75% of Filipinos say quality of life got worse-Pulse Asia

75% of Filipinos say quality of life got worse – survey

SAF commandos confirm 2004 poll fraud cover-up

SAF commandos confirm 2004 poll fraud cover-up

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS

VERA Files

(First of two parts)

When Gloria Arroyo delivers her eighth State of the Nation Address at the Batasang Pambansa session hall today, she will be standing close to where, three years ago, police commandos say they replaced genuine election returns (ERs) with fake ones in ballot boxes that were being readied for a recount of the 2004 presidential election.

The ER switching at the Batasan had been talked about and reported on since 2005, when Arroyo apologized for talking to an election official while the votes were being counted, in what has since been known as the "Hello, Garci" scandal.

Recently, some of those who took part in that clandestine operation have sought legal refuge, executing affidavits and taped testimonies of their involvement. Others told friends in confidence, while a few boasted about it in drinking sessions.

They said they switched the ERs of several provinces on three occasions to reconcile these with the figures in the certificates of canvass (COCs) and statements of votes (SOVs) that were tampered with in the 2004 elections.

The stories told by some of the participants and their confidants in the Batasan operation constitute what could be grounds for another impeachment case against Arroyo.

They revive allegations that not only did the President cheat in the 2004 elections, but also tried to cover her tracks by switching the ERs that would have been scrutinized in 2005. At that time, the presidential electoral protest filed by Arroyo’s opponent, Fernando Poe Jr., was still pending. Poe died of a heart attack in December 2004, but his widow, Susan Roces, pursued the protest. (She was turned down on the ground that the party in interest had died.)

Among those who took part in the Batasan operation were members of the Special Action Force (SAF), an elite unit of the Philippine National Police.

Some of them said they got their orders from Chief Supt. Marcelino Franco, then commanding officer of the SAF. Both Franco and the then chief of the SAF Intelligence and Investigation Division, Supt. Rafael Santiago, were present at a briefing on the operation, SAF sources said.

The SAF sources refused to be named for fear of their safety and that of their families. MALAYA The rest of this story.
Part 2
Related Link
Arsenio Rasalan

More Filipinos going hungry amid rising food prices

21 July 2008
Second Quarter 2008 Social Weather Survey:
Hunger goes to 16.3%; Severe Hunger rises to 4.2%
Social Weather Stations

Households reporting that their families experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months rose to 16.3% (estimated 2.9 million families), according to the Second Quarter 2008 Social Weather Survey, fielded over June 27-30, 2008. This is four points above the ten-year average Hunger rate of 12.1%.
Hunger had dropped in 2007Q4 and 2008Q1, before rising in 2008Q2. From its record-high 21.5% in September 2007, it fell to 16.2% in December 2007 and 15.7% in March 2008, before going back to 16.3% in June.
The measure of Hunger refers to involuntary suffering because the respondents answer a survey question that specifies hunger due to lack of anything to eat.

MILF Sees Renewed Escalation of Conflict with GRP

Gloria carves out Mindanao for MILF
Gov’t, MILF settle all issues on ancestral domain

Commission on Audit Report: Millions in Palace donations diverted

CoA Report: Millions in Palace donations diverted
By Angie M. Rosales
Daily Tribune 07/16/2008
Hundreds of millions of pesos in unliquidated cash advances, loans with no records; donations diverted and used outside of their intended purposes; understated expenses, overstated accounts, and the high cost of foreign and domestic travels incurred by the Office of the President (OP) last year have been uncovered by the Commission on Audit (CoA).
The CoA report for the fiscal year 2007 bared a lot of discrepancies in Malacaang's way of handling public monies, as the audit agency noted a total of P633 million in unliquidated cash advances to regular and special disbursing officers of the OP that have remained unliquidated as of yearend while loans granted out of the President?s Social Fund (PSF) dating back to 2003 to January 2004 with a sum of P270 million were not booked up.
These revelations prompted opposition Sen. Loren Legarda to move for a full-blown investigation into what she stressed are alleged disbursement irregularities in the Palace.
In seeking an inquiry under Resolution 495, she pointed out that these reported irregularities in the disbursements of government need to be reviewed in the light of the principle that such funds are expected to be expended for the benefit of the country, especially the marginalized. The rest of the story.

GSIS chief,board accused
of P1B diversion

SC rules ZTE suits moot; Dissenting justices warn of deal resurrection

SC rules ZTE suits moot; Dissenting justices warn of deal resurrection

By Benjamin B. Pulta

Daily Tribune 07/15/2008


Act of executive department, the Court must take judicial notice of such official act without need of evidence, the Court said.

The Court explained that under Section 1, Rule 129 of the Rules of Court, it is mandatory for the Court to take judicial notice of the official acts of the President of the Philippines without instruction of evidence.

Pontificating on issues which no longer legitimately constitute an actual case or controversy will do more harm than good to the nation as a whole. Wise exercise of judicial discretion militates against resolving the academic issues, as petitioners want this court to do, the SC added.

The Court is...constrained to dismiss the petitions and deny them due course because of mootness and because their resolution requires reception of evidence which cannot be done in an original petition brought before the Supreme Court.

The tribunal's majority ruling also said, it would be too presumptuous on the part of the Court to summarily compel public respondents to comply with the pertinent provisions of law regarding procurement of government infrastructure projects without any factual basis,

For the Court to do so would amount to a breach of the norms of comity among co-equal branches of government. the SC said.

Of the 11 magistrates who sided with the majority ruling for the mootness of the ZTE-NBN deal, Justice Minita Chico Nazario was on leave.

Three justices dissented, while the at least three justices issued separate but concurring opinions, among whom are Chief Justice Reynato Puno, Senior Associate Justice Adolf Azcuna and now retired associate justice Consuelo Ynares.

In a 31page dissenting opinion by Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, the justice insisted that the ZTE deal is void and that it is capable of being repeated.

Justice Azcuna, who voted with the majority said: I find the points raised by Justice Carpio...arguably sound, correct and almost unassailable as an abstract treatise in law. Nevertheless, I am of the view that the desistance from the agreement in question renders the matter academic and moot, leaving no actual controversy calling for the exercise of judicial power.

Two justices, Alicia Austria-Martinez, and Conchita Carpio-Morales joined Carpio's dissent.

Carpio claimed the contract is void from the beginning for being contrary to the Constitution, the Administrative Code of 1987, the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines and the Government Procurement Reform Act. and that as such, the ZTE supply contract is legally non-existent.

He also said the Philippine government's decision not to continue with the ZTE project during the pendency of this case,even if deemed a cancellation of the ZTE supply contract , had no legal effect on the status of the contract, and did not moot the petition since not only are the legal issues in the case capable of repetition yet evading review, the ZTE supply contract is itself capable of being resurrected.

It is time to put an end to government procurement contracts amounting to tens of billions of pesos,exceeding even the annual budget of the judiciary,that are awarded and signed without an appropriation from Congress , and without the required public bidding.

This court must categorically declare the ZTE Supply Contract void from the beginning. the dissent pointed out.

Carpio stressed that the ZTE supply contract is not funded by an appropriation law and does not have a certificate of appropriation and fund availability but that it is not only void, but also void from the beginning under the Civil Code.

The magistrate also pointed out that even as the funding for the ZTE supply contract will come from a foreign loan, this does not negate the rationale for public bidding since Filipino taxpayers will still pay for the loan with interest.

He also underscored the need to safeguard public interest against anomalies existing in all government procurement contracts, regardless of the source of funding. Public bidding is the most effective means to prevent anomalies in the award of government contracts.

Public bidding promotes transparency and honesty in the expenditure of public funds. he said.

Chinese contractor threatens to pull out of Northrail project

A China-owned contractor working on the $503-million Northrail project has threatened to pull out of the project over the nonpayment of cost overruns worth $299 million and other breaches of the original agreement, according to documents obtained by ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC).

Last June 3, the China National Machinery and Equipment Corp. Group (CNMEG) sent a demand letter to North Luzon Railways Corporation (NLRC), saying that it would terminate the contract within 30 to 60 days if Northrail fails to take steps to comply with the terms of the contract and remedy several breaches of the original agreement.

Among the breaches of contract mentioned in the June 3 letter obtained by ANC were:

- failure to provide contractor access to the site and the necessary right of way;

- failure to remove all residents living along the right of way and to dismantle and remove all obstacles including trees, shelter and building facilities;

- failure to provide land to contractor for temporary use;

- failure to approve the design document and technical specifications;

- failure to make payments to the contractor;

- failure to provide the diagram of existing undergound networks pertaining to the electricity, gas, water and sewerage facilities in the working area;

- failure to compensate the contractor for extra costs;

- failure to adjust the contract price.

The letter was signed by Zhang Chun, director general for International Engineering Projects of CNMEG.

The Northrail project started in 2004 after the Arroyo administration entered into a deal with the Chinese government to build a railway connecting Manila to Northern Luzon. Phase 1 of the Northrail project would begin in Caloocan and stretch out to Clark, Pampanga.

The $503 million project cost would be funded by the Chinese government through a loan, with the provision that the project would be handled by a Chinese contractor.

Last May 13, CNMEG executive project manager Ren Junan wrote to then NLRC president Arsenio Bartolome III to ask for a $299.4 million increase in the original contract price. The price adjustment includes $210,770,635 in "contractor's extra costs" and $88,634,975 for "variations of scope of works from the original contract."

If approved, the price adjustment would inflate the project cost to more than $800 million. ABS-CBN News

RP envoy charged in US

By Ninotchka Rosca
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:01:00 07/06/2008

NEW YORK -- AMBASSADOR Lauro Liboon Baja Jr., who headed the Philippine Mission to the United Nations from 2003 to 2007, is one of four defendants in a civil complaint alleging trafficking, forced labor, peonage and racketeering.

The case was filed on June 24 before Judge Victor Marrero of the New York Southern District Court. The co-accused are the ambassador’s wife Norma Castro Baja, his daughter Maria Elizabeth Baja Facundo and the Baja-owned Labaire International Travel Inc.

The complaint was filed by 39-year-old Marichu Suarez Baoanan through lawyers Aaron Mendelsohn of Troutman Sanders and Ivy O. Suriyopas of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Ambassador Baja, 71, was also president of the UN Security Council in June 2004. AMBASSADOR Lauro Liboon Baja Jr., who headed the Philippine Mission to the United Nations from 2003 to 2007, is one of four defendants in a civil complaint alleging trafficking, forced labor, peonage and racketeering. The case was filed on June 24 before Judge Victor Marrero of the New York Southern District Court. The co-accused are the ambassador’s wife Norma Castro Baja, his daughter Maria Elizabeth Baja Facundo and the Baja-owned Labaire International Travel Inc. The complaint was filed by 39-year-old Marichu Suarez Baoanan through lawyers Aaron Mendelsohn of Troutman Sanders and Ivy O. Suriyopas of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Ambassador Baja, 71, was also president of the UN Security Council in June 2004.The rest of the story.

‘Huge bribes’ delayed $503-M Northrail project

Ousted House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. should testify before Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on the botched $329 M ZTE broadband deal and the overpriced $500 M Northrail Project. He was an insider in the multi million dollars’ scams.


‘Huge bribes’ delayed $503-M Northrail project, says lawyer

By JESS DIAZ
The Philippine Star

The Chinese contractor of the $503-million North Rail project wants out because of the "huge bribe" paid to Filipino officials, causing a five-year delay in the project, according to a lawyer familiar with the case.

Speaking at the Serye Café news forum in Quezon City, lawyer Harry Roque said China National Machinery and Equipment Group (CNMEG), a state-owned corporation, spent most of the $150 million advanced by the government under its contract paying bribes.

"The contractor is backing out of the project because of the huge cost of corruption," he said.

"They have paid big bribes to Philippine officials, and they want to recover those big amounts first before they proceed."

Roque said one official involved in the project had at least P500 million in his bank account.

"The Chinese contractor reported the bribes to President Arroyo last Monday when she met with them in Clark," he said.

Chinese embassy officials know about the bribe or "tongpats," but they "are not speaking about it, at least not publicly," he added.

Roque said CNMEG wants the government to advance an additional $200 million to recover the cost of alleged corruption, but that Malacañang has refused.

"This is the story that Palace officials are not telling the public," he said.

Roque, who challenged the legality of the Northrail contract, said the Makati Regional Trial Court has ruled that since the contract is not a treaty, it is covered by the Procurement Law and should be subjected to public bidding.

"The court declared it as a commercial contract because it did not involve the exercise of sovereign functions," he said.

Roque said CNMEG has questioned the decision before the Court of Appeals, where the case is pending.

"They are claiming that it is a treaty and should not go through the requirement of public bidding, and that they are immune from suit because they are a Chinese state corporation," he said.

Roque said administration officials are speaking "with discordant voices to hide the corruption involved in Northrail and the fact that the $150 million advanced by the government is already gone without an inch of railway being built."

"One official claimed the project has been terminated, while another asserted that it’s still on," he said.

Edgardo Pamintuan, whom Mrs. Arroyo has reportedly named to head North Luzon Railways Corp., said CNMEG has "demobilized" from the project, leaving it in limbo.

However, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the railways project will continue despite issues involving its contractor.

A similar Chinese-funded project, the plan to build a national broadband network (NBN) for the government, has been derailed by allegations of corruption.

The awarding of the NBN contract to Chinese firm ZTE Corp. was witnessed by Mrs. Arroyo herself on April 21, 2007, just days after her husband went through life-threatening heart surgery.

The First Gentleman was still recuperating when Mrs. Arroyo left his bedside for China for the signing ceremonies between ZTE officials and Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza.

There were claims that at least $130 million in commissions and kickbacks were to be made from the $329-million ZTE contract. There were even allegations of advances amounting to $41 million. ABS-CBN News

Related links: The Ghost of IMPSA
WB: Corruption in RP worst in East Asia