October 23-31, 2007

October 23, 2007
I.BANNER STORIES
1. Philippine Daily Inquirer
Estrada seeks Arroyo pardon
Appeal of conviction withdrawn; President elated
By Jocelyn Uy, Michael Lim Ubac
Inquirer
Last updated 02:19am (Mla time) 10/23/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Citing “the highest national interest,” convicted plunderer and former President Joseph Estrada Monday asked President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for “full, free and unconditional pardon” as he withdrew his appeal of the Sandiganbayan’s verdict last month.
read more... 

2. The Philippine Star
Erap seeks GMA pardon
By Marvin Sy and Marichu Villanueva
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Ousted President Joseph Estrada withdrew his motion for reconsideration (MR) from the Sandiganbayan yesterday to seek a “full and unconditional pardon” from President Arroyo.
read more...

3. Manila Times
Erap asks GMA for pardon
By Angelo S. Samonte And Jomar Canlas, Reporters
Joseph Estrada is asking President Gloria Arroyo to grant him an unconditional pardon after he withdrew his appeal before the Sandiganbayan, which found the former president guilty of plunder.
read more...

4. Malaya
Erap seeks pardon, withdraws appeal Says High Court review could drag on for years
BY EVANGELINE DE VERA
LAWYERS of former President Joseph Estrada yesterday withdrew his motion for reconsideration for his plunder conviction and at the same time sought "full, free and unconditional" pardon from President Arroyo.
read more...

5. Manila Bulletin

6. The Daily Tribune
Erap gives up on justice system, seeks pardon
10/23/2007
Saying he no longer believes in the country’s justice system as constituted today and that he has given up on the system knowing he cannot expect to have the justice he deserves, deposed President Joseph Estrada, through his counsels, yesterday sought a full, unconditional and absolute pardon from President Arroyo.
rea more...

7. Abante
WASAK NA ANG GOBYERNO!--SALONGA
Nina BOYET JADULCO, IRISH ANN CRUZ, NOEL ABUEL, ERALYN PRADO, ROSE MIRANDA, TINA MENDOZA at MARK MANABAT
Tahasang sinabi kahapon ni dating Senate President Jovito Salonga na wasak na ang ating gobyerno at lipunan dahil sa kaliwa’t kanan na corruption at panunupil sa karapatang-pantao sa ilalim ng administrasyon ni Pangulong Gloria Arroyo.
read more...

8. Abante-Tonite
GLORIA MAKOKORNER SA SUHULAN
Nina Rey Marfil at Bernard Taguinod
Sa pagkanta ng dalawang gobernador kung sinong palace officials ang namudmod ng pera at nanuhol sa mga miyembro ng Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), masusukol umano si Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sa eskandalong ito.
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9. Pilipino Star Ngayon
Erap humingi ng pardon
Ni Rudy Andal
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Pormal nang humiling na pagkalooban ng presidential pardon si dating Pangulong Erap Estrada kay Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo matapos iurong na nito ang kanyang mosyon sa Sandiganbayan kahapon.
read more...

10. Journal
ERAP SEEKS PARDON
By: Tess Bedico with Jester P. Manalastas
FORMER President Joseph Estrada has withdrawn his motion for reconsideration of the Sandiganbayan ruling convicting him of plunder.
read more...

11. Business World
BY MARIA ELOISA I. CALDERON, Senior Reporter
New World Bank thrusts expected to benefit RP
WASHINGTON D.C. — Initiatives under the new World Bank leadership are expected to particularly benefit emerging economies, including the Philippines.
Those initiatives range from a $5-billion bond fund intended to draw investors to local currency bond markets of these economies; to a focus on rebuilding conflict-affected countries, addressing energy shortage and climate change; to simplifying loan availments under the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and cutting rates back to the pre-Asian crisis level.
read more...

12. Business Mirror
Stocks down on explosion, Dow’s drop
By Luzi Ann Javier
Bloomberg
PHILIPPINE stocks fell the most in two months after a suspected terrorist blast at a shopping mall killed 11 people and injured at least 91 in the capital’s financial district, raising concern political instability will reduce the nation’s appeal to investors.
read more...

II. POLITICAL
18 bishops reject calls for Arroyo resignation
By Edu Punay
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Eighteen Catholic bishops from Mindanao oppose the call of three bishops from Luzon for President Arroyo to resign over controversies hounding her administration.
read more...

‘Kuya’ tells Trillanes to put up or shut up
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Inquirer
Last updated 05:01am (Mla time) 10/23/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV was told by his “kuya” -- Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan -- to back off from accusations the Arroyo administration was behind the Glorietta mall blast without any shred of proof.
read more...

Group to write execs in alleged Palace payoffs
‘Nakatanggap ka ba?’ meant to prick conscience
By Fe Zamora
Inquirer
Last updated 07:43pm (Mla time) 10/22/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Local government executives who had breakfast with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on October 11 will be sent letters by civil society groups asking them, “Nakatanggap ka ba?” (Did you receive money?) and, "Anong gagawin mo?" (What will you do with it?).
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EDITORIAL
No way out
Inquirer
Last updated 00:53am (Mla time) 10/23/2007
It is a measure of the deep public distrust for the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration that so many people instinctively suspected it to have engineered the explosion that killed 11 people at the Glorietta mall in Makati last Friday. Not a few people were ready to believe Sen. Antonio Trillanes when he accused the administration, without offering a shred of evidence, of planning the blast to divert public attention from the payola scandal involving the distribution of millions of pesos right inside Malacañang. But whether it was a deliberate attack, by terrorists inside government or outside, or an accident, as investigators now seem inclined to believe, one thing is clear: The explosion blew the payola scandal off the headlines.
read more...

JPEPA is more than WTO
Inquirer
Last updated 01:27am (Mla time) 10/23/2007
I write in reaction to Solita Monsod’s Oct. 13 column which questioned retired Supreme Court Justice Florentino Feliciano’s legal analysis of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).
read more...

Cash not from us, Palace tells Panlilio
By Ding Cervantes
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – The Office of the President has officially informed Gov. Ed Panlilio that Malacañang was not the source of the P500,000 that he received recently in a meeting in Malacañang, but the governor is standing pat on his claim that the Palace was the source of the cash.
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EDITORIAL — Don’t derail this project
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Another big-ticket public works project is open for bidding, and the government should know its lesson enough by now to make the process transparent. The Light Rail Transit Authority has announced that it is now accepting bids for the interconnection of the LRT and the Metro Rail Transit — a project that is estimated to cost about P6.3 billion. Three groups have signified interest in the project so far, according to LRTA officials.
read more...

PAGC: Lakas official gave cash bribes
By Angelo S. Samonte, Reporter
The Presidential Anti-Graft Commission investigating the alleged cash giving in Malacañang said in its initial findings that a Lakas party official was the one involved in the distribution of money to local officials.
read more... 

A short list of Glorietta 2 suspects
AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR By William M. Esposo
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
It was whodunit time in Metro Manila last Friday shortly after news broke about the explosion incident in Glorietta 2. Theories quickly circulated through text messages that either added to the confusion or were intended to add to the confusion.
read more...

Namudmod ng “cash gift”, galamay ni JDV
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Tauhan ni House Speaker Jose de Venecia ang lumitaw na namudmod ng cash gift sa mga local officials at kongresista na nakipag-almusal kay Pangulong Arroyo noong nakaraang Oktubre 11 sa Palasyo.
read more... 

Trillanes binuweltahan ni Gonzales
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Inakusahan kahapon ni National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales si Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV na ‘sira-ulo’ dahil sa alegasyon nitong ang Malacanang daw ang nasa likod ng Makati City blast noong nakaraang Biyernes.
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Suhol — lengguwahe ng administrasyon
SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
SUNUD-SUNOD na panunuhol — ‘yan ang nabistong gawain ng administrasyong Arroyo nitong nakaraang ilang linggo.
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Gov. Mendoza names Evardone, Usec as ‘P500K bagmen’
10/23/2007
In a televised press conference yesterday, Bulacan Gov. Joselito “Jun-Jun” Mendoza came clean and identified the officials who he said were present during the Malacañang meeting last Oct. 11, where paper gift bags filled with P500,000 were handed out to 190 congressmen and local executives.
read more...

Trillanes stands pat on claims against gov’t in Makati blast
By Angie M. Rosales
10/23/2007
The alleged smoking gun in last Friday’s explosion incident in Makati City is now in the hands of detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and he says he is willing to spill all before an independent fact-finding body.
read more... 

Bulacan gov says DILG exec present during cash hand- out
AN official of the Department of Interior and Local Government was among those present when a female staff member of Malacañang handed out bags containing P200,000 to P500,000 to local government officials last Oct. 11.
read more...

Trillanes talks of ‘bigger plot,’ lawyer says
By Butch Fernandez
Reporter
SENATOR Antonio Trillanes IV maintained on Monday the October 19 Makati mall blast was the handiwork of Arroyo administration officials, particularly National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales and Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr., despite latest reports it may have been accidental.
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Trillanes nanindigan sa bombing exposé
(Rey Marfil)
Pinanindigan kahapon ni Sen. Antonio ‘Sony’ Trillanes ang binitiwang akusasyon laban sa liderato ni Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Hermogenes Esperon at National Security Council (NSC) chief Norberto Gonzales.
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It wasn’t me – Roquero
LAKAS executive director Ray Roquero emphatically denied any involvement in the alleged bribery case.
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Mendoza on P.5-M cash gift: ‘I acted in good faith’
By: Emil G. Gamos & Erick Silverio
MALOLOS City -- Amid rumors that a bribery case and a suspension are allegedly being readied against him, Bulacan Gov. Joselito “Jon-Jon” Mendoza said he acted in good faith in receiving the bag containing P500,000 from a “lady in white” in Malacañang on Oct. 11.
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Trillanes pinatatahimik ni Gringo sa Glorietta blast
PINAGSABIHAN kahapon ni Senador Gregorio ‘Gringo’ Honasan ang bagitong senador na si Antonio Trillanes na manahimik muna sa pagkokomento hinggil sa nangyaring pagsabog sa Glorietta 2 shopping mall noong nakalipas na Biyernes na kumitil sa buhay ng 11 katao at sumugat sa mahigit 100 iba pa.
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Razon slams Trillanes over blast claim
By: Alfred P. Dalizon Bernadette E. Tamayo
PHILIPPINE National Police chief Director General Avelino I. Razon, Jr. yesterday lashed out at jailed Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV for claiming that the government is behind the Glorietta 2 explosion without presenting any evidence.
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JPEPA to boost productivity, says ex-envoy
THE elimination of tariff on Philippine exports to Japan will boost productivity in agriculture and industry, resulting in employment of hundreds of thousands of workers.
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October 24, 2007
I.BANNER STORIES
1. Philippine Daily Inquirer
‘Cash gifts from us’--league of governors
By Joel Guinto
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 10:57pm (Mla time) 10/23/2007
Editor's Note: Re-posts to clarify name of group of governors.
MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE) A group of governors, the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP), admitted giving P500,000 each to two governors in Malacañang two weeks ago, claiming the money was intended for the "capacity building" of the first-term local executives.
read more...

2. The Philippine Star
Business as usual at Glorietta – GMA
By Marvin Sy
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
There were visible signs of devastation, but it’s “business as usual” at Glorietta where President Arroyo and her retinue indulged yesterday in one of the country’s favorite pastimes – malling.
read more...

3. Manila Times
GMA stops probe into bribes
Malacañang lets Ombudsman to investigate first
By Angelo S. Samonte and James Konstantin Galvez Reporters
President Gloria Arroyo has instructed the Presidential Antigraft Commission (PAGC) to stop its inquiry into the alleged giving of cash gifts to local officials, and to let the Ombudsman finish its investigation first.
read more...

4. Malaya
Puno sees early pardon for Estrada
Says former prexy deserves sympathy and compassion
BY REGINA BENGCO
INTERIOR Secretary Ronaldo Puno yesterday said President Arroyo should immediately act on the appeal for pardon by former President Joseph Estrada, adding Christmas could be a "pessimistic target" for his release from almost six years of detention.
read more...

5. Manila Bulletin
Sandigan OKs Erap petition
DoJ set to endorse to GMA grant of clemency
Will now devote time to critically ill mother – Erap
By EDMER F. PANESA, GABRIEL M. MABUTAS, and BRENDA PIQUERO TUAZON
The Sandiganbayan Special Division yesterday allowed former President Joseph Estrada to withdraw his motion for reconsideration and approved the waiver of his right to appeal his plunder conviction to the Supreme Court.
read more...

6. The Daily Tribune
GMA, FG charged on ZTE-NBN deal
10/24/2007
President Arroyo, her spouse, First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, and two other high-ranking government officials, one of whom is deemed resigned, were yesterday charged by a civil society group before the Ombudsman in connection with the alleged overpriced ZTE-National Broadband Network (NBN) contract that is claimed to have been marked by kickbacks in the hundreds of millions.
read more...

7. Abante
3 EX-GENERALS SA JDV KILL PLOT
Nina TINA MENDOZA, NOEL ABUEL at ROSE MIRANDA
Tatlong retiradong heneral ng pulisya na ngayo’y miyembro ng gabinete ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal -Arroyo ang inakusahan kahapon ni Jose ‘Joey’ De Venecia III ng diumano’y pagpaplanong iligpit siya at amang si House Speaker Jose De Venecia Jr.
read more...


8. Abante-Tonite
BAHO NI GLORIA ‘DI MABUBURA SA PARDON
Nina Rey Marfil at Bernard Taguinod
Kahit pagkalooban ng presidential pardon si dating Pangulong Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada, tuloy ang pagkalkal ng oposisyon sa mga itinatagong baho ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, katulad ng garapalang suhulan sa palasyo ng Malacañang at iba pang anomalya sa mga kontratang pinasok ng pamahalaan.
read more...

9. Pilipino Star Ngayon
‘Itutumba ako!’ – JDV III
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Plano umanong ipapatay ng tatlong dating police generals na kinabibilangan ni Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza si Jose “Joey” de Venecia III at amang si House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.
read more...

10. Journal
BOMB THEORY WEAKENS
By: Alfred P. Dalizon with Tess Bedico
Mall owners could face charges
TOP Philippine National Police officials yesterday said they were at least 70 to 80 percent sure that a gas explosion was behind last Friday’s deadly Glorietta 2 blast that killed 11 people and wounded more than 90 others.
read more...

11. Business World
BY ALEXIS DOUGLAS B. ROMERO, Reporter
Business to spell out key tasks
BUSINESS LEADERS will discuss with government officials measures to improve the country’s competitiveness, as well as legislation that will make it easier to do business in the country, during the 33rd Philippine Business Conference and Expo to be held at the Manila Hotel from today to Friday.
read more...

12. Business Mirror
Stocks down on explosion, Dow’s drop
By Luzi Ann Javier
Bloomberg
PHILIPPINE stocks fell the most in two months after a suspected terrorist blast at a shopping mall killed 11 people and injured at least 91 in the capital’s financial district, raising concern political instability will reduce the nation’s appeal to investors.
read more...

II. POLITICAL

P2-P3 oil price increase looms
By Donnabelle Gatdula
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Consumers may have to bear another P2 to P3 per liter increase in petroleum prices in the coming weeks if global oil prices continue to swell, an industry official said.
read more...

Unconditional pardon will allow Erap to run anew
By Paolo Romero and Cecille Suerte Felipe
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Ousted President Joseph Estrada could run for public office again if he is granted a full and unconditional pardon by President Arroyo, the government said yesterday.
read more...

Arrest warrant for Bedol out
By Cecille Suerte Felipe
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
The Philippine National Police (PNP) is ready to enforce the arrest warrant issued by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) against former provincial election supervisor Lintang Bedol for indirect contempt in connection with the disappearance of ballot boxes in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
read more...

PCGG powers clipped due to bad image, says Sabio
By Rainier Allan Ronda
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) chairman Camilo Sabio said that the agency’s image problem may have been the reason it was put under management of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and given a media gag order last week.
read more...

GMA resign calls not the official stand of CBCP, says bishop
By Charlie Lagasca
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – The highest ranking, and probably the most influential, prelate here rejected calls by three of his fellow Catholic bishops from Luzon for the resignation of President Arroyo.
read more...

GMA orders PAGC to give way to Ombudsman on probe of ‘cash gifts’
By Paolo Romero
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
President Arroyo ordered yesterday the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) to stop its investigation into the reported distribution of cash gifts to local officials during a meeting in Malacañang last Oct. 11 and allow the Office of the Ombudsman to conduct the official probe.
read more...

Sandigan affirms suspension of Leyte congressman for graft
By Sandy Araneta
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
The Sandiganbayan First Division has affirmed a 90-day suspension order on Leyte 4th District Rep. Eufrocino Codilla Sr. in connection with a pending graft charge filed against him by the Office of the Ombudsman.
read more...

Bill seeks maximum penalty on persons carrying explosives
By Delon Porcalla
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
A senior administration lawmaker proposed yesterday that persons found carrying explosives should face harsher penalty than those possessing unlicensed firearms, in light of the mall blast in Makati City that left 11 people dead and scores injured.
read more...

Transparency needed
COMMONSENSE By Marichu A. Villanueva
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
The whole page advertisement by the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) that appeared in several national dailies yesterday, including The STAR, raised more questions than the needed answers to the burning issues at hand. The paid ad was a signed manifesto of the LPP calling for “Stop the Political Noise, Focus on Economic Growth.”
read more...

Two events pushing gov’t to a precipice?
By Amando Doronila
Inquirer
Last updated 01:16am (Mla time) 10/24/2007
MANILA, Philippines--Following the grenade bombing at Plaza Miranda on Aug. 21, 1971, The Manila Chronicle newspaper started a running tally, on the right ear of the front page, on the number of days that had lapsed since the massacre, without arrests having been made. The figure rose with each passing day.
read more...

THERE’S THE RUB
Again, snap elections
By Conrado de Quiros
Inquirer
Last updated 01:30am (Mla time) 10/24/2007
MANILA, Philippines--Antonio Trillanes -- Senator to you and me -- has a petition. That petition calls for a snap election to resolve today’s political and moral impasse and allow the country to truly move on. I saw it last Monday and I had no problem affixing my signature to it.
read more...

Why Monsod is wrong on JPEPA
Inquirer
Last updated 01:49am (Mla time) 10/24/2007
Retired Supreme Court Justice Florentino Feliciano, former chair of the WTO Appellate Body and one of the most sought-after arbitrators in international investment disputes, is right on the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) and Prof. Solita Monsod does not understand.
read more...

Suspicious toxic wastes section
Inquirer
Last updated 01:50am (Mla time) 10/24/2007
I agree with the observation Solita Monsod made in her column, “Under JPEPA, no export of hazardous wastes to Philippines,” that the Philippines and Japan remain committed to local and international laws regarding the trade of toxic wastes. (Inquirer, 10/20/07)
read more...

P.5M ni Among Ed ‘di raw suhol : Lady Gov. lumantad!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Lumantad kahapon ang isang lady governor upang magpaliwanag at pabulaanan ang napabalitang panunuhol ng administrasyon sa mga local na opisyal bilang suporta kay Presidente Arroyo na nahaharap sa sari-saring kontrobersya tulad ng ZTE broadband deal.
read more...

Erap laya na bago Pasko
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Inaasahan na makakalaya na at nasa kanyang pamilya na si dating Pangulong Joseph Estrada bago sumapit ang Pasko matapos na hilingin na nito na bigyan siya ng “unconditional pardon” ni Pangulong Arroyo.
read more...

Justice orders PCGG: Don’t talk to media
By Francis Earl A. Cueto Reporter
The Department of Justice has ordered the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to stop talking to the media about its efforts to recover the alleged ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses.
read more...

Erap could be home by Christmas, says Puno
The processing of former President Joseph Estrada’s pardon will be fast-tracked to avoid political speculations why he changed his mind, officials said.
read more...

Cash gifts came from ULAP, says Antique governor
By MANNY B. MARINAY
The "cash gifts" given to governors in Malacañang came from the special funds of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) – supposedly for community development projects – and were not bribes to local officials, Antique Gov. Sally Perez, ULAP Vice President for the Visayas, said in a press briefing yesterday.
read more...

FG cannot attend Senate hearing on advice of doctors
By HANNAH L. TORREGOZA
First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo will not attend the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s investigation on the cancelled national broadband network (NBN) deal with ZTE Corp. which is scheduled to resume tomorrow.
read more...

Comelec issues arrest warrant for Bedol
By William B. Depasupil Reporter
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant against controversial Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol whom it earlier found guilty of indirect contempt.
read more...

DoJ chief endorses Erap pardon
By Benjamin B. Pulta and Sherwin C. Olaes
10/24/2007
Granting deposed President Joseph Estrada the “full, free and absolute” pardon his lawyers seek for him may come sooner than expected, as the Department of Justice secretary yesterday said the DoJ is endorsing the Estrada petition.
read more...

Ombudsman in, PAGC out in Palace payola probe
10/24/2007
President Arroyo yesterday told the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) to give way to the Office of the Ombudsman in its investigation into the alleged payoffs made by Palace aides to administration congressmen and local officials after a meeting in Malacañang nearly two weeks ago.
read more...

Ermita, four others mulling resignations — Palace source
10/24/2007
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita may yet announce his resignation, a Malacañang insider told the Tribune yesterday, saying this early, a short list of candidates for the position of “the Little President” has already been drafted, with Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap at the top of the list, fol-lowed closely by Department of Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza and Interior Sec-retary Ronaldo Puno, who is also the current political adviser of President Arroyo.
read more...

Nene slams League of Provinces’ call for end to political dissent
10/24/2007
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. yesterday justified the political opposition and other administration critics’ call for the resignation of President Arroyo in the wake of the scandals over the National Broadband Network-ZTE deal and the subsequent alleged Palace attempt to pay off congressmen, governors and other local government officials in exchange for neutralizing the ouster moves, as he criticized the one-page advertisement of the League of Provinces appearing in several dailies which called on administration detractors to “stop the political noise and focus on economic growth.”
read more...

Comelec issues arrest warrant against Bedol
10/24/2007
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday ordered the arrest and detention of former Maguindanao poll official Lintang Bedol after he failed to get a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court (SC).
read more...

Trillanes: I have evidence vs Esperon, Gonzales
BY VICTOR REYES
SEN. Antonio Trillanes IV yesterday said he has evidence that Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and national security adviser Norberto Gonzales engineered last Friday’s bombing at the Glorietta 2 mall in Makati City that left 11 people dead and scores injured.
read more... 

Gloria calls off in-house probe of cash handouts
MALACAÑANG yesterday said President Arroyo has ordered the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) to drop its investigation on the distribution of "cash gifts" to local government officials at the Palace grounds after a meeting of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines last Oct. 11.
read more... 

Comelec orders arrest of Bedol
BY GERARD NAVAL
THE Commission on Elections yesterday ordered the arrest of Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol.
read more... 

Puno sees pardon for Erap
By: Tess Bedico Joel dela Torre
PRESIDENT Macapagal-Arroyo is expected to act on former president Joseph Estrada’s appeal for pardon “anytime soon.”
read more...

Malacañang denies giving P.5M to Among
By: Bernard Galang
CITY of San Fernando, Pampanga — Malacañang has denied giving P500,000 to Gov. Eddie Panlilio during the meeting of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines on Oct. 11.
read more...

Comelec: Arrest Bedol
By: Lee Ann P. Ducusin
THE Commission on Elections has ordered the arrest of controversial Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol.
read more... 

ULAP pumiyok na special fund ang pera sa ‘suhulan’
By: Edd J. Reyes
TINAPOS na ng Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) ang alegasyon ng panunuhol ng administrasyon sa ilang mga gobernador matapos akuin na galing sa kanilang “special fund” ang salapi na nakalaan talaga sa mga bagong halal na gobernador.
read more... 

Bribe probe left to Ombudsman
By: Tess Bedico
PRESIDENT Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday ordered the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission to give way to the Ombudsman in the investigation of the alleged bribe given to governors and congressmen during a recent meeting in Malacañang.
read more... 

DOJ gags PCGG
By: Jeffrey C. Tiangco
THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has gagged the Presidential Commission on Good Government.
read more...

Benign Palace presence?
“WE did not, as a whole, receive cash gifts from anyPalace functionary during or after that Oct. 11 meeting...
read more... 

'White Lady' sa Malacañang
Raymond Burgos
Lalong lumalim ang istorya sa panunuhol ng Malacañang nang ibunyag sa isang press conference noong Lunes ni Bulacan Gov. Jonjon Mendoza na si Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone ang unang nagsabi sa kanya na may nakahandang pera para sa kanyang mga "community projects".
read more... 

Pera
Lito Banayo
Sa pamahalaang Arroyo, tila kinaugalian na ang magpamudmod ng pera bilang solusyon sa mga suliranin. Lahat ng problema ay dinadaan sa pera -- maging mga envelope o mga bag na puno ng pera.
read more... 

Trillanes pinipiga ng CIDG sa Glorietta bombing
(Rey Marfil/Bernard Taguinod)
Kinumpirma kahapon ni Senator Antonio ‘Sonny’ Trillanes IV ang dalawang beses na ‘panghaharana’ ng Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) sa kanyang selda para pakantahin sa Glorietta bombing subalit nabigo aniya ang Malacañang.
read more... 


Suhulan sa M’cañang, ‘di kayang pagtakpan -- Ping
(Rey Marfil/Bernard Taguinod)
Kahit ano pang pagtatakip ang gawin ng mga alipores ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, naniniwala si Sen. Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson na hindi mapagtatakpan ang garapalang suhulan na nabulgar sa loob mismo ng bakuran ng Malacañang.
read more... 

P .5M nina Panlilio at Mendoza inako ng LPP
(Bernard Taguinod/Irwin Corpuz/Boyet Jadulco)
Tulong pinansyal ng mga beteranong gobernador sa mga bagitong miyembro ng League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) ang tig-kalahating milyong pisong natanggap nina Bulacan Governor Joselito ‘Jonjon’ Mendoza at Pampanga Governor Ed Panlilio.
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Hindi pagdududahan ang imbestigasyon
Ang Ombudsman na lamang ang mangangasiwa sa imbestigasyon sa kontrobersiyal na ‘pay-off’ umano na naganap sa Palasyo ng Malacañang sa ipinatawag na paalmusal nitong Oktubre 11.
read more... 

Estrada seeks ‘full pardon’
‘OUSTER, HUMILIATION LIKE SERVING LONG JAIL TERM’
By Mia M. Gonzalez
Reporter
CITING the national interest and his desire to attend to his ailing mother, former President Joseph Estrada on Monday appealed to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to grant him a “full and unconditional pardon”.
read more... 

Update: October 24, 2007
President sued over NBN deal
By Jocelyn Uy, Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Inquirer
Last updated 03:50am (Mla time) 10/24/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Describing the doctrine of presidential immunity as an “archaic” rule that applied to kings of the past, former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Tuesday filed the first criminal complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in connection with the controversial $329-million contract for the National Broadband Network (NBN) project.
Momentum killed
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, chair of the blue ribbon committee, had been criticized by certain senators, particularly Sen. Jamby Madrigal, for stonewalling the ZTE-NBN probe when he reluctantly scheduled hearings over the last four weeks, practically killing the momentum generated by the explosive testimonies at the previous hearings.
read more...
 

October 25, 2007
I.BANNER STORIES

1. Philippine Daily Inquirer
Panlilio doubts LPP claim on cash source
Inquirer
Last updated 02:16am (Mla time) 10/25/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio Wednesday expressed skepticism over claims that the P500,000 he and Bulacan Gov. Joselito Mendoza each received in Malacañang on Oct. 11 had come from the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP).
read more...

2. The Philippine Star
‘An accident waiting to happen’
By Cecille Suerte Felipe
Thursday, October 25, 2007
It was really “an accident waiting to happen” – and it did happen, with tragic results. A lethal mix of methane and diesel fumes in a poorly ventilated basement compartment set off an explosion last Friday at Glorietta 2 that killed 11 people and wounded more than a hundred others.
read more...

3. Manila Times
Police, Ayala Land clash on blast cause
Police investigating the Glorietta 2 blast are sticking to their theory that the cause is industrial failure, although the mall owners are saying otherwise.
read more...

4. Malaya
Joey: FG was coach; Abalos ‘captain ball’
Palace won’t allow further attendance by officials
BY DENNIS GADIL
JOSE de Venecia III, the whistle-blower in the $329 million national broadband deal with China’s ZTE Corp., has told a technical working group of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee that First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo was the "coach" who packaged the entire NBN deal with the help of resigned elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. as "captain ball."
read more... 

5. Manila Bulletin
GMA welcomes JdV call
Readies inputs for a ‘joint vision’ for RP
GMA working closely with JdV on ‘joint vision’
By GENALYN D. KABILING & MANNY MARINAY
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is working closely with House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. in crafting a "joint vision" to improve governance and spur economic development in the country, Press Secretary and acting Executive Secretary Ignacio Bunye said yesterday.
read more... 

6. The Daily Tribune
Culpability may hit GMA
Bigger corruption in cash bribe bared
By Angie M. Rosales
It’s not as small a Palace cash bribe as it initially seems.
As the Senate sets the stage for its probe into the alleged payoffs in Malacañang that took place last Oct. 11, pieces of evidence now in the process of being collated show that a “bigger corruption is behind the alleged bribery act.”
read more... 

7. Abante
GINAGAGO NA TAYO KUMIKITA PA SILA!
Hindi kinagat ng mga senador at iba pang opisyal ang ginawang pag-ako ng League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) na galing sa kanilang ‘special fund’ ang kalahating milyong pisong ibinigay sa ilang gobernador matapos nilang makipagpulong kay Pangulong Gloria Macapaga
read more... 

8. Abante-Tonite
ONSEHAN SA ERAP PARDON NAKAUMANG
Ni Rey Marfil
Sa harap ng paghingi ni dating Pangulong Joseph "Erap" Estrada ng pardon kay Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, nababahala naman ang ilang miyembro ng oposisyon sa senaryong magkaroon ng onsehan lalo pa’t walang pinanghahawakan papel ang una kapalit ang pagbawi ng isinampang motion for reconsideration sa kasong plunder.
read more... 

9. Pilipino Star Ngayon
Bansa
Banta ni Chavit kapag pinatawad si Erap: Adios Gloria!
Nagbanta si dating Ilocos Sur Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson na kakalas sa administrasyon ni Pangulong Gloria Arroyo kung bibigyan ng pardon si dating pangulong Joseph Estrada.
read more... 

10. Journal
GLORIETTA SHUT DOWN
By: Alvin Murcia Cristina Lee-Pisco
ALL four malls at the Glorietta have been shut down by the Makati City government as officials await the result of a thorough inspection conducted by a team of engineers yesterday.
read more... 

11. Business World
BY ALEXIS DOUGLAS B. ROMERO, Reporter
Business summit cites challenges
THE THREE-DAY 33RD PHILIPPINE BUSINESS CONFERENCE opened at the Manila Hotel yesterday, with key participants citing lack of infrastructure, corruption, red tape, and lack of funding access for small enterprises as among the major challenges to creating an environment conducive to investments.
read more... 


12. Business Mirror
Experts: Accident most likely
LOCAL, FOREIGN FORENSIC PROBERS HAVEN’T SEEN PROOF OF BOMB IN MALL BLAST
By Mia Gonzalez
LOCAL and foreign experts investigating the October 19 explosion at the Glorietta 2 mall in Makati City have reported the “high level of certainty” that the incident was accidental in nature—or the result of some industrial failure in the maintenance of chemicals at the basement—based on evidence gathered from the site over the last four days.
read more... 

II. POLITICAL
Opposition to Estrada pardon gaining ground
By Jerome Aning, Gil C. Cabacungan Jr., Leila Salaverria, Jocelyn Uy
Inquirer
Last updated 02:38am (Mla time) 10/25/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Lawyers, militants and anticrime crusaders -- and at least one academic institution -- have found common cause in opposing a presidential pardon for ousted President Joseph Estrada, a convicted plunderer.
read more... 

With NBN deal scrapped, Senate probe should end--Palace
By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 06:41pm (Mla time) 10/24/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- With the controversial national broadband network (NBN) contract with China’s ZTE Corp. cancelled by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Malacañang believes the investigation by the Senate of the scandal-ridden deal should be terminated.
read more...

Senate probe on broadband deal to resume Thursday
But major characters absent
By Dona Pazzibugan
Inquirer
Last updated 11:54pm (Mla time) 10/24/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- The Senate investigation into the recently aborted $329 million national broadband network deal with China's ZTE Corp. is scheduled to resume on Thursday but without most of the major characters.
read more... 

Speaker De Venecia’s son calls Mike Arroyo coach in NBN deal
By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
Thursday, October 25, 2007
MANILA, Philippines -- The son of House Speaker Jose de Venecia called former Commission on elections chairman Benjamin Abalos the “captain ball” and First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo the “coach” during his closed-door testimony on the botched broadband deal.
read more... 

Protestant churches urge Arroyo: Address corruption scandals
By Beverly T. Natividad
Inquirer
Last updated 07:56pm (Mla time) 10/24/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- The country’s evangelical churches have joined the call for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to come clean on corruption allegations hounding Malacañang.

President sued over NBN deal
By Jocelyn Uy, Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Inquirer
Last updated 03:50am (Mla time) 10/24/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Describing the doctrine of presidential immunity as an “archaic” rule that applied to kings of the past, former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Tuesday filed the first criminal complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in connection with the controversial $329-million contract for the National Broadband Network (NBN) project.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, chair of the blue ribbon committee, had been criticized by certain senators, particularly Sen. Jamby Madrigal, for stonewalling the ZTE-NBN probe when he reluctantly scheduled hearings over the last four weeks, practically killing the momentum generated by the explosive testimonies at the previous hearings.
Madrigal also chided Cayetano for holding during the Senate break a hearing behind closed doors and without the presence of any senator. De Venecia testified at the hearing conducted by the blue ribbon committee’s technical working group.
Madrigal moved that the session be nullified.
In a letter to Cayetano, Madrigal also said that she would move to cite in contempt Malacañang executives who would invoke executive privilege “to negate proceedings of the legislative inquiry” at Thursday’s hearing.
read more... 

Opinion
What if gov didn’t take cash gift?
Last updated 03:19am (Mla time) 10/25/2007
Those who are saying that Among Ed [Elder Brother Ed -- Governor Ed Panlilio of Pampanga province) did wrong in accepting the bundle of cash (P500,000), given to him in Malacañang last Oct. 11, do not see what could have been the scenario had he refused to receive the money.
read more... 

Who says economy has turned around?
Last updated 03:19am (Mla time) 10/25/2007

As noted before, the noodles and rice program of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would fail to solve the hunger problem. The surveys by the poll group Social Weather Stations (SWS) in November 2006 and February 2007 showed 19 percent of our population lived in hunger.
read more...

UPDATE) Palace steers clear of LPP ‘admission’
Leftist solons cry cover up
By Maila Ager, Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines -- After accepting the word of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP), which had declared that none of its members had received cash gifts from Malacañang, the Palace is now steering clear of the issue following the LPP’s admission that the controversial funds had come from the group.
read more... 

Joey de Venecia bares slay plot; Mendoza: It’s a fairy tale
‘They’ve trained their guns on me’
By DJ Yap
MANILA, Philippines -- Businessman Jose “Joey” de Venecia III, the whistle-blower in the controversial ZTE national broadband deal, Tuesday accused Department of Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza of plotting to kill him.
read more... 

Why Monsod is wrong on JPEPA
Last updated 01:49am (Mla time) 10/24/2007
Retired Supreme Court Justice Florentino Feliciano, former chair of the WTO Appellate Body and one of the most sought-after arbitrators in international investment disputes, is right on the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) and Prof. Solita Monsod does not understand.
read more...
 
Board overrides Panlilio’s veto on quarry ordinance
By Ric Sapnu
Thursday, October 25, 2007
SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – Provincial board members have overridden Gov. Ed Panlilio’s veto on Ordinance 176, which abolishes the administrative fee which the provincial government collects for every truckload of lahar sand quarried in the province.
read more... 

No need for GMA to testify in Oakwood mutiny trial
Thursday, October 25, 2007
The Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) has junked a motion seeking to have President Arroyo testify in the Oakwood mutiny trial.
read more... 

GMA allows looting of sequestered firms?
POSTSCRIPT By Federico D. Pascual Jr.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
QUIET LANG MUNA: Former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada and his senator son Jinggoy are spoiling the chances of Erap’s getting an early pardon by noisily taking potshots at the Sandiganbayan and the justice system.
read more...
 
Erap’s fate in hands of GMA, survey
By Francis Earl A. Cueto Reporter
While it is up to President Gloria Arroyo alone to pardon convicted former President Joseph Estrada, she may also yield to the people’s wish on whether Estrada should be granted executive clemency.
read more... 

Comelec deputizes AFP
for barangay elections
By William B. Depasupil Reporter
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) is not taking the coming October 29 polls easy—it has already laid massive manpower preparations not done in previous elections by deputizing practically the entire military establishment for the exercise.
read more... 

EAST WEST
By Julius F. Fortuna
From Ace Durano, the good news
Now that the explosion at Glorietta may have been an accident, we can now shift to the good news. And the respite from negativism comes with this report from our low-key Secretary of Tourism. Mr. Ace Durano has predicted that for this year, the country will generate a record $4 billion for the economy. That figure is not a small matter.
read more... 

Threats to Joey’s life‘for real,’says JdV
House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said on Wednesday that the threats of certain government officials to kill his son, businessman Jose “Joey” de Venecia 3rd, “is for real.”
read more... 

Mike unwilling to submit
even a deposition to Senate
MALACAÑANG yesterday rejected the proposal of Senate majority leader Francis Pangilinan that First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo just submit a written deposition to the Senate Blue Ribbon committee which is hearing the national broadband network deal if he cannot personally appear due to danger to his health.
read more... 

On the Makati bombing
AS of this writing, it remains very much undetermined if the Makati bomb attack was the handiwork of Islamic radicals. Tempting as it is to rush to such a conclusion, basing the responsibility for the attack to the Raja Sulaiman Movement (RSM) on an unverified text message sent through a cellular mobile telephone would be irresponsible. The police, too, are making a strong argument that the purported text message sender has no ties at all with the RSM.
read more... 

Too late the villains
Just as I was beginning to write this article, a former high official of the Arroyo government sent me a text message that read, "League of Provinces – ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"
read more... 

Among Ed for president
Need I say more? I wonder if Malacañang has already replied to the letter of Pampanga Governor Eddie "Among Ed" Panlilio asking for the name of the person or office to which the provincial government could address its acknowledgement receipt for the P500,000 given to him.
read more... 

Cabinet officials won’t appear at Senate probe on NBN deal – Palace
By DAVID CAGAHASTIAN
Malacañang said yesterday Cabinet officials would no longer appear before the Senate hearings on the 9-million national broadband network (NBN) deal with ZTE Corp. because its cancellation had rendered the case moot and academic.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee, said the Senate can compel Mr. Arroyo to submit depositions to answer senator’s questions.
read more... 

Palace seeks public pulse on Erap pardon
10/25/2007
Malacañang is now conducting a survey on concerned sectors on the issue of granting unconditional pardon to detained President Joseph Estrada, chief presidential legal counsel Sergio Apostol yesterday confirmed.
read more... 

JdV, Gina: Joey’s ‘kill plot’ true
10/25/2007
Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. and his wife, Gina, went public yesterday to debunk the denial made Tuesday by former Army chief, Ret. Gen. Jaime de los Santos that he had informed Jose “Joey” de Venecia III of an assassination plot on him and the Speaker by Department of Transportation and Communi-cations Secretary Leandro Mendoza, his pointman, Ricardo Dapat of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and DoTC Asst. Secretary Reynaldo Berroya.
read more... 

An act of conscience
The full and unconditional pardon granted by GMA to ousted President Joseph Estrada is an excellent move, and if followed up by real reforms, should set the stage for probable cooperation between the adminis-tration and opposition, leading to real recon-ciliation in the last two-and-a-half years of GMA.
read more... 

Joey de Venecia: Moralist
By: Dennis Fetalino
PED XING
Pampanga Gov. “Among” Ed Panlilio may have taken the limelight away from Joey de Venecia in the wake of the latest controversy being fanned by Malacañang’s nemeses.
read more... 

$100/barrel scenario ‘possible’
By Paul Anthony A. Isla
EVEN with world oil prices expected to possibly reach the $100-per-barrel level, consumers can rest assured that local pump prices of petroleum products will be adjusted on a staggered basis at a rate of 50 centavos per liter, oil-industry officials said Tuesday.
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/10242007/headlines02.html

JDV to craft ‘joint vision’ with
GMA on her ‘strong finish’
By Mia Gonzalez
HOUSE Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said on Tuesday he will craft with President Arroyo a “joint vision” in the form of an executive-legislative document that would carry out a “strong, powerful moral revolution” to ensure her “strong finish” in 2010.
read more... 

ZTE and China’s development initiatives
By Dean de la Paz
Special to BusinessMirror
Some years back, in a forum sponsored by the Ramos Peace and Development Foundation (RPDev), economist Bernardo Villegas predicted that in 20 years the Chinese economy would perhaps surpass the United States’. It was a prospect that enthused as local businessmen lamented Asia’s overdependence on the West that kept developing markets not simply disadvantaged but economically subservient.
read more... 

The tourism cog
The camera makes everyone a tourist in other people’s reality, and eventually in one’s own.—Susan Sontag (1933-2004), New York Review of Books, April, 18, 1974
We support the call of the joint chambers of commerce in the country for the upgrading of the country’s international and domestic airports, especially the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) that straddles two Metro Manila cities and the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark, Pampanga.
read more... 

De Venecia III says 3 government
execs out to kill him
By Rene Acosta
THE son of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. on Tuesday accused two retired officials of the National Police who are now with the Department of Transportation and Communications of allegedly plotting to kill him.
read more... 

Government, MILF meet in Kuala Lumpur
to break impasse in peace negotiations
By Rosa May Maitem
COTABATO CITY—Government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) negotiators met Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to break the impasse in the peace talks.
read more... 

Best Teachers Worst Practitioners
EIGHT executive directors of the World Bank were here in the Philippines on the very first day of the Senate hearings into the national broadband network/Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment Co. Ltd. (NBN/ZTE) contract. The executive director for the Philippines, a Brazilian national, was part of the team. They were here to learn about World Bank projects in the Philippines.
read more... 

FG ipasusuri sa Senate doctors
(Rey Marfil/Rose Miranda)
Bagama’t naging numero unong tagapagtanggol ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sa canvassing noong 2004 election, nanguna rin si Senate Majority floor leader Francis Pangilinan sa pagdududa sa ginawang pag-iwas ni First Gentleman Mike Arroyo sa Senate hearing.
read more... 

Napipi si Evardone!
Kung susuriing mabuti ang print advertisement ng League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) na naglabasan sa peryodiko, ito’y nakapagbigay ng linaw sa garapalang suhulan sa Malacañang, aba’y nakapirma ang 29 na gobernador sa advertisement upang idepensa ang esposa ni Jose Pidal. At least, kilala ngayon ng publiko kung sino ang pumila sa presidential residence para tumanggap ng P500 libong suhol, eh hindi naman maglalakas-loob ang grupo ni Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone na tumayong mouthpiece ng Malacañang kung walang tinanggap. Ika nga, kung sino ang nangitlog, siyang pumutak, as in mukhang guilty!
read more... 

Walang maniniwala
Inaako ng League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) ang tig-kalahating milyong pisong ibinigay kina Bulacan Governor Joselito Mendoza at Pampanga Governor Ed Panlilio ng Palasyo ng Malacañang.
read more... 


October 26, 2007
I.BANNER STORIES
1. Philippine Daily Inquirer
Arroyo pardons Estrada
By Christine Avendaño, Jocelyn Uy
Last updated 02:20am (Mla time) 10/26/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Joseph Estrada will be a free man on Friday after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Thursday granted a pardon to her disgraced predecessor, saving the convicted plunderer from life imprisonment in the national penitentiary.
read more... 

2. The Philippine Star
GMA pardons Erap
By Marichu Villanueva
Friday, October 26, 2007
Former President Joseph Estrada, who was ousted in a people power revolt in 2001 and was subsequently tried and convicted on charges of corruption, accepted yesterday the full pardon granted by President Arroyo.
read more...

3. Manila Times
President pardons Estrada
Convicted president expected to make appearance in San Juan today
President Gloria Arroyo pardoned her predecessor, Joseph Estrada, on Thursday just weeks after he was convicted of plunder and sentenced to life in jail.
read more... 

4. Malaya
Erap pardoned Rights restored; assets stay forfeited
BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYORFORMER President Joseph Estrada was granted executive clemency by President Arroyo yesterday three days after his lawyers waived their right to appeal his plunder conviction last Sept. 12 and sought presidential pardon.
read more... 

5. Manila Bulletin
GMA pardons Erap
Restores him to his civil & political rights
GMA pardons Erap; hopes aired for reconciliation
By DAVID CAGAHASTIAN & GENALYN KABILING
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday granted pardon to former President Joseph Estrada on his conviction on plunder charges and he may go free today, Friday, if he accepts the pardon granted.
read more... 

6. The Daily Tribune
JdV III links GMA, FG to ZTE scam
By Angie M. Rosales
Jose “Joey” de Venecia III, one of the two Senate witnesses at yesterday’s hearing on the ZTE-National Broadband Network (NBN) deal, directly linked President Arroyo and her spouse, First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo to the anomalous contract while naming several “close friends” of the couple, such as busi-nessmen Enrique Razon and Endika Aboitiz, of having an involvement in it, too, along with Mrs. Arroyo’s brother Diosdado “Buboy” Macapagal, her closest confidante.
read more... 

7. Abante
PARDONED!
Nina ROSE MIRANDA, NILO MARASIGAN, BOYET JADULCO, NONNIE FERRIOL at ERALYN PRADO
Pormal nang iginawad kahapon ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal -Arroyo ang executive clemency kay dating Pangulong Joseph Estrada.
read more... 

8. Abante-Tonite
ERAP PARDON HAHABULIN SA SC
Ni Grace Velasco
Bagama’t may ibayong kapangyarihan si Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo para magbigay ng executive clemency, kukuwestyunin pa rin umano sa Korte Suprema ang ginawang pagbibigay ng pardon kay dating Pangulong Joseph Estrada.
read more... 

9. Pilipino Star Ngayon
Pardon inaprub ni GMA: Erap laya na!
Ni Rudy Andal
Friday, October 26, 2007
Pinagkalooban na ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ng executive clemency o presidential pardon si dating Pangulong Joseph Estrada.
read more... 

10. Journal
PARDONED
By: Tess Bedico
Estrada granted clemency; all his political rights –– but not seized wealth –– restored
FORMER President Joseph Estrada, the first Philippine president convicted of plunder, is a free man.
read more... 

11. Business World
Competitiveness watch list issued
THE NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS Council (NCC) on Thursday unveiled a watch list of key indicators of competitiveness during the second day of the 33rd Philippine Business Conference and Expo at the Manila Hotel that ends this afternoon.
read more... 

12. Business Mirror
Erap pardoned, goes home today
INTERIOR SECRETARY PUNO DIRECTED TO SERVE CLEMENCY PAPERS ON CONVICTED PRESIDENT
By Mia Gonzalez
SAYING it was the “best decision” she could make after a careful evaluation of all factors, including nationwide surveys that show overwhelming support for it, President Arroyo on Thursday granted conditional pardon to convicted plunderer former President Joseph Estrada, which is expected to take effect today.
read more... 

II. POLITICAL
FVR hits executive clemency
By Paolo Romero
Friday, October 26, 2007
Former President Fidel Ramos warned President Arroyo yesterday that she could be ousted and suffer the same fate as former President Joseph Estrada in granting pardon to her predecessor.
read more... 

FG on JDV III testimony: A continuing fairy tale
By Jose Rodel Clapano
Friday, October 26, 2007
First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo challenged yesterday businessman Jose “Joey” de Venecia III to show proof of his and President Arroyo’s involvement in the alleged bribery and other anomalies in connection with the $329-million national broadband network deal with ZTE Corp. of China.
read more... 

Panlilio seeks constituents’ advice on ‘cash gift’
Friday, October 26, 2007
Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio has asked his constituents to help him decide what to do with the P500,000 he received during a meeting in Malacañang last Oct. 11.
read more... 

EDITORIAL – House cleaning
With all the skepticism that greeted his call for a “moral revolution,” Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. is setting out to persuade the nation that he means business. De Venecia, whose son and namesake is in the middle of a firestorm over corruption involving an aborted government broadband deal, has vowed to bring transparency to the pork barrel system. Giving up the “pork” altogether would be even better, but the public must settle for one small victory at a time.
read more... 

Erap’s breaking point
COMMONSENSE By Marichu A. Villanueva
Friday, October 26, 2007
It’s a choice between ‘the devil and the deep blue sea’. This, I think, was what President Arroyo faced yesterday when she finally decided to grant the request for executive clemency to President Joseph Estrada on the latter’s plunder conviction at the Sandiganbayan.
read more... 


LTFRB OKs P7.50 minimum jeepney fare
Friday, October 26, 2007
The Land Transportation Franchise and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has approved the request of jeepney operators to return the original P7.50 minimum fare next week.
read more... 

EDITORIAL
Triumph of the ex-con
MANILA, Philippines -- All we need to know about what’s wrong with the presidential pardon for convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada, once president of the Philippines, can be found in the letter his lawyers wrote President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Oct. 22. “In the highest national interest, to which President Estrada is always willing to subordinate his own, we appeal to Your Excellency to grant him full, free and unconditional pardon,” they wrote.
read more....

Gov’t caught in web of its own lies
By Neal Cruz
Last updated 02:09am (Mla time) 10/26/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- When a person lies, he gets caught in his own web of lies. The details of his story don’t agree because they are all false. That is why cross examination of a witness is important in a court trial. A skilled cross-examiner brings out inconsistencies in a testimony. And that is what is happening now to the stories being spun by Malacañang and its allies on the distribution of cash in Malacañang when the spinmasters couldn’t explain the obvious bribery.
read more... 

Manila solon ‘still at a loss’ where cash gift came from
By Maila Ager
Last updated 04:02pm (Mla time) 10/25/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- The only congressman who has so far openly admitted receiving cash after a meeting in Malacañang two weeks ago said he still does not know where the money came from.
read more... 

Burgos kin relieved over CA order to release Abadilla report
By TJ Burgonio
Last updated 05:26pm (Mla time) 10/25/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- After being given the runaround by the Armed Forces, the family of missing activist Jonas Burgos is relieved the Court of Appeals has compelled the military Provost Marshall to produce a report they believe vital to solving his abduction.
read more...

Esperon: Report on ’04 ‘cheating’ with ‘higher ups’
By Joel Guinto
Last updated 03:37pm (Mla time) 10/25/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said it was not up to him to release a military fact-finding board's report on alleged cheating operations in 2004, supposedly involving military officials, because it is not with him.
read more...

SC: No one exempted from valid subpoena
By Tetch Torres
Last updated 11:26am (Mla time) 10/25/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- The Supreme Court has ruled that no one is exempted from complying with a valid subpoena and this includes officials from the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).
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Cory Aquino welcomes grant of pardon for Estrada
Last updated 10:40pm (Mla time) 10/25/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Former president Corazon “Cory” Cojuangco Aquino welcomed on Thursday the grant of pardon to deposed president Joseph Estrada, expressing hope he has learned lessons from "his sufferings."
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Puno: Pardon ‘unpopular with allies but right’
By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
Last updated 10:29pm (Mla time) 10/25/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s decision to pardon her predecessor, convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada, did not sit well with her “traditional allies” but was nevertheless the right move, her political adviser said early Thursday evening.
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UPDATE) Trillanes invites doubters to witnesses’ safehouse
By Joel Guinto
Last updated 02:38pm (Mla time) 10/25/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Senator Antonio Trillanes IV dared fellow senators Gregorio Honasan and Francis Pangilinan to see his "witnesses and informants" who would bolster his claim that the government was behind the explosion at the Glorietta shopping mall in Makati City last week.
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(UPDATE 2) Estrada allies split over pardon
By Veronica Uy, Maila Ager
Last updated 07:29pm (Mla time) 10/25/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Opposition politicians in the Senate and House of Representatives were divided over the pardon granted Thursday by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to her predecessor and convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada.
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RP gov’t, Muslim rebels break impasse in peace talks
Agence France-Presse
MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE) Muslim separatist rebels and the Philippines government have agreed to resume peace talks by the end of the year, breaking a year-long impasse, a joint statement said Thursday.
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President pardons Estrada
Convicted president expected to make appearance in San Juan today
President Gloria Arroyo pardoned her predecessor, Joseph Estrada, on Thursday just weeks after he was convicted of plunder and sentenced to life in jail.
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Civil society gets into the budget act
By Nora O. Gamolo, Senior Desk Editor
Civil-society advocates agree that the attainment of a balanced budget, as the 2008 proposed budget is called, is a matter of definition.
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The latest version
THE transfer of cash on Oct. 11 on Palace has had many versions. Authorship of the money exchange has been laid at the doorstep of every other government functionary or agency. Here’s the latest version.
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Calls for GMA to step down split bishops
By William B. Depasupil, Reporter
Resign or face a new people-power revolt. This was the warning given by Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Yñiguez to President Gloria Arroyo over the corruption controversies rocking her government.
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PCCI pushes 5-year development program for key industry sectors
By ANA MARIE MACUJA
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) would like to develop five-year programs for various sectors of the economy to boost the,mcountry’s competitive advantage in the region, PCCI President Samie Lim said.
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Meralco doubles income to P460 M
By MYRNA M. VELASCO
Manila Electric Company (Meralco) ,headed by Manuel M. Lopez, Chairman & CEO, posted a net income of P460 million in the third quarter, up significantly by 101 percent from P229 million in the same period last year.
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Trillanes dares Gringo, Kiko to meet bombing witnesses
Detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV yesterday challenged his critics in the Senate to see for themselves his “witnesses” who are now holed up in an undisclosed safehouse, to prove his claim that the government, particularly two of President Arroyo’s security officials, was behind the Oct. 12 Glorietta 2 mall bombing that killed 11 persons and injured over a hundred others.
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Don’t drop terror angle in Makati blast, UK tells PNP
By Jojo Araza
The British Embassy in Manila yesterday asked police investigators not to discount the possibility of terror attack in the Makati bombing last Friday even as it advised its citizens in the country to be very careful in going to public places, including malls.
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Solons praise, hit Erap pardon
The executive clemency granted by President Arroyo to plunder-convicted President Joseph Estrada yesterday drew immediate but varied reactions from members of the House of Representatives, with an administration lawmaker praising the move on one hand, and members of the minority criticizing the act on the other.
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Accumulation of manure theory
No, this is not about the Glorietta 2 explosion, which police are now saying was caused by gases from accumulated human excretions, but on the decoy attempt of Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (Ulap) chairman Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone and League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) spokesman Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes to save Gloria’s hide.
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Zero credibility
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
Malacañang was into quick damage control after Joey de Venecia III’s new testimony claiming that former Neda chief Romulo Neri had told him on the issue of the then poll chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr.’s alleged P200-million bribe offer to him, that Gloria Arroyo had asked him why he (Neri) did not accept the bribe, and with him replying that he was not that sort of person, as well as saying he was already on the verge of resigning.
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Blasting Gloria’s ‘false-flag’
DIE HARD III Herman Tiu Laurel
Critical citizens are not taking the Glorietta 2 PNP investi-gation hook, line and sinker, nor are they content to be led by the nose as some “sober” senators such as Pangilinan and Honasan suggest. Their attitude betrays a lack of understanding of “false flag” operations, the modus operandi of covert operators aimed at “shock and awe” to stun the public and manipulate them toward predetermined conclusions. Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and his comrades have established a consistent record of correct analysis of such situations, from 2003 Oakwood to the Basilan Marines massacre earlier this year, helping the public discern the truth behind the subterfuges.
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SC hands down writ of Amparo in ‘test case’
By Benjamin B. Pulta
A writ of Amparo (“protection”) has been handed down by the Supreme Court (SC) against President Arroyo and several military and police officials in connection with the disappearance of two University of the Philippines coeds and a farmer in Bulacan province.
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JdV’s son resumes his testimony on NBN deal at Senate hearing
By HANNAH TORREGOZA
The son of House Speaker Jose De Venecia Jr. informed the Senate yesterday that President Arroyo had pushed former National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) secretary Romulo Neri to approve the National Broadband Network (NBN) project despite the latter’s refusal to accept bribe money.
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Trillanes iginiit na may testigo vs gobyerno
PINANINDIGAN kahapon ni Senator Antonio Trillanes IV ang kredibilidad ng kanyang hawak na testigo na magpapatunay na may kinalaman umano ang administrasyong Arroyo sa naganap pagsabog sa Glorietta 2 noong Oktubre 19.
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Clemency hailed, hit
By: Jester P. Manalastas
NEWS of the pardon granted former President Joseph Estrada was received with elation by his family and supporters but slammed by his detractors.
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PNP: Political National Police?
By: Egay Serrano
PRIMA FACIE
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
Even before newly appointed Philippine National Police chief Avelino “Sonny” Razon Jr. could warm up to his idea of making the PNP closer, friendlier, and accessible to the public, a big blast ripped through Glorietta 2 Mall in Makati, killing 11 innocent civilians, wounding and maiming scores of shoppers.
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Cabalens to Panlilio: Stop ‘grandstanding’
By: Efren Montano
ABOUT 1,000 local officials of Pampanga headed by Vice Gov. Joseller M. Guiao and Candaba Mayor Jerry L. Pelagio asked yesterday Gov. Ed Panlilio to stop his grandstanding and address local concerns of Pampagueños as they trooped to Malacañang’s Premier Guest House at past 10 a.m. to show their full support to their Cabalen, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
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Chiz targets ‘stealth cash’
IN order to better understand how much money is going around, we need to know how much “stealth cash’’ is being spent virtually at will by President Arroyo.
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Roxas: Third-party expert needed for ZTE documents
SENATOR Mar Roxas has stressed the need for the Senate joint committee investigating the national broadband network (NBN) controversy to invite an independent, private-sector-based expert so that an “independent assessment” of the project can be made.
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Governors’ league urged to name names
By: Jester P. Manalastas
THE Gabriela party-list group yesterday urged the League of Provinces of the Philippines to reveal the names of governors who allegedly received P500,000 in financial assistance from them.
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Obispo, pari at madre
Jake Macasaet
Nag-aaksaya ng panahon ang mga Obispo sa malimit na pagpupulong para himukin or pakiusapan si Pangulong Gloria Arroyo na bumaba sa poder alang-alang sa bayan. Alam naman nila na harangan mo man ng sibat, hindi mananaog si GMA. Kapit-tuko sa kapangyarihan na hindi naman magamit sa ikabubuti ng bayan.
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Solusyon ba sa krisis pampulitika ng bansa?
Ngayong pormal nang pinagkalooban ng absolute pardon ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo si dating Pangulong Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada marami naman ang nagdududa sa tunay na motibo ng hakbanging ito ng gobyernong Arroyo.
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Joey tags Gloria, Razon in NBN deal hearing
By Butch Fernandez
Whistleblower Jose de Venecia III detonated another bombshell at the Senate Thursday, linking President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo and several prominent businessmen to the aborted $330-million national broadband network (NBN) project that the President scrapped in the wake of an alleged high-level bribery scandal.
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Palace is back to stonewalling
‘The Palace isn’t helping in putting a close to this sordid scandal by again invoking executive privilege.’
Another scandal is about to be swept under the rug with the Malacañang decision not to allow Executive department officials to further appear on the Senate investigation into the national broadband project. The Malacañang line is that since the $329 million supply contract for the project with the Chinese firm ZTE has been cancelled, the case is closed. The Senate has no more reason to continue the investigation.
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RP’s global connectivity rank declines
By Emeterio Sd. Perez
Section Editor
THE Philippines slipped by seven notches to 38th place in the 2007 Globalization Index, an annual study produced by A.T. Kearney and Foreign Policy which assesses the extent to which nations are becoming globally connected.
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Peso ends at new 7-year peak
THE PESO closed at a seven-year peak yesterday, bucking the nervousness in global markets after weak earnings and housing data from the US.
The peso closed at a new record of P44.04, 24 centavos stronger than Wednesday’s P44.28 and taking its gains in the past six weeks to more than 6%. The peso was last seen at $1:P44.03 in July 2000.
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Tripartite meeting to discuss 1996 peace agreement
DAVAO CITY — A tripartite meeting involving the government, Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Organization of the Islamic Conference will open on Nov. 6 in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus G. Dureza said on Wednesday.
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October 27, 2007
I.BANNER STORIES
1. Philippine Daily Inquirer
Estrada on Arroyo: Let's thank her...Let's applaud her
By Volt Contreras, Jocelyn Uy, Kristine L. Alave
Last updated 11:41pm (Mla time) 10/26/2007
MANILA, Philippines--WITH a left-handed stroke of a pen, Joseph Estrada on Friday gratefully accepted pardon from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, acknowledging the power of a woman who had been the object of his scorn for more than six years.
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2. The Philippine Star
Estrada leaves Tanay a free man
By Sandy Araneta and Rainier Allan Ronda
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Ousted President Joseph Estrada walked out a free man yesterday from his detention quarters in Tanay, Rizal.
“I am happy, I’m free again,” Estrada said after signing the release order from the Sandiganbayan. “There is no substitute for freedom.”
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3. Manila Times
Erap freed, gives up politics
Estrada says he’ll support GMA’s pro-poor agenda
Former President Joseph Estrada announced on Friday his support for President Gloria Arroyo after his successor granted him pardon from a life sentence stemming from plunder charges.
read more... 

4. Malaya
‘Free again’Court says assets mustbe forfeited
BY PETER TABINGO
FORMER President Joseph Estrada was released yesterday by Sandi-ganbayan Special Division on the basis of a conditional pardon issued by President Arroyo Thursday, ending his six-and-a-half years in detention for the crime of plunder.
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5. Manila Bulletin
Pardon issued for nat’l unity — GMA
Erap back in San Juan, says history will judge him
GMA defends pardon, says it is for nat’l unity
By GENALYN D. KABILING
President Arroyo yesterday defended her decision to pardon former President Estrada, saying it was based not only on humanitarian grounds but also on national reconciliation and advancement.
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6. The Daily Tribune
Estrada breathes air of freedom
Palace group loses lobby vs Erap pardon
An anti-pardon group of Cabinet members, said to be led by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, from Tuesday till 3 p.m. of Friday, lobbied heavily against the grant of executive clemency to deposed President Joseph Estrada, even threatening to resign should the presidential pardon be granted, a reliable Palace insider told the Tribune yesterday on condition of strict anonymity.
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7. Abante
ERAP: KALAYAAN, WALANG KAPALITNina JB SALARZON, NOEL ABUEL, ROSE MIRANDA, NILO MARASIGAN, IRISH ANN CRUZ, JULIET DE LOZA, ERALYN PRADO at TINA MENDOZA
HALIK NG LOYALISTHindi napigilan ni Lilia Palomberi, isang loyalistang supporter ni dating Pangulong Joseph Estrada, na mapahalik sa litrato nito habang hinihintay kahapon ang paglaya ng huli sa Tanay resthouse. (AP)There is no substitute for freedom."Ito ang mga katagang binitiwan ni dating Pangulong Joseph Estrada sa naghihintay na mga mamamahayag matapos siyang palayain kahapon mula sa anim na taon at anim na buwang pagkakabilanggo sa kanyang resthouse sa Tanay, Rizal.
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8. Abante-Tonite
KASAYSAYAN ANG TUNAY NA HUHUSGA
Naniniwala si dating Pangulong Joseph Estrada na ang kasaysayan ang magpapatunay na nasa tamang landas ang ipinagkaloob sa kanyang kalayaan ng pamahalaan ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at kasaysayan na rin ang magpapatunay na inosente siya sa mga naging akusasyon sa kanya.
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9. Pilipino Star Ngayon
Erap ‘di pwede sa 2010
Nina Edwin Balasa, Angie Dela Cruz At Joy Cantos
Sinabi kahapon ni acting Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera na sa kabila ng presidential pardon na ibinigay kay dating Pangulong Joseph Estrada, aarestuhin siyang muli at ikukulong kapag nagpasyang kumandidato sa ano mang pampublikong posisyon.
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10. Journal
FREE!
By: Ryan Ponce Pacpaco
No substitute for freedom -- Estrada
DEPOSED President Joseph Estrada became a free man shortly before five in the afternoon yesterday. is release from detention should have taken place much earlier but a question over his forfeited allegedly ill-gotten wealth held up his freedom, but the issue was eventually resolved.
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11. Business World
BY ALEXIS DOUGLAS B. ROMERO, Reporter
Business summit cites challenges
THE THREE-DAY 33RD PHILIPPINE BUSINESS CONFERENCE opened at the Manila Hotel yesterday, with key participants citing lack of infrastructure, corruption, red tape, and lack of funding access for small enterprises as among the major challenges to creating an environment conducive to investments.
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12. Business Mirror
Erap pardoned, goes home today
INTERIOR SECRETARY PUNO DIRECTED TO SERVE CLEMENCY PAPERS ON CONVICTED PRESIDENT
By Mia Gonzalez
SAYING it was the “best decision” she could make after a careful evaluation of all factors, including nationwide surveys that show overwhelming support for it, President Arroyo on Thursday granted conditional pardon to convicted plunderer former President Joseph Estrada, which is expected to take effect today.
read more... 


II. POLITICAL
Analysis: Only Arroyo can forfeit pardon benefits
By Fr. Joaquin G. Bernas, S.J.
Inquirer
Last updated 00:08am (Mla time) 10/27/2007
MANILA, Philippines--WITH PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's grant of executive clemency to ousted leader Joseph Estrada, there have arisen a number of interesting questions. Some questions deal with motivation, others with possible consequences, and still others with constitutionality or legality.
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2 senators seek Supreme Court help on NBN papers
Last updated 10:09pm (Mla time) 10/26/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Senators Mar Roxas and Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III on Friday asked the Supreme Court to require the National Economic Development Authority to provide the Senate with transcripts and documents about the controversial national broadband network deal so as not to cover up an allegedly criminal act.
read more... 

Estrada wants to go to Brunei, Europe for vacation--Puno
By Alcuin Papa
MANILA, Philippines--FINALLY a free man after more than six years in detention, former president Joseph Estrada wants to go abroad on a vacation, Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said Friday.
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Arroyo administration doing the right thing--UN rights body
MANILA, Philippines -- The Arroyo administration is “doing the right thing” in addressing extrajudicial killings in the country, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
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Arroyo reaps condemnation over Estrada pardon
By Fe Zamora
Full coverage: The Estrada Trial
MANILA, Philippines -- Reactions to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s decision to pardon convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada continued on Friday, with reactions ranging from condemnation to veiled warnings that Arroyo could face Estrada's fate.
read more... 

Free Estrada insists, ‘I was never corrupt’
By Thea Alberto
SAN JUAN, Philippines -- (UPDATE) Former president Joseph Estrada, free after being pardoned for plunder, insisted Friday evening that he was innocent of the charges.
read more... 

PCGG chair to blame for agency’s problems -- inside
By Jerry E. Esplanada
Inquirer
Last updated 00:02am (Mla time) 10/26/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- The Presidential Commission on Good Government, the body tasked to recover the alleged ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses, their close relatives and cronies, is "teetering on the brink of destruction," according to some PCGG insiders.
read more...

DOLE issues pay rules for All Saints’ holidays
By Margaux Ortiz
MANILA, Philippines -- The Department of Labor and Employment on Friday issued pay rules for November 1 and 2, which have been declared special non-working days throughout the country.
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Black and White Movement: Show outrage over Estrada pardon
Calls for Fridays in black
By Maila Ager
MANILA, Philippines -- The Black and White Movement (BnW) has called on people to express outrage over the pardon and release of convicted plunderer and deposed president Joseph Estrada by wearing black every Friday and ostracizing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her allies.


Arroyo: ‘Unity, rule of law, justice’ behind pardon
By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE 2) "National unity, the rule of law, justice with accountability” were the guideposts President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said she used in deciding to grant pardon to her ousted predecessor, convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada.
read more... 

SC allows toll collection on Coastal Road
By Leila Salaverria
MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court refused to issue a preliminary injunction order against toll collection at the Coastal Road, the thoroughfare linking Metro Manila and Cavite.
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Guingona at San Juan to welcome Estrada
By Thea Alberto
MANILA, Philippines -- The man whose accusation of graft started the chain of events that eventually led to the ouster of then president Joseph Estrada has arrived at San Juan to personally welcome the pardoned convict.
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NBI initial probe points to gas explosion at Glorietta
By Tina Santos, DJ Yap, Margaux Ortiz
MANILA, Philippines -- Initial findings of the National Bureau of Investigation point to an accidental methane gas explosion as the cause of last Friday’s explosion at the Glorietta 2 mall in Makati that killed 11 people and wounded more than a hundred others.
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Opinion
Shameful capitulation
MANILA, Philippines -- In their rush to pardon Joseph Estrada, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her advisers were hard put to come up with good reasons for setting the convicted plunderer free. The presidential order granting executive clemency to Estrada gave three: First, it is the administration’s policy to release inmates who have reached the age of 70. Second, Estrada has been detained for more than six years. And third, Estrada has “publicly committed to no longer seek any elective position or office.”
read more...

The deceptive NEDA press release
By Mahar Mangahas
MANILA, Philippines -- Here is how bad economic news from one agency was disguised as good economic news by another agency two days later.
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LPP should present receipts
With all due respect, the “admission” of Governors Joel Reyes and Ben Evardone of the provinces of Palawan and Eastern Samar, respectively, that the much ballyhooed “cash gifts” given to Gov. Ed Panlilio of Pampanga and Gov. Joselito Mendoza of Bulacan came from the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) and not from the Palace (Inquirer, 10/24/ 07) merely created more questions than answers.
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Country divided over Estrada's pardon
Agence France-Presse
MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's decision to pardon her disgraced predecessor Joseph Estrada met with mixed views Friday, with many seeing it as a political move to deflect attention from the government's own corruption scandals.
read more...
 
Prosecutor to question clemency before SC
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio, head of the team of government lawyers who prosecuted former President Joseph Estrada for six years, yesterday said he would go to the Supreme Court to clarify some questions on the grant of pardon by President Arroyo to Estrada.
read more...

Vidal: Pardon paves way for nat’l reconciliation
By Edu Punay
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal described yesterday the executive clemency granted by President Arroyo to former President Joseph Estrada as an act that “mirrors God’s eternal wisdom and mercy as espoused in the Gospels.”
read more...

JDV III quietly slips out of RP
Saturday, October 27, 2007
A day after linking President Arroyo to bribery in connection with the aborted national broadband network deal with China’s ZTE Corp., businessman Joey de Venecia III left the country yesterday purportedly to escape an assassination plot.
read more... 

EDITORIAL – Indecent haste
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Did the punishment fit the crime? Not too long ago, deposed President Joseph Estrada would have been on death row following his conviction for plunder. Instead he was sentenced last month to spend the rest of his life in prison. Now he is walking out without spending a single minute behind bars in a regular prison cell, unrepentant, the beneficiary of a presidential pardon for a crime he insists he did not commit.
read more... 

Charter change and the prerogative to pardon Erap
FROM A DISTANCE By Carmen N. Pedrosa
Saturday, October 27, 2007
As expected, opinion was divided about Erap’s pardon with some interesting results. Those against ignore the fact that the presidential prerogative is given to the president by the Constitution. If we are against presidential pardons, we should be for Charter change. Former President FVR, who would otherwise be amenable to changing the Constitution, was against while former President Cory who has refused Charter change adamantly favored Erap’s pardon. She believes the Cory Constitution is sufficient, therefore no changes need to be made, ergo President GMA did right by using her constitutional prerogative.
read more... 

Small leads to bigger change
ROSES & THORNS By Alejandro R. Roces
Saturday, October 27, 2007
The campaign period for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections will end tonight. Polls push through on Monday, October 29. Earlier, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) reported a huge turn-out of registrants for the polls that indicates the people’s eagerness to participate in choosing their local community leaders. For the barangay elections, at stake are the positions of a barangay chairman and seven members of the council, called kagawad. For the Sangguniang Kabataan elections, voters will elect an SK chairman and seven council members. There is a corresponding SK council in each barangay. As many as 41,975 barangay and as many SK chairmen to be selected corresponding to the number of barangay units all over the country, plus 293,285 council members for barangay and the same number for the SK board. These statistics are certainly a far cry from when Legazpi historically founded communities with only 20 to 30 settlers who first arrived in the Philippines from other places in Southeast Asia. The leader then was called a datu. During the Spanish times, the community leader was called a cabeza de barangay. In my time, the barangay captain was called a teniente del barrio, who was generally seen as a peacemaker in the neighborhood.
read more...

VP Noli adds voice to support for grant of pardon
Vice President Noli de Castro yesterday added his voice to the support expressed by several leaders for the decision of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to pardon former President Joseph Estrada.
read more...

Joint vision for moral revolution in society being finalized – JdV
Calling it a "blue print for the future" beyond disagreement conflict, Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said yesterday efforts are on track to finalize President Arroyo’s and the House leader’s "joint vision" to launch a moral revolution in society.
read more...

DoLE says Nov. 1 and 2 are special non-working holidays
The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) announced yesterday that Nov. 1 (All Saints' Day) and Nov. 2 (All Souls' Day) are special non-working holidays throughout the country.
read more...

SC asked to compel NEDA, OES to submit all papers on NBN project
By REY G. PANALIGAN
Liberal Party Senators Mar Roxas and Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III asked the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday to compel the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES) and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) to submit to the Senate all documents on the National Broadband Network (NBN) project.
read more... 

Noli seeks deregulation of business permits
Vice President and concurrent Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Chairman Noli de Castro is proposing to deregulate the business environment, particularly in the area of issuing permits.
read more...

Mall blast not handiwork of terrorists — Israel expert
There were no tell-tale signs that that the explosion that rocked Glorietta 2 in Makati was the handiwork of terrorists, an Israeli security expert now in Manila said.
read more... 

The long count in blast and cash gift cases
(Editor’s note: RP needs a modern crime lab and personnel trained in the most efficient investigative agency abroad as noted by the author.)
By Romeo V. Pefianco
ONE after the other we were put to two severe tests: (1) who provided and received the cash gift days ago, and (2) what caused the blast in Makati last week.
read more... 

The outcome is not surprising in government whose alphabet starts with “A-B-Z-T-E...F-G”…’
Unfair discharge
ALMOST buried under the propaganda avalanche of the pardon granted to former President Joseph Estrada is the discharge of 26 enlisted men most of whom belong the elite Philippine Army (PA) First. Scout Ranger Regiment in connection with the alleged February 2006 coup attempt.
read more... 

Teflon-coated Presidency
IT’S EASY, a political wit observed, to tell a lie, but hard to tell only one!
Gloria Arroyo knows this well. And political observers, critics, pundits, detractors and de-stabilizers, know this very well, too. They know, as we have noted in this column in the last six years of her misrule, she has lied to obtain power and has lied while using it to this very day.
read more...

Esperon called a coward on sacking of 26 soldiers
MILITARY officers detained for last year’s supposed power grab attempt yesterday called Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. a "coward" for what they said was his refusal to admit he was responsible for the dishonorable discharge of 26 enlisted personnel linked to the plot.
read more...

JdV to stay as Speaker — GMA solons
Members of the majority bloc in the House of Repre-sentatives yesterday assured there is no threat to the post of Speaker Jose de Venecia III amid rumors that his ouster was clinched in another meeting of the lawmakers in Malacañang the other day.
read more... 

Bunch of hypocrites
What a bunch of hypocrites this anti-Erap “civil society” is!
These same anti-Erap forces have the gall to speak of the Rule of Law and the Constitution when it was they who had dumped the Rule of Law and the Constitution when they mounted a coup d’etat against then sitting President Joseph Estrada.
read more... 

The high court’s move
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
Malacañang is playing hardball with the Senate, in her obvious bid to stonewall the Senate investi-gations, but chances are, she will have to back off, to use a presidential spouse’s term.
read more... 

Hole-in-one
Arnold Clavio
Hindi ko na malilimutan mga ‘igan, ang petsang ito, Oct. 25, araw ng Huwebes, alas-4:50 p.m., Club Intramuros, Manila.
Nakalaya si Erap? Hindi. sinabit na ni Joey DV sina PGMA at FG sa ZTE? Hindi rin.Kuwento ko sa inyo, mga ‘igan.
Isang normal na hapon iyon sa golf course ng Intramuros. Matagal-tagal na rin akong di nakakalaro sa itinuturing kong home course. Maaliwalas ang paligid. May kaunting bugso ng hangin.
Akala ko naka-Hole-in-One ako sa pamoso nilang ‘island green’ o ang Hole number 10 sa back nine. Diretso ang lipad ng bola. Patong. Tumuloy sa butas at di na namin nakita.
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Senado nagagamit ng anak ni JDV
Nagpahayag ng pagkadismaya si Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing sa aniya’y pagpayag ng Senado na magamit ito ng anak ni Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., sa pagdadawit kay Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sa kontrobersya ng National Broadband Network (NBN) project.
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JdV mocking NBN probe- Bagatsing
MANILA Rep. Amado Bagatsing yesterday said the continuation of the Senate hearing on the national broadband network (NBN) controversy merely affirmed the “serious credibility problem” of losing NBN proponent Jose de Venecia III.
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A matter of survival
By: Bernadette E. Tamayo
SOME opposition senators believe that President Macapagal-Arroyo granted executive pardon to former President Joseph Estrada to keep her government afloat amid the scandals hounding her administration.
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Criticism over Erap pardon expected — Palace
10/27/2007
Malacañang yesterday said it expected criticisms over the decision of President Arroyo to grant full pardon to deposed and plunder-convicted President Joseph Estrada even from known allies but stressed that the Chief Executive knows she merely did what was “right.”
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Patungan ng isyu
Huwebes nang tanghali, habang pinakikinggan ko ‘yong pagdawit ni Joey de Venecia III kay GMA na mismo sa ZTE-Broadband contract, sabi namin sa Senado… ito na ang headline bukas. Akalain mong alas-5 ng hapon ding ‘yon, binasa ni Sec. Bunye ang pardon kay Erap. Natabunan ‘yong mga kinanta ni Joey III, na siya naman sanang tatabon dun sa suhulan sa almusal sa Malacañang.
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October 30 , 2007
I.BANNER STORIES
1. Philippine Daily Inquirer
Estrada position baffles opposition
We want to know his plans, says Binay
By Jocelyn Uy
Inquirer
Last updated 02:19am (Mla time) 10/30/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Deposed President Joseph Estrada Monday sought to placate restive forces baffled by his reluctance to join calls for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, insisting he remained allied with the opposition.
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2. The Philippine Star
Erap men among Palace nominees to Comelec
By Sheila Crisostomo
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Lawyer Rene Saguisag and Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, two vocal critics of the Arroyo administration, are among the seven Malacañang nominees to four vacancies at the Commission on Elections (Comelec), including the position of chairman.
read more...

3. Manila Times
Chief Justice shuns politics
Puno rejects offer by GMA critics to head a transition government
The country’s top magistrate turned down on Monday a proposal to head a caretaker government should President Gloria Arroyo and her administration heed calls for her to resign.
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4. Malaya
JDV belittles ouster threat Says critics don’t have the numbers
BY WENDELL VIGILIA
HOUSE Speaker Jose de Venecia has brushed aside a brewing attempt to unseat him, saying his critics do not have the numbers to bring him down.
read more...

5. Manila Bulletin
Barangay, SK elections were peaceful – Razon
By ARIS R. ILAGAN
Director General Avelino I. Razon Jr., chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), declared yesterday that the conduct of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections could be considered as one of the most peaceful and widely participated electoral exercises in recent years.
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6. The Daily Tribune
Erap remains in opposition to Gloria
By Angie M. Rosales
10/30/2007
Amid the Malacañang and anti-Estrada media spins that he has turned his back on the opposition and is now allied with President Arroyo, pardoned former President Joseph Estrada yesterday made it clear that he would remain in opposition to the Arroyo administration and stressed his position should not be in doubt simply because he had accepted a free, unconditional and absolute pardon from Mrs. Arroyo.
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7. Abante
ERAP BOYS IUUPO SA COMELEC
(IRISH ANN CRUZ)
Dalawang oposisyunistang malapit kay da-ting Pangulong Joseph Estrada ang namumurong maupo sa Commission on Elections (Comelec) bilang chairman at komisyuner.
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8. Abante-Tonite
JDV BINUBUYO VS GLORIA
Ni Bernard Taguinod
Binubuyo ng civil society si House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., na lumaban na kay Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo dahil sa mga katiwalian sa kanyang gobyerno
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9. Pilipino Star Ngayon
No work, no pay!
Ni Grace Amargo-Dela Cruz
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Nilinaw ng Department of Labor and Employment na special non-working holidays ang darating na November 1 at 2 kung kaya’t makakatanggap ang mga empleyado ng karagdagang 30 porsiyento sa kanilang sahod.
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10. Journal
DEAD VOTED
By: Lee Ann P. Ducusin Alex Silva
THE Commission on Elections yesterday admitted it had failed to purge “ghost” and “flying” voters from its list.
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11. Business World
BY JUDY T. GULANE, Senior Reporter
Customs to close encoding centers
IMPORT ENTRY ENCODING CENTERS IN THREE MAJOR PORTS will cease to operate by Monday next week upon order of the Bureau of Customs, in line with a plan to shift to paperless transactions.
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12. Business Mirror
Crude oil reaches new record of $93
By Lenie Lectura
Reporter
The cost of gasoline, electricity, public-transportation fares and even airline tickets in the country may shoot up as oil prices in the world market surpassed the $93-per-barrel mark Monday in Asian trading.
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II. POLITICAL
Estrada lawyers on Comelec shortlist
Saguisag, Rodriguez, Tañada eyed
By Beverly T. Natividad
Inquirer
Last updated 03:59am (Mla time) 10/30/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Two lawyers of former President Joseph Estrada, an ex-senator and a former law school dean made it to Malacañang’s list of potential appointees to the Commission on Elections.
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Workers to get additional pay
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Workers should get additional pay for working during the holidays, the Department of Labor and Employment said yesterday.
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Anti-graft court may confiscate Estrada assets
By Jocelyn Uy
Inquirer
Last updated 03:59am (Mla time) 10/30/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- The Sandiganbayan can go after the personal assets of deposed President Joseph Estrada if it fails to find his illegally amassed wealth, estimated at P876 million, that it ordered forfeited in favor of the government, according to the anti-graft court’s acting spokesperson.
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I spent my own money, Villar says of Europe trip
By Christina Mendez
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
“I spent my own money!”
This was what the Philippines’ richest senator, Senate President Manuel Villar Jr., stressed when asked about his mid-October European tour with some 50 Nacionalista Party (NP) members and their families.
Villar was joined by his wife, Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar and their only daughter Camille on the trip, while Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano was with his wife, Pateros congresswoman Lani Cayetano.
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UN report: RP strategy to blame for spate of killings
By Michael Lim Ubac
Inquirer
Last updated 04:12am (Mla time) 10/30/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- A United Nations official has blamed the Philippine government’s counterinsurgency strategy, and a distorted criminal justice system, for the continuing spate of extrajudicial killings in the country.
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After ‘moral revolution,’ JDV now seeks full ‘pork’ transparency
By Jess Diaz
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
After startling friends and foes alike with his call for a “moral revolution,” Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. now wants “full transparency” in the use of pork barrel funds.
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Puno rejects offer to head transition government
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Chief Justice Reynato Puno yesterday shielded the Supreme Court from politics as he rejected an offer by the Kilusang Makabansang Ekonomiya (KME) to head a transition government amid mounting calls for the resignation of President Arroyo.
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NEWSSTAND
Ronnie Puno and the endgame
By John Nery
Inquirer
Last updated 01:06am (Mla time) 10/30/2007
In reporting on the circumstances or consequences of Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio’s disclosure about cash gifts in paper bags, some colleagues in the trade found themselves describing his election victory last May as overwhelming. In fact, it was a squeaker. Father Ed’s 219,706 votes edged “queenpin” Lilia Pineda’s tally by a mere 1,147-vote margin -- less than one-tenth of one percent of the number of voters eligible to vote for governor of Pampanga province.
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Chief Justice Puno appeals: Insulate judiciary from politics
By REY G. PANALIGAN
Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno appealed yesterday to all sectors to insulate the judiciary from partisan politics for it to continuously be an effective and credible dispenser of laws and justice.
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Villafuerte requests Razon to assign competent officers
Camarines Sur Gov. Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. has requested Director General Avelino Razon, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), to immediately relieve Police Senior Supt. Balligi A. Tira, officer in charge of the Region 5 Police Office.
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Posibleng pumalit kay Abalos inilantad ng Palasyo
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Nagpadala na ang Malacañang sa Commission on election (COMELEC) ng listahan na siyang posibleng pumalit sa posisyon ng nagretirong si Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos.
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Bagong buwis, ‘di na kailangan — GMA
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Iginiit kahapon ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo na hindi kailangang magpatupad ng mga bagong pagbubuwis dahil marami na tayong pamamaraan upang mapataas ang revenues sa pamamagitan ng epektibong tax administration.
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P.5-M cash gift ni Panlilio gamitin sa mga pagamutang bayan
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
LUBAO, PAMPANGA – Hinikayat ng mga alkalde ng lalawigang ito sa pamumuno ni Lubao Mayor Dennis Pineda si Gov. Ed Panlilio na gamitin na lamang sa mga pangangailangan ng 10 public hospitals ang ti­nanggap nitong P500,000 mula sa League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP).
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CJ Puno thumbs down bishops’ call for junta leadership
10/30/2007
Thanks, but no thanks.
This was the gist of the message Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno, through the SC spokesman, Jose Midas Marquez, conveyed to the KME (Kilusang Makabansang Ekonomiya) group led by three Catholic bishops that had called for the resignation of all the incumbent government department leaders to make way for a tran-sition government to be led by Puno.
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Erap men lead Palace list for Comelec posts
BY GERARD NAVAL
A SPOKESMAN and a lawyer of former President Joseph Estrada in his plunder case head the list of Malacañang’s choices to replace former Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos and Commissioner Mehol Sadain, acting Comelec chair Resurreccion Borra yesterday said.
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Palace won’t interfere in choice of new Speaker
By Sherwin C. Olaes
10/30/2007
Malacañang yesterday claimed it will not interfere in the matter of the members of the House of Representatives’ choice of Speaker, should the current Speaker, Jose de Venecia Jr., be changed, saying the House is an independent body in whose internal affairs the executive department cannot interfere.
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Oposisyon masusubukan kay Erap
(Bernard Taguinod/Rey Marfil)
Sa mga darating na araw, masusubukan ang oposisyon kung mananahimik na rin ang mga ito sa mga katiwalian sa administrasyon kasunod ng paglambot ni dating Pangulong Joseph Estrada makaraang mabigyan ng pardon mula kay Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
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May gulang si Gloria!
Ngayong malaya si Erap, isang malaking palaisipan kung ano ang magiging papel sa pulitika at buhay ng sambayanang Pilipino ng sentensiyadong pangulo, aba’y hindi na puwedeng sumigaw ng "pekeng Pangulo" ang ama ni Senate pro-tempore Jinggoy Estrada laban kay Mrs. Arroyo dahil tinanggap ang pardon ibinigay ng palasyo at mismong si Erap ang humingi nito. Ibig sabihin, kinikilala ng pamilya Estrada ang legitimacy ng liderato ni Mrs. Arroyo at susundin ang anumang patakaran ng kanyang gobyerno, kabaliktaran sa naunang deklarasyon nito.
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It’s all speculations on JDV’s fate -- solon
By: Raul S. Beltran
EVERYTHING is still speculative and futuristic on whether or not there will be changes at the House of Representatives when the congressional sessions resume next week, according to a House leader widely rumored as a possible replacement for Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.
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AMLC kinalampag sa malakihang withdrawal sa bangko
By: Ryan Ponce Pacpaco
HOY gising!!!!
Ganito ang mensahe ni Bukidnon Rep. Teofisto Guingona III sa Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) na tila mahimbing umanong natutulog sa kontrobersiya ng malakihang withdrawal sa bangko na sinasabing ipinamudmod umano sa halagang P200,000 hanggang P500,000 sa bawat kongresista at lokal na opisyal sa Malacañang noong Oktubre 11.
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October 31, 2007
I.BANNER STORIES

1. Philippine Daily Inquirer
Peso surges to 43.85 to $1
BSP intervenes to ease pain of exporters, OFWs
By Doris Dumlao
Inquirer
Last updated 02:55am (Mla time) 10/31/2007
MANILA, Philippines--The peso Tuesday broke into the 43-per-dollar level for the first time in seven years on strong foreign exchange remittances from overseas Filipinos and foreign investment inflows into the stock market after a long weekend, currency traders said.
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2. The Philippine Star
Opposition hits Palace on Comelec post offer
By Aurea Calica
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Thanks, but no thanks.
Opposition senators did not welcome the inclusion of personalities from their ranks among the nominees to the Commission on Elections (Comelec), saying it was a “shrewd” and obvious “divide and rule” tactic of the Arroyo administration.
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3. Manila Times
Uno impeachment rap dead
By Maricel V. Cruz And James Konstantin Galvez, Reporters
THE House of Representatives will not entertain anymore the impeachment complaint to be filed on Monday against President Gloria Arroyo by the United Opposition (UNO).
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4. Malaya
Ermita spreads oil over troubled waters Hopes Erap will distance self from destab moves
BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR
EXECUTIVE Secretary Eduardo Ermita yesterday said he is hopeful that former President Joseph Estrada would express his gratitude to the administration by distancing himself from destabilization moves.
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5. Manila Bulletin
90% of poll winners proclaimed
Election boards comply with 24-hour deadline
Barangay, SK election winners proclaimed fast
By E. T. SUAREZ
More than 90 percent of the winning candidates in last Monday’s barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections have been proclaimed.
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6. The Daily Tribune
Anti-Erap leaders, FVR align vs Gloria pardon
10/31/2007
The Genuine Opposition (GO) spokesman yesterday disclosed that “factions” in the opposition have been meeting and talking with the camp of former President Fidel Ramos and are reportedly linking up with the former president on their common stand in their opposition to the grant of pardon by President Arroyo to ousted President Joseph Estrada last Friday.
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7. Abante
COMELEC POST PATIBONG!--CHIZ
Nina BOYET JADULCO, IRISH ANN CRUZ, ROSE MIRANDA at NOEL ABUEL
Para kay Sen. Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero, isang patibong lamang sa oposisyon ang paglalawit ng Commission on Elections (Comelec) positions ng pamahalaang Arroyo sa ilang kasama at maaaring bahagi umano ito ng planong pagbasag sa kanilang puwersa.
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8. Abante-Tonite
GLORIA DI KAYANG ISALBA NI ERAP
Nina Bernard Taguinod at Rey Marfil
Hindi kayang isalba ni dating Pangulong Joseph Estrada si Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at ang administrasyon nito na nahaharap ngayon sa matinding pagsubok.
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9. Pilipino Star Ngayon
Alyansang FVR-Oposisyon namumuo
Ni Rudy Andal
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Nakikipag-alyansa na umano kay dating Pangulong Fidel Ramos ang ilang miyembro ng oposisyon upang sumama sa kanilang panawagan na magbitiw sa puwesto si Pangulong Arroyo.
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10. Journal
MALL BLAST ACCIDENTAL
By: Alfred P. Dalizon
EXPERTS from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Australian Federal Police and the Israeli government have supported a Philippine National Police theory that a gas explosion and not a bomb was behind the Glorietta 2 blast that killed 11 people and wounded more than 100 others.
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11. Business World
BY MARIA KRISTINA C. CONTI
RP vulnerable to high oil prices
INDIVIDUAL COUNTRY EFFORTS to deal with rising oil prices may not be enough and it might be time to consider a region-wide buffer fund, especially since the Philippines is viewed as particularly vulnerable.
read more... 

12. Business Mirror
Neda: Peso buffer vs oil-price surge
By Cai U. Ordinario
Reporter
DESPITE the surge in oil prices to $93 a barrel, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) remains confident the strong peso would be able to buffer its ill effects on local pump prices.
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II. POLITICAL
Erap to challenge forfeiture of properties
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Ousted President Joseph Estrada will challenge an order of the Sandiganbayan forfeiting assets which the anti-graft court said belong to him, one of Estrada’s lawyers said yesterday.
read more... 

Estrada pardon makes lead prosecutor sick
By Volt Contreras
Inquirer
Last updated 02:44am (Mla time) 10/31/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- For the lead prosecutor who spent almost six years building a case against deposed President Joseph Estrada, the recent pardon granted to the convicted plunderer was apparently too much for his mind and body to bear.
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Lack of better alternative weakens GMA ouster move
By Jose Rodel Clapano and Jess Diaz
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The lack of a better replacement or alternative has weakened the efforts of the opposition in seeking the ouster of President Arroyo, former senator Ernesto Maceda said yesterday.
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Comelec gives ARMM police 24 hours to arrest Bedol
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police director Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao was given 24 hours by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday to arrest former Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol or face contempt and administrative charges.
read more... 

Arroyo-Estrada alliance possible, says Ermita
By Michael Lim Ubac, Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Inquirer
Last updated 05:14am (Mla time) 10/31/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita on Tuesday raised the possibility of a political alliance between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and deposed President Joseph Estrada following her decision to free the convicted plunderer.
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US Senate votes to hike military, economic aid to RP – DILG
By Jaime Laude
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The United States Senate has voted to increase Washington’s military and economic aide to the Philippine government next year by $60 million in line with its global efforts to combat terrorism.
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Opinion
EDITORIAL – Junketeers
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Some call it a junket. Others call it a vacation. It’s not a junket when Juan de la Cruz does not bankroll the expenses. But the line between public and private funds in this country is often blurred, so Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. should forgive those who are criticizing him about his group tours to Switzerland and Egypt.
read more... 

Ermita: No rift, no clue on Malacañang dole
Last updated 06:23am (Mla time) 10/31/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita was kept in the dark about the cash that was dispensed to legislators and governors in Malacañang following a meeting with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Oct. 11.
read more...

Opinion
Pork barrel can be cleaned out now
GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. expected how people would react to his call for “moral revolution”. Viewing him as a trapo (rag; traditional politico), he knew they’d sneer, “Look who’s talking.” So he matched his suggested cleansings by President Gloria Arroyo with his own promise to reform the pork barrel. “We shall make fund releases transparent,” he promised of the legislators’ annual largesse, as he gave Arroyo 100 days to show earnest in fighting corruption.
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Arroyo reaching out to Singson, says Palace
By Christine Avendaño
Inquirer
Last updated 05:45am (Mla time) 10/31/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Malacañang is reaching out to Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson who has threatened to break away from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for pardoning convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada.
read more... 

EDITORIAL
Buffet republic
Inquirer
Last updated 01:42am (Mla time) 10/31/2007
MANILA, Philippines--Diosdado Macapagal spent his vice presidency campaigning non-stop, because President Carlos P. Garcia wouldn’t give him a job. Back then, the basic unit of our government was the barrio, and Macapagal never hesitated to boast that he had visited nearly every barrio to shake hands with nearly every voter. To be sure, obsessive attention to voters, in retail and wholesale terms, is the mark of any successful politician. But Macapagal’s personal touch proved incapable of overcoming the challenge mounted by Ferdinand E. Marcos, who believed above all else in the ability of political machinery to overcome all odds.
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Partisanship has no place in Congress probes
Inquirer
Last updated 03:26am (Mla time) 10/31/2007
Is lawyering by legislators proper in Congress? In the impeachment proceedings against President Joseph Estrada in the Senate and against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the House, as well as the current Senate investigations on the NBN-ZTE broadband contract and the “Hello Garci” tapes, we have seen some senators and congressmen lawyering for the subjects of the congressional probes.
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Ginastos ng kandidato pinasusumite ng Comelec
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Pinagsusumite ng Comelec ng “statement of contributions and expenditures” ang mga kumandidato sa Barangay at Sangguniang Kabataan, nanalo o natalo man ang mga ito sa katatapos na eleksiyon.
read more... 

24-oras ultimatum para arestuhin si Bedol
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Binigyan ng Commission on Elections (Comelec) ng 24-oras na ultimatum si Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Police Regional Director Police Supt. Joel Goltiao upang arestuhin si dating Ma­guindanao Provincial Election Supervisor (PES) Atty. Lintang Bedol.
read more... 

Erap remains main opposition figure – Binay
By LEONARD D. POSTRADO
United Opposition (UNO) President and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay yesterday said former President Joseph Estrada remains the primary figure of the opposition despite his acceptance of pardon from President Arroyo.
read more... 

Accountability, integrity, honesty needed for Comelec appointments – Lagdameo
By LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO
Accountability, integrity, and honesty.
These are the qualities that the next commissioners of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should possess, said the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
read more... 

Admin allies still behind JdV, but ‘anything can happen’
By Maricel V. Cruz, Reporter
ADMINISTRATION allies and supporters of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. have played down a reported ouster move against the House leader and change of leadership when session resumes on November 5.
read more... 

Solon slams groups supporting calls for President to resign
By BEN R. ROSARIO
A Manila lawmaker yesterday slammed groups demanding the resignation of President Arroyo, saying that these groups of "elite, politicians, and the clergy" have but ulterior motives, and not real concern for the country.
read more... 

Wednesday, October 31, 2007
US Senate dramatically hikes military, eco aid to RP
Amidst calls for a deeper probe of where its aid to the Philippines goes, and widespread apprehensions that it funds military and paramilitary groups allegedly used in human rights violations and extrajudicial killings, the United States Senate has voted to increase Washington’s military and economic aid to Manila to $60 million next year.
read more... 

Palace plan to appoint opposition in Comelec scored
10/31/2007
Opposition senators yesterday scoffed at Malacañang’s reported plan to appoint opposition personalities to the vacant posts in the Commission on Elections (Comelec), saying the move is only aimed at continuously appeasing the public and diverting attention from the current issues plaguing the Arroyo administration.
read more... 

Resign GMA option open —opposition
By Angie M. Rosales
10/31/2007
A call for the resignation of President Arroyo remains an option among members and leaders of political opposition.
read more... 

Study impeachment rules, Malacañang tells critics
10/31/2007
Malacañang yesterday told the opposition to do its homework in its plan to file a new impeachment case against President Arroyo as it expressed confidence the new complaint will not be entertained by the House of Representatives.
read more... 

Comelec issues deadline for Bedol’s arrest
10/31/2007
The Commission on Elections gave a 24-hour deadline for members of the Philippine National Poloice (PNP) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to arrest former Maguindanao Comelec offical Lintang Bedol, who has been accused of rigging the senatorial elections in the province in favor of the administration.
read more... 

Mikey, Iggy to JDV: Stick with GMA, we’re with you
BY WENDELL VIGILIA
HOUSE Speaker Jose de Venecia has the continued backing of presidential son Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo and presidential brother-in-law Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo but only for as long as he supports President Arroyo.
read more... 

Oposisyon sa Comelec kinontra ni Chiz
(Rey Marfil)
Mismong si Senador Francis "Chiz" Escudero III ang umangal sa pagtalaga ng isang taga-oposisyon bilang commissioner o chairman ng Commission on Elections (Comelec) kasabay ang pagkabakante ng tatlong silya rito.
read more... 

JDV humahakot ng suporta
(Rey Marfil)
Kahit makuha ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo si dating Pangulong Joseph "Erap" Estrada bilang bagong kaalyado matapos ang ibinigay na presidential pardon, hindi natatakot ang oposisyon sa ‘worst case scenario’ dahil mayroon agad nakaumang na ipapalit dito.
read more... 

OPINION
Little President
Bagama’t pilit na itinatanggi ng Malakanyang, putok na putok na ang balita na lalayasan na ito ni Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.
read more... 

Panakip-iskandalo lang ba?
Habang dumadaan ang araw mula sa biglaang paggawad ng pardon kay Pangulong Joseph Estrada noong Huwebes ng gabi, tila nabibisto ng mamamayan na ginamit lang ito bilang panakip sa malubhang mga iskandalong hinaharap ng administrasyong Arroyo.
read more... 

EDITORIAL
Basagin at sakupin
Isa raw sa pinakamaruming taktika ng kasamaan na kung minsan ay nakakapanaig sa kabutihan ay itong taktika ng ‘divide and conquer’. Babasagin nito ang puwersa ng kalaban, saka papasukin at tuluyang sakupin.
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Mikey, Iggy suportado pa rin si JDV
By: Ryan Ponce Pacpaco
PLASTIKAN man o hindi, nanindigan kahapon ang dalawang kongresistang Arroyo na suportado ng mga ito ang liderato ni Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. sa gitna ng maugong na mga balita na isang kudeta ang niluluto ng Malacañang.
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Chiz: Protect the electorate, not politicians
By: Bernadette E. Tamayo Tess Bedico
SENATOR Francis Escudero said the best interest of the electorate, not of the opposition or administration should be protected in filling up the vacancies in the Commission on Elections.
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House to reject 2nd impeach bid
By: Jester P. Manalastas
DESPITE offering stronger evidence, the new impeachment complaint to be filed against President Macapagal-Arroyo would not be entertained by the House of Representatives, Majority Leader Arthur Defensor said.
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Right but late
IT’S only right.And not only about time. It’s long way overdue.
We are referring here to Sen. Loren Legarda’s proposed measure seeking to institutionalize a comprehensive benefits and compensation package for journalists, including additional privileges in the performance of their duties.
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Senate wary of plot to split opposition
By Butch Fernandez
Reporter
SENATORS are on to divide-and-rule plots to break up mainstream opposition groups over the Palace pardon for former-President Joseph Estrada.
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