Malaya – Page 78 – ellen tordesillas

Detention takes its toll

Published by Ellen on January 28, 2007

In the last hearing of the court martial panel trying 28 military officers for their alleged plan to withdraw support from the bogus presidency of Gloria Arroyo in February last year, notably absent were Col. Januario Caringal and Lt. Col. Custodio Parcon, both of the Philippine Marines.

The two officers were sick. Caringal , former deputy commander of the 2nd Marine Brigade, has been at the AFP Philippines Medical Center (former V. Luna Hospital) in Quezon City from his detention quarters in Fort San Felipe in Cavite since November . He was suffering from acute hepatitis B and hypertension.

Parcon, a medal of valor awardee, is detained at Fort San Felipe in Cavite. In the Jan. 18 hearing, he was represented by his counsel, Alex Lacson, who was his classmate at the Philippine Military Academy.

Col. Ariel Querubin, another medal of valor awardee, almost didn’t make it to the hearing in Camp Capinpin in Tanay too. A few days before last Christmas, Querubin was confined at the Cavite Naval Hospital due to high cholesterol, high blood pressure, fluctuating sugar levels, and high uric acid.

Comelec’s ‘honest’ mistake

Published by Ellen on January 25, 2007

It was admirable of James Jimenez, director for public information of the Commission on Election, to admit on TV a gross mistake by the Commission in its Resolution 7767 implementing the Fair Election Act (RA 9006) in relation to the May 14, 2007 synchronized national and local elections.

There’s a provision in Comelec Resolution 7767, promulgated Nov. 30, 2006, that says, “Surveys affecting national candidates shall not be published fifteen (15) days before an election and surveys affecting local candidates shall not be published seven (7) days before an election.”

Pia Hontiveros, host of ANC’s “Strictly Politics”, said they discovered the disturbing provision during a seminar conducted by ABS-CBN on election laws, rules and regulations last Saturday in preparation for the May election. She then decided that it would be the topic of “Strictly Politics” last Tuesday. (I’m editorial consultant of that show.)

Charge it to the people

Published by Ellen on January 23, 2007

Tomorrow, Gloria Arroyo leaves for Davos, Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum.

She had done the preliminary work of impressing the Swiss government by having the Ombudsman file a case of bribery and graft against her favorite former justice secretary, Hernando Perez.

We are not sure if the Swiss government, which supplied the money trail of Perez’ mysterious $2 million deposit, would be able to see through the charade because the Ombudsman’s charges actually protect Perez from the higher and non-bailable charges of plunder and money laundering.

Davide can’t wait to go to New York

Published by Ellen on January 16, 2007

Retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide is moving heaven and earth to assume the post of permanent representative to the United Nations.

Like what he did on Jan. 20, 2001, when he trampled upon the Constitution to install power grabber Gloria Arroyo into the presidency, he is trashing again the law again just to be able to live it up in New York.

Last Sunday, in the margins of the East Asia summit in Cebu, Davide took his oath as Philippine permanent representative to the UN even if his nomination has not yet been confirmed by the Commission on Appointments.

IMPSA again

Published by Ellen on January 14, 2007

The Ombudsman may have thought that with their filing of graft and bribery charges against former Justice Secretary Hernando Perez in connection with his $2 million Swiss deposit, they were able to shoot two birds with one stone: They gave Gloria Arroyo something to impress the Swiss government with when she goes to Davos next week, and they protected Perez from the non-bailable crimes of plunder and money laundering.

That, they thought, closes the $2 million episode.

The Ombudsman action against Perez, however, revived the $14 million alleged bribe, through then Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez, of the Argentine power firm IMPSA (Industrias Metalurgicas Pescarmona Sociedad Anonima) for a guarantee clause they had assiduously sought but didn’t get from the Estrada administration.

Swiss trip is the reason

Published by Ellen on January 11, 2007

On January 25, Gloria Arroyo will be in Davos, Switzerland to attend this year’s World Economic Forum, an annual event supervised by the Swiss Federal government that aims to “improve the state of the world.”

Participants to the WEF come from business, politics, academe, media, and civil society.

This is the second WEF participation of Arroyo (the first was in New York in 2002) but this will be her first visit to Switzerland.

The Swiss trip is the answer to questions why after sitting on it for four years, the Arroyo administration decided to file graft and extortion charges against former Justice Secretary Hernando Perez even as Malacañang, specifically Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, declares him innocent.

Challenge to Asean

Published by Ellen on January 9, 2007

The 12th Asean summit in Cebu on Saturday, Jan. 13, makes for good study on the vagaries of international diplomacy – a president gasping for survival hosting a summit of an organization threatened with irrelevance.

The most important document expected to be signed in the Cebu Asean summit is a framework charter of the 40-year old organization. The leaders will just agree on the basic principles, not the charter itself. A final draft of the charter is expected to be presented to the leaders in the 13th summit in Singapore in December.

Last week, S. Jayakumar, Singapore’s deputy prime minister, warned “”If it just continues to do more of the same, I think over a period of time, Asean will just become one of those organizations which will slowly fade into the sunset.”

May elections is people versus Arroyo

Published by Ellen on January 7, 2007

Malacañang is billing the May senatorial elections as an Erap versus Arroyo fight.

Mike Defensor, presidential chief of staff who is expected to lead the administration’s senatorial ticket said, “It’s too early to say what our chances are but we are confident that once the public realizes that this is all about Arroyo and Estrada, it would understand the issues and not be carried away by the anti-GMA rhetoric.”

That’s what Malacañang wants to bill it to lessen the hostility towards Arroyo. The truth is, the May election is People of the Philippines versus Gloria Arroyo.

Smith and Garci

Published by Ellen on January 4, 2007

As usual, Gloria Arroyo was lying when she said the decision to spring convicted American serviceman Daniel Smith from the Makati jail midnight of Dec. 29 was ” taken with only the best interests of the Philippines in mind.”

The truth is that it was taken with only her political survival in mind.

She will do anything, even sell the country down the river, to get the support of George Bush to her shaky presidency.

The rule of the jungle

Published by Ellen on January 2, 2007

We have it from good sources that Malacañang denizens are congratulating themselves for the successful midnight transfer of Lance Corporal Daniel Smith from the Makati City Jail to the US Embassy despite pending appeal on the custody of the American serviceman convicted of raping a 23-year old Filipina in Subic in Nov. 2005.

With Smith now in American custody, Malacañang believes the Court of Appeals will decide that the main petition of Smith’s lawyer on the custody “is moot and academic.”

“The momentum is now in our favor,” a source from the executive department said adding that “national interest has been served.”

Category: Malaya