Gen. Lim’s blog is back. Click to:www.dannylim.org At this time when unprincipled pragmatism has become the ticket to success it’s good to be able to…
Making life worth living.
Month: October 2008
The Webster dictionary defines “seditious” as “tending to cause discontent among the people; fostering the spirit of rebellion.”
I think Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez was barking up the wrong tree when he said that the pronouncements of Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines ; Lingayen Archbishop Oscar Cruz;Bataan Bishop Socrates Villegas; Masbate Bishop Joel Baylon, and Legazpi Bishop Emeritus Jose Sorra at a press conference last Tuesday were “seditious.”
I checked again what the five bishops said. Their statements were mostly on graft and corruption which they said were the “biggest culprit and major cause of the our nation’s poverty and hunger.”
Napuyat ako sa kakahintay kay Joc-Joc Bolante, ang matalik na kaibigan ni Mike Arroyo na dumating noong Martes ng gabi mula sa dalawang taong pagkakulong sa Estado Unidos.
Hindi na ako nakipagsiksikan sa loob ng NAIA dahil bawat media entity, isang reporter lang ang kailangan. May reporter naman kami doon sa loob, kaya doon ako sa mga concerned citizens na gustong hikayatin si Bolante na magsabi ng totoo.
Hindi namin nasilayan si Bolante dahil alam naman natin lahat na pagkatapos ma-turn over siya ng Bureau of Immigration at National Bureau of Invesitgation kay Senate Deputy Sergeant-at-arms Jaime Dimacale, isinakay siya sa naghihintay na ambulansya papuntang St. Luke’s Hospital.
Gonzalez: Lagdameo’s ‘seditious’ call not the stand of CBCP
by Evangeline de Vera
Malaya
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez yesterday hit back at the leaders of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines who on Tuesday called for a change in government for what they said was rampant corruption in government.
Gonzalez said Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, CBCP president, treaded on thin ice with his utterance of “seditious” statements calling on the laity to take communal action in preparing for a new government.
“Strictly speaking, those are seditious (statements),” Gonzalez said.
That was one great statement that the Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, released yesterday. He practically called for the ouster of Gloria Arroyo.
Not in 2010 but now.
In a statement he read flanked by four other progressive-thinking bishops namely, Lingayen Archbishop Oscar Cruz, Bataan Bishop Socrates Villegas, Masbate Bishop Joel Baylon, and Legazpi Bishop Emeritus Jose Sorra, Lagdameo said: “The time to start radical reforms is now. The time for moral regeneration is now. The time to conquer complacency, cynicism and apathy and to prove that we matured from our political disappointments is now. The time to prepare a new government is now. ”
ABS-CBN photo of Bolante upon arrival at the NAIA1 Oct. 28, 2008
Click here for more of Bolante photos and ABS-CBN’s account of Bolante’s arrival
Click here for Inquirer’s account on Bolante’s arrival
Maintriga ang mga tanong ng abogadong si Harry Roque kung bakit ayaw na ayaw ni Joc-joc Bolante, dating undersecretary ng agriculture, na umuwi dito sa Pilipinas.
Biruin mong minabuti niyang magpakulong sa Amerika kaysa umuwi dito sa Pilipinas samantalang kaibigan naman niya ang mga nakaupo sa Malacañang. Sabi ni Harry, na siya talagang nagpursige na maibalik si Bolante sito sa Pilipinas, kung tungkol sa paggamit ng P728 million sa kampanya ni Arroyo noong 2004 na eleksyon na dapat ay pambili ng abono na gagamiting ng mga magsasaka sa patanim ng palay, alam naman ng lahat yan.
Kung si dating Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano nga hindi nagalaw dahil sa lakas ng prutekta ng Malacañang, hindi ba kampante si Bolante na prutektahan din siya ng kanyang mga kaibigan sa Malacañang? Bakit takot siya umuwi dito? Kung hindi pa siya idiniport ng Amerika, ayqaw niya talaga bumalik sa Pilipinas.
Breaking news:
Senate President Manuel Villar has ordered the arrest of former Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-joc” Bolante upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. He is expected to arrive tomorrow late evening, Northwest Airlines flight 71.
I issued an instruction to Gen. Jose Balajadia Jr., the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, to implement the arrest warrant issued by the Senate in December 2005 against former Agriculture Usec. Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante for the failure to attend the public hearings of the Committees on Agriculture and Food and Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations (Blue Ribbon) on the P728 million Fertlizer Fund Scam.
The arrest order, which I signed as vice chairman of the Agriculture Committee, is still valid. To argue that the citation for contempt or arrest order approved by the Senate had lapsed automatically with the adjournment sine die of the 13th Congress would result in an absurd situation where a person held in contempt would just ignore and evade the Senate order until the adjournment of the session.
Personnel from the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms will be dispatched at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal I. They have a specific instruction to arrest Bolante on sight and bring him to the Senate.
By Ellen Tordesillas and Chit Estella
Vera Files
Government is pushing through with plans to parcel out the controversial gold rush site in Diwalwal, Compostela Valley province to various foreign mining companies, despite the tangle of unresolved legal issues that are threatening to fuel a potentially explosive situation.
On Oct. 14, government accepted letters of intent from mining firms to develop the Upper Ulip-Paraiso portion of Diwalwal consisting of 1,600 hectares. On top of this, there is an existing Memorandum of Understanding between the government and the Chinese firm Zhongxing Technology Equipment (ZTE) to explore and mine a still undisclosed part of Diwalwal
Please find in comments the statement of Prof. Harry Roque on Bolante’s return. .
When former Agriculture Secretary Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” comes back this week, he will have the rare opportunity to help in the cause of truth, justice and democracy in the country.
He can take up the challenge and tell the truth how he executed the crime of stealing from the poor farmers at least P728 million alloted to buy fertilizer and using the money to underwrite the vote buying and cheating of Gloria Arroyo in the 2004 elections. By doing so, he will help in cleansing the system of corrupt elements. He would be doing the Filipino people great service.
Or he can continue hiding in the darkness of the crime. In so doing, he will always be living in fear because as long as he is there, he will always be a threat to the masterminds and their accomplices.
Sa hearing tungkol sa Euro generals na isinagawa ng Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs na pinangungunahan ni Sen. Miriam Santiago, maraming binanggit na batas at order ni Gloria Arroyo na nilabag raw ng Philippine National Police sa kanilang delegasyon sa Interpol conference sa Russia.
Isa na doon ang order ni Arroyo na tigilan na ang pagaaral, training of pagdalo sa mga conference sa ibang bansa maliban lamang kung ito ay hindi gastos ng pamahalaan.
Sa 77th Interpol conference sa Russia 17 ang dumalo galing sa Pilipinas. Tatlo galing sa Bureu of Immigration, lima galing sa National Bureau of Investigation, at siyam ang galing sa PNP. Gastos lahat ng sambayanang Pilipino.