The Court of Appeals has issued a 60-day temporary restraining order on the suspension of Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay.
Making life worth living.
Month: October 2006
I was at the Makati City Hall yesterday afternoon up to about 9 p.m. There was a steady stream of visitors, expressing support for Mayor Binay.
There were Bishops Julio Labayen and Bishop Antonio Tobias. Later in the evening the two bishops, together with three other priests, officiated mass.
There was former Finance Secretary Jess Estanislao, whose presence many found significant, because he comes from the business community and is supposedly considered conservative. For him to go there sends indeed a message.
Maganda ang text ni Rep. Roilo Golez sa nangyayari ngayon sa Makati: “Kung patuloy na hindi maayos ang pagtrato kay Mayor Binay, katulad ng pag-aapi at paninikil na ginagawa sa kanya ngayon, baka si Binay ay magiging rallying point ng opposition at kandidato para presidente sa 2010.
“Why not Binay for President? Meron siyang kakayahan bilang lider, may talino mass appeal at tibay ng loob (guts).
“Many times in the history of mankind, it’s one rare defining moment that catapults a person to the highest post. Mandela. Mao. Magsaysay. John F. Kennedy (PT 109) and FVR (Edsa I)”
This should warm the hearts of Bishop Antonio Tobias, Nini Quezon Avanceña, Josie Lichauco, Dinky Soliman, Leah Navarro, and many others who filed the second impeachment complaint against Gloria Arroyo this year despite discouragement from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.
The latest survey of the Social Weather Stations showed that more Filipinos disagree (45 percent) than agree (30 percent) with the decision of the House of Representatives last Aug. 24 to junk the second impeachment case filed against Gloria Arroyo.
Forty-five percent is a substantial number. It’s almost 50 percent or half of the Filipino people.
Amidst tension in Makati, Local Government Undersecretary Wencelito Andanar served the suspension order on Makati Mayor Binay, his vice mayor and all the 16 councilors at about 6 a.m.
They have designated Rodolfo Ferraren, official of the national capital region, as officer-in-charge.
Binay refused to personally receive the suspension order. Andanar merely pasted it in front of the City Hall.
(The following article by JP Lopez appears in today’s Malaya. What could be Bolante’s strategy?)
Talk about chutzpah.
Former agriculture undersec-retary Jocelyn “Joc Joc” Bolante has asked Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. to testify in his immigration hearing in the United States.
This is the same Bolante who the Senate ordered arrested for repeatedly failing to attend the hearing of Magsaysay’s committee on agriculture into the alleged diversion of the P728 million fertilizer fund into President Arroyo’s campaign chest in 2004.
Thanks for all the messages of support.
I posted bail (P10,500.00) in the sala of Judge Silvino T. Pampilo, Jr. of Branch 26 of the Manila Regional Trial Court. Arraignment is set on Oct. 25, 2006 at 8:30 a.m.
I was with former Sen. Francisco Tatad, who was also issued an arrest warrant on the same case filed by Mike Arroyo.
I have just been informed by Malaya that I have to go to court to post bail because there’s a warrant of arrest issued for…
(I did the following article for I-Magazine of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism)
UP for confirmation before the Commission on Appointments anytime now is retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide, 71, who has been nominated as permanent representative to the United Nations in New York.
If confirmed by the Commission on Appointments, Davide will replace Lauro Baja, 69 years old and a retired career foreign-service officer.
As ambassador to the United Nations, Davide would have the duty to ensure that Philippine interests are protected in all the international treaties that the organization is crafting and implementing. For that, he would get at least $30,000 ( P1.5 million) a month, representing $20,000 free housing plus some $10,000 in salary and allowances.
I welcome the news that Pope Benedict XVI will soon be allowing Catholic churches to hold Tridentine masses.
A Washington Post report last Friday said:
“Pope Benedict XVI has drafted a document allowing wider use of the Tridentine Mass, the Latin rite that was largely replaced in the 1960s by Masses in English and other modern languages, a church official said yesterday.