Not even a pygmy Editorial Malaya March 27, 2010 MIKEY Arroyo, nominee of a party list group representing security guards, dared compare himself to sitting nominees of leftist party groups. Predictably, he exposed himself for what he is: a fraud. Mikey said leftist militant congressmen are "hypocrites" for assailing his party list nomination because most of them, including self-exiled communist party founder Jose Ma. Sison, do not belong to the working class which they claim to represent. "Mr. Jose Ma. Sison had been the chairman of the CPP and it is widely believed he is still chairman of the CPP up to now. But then, the CPP is a movement of the working class. Is Mr. Sison a member of the working class himself? I don’t think so," he said. We hold no truck with Sison. In fact, we are at opposite ends of the political spectrum. On economics, we favor the market system over central planning. On politics, we stand solidly planted on the side of liberal democracy agains...

Bastardizing the party list Ellen Tordesillas Malaya 3 March 2010 PARAÑAQUE Rep. Roilo Golez sees a conflict of interest in the Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes membership in 1-Utak (United Transport Koalisyun), a partylist group. Golez said in the hearing of the House Energy Committee last Monday, Reyes admitted that he was offered a slot in the 1-Utak party list and in a TV interview, he said he is considering it. His nomination indicates that he has been an I-Utak member for at least the past three months because the law states that a nominee should be "A bonafide member of the party he seeks to represent for at least ninety (90) days preceding election day." There are calls for Reyes to resign because, as Golez said, "his membership in 1-Utak, a player in oil products price and supply issues, which are within the jurisdiction of the energy secretary poses a clear conflict of interest." Concerns have also been raised about Mikey Arroyo, son of Gloria Arroyo who has...

by Mon Casiple wwww.moncasiple.wordpress.com *** Mon is right. This is a mixed blessing. When Comelec refused to accredit us for a variety of reasons -- first, we did not have enough members nationwide; then, we were not under-represented and marginalized; third, a woman in the dark Comelec canteen asked us for P2 million to be accredited and I refused and I am NOT saying she is a Comelec employee -- I was approached by some of these accredited party list groups. Remember, some of these party-list groups are just fronts of Malacanang, but they were desperate for votes. So what did they tell me? "Professor Remoto, you run with us. I will be the first nominee as party-list representative and you will be the second. With the great publicity generated by Ang Ladlad and your charming personality, we are sure to win two seats." Of course I was not born yesterday. If they said I would be the first nominee, I would have said yes. And my personality is charming? You wait till the deba...