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Why Esperon has to stay

Published by Ellen on January 27, 2008

Gloria Arroyo’s justification for the extension of the service of her favorite AFP Chief Hermogenes Esperon won’t pass even with those with brains filled with gunpowder.

According to Malacañang’s press release, Arroyo extended Esperon’s term for three months (up to May 9) to “sustain the government’s ongoing campaign to finally end rebel insurgency in the country.”

“Because there is a momentum in the campaign against the NPA (New People’s Army) and they are expecting a snowball in the next several months,” Arroyo said.

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Influential US journal says GMA sank RP into morass of corruption

Published by Ellen on January 27, 2008

by Anthony Ian Cruz
Malaya

A highly influential American academic journal has published a stinging rebuke of President Arroyo, accusing her of “sinking Asia’s oldest democracy” into “a morass of corruption and scandal.”

“Arroyo continues to undermine the country’s democratic institutions in order to remain in power,” wrote political science Prof. Paul D. Hutchcroft of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in an analysis that came out in the January 2008 issue of the “Journal of Democracy.”

Published by the Johns Hopkins University Press, the “Journal of Democracy” is a project of the International Forum for Democratic Studies and the National Endowment for Democracy.

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Akala nila tanga ang taumbayan

Published by Ellen on January 26, 2008

Extended na and serbisyo ni AFP Chief Hermogenes Esperon hanggang May 9 daw.

Sa report ng Philippine Star at ABS-CBN, sabi ni Esperon na gusto raw ni Gloria Arroyo isang taon ang kanyang extension ngunit mas maigsi ang gusto niya para naman raw hindi maantala ang promotion ng ibang opisyal.

Ganun pala, e. Hindi pala kapit- tuko itong si Esperon.. Tingnan nyo, alalang-alala siya sa promosyon ng ibang opisyal kahit na siya lamang ang maaring maglipol ng mga komunista. Wala ng iba. Kung hindi siya i-extend, masisira ang takbo ng “Bantay-Laya”, ang programa laban sa mga New People’s Army.

Sinabi sa report na kailangan raw i–extend si Esperon para ra hindi masira ang “momentum” ng Bantay Laya. Ibig sabihin noon masisira kapag si Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano ang chief of staff sa susunod na buwan kapag nag-retire na si Esperon.

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Arroyo extends Esperon’s term

Published by Ellen on January 26, 2008

Opposition senators: Proves military holds her by the neck

by Joel Guinto
Inquirer.net

DAVOS, Switzerland (via PLDT) — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has extended for three months Military Chief General Hermogenes Esperon Jr.’s term of service, saying she wanted to sustain the military’s momentum against communist rebels.

At the same time, the President announced that the commanding general of the Philippine Army, Lieutenant General Alexander Yano, would replace Esperon at the end of his extended term on May 9.

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Stop the witch hunt

Published by Ellen on January 24, 2008

Update:PNP now in search of ‘Makapili’ among reporters

PNP admits it has no goods against lady reporter

Since when has a journalist interviewing a person involved in a situation a crime?

The RPN-9 video that was supposedly the PNP “smoking gun” to discredit media in connection with the Nov. 29 Manila Pen incident just showed Dana Batnag, reporter of Jiji Press, a Japanese news agency, talking with Marine Capt. Nicanor Faeldon, who was one of the Magdalo officers who walked out of their hearing at the Makati Regional Trial Court, proceeded to the Manila Pen and called for the ouster of Gloria Arroyo’s illegitimate government.

There was nothing in the picture as described by no less than the justice secretary and the PNP chief that showed a “female reporter helping Capt Nicanor Faeldon escape by giving him a press ID.”

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SC favors fine over imprisonment for libel

Published by Ellen on January 24, 2008

by Evangeline de Vera

The Supreme Court is set to come out before the weekend with an administrative circular wherein a judge in libel cases may rule for payment of a fine instead of imprisonment.

Chief Justice Reynato Puno yesterday said after inducting officers and members of the Financial Executives Institute that the circular will be an “interim measure.”

Puno said the circular should not be mistaken for a bill decriminalizing libel which is pending in Congress because the guidelines simply direct judges to prefer the payment of fines instead of imprisonment in case of a conviction.

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Military court insists on arraignment by batches for Miranda et al

Published by Ellen on January 24, 2008

by Victor Reyes

A military court trying 28 officers linked to the February 2006 alleged power grab attempt has moved the venue of the trial from Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal, where most of the officers are detained, to the military’s general headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

The military also announced that eight of the accused will be arraigned on Tuesday.

The venue transfer was made on the request of defense lawyers, said Maj. Emilio Felicen, court spokesman. He said the lawyers have raised the issue of the long travel they have to take to make it to hearings.

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Dana Batnag dares govt: File charges

Published by Ellen on January 23, 2008

Video tape shows a reporter, Dana Batnag, talking with Faeldon. Is this what police said aiding him to escape?

For Malaya editorial. click here.

From ABS-CBN online:

A foreign news correspondent being suspected of helping Marine Capt. Nicanor Faeldon escape after the November 29 siege at The Peninsula Manila hotel challenged the government Wednesday to formally file charges against her if it has evidence.

“I appeal to the authorities to file the proper charges before the courts to prove that this is a government of laws,” Dana Batnag said in a statement that also denied the allegations against her. Batnag works for Jiji Press, a Japanese news wire service.

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