Kahit antok na, naka-isa pah.. (hikab)
Archive for June 7th, 2008
Sketches: Hillary
June 7, 2008GMA Network probes sexual harassment complaint
June 7, 2008MANILA, Philippines–If it was just a “pleasant, casual gesture” by a top executive of a GMA television network subsidiary, then why was the 23-year-old object of his attentions so outraged that she quit her job and sought to have him barred from any other employment in the network or any of its subsidiaries?
In fact, the victim, whose name is being withheld, said that far from a “pleasant, casual gesture,” what she experienced were caresses on her thigh and rear, invitations to join the executive in his room and an unwelcome kiss during a team-building seminar in a San Mateo, Rizal resort.
Last Thursday, a fact-finding committee formed by GMA began hearing the complaint of sexual harassment that the victim filed last April 15 against Scenarios Inc. executive vice-president Jose Antonio K. Veloso; stage and sets manager Ernesto Balleser, the victim’s direct superior; and Arnel Hiloma, the head of the administrative department of Scenarios.
After the complaint was filed, Veloso reportedly resigned as executive vice president of Scenarios. The victim fears, however, that he might be rehired in a different position in other GMA subsidiary companies.
The victim’s lawyer, Evalyn Ursua, questioned the composition of the fact-finding committee.
“The management should not be selecting the members of the committee … It seems they want to hide this incident from the other employees,” she said.
The selection of the committee members should be done by election among the employees and rank-and-file personnel and the supervisors should be the ones to choose their representatives to the committee, not the management, Ursua said.
First case
Asked how the fact-finding committee would resolve the case and if witnesses to the sexual harassment incident would be called before the body, the GMA officials said that they would resolve the case based on affidavits that were submitted.
“Maybe this is the first time that a sexual harassment complaint lodged with the management reached this stage because they do not seem to know how to handle the case,” Ursua said.
The victim said she knows she faces an uphill battle but is pursuing the case because “I do not want this to happen to anybody else. This should not happen to anyone else.”
“He [Veloso] is a serious threat to the welfare and well-being of every female employee of the company and beyond. No female is safe from his abuses. Given his pattern of abusive conduct against females, he deserves to be dismissed from the company and barred from any employment within the GMA Network Inc. and any of its subsidiaries,” she said.
She asked that Balleser and Hiloma be included in the investigation for possible complicity in the offense.
“Given their tolerance of, if not active cooperation in, the commission of Mr. Veloso’s acts, they have contributed to a company culture of disrespect for women and continuing sexual harassment,” she said.
Their word against mine
She said that 90 percent of Scenarios employees, particularly in the stage and sets department, were women, a fact that she finds odd as the job requires lifting heavy objects.
“I know I will be going up against the top management. It is their word against mine …But it is time for him [Veloso] to stop. I have the chance to complain. I will pursue this and see this through,” the victim said.
Veloso could not be reached for comment. He did not respond to several text messages sent to his cellular phone.
Lawyer Dick Perez, vice president for legal affairs of GMA Network Inc., said the company was serious about looking into the sexual harassment complaint.
“This is a big matter for us. We are now investigating the case. We are serious,” he said.
He said the allegedly questionable composition of the fact-finding committee was a matter of perception.
“They [the complainant's side] are going to submit their position and that would be unfair to us if they say we are not taking this seriously…We will resolve this,” the lawyer said.
Perez said that since Veloso has already resigned, “we cannot investigate him because he is no longer under our jurisdiction.” He said Veloso ceased to be connected with GMA and its subsidiary in April when he resigned.
He explained that the investigation was administrative and geared toward disciplining possibly errant employees.
What happened
In her affidavit-complaint, the victim said the sexual harassment occurred at a company team-building seminar at the 9 Waves Resort in San Mateo, Rizal from March 28 and March 29, attended by the management and staff, including Veloso, Balleser and Hiloma.
“From the time we got there until around lunchtime, our executive vice president, Jose Antonio K. Veloso (JAKV) kept approaching me and making small talk, which I did not find peculiar at [the] time,” she said.
Toward the late afternoon, she and some of her officemates went to the resort’s recreation room to play billiards and table tennis. They found Veloso already there playing billiards with one of their officemates.
“It was during this time that he started being a bit touchy [with] me but I did not think much of it since he was like that with women even in our office,” the victim said.
At 10 p.m. on March 28, the victim received a text message from her immediate superior, Balleser, asking for a flash drive that contained the files of an office project. When she went into one of the cottages to get the flash drive, she noted that the company officials had set up a table in front of the cottage and were sitting around it having drinks.
When she emerged from the cottage, she was invited to sit at the table between Balleser and Veloso, purportedly to discuss the project, which she took to be an “implied order.” As soon as she sat down, she was informed that the company would subsidize her tuition for a computer crash course.
However, she noticed that Veloso’s thigh kept brushing against hers, which she promptly moved to avoid. Veloso then allegedly placed his hand on her lap. She moved back her chair and started to rise, excusing herself, but the company officials told her to stay to discuss the project.
“I was afraid of what would happen if I refused. I panicked and I could not think straight. All that I was fully conscious of was that everyone sitting at the table was my superior and every request was an implied order,” the victim said in the affidavit.
Veloso resumed placing his hand on her lap and even held her hand. She said Balleser and Hiloma saw what was happening but did not react even after she looked pleadingly at Balleser for him to help her.
She pulled her hand away from Veloso’s grip, but he placed her hand on his lap, interlocking their fingers and then pinning her hand under his.
‘Inside panties’
“When I started resisting subtly, he [Veloso] suddenly placed his hand on the small of my back and slipped it inside my panties. I grabbed his arm and tried to pull it out. He pulled out his hand and placed it again on my lap. He began humming near my ear, adding to my fear and panic. I froze on the spot,” she said.
She did not manage to get away until midnight when another female employee joined the group. But when the victim passed him, Veloso approached her and whispered, “See me later?”
She went back to her cottage and discussed what happened with her officemates. From their discussions, she felt she had to go back to rescue the other girl.
When Veloso saw her, he asked her to help transfer some unopened beer cans from another table to their table. As she turned to return to their table, Veloso grabbed her by the nape and kissed her on the lips.
‘Sir, no’
“I immediately struggled and bowed my head to get out of his grip. I shook my head and said firmly, ‘Sir, no.’ He tried again, but I kept resisting him. I pushed him back with my left forearm,” until he finally let go.
She said the female employee she was attempting to rescue later told her that she was treated the same way but was too afraid to say or do anything.
She later received a text message from Veloso saying, “Are you all right?” to which she did not respond.
‘Pleasant, casual gesture’
Balleser and Hiloma, in a written response to the sexual harassment complaint, dismissed what they witnessed as “a pleasant, casual gesture.”
In an April 21 letter to Perez, they denied “having any knowledge, full awareness or preconceived notion of such indecent acts that allegedly transpired on the night of March 28, 2008 wherein Ms _____ claimed to have been sexually violated.”
In separate counteraffidavits, Balleser and Hiloma said that at the team-building seminar they saw Veloso and the victim “holding hands comfortably which was in plain view of everybody while talking and smiling” and did not see any malice, ignoring this as “a pleasant casual gesture.”
They also claimed not to have seen any form of resistance or defiance “that could possibly draw our attention to and/or alarm us of any unwelcome sexual transgression, as claimed by Ms ______.”
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My take:
1. I believe that what the complainant has narrated is true.
2. I believe that the Inquirer management censored this story by putting that kind of headline (which I think is not being described by the story’s lead).
3. Yang mga rapist na yan ang dapat na pinapatay ng mga hitman ng militar, hindi ang mga aktibista.
Editorial Cartoon: Parinig
June 7, 2008
Para sa mga binulag.
Reyes, Lagdameo grace Villasiga mini hydropower launching
June 7, 2008
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THERE’S POWER IN BORACAY
June 7, 2008
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Even Negros Occidental gov puzzled by fertilizer subsidy
June 7, 2008THE SOUTHERN BEAT By Rolly Espina
Saturday, June 7, 2008
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Negros Occidental Gov. Isidro Zayco is himself at a loss on the guidelines of the fertilizer subsidies to farmers to help boost rice production and help push down the price of the staple in the province.
Local government units will reportedly identify the small farmers who can avail themselves of the rice subsidy.
The puzzle, according to Zayco, is that Negros Occidental is due to receive a total of P80 million in IRA differentials. But he does not know how the amount will be released.
“Earlier we were told that if we want to get the whole amount at once, it would be less 30 percent or only P56 million. But we would get the entire amount if we agree to avail ourselves of yearly releases over seven years,” Zayco explained.
In short, the Negros executive wants to clarify the source of funds for the LGUs for the rice subsidy program.
The question is, where will the 30 percent deduction of the lump sum go to?
That’s one thing which top government officials must answer. The Department of Agriculture, under the LGU fertilizer program, sets aside P500 from the DA and P1,000 from the LGU for the farmers.
These will be in terms of P250 coupons for each bag of fertilizer the farmers buy, he said.
Lucille Gaveolna said the LGUs will identify the prospective recipients. Some 11,500 small farmers in the province have availed themselves of subsidized fertilized seeds from the DA.
The fertilizer coupons will be released for the wet cropping season from May to October this year.
The LGU counterpart fund, according to Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, is from the P12.5-billion IRA differentials from 2001 to 2004 which the President had ordered released.
Cops have their hands full
The police force of Negros Occidental has its hands full trying to unravel the torching of three delivery trucks of Tanduay Distillery Inc. at the Barcelona Port in Barangay Old Poblacion, Escalante City last Wednesday night.
Initial reports said 30 suspected New People’s Army rebels burned the delivery trucks because of the distillery’s failure to pay revolutionary taxes to the insurgents.
While the police seemed sure that the arsonists were NPA rebels, Col. Honorato de los Reyes, 303rd Infantry Brigade chief, wondered why some of the suspects wore bonnets. This is not the usual trademark of rebels, especially CPP-NPA members.
That threw a monkey’s wrench into the torching incident. If they were not NPA rebels, then the whole thing is a police matter.
Usually rebels do not wear bonnets when they are committing atrocities, Reyes pointed out.
The delivery trucks were reportedly en route to Cebu to transport Tanduay products when they were torched at the port owned by the Barcelona family. Among the owners of the small port is Escalante Vice Mayor May-May Barcelona, although it is managed by a brother.
The raiders, according to the police, mostly came on foot, while others were on board a pumpboat.
Escalante police chief Leonardo Angcon said some of the armed suspects withdrew from the scene on board a pumpboat.
Earlier, suspected rebels also torched two Tanduay delivery trucks in upland areas of Vallehermoso and Guihulngan in Negros Oriental. Two months ago, rebels also burned two transloading stations of the Victorias Milling Co. and Lopez Sugar Corp. in Toboso town, just adjacent to Escalante City.
Again the reason for that was the refusal of both firms to pay revolutionary taxes.
De los Reyes admitted the presence of legal fronts of the CPP-NPA in the coastal areas of Escalante.
The sequence of events tends to confirm suspicions that the group of 30 well-armed raiders must have been NPA members.
The question, however, is whether insurgents or not, the latest incident poses a challenge to both the police and the military to run the armed groups to the ground.
Escalante and its environs in northern Negros Occidental have been rocked by a series of violent incidents that seems to convince people in these areas that the NPA is still around and not yet contained by the military and the police. That presents a climate of uncertainty among the civilian population of the towns of Toboso and Calatrava and Escalante City as well as the upland areas of Sagay City.
But there is another side to the story. The Negros police has been tasked to be on the lookout for the two suspected killers of Ajuy, Iloilo Vice Mayor Ramon Rojas.
A P200,000 reward has been put up by the family and friends of Rojas for the arrest of the suspects who were last reported to have fled to northern Negros. The two guns-for-hire have been identified as Edgar Cordero and Dennis Cartagena.
Rojas was jogging with barangay chairman Ferdinand Nacional when he was gunned down. Nacional survived the ambush.
Iloilo police chief Ricardo de la Paz, who heads Task Force Rojas, was, prior to his new post, the police chief of San Carlos City.
Regional police chief Isagani Cuevas said police are still validating if the killing of Rojas was related to the intense political rivalry in Ajuy.
ADDENDUM: The provincial government, according to Gov. Zayco, is distributing rice to 57,513 day-care children throughout Negros Occidental under the food-for-school hunger mitigation program. Social welfare officer Liane Garcia said 402,591 kilograms of rice are to be given out to children in 25 towns and cities of the province. Kabankalan City tops the list with 51,051 kgs of rice for 7,293 children in day-care centers daily.
NPAs free Davao cop
June 7, 2008By Edith Regalado
Saturday, June 7, 2008
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DAVAO CITY – Suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels released a rookie policeman Thursday night, two days after they seized him and his superior in Boston, Davao Oriental.
The guerrillas, belonging to the Front Committee 20 of the NPA’s Southern Mindanao Regional Command, however, killed the superior of freed PO1 Ruel Balmores, Inspector Jonnel Belenson, police chief of Boston town, for resisting their attempt to take them hostage last Tuesday.
Belenson and Balmores were reportedly on their way to the adjacent town of Baganga on board a motorcycle to testify in an illegal drug case when the rebels accosted them.
Superintendent Jimmy Manabat, Davao Oriental police director, confirmed Balmores’ release in Boston town, saying he is now in the custody of the provincial police.
Manabat said Balmores was brought from Boston to the provincial police headquarters in the capital, Mati City, by GMA-7 reporter John Paul Seniel and his cameraman.
Manabat said Balmores still has to undergo debriefing after his ordeal in the hands of the NPA rebels.
Seniel said Balmores seemed to be in good health when the rebels handed him over to them.
Seniel was reportedly accompanied by a priest and an official of the Association of Barangay Councils of neighboring Cateel town when Balmores was released to them.
Manabat denied reports that at least P300,000 was paid for Balmores’ release.
“We do not pay money in exchange for the release of our policemen,” Manabat said.
Seniel himself told The STAR that no one among those who accompanied him in fetching Balmores would confirm the reported payoff.(PStar)
Villar declares 2010 presidential bid
June 7, 2008Saturday, June 7, 2008
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DAGUPAN CITY – Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. declared here his “99 percent” preparations for the presidential elections in 2010.
According to Villar, president of the Nacionalista Party (NP), their slate is already complete with personalities from the ruling Lakas party complementing their senatorial lineup.
Without mentioning names, Villar said some Lakas stalwarts have applied with the NP seeking to run for the Senate in the 2010 elections.
Villar said the remaining one percent of his political plans for 2010 is reserved in case of a no-election scenario.
“The one percent is reserved on the possibility that no election occurs. What if it does not push through? What if there is no election?” he asked in jest.
Villar assured the public the elections will definitely push through but “you can never tell, someone might enjoy (extending the term of office).”
Villar stressed the NP have long prepared for the 2010 elections but it would be premature to disclose the possible bets.
“Because you can’t say yet who are with you. It’s still too early. For example, you already formed the ticket but there’s always the possibility that it has to be recast,” he said.
According to Villar, they have already 20 candidates in their list.
But Villar said he has not yet chosen who will be his running mate.
He said the door is still open for possible alliances with other political parties regarding the senatorial slate “but not for the (position of) president.” – Eva Visperas(PStar)
Media watchdog condemns Philippine editor’s libel verdict
June 7, 2008Saturday, June 7, 2008
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An international media watchdog slammed the prison sentence of a Philippine newspaper editor found guilty of libeling the president’s former lawyer, saying Friday that the case against her was undemocratic.
The Makati Regional Trial court on Thursday sentenced Niñez Cacho Olivarez, editor and publisher of The Daily Tribune, to two years in prison and ordered her to pay damages to Arthur Villaraza and his law firm for an article alleging he tried to extort money from a building company.
The June 2003 article written by Olivarez was based on a purported recording of Villaraza – formerly President Arroyo’s lawyer – and a German company that won a bid for a new airport terminal.
The law firm argued that the story was baseless and maligned its reputation. Judge Winlove Dumayas found the article “defamatory” and “attended with malice.”
Olivarez called the ruling “an injustice.” Her lawyer, Alexis Mina, said they would appeal, and the court allowed Olivarez to post bail.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists condemned Olivarez’s conviction and expressed hope it would be overturned.
Bob Dietz, Asia coordinator for the group, said in a statement that “it is high time for a democratic country like the Philippines to remove the threat of imprisonment for journalists by decriminalizing libel.”
He noted that Olivarez is a well-known critic of Arroyo administration, which has also filed sedition charges against her and two columnists that are still pending.
The Tribune has frequently reported on alleged government corruption. In February 2006, police raided the newspaper’s offices when Arroyo declared a state of emergency to quell a coup plot.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said earlier that the ruling highlighted “the urgency of decriminalizing and improving our antiquated libel law.”
Media groups say politicians in the Philippines often abuse the 106-year-old libel law to silence critics. Under the law, violators can be fined or sentenced to up to six years in prison. – AP(PStar)
No rains in first half of June – Pagasa
June 7, 2008Saturday, June 7, 2008
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Filipino students could expect rain-free days during the opening of classes next week, the weather bureau said yesterday.
In an advisory, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said the Ilocos region, Central Luzon, southern Tagalog including Metro Manila, and western Visayas might experience a “monsoon break” the first half of this month due to a high pressure area.
“Warm and hot weather condition was experienced during the last week of May, a manifestation of the monsoon break, which is a normal feature during the season,” Pagasa said.
“This was due to the ridge of high pressure area whose axis extended from Luzon to Mindanao. Monsoon break may extend up to the first half of June.”
High-pressure area is associated with plenty of sunlight or good weather.
Nathaniel Cruz, Pagasa weather branch chief, said breaks in the rain events that usually last for several days to weeks might occur during the southwest monsoon season due to the strengthening of the ridge of North Pacific high pressure area.
Last May 15, the weather bureau officially declared the onset of the rainy season in the western section of the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Pagasa said some parts of the country would experience normal rainfall starting this month as the La Niña weather phenomenon continues to weaken.
“Recent climate in the equatorial tropical Pacific is generally neutral as shown by the considerable weakening of the La Niña indicators, although cooler than normal sea surface temperatures still exist in some areas. Overall, the tropical Pacific is warming gradually and the return to neutral conditions can finally be expected this June,” Pagasa said in a statement.
Last month above normal rainfall was experienced in most parts of the Visayas and northern Luzon, particularly the provinces of Pangasinan and Zambales, where torrential rains and strong winds brought destruction to property, agriculture, fisheries and infrastructure reaching P180 million, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council.
The rest of the country, meanwhile, received near normal to below normal rainfall in May, the weather bureau said.
Pagasa said weather systems that are likely to affect the country this month are the southwest monsoon, inter-tropical convergence zone and two typhoons.
Above normal rainfall conditions are expected over the Visayas, Bicol region, western Mindanao and some areas of central and southern Luzon, including Metro Manila, Pagasa said.
The rest of Luzon will likely experience “near normal” rainfall with patches of “below normal” in the northeastern part, Pagasa said. Near normal rainfall are expected in some areas of central and northern Mindanao and below normal will likely occur in the eastern and southern part.
Predicted ranges of temperature for this months are 23 to 35 degrees Celsius in Luzon and 16 to 24 degrees Celsius in its mountainous areas; 24 to 33 degrees Celsius in the Visayas; 22 to 33 degrees Celsius in Mindanao and 19 to 30 degrees Celsius over its mountainous areas.
About 20 typhoons are expected to enter the Philippines this year. So far, five typhoons have entered the Philippine area of responsibility this year. – Helen Flores(PStar)
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My Take: Pustahan tayo. Uulan yan, Uulan!
AFP chief urges soldiers to invest in stock market
June 7, 2008By James Mananghaya
Saturday, June 7, 2008
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In a bid to increase soldiers’ income, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano said he would encourage troops to invest in the stock market.
In an interview, Yano said he welcomes the move of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) to conduct free seminars on stock trading for soldiers to help them come up with alternative sources of income for their families.
“It’s a big help. As you know we soldiers are not that economically well off, so with this assistance to teach us the stock market, hopefully our soldiers – officers and enlisted personnel – can make good investments,” he said.
The AFP top brass said he also wants to attend the seminars to learn how he could have additional source of income, especially after his retirement.
PSE president Francisco Lim earlier said they hope that the seminar would enlighten soldiers on how to keep their savings and have another source of income for their families.
“We all know of course that there are risks involved in investing in the stock market but our aim in holding these seminars is to enlighten the soldiers about alternative investment areas where they can keep their savings and where they can earn potential extra income. Our market education department people are ready to touch base with the AFP in finalizing the schedule and details of these free seminars,” Lim said.
Yano said the free seminars on stock market investment could initially be conducted at the general headquarters and subsequently at the Army, Navy and Air Force headquarters.
An officer with a rank of lieutenant earns a gross pay of P21,000 a month, with P3,000 as allowance.
An ordinary private has a gross monthly income of P13,000, which increases by 10 percent every five years in the service.(PStar)
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My Take: Another scam, this is. Wala na silang ibang magatasan, pati sarili nilang tao pagnanakawan. Hay… maybe its true, corruption will prevnt this government to win the war against the insurgents.
UN World Food Program recommends review of gov’t initiatives for poor
June 7, 2008By Katherine Adraneda
Saturday, June 7, 2008
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The United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP) yesterday recommended a review of programs to assist the so-called poorest of the poor by the Philippine government in the wake of continuing increases in food prices.
UNWFP-Philippines country director and representative Valerie Guarnieri noted the “centralized” distribution of subsidized sales of the P18.25 National Food Authority (NFA) rice in Metro Manila even as food prices increase across the country, affecting mostly the poor in the provinces.
In an interview during her visit to the NFA warehouse on Visayas Avenue, Quezon City where the queue of people buying NFA rice appeared to be getting longer by the hour, Guarnieri stressed that the government must ensure that its food programs reach the widest portion of the poor like those in Mindanao, considered the “most vulnerable” region in the country.
She emphasized that the Philippine government must look into whether or not the subsidized sale of NFA rice is being implemented properly and effectively, and if it is really reaching the “poorest of the poor.”
“We meet regularly with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and National Food Authority regarding the high prices situation,” Guarnieri told reporters.
“Making rice for sale at an affordable price seems to make sense but the subsidized sale (of NFA rice) appears to be only focused in Manila… there seems to be no significant way to expand the program outside Manila.”
“I have not seen this in Mindanao, which is the most hunger-prone area as many communities there are affected by conflicts,” she added.
“And the high prices of food today makes Mindanao more vulnerable.”
UNWFP currently conducts its work in the Mindanao region, notably in conflict areas where massive displacement of communities has led to widespread hunger.
UNWFP was also invited by the Philippine government to Mindanao to assist in the peace process, Guarnieri said.
At the same time, Guarnieri stressed that aside from reviewing the implementation of the subsidized sale of cheap NFA rice, the Philippine government should also evaluate other programs aimed at reducing hunger and poverty, which were implemented by the government even before the rice crisis occured.
Guarnieri was referring to government programs like the food-for-school project and conditional cash transfer scheme, among others, which could be expanded to reach more identified “poor areas” nationwide.
She noted that the two areas most affected by high prices are the urban centers, which are dependent exclusively on the market; and poor districts in the country.
“The government could look into ways on how to increase the income of families, for example. Or expand its food-for-school (program) in order to feed more,” she enumerated.
“It is not enough for (the government to just) announce what it intends to do,” she also said. “We suggest that the government look carefully at the implementation of its activities.”
During her visit to the NFA warehouse, Guarnieri spoke with some first-timers in the line, who claimed they are now compelled to buy the cheap rice because of the fresh round of increases in the price of commodities last week.
The UNWFP observed that people lining up at NFA warehouses to buy cheap rice consist not only of the poor but also the middle-class.
At this point, the UNWFP official recommended that the government begin to formulate a program of action to help other levels of society which are also likely to be affected by the seemingly unflagging increase in food prices.
“The government should look into the possibility of addressing the needs of the next level because they are likely to also suffer because of the continuing high prices (of food)… The government has to have some kind of a gradation support to be able to assist different levels,” Guarnieri said.
Three-pronged approach
Guarnieri said that the UNWFP has offered “three prongs of intervention” to the government, aimed at ensuring adequate food at affordable price to the people.
She said the subsidized sale of NFA rice is a “valid step” that governments around the world adopt in the immediate term, but emphasized that the government should not stop finding ways to permanently address the issue.
The UNWFP official said that in the medium-term, the government must look into ways to increase agricultural productivity, including measures to improve irrigation as well as investment in seed varieties.
In the long-term, Guarnieri said that the government should closely look into policies that were already put in place to ensure the free flow of food in and out of the country.
She noted that the government could assess the import tariffs it imposes on food commodities as well as the role of the NFA in the nation’s food security.
She assured the government that the UNWFP is ready to help in every stage towards the achievement of food security for its people.
“It (the system involved in the subsidized sale of NFA rice) doesn’t seem ideal, but it doesn’t seem bad as well,” Guarnieri said.
She stressed that no matter what programs or actions the government decides to take, “it has to make sure that the poorest of the poor are not left out or excluded.”(PStar)
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My Take: This story strengthened my belief that this “program” is actually politically-motivated, a desperate attempt to deodorize Malacañan-personalities in preparation for the fast-coming presidential elections.
Ombudsman approves filing of charges vs Jocjoc
June 7, 2008By Edu Punay
Saturday, June 7, 2008
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Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez has approved the filing of charges of graft and corruption and illegal use of public funds against former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante and other Department of Agriculture (DA) officials tagged in the P728-million fertilizer scam.
Assistant Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni said Gutierrez has created a panel to conduct a preliminary investigation on Bolante and the other suspects.
“We will start the preliminary investigation on this case (fertilizer scam) very soon,” he said. “We are just finalizing the initial report from the (Field Investigation Office).”
Jalandoni said the Office of the Ombudsman has found ample grounds to pursue investigation on allegations against Bolante and other DA officials supposedly involved in alleged anomalies in the fertilizer project.
The preliminary investigation would determine probable cause on whether the complaint would be sent to the Sandiganbayan for trial, he added.
Violation of Republic Act 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and Article 220 of the Revised Penal Code refer to giving undue injury to any party, including the government, caused by giving any private party any unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions, Jalandoni said.
Also recommended for indictment were Agriculture Undersecretary Belinda Gonzales and Assistant Secretaries Jose Felix Montes, Edmund Sana and Ibarra Poliquit.
The case arose from alleged anomalies in the distribution of the government’s P728-million fertilizer fund through the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) program before the national elections in 2004.
The project was also supposedly overpriced by at least P127 million.
Bolante fled to the US in 2005 at the height of a Senate investigation into the fertilizer scam.
However, his asylum bid was denied twice by a Chicago Immigration Court in a ruling dated Feb. 9, 2007 and a Board of Immigration Appeals decision, dated June 25, 2007.
Bolante prosecution doubted
The President of the Anti-Graft League of the Philippines doubted yesterday the prosecution of Bolante because of his close ties to Malacañang.
Crispin Reyes, Anti-Graft League president, said the case would test the independence of the Office of the Ombudsman to pursue the recommendation of its field investigation to charge Bolante in court.
“The Ombudsman is faced with the dilemma, it’s a choice (between) her survival or the rule of law,” he said.
Reyes warned that any inaction of the Ombudsman on the case of Bolante would add to the unresolved anomalies and scandals in government.
“More suffering and abuses will trigger social unrest, even a revolution,” he said. – With Perseus Echeminada(PStar)
GSIS hits back at MBC
June 7, 2008By Michael Punongbayan
Saturday, June 7, 2008
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The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) called on the Makati Business Club (MBC) yesterday to stop “parroting” the Lopez line that the government is out to take control of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).
Estrella Elamparo, GSIS chief legal counsel and spokeswoman, said the MBC should be objective and impartial in looking at allegations of mismanagement in the Lopez-controlled power firm.
“In fact, the MBC should be speaking against the excesses being committed by the Lopezes in Meralco,” she said.
“These excesses, like charging consumers Meralco’s own electric consumption and P30 billion of its income tax from 1994 to 2002, are what’s driving up the cost of power.”
Elamparo said while Meralco shareholders are not getting returns from their investment, other Lopez companies dealing with Meralco had been posting record-setting incomes.
“A case in point is the Lopez-owned IPP Sta. Rita, which Meralco paid P13 billion in a 12-month period from 2000 to 2001 for delivering just over P3-billion worth of electricity,” she said.
“The MBC should not be seen by the public as coddling the Lopezes, under which Meralco did not declare dividends for its shareholders from 1990 to 1997.”
Elamparo said the GSIS and other government financial institutions, which hold shareholdings of about 33 percent in Meralco, are campaigning to bring back good corporate governance and transparency to bring down power rates.
One reason why foreign investors think twice before putting money in the Philippines is that it has the second most expensive electricity rate in Asia, next only to Japan.
“The MBC knows fully well that their members’ cost of production increases due to the high cost of electricity, reducing the competitiveness of their products in the world market,” she said.
Elamparo said while consumers pay for power that Sta. Rita did not provide, the Lopez IPP was able to more than double its P8-billion capitalization in less than two years.
“Likewise, the global downward trend in stocks is also contributing to the downswing in the value of Meralco shares,” she said.
Elamparo said the GSIS is not out to take over Meralco, but only wants to have a professional team to run the company.
“Meralco will become attractive anew to investors when it is freed from the stranglehold of the Lopezes,” she said.
“This is because Meralco will be better managed and will be fully accountable based on international good corporate practices.”
Salonga defends Lopezes
Former Senate president Jovito Salonga defended yesterday the Lopezes from allegations that they were responsible for Meralco’s high electricity rates.
In a statement, Salonga said as legal adviser of President Diosdado Macapagal, he helped draft the congratulatory letter to Eugenio Lopez Sr. after his group acquired Meralco from its American owners, General Public Utilities in 1962.
“They are a family of nationalistic entrepreneurs, best known for their investments in public service companies such as power, telecommunications and tollways,” he said.
“But because these businesses are heavily regulated, the Lopezes are vulnerable to public scrutiny, and even severe criticism, from time to time. They have also been victims of repression.
“As a consumer of electricity myself, I would like to see lower electricity rates despite the global phenomenon of skyrocketing oil prices. This will be good for the economy. How to reduce it remains to be the bone of contention.”
Salonga said Meralco, being a publicly listed company, is regularly subjected to internal and external audits.
“I also understand the Lopez family is philanthropic and is very much into corporate social responsibility,” he said.
“It gives back to society part of what it earns from its public businesses, for example, in education, arts and culture, the environment, poor communities, disaster victims and even abused children.
“In light of these, I find it difficult to fathom the accusations leveled against Meralco and the Lopez family given the low credibility of some of its critics.”
Salonga said it was unfair for Meralco to receive the brunt of the blame for high electricity rates when the state-owned National Power Corp. had also been inefficient.
“I await government’s response to questions regarding Napocor’s buying practices and production inefficiency that, in sum, result in higher generation charges than Meralco’s independent power producers,” he said.
“Also, I want to hear from the government about the steps it has taken to address the issue concerning royalties and taxes it imposes on indigenous sources of energy like natural gas that renders such unnecessarily expensive.
“I believe Meralco is in no position to misrepresent its actuations because its books and operations are open to scrutiny.
“I understand that it is not only regulated by the ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission) but also by the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue), COA (Commission on Audit), SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and the PSE (Philippine Stock Exchange).” –With Iris Gonzales, Aurea Calica(PStar)
GMA signs Cheaper Medicine Law
June 7, 2008By Marvin Sy
Saturday, June 7, 2008
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The long wait is over.
Filipinos can now expect more low-cost medicine in the market with the signing into law of the Universally Accessible, Cheaper and Quality Medicine Act of 2008.
The signing ceremony for Republic Act 9052 was held yesterday at the Laguna Provincial Hospital in Sta. Cruz, Laguna with the principal authors of the bill in the House of Representatives and the Senate joining President Arroyo.
Mrs. Arroyo said the existing generics law is an important piece of legislation that aims to bring down the cost of medicine in the country but it is “incomplete.”
“Now with the cheaper and quality medicine law, we have completed, I believe, our legislative reforms in bringing
affordable medicine to the people,” the President said.
RA 9052 allows the conduct of parallel importation of patented medicine from other countries where the prices are significantly lower than the prevailing price in the Philippines.
The government, through the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC), has been conducting parallel importation of medicine from countries such as Pakistan and India, selling these at state-run pharmacies aimed at the poor communities.
However, the PITC has faced strong resistance from the multinational pharmaceutical firms.
Sen. Manuel Roxas II, principal author of the bill in the Senate, said the PITC can now continue with its parallel importation with the signing of the new law.
Roxas said the PITC can now include more brands and types of medicine in its list of imports and it can also import higher volumes.
Apart from the PITC, Roxas said that even private groups or organizations can now import medicine directly from other countries provided that they register themselves with the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD).
Under the law, the BFAD plays an important role as it is the agency tasked to ensure that all of the imported medicine is of high quality.
The law strengthens the BFAD by allowing it to retain its revenues for the upgrading of its facilities, equipment and human resources.
Roxas explained that by directly importing the medicine, the private entities would be able to save more since they no longer have to go through any middlemen.
The new law also provides for the use of the “early working principle” which allows local generic medicine manufacturers to test, produce and register their generic versions of patented drugs so that these could be sold immediately upon the expiration of the patents.
In order to prevent the owners of patented drugs from extending the term of their patents by declaring newly discovered uses for the components of their medicine, the law now prohibits the grant of new patents using this provision.
The law also allows the government to use patented drugs when the interest of the public is at stake.
Upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Health, the President has the power to impose price ceilings on various drugs, including those that are used for chronic illnesses, for the prevention of diseases and those in the Philippine National Drug Formulary Essential Drug list.
Drug outlets or pharmacies are now required to carry a variety of brands, including those brought in through parallel importation, in order to provide consumers with more choices.
The Generics Act was amended so that all generic drugs would now carry a label that has the statement of the BFAD about the therapeutic efficacy of the drug.
The Pharmacy Law was also amended to allow supermarkets, convenience stores and other retail establishments to sell over-the-counter medicine.
A congressional oversight committee would be created to monitor the implementation of the new law.
The Department of Health has been tasked to formulate the implementing rules and regulations for the new law within 120 days of its signing.
“We will not allow anything, not even a comma in the IRR, that would dilute the efficacy of this law. We will continue the fight, we will continue to monitor the implementation of the law in order to ensure that our people would have access to quality affordable medicine,” Roxas said.
“This new law will bring about competition. The prices of medicine will go down because of the increase in competition in the country,” Roxas said.
Healthier Philippines
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III yesterday gave assurances of a “healthier” Philippines as more Filipinos could now afford treatment for both common and potentially fatal diseases.
Duque said the DOH is set to launch very affordable treatment packs for common diseases and put 15,000 Botika ng Barangay (BnB) nationwide by 2010.
“DOH would make available treatment packs for common diseases at maximum prices of P100 for a one- to two-week treatment course,” Duque said.
The health chief explained that the country spends a total of P200 billion for health, half of which is spent on drugs and medicine.
“Since the cost of medicine in the country has been consistently and continuously prohibitive, the poor have limited access to these essential goods, bringing a perpetual cycle of impoverishment, deaths and diseases,” he pointed out.
“This law breathes new hope and life to all of us and gives a chance to the government to prove that health comes first before business interests,” Duque said.
Even labor unions are getting ready to import and sell medicine directly to workers with the new law.
Leaders of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, Federation of Free Workers, Alliance of Progressive Labor and others met with the representative of the PITC and Roxas recently to discuss how their groups could distribute medicine to their members and ensure that they would benefit from the lowering of prices of medicine.
TUCP secretary-general and former senator Ernesto Herrera said they had been waiting for this kind of measure for the sake of the laborers.
He expressed appreciation for the preparatory meetings with the PITC so that they could start immediately the importation of cheap medicine.
Herrera said laborers need maintenance medicine that are costly at present.
‘Fight not yet over’
The principal sponsor of the Cheaper Medicine Bill in the House, meantime, said the fight for low-cost drugs is not yet over.
“Proper implementation is the key to the measure’s promise of bringing down the prices of medicine,” said Palawan Rep. Antonio Alvarez, trade and commerce committee chairman.
“The next battleground for the law is in the drafting of its implementing rules and regulations (IRRs), where interest groups are expected to lobby for an interpretation of the provisions that will serve them,” Alvarez said.
“But the law cannot be tweaked or twisted because a House-Senate oversight committee that the law created will be looking over the shoulders of the agencies that will issue the IRRs,” he said.
An inter-agency panel composed of the DOH, Department of Trade and Industry, Intellectual Property Office, and BFAD will issue the implementing rules.
Alvarez said in addition to the rules, administrative measures are needed, including the strengthening of BFAD’s technical and manpower capabilities so it can properly evaluate pharmaceutical preparations. – With Mayen Jaymalin, Aurea Calica, Jess Diaz(PStar)
Congress won’t give GMA ‘crisis’ powers
June 7, 2008By Aurea Calica and Delon Porcalla
Saturday, June 7, 2008
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Congress is not keen on granting emergency powers to President Arroyo to address the emerging food and energy crisis.
Senate President Manuel Villar said Mrs. Arroyo would be able to address the situation without special powers granted by Congress.
Villar said the Chief Executive is inherently equipped with enough powers to ensure the public’s welfare in the face of the upward spiral of prices of basic commodities.
“The President is armed with sufficient powers to help alleviate the lives of the poor, while we in the Senate are willing to cooperate with the executive,” Villar said.
Speaker Prospero Nograles said the government could weather the impending food and energy crisis even without the President using her powers to address the situation.
“Our government is in full control and we have good economic fundamentals in place. We will weather the economic storm. Think positive,” Nograles said.
The two leaders of Congress were reacting to Malacañang’s announcement that Mrs. Arroyo has signed an executive order laying the groundwork for exercising her emergency powers under the Constitution in the event of a food and energy crisis in the country.
Mrs. Arroyo signed on June 2 Executive Order 728 which would enable her to exercise emergency powers under the National Food and Emergency Council (NFEC).
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, the President’s economic adviser, justified the executive order by saying Mrs. Arroyo might be forced to take preemptive measures to prevent a full-blown crisis.
Salceda maintained the President is entitled under the Constitution to make the “preemptive strike.”
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye and Deputy Presidential Spokeswoman Lorelei Fajardo, in separate statements, defended the President’s move to create the NFEC.
“The President is quick to recognize the impending problems and as such has the foresight to create the Council to deal with the situation,” Fajardo said. “Action and governance and not politics are the reason for the Council’s creation.”
Bunye said the NFEC would make a five-year projection on the prices of food commodities and energy sources.
While the provision on emergency powers was inserted into EO 728, Bunye explained the matter has “to be deliberated upon depending on the situation at a particular time, recommendation will be made to the President and to Congress.”
“The Council (NFEC) shall advice the President and Congress if emergency powers are required. We will have to await advice of the Council,” Bunye said.
While the Constitution mandates the President to seek the concurrence of Congress in exercising emergency powers in relation to national security, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol explained the Constitution is silent when it comes to emergency powers of the President on economic matters.
Salceda, on the other hand, urged Mrs. Arroyo to implement stronger steps to prevent a full-blown food and oil crisis.
Salceda, howeve,r said he would prefer to give his recommendations first to the President before publicly disclosing it.
When asked to describe a possible scenario in which the President would exercise her emergency powers, Salceda said the government could take over rice warehouses and power firms.
He said government could control the distribution of rice and fuel and later compensate the private sector.
“The problem is we haven’t seen this before so it’s hard to speculate,” Salceda said.
Wrong signal
Villar, however, said Malacañang should take the initiative to talk to Congress on what measures are needed without resorting to emergency powers.
He said granting emergency powers to the President in times like this “is not good for a democracy.”
Senators Manuel Roxas II, Pia Cayetano, Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Juan Miguel Zubiri said the use of emergency powers would send the wrong signal to the international community.
Roxas said Mrs. Arroyo has over P1.2-trillion budget and the power to implement laws like the Price Control Act in case of calamities.
Roxas said the situation would not call for a takeover of certain public utilities, which forms part of emergency powers.
Cayetano, for her part, said Mrs. Arroyo “has all the powers at her disposal to investigate and prosecute unscrupulous traders, dismantle food cartels and shield consumers from overpricing and other forms of abuse.”
“The rice crisis caught this administration flat-footed, not because it lacked emergency powers but due to its failure to implement a long-term rice sufficiency program,” she pointed out.
Cayetano cited the failure of the Energy Regulatory Commission to curb abusive practices of power generators and distributors as one of the reasons why the country has one of the highest electricity rates in Asia.
Santiago, on the other hand, said the economic crisis is a global problem.
“(This crisis) is out of our hands, it is being caused by the higher price of oil and by the international food shortage,” Santiago said.
“There is nothing we can do. We are not an isolated island where all of these things are just happening to us,” she said.
Santiago though agreed President Arroyo may exercise her emergency powers which is allowed under the Constitution.
“She (the President) should adhere strictly to the conditions of the Constitution and the Senate will be the first to protest if she does it prematurely,” Santiago said.
Zubiri, for his part, said granting emergency powers to the President is not justified under the present situation, unlike in other countries where there is massive breakdown of law and order as manifested in food riots.
Zubiri said it would send a wrong signal to the international community even as the government still has other options available to control the situation.
Other options
Congressmen led by Nograles called on Malacañang to discuss other options available, short of exercising emergency powers, to prevent the impending food and energy crunch.
“The President won’t need emergency powers as long as we all work together to defeat any possibility that the situation will escalate into a crisis situation,” Nograles emphasized, saying that various subsidy programs of the government that are being carried out will keep the economy afloat.
“(These programs are) positive actions that would cushion the impact of the global economic situation,” he said.
Nograles said subsidies the government has been extending to the poorest of the poor should be expanded to include the middle class and lower middle class, since they constitute the biggest bulk of diligent taxpayers.
“We also have to protect the middle class and the lower middle class. The country’s survival is largely dependent on their contributions to our economy,” he said.
Nograles proposed the government’s P2-billion power subsidy for residential users with a monthly consumption of 100 kilowatt-hours should be expanded to P6.5 billion to cover middle and lower middle class power users with 500 kWh consumption per month.
Opposition Rep. Roilo Golez, for his part, expressed support for President Arroyo’s exercise of emergency powers.
He said the President must declare in two separate issuances that the nation is facing a food crisis and an energy supply and pricing problem.
“The period of emergency must be limited, at most six months, to enable government to acquire necessary equipment, materials and supplies, and complete the bids and awards process,” he said.
His third condition: the administration and implementation of the emergency program must be handled by “capable hands.”
Golez, a former Navy officer and national security adviser to Mrs. Arroyo, questioned the capability of Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes to carry out such program.
“There is bipartisan doubt (in Congress) on whether the incumbent energy secretary is capable to run his department in normal times, more so during an emergency. He appears to be part of the problem,” he said.
Former President Joseph Estrada, meanwhile, said the emergency powers being cooked by Malacañang for Mrs. Arroyo is merely a “band-aid” solution to the food and oil crises.
Estrada said the Arroyo administration must do away with stopgap solutions to the country’s problems.
“The people are now hungry. What they wanted is that the people are hungry and fearful as well. An emergency power for the president is just a band-aid solution. What this administration should do is to improve rice production,” Estrada said. –With Paolo Romero, Jess Diaz, Jose Rodel Clapano(PStar)
4 bank rob witnesses seek police protection
June 7, 2008By Ed Amoroso
Saturday, June 7, 2008
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CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna – Police have taken in their custody four witnesses in the RCBC bank robbery and massacre in Cabuyao, Laguna last May 16 after they expressed fear for their lives, Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas, Laguna provincial director, said yesterday.
Rojas said the witnesses sought police protection after they received death threats from unknown persons.
Three of the witnesses were placed in the custody of the Laguna police, and the fourth, under the RCBC Task Force, Rojas said.
He said they have requested the Department of Justice to place the four witnesses under the government’s witness protection program, “but until now, we are still waiting for the result.”
One of the witnesses recounted seeing two armed men on board an unlicensed motorcycle roaming around his neighborhood in Barangay Turbina, Calamba City.
“I’m not interested in the P2-million reward if my family will be in danger. I just want to have a peaceful life,” the witness told The STAR.
“Sometimes I’m thinking of not testifying once the court hearing starts because my life is in danger,” he said.
Meanwhile, despite the claim of neighbors of former soldier Ricardo Gomolon that he was not involved in the RCBC robbery, the Philippine National Police is not likely to exclude him from the case.
PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome said Gomolon can use the statements of his neighbors in defending himself from the robbery with multiple homicide charges filed against him with the Laguna prosecutor’s office.
“We will consider (the statements of Gomolon’s neighbors); these will form part of the investigation. The defense of Gomolon will also be considered,” he said.
Bartolome, however, denied allegations that police have made shortcuts in their investigation and arrested innocent individuals to satisfy public clamor for the arrest of the perpetrators of the bloody bank heist.
“We don’t resort to shortcuts in solving crimes… evidence, testimonies will be properly considered,” he said. “The police would rather have one guilty person out on the street than have an innocent person put in jail.”
“Our investigators have their own way of determining who will be included in the charges… If ever there are some personalities who vouched for Gomolon, he can use it in his defense,” he added.
More than five friends and neighbors of Gomolon have reportedly claimed to have seen him on the morning of May 16, when the robbery took place.
Police said Gomolon was riding on a bicycle when a police asset saw him with a gun – a caliber .38 revolver – bulging from his waist. Responding lawmen promptly arrested him.
But Gomolon’s friends claimed that the former soldier was nabbed in his home without a warrant of arrest. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe(PStar)
