Gloria Arroyo Planned On Declaring Martial Law

HAIL! Hitler Gloria Pandaka. She planned to perpetuate herself in power by silencing dissenters of her bogus regime. Of course, Malacanang spin doctors deny such dubious plan.



ABS-CBN News 11/28/2006

Cruz: Arroyo planned on declaring martial law

President Arroyo considered placing the country under martial law in January but the plan was failed to push through after the United States government warned it would not support the declaration, Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz said Tuesday.

"I was able to talk with [former defense] Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and he was explicit to me that the United States is of the position that the Philippines should take the course of democracy and republicanism," Cruz told ABS-CBN correspondent Ricky Carandang.

Cruz, a former lawyer of the President, filed his irrevocable resignation and will step down from the defense post on Thursday.

Cruz's statement confirmed information from other ABS-CBN sources that the administration wanted to declare martial law as early as November last year to quell alleged plans of military adventurists to oust Mrs. Arroyo.

The defense chief said: "We cannot talk about [the discussions in the Cabinet] because of the principles of executive privilege."

He, however, added: "What I can tell is that personally and professionally I am against any form of emergency rule."

The supposed plan to declare martial law followed a visit to Manila by John Negroponte, US director of national intelligence.

Negroponte's arrival came as a surprise though both Malacañan and the US embassy in Manila declined to issue statements about the details of the visit.

Former Senate president Franklin Drilon, meanwhile, said he was informed of the plan last December.

"I was informed that there was really a plan to declare martial law on January 15 of this year and therefore I was preparing to take it up in a joint session which the Constitution requires to be held in order to act on a martial law proclamation," Drilon said.

The senator said he was even prepared to bring the matter before the Supreme Court.

But Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita denied that the President had wanted to declare martial law.

"That has never been a plan of the President. Wala akong nalalaman (I don't know if such a plan existed)," Ermita said.

He said that Negroponte visited Manila to meet with officials of the US Institute of Peace.

General Esperon Orders Court-Martial For Coup Plotters

There’s no justice under corrupt and inept Gloria Arroyo regime. Why these military officers and men should respect their BOGUS-illigitimate commander-in-chief? The ghost of massive 2004 electoral fraud, corruption and favoritism are the root causes of military restiveness. Documentary and physical evidence have confirmed that Mrs. Gloria Arroyo and her cohorts cheated to win the 2004 presidential election. General Esperon and other high ranking officers allegedly conspired with election chief manipulator Virgilio Garcillano to ensure the victory of candidates Gloria Arroyo and Noli De Castro. I salute these principled men for their courage, sacrifice and loyalty to the Filipino people. The Armed Forces of the Philippines is the protector of the people and the State. Military intervention to protect the interests of the people is justified under the 1987 Philippine Constitution. AFP CS General Hermogenes Esperon and his FAKE commander-in- chief should be the ones behind the bars for stealing the true mandate of the Filipino people. Hang ‘em high!

Junking the Code of Honor

Malaya Editorial
11/21/2006
They can take anything Esperon can throw at them. But deceit is not one of them.’

AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon yesterday ordered that 30 Marine and Scout Ranger officers undergo court martial for allegedly seeking to overthrow the administration of Gloria Arroyo. Esperon’s decision, the AFP says, is expected to stop further plotting in the military to oust this administration.
The AFP’s wish is of a piece with Gloria Arroyo’s expectation that her "victory" in the presidential election in 2004 would put away questions over her administration’s legitimacy after grabbing power from Joseph Estrada.
Gloria’s "victory" was the result of her wholesale buying of local "trapos" and, when this could not assure her win, outright cheating at the polling booths and during the canvassing. When the fraud was exposed, Gloria had to resort to force and intimidation to quell the protest and outrage.
The same will result from the court martial of the officers, led by then Marines commandant Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda and Scout Rangers chief Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim. Esperon’s directive is characterized by deceit. Nothing reassuring will come out from the process.
It has now surfaced that the team from the Judge Advocate General’s Office which investigated Miranda, Lim et. al. found them innocent of mutiny charges. The panel’s finding was to indict them with the specific charge of disrespect to the commander-in-chief and the catch-all offense conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman.
Esperon, upon receipt of the investigation report, found the findings not to his liking. He returned the report to the JAGO panel. What else could the panel do but prepare a new report incorporating the wishes of the AFP chief?
And that’s where the deceit lies. Esperon could have simply trashed the first report, proclaimed he found the findings a lot of bull and formed a court martial to try the accused regardless of JAGO’s recommendation. That’s the honest way of doing it. After all, as AFP chief of staff, haling the officers before a court martial is his own call.
We recognize that the military justice system has nothing to do with the dispensation of justice. It is meant to be an instrument to maintain discipline and good order in the ranks. But deceit surely violates the code of honor in the officer corps.
Two of the accused coup plotters, Col. Ariel Querubin and Lt. Col. Custodio are the only two living Marine recipients of the Medal for Valor, the highest military award. Lim, a Gold Cross recipient, missed out on the Medal for Valor for repulsing Muslim secessionists during the Jolo siege in the early 1970s for the simple reason the latter award was instituted only in 1986.
They can take anything Esperon can throw at them. But deceit is not one of them.

Army Brig. General Danilo Lim: Withdrawal of Support
The Original JAGO Recommendation Was To Clear
Marine asks CA to stop court martial of ‘coup plotters’

Former R.A.M. Leader Col. Honasan Captured

Pro Gloria Arroyo newspapers are chanting “the other woman angle” that led to the capture of RAM leader Colonel Gregorio Honasan. The same propaganda line when Marine Captain Nick Faeldon was captured. The capture of Col. Honasan and the persecution of detained idealist officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will backfire on bogus President Gloria Arroyo. Military and police generals who participated in the massive election fraud in May 2004 national elections in favor of Gloria Arroyo were promoted. Former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief now DPWH secretary Ret. Gen. Hermogenes Ebdane is the alleged mastermind in switching fake certificates of canvass (CoC) ballot boxes in the House of Representatives' Batasan complex. Gloria Arroyo and Noli De Castro were proclaimed by the Congress based on tampered provincial election returns. Documentary evidence and witnesses/cheat operators testimonies have proven the Arroyo’s illegitimacy. The Department of Justice has no evidence to pin former Senator Gregorio Honasan as the financier of the failed Oakwood Mutiny last July 2003.



Malaya News BY RAYMOND AFRICA

FORMER Sen. Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan, who had a P5 million bounty on his head, was captured before dawn yesterday after a brief chase in a subdivision in Quezon City.

The former Army colonel, who led coup attempts against the Aquino administration in the late 80s, is facing a coup d’état case for allegedly inciting junior military officers into staging the Oakwood mutiny in July 2003. A Makati court hearing the case issued an arrest warrant against Honasan and several others last March.

Honasan is also facing a rebellion case in connection with the alleged plot to overthrow the Arroyo government in February.

Honasan sustained injuries in his attempt to evade arrest, said PNP chief Oscar Calderon.

"The joint PNP CIDG-AFP team arrested him after a brief chase from one house to another, with him hopping over the fence. In the process, the ex-senator sustained a deep laceration on his right sole and a slight fracture on his left foot," Calderon said.

Honasan was initially treated at the PNP General Hospital in Camp Crame and transferred later in the afternoon to the Asian Hospital in Alabang.

"He is seriously hurt. His left ankle has a large swelling and I think he will need an operation," said Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno after the decision to move Honasan to the Asian Hospital.

Puno said only immediate family members will be allowed to visit Honasan.

"It is not that we do not want visitors but he (Honasan) is a high security person," he said.

The military said Honasan’s arrest reduced threats to the Arroyo government. But it said it is not discounting the possibility that rightist groups would try to move against Arroyo as Honasan could still be enjoying a following among military men.

"This effort has caused a big deterrence or stumbling block on those who would like to destabilize government," said Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, Armed Forces public information office chief.

"We do not discount the possibility (of future destabilization moves) but, of course, with the apprehension of ex-Senator Honasan, we do believe that this will have an effect on groups (planning to destabilize government)," he said.

Asked if retired officers allied with Honasan can still mount destabilization moves, Bacarro said: "We are not underestimating their capability, so we are not discounting it."

He also said that if Honasan still has followers in the military, "it’s too small and most of his followers, we do believe, are aware what is really happening."

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Honasan’s arrest has broken the "backbone" of destabilization and brought to a close "a broad conspiracy to destabilize the government."

But he said there are no guarantees there would be no more coups, especially after the experience of the Aquino administration which faced down seven coup attempts.

Honasan is the founding chairman of the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa that staged the failed coups.

Ermita said the Palace is hoping that each time a coup or a rebellion is thwarted, "nothing more would follow."

"Imagine seven coups. Hopefully it would not happen again," he said.

The Arroyo administration has survived two attempts – the Oakwood mutiny staged by the Magdalo group of soldiers allegedly recruited by Honasan and the one in February which Arroyo said was a conspiracy hatched by some members of the opposition, "military adventurists," and the Left.

HONASAN’S ‘ESCAPE’ TRY

The 58-year-old Honasan was traced by operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the PNP and the Intelligence Service of the AFP in one of the units at Enclave townhouse in Green Meadows subdivision in Barangay Ugong, Quezon City, Calderon said.

He was caught around 2:20 a.m. No firearm or document was taken from him.

Former Sen. Tito Sotto, after a meeting with Honasan, said the latter gave the following account:

Honasan got a tip that police and military operatives had been dispatched to arrest him in his house in Marikina City.

Honasan tried to give the arresting team the slip but it caught up with him near Green Meadows.

Honasan jumped out of his car, and climbed over the wall of the subdivision. He hurt himself while about to climb over a wall near the Christ the King church.

"He was in his car and was still trying to find a place where he could hide when the chase started," said Sotto.

Sotto he has been in close contact with Honasan since the warrant was issued against him.

Honasan’s driver/security escort identified as Jaime Baladad was also arrested.

A case of obstruction of justice will be filed against Baladad, Calderon said.

The townhouse unit where Honasan was spotted is reportedly owned by one Ingrid Ramos.

"I will let the CIDG investigate the possible liability of Ms. Ramos at bakit doon sa bahay niya nakita si former Senator Honasan," Calderon said.

He gave the assurance Honasan would not be able to escape if detained in Camp Crame.

Honasan was arrested in 1987 after the failure of his first coup attempt in August. He escaped from a Navy ship where he was detained.

"Hindi siya makakatakas dito… May gentleman’s agreement kami nung magka-usap kami kanina na we will help him basta he will help himself," Calderon said.

Puno, who visited Honasan at the PNP General Hospital, said they have yet to determine where Honasan will be detained.

He also said: "I think Senator Honasan is relieved in a way. His many months of hiding from the authorities have come to an end. He is looking forward to seeing his grandchildren."

SURRENDER APPEALS

Calderon said operations are continuing against Honasan’s co-accused, including former Navy Capt. Felix Turingan, (with a P1 million bounty), George Duldulao (P250,000), and Lina Reyes (also P250,000).

His other co-accused – retired Colonels Virgilio Briones and Romeo Lazo who both carried a P500,000 reward on their heads– were captured in Quezon City June this year. Ernesto Macahiya, spokesman of the military-based Philippine Guardians Brotherhood Inc. founded by Honasan, was arrested April this year in Los Baños, Laguna. He is out on bail.

Calderon said they are checking on people who might have coddled Honasan. Cases could not be filed yet as there is no hard evidence against them, he said.

Puno said he is trying to convince Honasan to talk to his co-accused so they can also yield.

"The other persons with warrants of arrest, if he can communicate with them, they can perhaps, surrender themselves to the PNP. They will be fairly treated. This is the normal procedure of the justice system," Puno said.

Calderon brushed aside speculations that Honasan’s arrest was timed with the approach of the May elections amid reports that surveys show Honasan is among the top choices for senator.

"This about law enforcement, arresting a fugitive with a standing warrant of arrest," he said.

President Arroyo commended the CIDG and Isafp operatives.

POLITICAL STABILITY

Ermita said government is hoping Honasan’s arrest would signal the return to political stability.

Ermita said the arrest is one of a series of good news. The others are the capture of an Abu Sayyaf leader Monday in Cotabato City and the extradition of former presidential consultant Charlie "Atong" Ang.

"So you see, justice will have its way. The rule of law being followed and people who figured prominently in Philippine politics and in some of the more celebrated offenses in the Philippines have been accounted for and that I think is what we mean by good news," he said.

He said the only bad news for the administration is that Honasan’s arrest might boost his chances if he runs for the Senate next year.

"Sasabihin ng iba lalong naging bida ang taong tulad niya dahil nakulong siya, tataas ang kanyang antas. Only the people can answer that when election comes," he said.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the Palace is hoping the arrest would be the "harbinger of growing political stability underlying steady economic growth."

"No one can make a mockery of the law by playing hide and seek with our law enforcement agencies, and get away with it…Let the evidence be presented against him and let the courts decide his fate," Bunye also said. – With Victor Reyes and Jocelyn Montemayor 11/15/2006


General Ebdane Identified As chief Cheating Operator
Col. Honasan: Rebel in Continuous Suspicion
Col. Honasan: Anti-Marcos Poster Boy Turned Coup Leader
Military court to try 30 officers for mutiny
JAGO Unsigned Report

U.S. Midterm Elections: The Democrats won control of both chambers of the US Congress

The Democrats won control of both chambers of the US Congress. The American electorate had spoken and rebuked U.S. President George W. Bush mishandling of the Iraq war. The Democrats had succeeded to project the failed Iraq policies as national issue. Voters disapproved of the war in Iraq by a large margin followed by corruption and ethics. U.S. taxpayers’ cost the war in Iraq is about $340,745,140,752 based on congressional appropriations by Republican-controlled Congress. Maybe the Democrats are planning to impeach U.S. President George Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney for abuse of power, deliberately misled Congress and American public in Iraq invasion. San Francisco Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the incoming House Speaker is the third in line of succession in case the U.S. Senate successfully impeaches both Bush and Cheney.
There will be a total over-haul in US foreign policy particularly repressive regimes. The corrupt Gloria Arroyo regime was cited for human rights violation, extra-judicial killings and dictatorial tendencies by international communities, religious groups and the US State Department. Parroting Bush’s global war on terror won’t sell anymore to Democrat-controlled Congress. The Filipino people will junk discredited Gloria Arroyo’s candidates in the May 2007 midterm elections in a credible and honest election. I doubt this will happen unless there’s top to bottom over-haul in the Comelec. Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos’ cheating machinery and resources are still intact. Hello Garci clones are promoted and holding key positions at local and provincial levels. Mrs. Gloria Arroyo’s political survival is at stake. The cheating has started six months before May 2007 elections with bloated number of projected new voters by eight million and illegal diversion of public funds. Big-time electoral fraud is the name of the game to neutralize another impeachment complaint and possible conviction. AMEN

MALAYA 11/10/2006 Opposition says GMA in for a drubbing like Bush
BY WENDELL VIGILIA AND REGINA BENGCO

THE United Opposition and the militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) yesterday said President Arroyo and her allies could end up like US President George W. Bush whose Republican allies were swept away in the midterm elections by Democrats.

President Arroyo chided the opposition for campaigning early, saying her critics are upsetting the economic growth that her administration has been working for.

She said the fruits of her reforms might not reach local governments because of the opposition’s early campaigning. It is not yet the time to campaign, she said.

"Sayang lamang at may ilang mga mas gustong guluhin ang gumagandang kalagayan at ibig ibalik ang bayan sa dating gawi ng pulitika. May panahon para magkampanya sa halalan ngunit hindi ngayon," she said in a speech before the closing program of the 8th national assembly of the Philippine League of Secretaries to the Sanggunian Inc.

The election period for the May 2007 senatorial and local elections is Jan. 14 to June 13, 2007. Filing of certificates of candidacy for senatorial candidates is from Jan. 14 to Feb. 12 and for local candidates from Jan. 14 to March 29 for local candidates. The campaign period is from Feb. 13 to May 12.

Following the victory of the Democrats in the US mid-term elections, the opposition said candidates of the Arroyo administration are likely to suffer the same fate as the Republicans in the May 2007 polls.

House minority leader Francis Escudero, UNO secretary general who is eyeing a senatorial post, said opposition candidates are on the way to sweep administration contenders at the House, Senate and local government posts because of questions on Arroyo’s legitimacy as president.

"It’s possible (that Arroyo could end up like Bush) and I think that’s why the administration does not want elections to push through," he said.

One of the contentious issues surrounding the charter-change campaign is the proposal to cancel the elections and retain current members of Congress as members of the interim parliament.

Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano supported Escudero’s assessment.

"Bush’ shameful defeat is one of the main reasons Ms. Arroyo and her cohorts are hell-bent on pushing their no-election agenda behind the constituent assembly," he said.

"Ms. Arroyo is afraid of the Filipino people’s protest vote against her responsibility in the extra-judicial killings, corruption and illegitimacy which are the graveyard issues akin to Bush’ unjust war in Iraq," he said.

Majority leader Prospero Nograles dismissed the opposition’s claim, saying administration candidates will surely clobber them.

"The opposition has a head-on in terms of propaganda mileage because many of their candidates have already started campaigning since the time they filed impeachment cases against the President," he said.

"We in the administration party on the other hand are still working very hard to help the President and our country so there’s seems to be an impression that the candidates being floated by the opposition are leading. But wait until our candidates start campaigning. Everything will change," he added.

Nograles said the loss of Bush’s allies to Democrats has no political implication on the Arroyo government because the defeat of the ruling party in the US "was mainly caused by their discontentment in the government’s all-out war policy in Iraq."

"Our Lakas-CMD will still win. The big issue in America is war in Iraq but we had pulled out our troops since last year. In America, they have clear alternatives but in the Philippines, the alternatives are fragmented, divided and even a junta is being proposed. I can’t see how US results can really affect politics today," he said.

Deputy speaker for Mindanao Gerry Salapuddin said the accusations against Arroyo are "political and fueled by some politicians’ ambition to oust the President."

"We don’t want to burst the opposition’s bubble but realistically speaking, their sole agenda of ousting the President is not a principled foundation for a coalition. That is not even a sure formula to win overwhelmingly in the polls," he said.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, UNO president, said a "voters revolt" is likely to happen in the country just like in the US.

"In a clean and honest election, the opposition will surely match if not exceed the victory of the Democratic Party in the United States," he said.

He said "questions of legitimacy, competence, and scandalous acts" will hound the Arroyo administration and its candidates in the 2007 elections.

"The administration candidates will have to answer a lot of questions during the campaign. They will have to explain why Mrs. Arroyo had attempted to subvert the Constitution through a fraudulent people’s initiative; why there is widespread hunger and unemployment; why the case of (former Agriculture) Undersecretary Joc-Joc Bolante remains unresolved," Binay said.

He said political persecution of oppositionists and political killings will also be major issues in the campaign.

But the core issue, he said, remains the legitimacy of the Arroyo administration.

"Until now, the `Hello Garci’ scandal and the widespread cheating in the 2004 elections are still unresolved. These issues will hound the candidates of Mrs. Arroyo," he said.

Binay has announced that talks are ongoing for the creation of a grand coalition of opposition parties for the 2007 elections.

The coalition partners include PDP Laban, Partido ng Masang Pilipino, Liberal Party, Nacionalista Party, individual members of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, and smaller independent parties.

Binay declined to give the names of the opposition’s senatorial candidates, but he said the line-up is a "powerhouse" that is simply unbeatable.

Renato Reyes, Bayan secretary general, said the Arroyo government should be "terrified" with the results of the US elections.

He said strong rejection awaits Arroyo and "five years of bad governance is bound to catch up" with her if ever the elections push through in 2007.

"Five years of the so-called war on terror, the quagmire in Iraq, violations of constitutional rights and cuts in social services have finally caught up with the Bush regime. The midterm elections show a growing rejection of Bush and his policies," Reyes said in a statement.

Reyes said that like Bush, Arroyo has also embarked on her own war of terror by "sponsoring" the extrajudicial killings victimizing activists.

But Reyes said Arroyo might still "try to cheat her way in 2007" and that the administration could still move heaven and earth to scuttle the 2007 elections in favor of charter change and a shift to a parliamentary system.

"While the charter change plans of the administration is now in the intensive care unit, the regime might still have some tricks up its sleeves," Reyes said.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said anything is possible under a democracy but the Arroyo administration is not likely to be trounced in the May elections. He said the ruling Lakas-CMD is "well-prepared for all eventualities."

Ermita said the administration party is "standing on very solid grounds" and has a lot of allies. "I cannot remember anymore what the party is of the other side," he said.

US Ambassador Kristie Kenney said US-Philippine relations will continue to be strong despite the Democrats’ victory.

"Our relationship is so strong that whether members of Congress change or not, they’re all going to be fans of US-RP friendship and of the great work we do together to keep our citizens safe and offer our citizens a brighter future," Kenney said.

She said the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary would not affect the fight against terrorism, which "goes back a very, very long time."

"President Bush remains very committed to the work we’re doing here in the Philippines as does the entire American government and the American people," she said.

"That partnership is incredibly strong and it’s going to stay that way. We’re united in the fight against terrorism. We want our citizens to stay safe and that’s going to stay very strong," she added.

Arroyo congratulated the winners in the US elections, saying the Philippines will continue to work with President Bush "to strengthen our strategic interests for a safer and more prosperous world." – With Ashzel Hachero and Reinir Padua


Election leaves Bush to bob on blue wave
Fil-American winners and losers in midterm elections
Asian-Americans handsome gains in US midterm elections
Fil Ams nearly sweep Hawaii elections

Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2006, the Philippines is ranked 121st among 163 countries

The Office of the President is one the most corrupt government agency since 2001. The Ombudsman and Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) are just playing lip service to curb corruption. Big fishes in the Arroyo government are spared and protected for their thieving frenzy. The P3 billion fertilizer funds scam and overseas workers’ OWWA trust funds were diverted to Gloria Arroyo’s electoral fraud operations in 2004. The Philippines is the second most corrupt in ASEAN nations.


Senate unearths P5B waste in GMA’s office
By Angie M. Rosales
Daily Tribune 11/08/2006
More scams in the Palace, specifically the presidential office, are surfacing.
Billions appear to be funneled into the Office of the President (OP) with the funds allocated to certain agencies under the OP getting “lost,” “wasted” and even marked as “advances,” which are never liquidated. Worse, the OP seems not to know how the money is spent, and where it really goes.
More than half the P3.8 billion budget President Arroyo is seeking for her office’s operations next year was found to be highly questionable by the Senate finance committee.
At least P2 billion which is being allocated to an “attached” agency, the former Bureau of Telecommunications that was renamed Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) and is being claimed to be operating at P1 billion yearly, was found by the Senate panel still to be using the primitive “telegraph” equipment.
Officials of the said agency admitted to being the source of the more than P800 million down payments that government made to MegaPacific Esolutions Consortium in acquiring the highly-controversial automated counting machines (ACMs) contract.
Roughly, P5.8 billion had been put to waste as described by senators yesterday during the budget hearing by the panel chaired by Sen. Franklin Drilon, with regard to the agency that is under the direct supervision of the Office of the President in the last five years of its existence, in a bid to keep up its rationalization program of the government.
Drilon’s panel was also told that there is an outstanding P77 million “unliquidated” cash advances incurred by the Office of the President.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita who came to defend Mrs. Arroyo’s proposed appropriation admitted that this amount is even “understated”, with the office still in the process of gathering all the documents pertaining to all their expenditures.
Asked by Drilon to identify the “biggest spender” right there and there, Ermita was caught off-guard, but just as quickly said he will just submit all the needed documents in the days to come, saying he is not in a position to relay the information being sought from him.
Of top of the questioned figures, Drilon also confronted Ermita over information that he had been tipped off on the alleged massive expenditures incurred by National Security Adviser (NSA) Norberto Gonzales, Mrs. Arroyo’s alter ego was prompted to admit to the senator that Gonzales does have an outstanding unsettled obligation, in the whopping amount of P138.7 million.
This is even twice as much the P77 million unliquidated cash advances posted by the OP.
“I have a text message here Mr. Secretary and I can’t help but ask you about this….is it true that Gonzales has made over P100 million in cash advances? Unliquidated? Is this true or not?” Drilon asked Ermita.
“Actually, it’s P138.7 million, your honor,” Ermita confessed, explaining that this amount of unsettled expenses does not necessarily represent even the so-called confidential funds of the country’s intelligence and security adviser to the Chief Executive.
Drilon made it clear that he deplored this “ abuse of authority” on the part of NSA and called on Mrs. Arroyo to institute disciplinary measures on an official like Gonzales.
He stressed that if a government official like Mayor Jejomar Binay or Mayor Peewee Trinidad would be disciplined for offenses which are even unclear, Drilon said he failed to see why the President should not discipline Gonzales. “This is in violation of CoA rules. Is Secretary Gonzales beyond CoA regulations?
Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) Deputy Executive Secretary Susana Vargas later explained to Drilon that the said amount was actually incurred by Gonzales prior to his having taken on the National Security Council.
“He indicated that this was just for his operational expenses (while he was still acting as presidential adviser for special concerns),” she told Drilon who pointed out to them that the said amount exceeded the more than P50 million yearly allotment to the NSC secretariat of which the NSA is chairman.
Drilon then pounded on Ermita on the course of action the Palace intends to take against Gonzales to have him account for the said expenses.
Ermita said efforts are now ongoing to have Gonzales liquidate the stated expenses that the Palace official said represent those so-called carry-over expenditures dating back as far as 2002.
“What? Since 2002? That is almost five years now? Gonzales has not liquidated P138.7 million for five years now?” the senator asked.
“Yes. But we will ask the National Security Adviser to liquidate this,” Ermita retorted, adding that he had been told by Gonzales’ subordinate that the latter had actually been not receiving his salary due to the said unsettled government “collectibles.”
“I notice an eerie silence from among the people from the OP,” Drilon said in chiding Ermita over the “startled” look that other OP officials showed before the panel when the matter was “exposed” by the senator.
Even if the Senate panel took up the sought for appropriation of Mrs. Arroyo, Drilon made it clear to the Palace officials that the upper chamber would not easily cave in to the apparent caprices of the Palace especially after having uncovered what he pointed out as questionable allocations being given to CICT as well as the P650 million intelligence and confidential funds sought by the OP.
Some P500 million of the said P650 million is proposed to be given to PAOCC that Drilon assessed has been giving a dismal performance.
“This is really embarrassing. Imagine, we spend P500 million…but if you read the accomplishments of the PAOCC, it’s really something that you can not be proud of,” commented Drilon.
He then noticed the P1 billion proposed to be appropriated to CICT for its so-called “E Government Fund”, which then led him to the discovery that the amount is over and above the P1 billion that the said office is seeking for its operations for next year.
CICT Commissioner Angelo Timoteo de Rivera acceded to Drilon’s observation that the said E-Government Fund, that is supposed to complement the E-Commerce Law, is separate from the budget of the commission itself which is a total of P1.59 billion under the OP.
“The E-Government Fund is a fund under the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) which we provide review as well as recommendation to the DBM as to which projects to be funded following some specific parameters,” De Rivera explained.
“Quite substantial Mr. Secretary. I do not know whether you knew this,” he said.
“These are matters, Mr. Chairman, which probably after this hearing I will have to take a look at because I just heard the huge amount from the chairman (just now),” Ermita replied.
“With the text and email…advances and technology, nobody seems to be using at this age the telegraph anymore,” Drilon added, having been told by De Rivera that the agency’s main task as “telecoms office” is to run the telegraph service or the telegraphic transfer service throughout the country with over 5,000 personnel under its employ.
The CICT is operating at P938 million and P168 million represents its maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE).
In the last five years of its existence, it had incurred over P5.8 billion in expenses and some P400 million was spent last year to pay the salary increase of its personnel, Drilon was told.
“So Mr. Executive Secretary, here you are, you have P1 billion for personnel services, MOOE to an office which has outlived its usefulness, given the advances and technology. During our time we used the telegraph but now, when we communicate, if ever, we use the text and email. We never use telegraphs. Here, you have P1 billion in government funds being spent every year for telegrams, I do not know how many telegrams are being sent….and with close to 5,000 employees? Has there been any attempt to rationalize the operations? This is practically P938 million every year which practically goes down the drain. How long have you been trying to rationalize this?” he asked.
“So for the last five years, we have seen how this office has been outmoded and we have spent P5 billion in an outmoded office which we are not using. Is that how we can phrase it?” Drilon further inquired.
“We’re already overstaffed in our bureaucracy. We make this work already in many government offices. Of course I realize this is a function of a labor surplus economy but to the extent that it is clearly a redundant office because technology has made its usefulness no longer viable. We should take a stand and have the political will to save money for the people. We impose VAT on our people and on the other hand, we spend P1 billion on an activity or an office which clearly outlived its usefulness.
“Mr. Executive Secretary, I suggest that you take a good look on this because obviously De Rivera is just trying to rationalize this otherwise difficult situation where we spend over P1 billion for an office which has outlived its usefulness,” the senator said in berating the Palace official.

P500M ‘Bolantic’ caper caused PNOC chief to quit. Diversion of funds to May campaign feared

'Only 50 years left' for sea fish

Philippine milkfish doesn't click in European market

By Maricar M. Calubiran
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are the ones patronizing the Philippine
milkfish though it has already penetrated the European market especially
in Germany and Italy.
Anja Gomm, project manager of the GTZ said the Filipinos working in
Europe are the buyers of the Philippine bangus and has yet to attract
the picky taste bud of the Europeans. The Philippine milkfish are sold
in the shelves of Asian markets in Europe.
Gomm, in an interview, said they are trying to help the the people of
Western Visayas to access a new market and increased the competitiveness
of Philippine milkfish in the international market. The GTZ is helping
the government in promoting the concept of chain management among
milkfish industry players.
She said they are currently working on the information generation to
inform the milkfish industry players and let them understand the
European market. They have also discussed some important issues which
affects the players from the stock they are going to raise, feeds,
process and exporters. They will also conduct a training and capacity
building.
Gomm said they are going to assist and give technical help to the
milkfish industry players in Western Visayas for more than two years. By
the time the project ends, she expects the players are ready to explore
the international market.
She said the European market has set a high standard regarding fish
exports. The Filipinos have to much to learn about the proper packaging
and handling. They have to meet the European Union's strict and quality
and safety standards.
At the latest, the Sta. Cruz Foods which brings the milkfish to
Netherlands is the only company which has gained access to the European
market. The Philippine milkfish were shipped to the Netherlands via
General Santos City.

Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Mrs. Gloria Arroyo will be tried at the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal

The highlights of the complaint filed against bogus President Gloria Arroyo by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and others at the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal, Hague, Netherlands. The formal trial starts March 2007.


1. Transgressions against the Filipino people's economic and political sovereignty and economic, social and cultural rights, including the exploitative imposition of "free market" globalization, economic plunder and destruction of the environment;

2. US military intervention and violations of the rights of the people to national self-determination and liberation through the imposition of the US war of terror, perpetuation of crimes against humanity, and misrepresentation of the people's right to national liberation and self-determination as "terrorism" and

3. Violations of human rights, especially civil and political rights, including summary executions, disappearances, massacres, torture as well as other vicious, brutal and systematic abuses and attacks on the basic democratic rights of the people.

Since Gloria Arroyo and her cohorts grabbed power in January 2001 coup, about 700 Filipinos have been murdered, extra-judicial killings and alleged targeted killings by state-sanctioned death squads. The victims of these brazen acts of violence were all unarmed citizens: lawyers, judges, journalists, and medical practitioners, members of cause-oriented groups, priests, church-workers, human rights advocates, laborers and farmers. WHY? Gloria Arroyo wants to permanently silence critics and dissenters of her corrupt and illegitimate regime for political survival.




Arroyo to be ‘tried’ before ‘int’l tribunal’


Full Circle: The Philippines and the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal
After Afghanistan and the former Yugoslavia, the Philippines will only be the third country in history to be the subject of a session twice by the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT). In 1980, the PPT convened a Session on the Philippines and found the Marcos dictatorship guilty of crimes against humanity after a trial. In March next year, the PPT will be hearing a case filed against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the U.S. government, and multi-national agencies “acting as their accomplices in violating the individual and collective rights of the Filipino people.”
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat

After Afghanistan and the former Yugoslavia, the Philippines will only be the third country in history to be the subject of a session twice by the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT).
In the website of the PPT’s Second Session on the Philippines, the PPT is described as follows:
The Permanent Peoples' Tribunal is an international opinion tribunal, independent from any State authority. It examines and judges complaints regarding violations of human rights and rights of peoples that are submitted by the victims themselves or groups representing them. The Tribunal was founded in June 1979 in Italy by law experts, writers and other intellectuals. It succeeded the Russell Tribunals I and II or the International War Crimes Tribunal, which held two sessions in 1967 to expose the war crimes committed against the Vietnamese people.
The PPT is an organ of the Lelio Basso International Foundation for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples (FILB). Established in 1976 through the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples at Algiers (also known as the Algiers Declaration), the FILB conducts historical and juridical studies based on what it calls the “Law for the Rights of Peoples.”
“The purpose is to contribute to the elaboration of principles to regulate a new order of relations which aim to promote peace, in that they are no longer based on hegemony but on interdependence,” reads an item on the FILB’s old website.
“The themes broached by the Foundation in these past years are interconnected and cut across the world crisis: democracy and market; environment and development model; relationship between development models and peoples' cultures; minorities and nation-State,” the website item further reads. “The South of the world is the main field for research, in that there more than anywhere else people are deprived of the fundamental rights due to every human being.”
The FILB was set up in 1976 by Lelio Basso, an Italian anti-Fascist activist, philosopher, lawyer, journalist and statesman. Basso sat in the Russell Tribunal, presided upon by internationally-respected British philosopher and human rights advocate Bertrand Russell to judge the crimes committed by the U.S. government in its war against Vietnam. In 1973, he worked to establish a second Russell Tribunal to examine the repression by U.S. sponsored regimes in Latin America. The PPT was established in 1979, a year after his death.
Salvatore Senese, an Italian legislator, is president of the PPT. Italian physician Gianni Tognoni is the PPT’s general secretary.
For its sessions, the PPT selects Member Jurors who are particularly noted for their moral and intellectual stature. It has held 34 sessions from 1979 to 2006.
In 1980, the PPT convened a Session on the Philippines to hear the case filed by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) against then President Ferdinand Marcos, the U.S. government, and U.S.-controlled financial institutions, multi-national corporations and commercial banks. The Marcos dictatorship, which was supported by the U.S. government, was specifically charged with violation of human rights and peoples rights, and crimes under international law.
After a trial, the PPT delivered a “Guilty” verdict on Marcos and his government – in effect becoming the first international body to condemn the Marcos dictatorship. It also recognized the NDFP and the MNLF as the “legitimate representatives” of the Filipino and Moro peoples, respectively.
The Member Jurors of the PPT First Session on the Philippines were: Sergio Mendes Arceo, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Guernavaca, Mexico; Richard Baumlin, Swiss legal scholar and parliamentarian; Harvey Cox, professor of theology at Harvard University and author of the book Secular City; Richard Falk, professor of international law at Princeton University and noted environmentalist; Andrea Giardina, professor of international law at the University of Naples; Francois Houtart, professor of sociology at the University of Louvain; Ajit Roy, Indian writer; Makoto Oda; Ernst Utrecht, professor at Sidney University and a fellow of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam; George Wald, Nobel Prize winner and president of the First Session on the Philippines; Muireann O’ Brian, Irish lawyer; and Gianni Tognoni, coordinator of the First Session on the Philippines.
Convening in The Hague this Oct. 30 is the PPT’s Second Session on the Philippines. In March next year, the PPT will be hearing a case filed against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the U.S. government, and multi-national agencies “acting as their accomplices in violating the individual and collective rights of the Filipino people.”
Filing the indictment on behalf of the Filipino people are: Hustisya (Justice), an organization of human rights victims under the Arroyo administration and their relatives; Desaparecidos, a group of relatives of victims of enforced disappearances; Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (SELDA or Society of Ex-Detainees Against Detention and for Amnesty); and the multi-sectoral Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance).
The indictment places the highest priority on what the plaintiffs describe as the violations of civil and political rights.
The indictment, in summary, focuses on the following:
Violations of human rights, especially civil and political rights, with particular focus on summary executions, disappearances, massacres, torture as well as other vicious, brutal and systematic abuses and attacks on the basic democratic rights of the people.
Violations of human rights, especially economic, social and cultural rights of the Filipino people through the imposition of “free market” globalization to exploit them; transgression of their economic sovereignty and national patrimony; various forms of economic plunder and attacks on their economic rights; and the destruction of the environment.
Violations of the rights of the people to national self-determination and liberation through the imposition of the U.S. war of terror; U.S. military intervention; as well as the perpetration of crimes against humanity and war crimes; misrepresentations of the people's right to national liberation and self-determination as terrorism and the baseless “terrorist” listing of individuals, organizations and other entities by the U.S. and other governments.
Tognoni will be presiding during the Second Session on the Philippines. Bulatlat

© 2006 Bulatlat ¦ Alipato Media Center
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