The latest on Joc Joc Bolante's trouble with the law

Pidal's fugitive Joc Joc seeks asylum in the US. Haha! Pero sabi ni Roilo golez:

Rep. Roilo Golez (Ind., Parañaque) earlier said that Bolante has no right to apply for a political asylum in the US because what he is facing is more of a deportation than an extradition case.

"How can someone considered to be one of the closest political allies of the powers-that-be in the Philippines apply for political asylum? That’s only if he faces persecution for political reasons. In my opinion, he is not a victim of political persecution but a beneficiary of political protection here," he said.

The latest: Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez criticized for inaction on Joc Joc gate.

All indications point to the Ombudsman, envisioned as an independent and constitutional anti-graft office, getting all its directions and orders from Malacañang, as it continued to sit on the Senate’s recommendation for the Ombudsman to charge former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante and his other associates in the P3-billion fertilizer funds scam for the crime of plunder.

A frustrated Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., chairman of the Senate panel that turned over its results of the fertilizer anomaly results to the anti-graft agency for action, yesterday scored Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, said to be part of the inner presidential circle, with a presidential mandate for her to protect the presidential kith, kin and cronies from any and all charges leveled against them, for her inaction on ensuring that the embattled Bolante is extradited to the country.

Jokjok!

From the Malaya Editorial: Joc Joc’s asylum bid

Joc Joc Bolante, Mike Arroyo’s erstwhile man at the Department of Agriculture, is seeking asylum in the United States. What the hell is going on?

The Senate committee on agriculture and the blue ribbon have recommended that Bolante be charged with plunder for using P700 million in fertilizer funds to buy the support of local officials for Gloria Arroyo in the 2004 elections. The Senate has also issued a warrant for his arrest for repeatedly failing to attend hearings on the fertilizer fund.

There is, however, no danger of his ending up in the slammer soon. The Office of the Ombudsman, headed by Mike’s Ateneo law classmate Merceditas Gutierrez, is sleeping the sleep of the dead on the Senate recommendation. Bolante used to breeze through the international airport gates without the Senate warrant servers seeing just even his shadow. Airport authorities certainly can extend the same accommodation.

If Bolante is being politically persecuted, then Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez must be coddling Satur Ocampo in placing the latter in the hold-order list.

(rimshot) Ba-da-bing!

The editorial has more, this time w/ my favorite US ambassador Kristie Kenney getting a mention:

There are reports that immigration officials cancelled Bolante’s visa on the recommendation of the US Embassy in Manila. Curious, isn’t it? Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., chairman of the Senate committee on agriculture, has been pestering US Ambassador Kristine Kienney on what action her government has taken on inquiries about Bolante’s presence in the United States.

Magsaysay has not received any answer, but Kienney apparently had been playing possum. Bolante is now in the hand of US authorities.

We have not a whit of understanding of how US immigration laws work. But if Bolante really wants to convince US authorities he’s dead meat upon exiting from the NAIA passenger tube, we have a suggestion.

Bolante should name those who ordered him to rob the treasury to buy votes for Gloria. It’s guaranteed. He would not only be facing political persecution here. He would be the target of execution.

Foolproof yung suggestion na yan, JOKJOK!

More details on who this Joc Joc Bolante is, from Ducky Paredes:

Joc Joc may only have been a Usec in the Department of Agriculture but the old-timers there will tell you that Bolante had more power than the agriculture secretaries under whom he served. For one thing, Bolante controlled the purse. No funds were released without Bolante’s say-so. He seldom even showed up at the Department. He did most of his work remote control – through text messages and phone calls to his people.

More here:

The US Embassy isn’t talking. The family doesn’t want public attention, invoking its right to privacy. Malacañang is – as usual – talking from both sides of the mouth.

What’s going on here, that is, former Undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc Joc" Bolante’s arrest by US immigration authorities last week upon setting foot on American soil?

Bolante was arrested in California reportedly on visa violations. It’s public knowledge that Bolante has been in and out of the United States. His lawyers during last year’s Senate investigation of the alleged use of P700 million in fertilizer funds to buy the election for Gloria Arroyo in 2004 said his regular presence was needed at the Rotary International headquarters in Illinois as the group’s treasurer (the claim was denied by Rotary International officials in official communications to Senate probers).

So there apparently was no problem with his US visa then. His trouble with US immigration clearly came up only recently.

It was unclear if his visa had been cancelled before he landed in California. Such violation usually leads to the illegal entrant’s being bundled off on the first flight out of the plane that brought him in. So why was Bolante taken into custody? Reports said his visa was cancelled at the time of arrival by immigration authorities who promptly sent him to jail while awaiting a hearing by an immigration judge. The reports added he declined – or was unable - to post $100,000 bail.

Something bigger than trying to illegally sneak into the United States is going on here and it could not have happened to a man more desperate than anyone else in seeking to avoid official attention for almost a year now.

Bolante has a standing warrant of arrest issued by the Senate for contempt. The Executive department has not lifted a finger to help implement the Senate’s order. On the contrary, the Executive has practically been aiding Bolante evade custody by rejecting a Senate request to have his passport cancelled so he could be forced to come home.

Ellen Tordesillas and MLQ3 comments on the Joc Joc case.

More from the Tribune:

Former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante, who was arrested upon arrival at the Los Angeles Airport on July 7, may have brought in an undeclared amount of dollars in the tens of millions to the United States.

Reliable sources at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it is probable that the initially claimed $100,000-$500,000 bail set for Bolante is 1 percent of the amount brought into the US or its equivalent.

It was Bolante’s son, Anthony, who went to the US, along with a lawyer, to ask for a bail reduction, but it is still unclear whether this will be granted by the court.

A news blackout at the DFA was reportedly imposed, following the Tribune report that the issues taken up during the meeting among high level DFA officials Thursday discussed the money laundering charges of which Bolante may have to explain, intimating that it is not just Bolante but more powerful Palace officials who are being linked to money laundering raps.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) was just as tight-lipped on the issue of the probable money laundering issue that may be leveled against Bolante, who is known as one of the presidential couple’s bagmen.

It is usual, especially when money laundering allegations are leveled against President Arroyo’s known foes in the media, for the AMLC, as well as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), to quickly state that the agency will be investigating these allegations, as it did when former beauty contestant Joelle Pelaez claimed she would be filing money laundering charges against deposed President Joseph Estrada.

This time however, both the AMLC and the NBI remain silent on the alleged money laundering issue directed at the supposed presidential bagman.

MORE: Raul Pangalanan writes:

FORMER undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante has snubbed five Senate hearings, casually flouting each Senate summons and at times flying out of the country days before the hearing. He skedaddles despite an immigration watch-list, a Senate contempt order, a Senate report and a plunder complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman implicating him as the “architect” in the diversion of agriculture funds into the election campaign war chest of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in May 2004.

All this, under a government that has proclaimed itself as a regime under the rule of law! All this, under a President who has called upon her soldiers to lay down their lives to uphold the Constitution and defend the rule of law.

Get this: Bolante has admitted to signing the papers releasing P728 million for fertilizers and pesticides for GMA, the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani program, and distributing them to congressmen and local politicians right in time for the presidential campaign. He has washed his hands, saying it was all “demand-driven,” and that he gave only to those who asked. And yet, Rep. Teodoro Locsin of Makati, the country’s financial district, says he never asked, never received, and yet was recorded to have gotten the fertilizer funding -- this, for Makati’s concrete jungle where only the flower pots in the Ayala Center have any use for the illicit dung.

And it takes the US Immigration and Naturalization Service finally to arrest Bolante -- two years after the scam was first exposed!

The Arroyo administration can hunt down coup plotters belonging to well-organized and richly funded (or so it claims) conspiracies. It can hound the enemies of the state, force their leaders to hole up in the Batasan complex of the House of Representatives, round up their followers in “sonas” historically rife with human rights abuses. But it couldn’t find Bolante.

Rep. Satur Ocampo of the Bayan Muna party-list group was hassled at the airport and almost missed his flight to an international human rights conference, all because of a hold-order issued merely by the executive department -- and boy, did the justice secretary publicly berate his immigration bureau chief for wimping out on the hold-order. Bolante was subject to a contempt order by the elected Senate, but was he ever asked at the airport why he was decamping in seeming haste?

.....

But this should be no surprise. This isn’t the first time this government will play possum and pass the buck to another legal system. We are a proud independent republic, except when it is politically inconvenient.

“Garci” disappeared for the good part of a year. He supposedly flew to Singapore from Manila. But it took Singaporean consular records to show that he landed in the city-state, while Manila’s immigration records show he never even left!

How about the former comptroller of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)? It took US customs authorities to document his son’s undeclared $100,000 at a US airport and his wife’s sworn statement before them that this was merely “gratitude money from [AFP] contractors.” Yet back home, when the Money Laundering Council obtained a freeze on his bank accounts, Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia was able to make massive midnight withdrawals just before the courts stepped in. In the end, he was cleared of the watered-down charge of perjury, because either the Ombudsman or the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court was wanting in zeal or wit.

PDI Editorial: Bring Joc Joc back

Now Bolante is in the hands of the US government with whom the Philippine government has an extradition treaty. It should be much easier for the administration to bring him home and make him explain how he “supervised” the disbursement of the P728-million fertilizer fund. But Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez has said the Philippine government would ask for Bolante’s extradition since it is not the obligation of the executive department to enforce a warrant of arrest issued by the Senate. Apparently to Gonzalez, the Senate is no longer a part of the Philippine government. But by refusing to lift a finger to bring Bolante home, he has only confirmed the public perception that Bolante is special to the Arroyo administration.

A few weeks ago, President Arroyo announced that she was putting P1 billion more into the government’s war against graft and corruption. If she meant it as a signal of her renewed resolve to stamp out corruption in government, that resolve will be put to a test by Bolante’s arrest. She can move that campaign one big step forward by ordering the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs to start the legal process that would bring Bolante back to explain where the P728 million went. But will she dare to hear what Bolante might reveal?

UPDATE: Eto pa, from the Tribune Editorial:

With all official and identifiable sources clamming up on the arrest, detention and hearing of former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante, more speculations on this incident occurring in the United States Immigration have risen — all of which impact negatively on the Malacañang tenants.

When news first broke on the Bolante case, both the Palace and its Foreign Affairs department took the line that it was a canceled visa problem Bolante was facing. But that was when the speculation grew, since there were reports of his having been arrested and detained, plus a bail of $100,000 slapped on him last July 7, a Friday. Local media had the report on this on the 12th, which time lag is much too long, and suspicious. It is impossible for Malacañang not to have known of his arrest on the day Bolante was arrested, and just as impossible for the Department of Foreign Affairs officials not to have been informed by the LA office about the Bolante arrest. After all, Joc-Joc isn’t just an ordinary Pinoy stranded in the US and slapped with an arrest. Arroyo officials know just how close Bolante is with Gloria.

But Malacañang washed its hands off the Bolante arrest, saying he is no longer a government official, but also said, as a private citizen, that the consulate in Los Angeles would afford Bolante the assistance given to any Filipino citizen. On the matter of the details and background of the Bolante affair, nothing was offered, which in itself is much too strange, considering that consulate officers can definitely obtain basic information from the US authorities, having the official foreign government status.

But giving out information that Bolante’s case involved a canceled visa made things even worse, since there have been too many Filipinos — relatively known and unknown — who have had their visas canceled by US authorites, denied entry to the US and detained very briefly, with these Filipinos quickly shipped back, without being arrested, and without having to post bail of $100,000 or have a hearing. And this is Joc-Joc Bolante, known to be a close ally and associate of the presidential couple, who many times over, ensured his protection when he flitted in and out of the country to evade being called to the Senate to testify on the P3-billion fertilizer funds scam.

More strange official behavior was noted. On the day of the hearing, the DFA claimed that Bolante had spurned the Arroyo government’s assistance, invoking privacy, then saying all queries on Bolante should be coursed through his lawyer in Manila, who couldn’t be found. Then came word that Bolante, who is now detained in a federal jail — which may mean that Bolante is out of the LA Immigration jurisdiction -- is seeking political asylum, which is strange in itself. And the DFA officials were called to a meeting on the Bolante issue, with a report sent to Malacañang on how to treat the issue. All for a canceled visa?

Reports also said among the issues discussed in that meeting between DFA officials was the money laundering charge, which is interesting since Bolante has been tagged too many times as the presidential couple’s bagman, even long before the fertilizer funds scam was first exposed.

Ninez further pounds the nail on it's head:

Joc-Joc Bolante must be ready to sing — not before the Filipino people, but before the American authorities, for Malacañang to suddenly say it is now studying ways of extraditing the controversial P3-billion Fertilizer Man — and this, after Gloria’s lackey of a Justice secretary, already stated bluntly that there is no way they can extradite Bolante because (a) there are no charges against him in the country and (b) the arrest order for Bolante from the Senate is not enforceable in the United States, that has jurisdiction at this time.

It is now official too, that the P3-billion Fertilizer Man has asked for political asylum, which is much too strange a move, as he is certainly known to be the presidential couple’s close financial confidante and was in fact being protected all this time, when he slipped in and out of the country.

Why apply for political asylum in the US and even have himself detained in a federal prison? Surely he is not shaking in his boots because of the Senate’s probe of the fertilizer funds scam. So the Senate found him guilty and recommended his being charged with plunder in the Ombudsman, but he, being in the presidential couple’s innermost circle, certainly knows that the Ombudsman would be protecting him, by not doing anything about the Senate case against Bolante, just as the Ombudsman, then headed by Simeon Marcelo, did nothing about the plunder and money-laundering raps against former Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, and just as Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, Mike A’s trusted pal, didn’t do anything but sit on the Comelec commissioners’ anomalous poll automated machines contraption. And not to forget, even if Gutierrez recommends the poll commissioners for impeachment, why, there is always Gloria’s congressmen to kill the impeachment complaint. And didn’t the bishops already junk the impeachment process as a means to search for the truth?

Joc-Joc was certainly a protected specie under the Arroyo adminstration. Immigration even lies for Joc-Joc and ensures that there is no stamped entry and departure on his passport. So why should he seek asylum?

There could be varied reasons behind this move by Joc-Joc. For one, Sen. Ramon Magsaysay intimated that his life may be in danger, as some people want him killed — and the first guess would be right. But why? Why may be due to the fact that he may know too much, or he may be asking too much from very important people in the Philippines.

There are too, indications that Joc-Joc’s move caught Malacañang and its prostituted Department of Foreign Affairs off-guard, so much so that for some six days, they all maintained silence and were at a loss at how to handle the Bolante incident, with the DFA even asking Gloria how to handle this incident which they all claimed was a canceled visa problem.

Besides, for such Arroyo VIP, it is not unlikely that everytime Bolante would be anywhere in the world, there would be Philippine Embassy people greeting him upon arrival and taking care of airport and hotel stuff, not to mention dinners and entertainment. Apparently, Joc-Joc dispensed with these perks. Also, Bolante reportedly rejected the Philippine consular officers’ assistance during his hearing with US officials. But then again, it makes no sense for one seeking political asylum to have Philippine diplomats assisting him.

When one — such as Joc-Joc, seeks political asylum, this can only mean that he has decided to break his ties with the presidential couple, which can only mean more political trouble for Gloria and her government, if not total devastation for her. After all, one seeks political asylum out of fear of his government’s political persecution, which is no one else but Gloria — and it certainly can’t be from the Senate’s persecution, since it has been shown that in such instances, the Senate is toothless. And it can’t be just all about the P3-billion fertilizer funds scam. That’s an internal matter to the Philippines and the US has no jurisdiction over a local crime.

But then again, if that local crime’s funds inch their way into American shores, as in money laundering, then this becomes a crime and Americans certainly have that jurisdiction now.

Do your math. From the P3-billion fertilizer funds scam, only a few millions were distributed to the congressmen, governors and mayors, and the fertilizers, overpriced by at least 1,000 percent, were already diluted in the first place. So where the other billions go, if not to private accounts, not in the Philippines either. Still, there was no doubt, more of the millions going out of the country and into foreign shores, which can only be done by political biggies in the country. Wasn’t a political heavy in Switzerland recently, and rushed to the US when the Bolante caper erupted?

So what song is Joc-Joc ready to sing, to make Gloria and her allies much too jittery?

What may be clear is that Joc-Joc’s lips may not be sealed anymore, which is why Gloria now wants him back and perhaps stilled forevermore.

UPDATE: DFA sat on the Bolante report for 5 days. bakit kaya?

Meanwhile, career foreign service officers also yesterday scored the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for employing “Garci-style” delaying tactics in keeping the arrest of Bolante under wraps.

According to the Union of Filipino Foreign Service Officers (Uniffors), DFA spokesman Gilbert Asuque’s explanation on why the DFA kept mum was similar to its excuses in confirming whether former Commission on Elections Commissioner Virgilio “Garci” Garcillano had fled the country.

“The DFA exercised the same delaying tactics with the Singapore government’s confirmation of Garcillano’s entry and departure from Changi International Airport. (It should be ashamed)!” Uniffors said in a statement on its blog site.

In 2005, the group noted that the DFA held out for a week before confirming from Singapore authorities that Garcillano had indeed left the Philippines and landed in Singapore.

Its confirmation came after Garcillano already left Singapore.

Garcillano’s vanishing act happened at the height of the scandal arising from the “Hello Garci” tapes, which contain his mobile-phone conversations with President Arroyo on their rigging the May 2004 elections in her favor.

Uniffors also noted that Mike Flemming, spokesman for the US Customs and Border Protection Service, had said the Philippine consulate in Los Angeles has known since July 7 that Bolante was arrested and detained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

It quoted Flemming as saying the US ICE had “sent them (DFA) a fax, and we also spoke to them on the phone.”

Yet, Uniffors said, Asuque did not tell the public about Bolante’s arrest until July 12 and blamed Los Angeles Consul General Willy Gaa for the delay.

“Well, that raises two questions. Why did Gaa sit on the information for three days and why did Asuque sit on it for another two days?” the group asked.

The controversial Bolante, allegedly the bagman of First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, is wanted in the Philippine Senate for his alleged role in the diversion of P728 million in fertilizer funds to the campaign chest of Mrs. Arroyo in the 2004 polls.

“We all know why the consulate and the DFA sat on the report. The question is not why the delay but who are these people serving — the public or Mrs. Arroyo?” Uniffors again asked.

Bolante, while he was on the run from the Senate, had been practically abandoned by Malacañang, which said he no longer is its concern, having given up his government post long ago.

JOC JOC!!!

Joc joc bolante arrested in the US.

Sen. Magsaysay calls for the Immediate extradition of Joc Joc.

Ellen Tordesillas has so questions...

No sugarcoating this one

It's a setback. Thanks a lot, CBCP.

OPPOSITION lawmakers yesterday conceded that the refusal of the bishops to support their impeachment campaign was a blow to their efforts but said this did not mean that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was off the hook.

The President’s loyal supporters in Congress welcomed the statement of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), saying it knocked the moral basis out of the opposition bid to oust Ms Arroyo.

“It cannot be denied that their decision not to support us is a loss for now but this will not delay or lessen the determination of those pushing for impeachment,” House Minority Leader Francis Escudero said in Filipino.

Read this and cry.

Malacañang distributed cash to bishops

Conrad de quiros:

I myself got a lot of calls and text messages from dumbfounded friends wondering how the CBCP, given that its leadership has been wrested by progressive minds from reactionary ones, settled for this. I myself suspect the wording of the position, if not the position itself, is the product of much compromise, reflecting the continuing divisions within that body. And I myself believe the revelations of Archbishop Oscar Cruz that Malacañang tried to buy off the bishops and think they succeeded (in)famously with some of them....

The bishops worry that by going through another unproductive political exercise we will only encourage the public to distrust politicians some more? They should worry that by taking the wishy-washy position that they have, they will only encourage the (un)faithful to distrust the clergy some more.

I guess this administration was able to netotiate and include language that favors them in the CBCP pastoral letter.

Lito Banayo:

The Constitution tells us that impeachment is the legal way to try a sitting president for acts that betray the public trust. Yet politicians last year shamelessly used impeachment as a means to fatten their pockets and advance their self-interests. Such brazenness on the part of the bribe-takers and the bribe-giver should have been enough proof that truth was being forcibly hidden. If it was not the political truth, if it was not the legal truth, surely it is the moral truth.

And that is what being bishops are about. That is what being men of the Lord is all about. But the majority of our bishops whose business it is to advocate and insist that morality is the North Star of all private and public acts, would now refuse "to favor" the legally-sanctioned way of discovering the truth. It qualifies the process and the mindsets of those who participate in the process, saying that discovering the truth "must be guided by no other motive than the common good".

But is not truth an end to itself? Are our bishops saying that falsehood can ever be "for the common good", and that truth, because it is ugly, can be justifiably hidden by a "concern for the common good"? That is not what catechism lessons or Thomas Aquinas or even the Holy Bible taught us.

Have not our lord bishops, in their collective contemplation, realized that when they qualify the search for truth in terms of whether or not it is productive or "unproductive", or whether or not it "dismays every citizen", or whether or not it "deepens the negative perception of politicians, left, right or center", they stray from their mandate of morality and jump into the realm of pure politics?

The truth shall set us free. But our bishops ask, will discovering truth be productive? Will the truth not dismay our citizens? Will the truth not worsen our perception of our politicians?

Is this God’s way?

Most "undoubtedly", and "in all sincerity", I submit not.

Ducky Paredes:

What bothers me about this are two things. The first of this is that the rest of the pastoral letter is silent on the search for truth. If impeachment is not the vehicle to use in searching for the truth, what is the proper vehicle, then?
....
The second thing that bothers me about this is the fact that some bishops had dinner with Gloria in Malacañang before the pastoral letter was finalized.

If politicians mulling over national issues had gone to Malacañang for a meal before finalizing their draft, certainly they would be under suspicion that what they had was much more than just a meal with Gloria.

Same thing applies to judges and justices. If they had been seen with her before a watered-down decision was rendered on an issue that concerned the presidency, wouldn’t we be suspicious?

How about Comelec commissioners, and district and regional directors of the Comelec? Wouldn’t we be as suspicious of them as we would of judges, politicians, journalists, ambassadors and anyone else? The timing of the meal is all-important.

Why couldn’t those bishops wait until the pastoral letter was out before accepting an invitation from the President? Didn’t they want to protect the integrity of the process? Or did these bishops think that being of the frock, they are above suspicion? Well, let me tell them that they are not.

And Ducky hits the nail on the head with this comment:

Said the bishops: "We reiterate our call for a thorough reform of the Commission of Elections to restore trust in our electoral process. The call for resignation or even prosecution of a number of the Commissioners should not be lightly brushed aside. The electoral process, including counting of votes, needs to be reformed and modernized before the next elections."

They ought to ask themselves: Who did the cheating in the 2004 elections? Was it the Comelec or was it an operation organized and funded and run by Malacañang? So, if Malacañang did the cheating, why reform the Comelec? How will that help?

Austero: Everybody's a cheater like Arroyo

From his blog and the Manila Standard Today (ht: MLQ3)

They say that all they want is to know the truth about whether the President cheated in the last elections. Duh. We already know the truth— everyone cheats during elections in this country and I dare any politician to come forward to claim that he or she is clean. All candidates, and I do mean ALL candidates, violate election laws— from the printing and posting of posters, to the distribution of sample ballots, to vote-buying, etc. So instead of asking the obvious, how about asking a more sincere and proactive question: since we all cheat during elections, how do we make sure that cheating is eradicated from our system?

You don't want to be considered pro-Arroyo, yet come up with this BS.

I can't think of any candidate in the recent elections who did not at least print and post his/her campaign posters during the elections or distribute sample ballots. So that makes them all "cheaters" too huh, just as bad as your president ARroyo?

But how about "stealing" elections? Is everybody else into it like your president Arroyo? Does anybody else have a COMELEC/Military dagdag bawas operation similar to Garci and Arroyo's?

Related: Hypocrisy on the "separation of church and state" issue

UPDATE: Napanood ni Dean Bocobo ang interview ni Austero back in March 2006 sa show ni Ricky Carandang. Sabi ni DJB:

But it was disappointing...Bong Austero is actually for IMPEACHMENT, just like me. In fact, if things get worse I'm pretty sure we'll see Mr. Austero at the barricades too, at least figuratively...

I thought he would actually have something interesting to say, some solid manifesto for ideological apathy. Not just another wishy-washy liberal who told Carandang he BELIEVES GMA cheated but is perfectly fine with it.

I was surprised nung nabasa ko ito. Does he mean na okay lang sa kanya yung election rigging na naganap noong 2004 by Arroyo and Garci?

But now I understand what Austero meant when he said he believed Arroyo cheated. No wonder okay lang sa kanya yung ginawa ni Arroyo. LMAO.

UPDATE: Thanks for the link, Manuel.

More here.

UPDATE: bong austero and Archbishop Ramon Arguelles must have received the same talking points from the palace.

Austero's angry again

There's a discussion going on right now at MLQ3 about this latest Bong Austero article sa Manila Standard Today. Bong's article starts off with this:

THE national torture of having to put up with self-proclaimed patriots who mouth all kinds of incendiary statements in the name of love of country has once again begun.

These are days when one cannot help but wish there is a way to vanish all these loudmouths from the national consciousness so that we can all focus on doing what we are supposed to be doing individually to make this country a better place. Unfortunately, these people are relentless in foisting themselves and their causes and prescriptions on us. They take out full-page ads in newspapers, call press conferences, and make themselves readily available to every available microphone and journalist of media establishments who, unfortunately, have made it their policy to stoke the fires of controversies in order to stay ahead of the ratings game.

Many among us have learned to take these in stride. We give them two minutes of our time, take a long deep sigh, mutter “politics as usual” and go on with our lives. Many among us have become numb and immune to the endless bickering and have become more and more disenchanted with the whole process. We silently wish and pray that these people would just shut up. But these people would not let us be. When their antics do not produce their preferred reactions from us, they call us apathetic and uncaring. Worse, they bewail our inability to see the righteousness of their cause and come very, very close to calling us immoral and stupid.

And yet, they claim to be doing all these for our sakes. They say they speak for us. They trundle conclusions and generalizations about having our widespread support, conveniently labeling us as the “people.”

So here we are again back at the same place and saddled with the same issues that we all know cannot be resolved no matter how loudly we all scream at the streets, no matter how many times we pontificate on television, or how many pages of ads we take out in the papers.

Here we are again with an impeachment complaint that has no hope of getting through Congress and certainly no hope of getting widespread support, thanks to the efforts to turn the process in its head and reduce it to a media circus. And yet, here we are again with the griping and the sourgraping when at the outset, it has already been clear that the numbers are simply not enough.

Here we are again with the statements and the homilies and the pastoral letters and the manifestoes and the self-righteous posturing of the self-proclaimed prophets whose pronouncements made headlines in the past but have all failed to galvanize public support and produce results.

Oh he also mentioned that he doesnt trust Arroyo, but that seems to me more like a throwaway line, since everything else about his article is focused on attacking those opposed to arroyo, and for us to "move on" na lang.

From ricelander:

Bong Austero is easy to explain. He admires Gloria so much but he couldn’t explain it to himself why! He is not stupid– that’s what makes it worse!

The problem with Austero is that hindi siya derecho kung magsalita. that’s what you get when you try very hard to disguise your own true views from your readers. Kinda like Andrew Sullivan back in 2004.

This article by Bong Austero reminds me of exactly the kind apologists Paul Berman was talking about in his interview this june re totalitarian movements:

Totalitarian movements have regularly been greeted by the blindness to which liberalism is prone, and even by apologetics. Hitler, and not just Stalin, had his apologists. Without these apologists neither one of those dictators would have been able to get as far as he did. And what we are seeing now is something exactly parallel. There are only a few screwballs defending Al Qaeda, or Zarqawi in Iraq, or applauding Saddam. But the people who really matter are those (many more numerous) who find some way to say either that these totalitarian movements are normal, natural, rational, or, in any case, that they should be ignored because we should focus our attention on defeating Bush. In these ways, the adherents of the totalitarian movements are not given much opposition and sometimes are even given a back-handed support. So, naturally, the movements prosper.

Of course, Arroyo is not as bad as Hitler or Stalin. GMA falls somewhere between Marcos and Estrada (although she's more Marcosian than Erap-like). But she has her own apologists too. Replace "defeating Bush" with "defeating the opposition" and voila!

Isa pa ito, from cathcath:

Tama ang sabi ni Bong, we don’t trust GMa but we don’t trust the opposition either. between two evils, I will not make a choice.

I don't believe you, cathcath.

These people claim na they’re not for either side. But almost all of comments/posts are critical/negative towards the opposition, at pretty much either tameme o muted lang ang criticism nila sa pagdating sa katarantaduhan ng Arroyo admin.

So sinong niloloko nyo?

if Arroyo is evil too, like you claim, then isn’t it your obligation to correct that mistake, since you supported the military-civilian coup called edsa dos, which installed your president?

so bakit ka naghuhugas kamay ngayon?

UPDATE: I think Austero's new favorite term is "patriots." Out na ang "Moralists". LOL.

We've heard Bong (and others of his kind) claim na he doesn't trust the president, and say he has even less trust for the opposition, the so called "patriots" and "moralists."

Well, good for him. OTOH, he's also supported the Arroyo administration and it's claims of legitimacy, and defended (or looked the other way) at some of the dispicable tactics used by the Arroyo admin in the pasts to cover up GLORIAGATE and target and harass the opposition.

But he's entitled to his own opinions, of course.

I myself am not a trusting fellow. I don't trust the "move on" people, the civil society types, the COMELEC, and people who claim they're "independent" or "non-partisan" of all this.

MLQ3 on Austero:

he emphasizes, too, he shouldn’t be considered a supporter of the President.

I dunno, Manuel. I doubt Bong would have been hired by Mr. Razon to write his columns the Manila STandard -- the most powerful and the most strongest newspaper in the world today-- if that were the case.

Just like I doubt Ninez would hire a pro-Arroyo columnist to write for the Tribune too.

And it's no surprise either that most of the commenters and repeat visitors Sassy and Austero's blog tend to attract are pro-administration types.

Bunye hits at opposition for for being deadma

Malacanang criticizes the opposition for being "unusually quiet" on foiled Sona ‘sabotage’ plot:

Malacañang yesterday criticized the opposition, which “seem to be unusually quiet” after the government claimed it had thwarted an alleged plot to sabotage President Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) by blowing up the Batasan building in Quezon City.

Press Secretary and concurrent presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye, in a statement, said instead of renouncing it, the opposition has been uncharacteristically tight-lipped on the alleged conspiracy that could have triggered widespread implications for the country.

“The authorities have aborted a plot to bomb Congress during the Sona and we are surprised that the opposition seems to be unusually quiet on this dark plan instead of renouncing it,” he noted.

Sabihin mo na, it's because they're part of the conspiracy to bomb the Batasan, diba Mr. Two-discs bunye?

But maybe they didn't have much opinion about this "terror plot" because most right-thinking people don't believe every information or claim the administration is feeding the public.

Ninez comments:

Press Secretary and presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye — he of the “I have two ‘Hello Garci’ discs” — Sunday slammed the opposition, which he said is “unusually quiet” after the government claimed to have aborted an alleged plot to sabotage Gloria’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) through a planned bomb attack.

Bunye, as reported, said instead of renouncing the plot, the opposition maintained silence on the alleged conspiracy that could have triggered widespread implications for the country. Note that Bunye used the word renounce instead of denounce, which if one knows his English language, knows there is a bit of a difference. One has to do with condemning, the other to do with disclaiming or rejecting — in this case participation in the alleged plot.

As he put it, “The authorities have aborted a plot to bomb Congress during the Sona and we are surprised that the opposition seems to be unusually quiet on the dark plan instead of renouncing it.”

On the one hand, why should Malacañang expect the opposition to “renounce” or disclaim that which had not been charged formally by the Palace or even by the military as even the identities of the alleged opposition personalities have not even been released? Why disclaim or renounce involvement or the plot itself when clearly they have not been identified, nor has the plot been proved?

Those personalities whom former Middle East Ambassador Roy Señeres mentioned in his interview with a newspaper, quickly disclaimed knowledge and participation in the withdrawal of support message of Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim. That was the right step to take.

On the other hand, why should any of them, or even the opposition members denounce the bomb plot when, to set the record straight, this has not only not been proved, but has not even been officially claimed by the military and police brass?

It will be recalled that all that were presented to the media were a blueprint of the Batasan complex and some explosives. Given the penchant of the authorities to plant evidence, there can’t be any certainty that the raiding and arresting team did not plant these pieces of evidence. After all, when lawyers demanded to see the arrest and search warrant, the brass failed to produce them. Besides which, since they claimed to have this search and arrest warrant, why didn’t they go about it the right way, such as have someone witness that which the authorities found and took away with them, as “evidence?”

So sorry na lang if most of the public are deadma about this latest terrorist/coup/destabilization plot against arroyo.

Related: More from the Tribune Editorial: Manufacturing more evidence

Not surprisingly, neither Malacañang nor the military-police brass could come up with the list of the alleged civilian financiers of the claimed Feb. 24 coup, despite claims made by the military brass of the renegade officers’ cooperation in identifying them.

The reason for their failure to do so is simple. The way the Palace and the so-called intelligence groups go about preparing their list is all based on their usual suspicions that, however, they cannot substantiate with hard evidence, which is why even as they file cases against their usual suspects in court, these are, in the end, deemed by independent courts as “weak” cases.

For Gloria Arroyo and her cohorts, all they do to get a case going is get people to execute perjured affidavits claiming that they either witnessed or heard about the alleged crime. Despite hearsay and perjured evidence presented by government paid affiants, the complaints/cases flourish because Malacañang and its Justice department make sure that their prosecution arm, along with the fiscals — is under their control and thus elevates the case to the courts even when there is absolutely no probable cause.

As for some of the lower courts, which are hardly seen as independent, they too play along with Malacañang and allow the case to drag on and on, instead of promptly dismissing it, despite its being clearly an extremely weak case.

In the meantime, the accused, especially in cases where Gloria and her aides want them out of the way, are slapped with charges without bail, and the courts, even when there is clearly no probable cause, go along with this and deny them bail.

What happens next is inevitable. The accused are quickly detained while the Palace and media propaganda mill get going in trying and convicting them by publicity. In the meantime, the cases drag on and on, while the accused rot in jail.

7 blasts rock commuter trains in India; hundreds dead

Link here.

Let me guess. They were attacked because they joined Bush's "Coalition of the Willing" invasion of Iraq?

Time to finish off "destabilizers" and "power grabbers"

Monday Gloriagate Bullets:

Erap files P30-M civil libel vs Joelle Pelaez

The defeated beauty contestant, Joelle Pelaez, isn’t going to get away with her lies and her malicious charges, with deposed President Joseph Estrada reiterating his determination to file not just civil and criminal libel against her, but has also prepared a case of malicious prosecution against Pelaez.

Pelaez filed two days ago, a case of estafa against Estrada, claiming it was through his enticement that she had lost two condomi-niums, which she said were worth P20 million.

Her affidavit, however, was hearsay not substantiated with evidence.

Bank and court records, showed that Joelle had defaulted on a P5 million bank loan, with United Coconut Planters Bank attaching the two properties and later, with the Apellate court’s nod, auctioned the properties amounting to less than P4 million.

The detained leader is set to file P30 million criminal and civil libel suits against Pelaez and her mother, Blanquita who has been convicted of estafa by a Makati City Regional Trial Court. There is a warrant of arrest against her after jumping bail.

The others who are included in the libel suit are the publisher, editor and a reporter of Manila Standard Today.

The former chief executive will also file a case of malicious prosecution against the younger Pelaez.

Sigh. Like mother, like daughter.

And remember Christine Herrera? Hindi ba noong 2001, siya yung Inquirer reporter na pumunta sa US kasama si Blanquita Pelaez at Victor Corpus para maghanap ng "ebidensiya" sa "hidden billion $$$ bank accounts" ni Lacson? It was a hoax. but the PDI never apologized for their fake story.

(btw, christine... bakit bigla kang nawala sa PDI a few years ago? Hindi ba star reporter ka ng PDI? seeking greener pastures ba? so lumipat ka sa manila standard? ;) )

Ngayon, nasa Manila Standard na siya. At si Joelle Pelaez naman ang source ng "exclusive" story ni Ms. Herrera against another opposition personality. LOL.

More here:

This also-ran beauty pageant contestant just went through the motions of filing a so-called estafa case against Erap and then flew back to where she now lives without bothering to wait for a preliminary investigation that requires her presence.

Her filing the case was only meant to pacify her handlers, who must have paid a fortune to bring her back to the country and not get their money’s worth.

This “thank-you” girl (those are the two words you get if you want to be queen or something and not measure up to the beauty standards of “World,” Universe” or “International”) left her friends — among them Gloria’s niño bonito Defensor, who had admitted to being one — holding the bag.

Her drumbeaters had announced through an administration-friendly broadsheet that she was coming home precisely just to file money-laundering charges against Erap, but what do you know?

No case over the charges was filed, causing a lawyer of the detained president to ask “where the money-laundering angle that (this accuser or whatever) has been mentioning since her telenovela was first published in May” in that newspaper.

The same broadsheet has since shut its mouth and understandably will have to plead amnesia at the mention of the ML word.

Manila Standard Today po ang broadsheet na tinutukoy dito.

Read this too.

From Ernie Maceda:

Tidbits. The best proof that Malacañang had something to do with Joelle Pelaez’s charges is the fact that a three-year-old outstanding warrant of arrest for a conviction for estafa was not served on Blanquita Pelaez, Joelle’s mother. Add to the fact that the mother and daughter team were shown on TV as having met with Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson. Also, an admission by presidential chief of staff Mike Defensor that they had met and that the Pelaezes were his long-time friends...

Sino sino kaya ang mga ito? From Lito Banayo:

A fellow cabinet member traveled all the way to Baungon in mildly cool Bukidnon to break bread with Virgilio Garcillano last July 5. Maybe to regale Garci with the tale of Madya-as, and the confederacy he would soon launch with Little Mike. Or maybe to ensure Garci would be around to help him "win" in the 2007 elections. With him paying fraternal respects to the undeserved title-holder of master of electoral cheating (undeserved because Comelec insiders claim it’s someone else, and Garci is just a runner-up) was Prospero Pichay (Garci’s alleged pilot) and Bobby Dimaporo whose family lords over one-half of the undisputed capital of electoral cheating (in Quirino versus Laurel, it was the undivided Lanao. Bobby is congressman for Lanao del Norte.)

Someone who did not attend Garci’s birthday bash, but was duly represented by the Comelec director for another cheating field in Mindanao, is another Defensor confederate in Madya-as. He is scion to a political dynasty which controls the politics of Agusan. Once upon a time they were fiercely loyal to Erap. Now, but for one who was an original in the impeachment complaint against GMA, they all swear for the Doña.

Will Madya-as Defensor kindly explain why one fine Friday in June, his fellow Madya-as Nazzer Pangandaman of DAR flew hastily to Cagayan de Oro, to meet Garci? And why, an hour later, in a private plane, he himself flew to mollify Garci? El Jefe de Malacañan, el niño bonito de la Doña, to mollify a "feeling-betrayed" Garci?

But apparently the panjandrum of Hello Ma’am, the keeper of the secrets of Comelec, could not be mollified by mere niño bonito. There, with all his accomplices in the Batch of 2004, election supervisors and registrars threatening to disclose all, Garci demanded El Jefe Real, mismo! My spies in Cagayan de Oro’s mist-shrouded airport swear the next plane that landed disgorged a man bigger and taller than Boy Mike. Apparently, assurances were made, and Garci, along with his Batch of 2004, were mollified. Until the next tantrum.

Permanent Links Updated

Added two new posts located at the right side of this blog.

Yes JB Baylon, Arroyo has wielded that power before

From JB Baylon's "The Mouse roars" article in Malaya:

The President of the Philippines yesterday condemned the missile testing by North Korea.

I am not exactly sure what else our president said beyond aping the remarks of US President George W. Bush, but effectively telling North Korea to behave are tough words from a Philippine president.

I wonder what we will say should North Korea decide to lob one missile or two our way in response.

No other country in our part of the world, with the exception of Japan and South Korea for obvious reasons, have said anything or at least said anything publicly about, and against, North Korea’s actions. Maybe it is because they do not feel as threatened by North Korea as we do? Or maybe because they do not seek to win as many brownie points with George Bush as we do?

Or yet maybe still because their leaders do not need to make sure they have the support of George W. Bush as ours does, lest a coup attempt be seen by the US as an “internal matter” – and out goes the president.

Which is why I see the statement from Malacañang as directed more towards the White House than towards Pyongyang.

While we’re at it, maybe GMA can also condemn Osama in the strongest possible terms. I suggest she ask Secretary Raul Gonzalez to make one of his trademark disparaging remarks to a group of newsmen about bin Laden, so the bearded man can quake in his boots.

Imagine – the Philippines side by side with the US threatening the scoundrels of the world with dire consequences because of their intransigence! We are truly evolving into a mini-world power. If the US has become the world’s policeman, we have become the “kabit” of the world’s policeman.

Then again maybe we have a right to consider ourselves a budding world power. Why not, given the fact that many of the world’s leaders have Filipinas as yayas to their kids. Can you imagine the power and the influence of that?

Add to that the fact that many of the world’s top businessmen also have Filipino househelp – from cooks to drivers to mayordomas.

If you think about it, the power the Philippines wields is growing, albeit in a quiet, backroom sort of way. And soon we can show our strength by calling for a world boycott, a global strike of all Filipino workers – which would cripple ships and hotels and households and all that. On that day GMA can truly make demands on all world leaders, and not just on bin Laden or Kim Jong Il.

The Arroyo admin has weilded that power before. Feeling cocky after "winning" her elections in 2004, she thought that her admin has no more need of the US as "big brother" protector dahil may "legitimacy" na siya. And since Iraq then was beginning to look like a lost cause (with violence spiralling out of control and no WMDs), Arroyo used the kidnapping of a Filipino truckdriver as an excuse to bail out of Iraq and pull out all the troops pre-maturely in mid 2004. (Who knew na kakailanganin niya ulit ang US support dahil sa legitimacy problems niya sa GLORIAGATE... haw haw...)

Nagalit ang US sa Arroyo admin at binawasan nila ang financial aid ng Pinas nung 2005. The Arroyo admin responded by playing the "China Card", then threatening to pull out all the remaining OFWs from Iraq, essentially crippling the US efforts to rebuild the post-Saddam Iraq.

U.S. TROUBLED OVER RP CALLS FOR PINOYS TO LEAVE IRAQ

MANILA, April 27, 2005 (STAR) By Pia Lee-Brago - The United States is troubled by the Philippine government’s attempts to persuade Filipino workers to leave Iraq.

US officials in Manila have repeatedly aired their concerns over the repatriation of Filipinos working in military bases in Iraq, Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said Monday night.

But Romulo said he had told the US embassy officials that the priority of the Philippine government is the security of Filipino workers.

"We have to explain to them that our obligation is to our citizens," he said.

Romulo said the US cannot make the Philippines change its stand.

"We are a sovereign country, and we have to protect our citizens. That’s the law. That’s in the Constitution," he said.

The government has urged all Filipino workers in Iraq to avail of voluntary repatriation following the death of two Filipinos in two suspected militant attacks this month.

Records from the Department of Foreign Affairs showed that around 6,000 Filipinos still work in US military camps in Iraq.

Most of the workers provide non-military services as food servers and kitchen helpers to the troops.

Their withdrawal from Iraq is expected to have an adverse impact on the operation of the camps since Filipinos make up the largest number of foreign workers in the camps.

More here.

The appeals for the OFWs to return home have been repeated by Romulo in August 2005 after a Filipino engineer was killed in Kirkuk.

But now, kung mapapansin nyo, there are no more calls from the DFA for Filipinos in Iraq to go home. In fact, a US company is hiring Filipinos to provide security in Iraq. Seems like "bati" na ulit ang US at Arroyo admin.

But I don't think the Bush admin really trust Arroyo at this point, although they do find her useful to them--and they have bought the canard that she's "indispensable" and "irreplacable" because her alternative replacements are worse. Ergo, may tacit support ang US kay Mrs. Arroyo.

See what the GLORIAGATE crisis can do to change Arroyo's attidute towards the US? LOL.

Hypocrisy on the "separation of church and state" issue

From Malaya:

No sex education without approval of Catholic Church: Hidalgo

THE Department of Education has put on hold the distribution of "sex education" teaching modules in public secondary schools pending approval of the Catholic Church.

DepEd acting Secretary Fe Hidalgo said they will also consult parents on the contents of the modules which contain information on various forms of birth control including condom use.

DepEd has already distributed 40 of the modules to public high schools in Pateros and Parañaque, which were chosen as the pilot schools for the program

Uhhh... excuse me, but why does the DepEd need the Catholic Church's permission on sex education? Hindi ba yung mga apologist ni arroyo recently made an issue out of "separation of church and state"? So why is the Dep Ed secretary saying na kailangan pa nila ng "approval" sa Catholic Church?

I may disagree with the church on family planning etc, pero I don't blame the Church, or any group, for pushing their agendas. The priest and bishops, just like most citizens, can complain about the way the gov't is being run.

The gov't OTOH has no obligation to seek the Church's permission on any issues, or vice versa (unless we're already under a theocracy, LOL.)

But if the ARroyo admin is willing to give the Church veto powers on some issues just to buy their support, then I don't wanna hear anymore bullshit about "separation of church and state" from their apologists in the blogosphere kapag hindi pabor sa administration ang position ng Simbahan.

It's clear that this administration likes to invoke "separation of church and state" when it is politically convenient for them.

MORE: This guy makes John Kerry look like a straight-talker.

Here's an example. first Bong said:

I do not take it against the bishop that he filed the impeachment case. But I do find unsettling the timing and the circumstances around the Bishop’s act.

There are those with more overactive imaginations who float the possibility that all these seemingly separate actions are actually all part of a grand plan or conspiracy, but I really doubt it. My personal gut feel is that Bishop Yniquez did it on his own.

Good. But later on, he also made this statement.

The other thing that I found unnerving is the timing of the Bishop’s filing of the impeachment complaint. If he was part of the first citizens’ groups that filed the impeachment, it will still catch my interest, but I would not give it special attention. To my mind, the fact that he filed it as part of the carefully orchestrated serial filing automatically begs the assumption that the good bishop is dancing to another tune.

So which is it? Not part of a grand conspiracy? Or part of a carefully orchestrated impeachment plan against your president Arroyo?

CHA CHA propaganda sa Global Destiny Kabayan

Kung Global Destiny ang cable nyo, mapapansin nyo na madalas ipalabas ang Cha-cha show nila sa Channel 3 with the lovable Carmen Pedrosa and another guy.

UPDATE: Just how annoying Carmen Pedrosa is? Pati si MLQ3 inis sa kanya.

Carmen Pedrosa is one of the columnists I love to hate: virtually anything she writes is guaranteed to irk me. And so, her latest column, What are preambles for?, true to form, triggered a dark cloud descending on my morning.

Imagine some poor Global Cable subscribers having the misfortune to switch their TVs to ch. 3 and having to listen to her drone everyday about Arroyo's CHA CHA. Torture, LOL.

Even the hated Imelda Marcos is making fun of Pedrosa. From Manuel Buencamino:

I saw Imelda Marcos not too long ago and Carmen Pedrosa came up in our conversation.
I asked her, ” Didn’t she have to leave the country after she wrote that book about you?”
Imelda said, “Yes, my husband was going to throw her in jail for writing that book.”
I argued, “But why? I read the book and I thought it humanized you”
“Yes, that’s true” she said, “but that’s not the reason why he wanted to be rid of her. My husband thought it was best to end her writing career before she got the crazy notion that she could rewrite constitutions and preambles.”

LMAO.

Killing your access to Yahoo.cn

Here's a nice trick:

Do you want to kill someone’s access to Yahoo China? It’s easy – just include a hidden Iframe with a Yahoo.cn search for e.g. falun gong on a website. The user who visits that site will then still be able to access Yahoo.cn, but not be able to see any search results – including those for non-censored terms – for some amount of time (instead, there will be a message that reads “The connection was reset”).

You can reproduce this by going to Yahoo.cn, and first search for commercial words like coke (which works), then search for falun gong, then try again to search for coke (which won’t work).

I first tried to type "Arroyo" at Yahoo.cn, may lumabas. then I typed "falun gong", at hindi na lumalabas yung mga results sa yahoo.cn.

Bush promises "absolute justice" and "transparency" on the Iraq rape case

See, kung isa kang biktima ng rape sa Iraq, you get top US officials scurrying to promise "absolute justice" to you, kasi alam nilang napaka-damaging ng allegations na ito-- because if it looks like they're trying to cover up or whitewash the crime to protect one of their own, mali-lintikan sila ng International at Mainstream media, at mas lalo pang masisira ang kredibilidad nila sa mga iraqis. If this is not done right, then goodbye, "hearts and minds", hello insurgency.

Here's the report:

Bush says Iraq rape, murder charges 'very serious'

Washington, July 07: US President George W. Bush has promised "absolute justice" if US soldiers are found guilty of committing atrocities against Iraqi civilians.

"These are very serious charges and what the Iraqis must understand is that we will deal with these in a very transparent up-front way. People will be held to account if these charges are true," he told CNN television in an interview yesterday.

"There will be absolute justice if this person is guilty," he said in an apparent reference to a US Iraq war Veteran charged with raping and murdering an Iraqi woman after allegedly gunning down three members of her family.

The Veteran, 21-year-old Steven Green, pleaded not guilty yesterday in connection to the alleged March 12 incident near Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

"If in fact the charges are true that somebody was raped and murdered, then they ought be concerned," Bush said of Iraqi leaders. "But they've got to be comforted in knowing is that we will deal with this in a way that is going to be transparent, above board and open."

From the AP:

U.S. Calls Iraqi Rape-Murder 'Inexcusable'
Jul 6, 11:10 PM EDT
By KIM GAMEL

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- America's two top officials in Iraq on Thursday sought to calm Iraqi anger over allegations that U.S. soldiers were involved in the rape-murder of a girl, promising an open investigation and calling such acts "absolutely inexcusable and unacceptable."

The rare joint statement from U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. George W. Casey, the senior U.S. commander in Iraq, came as military officers investigated the apparent failures of leadership to keep a close watch on American troops.

It's too bad "Nicole" the pinay rape victim is not an Iraqi, though. Kasi yung attitudes at yung level of cooperation ng US gov't (at ng DOJ natin) sa kaso niya is very different compared to the top level US officials attitudes towards the Iraqi victims.

Oh well, there's always Mindanao Joe Bob to make us laugh.

"If a coup plot succeeds, it is patriotic; if it fails it is a crime."

"If a coup plot succeeds, it is patriotic; if it fails it is a crime."

-- Justice Sec. Raul Gonzales' answer to Sen. Biazon:

Biazon raised the question which was also asked by Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, "If it was not wrong for then AFP chief of Staff Angelo Reyes to withdraw support from President Estrada in 2001, why is it wrong for Lim to withdraw support from Arroyo."

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez’ answer is classic and should be engraved in the Hall of Justice: "If it succeeds, it’s a patriotic act. If it fails, it’s a crime."

DJB comments.

I've also compiled some of the more interesting comments Raul Gonzales made in the past.

We've seen the tape... Now, can the TV stations play "the other tape"

so now that we saw the lim tape on tv, can we now expect the tv stations to play the gloriagate tapes on tv too? if they played the phony bunye tapes on TV, and Chavit's X-tapes on tv, and Gen. Lim's tapes on tv, bakit ayaw ng ABS-CBN at GMA7 na i-play ang GLORIAGATE TAPES sa tv rin? dahil baka ipakulong sila ng arroyo admin?

it's never too late to play the GLORIAGATE tapes on the TV news shows of ch. 2 and ch. 7, dahil late na ring lumabas ang lim tape, even though we've heard about it's existence before.

More: The Gen. Danilo Lim tape should be shown in it's entirety

I agree with Fidel Tabako ramos, show the Lim tape in it's entirety.

The military on Tuesday said it intends to use the video recording as proof of the overthrow plot.

Former President Fidel Ramos said he favors the showing of the full video.

"It should be shown in full if it’s for the good of everybody," he said in an ambush interview at the PNP turn over ceremony in Camp Crame in Quezon City.

Lim, in the video shown by ABS-CBN’s news program "Bandila" Monday night, branded Arroyo a "bogus president" and called for the establishment of a new government which he said would be headed by civilians.

Disclose everything on the tape. Play it all on the TV. Let everybody see it in it's entirety.

And after showing the Lim tape, play the GLORIAGATE tapes too in it's entirety, para maging well-informed ang mga viewers natin at marining nila sa sarili ang mga conversations ng mga dagdag bawas operators at ni madam Arroyo.

DJB supports the airing of the Lim tapes too.

Read this too from ellen tordesillas.

Malacanang blasted CBCP for their impeach stand

• Bishops back Yniguez impeach bid
  
  

  Ranking officials of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday vowed to defend and throw their full support behind their fellow bishop whom Malacañang wants to be punished for filing the third impeachment complaint against President Arroyo.
  
  Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president of the CBCP, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and Lingayen Archbishop Oscar Cruz, former president of the CBCP, in unison said they will fully back Caloocan City Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, who filed the impeachment complaint last Wednesday.
  
  “It is a very heroic stand which he has taken, therefore, all the more we would like to give him our support and encouragement,” Lagdameo said in a church-run program aired over Radio Veritas.
  
  He stressed that though Iñiguez said his decision to file the third impeachment complaint was his personal stand and that the CBCP is not part of it, the Catholic hierarchy is convinced that what the Caloocan bishop did is the right thing.
  
  Rosales, like Lagdameo, expressed his support for Iñiguez, saying it was a “personal decision of Bishop Iñiguez and he must be respected.”

  
  Malacanang OTOH, blasted the CBCP for their impeach stand.
  
  Hmmm... I didn't hear much complaints about the "separation of church and state" issues from the pro-Arroyos when Fr. Robert Reyes signed the impeachment complaint agaisnt Erap back in 2000. From the Tribune editorial:
  
  

  But isn’t this so ridiculous a call from her, considering the indisputable fact that she, along the late Jaime Cardinal Sin and the Catholic bishops, with her military generals, the chief justice and his judicial clique, conspired to oust a legitimately elected President of the Republic through mob rule, discarding the constitutional processes and the rule of law?
  
  What she, her bishops, the elite and the military generals did was certainly an unpardonable breach of the Constitution and if the religious flavor must be injected, that was a breach of Catholicism, on grounds that the voice of the people is the voice of God — a voice that they had thwarted, not once, but twice, through a naked power grab in 2001 and again, through massive poll cheating in 2004, which electoral fraud these bishops even blessed by claiming that while there was cheating, the vote still reflected the people’s will.
  
  It is also to be recalled that in 2000, when an impeachment complaint was filed against then sitting President Joseph Estrada, this was signed by a priest, Robert Reyes, then the attack dog of Jaime Sin. And there is no denying that the bishops were behind her in a staged “people power” revolt, but there was no objection from Gloria and her coup plotters on such disgraceful behavior of the church leaders.
  
  But now that a bishop files an impeachment complaint against her, she now wants his actions probed? Just who does she think she is? Hell, she is not even the legitimately elected President of the Republic!

  
  LOL. And wasn't Fr. Joe Dizon also one of the signatories on Erap's impeachment complaint back in 2000? Didn't hear much complaints about that either.
  
  

  Militant groups have condemned the Macapagal-Arroyo government’s granting of Estrada’s request to be allowed to travel abroad. “This is yet another proof of Arroyo’s treachery to the cause and ideals of People Power 2,” said Fr. Joe Dizon, spokesperson of Plunder Watch which filed the plunder case against the deposed president, in a statement to the media last week. “She has again abetted corruption by allowing Estrada to flee from justice.”
  
  Fr. Dizon is one of the signatories to the impeachment case filed against Estrada in 2000. The impeachment trial was aborted through a maneuver by senator-judges partial to Estrada on Jan. 16, 2001, leading to the People Power 2 revolt that ousted him four days later.

  
  More here:
  
  

  But outspoken Lingayen Archbishop Oscar Cruz pointed out that if there is anybody to blame for the furor over the impeachment complaint filed by Bishop Iñiguez, it is none other than the presidential allies due to their penchant for turning small issues into big ones.
  
  “In the case of Bishop Iñiguez who filed an impeachment complaint against Mrs. Arroyo. We wouldn’t have said anything if they (Palace aides) did not push us (into making this support stand public.) It’s just a small thing, yet they made a mountain out of this molehill,” the archbishop said.

  
  Naku! baka bawiin ni Arroyo yung "regalo" nya na sa CBCP at kay Pope Benedict.
  
  From Conrad de Quiros:
  
  

  I HEARD IGNACIO BUNYE ON RADIO THURSday night saying the Department of Justice would look into the canons of God and man that Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez violated when he filed an impeachment case against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The usual suspect, Prospero Nograles, was also around to register his moral—as if that word can ever sit well on anyone of them—indignation at Iñiguez’s affront. “We would like to see a stricter implementation of the separation of Church and State,” he demanded.
  
  Never mind that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines—whose political interventions during the time of Archbishop Fernando Capalla they took to be God’s voice itself; particularly when the CBCP said, at the height of the “Hello Garci” scandal, that it saw no need for GMA to resign—has backed up Iñiguez. Never mind that the same CBCP—whose former head, Archbishop Capalla, kept telling the world that the 2004 elections were peaceful and fair—now says that what Iñiguez has done falls completely within Church canons, specifically its pastoral letter demanding the dogged pursuit of the truth about the last elections.
  
  Mind only the gall of these people.
  
  There should be separation between Church and State? Well, who in God’s very good name has been poaching on whose territory with relentless zeal? Bunye seems totally oblivious to the irony of his complaint about Iñiguez trying to be the Pope’s spokesperson. Who can speak better for the Pope, Iñiguez or GMA? Iñiguez, at least, is a bona fide bishop or prince of the Church, GMA is a fake President or head of State.

  
  LMAO!!!


• Hmmmmm....
  
  

  A few days ago the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) decided to unseat Tawi-Tawi Rep. Annuar Abubakar in favor of his challenger, Nur Jaafar.
  
  The HRET recount showed Abubakar actually losing to Jaafar by about 1,500 votes – polling some 25,700 votes to the latter’s 27,200. This, in contrast to the Comelec ruling in May 2004 that Abubakar had won the post with 37,000 plus votes to Jaafar’s 35,000.
  
  On the face of the decision this would appear to be just another of those long-delayed rulings on election protests, one that is handed down with barely a few days, if not months, left of the contested term. Remember that Pasig congressional bet who won his contested seat – on the very last day of Congress?
  
  There may be deeper implications in the HRET decision, though.
  
  Implications especially for the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.



• Getting rid of Arroyo's partisan and incompetent COMELEC officials will restore the public's trust in the COMELEC, not the other way around. From CDQ:
  
  

  ONE of the funniest things I’ve read over the past weeks was our news item last Sunday. It said Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez opposed the idea of Election Commissioner Resurreccion Borra or, heaven forbid, his fellow commissioners being impeached. Should that happen, Gonzalez warned, it would greatly affect the 2007 elections. The public, he said, would not trust an electoral body that will have its attention divided between preparing for those elections and attending to the legal case against its top officials.
  
  But of course, filing impeachment charges against Borra and company will greatly affect the 2007 elections. It will make them honest. What on earth makes Gonzalez think the public trusts the Commission on Elections (Comelec) now? For that matter, what makes him think the public trusts him? What makes him think he and the word “justice” have any connection whatsoever? What makes him think his utterances are of any consequence to any Filipino in his or her right mind?

  
  Read the whole thing. Eto pa:
  
  

  But Aquilino Pimentel is right: Why only Borra and why impeachment? The Mega Pacific scandal, which consisted of the Comelec awarding the bid to computerize canvassing to a patently unqualified bidder, one that had just been put together thereby grossly violating the first criterion which was that the bidder should have been around for several years, was approved by the commission en banc.
  
  If the argument is that the other commissioners did it in good faith, then they are monumentally incompetent, or downright stupid, signing things they have not scrutinized or understood. Their good faith can only represent a bad fate for the voters, and the country at large. Indeed why impeachment when there is a simpler, more direct and complete solution to the problem, which is to file criminal charges against the commissioners? That is how it’s done in the United States, where the officials of electoral bodies are not regarded as being in the same league as the president and chief justice and deserving of impeachment.



• Rina Jimenez David supports the Black and White Movement's call to turn Rex Borra into a "state witness" vs. the Arroyo admin.


• Dangerous Life on an OFW inside Iraq


• Who are these people?


• What does chavit want this time around?
  
  Ike Seneres: "In a democracy where all citizens are supposed to have an equal voice, there appears to be some influential people who have a louder voice — a voice moreover that government does not mind, even if what is stated is illegal. Take the case of Chavit Singson who loudly said trouble would erupt if Erap is acquitted. He might have been expressing his personal opinion but he appears to be immune from government lawsuits, else he would be a prime candidate for inciting to sedition."



• GMA names Jose Pidal's cousin as next PNP chief



• Ike Seneres: "Talk about boycotts against businesses owned by “pro-Gloria” supporters is nothing new, but what may be new is the more solid determination among the proponents to go ahead with it, using boycott as a political weapon to neutralize the administration. While some Makati Business Club members have already withdrawn their support from Gloria, there are also others who are still with her, fearing reprisals from her. But boycott planners are now in the process of defining who and what go into the boycott list. In a sense, a boycott is also a “withdrawal of support,” yet another proof that politics and economics are always intertwined. What could a boycott do to tilt the political equation? For one, the downswings in the sales of goods and services coming from “blacklisted” companies would directly influence the behavior of the congressmen who would be voting for or against the impeachment raps filed against Gloria. Many congressmen are businessmen themselves, or are closely associated with business interests."


• The Masinloc power controversy. I think this is not getting enough coverage. It should concern us though, dahil mukhang tataas na naman ang singil sa kuryente natin dahil sa shady deal na ito. Key point:
  
  

  Sources said the Palace has supposedly intensified its pressure on Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to sign a power supply contract with Malaysian-based Ranhill Berhad, which reportedly rescued the undercapitalized YNN Pacific recently by providing the needed financial resources.
  
  Malacañang announced last Friday that President Arroyo approved the extension of the June 30 deadline for YNN Pacific as requested by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
  
  Osmeña said, there are indications that Ranhill Berhad is in the same boat as YNN Pacific as allegations abound that the latter is also a new company with no track record in the power industry.
  
  Pimentel, for his part, warned of higher electricity rates, should YNN Pacific finally take over operations of the country’s biggest power plant and enter into a supply agreement with Meralco.
  
  Power rates, he said, would surely go up if the poorly-capitalized buyer of the Masinloc power plant is allowed to operate the facility even after repeatedly failing to pay its financial obligation to the government.
  
  He added the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (Psalm) Corp. should have rescinded the sale of the 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant to YNN Pacific and confiscated the company’s $14-million performance bond after reneging on its $227- million down payment on the third deadline last June 30.
  
  Pimentel maintained that Psalm should have declared a failure of bidding in view of YNN Pacific’s repeated non-payment of the upfront fee. Thereafter, he said a rebidding of the Masinloc plant should be held instead of allowing YNN Pacific to enter into a buyout deal with Berhad.
  
  “The entry of Ranhill Power has exposed YNN Pacific for what it is — a mere broker or conduit — not a legitimate player in the power industry,” the minority leader said.
  
  He added it defies explanation why YNN Pacific, with an actual paid-up capital of only P625,000 was awarded the contract to purchase the Masinloc power plant at a price of $651 million.
  
  Like a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces are beginning to fall into place, Pimentel said it has become crystal-clear that YNN Pacific gave a fantastic bid price to ensure it would beat rival buyers despite its doubtful financial capability and lack of credible track record in power generation.
  
  Obviously, Pimentel said, YNN Pacific, due to its thin financial resources, intended to source the payments for its financial obligations to the Philippine government largely from the sale of expensive power.

  
  Sheeeeet. Read the whole thing.


• Dirty Tricks before the Makati mayoralty race? From ike Seneres:
  
  

  Some criminal elements possibly backed up by rouge cops are planning to cause trouble in Makati City, in an apparent attempt to project the notion that Mayor Jejomar Binay has lost control of the peace and order situation in that city. But the moves may be part of a plan to raise an election issue against him, or serve as a prelude to a plan that would place the city under “police control,” a strategy that could effectively remove from him the power to issue rally permits.




• From Ninez Cacho Olivares:
  
  

  Under the Gloria government, and specially with its Justice Secretary, Raul Gonzalez, any and every act or even statement made by critics of Gloria Arroyo is a crime.
  
  A call to civil disobedience or a boycott made by Tito Guingona, former Vice President, is a crime of sedition, or rebellion and any other crime Gonzalez and his principal can think of.
  
  But wait, the same Gonzalez also states that such acts of the critics are not quite a crime yet, but he will see how far they go and gather evidence to fit the crime.
  
  Doesn’t that sound like a clear admission by the Gloria government that it is into manufacturing evidence to fit what Gonzalez says is a crime?
  
  But didn’t people such as Gonzalez, Guingona and the then anti-Marcos forces do the same in 1986 when they spilled into the streets, without any permit whatsoever, in complete disobedience to the rule of law and the Constitution when they and their groups not only called for civil disobedience and a boycott of establishments identified or associated with Marcos then? And didn’t they oust Marcos then at Edsa? As for rebellion, which is supposed to be an armed one, why, the military that defected was armed. So why weren’t the officers punished from going against the military’s chief of staff then?
  
  If it was not seen as a crime then, why should this same act, committed by them then, now be regarded as a crime, simply because this time around, the government is headed by Gloria Arroyo?
  
  As a matter of record, party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran, was arrested on charges of rebellion on the strength of a 30-year-old arrest warrant issued under the Marcos regime, on claims that rebellion is a “continuing crime.”
  
  If so, then Gonzalez and all Palace aides should be charged with sedition, rebellion and coup d’etat as they all actively participated in a power grab last January 2001 when they ousted then sitting President Joseph Estrada. If ousting a President is a crime then by rights, they should all be charged with the same crime.

  
  Ouch!



• From Peking Duck: China to be more aggressive in cracking down on blogs, search engines


• Nakalusot sa TimesSelect:
  
  

  Rumblings From China
  By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
  Published: July 2, 2006
  
  In the 17 years since the bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen democracy movement, China has enjoyed an economic miracle and remarkable political stability. But my hunch is that that period of smooth sailing is now coming to an end.

  
  Complete article here.


• Roger Ebert is seriously ill

Jamby a Commie sympathizer?

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales accuses Sen. Jamby Madrigal of treason for meeting with the Reds in Utretch, Netherlands. Gonzalez also said the meeting further bolstered the government’s position that an "unholy alliance" existed between the opposition and the communist party.

Neal Cruz puts some sanity on this issue:

Which brings us to Sen. Jamby Madrigal talking to CPP leaders Jose Ma. Sison and Luis Jalandoni in the Netherlands. Malacañang wants the Senate to censure Madrigal for meeting with them and signing a communiqué calling for peace talks between the Philippine government and the CPP-NPA and the National Democratic Front (NDF). What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with talking peace and trying to find a solution to the age-old communist problem? While the two sides are talking, fewer Filipinos would be dying of bullet wounds.

Former senator Loren Legarda also went to the Netherlands to talk with Sison and Jalandoni. House Speaker Jose de Venecia did the same thing, if I am not mistaken. Nobody censured them at the time; on the contrary, they were praised for trying to find peace. Given the chance, Ms Arroyo herself would jump at the opportunity. So why is Madrigal being excoriated for her efforts?

The reason is that Malacañang and pro-administration leaders were beaten to it. The reason is that the administration is in the grip of the extremely rightist Gonzalez twins (Raul and Norberto) and the rightist generals who think that all they need is enough guns and bullets and the enemy would be wiped out.

The admin is willing to talk peace with the MILF, but not with the commies, Arroyo's old pals from 2001?

General Lim calls Gloria Macapagal Arroyo "a bogus president"

LOL. For once, somebody from Arroyo's military told the truth about Arroyo. He is facing a court martial for leading a "coup" against Arroyo.

Previously, General Gudani and Col. Balutan also got court martialed for testifying before the Senate on the Arroyo/COMELEC election cheating efforts that took place in 2004.

DJB of Philippine commentary reacts.

More from Dean Bocobo: A Military Full of Angie Reyes-Wannabes?

Japan's PM Koizumi channels Elvis

Here's the article:

Bush, Koizumi bond over Elvis at Graceland tour

MEMPHIS (Reuters) - For Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, a devout fan of Elvis Presley, it was the chance of a lifetime.
President George W. Bush called it an "unusual experience."
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The two leaders took a road trip on Friday to pay homage to the king of Rock n' Roll and nurture a "Love Me Tender" bond between two staunch allies.

At the finale of a two-day summit that touched on
North Korea,
Iraq and world trade talks, Bush and Koizumi were ready for "A Little Less Conversation" as they flew aboard Air Force One to Graceland, Elvis's Memphis mansion.

"It's like a dream," said Koizumi, 64, who shares a birthday with Elvis Presley and whose wavy hairstyle resembles that of the singer.

Joined by Bush's wife, Laura, the leaders were given the royal treatment as they pulled up to the pop culture shrine, where a pink Cadillac was parked outside. Elvis's daughter, Lisa Marie, and his ex-wife, Priscilla, gave the trio a private tour.

As the first sitting president to visit Graceland, Bush received an original Elvis belt buckle from the singer's estate. Koizumi was given a vintage movie poster and
Laura Bush got a "tender loving care" necklace.

HOLD ME TIGHT

Koizumi, known in Japan for his eccentricities and keen political instincts, could not resist belting out a few lines from Elvis's songs in front of the television cameras.

In the green-carpeted "Jungle Room" where Elvis recorded some of his songs, Koizumi put his arm around Lisa Marie Presley and said, "Hold me close, hold me tight." He also put on sunglasses and struck a classic Elvis pose.

"You're a pretty good Elvis singer," Bush told Koizumi, who crooned the opening bars of "Can't Help Falling In Love."

The president, who often talks about the turnaround in U.S.-Japanese relations since World War Two, called the trip a reminder of the closeness between the countries now.

Here's video and photosof Koizumi singing "Love me Tender".

LOL. Here's more video of the Japanese PM channeling Elvis (from CNN).

And more videos from Elvis Pressley's official site.

Not enough

Dapat hindi lang si Commissioner Resurrecion Borra ang matanggal at maparusahan sa COMELEC.

At dapat hindi lang yung issue ng automated voting machines ang isampa sa kanila, Joker Arroyo.

I believe the bigger reason kung bakit dapat matanggal sa pwesto at makasuhan ang mga taga-COMELEC ay dahil sa role ng mga officials na ito sa dayaan sa 2004 presidential elections. If you're only going to punish them because of the Mega Pacific issue, then you're pretty much giving this admin a free pass on GLORIAGATE.

Sa aking opinyon, kaya may dayaan sa nakaraang election is not so much because hindi na-implement ang automated counting machines, kung hindi dahil may mga election officials sa loob ng COMELEC na nag-double as "dagdag bawas" operators ni ate glo (and many of them are still there).

I feel na half-baked lang ang "reforms" na lalabas dito dahil ang focus ay nasa-Mega Pacific issue, at hindi mapaparusahan itong mga COMELEC officials na ito (including Garci and Barcelona) sa role nila sa election fraud scandal, dahil wala naman silang kinalaman sa Mega Pacific contract awarding.

More: PDI Editorial on the new legal principle created by Merceditas Gutierrez.

And from Ninez Cacho Olivares, who makes a few good points:

It does look like Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez is still taking orders from her patrons in Malacañang, given the report her office made on the automated voting machine scam submitted to the Supreme Court, after an extension or two.

She zeroed in on Commission on Elections commissioner Rex Borra, virtually laying all blame on him and the retired poll commissioners, but noticeably excluding the Comelec chief, Benjamin Abalos from the same scam.

For Borra, the Ombudsman recommended impeachment, since he is an impeachable officer, while the others are recommended to face charges of graft and corruption.

And if the Malacañang order is for Borra to be impeached, why, Gloria’s lapdogs in Congress can always come up with well over 79 endorsers and send the complaint to the Senate for trial — pronto.

After all, Gloria needs commissioners who will toe her line, and ensure that her cover-up of her fraud, along with the fact that more poll fraud is needed in 2007, to ensure that her congressional and senatorial bets win, if only for her to claim she is supported by the people.

Borra never got the ire of Malacañang until he testified in a Senate hearing on the wiretapping probe that touched on the 2004 poll fraud, where he was quoted as saying he wasn’t going to be a hypocrite and admitted that there was massive fraud.

Abalos, it will also be recalled, quickly came up with a spin on Borra’s remark, saying the commissioner never quite meant it that way. Strangely enough, Borra never corrected Abalos either, even when the Senate records show that Borra was accurately quoted by the media.

But why was Abalos excluded from the charges? Why didn’t the Ombudsman also recommend that the chairman be impeached by Congress?

This is not to say Borra should not be charged, or made to face impeachment, but why is Abalos, who, at the very least, should be charged by virtue of command responsibility, being protected by the Ombudsman, and evidently, Malacañang?

Borra has been in the Comelec long enough to know the ins and out of the agency, and having served under so many Comelec chairmen and commissioners, he certainly knows it is always the Comelec chief that has to give the final nod — especially at a time when everybody knew that he had a line to Gloria.

If Abalos is being protected — and well — it is almost certain that this has to do with the 2004 vote-rigging in favor of Gloria. Too many indications point to this.

The fact alone that the machines purchased by the Comelec were not vote-fraud free, as anybody — especially Malacañang — could link up with them was already suspicious in itself. The computers were ordinary ones, and extremely hackable, not to mention grossly overpriced.

UPDATE: Ito kaya ang dahilan kung bakit pinag-iinitan si Rex Borra ng administration?

"But isn’t a jump from the Senate to the City Hall a downward move?"

More speculations on Ping Lacson from Demaree Raval, who used to work for Lacson's enemy, Sen. Ed Angara. Here's the entire article (July 2, 2006), kasi temporary lang yung link sa Tribune eh.:

Rep. Rolex Suplico, who works closely with Sen. Ping Lacson, is mum about the latter’s political plans for 2007. And much as I try to read between the lines of Lito Banayo’s weekly musings in the other opposition paper, I cannot get a whiff of which way Ping is going. But, when someone of Ping’s stature establishes residence somewhere in Tondo, speculations are bound to fly thick and fast. And one of these is that in 2007 Ping will be a smooth replacement for Lito Atienza, with actor Cesar Montano as his runningmate.

Ping does not seem to be happy being in the Senate. People close to him ascribe his glum countenance principally to the fact that he has to wrestle day in and day out with the hypocrisy of some who consider the Senate their fiefdom. And Ping obviously cannot stand the pontificating of others. So, the senator is pitching camp elsewhere?

But isn’t a jump from the Senate to the City Hall a downward move?

Not so, especially when one considers the romance — the potential for heroic achievement — that has always been attached to the mayorship of Manila. It’s almost saying if you could run this tough, brawling city you could run this fractious country. Ping’s namesake — the colorful Manila Mayor Arsenio Lacson. — was enveloped with that aura. This hardbitten mayor had always been touted as presidential timber, except that death overtook him. To this day, political pundits maintain that Marcos could not have been president had “Arsenic” been around.

His unhappiness at the Senate notwithstanding, Ping, it seems to me, is not just about to sulk and mope like a dope in some obscure hideaway. Manila is a high-profile convalescent ward, as it were, for one who ran for and lost the presidency, where one could bide for more time, while regaining strength and girding one’s self for the next joust. With his respectable run for the presidency in 2004, Ping is definitely a hands-down shoo-in for mayor.

Consider: Ping chalked up more than three million votes in the presidential elections, but that does not even reflect the actual votes he got. I mean, the fraud was so widespread and Ping should have garnered more, but he, as much as anybody else in the opposition, was a victim. Ask the cab drivers around Manila — four out of 10 will tell you they voted for Ping. Where then did these votes go? Ask the Comelec people; they know Ping was a strong second despite the fraud.

These votes, to say the least, were an affirmation of the firm confidence Ping had shown in dealing with bad cops, bad bureaucrats and other slimy characters. Scrupulous with public funds, his “no-take” policy marked him as uncompromising when it comes to corruption. The cops during his time as the country’s top cop were the most disciplined after Ping had struck fear in their hearts: that it does not pay to be a crook and on the take, and it does pay to be honest straight. That should endear him to Manileños, many of whom have been, and still are, victims of bad cops here, there and everywhere.

The bureaucrats in government fear Ping. He filed a case against a member of his own staff, whom he caught skimming off the funds for a project. He also filed a case against a municipal mayor who had pocketed the funds given for the construction of a public market. And in abhorrence of the none too secret percentage arrangement between some legislators and contractors, Ping did away with the “pork” in his barrel. Big sacrifice there — since all other senators still partake of the rotten pork.

On the jueteng probe. Ping played his cards right, bearing the brunt of the counter attack of those exposed as receiving payola. His heroic stand, and firm resolve to get to the bottom of the jueteng racket, despite allegations against him, raised the stock of Ping.

Then there were the sacred cows and untouchables — Jose Pidal, Department of the Underground, FG, Mahusay, Rosebud, Toh, Corpus, M1, M2, JS6, and the various lords of the underground economy and the corrupt in our midst. Somehow, after having tangled with all of them, Ping remains standing and is still full of spunk.

Ping’s only drawback is his lack of a political party, but this could be remedied if he puts up one, now, or agrees to join one, like the Liberal Party of Atienza. That would make Ping a cinch for the mayorship, and also help to point out the clout of Atienza, who made mincemeat of political heavyweights in the last three elections. The fourth coming up, with Ping as his candidate, could silence forever all those opposing Atienza.

Ping had lost a lot of political ground in the last elections, but he recovered soon enough with his wise choice of issues to advocate. The surveys showing him to be the best alternative to the sitting president prove this. With the country awash in corruption and the public growing ever wary and weary of the usual boilerplate announcements that God is in His heaven and everything’s all right in the Philippines, it would be wise for Ping to stand up and be counted as the Sir Galahad who will slay the dragons of avarice and greed and make the streets safe for everyone. After the untimely demise of Fernando Poe Jr., the country has been aching for an icon of hope and deliverance, and Ping, with some sincere effort, could quietly maneuver himself into that leadership vacuum.

The people did not get Ping to be president the last time. Hopefully, they can wait for him after three years at the helm of Manila. Manila offers itself as a safe refuge for Ping where he could reprise the no-nonsense executive leadership he continues to forcefully exhibit.

The question though is: Sasali ba si Ping sa Drilon wing ng LP, o sa Atienza wing?

At hindi ba maka-Arroyo yang Atienza na yan? So paano niya tatanggapin si Lacson, na maka-opposition? Hindi ba si Ali Atienza na ang madalas kasama ni Lito sa mga ribbon-cutting ceremonies at mga high-profile events, at si Ali, anak ni Lito, ang grino-groom para tumakbo sa pagka-Mayor ng MayniLA?

Missing students are NPAs - Gen. Palparan

Ahhhh... so yung 3 UP student activists (2 female, 1 male) na dinampot 2 days ago by 6 armed men (and are still missing to this day) ay mga NPAs pala, sabi ni Gen. Palparan.

Pero wala raw kinalaman ang military sa pagdamput sa kanila.

Siguro biktima lang ang mga estudyante ng “communist purge”, di ba gen. palparan? ;)

Jeezus, I hope the students don't end up like the "Erap 5" people, who were also accused of being communists by their abductors, kaya ayan, tinorture.

Missing students are NPAs: Palparan

————————————————–

BY VICTOR REYES

THE top military commander in Central Luzon yesterday said the three activist-students who were reported abducted in Hagonoy, Bulacan Monday are members of the New People’s Army.

Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division based in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija, however, said he has no information if soldiers were involved in the abduction as alleged by the League of Filipino Students.

“They are really NPAs. I have talked to a number of residents in the area and they claimed that they (students) are communist guerrillas,” Palparan said.

“Their disappearance is good for us but as to who abducted them, we don’t know. That’s good for us because they are NPAs. That is what the people (in the area) are saying. They have been dominating in the area long ago,” he added.

UPDATE: Ellen Tordesillas comments.



Delikado ito. If somebody labels you a "Communist," para na ring death penalty sa iyo yan, LOL.

UPDATE: Isabela mayor slain in QC ambush. The military also claimed the slain mayor was a communist sympathizer, but said they were not responsible for his death. Sure.

UPDATE: i think alam ni palparan na BS yung claim ni Arroyo na matatalo nila ang kumunista within 2 years, so they're going after "soft targets" instead, to make it look like they're killing communist rebels/terrorists, when in fact, mga leftist/activist/student critics lang ni Arroyo ang pinapatay nila, the same leftist/activists that she joined hands with back in 2001 to topple erap via a military-leftist coup.

Arroyo's gift to the Pope

Arroyo goes to rome to give her "pasalubong" to the Pope, and gets the expected "pat on the back".

Sabi rin raw ni GMA na sinabihan siya ni Pope na ayaw niyang makialam ang Simbahang Katoliko sa pulitika. Ito ang reaction ng PDI at MLQ3.

Bishop Cruz: Pope knows about Garci scandal

The Manila Standard Today OTOH banners: Pope inspires GMA on ChaCha

I love the Manila Standard Today.

Lito Banayo:

Hindi ba siya kiniki labutan sa ginagawa niya?" This was the rather nervous question, more a statement really, that a lady from Batangas phoned in. She was reacting to the latest "spins" from Doña Gloria about her 20-minute private audience with Pope Benedict XVI.

The Doña claims that she was "encouraged" by the Pope on her "charter-change initiatives". Thus will she stay on her course, undeterred, for the pontiff was "supportive" of her pro-poor policies. Watch out, you "bad" senators. When she comes back, she will damn you for stopping her "pro-poor" Kilos Asenso and Kalayaan Barangay slush funds. She will report to the Holy Father in Rome that you are obstructing her "pro-poor policies".

This space told the senators, four or five days before they rushed the abolition of the death penalty, that she just wanted to use the anti-kill bill as trophy for her papal visit. In fact, the following Monday, I personally told the Senate President that the Doña he has broken political fealty from, was just going to "gift" the Pope, along with King Juan Carlos, with the death penalty abolition. Deny her that trophy by delaying passage of the bill, since that was the last week of the session, I asked. After all, she would not execute any criminal in the meantime. Obviously however, the senators of the realm could not find it upon themselves to disappoint the bishops and the papal nuncio. And so the senators gave her license to use the living pope.

One recalls how last year she "used" a dead pope even as he was lying in state. She said it was John Paul II, whom she visited in the Vatican a day after she phoned in her resignation as a member of Erap’s cabinet, who had "encouraged" her to "bring morality back" into the country. She of course knew that the dead pontiff of saintly memory could not answer back.

Yeah, that was funny.

More: Arroyo wants Bishop Yniguez punished for filing an impeachment case against her. Hindi raw pwedeng sumali ang mga pari at obispo sa pulitika eh, sabi ng administration. More here.

Pero bakit okay lang sa kanya na makialam ang simbahan (led by Cardinal Sin) dati nung panahon ni erap, which led to Edsa Dos? Hindi ba katabi niya si Sin at ang mga ibang pari at mga bishops sa Edsa para itulak ang military-civilian coup kay Erap?

Ellen Tordesillas: Doing a spin on the Pope's words.

More reactions from Dean Bocobo, Neal Cruz and Quezon 3.

Sabi ni DJB:

Priests and bishops, like doctors lawyers, farmers, business men and other ordinary citizens are allowed to engage in as much partisan political activity as they want. It is Chief Justices of the Supreme Court, like Hilario Davide, and Chiefs of Staff of the AFP like General Angelo Reyes, that are absolutely barred by Code of Judicial Conduct and the Constitution, respectively from engaging in partisan political activity. Nograles' claim that this is the first time he has seen "partisan political activity" by the Catholic Church can only mean he was born blind.

Heh.

From the Tribune Editorial:

The problem with Gloria is that she usually goes overboard when she becomes exceptionally happy. During her all too fleeting call on Pope Benedict XVI, she said among other things that the chief prelate approved of her policies and the way she runs the government. For crying out loud. But she gave a big smile, because she knew she had scored, in the sense that the Pope approved of the abolition of the death penalty -- and knew too that she would be spinning that papal “approval.”

But what business would the Pope have in endorsing Gloria’s type of governance particularly amid reports of widespread murders of her critics, including priests?

She also intimated that the Pope supports her move for a parliamentary form of government for the country. Good grief! Why should the Pope care one way or the other whether the country has a parliamentary or presidential system? His Vatican state has neither. Besides why even delve into the politics of things?

Ah, but according to Gloria, with her wide smile, the Pope had made her into his instant messenger as she claimed Benedict told her he does not look kindly on the local bishops and the local church interfering in the affairs of state and Philippine politics.

What? He who she says supports her tough policies, her way of running the government, her push for the parliamentary shift of government — all of which are political issues — now tells her that he does not like the idea of bishops and priests meddling in state affairs and political issues?

It depends lang talaga kung kuya. Kung makakatulong kay Arroyo na makialam ang simbahan sa isyu pulitika, e di magandang bagay yan at dapat i-encourage. Kung kontra kay Arroyo yung kilos ng simbahan, bawal yan.

Kung kontra kay erap ang kilos ng simbahan, maganda yan. Kung kontra naman kay Arroyo, bawal yan.

From Ted Te:

We must not forget that it is this very same Gloria Arroyo who, when she was still Vice President, declared that John Paul II had confirmed that it was perfectly alright to go ahead with her destabilization attempts against Erap; we must not forget that it is this very same Gloria Arroyo who, upon visiting Benedict XVI, now intones through her mouthpiece Mr. Bunyi that the Pope has also given his go-signal for her government to continue doing what it is doing.

UPDATE: From the Tribune editorial:

But isn’t this so ridiculous a call from her, considering the indisputable fact that she, along the late Jaime Cardinal Sin and the Catholic bishops, with her military generals, the chief justice and his judicial clique, conspired to oust a legitimately elected President of the Republic through mob rule, discarding the constitutional processes and the rule of law?

What she, her bishops, the elite and the military generals did was certainly an unpardonable breach of the Constitution and if the religious flavor must be injected, that was a breach of Catholicism, on grounds that the voice of the people is the voice of God — a voice that they had thwarted, not once, but twice, through a naked power grab in 2001 and again, through massive poll cheating in 2004, which electoral fraud these bishops even blessed by claiming that while there was cheating, the vote still reflected the people’s will.

It is also to be recalled that in 2000, when an impeachment complaint was filed against then sitting President Joseph Estrada, this was signed by a priest, Robert Reyes, then the attack dog of Jaime Sin. And there is no denying that the bishops were behind her in a staged “people power” revolt, but there was no objection from Gloria and her coup plotters on such disgraceful behavior of the church leaders.

But now that a bishop files an impeachment complaint against her, she now wants his actions probed? Just who does she think she is? Hell, she is not even the legitimately elected President of the Republic!

I agree.

UPDATE: And wasn't Fr. Joe Dizon also one of the signatories on Erap's impeachment complaint back in 2000? Didn't hear much complaints about re "separation of church and state" from the pro-Arroyo's back then either.

Militant groups have condemned the Macapagal-Arroyo government’s granting of Estrada’s request to be allowed to travel abroad. “This is yet another proof of Arroyo’s treachery to the cause and ideals of People Power 2,” said Fr. Joe Dizon, spokesperson of Plunder Watch which filed the plunder case against the deposed president, in a statement to the media last week. “She has again abetted corruption by allowing Estrada to flee from justice.”

Fr. Dizon is one of the signatories to the impeachment case filed against Estrada in 2000. The impeachment trial was aborted through a maneuver by senator-judges partial to Estrada on Jan. 16, 2001, leading to the People Power 2 revolt that ousted him four days later.