OH AMERICA:Spy Bill Debate Comes to an End
Some 15 months after the first reports emerged that the Bush administration may have been engaging in a massive, top-secret, warrantless surveillance program, Congress passed a sweeping new law Wednesday that critics say will leave most of the program largely intact.
Sen. Arlen Specter, a Republican who opposes the way the bill gives the phone companies immunity from lawsuits told his colleagues before the vote they were preparing to commit an "historical embarrassment." Everybody knows we don't know what we're voting on," Specter said, pointing out that many lawmakers still have not been fully briefed on the president's program, for which the phone company immunity is being granted.
Congress sent the White House a bill Wednesday overhauling bitterly disputed rules on secret government eavesdropping and shielding telecommunications companies from lawsuits complaining they helped the U.S. spy on Americans.
July 9, 2008 will go down as the day in history that the Democratic Party, on bended-knee, raised the white flag and capitulated to the most fervent desire of George Bush and Dick Cheney: to immunize the giant phone corporations and the Bush administration itself from any legal liability for their unconstitutional, criminal spying on ordinary American citizens.
This vote will be seen as the moment when all pretense of an opposition party in America dissolved. This fact was confirmed when President Bush, moments after the Democrats capitulated in the Senate, appeared on the White House porch to thank the Democratic leadership for cooperating with him, particularly Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-Verizon) and Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-ATT).
The Democratic Party not only rubber-stamped the Bush Administration’s unconstitutional program of wiretapping without warrants, it also betrayed three core historic Democratic Party principles: freedom and civil rights, constitutional separation of powers and the rule of law.
We voted the traitors into office, we need to vote them out. If the Democratic Party will not protect the Constitution, it is time for the people to lead.
While the program will now become law, most of it's provisions remain secret from the public and most lawmakers, although the administration will now be required to place all international surveillance activity under the authority of a secret court created to consider the so-called FISA cases.
There's a disturbing irony in a U.S. administration that claims it intends to establish democracy in Iraq - yet all the while systematically dismantling democracy at home.
Access to information about government actions, the ability to share that information with other citizens and the right to protest government policies are all fundamental to a representative democracy. Waxman's House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena on June 12, 2008, to the Justice Department to produce documents relating to the Wilson CIA leak, specifically details on what Cheney and President Bush told investigators.
The Justice Department responded in a June 24 letter, citing a separation of powers argument in refusing to provide the information. Open government and open records are not popular concepts with the Bush administration. Yet they are essential to a citizenry that wishes to participate in helping the government select a wise direction in both domestic and foreign policies.
Crucial government Web sites have been shut down. Access to presidential records has been dramatically limited. Freedom of Information Act requests for government documents have been denied or the documents heavily blacked out.
The president and the attorney general have both refused to give proper congressional committees the information they have requested. These House and Senate committees are supposed to exercise oversight in regard to the Department of Justice. Waxman sought the records to review how the White House handles classified information and how it responds to leaks.
"The Committee also seeks to answer important questions about how the White House safeguards national security secrets and responds to breaches, and to make legislative recommendations to ensure appropriate handling of classified information by White House officials," Waxman wrote in the letter to Mukasey.
President George W. Bush has also forced peaceful protesters into so-called Free Speech Zones - out of sight and hearing of the president - as he passes by in his motorcade. Only those cheering citizens who support Bush and his policies are allowed curbside to be seen by the president.
Ten days before the massive Washington demonstration against the war in Iraq, the FBI circulated an internal bureau bulletin noting the scheduled demonstrations in Washington and San Francisco. It corroborates what many had already suspected: The FBI has mounted a nationwide operation to collect intelligence on demonstrators.
The bulletin ends by telling law enforcement agencies to "report any potentially illegal acts to the nearest FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force." In major cities around the nation, the FBI has set up Joint Terrorism Task Forces staffed with local law enforcement officers as well as FBI agents.
The terrorism task forces' spying eyes are active in cities like Denver, Portland, Oregon, and Fresno, California. The New York City Police Department arrested peaceful antiwar demonstrators earlier this year and questioned them about their political affiliations. The practice was finally stopped by public criticism.
Terrorism at home would activate the Northern Command's military operations. So, despite the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, Americans might find their streets patrolled by combat troops. The Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the direct use of federal troops "to execute the laws" of the United States - unless the president declares a state of emergency.
In an interview, now retired General Tommy Franks, who led the U.S. military invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, told the men's lifestyle magazine Cigar Aficionado that if the United States were hit with a weapon of mass destruction that inflicted large casualties, the Constitution would probably be discarded in favor of a form of military government.
Such a statement from a former four-star general may be meant to prepare the American people for the end of their constitutional form of government, the end of democracy. Because Franks said it, however, doesn't mean it will happen. The Constitution has survived more than 200 years of wars and serious threats to the nation. Franks's statement may be a scare tactic or a political trial balloon to see how the American public reacts.
In either case, the general's comment reveals his own doubts about the inner strength and will of the American people - to uphold the rule of law and to trust the document that has made their nation great, the U.S. Constitution.
ASC
FUNNIES:
- At Congressional Hearing, Conyers Talks About ‘Impeachable Offense’
- Nuclear Not Only Way To Generate A Kwh
- Bush Falsely Claims Expanded Spy Powers Would Have Prevented 9/11
- Democrats Give White House Another Blank-Check For Iraq
- Bush Administration Committed War Crimes, Retired U.S. Gen. Says
- Conyers Threatens to Subpoena DOJ For CIA Leak Documents
- Stephen Mansfield vs. Mikey Weinstein
- McCain's Nuclear Power Policy Identical to Bush Administration's
- Pentagon Officials Accused Iraqis Of War Crimes Days After U.S. Invasion
- Drilling in ANWR Could Lead to 'Exxon Valdez' Like Disaster, Oil Officials Says
- Guantanamo Detainees Were Tortured, Ex-Navy Official Says
- Congress to Probe Bush, Cheney's Role in Plame-Gate
Just heard on dzMM: Carol Basilio, president of the SSS employees union, warned Romy Neri that he would be watched very closely, they are ready to move against his management should they smell trouble. I guess they don't trust him much.
NATIONAL MATTERS
1. De la Paz ties to Arroyo foes led to 'removal'
By Daxim Lucas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:50am (Mla time) 07/10/2008
MANILA, Philippines�Malaca�ang's decision to "remove" Corazon de la Paz from the helm of the Social Security System (SSS) was due to her close ties to the Makati Business Club (MBC) and groups critical of the Arroyo administration.
This was according to a ranking government official working closely with state financial institutions, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the issue.
"There were just too many issues," the official said, referring to De la Paz's dealings with anti-administration groups and organizations. "I think she's too closely identified with the Makati Business Club and even the Black and White Movement."
2. Neri as SSS chief bad for 30 million fund members: Arroyo critics
ABS-CBN News
Some lawmakers and a civil society organization on Wednesday opposed Malaca�ang's decision to appoint Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chair Romulo Neri as new Social Security System (SSS) president, following the resignation of Corazon de la Paz.
Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas II criticized the transfer of Neri to the SSS since he lacks the stock market experience needed in the managing the pension funds of private sector employees.
"It is not the time to appoint someone with minimal, real life work experience in the marketplace to sit atop the SSS, which has nearly 30 million members," said Roxas on ANC's Top Story.
Roxas said Neri's appointment will just fuel political controversy.
Conflict of interest
He raised the issue of conflict of interest on the part of Neri since he was also appointed head of the National Social Welfare Program. This program seeks to consolidate and cluster all the social welfare initiatives of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health, Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), and the SSS.
"There will be a conflict of interest now as Romy Neri, being the custodian of the funds of these private individuals, and Romy Neri having this agency or cluster which has government agencies as its members. Who will Romy Neri serve? The instructions of the President or the interest and welfare of all of these SSS members?" asked Roxas.
The Black and White Movement, a civil society organization composed mostly of professionals, praised De la Paz for not allowing the SSS to be used as a "patronage tool like the GSIS" during her term as CEO of SSS.
"By all accounts, Corazon de la Paz tried to do her job without surrendering the keys of the SSS to the administration. The SSS, as a result, has not become a political and patronage tool like the GSIS," the B&W Movement said in a statement released Wednesday by Leah Navarro and Vicente Roman.
Not good for public
The B&W Movement lamented that De la Paz had to be replaced given her "good" work at the SSS.
"Something had to give and like most everything involving this administration, what gave out was the public good. Corazon dela Paz had to go. Her caginess regarding the reasons for her departure seems to confirm rumors that she was forced out of office," the B&W Movement said.
It also expressed concern at Neri's appointment to the SSS, saying it was again intended to keep Neri silent on alleged corruption in the Arroyo government.
"The Black & White Movement is dismayed at the appointment of Romulo Neri to the SSS. Mr. Neri's refusal to implicate his boss has led GMA to show her gratitude by moving him around from one post to another: first from NEDA to CHED and now to the SSS. Mr. Neri must be like one of those cheerful ticks that parasitically infest cattle: happily using his silence to swindle the woman he labels as 'evil' into giving him what he wants," the B&W Movement said.
Neri's silence
Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro "Teddy" Casi�o called the SSS appointment a bribe to keep Neri silent on the controversies hounding the Arroyo administration, including the National Broadband Network deal between the Philippine government and China's ZTE Corp.
"This assures Arroyo she has an SSS head that will look the other way and keep silent as she and her minions plunder the pension funds of the private sector workers," said Casi�o.
Neri was head of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) when the NBN-ZTE deal was sealed.
In a Senate hearing on the NBN-ZTE deal, Neri said he was offered a P200 million bribe by then Commission on Elections chair Benjamin Abalos to help get the project approved. But Neri has chosen to invoke executive privilege when asked by Senators to elaborate on his conversations with President
Arroyo on the NBN-ZTE deal.
Neri was later transferred by President Arroyo to CHED. The Senate has a pending petition with the Supreme Court to force Neri to attend its hearings on the probe.
Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero likewise echoed the belief that Neri was given a new position to keep silent on the deal.
"Minsan nang pinatunayan ni Sec Neri na nilagay niya ang interes ng pangulo nang mas mataas kaysa interes ng sambayanan nang kanyang kinubli ang katotohanan at ginamit ang executive privilege," said Escudero.
SSS funds
Escudero warned that SSS funds could now be possibly used for partisan political interests.
"Ako'y nangangamba kung siya nga ang itatalaga sa SSS dahil dahil pribadong pondo ito ng pribadong mamamayan na walang dapat panghimasok o pakialam ang anumang interes sa politika o interes ng mga nakapwesto sa gobyerno ngayon. Kung siya nga ang itatalaga, nawa'y wag magamit ang pondo ng SSS sa pamumulitika, para sa interes ng iilan," said Escudero.
President Arroyo earlier accepted the resignation of Paz as president and chief executive officer of the SSS and named Neri of the Commission on Higher Education to replace her.
"That's correct. We're officially announcing that Secretary Romulo Neri was appointed to replace SSS chief Corazon dela Paz," Press Secretary Jesus Dureza told ANC's "Dateline Philippines" newscast at noon Wednesday.
Dureza said that dela Paz's resignation will take effect on July 31.
Nat'l social welfare
Meanwhile, Dureza said he does not know the reason why Neri was chosen to replace dela Paz.
"I don't know the inside story but maybe it will be very, very significant to mention that together with the appointment of Neri was the issuance of Administrative Order 232 yesterday (Tuesday) that will cluster all the government's pro-poor programs into a single national social welfare strategy," he said.
Under the AO, the President ordered the clustering of all existing social welfare-related programs under one body.
The group will be headed by the head of the SSS who will have a Cabinet rank.
Mrs. Arroyo said that aside from the SSS, pro-poor programs of the social welfare and development and health departments and the Government Service Insurance System will be under one umbrella organization.
The clustering, she said, was done to directly address the impact of high fuel and food prices on Filipinos.
3. Senators slam Neri appointment
By Paolo Romero, Philippine Star
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Senators raised a howl yesterday over the appointment of Commission on Higher Education chairman Romulo Neri as administrator of the Social Security System (SSS) effective Aug. 1, replacing Corazon de la Paz, whose resignation has been accepted by President Arroyo.
The senators said the move was unwise, especially since the country is facing turbulent times.
Senators Francis Escudero, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Manuel Roxas II, Jamby Madrigal and Panfilo Lacson slammed Neri's appointment.
Escudero expressed concern that SSS funds might be used for political purposes.
"I would not have made that appointment. These are turbulent times for the country. The stock market is volatile. The peso is losing steam. We are beset with global uncertainties," Roxas said.
He added, "It is not time to appoint someone with minimal, real life work experience in the marketplace to sit atop the SSS which has nearly 30 million members. Besides, this appointment will just drive unneeded political controversy."
Pimentel and Lacson lamented that Neri is being rewarded for his decision not to spill the beans against the Arroyo administration on the scrapped $329-million national broadband network (NBN) deal with Chinese firm ZTE Corp.
Pimentel said Mrs. Arroyo should just place Neri "under her bed" so that she can continuously monitor him.
Madrigal, on the other hand, criticized the President for her penchant to appoint officials with tainted backgrounds to key government posts.
More than meets the eye
De la Paz confirmed earlier on Wednesday that she submitted her resignation letter as early as June, but hinted that a "confluence of reasons" was behind her decision to step down after seven years as SSS chief.
She did not elaborate, however, but hinted there was politics involved in her sudden departure.
"Of course there's always politics when you're in government," she admitted during an interview with ABS-CBN.
Despite her resignation, Dela Paz said she will stay on as SSS chief until July 31.
"I'll stay till July 31 to implement a smooth transition to whoever will take over since there are major projects that are being finalized," she said.
Dela Paz was named to the post in 2001 following Arroyo's assumption of office. Her resignation came amid reports that there will be changes in the Cabinet to accommodate the President's political allies who lost in last year's elections.
Neri's post will reportedly be turned over to former senator Tessie Aquino-Oreta, one of Arroyo's staunchest allies who lost in the May 2007 senatorial elections.
Sources earlier tagged former senator Ralph Recto, who was head of the Senate ways and means committee during his term in the Senate, to go to National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), which is being held by Augusto Santos in an acting capacity.
Neri was appointed to head the CHEd on a six-month term as a "trouble-shooter." He, however, stayed longer after he got embroiled in the Senate hearings on the botched NBN scandal.
Neri to also head new social welfare body
Malaca�ang officials defended the President's latest appointment of Neri amid questions on his qualifications and on the fact that he retained his Cabinet rank.
Neri's appointment is also unusual in that he was given the task of overseeing the newly set up National Social Welfare Program that will consolidate the social welfare projects of six agencies including the SSS as contained in
Administrative Order No. 232 issued by Mrs. Arroyo on Tuesday.
There were also suspicions that Neri's Cabinet rank was retained so that he remains shielded from having to testify again in the Senate on the NBN-ZTE controversy, although the Supreme Court had already upheld his invoking executive privilege.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Neri can still invoke executive privilege even if he is now with the SSS.
"The President will always make appointments in accordance with her confidence in the capability of the official that she is appointing�and Secretary Neri is competent in the place where the President has appointed him," Ermita said.
Neri has wide experience in economic matters, having served as director general of the Congressional Planning and Budget Office of the House of Representatives.
In July 2005, he was named secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and in February 2005, as director general of NEDA, also a Cabinet-level position.
"Secretary Neri is (also) a professor of Economics at the AIM (Asian Institute of Management). He's very qualified. He's an organization man, he has a very wide knowledge of the subject on the economy and therefore, it cannot be said
Secretary Neri could be wanting in competence as far as running an office such as the SSS is concerned," Ermita said.
He said there was nothing wrong with Neri having an added responsibility with the NSWP. Ermita said he also has other posts, such as the chairman of the Anti-Terrorism Council.
He also gave assurance that Neri would not jeopardize the billions in SSS funds as he manages the NSWP.
In Administrative Order no. 231 issued on June 30, Mrs. Arroyo reorganized the Cabinet clusters.
The National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) Cabinet Group will be composed of the Secretary General of the NAPC, and Secretaries of the Departments of
Agrarian Reform (DAR), Education (DepEd), Health (DOH), Labor and Employment (DOLE), Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and the Chairmen of the CHED, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the Commission on Filipino Overseas.
The NEDA Cabinet Group will be composed of the Director General of the NEDA, the Chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, and the Secretaries of the Departments of Agriculture (DA), Budget and Management (DBM), Energy (DOE), Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Finance (DOF), Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Science and Technology (DOST), Tourism (DOT), Trade and Industry (DTI), Transportation and Communications (DOTC), the Chairmen of the Metro Manila Development Authority, Commission on Information and Communications Technology, and the Director General of the Presidential Management Staff.
The National Security Council (NSC) Cabinet Group will be composed of the National Security Adviser, and the Secretaries of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of National Defense (DND), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Justice (DOJ), the Press Secretary, the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, and the Director General of the Philippine Information Agency.
The NSC Executive Committee will be chaired by the President with the NSC Director General, and the Secretaries of the DILG, DND, and DOJ as members.
The Executive Secretary will be a member of all the Cabinet groups. �With reports from Christina Mendez, abs-cbn.News.com
Posted by: Alecks P. Pabico | July 10, 2008 at 12:23 am
PCIJ
TWO weeks after typhoon Frank's fury turned much of Western Visayas into a diluvian waterworld, the rehabilitation of the region has all the more become imperative.
Estimates by the National Disaster Coordinating Council of the cost of devastation wrought by the recent typhoon have reached P11.546 billion as of July 7, with agriculture and infrastructure sustaining P7.577 billion and P3.969 billion in damages, respectively.
5. DoJ will not allow Sulpicio to abandon ship to insurer
By Tetch Torres, Christian V. Esguerra, Leila Salaverria
INQUIRER.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:59am (Mla time) 07/10/2008
MANILA, Philippines�The possibility that the capsized MV Princess of the Stars would become a "ghost ship" with hundreds of people entombed inside it for years was raised Wednesday at the House of Representatives. But Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said he would not allow this to happen.
Gonzalez said that Sulpicio Lines, operator of the ill-fated ferry, could not simply abdicate its responsibility for the tragedy to its insurer, as its lawyer declared on Tuesday.
6. Palace: Sulpicio out to pin blame on gov't
Malaya
MALACA�ANG yesterday said Sulpicio Lines Inc. wants to use the government as a scapegoat for the MV Princess of the Stars accident by blaming the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) and the Board of Marines Inquiry.
"Some of our lawyers, especially those with experience in litigation, told me it looks like that was a legal strategy of Sulpicio lines to deflect the issue," Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said in a briefing.
Ermita said the legal move was expected because the shipping company's reputation is already "badly tarnished."
7. Jeep, taxi fare hikes deferred
By JC BELLO RUIZ, Manila Bulletin
The P1 and P10 fare hikes approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) for jeepneys nationwide and taxis will not be implemented tomorrow, Friday, as announced, because the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is not yet ready with the fare matrices or guides and stickers needed to execute them.
However, the fare hike for buses in Metro Manila will be implemented as scheduled on Friday.
8. Oil Firms roll back gas prices
Public transport fare hike postponed until Monday
By Euan Paulo C. A�onuevo, Manila Times
Oil giants Petron Corp. and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and industry minnow Flying V each will roll back their gasoline prices by P1 per liter effective today.
If car owners would have a reason to cheer, so would commuters, at least until the weekend.
A transportation official on Wednesday said a government-approved fare increase will not be implemented supposedly effective by Friday.
9. Mobile court resolves 20 cases in one day
By Leila Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:52:00 07/10/2008
MANILA, Philippines�The decisions came down swiftly Wednesday from judges presiding at the first hearings of a justice-on-wheels program outside the packed Manila City Jail.
In less than 15 minutes, the charge of robbery-holdup against Aldrich dela Cruz, 20, was provisionally dismissed by Judge Reynaldo Ros after the accuser failed to heed repeated summonses to appear in court since the alleged crime happened in December 2007
10. Rice self-sufficiency goal dropped
BY MA. ELOISA I. CALDERON, Business World
THE PHILIPPINES has abandoned its goal of being fully self-sufficient in rice by the end of the decade, realizing that it has to pump more capital to improve irrigation facilities and farm-to-market roads.
Augusto B. Santos, acting National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) director general, said the government would be spending some P52-55 billion until 2013 to boost rice production, such that the Philippines would no longer have to import.
"We wanted to attain 100% rice self-sufficiency by 2010 pero mukhang hindi na kaya (but it appears to be no longer doable) so we pushed it back to 2013," Mr. Santos told a press briefing yesterday.
"The government has to make a lot of public investments particularly in irrigation and farm-to-market roads, which are capital-intensive," he added.
The country is the world's biggest rice importer this year after it contracted some 2.3 million tons to offset a domestic shortfall. Imported rice accounts for 10-15% of the country's rice supply, while the rest comes from local production.
Mr. Santos said the funds would be sourced from state coffers, following the government's decision to forego a balanced budget goal this year as it spends more to spur growth and help the poor cope with rising food and fuel prices.
The fiscal gap is expected to reach as much as P75 billion this year, or 1% of gross domestic product (GDP). The shortfall should be trimmed to P40 billion in 2009 and to zero by 2010, as originally planned.
Mr. Santos said the government could also tap multilateral donors such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, which both earlier announced increased support for nations battling the global food crisis.
"It (funds for rice production) will be part of [programmed] deficit spending. If the government lacks revenues, we will have to borrow in order to attain this rice sufficiency," he said.
The NEDA chief downplayed criticisms of the government's rice subsidy program, pointing out that the spending paled in comparison with its Asian neighbors.
"Malaysia spends more on food subsidy programs, about 1.5% to 2% of GDP. We don't even reach 1% of that," Mr. Santos said.
The government, however, has no plans of further subsidies to mitigate the impact of rising food and energy prices on the poor, he said.
Subsidies announced by the Arroyo administration in the wake of the energy and food crisis include the continuation of a discounted rice program for the poor, a one-time P500 handout for each lifeline power user, and an expansion of diesel discounts for the transport sector.
"The plan is to tighten the implementation, avoid leakages and see to it that the intended support goes to beneficiaries," Mr. Santos said.
11. New crop of officers reject failed 'Palparan solution'
By Joey A. Gabieta
Visayas Bureau
First Posted 02:57:00 07/10/2008
QUINAPONDAN, EASTERN SAMAR�A top military officer admitted on Tuesday that the "Palparan solution" did not help any in solving the country's communist insurgency problem.
Lt. Gen. Pedro Ike Inserto, commanding general of the AFP Central Command, was referring to retired Army Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, who became controversial for instigating an all-out war against the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, New People's Army (NPA).
12. MILF not keen on getting Brunei to mediate in peace talks
By Edith Regalado and Jaime Laude, Philippine Star
Thursday, July 10, 2008
DAVAO CITY � The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is satisfied with Malaysia's performance as mediator in the peace negotiations with the Philippine government and is not keen on letting Brunei take over the task as proposed by a major political party in the oil-rich sultanate.
"The Malaysian facilitation is excellent. We do not see any reason why it should not continue," Muhammed Ameen, chair of the MILF secretariat, said in the
MILF's website luwaran.com.
Yasin Affandy, president of Brunei's National Development Party, was earlier reported to have broached the idea of allowing Brunei to sponsor the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the MILF.
"With all our hearts and souls, we salute you for your brotherly concerns and due regard to peace and justice in our lands," Ameen told the Brunei party leaders in the statement.
Meanwhile, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said the peace process with the MILF is very much alive and "is moving."
"There have lately been exchanges of proposals and counter-proposals on the issues concerning how we can reach a final peace settlement," Esperon said.
He said back-channel talks are in progress in preparation for the resumption of formal talks. He did not set a date for the formal negotiations.
Military prepared
The military leadership ordered the deployment of 24 armored personnel carriers to Mindanao in response to MILF's pronouncement that it is prepared for armed hostilities.
"Although there is noise going on in Central Mindanao and other parts of Mindanao, we feel that they are trying to get the attention of the public and maybe the government towards the peace process that is temporarily stalled at this moment," Armed Forces chief Alexander Yano said.
Yano said that while the AFP doubts the seriousness of MILF's bellicose statement, it would not allow any group to threaten peace in any part of the country.
"I have ordered the AFP to be vigilant and take appropriate actions while upholding the primacy of the peace process to protect the people against those who disrupt the peace," Yano declared.
He said the military in Central Mindanao is capable of containing the MILF and helping develop the region.
Describing the MILF as a loose organization, Yano blamed the secessionist group for 40 atrocities from May to June.
The atrocities include raids on transmission towers and power generating facilities.
"While I reiterate the primacy of the peace process even in the light of increasing attacks by the MILF, we shall maintain an active defense posture, consistent with our non-negotiable mandate to preserve peace," he said.
He said that even MILF chair Al Haj Murad declared that recent attacks staged by some MILF commanders were not sanctioned by the rebel group's leadership.
13. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation donates $ 500,000 typhoon aid
By LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO, Manila Bulletin
The Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Philippines, the social action arm of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), disclosed yesterday it had received a US $ 500,000 grant from the foundation of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates for the victims of typhoon Frank.
The grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was revealed by CRS representative to the Philippines Michael Frank in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website.
POLITICS & POLITICOS
14. Appeal to GMA: Give last Comelec post to IT expert or woman
By CARMELA FONBUENA
abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak
Election watchdog groups are appealing to President Arroyo to appoint an information and technology (IT) expert or a woman to the last post left vacant in the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
"When we wrote the President, we said that we will need an IT expert and a management person," said Ramon Casiple of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms. He is a member of the electoral reform advocates group that submitted to Malaca�ang in January a shortlist of people they think should be appointed to the polling body.
Other members of the group include big poll watchdog groups like the National Movement for Free Elections, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, the Catholic Church's National Secretariat for Social Action and other groups like One Voice, Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN), and the Makati Business Club among others.
The group has consistently made the appeal to appoint an IT expert because of the coming 2010 automated presidential elections. One post remains vacant in the seven-man body.
The Comelec is currently composed of six all-male lawyers. Last week, President Arroyo appointed newly retired Court of Appeals Justice Lucenito Tagle and Malabon regional trial court (RTC) Judge Leonardo Leonida.
Comelec chairman Jose Melo is a former Justice of the Supreme Court. The other Comelec commissioners are Rene Sarmiento (human rights advocate with a training in law), Nicodemo Ferrer (former Sandiganbayan Associate Justice), and Moslemen Macarambon (former Lanao del Sur RTC judge).
Female IT expert
Commissioner Sarmiento is also calling for the appointment of a woman in the poll body. "There's no woman yet. The voting population is largely composed of women. They should have a representative in Comelec," Sarmiento told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.
"Women have a different perspective compared to men," Sarmiento added.
The electoral reform advocates' search committee has one nominee that satisfies both requirements: IT expert Ma. Caridad Manarang.
Manarang is a lecturer at the University of the Philippines Department of Computer Scienece. She was also a programmer at the National Computer Institute and previously worked with auditing firm SGV & Co. / Arthur Anderson & Co.
Her recommendation reads, "Ms. Manarang has an outstanding career in the field of IT and is highly regarded by those inside and outside of the IT arena. She would add a critical competence and balance to the Comelec especially that the Commission is moving towards automation and election modernization."
Other female nominees in the list of electoral reform advocates' group are retired RTC Judge Adoracion Avisado and Accra law partner Teresita Herbosa. Manarang is the only IT expert in the list.
Not transparent
Earlier, poll watchdog groups expressed disappointment with Malaca�ang for ignoring their shorlist. Leonida and Tagle are not in the group's shortlist.
"All of these things are out of the blue. TAN and the electoral reform advocates search committee have been public about asking Malaca�ang to be transparent. We sent President Arroyo letters in December and January. The President never acknowledged our letters to her," said Vincent Lazatin of the Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN).
Lazatin said they would have accepted Leonida and Tagle's appointments�even if they are not in their shortlist�if Malaca�ang was transparent in its requirements for the post. Malaca�ang formed an internal search committee but they did not make the results public.
"We don't know what process was used. It leads us to the conclusion that there are behind-the-door negotiations to get these people appointed to the Comelec," Lazatin said.
15. 'Chiz' asks Palace where E-VAT windfall went
Manila Times
If there is indeed a windfall of P18.6 billion from the expanded value-added tax (E-VAT) on oil, why is there a shortfall in the collections of the Bureaus of Internal Revenue and Customs, Sen. Francis Escudero asked Wednesday.
Escudero, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, wondered why the reported windfall from E-VAT was not at all reflected in the revenues collected by the two bureaus.
16. Adaza turns tables on accuser
By Alcuin Papa
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 06:15:00 07/10/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Former assemblyman and opposition lawyer Homobono Adaza turned the tables on his accuser Wednesday and blasted the Arroyo administration for allegedly prosecuting members of the opposition.
Adaza, who was arrested last week along with four others for allegedly plotting a coup, accused lawyer Raymond Fortun as the one who was involved in the alleged destabilization.
He said that Fortun had asked him how much it would take to launch a coup to topple the Arroyo administration.
VARIOUS VOICES
17. Editorial - Tempting, but...
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:57:00 07/10/2008
The bishops have added their basso profundo to the growing chorus calling for a review of the value-added tax (VAT) on fuel. "Out of sympathy for [the poor], there must be a review of all our laws related to prices of goods, like gasoline," Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said on Monday, a day after their semi-annual meeting. In effect, the bishops are calling for both the removal of the VAT, which adds to the price of oil products, and oil deregulation, which allows oil companies to charge what they determine to be market prices.
18. The Long View - Embracing evolution
By Manuel L. Quezon III
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:48:00 07/10/2008
Could it be that our business culture is undergoing a purging of the old feudalism (and accompanying cronyism) that built the great prewar fortunes, and the 1960s mania for adventurism (and accompanying destructive confrontation between labor and capital) of the union-busting "taipans" [tycoons]? Are old and (relatively) new money trying to modernize? Or do they remain in the thrall of the siren song of cronyism? Do they see that the best and brightest that must staff their offices are going abroad, and that, if they are to keep on making money, they must now invest in attracting citizens formerly trapped in a captive market?
19. From badly-run, Sulpicio Lines now borders on madly-run
AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR By William M. Esposo
Thursday, July 10, 2008
To say that Sulpicio Lines Inc (SLI) is badly-run is to utter an understatement. Its track record of sea disasters speaks volumes of how much wanting the maritime company is for better management, not to mention public relations.
Now, one gets the impression that SLI is not just badly-run but is madly-run. Its reactions to the sinking of the MV Princess of the Stars and the public outcry that the sea tragedy spawned defy corporate logic.
In a surprise move, SLI filed a case against Pagasa. Now tell me � have you ever encountered any such case having been filed before? I haven't.
The case against Pagasa makes it look as if the weather man has a direct hand in the operations of the maritime firm, as if Pagasa decides whether the vessels of SLI will sail or brave the typhoon. The validity of the case filed by SLI against Pagasa is doubted owing to the fact that other sea vessels heeded the weather reports and were able to seek shelter. Sailing into the vortex of Typhoon Frank would therefore appear as the result of a bad decision made by the captain or managers of the MV Princess of the Stars.
Then, SLI followed up their suit against Pagasa with one against the Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) which is tasked to investigate the MV Princess of the Stars sea disaster.
Per the STAR July 8 news report, The SLI asked the Manila RTC to stop the BMI from further conducting an inquiry on the tragedy, alleging that the "current investigation of the tragedy is irregular, illegal, and null and void for want of jurisdiction and authority."
"The Board Chairman has endeavored to display fairness but a majority of the members have already made up their minds as to the guilt of Sulpicio Lines even before the proceedings can be concluded," said SLI.
The STAR news report added "that BMI's lack of jurisdiction to investigate, aggravated by the failure of administrative due process resulting from pre-judgment, render imperative judicial intervention to rectify and prevent further harm and injury."
How can a government Board of Marine Inquiry not be a legal fact-finding body to what is clearly a maritime tragedy?
SLI was reported to have suggested that the government agency MARINA should be conducting the inquiry. What has this sea disaster turned into? Does the shipping firm with the worst track record for sea disasters now have the right to select who ought to investigate it?
Is SLI shopping for a friendly forum? This does not make MARINA look good at all. That SLI prefers a MARINA inquiry would lead many suspicious minds out there to think that there may be something in MARINA that makes SLI comfortable.
As if the lawsuits filed against Pagasa and the BMI are not enough ��' SLI also decided to sue Del Monte, the customer who shipped the Endosulfan that now threatens the environment in Romblon. SLI now faults Del Monte for allegedly not disclosing the danger posed by their shipment.
SLI's biggest mistake has been to assign their lawyers, instead of their Corporate Communications team, to handle the crisis. Legal maneuvers do not necessarily equate to effective damage control.
However, SLI needs not just a good public relations manager to salvage what
remains of its reputation. They seem to need the services of a top psychiatrist. SLI appears to be in an extreme state of denial and paranoia.
They are in denial because they can't recognize and admit their failings in the making of the MV Princess of the Stars sea tragedy and want to blame everybody. Paranoia is when you think everybody is ganging up on you.
With all the signs pointing to SLI bad decisions as main causes for the MV Princess of the Stars sea tragedy, how can the BMI avoid asking the sharp questions to check if these first impressions are indeed factual?
If this case against the BMI ever prospers (trust our justice system to exceed itself in rendering "funny" decisions) � what will stop others from raising a similar impediment to any inquiry that could inconvenience them? No hearing will ever get to first base with a precedent like this.
But has SLI management even considered what the public will perceive out of all this? Do they really think that the public will buy these legal maneuvers hook line and sinker and think that SLI is the least guilty of all parties who are responsible for the Romblon sea disaster? Do they think that all Filipinos are
stupid and are not capable of seeing through this?
Wouldn't Filipinos think that SLI has panicked? Wouldn't you think that SLI could be trying to divert attention from its culpability by pointing at others?
First, SLI sued Pagasa. Then they sued the BMI and Del Monte. Who will SLI sue next? God maybe? After all, that will be consistent with what they claimed � that this sea tragedy is an ACT OF GOD.
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Chair Wrecker e-mail and website: macesposo@yahoo.com and www.chairwrecker.com
20. Populists
FIRST PERSON By Alex Magno
Thursday, July 10, 2008
A couple of bishops recently issued a call for government to review its economic policies in the face of an inflationary surge that is, without doubt, rapidly jacking up the misery index.
That is the sort of call made, one suspects, largely for political effect � much like the many idle statements that emanate from politicians whenever they want to land in the news. The bishops had no specific alternative to offer. Government spokesmen underscored that fact by politely stating that our economic managers were always open to alternative proposals, if there were any.
With inflation climbing to double-digits last month, and with fuel prices climbing upwards with an air of inevitability, it is easy to make claims that the current policy structure is flawed and offer quick-fixes to the situation. With elections on the horizon, it is tempting for politicians to espouse simplistic populist responses to a complex economic challenge.
And so it is that we see a slew of seemingly attractive but ultimately destructive proposals being put on the table once more. Some want the value-added tax on oil withdrawn, a move that would take out P70 billion from the public revenue stream and debilitate government's capacity to intervene on behalf of the poor. The leftists, exploiting an opportunity for mass agitation, want the oil industry nationalized � nothing more than a codeword for subsidizing fuel prices.
Taking out a huge chunk of the public revenue stream and then asking government to subsidize oil prices is a formula for bankruptcy. But that does not seem to bother the morons who are clamoring for both.
All these quick-fixes being peddled at the moment ignore the fact that the inflationary surge we are experiencing is not anything peculiar to our economy. Much less is it the result of the policy package we now have in place. It is a global pandemic driven by oil prices.
At the root of the problem is the supply-and-demand situation for fossil fuels. Current global supply is at 85 million barrels a day. Current demand is at 86 million barrels a day.
Over the past few months, high prices for the commodity has driven down demand in the mature industrialized countries. But it has not stopped the sharp rise in demand in the densely populated, high-growth economies of China, India and Brazil.
The US, even if it is a major oil producer, now imports 70% of the oil it needs. That is the consequence of a long period when oil prices were exceedingly low and it was not economical for the US to increase its own production � nor moderate its huge appetite for the oil by taxing the product more painfully.
Now they are paying the economic price for profligacy and short-sightedness. Their economy is the most vulnerable to a high oil price regime.
The short-sighted US strategy on oil is to coerce other oil producers to jack up production. Saudi Arabia has obliged by increasing its production by nearly a million barrels a day. But the supply is finite.
Ultimately, the world will have to manage the demand side of the oil equation. The development of new energy substitutes for oil is a longer term solution. The only way large-scale demand management could be done in the near-term is through the price mechanism. Higher oil prices is the only cure to energy profligacy.
The European approach to the oil problem is to accept lower growth rates and continue to tax the product heavily. Europe now has the toughest emission standards, the most advanced renewable energy programs and the highest pump prices. There might be outbreaks of protest here and there. But the European governments are determined to tough it out.
There are no quick-fixes to the energy problem. Our economies must be prepared for a long and difficult marathon. Those with the toughest domestic policies will survive. Those that succumb to populist demands will collapse.
The tough European approach to the problem is aided by the fact that their governments are bound together in a tight community. The EU sets the emission standards. The European Central Bank sets the policy rates.
Governments standing by themselves are more vulnerable to rising populist demands. They are less willing to accept the costs of unpopularity that come with doing the right thing.
The bishops, the traditional politicians and the leftist rabble-rousers represent the populist backlash arising from the difficult oil price situation we are dealing with. They will not mention that the Philippines now has the cheapest pump prices in the region. They will not tell us that, despite substantially higher prices at the pumps, our oil consumption has not significantly diminished.
Instead, they will espouse shortsighted measures that will not only gloss over the supply-and-demand roots of the oil problem but aggravate the demand side. Nothing could be more myopic than to insulate consumers from the real-world costs of the commodity by subsidizing pump prices and taking away scarce funds from education and health programs than benefit the poor principally.
In a word, the bishops, the traditional politicians and the leftists are trying to score cheap political points by demanding that wrong-headed policies replace what we already have in place. That will only bring ruin down the road.
Without in any way understating the pain that our public now endures because of the oil price shock, there is no sounder response to this situation than to tough it out. We must not yield to populist pressures, maintain the fiscal discipline we have so far sustained despite the political costs and allow enough time and space for the global economy to sort out the challenges.
There are no quick-fixes unfortunately.
Malaya
Ten days after her American sojourn, Fil-Ams still can't figure out what Gloria Macapagal Arroyo sought to achieve, and whether she achieved anything at all, with her umpteenth trip to the US of A.
Perry Diaz wrote about it in Balita-USA. Let me quote:
***
"Now that the dust has settled and the travelers have gone home, a lot of people are wondering what President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had accomplished during her 10-day visit to the land of milk and honey.
"Let's start with her courtesy call to President George Bush last June 24, 2008. The White House and Malacanang had previously announced the talking points, to wit: "a wide range of issues, including counter terrorism, food security and the situation in Myanmar." Myanmar? How could Gloria help in the situation in
Myanmar when her own people are suffering? Makes me wonder what her priorities are.
22. STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVE - Foolish and dangerousRen� B. Azurin
Wait. Hold your carabaos. Tone down the clamor to "regulate" oil prices. Cool down, please, the rhetoric calling for a scrapping of the oil industry deregulation law. The foolish � and dangerous � notion that government, given the power, can control the prices of oil products might spread. Half of this country's population may not have been around at that time, but is it possible that those who were have forgotten that trying 1973�74 period when we had to line up for gas, often for hours?
The members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines are old enough to remember, so it is disturbing that they have added their voices � and their considerable collective weight � to that of a self-styled "think tank" that says that the fact that "average pump prices of unleaded gasoline and diesel have increased by 47 percent and 52 percent respectively over the past year" means that oil deregulation has failed and it is therefore urgent to impose price controls. Did they consider it insignificant that, over that past year, global prices of the crude oil inputs from which gasoline and diesel are extracted have increased over 100 percent? Is it possible that they are actually suggesting that the action of a local price regulatory board would have held down these pump prices even more, even in the face of a doubling in the worldwide price of oil since June 2007?
It is certainly possible that the bishops and the so-called think tank were much too overcome by a passionate concern for skyrocketing oil prices that they could not think their idea through. It would be useless, I think, to argue with the think tank since their ideological bent has always been obvious and it clouds their economic thinking. But the influential bishops are another matter and they have shown on various crucial national issues that they are open to reason.
They should therefore be advised to temper their understandable passion with some clear thinking. The bishops need to be told that they need to think through the answers to two fundamental questions. The first is, what powers must we citizens concede to government if it is (to attempt) to regulate oil prices? The second is, assuming that the government is granted those powers, can it succeed in holding down the prices of oil products?
Obviously, one essential power that would be required by a government commissioned to control prices would be the power to impose sanctions on violators of its price edicts. Clearly, to make prices that are lower than the market-clearing price stick, these sanctions must be sufficiently harsh. Price controllers throughout history have been aware of this. The Roman emperor
Diocletian � a favorite example of those who've argued against price control � imposed, in the third century A.D., the penalty of death to those who sold their wares for higher than the maximum prices his majesty prescribed. Roman emperors not being known for their softheartedness, these death sentences on black-marketing merchants were vigorously carried out until goods simply disappeared altogether from the marketplace.
In modern times, a favorite case example is that of the French revolutionaries who took power and decreed in 1793 that the "Law of the Maximum" would dictate the prices of grain and other basic commodities. The guillotine having been recently invented then, the new government demonstrated a rather inordinate taste for blood � this was, after all, the infamous "Reign of Terror" � and executed thousands until, similarly, grain and all other goods under price control simply disappeared from the market. Perhaps significantly, the law's author and leader of the Jacobins, Maximilien Robespierre, was executed by guillotine in 1794 by his angry countrymen.
From as far back as ancient Babylon to the Roman Empire and up to the modern era, history is replete with examples of the utter failure of price controls, no matter how harsh the punishments imposed for non-compliance.
Strangely, these historical experiences � there are many others � do not deter supposedly knowledgeable latter-day governments. As a case in point, there is that 1973 Arab oil embargo that pressured the American government as well as ours to impose the price controls that ushered in the long gas lines that dominate memories of that period.
If we agree to grant our government the power to impose price control and sanction violators, we must necessarily also grant it the power to dictate what we produce and how much we consume of certain products (like food). Price controls on any product � particularly a basic input such as oil � cannot be treated in economic isolation. The cost of fuel is linked to the cost of everything.
Hold the price of local fuel down to below its world market price and the supply of it will contract � regardless of how bishops or pseudo-think tanks or politicians may rant and rave � which, take careful note, then necessitates that government then wield the power to ration it. This means that government administrators will have the power to determine which industries will survive and which ones will die, what products will be produced and in what quantities, and what goods would be available for us to consume and what won't.
Personally, these are not powers I am prepared to allow government to have, even if its top leadership were more competent and less self-interested than this one. Aside from the inutility of such powers in realizing the object of holding down oil prices, one does not have to be very imaginative to foresee the corruption that will ensue from increased government power over economic outcomes.
Frankly, barring the cronies and hangers-on who are lucratively exploiting the considerable powers of the present administration, I think every thinking citizen wants this government to have far less power than it already has. Do the bishops truly understand what it is they are lending their voices to? I have no doubt that the present cabal in government, knowing full well the possibilities, is prepared to grant the bishops' their expressed wish. After all, they no longer have to fear the guillotine.
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We all have to link and expand our ranks till the entire country is bound together with the strength and the ardor of our resolve. I do not exaggerate when I say this could be our last chance to save democracy in the Philippines. The darkness thickens and we have to move. - Joaquin "Chino" Roces, 1985