Category: General

From Malaya:

Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo denied allegations of former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. that he suggested that the national broadband project between the Philippine government and China’s ZTE Corp be undertaken as a government-to-government deal.

“I never suggested anything… Sinungaling iyan si JDV, huwag kang maniwala diyan,” he told reporters.

The First Gentleman was interviewed at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City where he stayed overnight Saturday following a bout of diarrhea. He was discharged around 12:35 p.m. yesterday

I’m once again reminded of the fleetingness of life with the passing of Marlyn Divinagracia, wife of Capt. Ervin Divinagracia, one of the 28 officers…

By BGen Danny Lim

Before the Filipino people, the raison d’etre for its existence, the Armed Forces of the Philippines is currently in a state of disgrace. This alienation is the price soldiers pay for the Original Sin committed by their senior officers, Esperon and his rogue accomplices, who allowed themselves to be “used” and in the process unconscionably got the institution involved in the massive electoral fraud in 2004.

Like Adam and Eve who were unable to resist the crafty snake’s temptation and ate from the Tree of Knowledge, Esperon and his self-aggrandizement group succumbed to the offers of immoral political leaders and helped themselves to the “tree of Garci.” But unlike the Garden of Eden’s original sin, Esperon’s partakes of a mortal character, not merely venial. It was a grievous criminal offense when he and his gang knowingly and willfully violated our election laws and thwarted the people’s sovereign political mandate. And being mortal, such stain cannot be cleansed by Baptismal waters alone. The sin can only be forgiven and the soldier reconciled with his people through a sincere Act of Contrition and the corresponding Acts of Penance.

The prosecution in the court martial trial of 28 officers accused of mutiny in February 2006 said they were “trapped” into giving out their evidence which were “hypothetically” accepted by the defense as true. The defense is going to use the prosecution’s evidence as basis to ask the court to dismiss the case because they cannot sustain the charge of mutiny.
More of this in my column Monday.

Malaya’s report:

Mutiny lawyer to file motion to dismiss

by Victor Reyes

The defense panel in the court martial of 28 Army and Marine officers linked to the alleged attempt to overthrow the Arroyo government in 2004 yesterday renewed its bid for the military tribunal to dismiss the mutiny charges against the accused.

Joc-joc Bolante, the best friend of Mike Arroyo whom the Filipino people want to account for the P2.8 billion of money for agriculture which he diverted to the campaign funds of Gloria Arroyo in May 2004, should be reminded that God, in his unfathomable wisdom, just might grant his wish for an illness that would incapacitate him to go anywhere including the Senate investigation.

A source at St. Luke’s Hospital said the doctors are having a hard time looking for an “illness” which Bolante can use to justify his inability to withstand the stress of lying under the intense questioning of the senators.

As of Monday, six days after Bolante arrived Tuesday night in a wheelchair, his hand on his chest as if in pain, the medical bulletin issued by his attending physician,Dr. Romeo Saavedra (also the doctor of Mike Arroyo) said “the patient’s chest pains are due to findings of gastric ulcers and esophagitis.”

That validates the joke going around that Bolante’s blood pressure is 110 over acting.

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