it says are "broad strokes," a group of academic and civil society leaders is recommending reforms in governance to address the country’s lingering crisis and "strengthen a nation now perilously hurtling into chaos."

The proposed reforms are contained in a "Blueprint for a Viable Philippines" and cover an extensive range of issues, including the structure of government, taxation, the judiciary, international relations, housing, population, agrarian reform and industrialization, and health and education. The Blueprint describes the failure of existing policies and programs, and points the way to rekindling hope among the public, especially the youth. At the very least, its proponents say, the document hopes to shift the focus of public attention "from personality squabbles to the issues that truly matter."

Two of the Blueprint’s main proponents are former UP president Francisco Nemenzo and Renato Constantino, Jr.

Interesting. If you want to know more, read the whole article.

More here:

Erap backs ‘Blueprint for a Viable RP’

Detained President Joseph Estrada yesterday commended the release of “Blueprint for a Viable Philippines” and urged all sectors of society including political stakeholders to support its initiatives which address the country's economic and social troubles.

Speaking from his detention quarters in Tanay, Estrada said the unveiling of the plan comes at a time when the country's economic, social and political systems face imminent collapse as a result of failed governance and unbridled corruption in the public sector.

“The blueprint includes viable options which, once in place, would be of enormous help toward putting our fiscal house in order and improving the country's business prospects, while seriously addressing the plight of the poor,” he added.

“With sufficient support from all sectors, including leaders from the political sector, blueprint will go long way toward setting our country back on the road to genuine progress, stability and development,” Estrada stressed.

“Blueprint for a Viable Philippines” is the end result of around 20 round-table discussions among academics from the University of the Philippines and civil society leaders led by former UP president Francisco Nemenzo Jr., and was presented yesterday during a forum spearheaded by the Office of the President, the Third World Studies Center and the League of College Councils, all from the state university.

The first Impeachment hearing gets suspended on a technicality

No surprise here.

Read the PCIJ article for the latest.

Why aren't the Jueteng and Impeachment hearing being televised live?

Kung yung juetengate hearings ni erap at yung "billion dollar" accounts/narcopolitics expose ni victor corpus, PDI, at Rosebud vs lacson ay binigyan ng wall-to-wall live tv coverage ng ABS-CBN, GMA7 at ng mga gov't stations, bakit ayaw nilang gawin rin ito sa jueteng at GLORIAGATE hearings against the fake president?

GLORIAGATE roundup for August 10

- IMPEACHMENT papatayin via technicalities

Ibinunyag ni San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora na palalabasin ng kampo ni Arroyo na mayroong tatlong impeachment complaint at kikilalanin bilang unang kaso ang isinampa ni Atty. Oliver Lozano, pangalawa ang ihinain ni Atty. Jose Lopez, at pangatlo ang amended complaint ng oposisyon.

Sinabi ni Zamora na pagsisimulan ng debate ang mga kasong ito dahil ayaw kilalanin ng administration bloc ang amended complaint ng oposisyon bilang unang kaso kahit pumayag na si Lozano na amyendahan ang kanyang reklamo.

Kapag lumagpas aniya ng dalawang minuto ang imbestigasyon kung mayroong form and substance ang nasabing reklamo, nangangahulugan na idinadaan na sa technicalities ang kaso para patayin ito.

"Dapat wala ng debate...two minutes is enough dahil aalamin lang naman kung totoo ang lagda ng mga endorsers. Ang problema, mukhang ibabato sa amin ang iba’t ibang issue," ani Zamora.

More here (english version).

Read this too.

- Election fraud in the ARMM elections

- More on the "Bridges to Nowhere" scam.

- NBI exec says wiretap equipment was working

Here's my plan to solve the cheating problem sa presidential elections

Paghiwalayin ang Prez-VP elections sa ibang national at local elections by about two to three weeks.

Meaning, mauna ang election for President at VP, and after the votes are cast, I'm pretty sure within 2-3 days to one week, tapos na ang bilangan at malalaman na natin kung sino ang Presidente at VP.

Then three weeks later, hold elections for the rest (Senator, Congressman, Governor, Mayor, etc.)

Mas maganda sana kung may automated counting machines tayo, pero walang kwenta rin since yung Arroyo admin at ang COMELEC nito ang magsu-supervise ng elections natin.

So in this case, I'd much prefer manual voting for now until Arroyo is ousted and we reformed the COMELEC.

Another potential applicant for Arroyo's "Witness Prevention Program"

MEMBERS of the Presidential Security Group last weekend tried to snatch an Army captain in an apparent attempt by the Palace to stop him from testifying before the Senate today on the alleged use of jueteng money to buy the 2004 elections for President Arroyo, sources said.

The sources said Capt. Marlon Mendoza, formerly of the Intelligence Service of the AFP, had been forewarned, however, and decided to forego plans of visiting his family in San Luis, Batangas.

Mendoza, from April to June last year, served as chief security officer of former Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano who is accused of rigging last year’s elections for the Palace.

The sources said the members of the PSG who had staked out the Mendoza house were backed by operatives of the ISAFP.

After the government agents failed to locate Mendoza in San Luis, they looked for his wife and children, but were thwarted by residents who asked the operatives to leave the place, the sources said.

The sources made the disclosure as the AFP held a press conference saying Mendoza is facing court martial proceedings for a scam committed in 2003.

Mendoza said he expected the military to discredit him because of his decision to turn witness.

Read the whole article. Nothing special really... just another typical day under Arroyo's gangster adminstration.

Buti na lang hindi natuloy ang pag "soft touch" sa pamilya ni Mendoza.

Previous:

- "Witness Prevention Program"
- Confessed felon