President Arroyo is making a quick visit to the United States on Wednesday, catching by surprise even Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo.
Based on Arroyo’s original schedule, she should have left Milan, Italy last night (Manila time) for Saudi Arabia. She was expected in Bahrain Wednesday for an official visit.
A naughty mind in the Palace said maybe the President is still angling for a meeting, even if by chance, with US President Barack Obama.
by Evangeline de Vera
Malaya
The Court of Appeals yesterday affirmed the legality of the continued detention of the so-called Alabang Boys despite a prosecution panel’s recommendation to dismiss the drug charges filed against them.
In denying the petition for habeas corpus of Richard Brodett, Joseph Tecson and Jorge Joseph, the CA said preliminary investigations of the Department of Justice have not been concluded, citing the requirement that the recommendation be approved by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez.
The three remain in the custody of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency which caught them in buy-bust operations in Quezon City and Muntinlupa in September last year.
Brad Pitt and Angelina arrived in Japan yesterday with the whole family. Click here for more photos (40) http://www.popsugar.com/2741617?carousel=1
This is a story of my friend. She is so traumatized by her encounter with a bully from the Presidential Security Group that she asked me not to mention her name. For this article, I’ll call her “Gabby”.
Gabby works in an advertising agency in Makati. Last Jan. 23, a Saturday, she was driving home from Tagaytay around 8 p.m. Gabby was extra careful with her driving because there were a number of road repair works on the South Luzon Expressway.
She had passed the Sta. Rosa exit when she noticed from her rear view mirror a convoy led by motorcycle escorts. She was still figuring out where she would place herself (since it was a danger zone with constructions signs all over the place) when she was suddenly bumped by the convoy’s motorcycle escort. She took the service lane to give way to the convoy. At that time she didn’t know who was the all-important person it was protecting.
Itong pagpupugay sa mga OFW ay pinadala sa akin ni Magno Rivera na ngayon ay nasa Saudi. Sabi niya pinadala raw sa kanya ni Frankie Villaflor.
Hindi mayaman ang OFW – Akala ng marami sa ating kapag OFW o nasa abroad ay mayaman na. Hindi totoo yun. A regular OFW might earn from P50K-P300K per month depende sa lokasyon. Yung mga taga-Saudi or US siguro ay mas malaki ang sweldo, ngunit para sabihin na mayaman sila ay maling-mali.
Mahirap maging OFW – Kailangan magtipid hangga’t kaya. Oo, masarap ang pagkain sa abroad pero madalas na paksiw o adobo at itlog lang tinitira para makaipon. Pagdating ng kinsenas o katapusan, ang unang tinitingnan eh ang conversion ng peso sa dollar o riyal o euro. Mas okay na magtiis sa konti kaysa gutumin ang pamilya.
Daxim Lucas of the Philippine Daily Inquirer has come out with a good investigative report on the sordid mess that is The Legacy.
Lucas’ story implicates House Speaker Prospero Nograles. In the second part of the four-part series, the Inquirer said,
The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) started investigating what is now known as the Legacy Group rural banks four years ago during the term of then PDIC president Ricardo Tan.
Together with the central bank, PDIC initiated the probe of several Visayas-based rural banks that had aroused suspicion due to the rapid increase in their deposit levels and to reports of “sky-high” returns being promised to depositors or investors.
In the course of the probe, Tan recalled that he was asked out to dinner in 2005 by then House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles, through his “subaltern” George Regalado.
“To my surprise, when I got there [to Edsa Plaza Shangi-La Hotel], we were joined by Celso de los Angeles,” Tan said, referring to the alleged owner of several rural banks that PDIC was investigating for unsafe and unsound banking practices.
by Lito Banayo
Malaya
The signs are all around us. The agencies and institutions which form the polity of this nation are falling apart.
The regulatory agencies which are supposed to ensure that the public is protected from the excesses and abuses committed by private business in its pursuit of profit and market objectives are negligent, and in many instances, even collusive.
Of late, we have been shocked that the World Bank blacklisted three of the biggest public works contractors in the country, whose accounts with the DPWH run into the billions of pesos each. What became more shocking is that the House of Representatives, or at least its public works committee headed by a contractor, the gentleman from Southern Leyte, and whose vice-chair is another contractor, the gentleman from Pampanga, circled the wagons to protect their fellow contractors, and damned the World Bank for its effrontery in investigating three of their kind. Funny how these guys wrapped the Philippine flag around the blacklisted contractors.
Sagot ni Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane kay Sen. Miriam Santiago: “Hindi ikaw ang magpapa-alis sa akin. Ang presidente ko.”
Sinabi kasi ni Miriam na dapat i-fire ni Arroyo sina Ebdane, Finance Secretary Gary Teves at Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez dahil pabaya sila sa anomalya sa mga kontruksyun ng mga proyekto sa ginagastusan ng World Bank. Malaking kahihiyan ang nangyari na kailangan pa World Bank ang mga blacklist ng E.C. De Luna Corp., Cavite Ideal International Construction at Development Corp., and C.M. Pancho Construction Inc.
Maliban sa walang kasong naisampa sa tatlong blacklisted na kumpanya, patuloy pa silang sumasama sa ibang bidding.
Prosecutor John Resado sinks himself deeper . The more he talked the more that his story becomes incredible.He admitted to making a P800,000 deposit on the day he finalized the resolution dismissing the case against Brodett, Tecson and Joseph and ordering their release,
The date of the resolution was Dec. 2, 2008. Information tipped to the National Bureau of Investigation said Resado and his wife deposited separately two P800,000 in a bank in Bacoor, Cavite. He admitted only to one P800,000 which he said came from their money-lending business. He said the deposit had nothing to do with the resolution.
To stress the disconnect between the Dec. 2 resolution and the Dec. 2 deposit, Resado said he actually signed the resolution on Dec. 1.
Resado forgot to check his calendar. Dec. 1, a Monday, was declared by Gloria Arroyo a non-working holiday to observe Andres Bonifacio day which fell on a Sunday.
Magsabi na lang kasi ng totoo, ano.
by Maila Ager
Inquirer Online
First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo met with one of the owners of the three construction firms that had been blacklisted by the World Bank for alleged corruption in government road projects.
E.C. De Luna Corp., Cavite Ideal International Construction and Development Corp., and C.M. Pancho Construction Inc. had been blacklisted and penalized by the World Bank, along with four other Chinese firms.
Eduardo de Luna of the E.C. De Luna Construction Corp. told the Senate committees on economic affairs and public works and highways on Tuesday that he met the First Gentleman at least “three times.”
De Luna was responding to a query by Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson who asked him how long he knew the First Gentleman and how well he knew him.