PadacaNewly-appointed Comelec Commissioner Grace Padaca wrote to correct what I said in my column in Abante last Sunday that she would be the tie-breaker in the case of Akbayan as partylist.
I wrote: “Hati raw ang Comelec sa isyu ng Akbayan at ang boto ni Grace Padaca, ang bagong Comelec commissioner, ang magdedesisyon kung lusot o tanggal ang Akbayan. Naloko na. (It has been reported that Comelec is deadlocked on the issue of Akbayan and the vote of Grace Padaca, the new commissioner, will decide whether Akbayan would be disqualified or not. Oh my God.)”
I made the comment based on at least three news reports quoting Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. : “Pinass on ko na lahat ng cases kay Padaca… We’re sending her the folders to break the tie.”
Gutierrez and Crisostomo on GMA NewsIn his verbal sparring with Anakbayan’s Vencer Crisostomo at ANC last week, Barry Gutierrez, undersecretary for political affairs in the Office of the President, exuded the smugness of people who are well-entrenched in the center of power. Nakasandal sa pader.
He said there are many Akbayan members who are holding high positions in the Aquino government because they supported Benigno Aquino III in the 2010 elections. Sorry na lang with Bayan Muna and its affiliate organizations like Anakbayan because they supported Manny Villar.
From dipity.com. Scene from the red light district of AmsterdamInirekomenda ng United Nations Development Program (UNDP) na gawing legal ang prostitution o pagpu-puta para daw maproteksyunan ang mga kawawang puta.
Hindi yata tama.
Naawa ako sa mga puta dahil hindi talaga kanais-nais na trabaho ang kanilang ginagawa at marami sa kanila ay napipilitan lang para mabuhay ngunit mali yata ang solusyun na paggawa nito na legal. Para naman kinukunsinti ang ganung gawain.
Sinabi sa report na huwag daw gawing krimen ang pagpuputa para kapag legal ang kanilang trabaho, makakuha sila ng benepisyo katulad ng pagpapaeksamin sa doktor, insurance at pension.
One more not rise to a standing ovation for a trailer even before the movie is made, lest unrealistic expectations spoil the actual viewing. Similarly, the Framework Agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is a milestone for sure, but unrestrained hype may well derail peace in the end. The Framework says little but the public has been conditioned to believe it says everything. What will happen when our people check under the hood and discover what’s not there?
Most importantly, the key Framework provisions each refer to an “Annex” that does not exist. This is not about missing footnotes but goes to the heart of a peace pact: What will be in the “Annex on Power Sharing,” “Annex on Wealth Sharing,” and “Annex on Transitional Arrangements”? How exactly will power and wealth be shared in the future? There can be no “just and lasting peace” unless we agree on these.
When the Framework was first published online, I thought the missing annexes would soon follow. After all, the Supreme Court struck down the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain in 2008 because, among other grounds, it lacked transparency. But the Framework signing has come and gone, and it is clear that those annexes still do not exist.
Aquino with foreign correspondentsThis is what President Aquino said at the forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association in the Philippines Wednesday on internet libel in the Cybercrime Law which he signed last Sept. 12:
Question: My question is in regards to Cybercrime Law. Just in regards to your mantra under your term to improve human rights in the Philippines. How does opening the past and allowing people to be jailed for posting defamatory comments online improve human rights situation in the Philippines?
Aquino: Well, can I just state for the record: as the Chief Executive of this land when the proposed measure was brought before me, I had basically two options. Under the Constitution, if I agree with the same I sign it into law. If I disagree with the same, I veto everything. I cannot… I only have a line veto on the budget measure. I don’t have a line veto on other measures.
“National punching bag of the week”In a period of one year, the Ways and Means committees of both legislative chambers claimed two Batangueños.
Last Monday, Sen. Ralph Recto resigned as chair of the Senate Ways and Means committee after he found himself a target of criticisms for his committee report and his own version of the Sin Tax bill which groups pushing for higher taxes say is Philip Morris-friendly.PNoy to Mandanas: “Pasensyahan na lang tayo.”
December last year, Batangas Rep. (2nd district) Hermilando Mandanas, a member of the Liberal party just like Recto, was removed as chairman of the ways and means committee. He was replaced by another LP member, Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab.
The Ways and Means committees are most coveted and are given to senior legislators. The committees have jurisdiction on all matters relating to revenue which include taxes and fees, tariffs, loans and other
sources and forms of revenue.
I know of a legislator who had held that position for many years he became so rich that last election, money flowed like water in his province. He won, of course, together with his son who also ran for another elective post.
Recto’s version of Sin Tax is Philip Morris-friendlyStudies have shown that the ill-effects of smoking coupled with poor diet and lack of exercise are not limited to cardiovascular, respiratory disease, diabetes and cancer, which are afflicting Filipinos at their most productive age, 40’s and early 50’s.Leachon, a cardiologist, leads the crusade for higher taxes on cigarette and alcohol products.
In one of the lectures,Dr. Anthony Leachon, cardiologist and consultant on non-communicable diseases of the Department of Health, said recent studies have shown that smoking causes erectile dysfunction.
“You may not die of erectile dysfunction but some men die for it,” quipped Leachon, who is leading the campaign for the passage of the Sin Tax, not the Recto-fied version but the one that the authored by Sen. Miriam Santiago. He also supports the version passed by the House of Representatives authored by then Cavite Representative (now Secretary of Transportation and Communication) Joseph Abaya.
Photo by Wyg TysmanIn her short but fruitful life, filmmaker Marilou Diaz Abaya (1955-2012) lived and breathed music which was also an integral part of all her film output.
Abaya’s passion for classical music remained one of the hallmarks of her personality. She breathed her last at the St. Luke’s hospital bed Monday night while listening to Cesar Montano sing Don McLean’s “Vincent.”
Two years before her death, Abaya admitted she was already fascinated by Mozart’s Requiem which some people always associate with funerals.
Interviewed for an All Soul’s Day story, she confided: “Mozart’s Requiem, as do all his sacred music, always pulls me away from earth and transports me to a heavenly experience. In that part called the Introitus, I associate the few notes played on a bassoon (accompanied by the string section and followed by the rest of the winds) as Mozart himself mourning his own death even before he actually expires. There is a subsequent build up with the brasses; and then the chorale storms heaven with an urgent plea, joining in the glorious Communion of Saints who begs for Mozart and for all his fellow mortals: Requiem aeternam dona ets, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ets. (Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine on them.) The Requiem does not at all sound like a funeral march. Rather, it is, at least for me, a fervent prayer for eternal life.”
The power of an informed and vigilant people. Photo by VERA Files’ Mario Ignacio.Smiles, laughter and relief suddenly replaced the atmosphere of anger and outrage among rallyists when the information from inside the Supreme Court was shared that the justices unanimously voted to issue a 120-day temporary restraining order (TRO) on Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
“We did it!”, enthused one rallyist.
Yes, another demonstration of the power of a vigilant public. A total of 15 petitions were filed with the Supreme Court questioning the legality of some provisions of the Cybercrime Prevention Act, particularly the part on online libel.
The 120-day TRO gives us respite and should allow us to celebrate Christmas with lesser stress. That should give us time to recharge when the battle resumes. The SC will hold oral arguments on the controversial law on January 15, 2013.
Padaca, accompanied by Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, a Liberal Party stalwart, posts P70,000 bail given by President Aquino.What is it in being in position of power that dulls the mind and blurs the comprehension of people we thought were sensible?
Former Isabela Governor and newly appointed commissioner of the Commission on Election posted the following reply to those who are criticizing her for accepting bail money from President Aquino. She cited this particular tweet: “ “Grace Padaca’s acceptance of bail money and refusing to subject herself to investigation speaks volumes of her character.”
Padaca’s reply:
“If i have done things the usual way, i would not have fought the dynasty in Isabela and win.
