NO HOLDS BARRED By Armida Siguion-Reyna The Daily Tribune 10/06/2009 NEW YORK — Skype-ing with my brother Sen. Juan Ponce-Enrile the other day was an unusual treat for both of us, but especially for him, as it was his first time to use the technology. The Ilocano in him made him ask how much the conversation was costing, and boy was he amazed to find out it was for free, thanks to VOIP or voice over Internet protocols. Johnny chortled at the first sight of me, and laughed when I said, "Sorry, ha? Natagalan ako, kasi nagkilay pa ako. Pagka ganitong nagkakakitaan na tayo pag nag-uusap, dapat naman, magpaganda ako." "My sister," he said over and over again, "my sister." He was clearly amazed at what was there before him on the computer screen, as I was when my children introduced Skype to me sometime last year. The Senate President and I are not "techies." We were born years before World War II, the age of manual typewriters and heavy, clunky teleph...

BY Lito Banayo Ang Pahayagang Malaya www.malaya.com.ph 13 August 2009 L’addition, s’il vous plais, Ferdinand Martin Romualdez must have told the head waiter at Le Cirque. He could have added, "The President has a funeral to catch in Manila". Le Cirque does not get this large a crowd of diners these days, the economy being in recession. In any case, the celebrities that come to the East Side restaurant which boasts of a wine collection like no other in Manhattan, caters to twosomes and foursomes mostly, not boisterous over-dressed gaggles unable to distinguish between osetra from the Caspian or caviar from California. Looking at the reported dishes ordered for the celebration of the wedding anniversary of our Fourth World presidenta y su esposo, you notice a clear divide. It reminds you of one of her state of the nation addresses, where she decried "two Philippines", "a Philippines for the rich, and a Philippines for the poor". And thereafter vowed she woul...

Obama’s message to GMA Monday, 27 July 2009 www.newsbreak.com.ph If President Arroyo has read Barack Obama’s books and if she has been following his speeches, she’ll know what to expect during their meeting in Washington D.C. this week. And she may find discomfort in Obama's rhetoric and ideas. It's because GMA's visit to the US comes at a time of public doubt about her true plans past her term in 2010. Dangling in the air are two options, both aimed at extending her stay in office: amending the Constitution through a constituent assembly, and setting up a "transition council" which she will lead and which will preside over the changing of the Constitution. Clearly, in these two scenarios being peddled by her allies, she's bypassing institutions and violating the Constitution. Obama, who taught Constitutional law for 10 years, is a believer in institutions. He sees the building of institutions as the key to success of any country. What Obama told Africa...

Statement of Hyatt 10 8 July 2009 GMA’S CRIME AGAINST THE NATION: FROM SURVIVAL TO PERPETUATION—AT ALL COST When we submitted our collective irrevocable resignation from the Cabinet on 8 July 2005, we were absolutely convinced that the expose on the “Garci tapes” had severely damaged beyond repair the credibility of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. And the “least disruptive and painful option that can swiftly restore normalcy and eventually bring us to prosperity” was for Mrs. Arroyo to voluntarily relinquish her office. Otherwise, the longer she insisted on staying in office—at all cost—under a cloud of doubt and mistrust, the greater the damage to the economy and to our political institutions. In the end, the poor would suffer the most. It has been exactly four years since our resignation, and the serious concerns we expressed in our resignation statement have come to pass. The truth remains suppressed and the lying continues...

BY JP LOPEZ Ang Pahayagang Malaya www.malaya.com.ph SEN. Mar Roxas yesterday lashed at President Arroyo for "bringing international shame to the country" for her deliberate disregard of the corruption that pervades her administration. "Nakakahiya na talaga. This administration should be ashamed of itself. Si Joc-Joc Bolante, nahuli sa US; si General Carlos Garcia, nahuli sa US; itong mga euro generals, nahuli sa Russia; mga ilang contractors, nabuking ng World Bank," Roxas said. Bolante, a former agriculture undersecretary, has been tagged as mastermind of the P728-million fertilizer mess. Garcia, a former AFP comptroller, was convicted by a general court martial over undeclared wealth. Former PNP police general Eliseo dela Paz was involved in 105,000 euro money scandal. "The entire world knows how corrupt our government is, even arrested these Filipino grafters when caught with their loot, but we cannot put them to justice," Roxas said. Roxas also cited t...

George Orwell was one of the shrewdest, clearest political writers of all time. His book, "1984", is a departure point for a well-argued editorial in today's issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Read on. *** 1984 is once again upon us. We refer to the novel by that title by George Orwell, a prophetic, nightmarish vision of a “negative utopia.” In Orwell’s generation, and even up to now, no other novel has stimulated so much loathing for tyranny and so much desire for freedom. In “1984” the slogans of the Party are the following: WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH Under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration, the following might be the slogans of the times: FALSEHOOD IS TRUTH CORRUPTION IS SAINTLINESS BLACK IS WHITE, AND EVIL IS GOOD At no time in the history of the current administration has the truth of these supposed “slogans” been more strongly demonstrated than the present. Consider the following: An upright, incorruptible, right-thinking Chi...

Ang Pahayagang Malaya www.malaya.com.ph It’s about time the fight against the plot of Gloria Arroyo and her allies in the House to amend the 1987 Constitution be brought to the streets. The people are overwhelmingly against tampering with the Charter at this time. The efforts to railroad changes by the House, specifically via constituent assembly sans the participation of the Senate, are patently unconstitutional. Gloria and her allies, however, are no longer open to honest dialogue and reasoned arguments. They have a demonstrated history of disrespecting the Constitution, violating the laws and transgressing moral norms. It is wishful thinking to expect them to start playing the game by the rules in the twilight of their reign. The organizers of today’s anti-Charter change rally in Makati are correct. The people must send Gloria and her allies a message via the only language they know. She was carried into Malacañang on the shoulders of the people who had had enough of the abuses of J...

Editorial Ang Pahayagang Malaya www.malaya.com.ph ‘This is a lesson and warning which Arroyo can ignore only at her peril.’ The Makati Business Club yesterday declared its opposition to charter change aimed at extending the term of Gloria Arroyo. It said Arroyo no longer enjoys the support and confidence of the majority of the people. It added the people look forward to national renewal through the general elections in 2010. It said efforts at canceling the exercise will be met with the strongest opposition from all sectors of society. The MBC position, including its declared alignment with all forces committed to the holding of the 2010 elections, is clear as clear can be. It should give the lie to those self-proclaimed industry leaders, whose only visible business is kissing the rump of whoever is in power, that business favors constitutional "reforms." Through the MBC, the purported beneficiaries of charter change, especially as this relates to the lifting of constitutiona...

By Ellen Tordesillas Ang Pahayagang Malaya www.malaya.com.ph DESTABILIZATION talks are getting louder and louder as Gloria Arroyo and her henchmen make the final push to keep her in power beyond 2010. Last Tuesday at the 58th anniversary of the Scout Rangers at Camp Tecson in Bulacan, AFP chief Alexander Yano assured the public that the military won’t be involved in any destabilization plots. It’s significant that Yano’s audience was the elite Scout Rangers, whose much-respected commander, Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim and 19 other officers, were implicated in the alleged plan to withdraw support from Gloria Arroyo following in February 2006 following the surfacing of the "Hello Garci " tapes that validated Arroyo’s primary role the tampering of election results in her favor. Lim and the 19 Scout Rangers that include Colonels Nestor Flordeliza and Edmundo Malabanjot and Major Jason Aquino have been in detention together with nine Marine officers and one Army Special Forces officer fo...

by ARIES RUFO, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak | 10/28/2008 3:16 PM Are Church leaders now ready to back attempts to oust the Arroyo government? In its strongest position yet indicating that they are ready to give their blessings for what may be a drastic change in government, five bishops, led by Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Angel Lagdameo, condemned the unabated “top to bottom” corruption in government and asked the public to shake the status quo. Lagdameo went as far as assuring the public that “liberators” may be just around the corner. “In response to the global economic crisis and the pitiful state of our country, the time to rebuild our country economically, socially, politically, is now. The time to start radical reforms is now. The time for moral regeneration is now. The time to conquer complacency, cynicism and apathy to prove that we have matured from our political statements is now. The time to prepare a new government is now,” Lagdameo said in...

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Nagkakabukingan na po. Ang baho-baho na talaga ng Office of Ombudsman. That is what Malacanang got for appointing a friend of Mike Arroyo in that sensitive office. Somebody’s house is falling down, falling down, falling down. Buti nga! — Danton *** By ARIES C. RUFO abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak The battle lines between Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio have been clearly drawn. If push comes to shove, Villa-Ignacio said he will go to the Supreme Court and inform the justices of the underhanded tactics aimed at forcing him to resign his post. In a hastily called press conference shortly after a show of force by subordinates of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, Villa-Ignacio, in a rare show of pique, said “they will have to shoot me” if Gutierrez’s allies would have him removed from the Office of the Special Prosecutor. Deputies of Ombudsman Gutierrez closed ranks behind her and said the row between their boss and Villa-Ignacio should be resolved interna...

“Noah’s Ark” subsidies, better called crisis alms, will cost P316 billion over three years — till Gloria Arroyo steps down in 2010. That money can be better used for basic education and skills training. Since 2001 experts have been saying the educational system is deteriorating and needed a one-time shot of P65 billion to start fixing things. The admin never paid heed. Now it turns out Arroyo can block off five times the amount to give away to the disgruntled poor. Worse, the P316 billion can be just the start of an extra-early election campaign. Meaning, the money will just be secretly given to political allies. * * * Didn’t Arroyo allies just sneer that ex-Speaker Joe de Venecia has no credibility? Didn’t Malacañang repeatedly say he has nothing provocative to reveal about his visit with Gloria and Mike Arroyo to ZTE’s China HQ in Nov. 2006? So why did Palace factotums cook up a newspaper ad decrying JDV’s threat to “bare all” about the ZTE deal when Congress reopens in Jul...