Update: Atty. Trixie Angeles, counsel of Army Capt. Ruben Guinolbay and Marine Capt. Nicanor Faeldon, in separate court martial cases, received an almost similar death…
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Resignation statement of Comelec Chairman Benjamin S. Abalos, Sr.
Magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat. Salamat at dumalo kayo dito sa press conference na ipinatawag ko upang mai-pahayag sa ating kababayan ang kabuuan ng niluloob ko patungkol sa mga isyu at kontrobersiya na insinasangkot ang aking pagkatao at ngayong ay nakaka-apekto ng hindi lamang sa trabaho at katungkulan ko bilang Chairman ng COMELEC kundi pati na ang pribasiya, katahimikan at iba pang karapatan ng aking pamilya.
It has been almost a week since I appeared at the Senate Committees investigating the NBN Project. I did so against the advise of my counsel and closest of friends, driven by what I expected would be the inherent fairness of a Senate inquiry and the statesmanship of our Senators.
By Jarius Bondoc
Philippine Star
I called Romy Neri right after testifying Sept. 18 in that first Senate hearing on the ZTE scam. It was our tenth talk about the issue since Apr. 20, when The STAR ran my first of a series of articles. I pried why he didn’t show up, if he was under any threat of harm, and when he’ll reveal all he knows. From his replies it was clear he was charily weighing the consequences. There’s a time and place for everything, he mused, then asked if what he has narrated to me thus far would “incite another EDSA.”
I said I didn’t know, but that I do wish the Senate inquiry would spark a wave of reforms, starting with clean elections. He shared the dream, but doubted if it would come true soon. Our talk eventually led to sacrificing for the sake of the nation. He said Joey de Venecia was brave to implicate big names, adding that if push comes to shove the young whistleblower fortunately has a rich dad to fall back on. “I’m not affluent,” Romy stated the obvious. Neither am I, I reminded him. Whereupon, he shot back: “Oh, but you’re a journalist, you’re supposed to be dedicated to the truth.”
Senators who hope that Commission on Higher Education Chairman Romulo Neri could provide the missing piece in the story that would “directly link” President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the controversial National Broadband Network (NBN) deal are in for a big disappointment.
Neri indicated on Sunday that he had nothing more to say to the Senate committees investigating the $329-million contract for the NBN project that was awarded to China’s ZTE Corp.
“The Senate grilled me for 12 hours. Did they miss on any significant question?’’ he said in a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) when asked if he had said everything he needed to say to the senators.
By Jocelyn Montemayor
Higher Education Chairman Romulo Neri is sore with media for seeking to drive a wedge between him and President Arroyo, Cerge Remonde, presidential management staff chief, said yesterday.
Remonde said Neri called him up around 8 a.m. yesterday to complain about the reporting on his testimony last Wednesday before the Senate that Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos offered him P200 million when he was director general of the National Economic and Development Authority to approve the $329 million national broadband contract with Chinese firm Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment (ZTE) Corp.
Never have I seen Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim as upset as in last Friday’s hearing of the special general court martial trying the 28 officers accused of planning to withdraw support from Gloria Arroyo’s bogus presidency in February 2006.
In the past 10 months of tedious and frustrating trial, Lim has always been a picture of calm demeanor, never complaining even as younger officers would sometimes express annoyance openly over what they perceive is the blatant railroading by the court created by AFP chief Hermogenes Esperon.
But last Friday, Gen. Lim stood up when the panel was asking the whereabouts of Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda who was absent. An officer, apparently in charge of the detainees, said that Miranda was in bed when he checked him before the hearing.
Malaya editorial: Scratch my back
Administration members of the House reportedly are wary of impeaching Election Chairman Benjamin Abalos because Senate trial on alleged graft in the $3290 million national broadband could show that the corruption trail leads all the way to Malacañang.
We are no long surprised by such a display of utter lack of principles. Gloria Arroyo’s allies, relying on sheer numbers, threw out the past impeachment complaints against Arroyo. They said impeachment is more a political process than a judicial determination on whether the impeachable official is indeed guilty of the complaint filed.
Madugo ang reaksyon ng mga lider ng Myanmar sa mga rally na palayain si Aung San Suu Kyi,ang lider ng grupo na gusto ang demokrasya sa bansa na ang dating pangalan ay Burma.
Maraming patay, kasama na ang isang photographer na Hapon sa mga protest rally na pinangungunahan ng mga Buddhist na monghe, ng pinagbabaril sila ng mga sundalo. Ang pamahalaan ng Myanmar ay pinapalakad ng isang military junta na 45 na taon nang nasa kapangyarihan.
Sinabi sa report na kumunti na ang mga tao noong Biyernes. Binarikadahan ng mga sundalo at pinalibutan ng barbed wire and mga kumbento ng mga monghe. Ganoon din ang mga malaking kalsada sa Yangoon, ang kapital ng Myanmar.
The families of detained officers in Camp Capinpin, Tanay unveiled their own efforts to bring out the truth behind the incarceration of the officers whose sterling records put to shame that of their jailors.
Photos of yesterday’s hearing in Camp Capinpin in Tanay. Captions below. Take note of the barbed wire that surrounds the court building. Akala mo Myanmar!
By Victor Reyes
Officers linked to last year’s failed power grab yesterday said the recent reports of attempts to destabilize the Arroyo government were concocted by the military leadership to justify the coup rumors they themselves floated.
In a statement, the officers said the revelation of Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. about the supposed plan is nothing but a psychological strategy to suppress what they said were the “voices of truth.”