Political activists celebrate Arroyo's departure from Malakanyang

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and other political groups celebrate the departure of Philippine leader Gloria Arroyo who stepped down on Wednesday, June 30, 2010. President Benigno Simeon Aquino III formally assumes as the new Filipino leader. Political activists urge Aquino to hold the former president accountable for all her alleged anomalies and scandals that rocked her government during her 9 years in office. (Photo by Karlos Manlupig)

GABRIELA: Free political prisoners, jail Arroyo

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 28, 2010) - A Filipino women's group called GABRIELA urged President-elect Benigno Simeon Aquino III to free all political prisoners and prosecute outgoing leader Gloria Arroyo for her alleged crimes.

Activists trooped to Aquino's residence in Quezon City where they presented their demands.

“Aquino used as his campaign platform the promise that he will go after Arroyo and her minions, that justice will not be compromised and it will be served to the people. We take him to task on that promise, and like the rest of the country we expect no less from him,” said Joms Salvador, the group's Deputy Secretary-General.

GABRIELA cited that there are 61 women out of the 344 political prisoners under the Arroyo administration. “These women political prisoners suffered from the hands of their captors and many of them were sexually abused. They are also in a most detrimental condition where they are continually made vulnerable to all forms of harassment, be these sexual, physical or emotional,” Salvador said.

Recently, Myrna Abraham, a teacher by profession, was abducted allegedly by state agents and is now incarcerated in a jail in Tuguegarao town in Cagayan Valley in northern Philippines.

Like fellow political prisoner Angie Ipong held by the police in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur in Mindanao, Abraham, including other women held in various jails, face numerous charges the state fabricated against her, GABRIELA said.

“For opposing and actively criticizing Arroyo’s anti-people policies and politics, these dissenters were trumped up with charges fit for common criminals. Political prisoners are Arroyo’s victims,” Salvador said.

“If Aquino would be truthful to his promise of leading the people to ‘daang matuwid’, he should jail the culprit and free the innocents. He should work for Arroyo’s imprisonment and free women and all political prisoners,” Salvador added.

GABRIELA also went on to tell Aquino that if there is one legacy of her mother and the late president Corazon Aquino that he ought to follow, it is the granting of freedom for all political prisoners.

“Martial law robbed the people of their democratic rights and granting freedom to political prisoners was the late president’s gesture of restoring them. Arroyo’s regime is no different with its bloody record of victimizing the people, so it is only imperative that Aquino do the restoration as well,” Salvador said.

Angry President wants Misuari’s bail revoked

Nur Misuari. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Arroyo has ordered the Justice Department to study the revocation of the bail of Nur Misuari, founding chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front, and order his re-arrest on rebellion charges, an official said Wednesday.

Misuari’s letter to the Organization of Islamic Conference critical of the government could be considered a violation of his 2008 bail order, Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza said.

Misuari criticized the Arroyo administration for its alleged failure to fully implement the peace agreement that the MNLF signed with it in 1996, and a source said it made Mrs. Arroyo very angry on Tuesday.

The OIC is hosting a tripartite meeting in Libya, ahead of the June 30 change of administration in the Philippines, to preserve the gains of the peace agreement between Manila and the MNLF.

“The President has instructed the Department of Justice to study the possible revocation of Misuari’s bail,” Mendoza said.

“The recommendation of the National Security Council-Cabinet cluster is to sanction Misuari.”

Mendoza was the chief of the National Police when Malaysia turned over Misuari to Philippine authorities in 2002. He fled to Malaysia in 2001 after allegedly leading an attack on government troops in Sulu, where some 100 people were killed. He was later charged with rebellion.

Misuari’s bail order bars him from engaging in any political activity, or from participating in any action “inimical to the Philippine government” while in a foreign territory.

“He is in Libya now, and he is badmouthing the country,” Mendoza said.

An official described Misuari’s move as “treacherous,” because he handed his letter in Tripoli just as he was about to sign a deal with the Philippine government for the continued implementation of the 1996 peace agreement.

Still, both sides signed the deal and agreed to work on legislative measures to enhance the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the MNLF’s homeland. (Joyce P. Pañares - Manila Standard Today)


Link: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=2010/april/22/news4.isx&d=2010/april/22

Philippine leader to seek seat in Congress

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / November 30, 2009) – Filipino leader Gloria Arroyo announced Monday that she will run for Congress in the May 2010 national elections.

Arroyo, who was accused of fraud in previous elections, said she would like to continue to work in public service despite massive opposition from different civil society groups and the Catholic Church.

Arroyo's supporters from her hometown in Pampanga, where his son is also a congressman, assured her victory in next year's polls.

She said the people wanted her to continue serving in Congress, but opposition politicians claimed if Arroyo wins, she and her allies in the House of Representatives would pursue in changing the Constitution with her ending up elected as Prime Minister and avoid possible prosecution for graft and corruption.

Many Filipinos do not want Arroyo to continue because of corruption scandals in her government involving her husband and two sons and a brother-in-law in Congress. Arroyo denied all accusations against her. (Mindanao Examiner)

House Speaker denies claims that President used up P800M fund for foreign trips

MANILA, Philippines - House Speaker Prospero Nograles said Representative Teofisto Guingona III may have exaggerated when he claimed there was a report by the Commission on Audit submitted to his office on which he based his allegation that President Gloria Arroyo used up the government’s P800-million contingency fund for her foreign trips.

Nograles said that while he holds great respect for Guingona, he may have exaggerated his claim on an alleged COA report submitted to his office and may have twisted some information when he and other select members of the House of Representatives were briefed by COA.

“There was never any such report. I have not received any such report and I think the same is true with other members of the House. We have not received any official communication from the COA to that effect - not even in the COA briefing that was supposed to be given only for select House leaders, where Representative Guingona sat,” Nograles said.

“Even the COA presentors were caught unaware about such a supposed COA report. He may have blown out of proportion his extrapolations based on limited information,” he added.

Nograles said the presentation of Assistant Commissioner Carmela Perez did not specify anything about the President's travels although it included the issue on allotments that exceeded appropriations for some Special Purpose Funds (SPF) of which Contingent Fund was one of the items.

In terms of the total travel expenses supposedly amounting to P2.7 billion as claimed by Guingona, Nograles said the research done by his staff may have included all agencies under the Office of the President.

“This is very different from attributing all of the travel expenses to the President herself,” Nograles said.

“Over 3 dozen agencies report to the Office of the President, which require also foreign travels in the course of their work. Their expenses may have been inadvertently attributed by the research staff of Rep. Guingona to the person of the President,” he added.

Arroyo visits wounded troops; condoles with families of slain soldiers in Mindanao

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo condoles Saturday, August 15, 2009 with the family of one of 23 soldiers slain in fierce clashes with the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants and Moro rebels in Basilan province. Arroyo also held a closed door command conference with senior military and defense officials at the tightly guarded Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, who was with Arroyo, said the President has ordered the military to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf, blamed for the spate of terrorism and kidnappings in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 15, 2009) –President Gloria Arroyo arrived in Zamboanga City on Saturday and condoled with the families of soldiers killed in fierce clashes with Abu Sayyaf militants and Moro rebels in the southern province of Basilan.

Arroyo, accompanied by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Armed Forces chief General Victor Ibrado, also visited wounded soldiers at a military hospital at the Western Mindanao Command headquarters where she handed cash assistance

She spoke with the families of the slain soldiers and awarded posthumous medals and money worth more than seven million pesos. Arroyo later presided over a command conference with senior military and police commanders.

Teodoro said the President ordered the military to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf, blamed for the spate of terrorism and kidnappings-for-ransom in the southern Philippines.

“The President’s order is to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf,” the Defense Secretary told reporters.

Troops on Wednesday stormed an Abu Sayyaf camp in the village of Silangkum in Basilan’s Ungkaya Pukan town, but security forces also clashed with Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in the neighboring village of Baguindan.

The MILF said soldiers attacked its forces without provocation, an accusation denied by the military. The MILF is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for self-determination in the South. The fighting killed 23 soldiers and 20 militants and rebels. (Mindanao Examiner)

Arroyo entourage also had $15,000 meal in D.C. - Report

MANILA - Three days before allegedly spending $20,000 for a dinner in a Manhattan restaurant, President Arroyo and her entourage also reportedly spent another $15,000 for dinner at Bobby Van's Steakhouse on 15th Street, Washington DC, a major US daily reported Wednesday.

A report titled "Heartburn Over Two Big Meals" in the Washington Post's Reliable Source column said Mrs. Arroyo and an entourage of about 65 people, including security and food tasters, had dinner at Bobby Van's Steakhouse on 15th Street NW hours after her July 30 meeting with US President Barack Obama.

"The group took over one of the restaurant's private rooms and dined on lobster, steak and fine wines; at the conclusion of the meal, an unidentified woman opened a handbag stuffed with cash, counted out bills and paid the $15,000 tab -- which included a generous tip," the column read.

"The Philippine Embassy did not return calls for comment Tuesday," it added.

The bill of $15,000 roughly translates to about P720,899,000 based on latest foreign exchange rates.

Steaks at the popular restaurant are priced anywhere from $38 (P1,830) to $42 (P2,023), according to the Bobby Van's Steakhouse website. Half bottles of red and white wine at the restaurant are priced between $18 (P867) to $60 (P2,890) while the most expensive bottle on the winelist, a Louis Roederer Cristal Reims, is priced at $575 (P27,697).

Arroyo's expensive dinner in Washington is the second to be reported by the US media recently. Last week, the New York Post reported that Arroyo and her entourage dined at Manhattan's Le Cirque on August 2, with the dinner bill amounting to $20,000 or almost P1 million.

Malacañang spokesmen have denied that public funds were used to pay for the dinner. They said it was Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez who paid the bill. Romualdez is the nephew of former First Lady Imelda Marcos.

Akbayan party-list Rep. Walden Bello on Wednesday urged the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate President Arroyo for violating Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

Bello cited Section 4(h) of the law which states that “public officials shall lead modest lives appropriate to their positions and income,” and that “they shall not engage in extravagant or ostentatious displays of wealth."

He added that if Romualdez paid for the dinner, then both Arroyo and Romualdez could be charged with bribery.(Link: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/08/12/09/report-arroyo-entourage-also-had-15000-meal-dc)



Heartburn Over Two Big Meals: The Washington Post

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's visit to the White House on July 30 didn't draw much attention, and her dinner in Washington that night got nary a mention. And that's how it might have stayed -- if not for a controversial meal in New York City.

Arroyo is under fire in her native country for a $20,000 meal at Manhattan's Le Cirque on Aug. 2, which included caviar and several bottles of champagne. The dinner, first reported in the New York Post, has Arroyo's critics comparing her to the extravagant Imelda Marcos.

The Reliable Source has learned that three days earlier, Arroyo and an entourage of about 65 people (including security and food tasters) had dinner at Bobby Van's Steakhouse on 15th Street NW hours after she met with President Obama. The group took over one of the restaurant's private rooms and dined on lobster, steak and fine wines; at the conclusion of the meal, an unidentified woman opened a handbag stuffed with cash, counted out bills and paid the $15,000 tab -- which included a generous tip.

The Philippine Embassy did not return calls for comment Tuesday.


Link: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2009/08/rs-dinner12.html

Gloria’s mysterious millions: Stacks of stocks, sparse data

The lawyers and spokesperson of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo have spoken, in many words saying that the 114-percent surge in her declared net worth from 2000 to 2008 could be explained.

At a press conference Monday, her lawyer Romulo Macalintal said the ongoing PCIJ report – whose part 1 was released earlier that day -- was “speculative and judgmental." He added that PCIJ must come up with proof to support its “most unfair and uncalled for" findings on Arroyo’s wealth.

Lawyer Ruy Rondain, who also serves as counsel to First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, seconded: “My feeling is that if the PCIJ has any evidence, it would be better if they bring it out because the report is just full of insinuations."

Indeed, there are more details that the PCIJ has uncovered, and which Arroyo’s lawyers themselves may well want to look at. Contained in various documents obtained from the Office of the Ombudsman, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Register of Deeds of local government units, and other relevant public agencies, these details raise more questions that even Makalintal and Rondain may not be able to answer.

For instance, in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) she filed in 2008, President Arroyo had declared ownership of only six real estate properties, with total book or acquisition value of a measly P5.7 million.

These include a “gift purchased" residential lot in Antipolo, Rizal; a house and lot in Baguio City; raw land in Coron, Palawan; a fishpond in Malolos, Bulacan; an agricultural lot in Nasugbu, Batangas; and a commercial lot in Tayabas, Quezon.

Until recently, the First Couple had owned a three-hectare agricultural lot in San Rafael, Bulacan that, according to then Senator Arroyo’s 1995 SALN, they acquired for P1.2 million. They sold it for P42 million on Dec. 23, 2008.

It was to be the only real estate property that the Arroyos liquidated to account for a significant cash inflow. Cash might have come in from the sale of three other real properties they owned -- a residential lot in Las Pinas, an island in Cagayan, and a condominium in Makati City – but these were sold in 1994 and 1999, or before Arroyo became president.

No La Vista, no Forbes

Curiously, over the last 17 years or from 1992 when she first served as senator, Arroyo had not once declared two prime real estate properties that her own Cabinet officials believe she owns or has interests in: her house on No. 14 Badjao Street in posh La Vista Subdivision in Quezon City, and her parents’ house on No. 92 Cambridge Circle, North Forbes Park in Makati City.

By August 8, 2008, official records show that ownership of 10 house-and-lot properties of the Arroyo clan in La Vista had been transferred in the name of La Vista Holdings and Investments, Inc., from another company whose registration the SEC had revoked in August 2003.

La Vista Investments and Holdings is the only company that Arroyo listed in her 2008 SALN in which she and her husband have “business interest and/or financial connections." The First Gentleman, President Arroyo said, is a shareholder of La Vista Investments.

Raul Gonzalez, chief legal counsel today and for five years justice secretary of Arroyo, recalls attending meetings at the North Forbes house until two years ago.

Karina Constantino David, Civil Service Commission chairperson until 2007, says she knows that the house on Badjao Street is clustered among several houses that all belong to the Arroyos and their children and immediate relatives.

In their separate SALNs, Arroyo’s sons Juan Miguel and Diosdado, both members of the House of Representatives, as well as the First Gentleman’s brother, Ignacio Jr., and sister, Maria Lourdes, now a party-list representative, have all declared owning houses worth multimillions of pesos in the Arroyo enclave on Badjao and Kalinga streets in La Vista.

An elephant’s mind

That Arroyo seems to have forgotten about these houses and other assets surprises Gonzalez, who swears that the Philippines’ 14th president has the memory of an elephant.

Arroyo, he says, remembers the minutest details, facts, figures, faces, numbers, and names from even years back. He says it is unthinkable for Arroyo to forget what she and her husband own.

“What is obvious, how can you forget what is obvious? How can I forget my wife has a chicken farm? How can I forget my wife is engaged in looking for properties which are foreclosed and sold in public auction and she tries to buy them those things she can afford," Gonzalez says.

“She is very meticulous, she is very retentive," he says of the president. “My God, she has the memory of an elephant, and things you discussed six months ago she can tell you."

Macalintal and Rondain meanwhile say that Arroyo’s wealth could be explained not just by her real estate properties, but also by her shareholdings in companies that she and her husband own.

In truth, in her 2008 SALN, Arroyo had declared that stocks already made up 70 percent, or P110 million, of her declared net worth of P144.5 million. Her SALNs, however, do not say in which companies she has acquired capital shares, and whether these are listed in the stock market.

The PCIJ obtained all documents available at the SEC on the business entities in which the president and the First Gentleman, their sons, and other relatives in public office have interest in a diligent effort to find out whether these could account for the surge in Arroyo’s stocks portfolio.

Stocks, also called capital shares or equity, represent claims of ownership in a corporation – whether or not publicly listed in the stock market.

Few profitable firms

The president, according to SEC records updated as of October 2008, still has business and financial connections in at least five entities: Optima Research & Consultancy Agency, Inc., incorporator as of Sept 15, 1980; L.T.A. Realty Corp., incorporator, as of Sept. 28, 1992; EVA Development Corp., incorporator/board member, as of May 18, 1993; Circulo Pampangueno of Guam, Inc., board member, as of Sept. 29, 1997; and Centrist Democrat International Asia-Pacific, Inc., stockholder, incorporator, board member, as of July 24, 2005.

The First Gentleman, by the SEC’s records, still has business interests and financial connections in at least nine entities: Trans Realty Co., Inc., incorporator, as of Oct. 8, 1980; Raco-Trading Philippines, Inc., incorporator, as of Oct. 9, 1980; L.T.A. Realty Corp., incorporator, as of June 28, 1982; Aviatica Travel & Management Corp., incorporator, as of July 22, 1987; Eva Development Corp., incorporator, board member, as of May 18, 1993; Philippine Blooming Trade and Development Corp., incorporator, as of Sept. 5, 1995; and Pacific Mint International Corp., incorporator, board member, as of May 15, 1997.

The First Gentleman is also connected with three foundations: Ateneo Law Class ’72 Foundation, Inc., board member, as of March 14, 1996; Kaibigan ni Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Foundation, board member, as of May 17, 1999; and First Gentleman Foundation, Inc., incorporator, as of May 28, 2002.

All these firms are not listed in the SALNs that Arroyo filed from 2001 to 2008. But since most are not particularly big or profitable, they could not have served as sources of the First Couple’s additional cash or equity shares.(Malou Mangahas, PCIJ)

(Last of three parts)

Link: http://www.pcij.org/stories/2009/arroyo-wealth4.html

Arroyo dined for P1M in New York - Report

MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her party racked up a dinner bill of close to P1 million at a ritzy New York restaurant during her recent trip to the United States, according to an online news report.

And the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), which referred to the story of the New York Post that was posted August 7 on its website, is demanding an explanation.

Richard Johnson wrote the brief report in the Page Six “Eat and Drink” section of the NY Post online edition.

It read: “The economic downturn hasn’t persuaded everyone to pinch pennies. Philippines President Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was at Le Cirque the other night with a large entourage enjoying the good life, even though the former comptroller of her country’s armed services, Carlos Garcia, was found guilty earlier this year of perjury and two of his sons were arrested in the US on bulk cash-smuggling charges. Macapagal-Arroyo ordered several bottles of very expensive wine, pushing the dinner tab up to $20,000.”

“Malacañang has a lot of explaining to do about this latest allegation which came out in an American paper. Who spent for the lavish dinner?” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said in a statement.

In a statement issued Saturday, Makati Mayor and United Opposition president Jejomar Binay said: “How Mrs. Arroyo and her administration can justify blowing P960,000 for dinner and expensive wine at a time of economic difficulty is beyond me.”

Just dinner

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, who was with the President’s entourage, did not respond to calls on Saturday.

But he sent a text message explaining that it was Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez who hosted the August 2 dinner for the President and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo.

“It was Congressman Martin Romualdez who invited the First Couple to dinner at Le Cirque in New York. As to how much the dinner costs, Malacañang does not know as it was the host who chose the menu and picked up the tab,” Remonde said.

“There was no partying. Just dinner pure and simple,” he said.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer managed to reach Romualdez Saturday afternoon by phone. He said he was busy at the moment because there were people with him, and that he would call back.

He never did. The Inquirer tried to reach him again several times later in the day but he did not pick up.

Arroyo and her entourage flew to the United States for a working visit on July 29.

She met with President Barack Obama at the White House on the night of July 30 – the high point of her visit – and from Washington flew to New York for a series of meetings with multinational companies.

The President was billeted at the Waldorf Astoria, several blocks away from Le Cirque, when she was in New York.

Caviar and champagne

Arroyo arrived back in Manila early on August 5, and went straight to Manila Cathedral where the remains of former President Corazon Aquino lay in state, to pay her last respects.

The purported menu included caviar; such appetizers as lobster salad, wild burgundy escargot and soft shell crab tempura; main courses of black cod, halibut, Dover sole, saddle of lamb and prime dry-aged strip steak; and Krug champagne at $510 a bottle.

Bayan’s Reyes wondered if it was “appropriate for a head of state of a Third World country like Mrs. Arroyo to wine and dine in such a manner, given that we’re in the midst of a crisis.”

“This is one dinner that certainly leaves a bad taste in the mouth, at least for the rest of the Filipino people,” he said.

Reyes said that even if someone else had picked up the tab, it still did not look “appropriate.”
Embarrassing

“It’s embarrassing for the Philippines to have such writeups appear in a foreign paper. It begs the question, what is Mrs. Arroyo really doing during her trips? Are taxpayers being made to shoulder the lavish lifestyles of the so-called rich and famous?” he said.

Reyes also said the mention of Garcia in the report was a sad commentary on Philippine officials’ reputation as corrupt.

“This ostentatious display of affluence reminiscent of [strongman Ferdinand Marcos’ widow] Imelda Marcos reinforces the perception that Philippine officials are corrupt and are living it up while others wallow in crisis. It is truly disappointing and disgusting,” he said.

He pointed out that in a November 2008 study that was part of Gallup’s World Food Day survey, 40 percent of Filipinos reported having experienced hunger “often or sometimes” in the last 12 months.

Food not bad

Sought for comment, some of the lawmakers who were among the President’s entourage did not want to make much of the affair.

Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said he remembered dining with the President in a New York restaurant but added that the place did not seem “fashionable.”

Suarez said there were probably more expensive restaurants in New York’s five-star hotels.
“I don’t find it fashionable. The food is not bad. As for the place, the surroundings were not pretty,” he told the Inquirer.

Deputy Speaker Amelita Villarosa said she doubted that a dinner bill during the trip could reach $20,000.

Villarosa said she remembered dining at Le Cirque but not the details because she had several lunches and dinners during the trip.

She said she did not think that the bill could run that high because servings were big in US restaurants and members of Ms Arroyo’s party usually shared their orders.

Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella said he missed the dinner because he came down with a cold and a cough in New York.

Hypocrisy

“The extravagance showed the Arroyo administration’s insensitivity and hypocrisy,” Binay said, adding that the dinner was held hours before Ms Arroyo and her party flew back to Manila ostensibly to catch former President Aquino’s wake.

Binay said spending a huge amount of money equivalent to three square meals for almost 3,000 poor families appeared to be Ms Arroyo’s idea of honoring and respecting Aquino.

“What they did was deplorable, especially if taxpayers’ money was spent. If they spent private money, what they did was in bad taste and again showed insensitivity to the millions of Filipinos who face hunger daily,” he said. (With reports from Leila Salaverria and Niña Catherine Calleja)


Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090809-219377/Arroyo-dined-for-P1M-in-New-Yorkreport

President Gloria Arroyo visits wake of former Filipino leader

President Gloria Arroyo views the casket of the late former Philippines President Corazon Aquino at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Wednesday August 5, 2009. (Photo by Rey Baniquet)

North Cotabato opposes new homeland deal between Manila and MILF rebels

Government soldiers stop Muslim civilians at an army checkpoint in Maguindanao province in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Mark Navales)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 1, 2009) – An influential southern Philippine politician on Saturday vowed to oppose any deal between Manila and Muslim rebels that would dismember the province of North Cotabato.

North Cotabato deputy governor Emmanuel Pinol said the Supreme Court ruled that the consensus points reached by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain violated the Constitution.

“Did the government peace panel take notice of the fear, the rift, the division and the violence that the proposed memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain brought upon the people of the country, especially among us living in the Southern Philippines?, Pinol asked.

The peace talks between Manila and the MILF collapsed in August last year after the High Court’s decision. It also triggered deadly rebel attacks in the provinces of North Cotabato, Sarangani, Lanao and Maguindanao.

North Cotabato is one of several provinces which are included in the proposed expanded Muslim autonomous region that would also include some parts of Zamboanga Peninsula and Palawan.

President Gloria Arroyo halted all military offensives against the MILF to pave the way for the early revival of the stalled peace talks. The MILF also ordered its forces to stop attacks against government and military targets in the restive region.

Government peace negotiators and the MILF also agreed on Wednesday on four issues before the resumption of the talks. In a joint statement, government negotiators headed by Rafael Seguis and the MILF peace panel led by Mohagher Iqbal have agreed to sustain the cease-fire agreement.

The also acknowledged that the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain as unsigned and yet initialed document, and committed to reframe the consensus points with the end in view of moving towards the comprehensive compact to bring about a negotiated political settlement.

Both sides would also work for a framework agreement on the establishment of a mechanism on the protection of non-combatants in armed conflict and another framework agreement on the establishment of International Contact Group which would be composed of states and non-state organizations to accompany and mobilize international support for the peace process.

Pinol said the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain in its entirety is a document that virtually creates an “associative” government that is equivalent to a new State minus the word “sovereignty.”

He said the people of his province after a series of public consultations declared the following: “We desire for true and lasting peace, one that is a product of a consensus among all stakeholders in Mindanao – Muslims, Christians and the Tribes; one that addresses the roots of the problem – poverty, lack of education, deprivation, injustice and massive and unabated corruption in government; one that manifests and reflects the common desire of the people rather than a piece of paper called the “Peace Agreement.”

“We demand total disarmament and the enforcement of the law in dealing with armed groups; we oppose any expansion of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao or its equivalent political instrumentality that would include our province; we oppose the idea of creating a virtual independent “associative” state.

Pinol said he has consulted with his legal experts and would ask the Supreme Court to cite the government peace panel in contempt for ignoring its decision declaring the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain unconstitutional.

The politician was one of those who questioned the legality of the ancestral homeland deal before the Supreme Court.

The MILF previously said it would only resume the peace talks if Arroyo honors the Muslim ancestral domain deal that negotiators initially signed in July last year in Kuala Lumpur. The accord would have granted some four million Muslims their own homeland in more than 700 villages across Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)

Obama hails Philippine peace moves

President Gloria Arroyo during a meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House in Washington. (Photo by Jerry Carual)

The US president has praised the Philippine government for trying to restore peace in its volatile southern region.

Barack Obama made the comments when he hosted his Philippine counterpart Glorio Arroyo at the White House on Thursday.

Obama said Arroyo's move to begin a reconciliation process in Mindanao was essential to stop a conflict "that we think has the potential to bring peace and stability to a part of the Philippines that has been wracked by unrest for too long".

Obama also welcomed the Philippines' "strong voice" on other regional issues such as human rights abuses in Myanmar and North Korea's nuclear programme.
Military help

For her part, Arroyo, the first Southeast Asian leader to visit the US since Obama took office, thanked the US for economic assistance and its help with the Philippine armed forces.

"We are very thankful for the US as an important ally in helping to professionalise our military and making it more effective," she said.

"Just as important, we are thankful to the US for being such a good ally ... working on soft power, by helping us build bridges, roads, schools, not only in Mindanao, but across the nation."

Arroyo said that US help has enabled Manila to make progress in efforts towards a negotiated peace in Mindanao, where fighters from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Abu Sayyaf hold bases.

"This assistance of the US has gone a long way in helping us to achieve what we have been able to achieve in the peace process in Mindanao, in southern Philippines, and also in our fight against terrorism," she said.

Arroyo also praised the Obama administration's stance on climate change. (Al Jazeera)


Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/07/200973023059354316.html

Philippines, MILF rebels back on negotiating table again

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ERAP: Takot Lang 'Yan Makulong!

MAYNILA - Tinawanan lang kahapon ni dating Pangulong Joseph Estrada ang pasaring na binitiwan kamakalawa ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo laban sa kanya at pabiro pang sumagot na kabado lamang umanong makulong ang huli oras na matapos ang termino sa Malacañang.

“Malinaw na takot makulong ‘yan (Arroyo) kaya puro kasinungalingan ang kanyang SONA. Kahit sinong mamamayang Filipino ay ramdam ang kahirapan sa ilang taong kanyang panunungkulan dahil mas inuna ng adminsitrasyong ito ang pangungurakot kaysa ibigay ang nararapat sa mga nagdaraop na masa,” ani Estrada.

Ganito rin ang pananaw ni dating senador at tagapagsalita ng United Opposition (UNO) na si Ernesto Maceda.

“Apparently, GMA is admitting that she is afraid that she will be jailed,” ani Maceda, bilang reaksyon nito sa patutsada ni Arroyo kay Estrada na namuhay nang marangya habang nasa kulungan.

Si Estrada ang nabilanggo matapos mahatulan sa kasong plunder. Ito rin ang dahilan kaya’t napaaga ang alsa-balutan nito sa Malacañang sa kasagsagan noon ng EDSA Dos.

Sinabi pa ni Estrada na pinaikot-ikot lamang ni Arroyo ang mga pahayag sa binitiwang State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) gayong ang kailangan at gusto lang namang marinig ng sambayanan ay ang pamamaalam nito.

Maging ang pagbira sa kanila sa oposisyon ay pang-cover lang umano ni Arroyo sa mga tunay na isyung nakakulapol sa kanyang administrasyon.

“Hindi ko maintindihan. Sa lahat ng nabasa ko sa sinabi niya, dapat ideklara niya ang kanyang SONA na araw ng kasinungalingan. Hindi lang naman ako at ang oposisyon ang nagsasalita laban sa kanya ngunit ang ibang panig ng mundo halimbawa ang Transparency International, World Bank, United Nations at Reporters without Borders”, pahayag ng dating pangulo.

Simple naman ang naging pahayag ng anak ni Estrada na si San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito, “She can speak of whatever she believes in, but she needs to step down in 2010.”

Sa kanyang privilege speech naman sa Senado ay tinumbok din ni Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada ang matinding takot ni Arroyo na makulong pagbaba sa puwesto.

“Karagdagan dito ay ang kanyang inaakalang pananakot sa kanya ng pagkakakulong matapos ang kanyang panunungkulan. Bakit? Inaanim ba niya na siya ay may nagawang kasalanan sa taong bayan at kanyang winika ito kahapon (Lunes),” anang senador.

Sa halip naman na magalit ay ikinatuwa pa ni Sen. Mar Roxas ang pagkakapitik sa kanya ng Pangulo sa binitiwang SONA.

“Malaking karangalan ito na maging tinig, na maging mukha ng galit ng milyun-milyon nating kababayan, galit na hindi nila ginagawa ‘yung dapat nilang gawin,” diin ng senador.

Naniniwala naman si Anakpawis partylist Rep. Rafael Mariano na ginamit lang ni Arroyo na panakip-butas ang mga inatakeng taga-oposisyon para mailipat dito ang atensyon ng sambayanan at para idiin sa iba’t ibang kasalanan ang mga kritiko sa halip na aminin ang sariling mga pagkakamali at kasalanan sa bayan. (Abante / Nina JB Salarzon, Nonnie Ferriol, Rey Marfil, Boyet Jadulco at Bernard Taguinod)

Philippine leader lashes out at critics during state of the nation address

Anti-Arroyo protesters hold a rally Monday, July 27, 2009 during President Gloria Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address. (AKP Images / Buck Photo)

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 27, 2009) – President Gloria Arroyo lashed out at her critics Monday as she delivered her last state of the nation address before a cheering crowd of allied lawmakers in Manila.

“I am accused of mis-governance. Many of those who accuse me of it left me the problem of their mis-governance to solve. And we did it. I am falsely accused, without proof, of using my office for personal profit. Many of those who accuse me of it have lifestyles and spending habits that make them walking proofs of that crime.”

”We can read their frustrations. They had the chance to serve this good country and they blew it by serving themselves. Those who live in glass houses should cast no stones. Those who should be in jail should not threaten it, especially if they have been there,” Arroyo said, referring to the opposition politicians led by ousted President Joseph Estrada.

Arroyo, who took over Estrada during a military-led revolution in 2001, boasted of her accomplishments, among them the country’s economy.

“Our administration, with the highest average rate of growth, recording multiple increases in investments, with the largest job creation in history, and which gets a credit upgrade at the height of a world recession, must be doing something right, even if some of those cocooned in corporate privilege refuse to recognize it,” she said.

She said in 2008 up to the first quarter of 2009, the Philippines stood among only a few economies in Asia-Pacific that did not shrink. “Compare this in 2001, when some of my current critics were driven out by people power, Asia was then surging but our country was on the brink of bankruptcy,” she said, adding the economy has posted uninterrupted growth for 33 quarters; more than doubled its size from $76 billion to $186 billion.

Arroyo said the average Gross Domestic Product growth from 2001 to the first quarter of 2009 is the highest in 43 years.

GDP is commonly used as an indicator of the economic health of a country, as well as to gauge a country's standard of living.

“Today the Philippines is weathering well the storm that is raging around the world. It is growing stronger with the challenge. When the weather clears, as it will, there is no telling how much farther forward it can go. Believe in it. I believe,” Arroyo further said.

She also mentioned about the government peace process in Mindanao and the prospects of resuming peace negotiations with the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the communist New People’s Army rebels.

“There is now a good prospect for peace talks both with both the Communist Party of the Philippines and the MILF, with whom we are now on ceasefire. We inherited an age-old conflict in Mindanao, exacerbated by a politically popular but near-sighted policy of massive retaliation. This only provoked the other side to continue the war.”

“There is nothing more that I would wish for than peace in Mindanao. It will be a blessing for all its people, Muslim, Christian and lumads (indigenous peoples). It will show other religiously divided communities that there can be common ground on which to live together in peace, harmony and cooperation that respects each other’s religious beliefs,” Arroyo said.

Arroyo also praised Saudi Arabia and King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud for granting clemency to hundreds of Filipino prisoners. And so were Sheikh Khalifa, the Prime Minister of Bahrain; and the Emir al-Sabah of Kuwait who commuted death the sentences of many Filipinos.

“We thank all the world leaders who have shown compassion to our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers),” she said.

She also said she would step down when her term ends in 2010. Arroyo was applauded by lawmakers.

But militant groups and indigenous people’s organizations also held simultaneous rallies and protest in Manila and some areas in Mindanao. They accused Arroyo of corruption and failing to uplift the living standards of the poor.

“We have heard Arroyo before make the SONA, and we have not heard her tell the truth about the situation of the Indigenous Peoples,” said Peter Duyapat, an Ifugao leader.

The protesters also held their own state of the indigenous peoples address in Manila.

“Under her administration, our lives have become harsher, as she has allowed foreign mining companies come and take our lands,” said Duyapat, who is opposing mining operations of the Oceania Gold, an Australian mining corporation in Nueva Vizcaya province.

“For the indigenous peoples, Arroyo leaves behind continued discrimination, rising human rights violations and legitimized land grabbing in the name of illusory development. This is her real legacy,” said Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center, a legal and policy advocacy institution, closely working with the indigenous peoples.

In Mindanao, anti-Arroyo protesters led by the group called People’s Movement against Charter Change also held street rallies. Street rallies were also held in Zamboanga and Davao cities.

“No amount of rhetoric can mask what is truly happening in the country. Arroyo can go on and lie about accomplishments but the people are wise enough to know that the contrary is true,” said Michael Dumamba, spokesman for the Liga ng Kabataang Moro and a convener of the People’s Movement against Charter Change in Cotabato City.

Dumamba said Arroyo’s involvement in corruption charges and countless human rights violations best sum up her 9 years of presidency, adding that the people will always be appalled by her deceits and lust for power.

“It is a grave human rights violation yet we see no sign that the government will finally be heeding their plight,” he said. (Mindanao Examiner)

President Gloria Arroyo's State of the Nation Address

President Gloria Arroyo during her State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 27, 2009.

(Photos by Rey Baniquet)

President Gloria Arroyo's State of the Nation Address, Monday, July 27, 2009.

Thank you, Speaker Nograles, Senate President Enrile, Senators, Representatives, Vice President de Castro, President Ramos, Chief Justice Puno, Ambassadors, friends.

The past twelve months have been a year for the history books. Financial meltdown in the West spread throughout the world.

Tens of millions lost their jobs; billions across the globe have been hurt—the poor always harder than the rich. No one was spared..

It has affected us already. But the story of the Philippines in 2008 is that the country weathered a succession of global crises in fuel, in food, then in finance and finally the economy in a global recession, never losing focus and with economic fundamentals intact.

A few days ago, Moody’s has just announced the upgrade of our credit rating, citing the resilience of our economy. The state of our nation is a strong economy. Good news for our people, bad news for our critics.

I did not become President to be popular. To work, to lead, to protect and preserve our country, our people, that is why I became President. When my father left the Presidency, we were second to Japan. I want our Republic to be ready for the first world in 20 years.

Towards that vision, we made key reforms. Our economic plan centers on putting people first. Higit sa lahat ang layunin ng ating mga patakaran ay tulungan ang masipag na karaniwang Pilipino. New tax revenues were put in place to help pay for better healthcare, more roads, a strong education system. Housing policies were designed to lift up our poorest citizens so they can live and raise a family with dignity. Ang ating mga puhunan sa agrikultura ay naglalayong kilalanin ang ating mga magsasaka bilang backbone ng ating bansa, at bigyan sila ng mga modernong kagamitan to feed our nation and feed their own family..

Had we listened to the critics of those policies, had we not braced ourselves for the crisis that came, had we taken the easy road much preferred by politicians eyeing elections, this country would be flat on its back. It would take twice the effort just to get it back again on its feet—to where we are now because we took the responsibility and paid the political price of doing the right thing. For standing with me and doing the right thing, thank you, Congress.

The strong, bitter and unpopular revenue measures of the past few years have spared our country the worst of the global financial shocks. They gave us the resources to stimulate the economy. Nabigyan nila ang pinakamalaking pagtaas ng IRA ng mga LGU na P40 billion itong taon, imparting strength throughout the country and at every level of government.

Compared to the past, we have built more and better infrastructure, including those started by others but left unfinished. The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway is a prime example of building better roads. It creates wealth as the flagship of the Subic-Clark corridor.

We have built airports of international standard, upgraded domestic airports, built seaports and the RORO system. I ask Congress for a Philippine Transport Security Authority Law..

Some say that after this SONA, it will be all politics. Sorry, but there’s more work..

Sa telecommunications naman, inatasan ko ang Telecommunications Commission na kumilos na tungkol sa mga sumbong na dropped calls at mga nawawalang load sa cellphone. We need to amend the Commonwealth-era Public Service Law. And we need to do it now..

Kung noong nakaraan, lumakas ang electronics, today we are creating wealth by developing the BPO and tourism sectors as additional engines of growth. Electronics and other manufactured exports rise and fall in accordance with the state of the world economy. But BPO remains resilient. With earnings of $6 billion and employment of 600,000, the BPO phenomenon speaks eloquently of our competitiveness and productivity. Let us have a Department of ICT..

In the last four years tourism almost doubled. It is now a $5 billion industry.

Our reforms gave us the resources to protect our people, our financial system and our economy from the worst of shocks that the best in the west failed to anticipate..

They gave us the resources to do reforms para palawakin ang suportang panlipunan and enhance spending power. For helping me raise salaries through joint resolution, thank you Congress.

Cash handouts give the most immediate relief and produce the widest stimulating effect. Nakikinabang ang 700,000 na pinakamahihirap na pamilya sa programang Pantawid Pamilya.

Our preference is to invest in projects with the same stimulus effects but also with long-term contributions to national progress..

Sa pagpapamahagi ng milyun-milyong ektaryang lupa, 700,000 na katutubo at mahigit isang milyong benepisyaryo ng CARP ay taas-noong may-ari na ng sariling lupa. Hinihiling ko sa Kongreso na ipasa agad ang pagpapalawig ng CARP, at dapat ma-condone ang P42 billion na land reform liabilities dahil 18% lamang ang nabayaran mula 1972. Napapanahon dahil it will unfreeze the rural property market. Ang mahal kong ama ang nag-emancipate ng mga magsasaka. Ii-mancipate naman natin ngayon ang titulo..

Nakinabang ang pitong milyong entrepreneurs sa P165 billion na microfinance. Nakinabang ang 1,000 sa economic resiliency plan. Kasama natin ngayon ang isa sa kanila, si Gigi Gabiola. Dating household service worker sa Dubai, ngayon siya ay nagtatrabaho sa DOLE. Good luck, Gigi.

Nakinabang ang isang milyong pamilya sa programang pabahay at palupa, mula sa PAG-IBIG, NHA, community mortgage program, certificates of lot awards, at saka yung inyong Loan Condonation and Restructuring Act..

Our average inflation is the lowest since 1966. Last June, it dropped to 1.5%. Paano nakamit ito? Proper policies lowered interest rates, which lowered costs to business and consumers.

Dahil sa ating mga reporma, nakaya nating ibenta ang bigas NFA sa P18.25 per kilo kahit tumaas ang presyo sa labas mula P17.50 hanggang P30 dahil sa kakulangan ng supply sa mundo. Habang, sa unang pagkakataon, naitaas ang pamimili ng palay sa mga magsasaka, P17 mula sa P11.

Dahil sa ating mga reporma, nakaya nating mamuhunan sa pagkain—anticipating an unexpected global food crisis. Nakagawa tayo ng libu-libong kilometro ng farm-to-market roads at kasama ng pribadong sector, natubigan ang dalawang milyong ektarya. Mga Badjao gaya ni Tarnati Dannawi ay tinuruan ng modernong mariculture. Umabot na sa P180,000 ang kinita niya mula noong nakaraang taon. Congratulations, Tarnati. We will help more fisherfolk shift to fish farming with a budget of P1 billion.

Dahi dumarami na naman daw ang pamilyang nagugutom, mamumuhunan tayo ng bago sa Hunger Mitgation program na nakitang mabisa. Tulungan nito ako dito Kongreso.

Mula noong 2001, Nanawagan tayo ng mas murang gamot. Nagbebenta na tayo ng mga gamot na kalahating presyo sa libu-libong Botika ng Bayan at Botika ng Barangay sa maraming dako ng bansa. Our efforts prodded the pharmaceutical companies to come up with low-cost generics and brands like RiteMed. I supported the tough version of the House of the Cheaper Medicine Law. I supported it over the weak version of my critics. The result: the drug companies volunteered to bring down drug prices, slashing by half the prices of 16 drugs. Thank you, Congressman Cua, Alvarez, Biron and Locsin..

Pursuant to law, I am placing other drugs under a maximum retail price. To those who want to be President, this advice: If you want something done, do it hard, do it well. Don’t pussyfoot. Just do it. Don't say bad words in public.

Sa health insurance, sakop na ang 86% ng ating populasyon.

Sa Rent Control Law ng 2005 hanggang 2008, hanggang sampung porsyento lang maaaring itaas taon-taon ang upa. Iyong kakapirma nating batas naglagay ng isang taong moratorium, tapos pitong porsyento lang ang maaaring itaas. Salamat, Kongreso..

Noong isang taon, nabiyayaan ng tig-P500 ang mahigit pitong milyong tahanan bilang Katas ng Pantawid Koryente para sa mga small electricity users..
Iyong power rates, ang EPIRA natin ang pangmatagalang sagot. EPIRA dismantled monopoly. But minana natin iyong power purchase agreements under preceding administrations, so hindi pa natin makuha iyong buong intended effect. Pero happy na rin tayo, dahil isang taon na lamang iyan. The next generation will benefit from low prices from our EPIRA. Thank you.

Samantala, umabot na sa halos lahat ng barangay ang elektrisidad. We increased indigenous energy from 48% to 58%. Nakatipid tayo sa dollars tapos malaki pa ang na-reduce pa iyong oil consumption. The huge reduction in fossil fuel is the biggest proof of energy independence and environmental responsibility. Further reduction will come with the implementation of the Renewable Energy Act.and the Biofuels Act..again, thank you.

The next generation will also benefit from our lower public debt to GDP ratio. It declined from 78% in 2000 to 55% in 2008. We cut in half the debt of government corporations from 15% to 7. Likewise foreign debt from 73% to 32%. Kung meron man tayong malaking kaaway na tinalo, walang iba kundi ang utang, iyong foreign debt. Past administrations conjured the demon of foreign debt. We exorcised it..

The market grows economies. A free market, not a free-for-all.

To that end, we improved our banking system to complement its inherent conservatism. The Bangko Sentral has been prudent. Thank you, Governor Tetangco, for being so effective. The BSP will be even more effective if Congress will amend its Charter..

We worked on the Special Purpose Vehicle Act, reducing non-performing loans from 18% to 4% and improving loan-deposit ratios..

Our new Securitization Law did not encourage the recklessness that brought down giant banks and insurance companies elsewhere and laid their economies to waste. In fact, it monitors and regulates the new-fangled financial schemes. Thank you, Congress..

We will work to increase tax effort through improved collections and new sin taxes to further our capacity to reduce poverty and pursue growth. Revenue enhancement must come from the Department of Finance plugging leaks and catching tax and customs cheats. I call on tax-paying citizens and tax-paying businesses: help the BIR and Customs spot those cheats…

Taxes should come from alcohol and tobacco and not from books. Tax hazards to lungs and livers, do not tax minds. Ang kita mula sa buwis sa alak at sigarilyo ay dapat pumunta sa kalusugan at edukasyon. Sa kalusugan, pondohan ang Philhealth premiums ng pinakamahihirap. Ponhodhan ang mas maraming classroom at computers...

Pardon my partiality for the teaching profession. I was a teacher..

Kaya namuhunan tayo ng malaki sa edukasyon at skills training..

Ang magandang edukasyon ay susi sa mas mabuting buhay, the great equalizer that allows every young Filipino a chance to realize their dreams.

Nagtayo tayo ng 95,000 na silid-aralan, nagdagdag ng 60,000 na guro, naglaan ng P1.5 billion para sa teacher training, especially for 100,000 English teachers. Isa sa pinakamahirap na Millennium Development Goals ay iyong Edukasyon para sa Lahat pagdating ng 2015, na nangunguhulugang lahat ng nasa edad ay nasa grade school. Halos walang bansang nakakatupad nito. Ngunit nagsisikap tayo. Binaba natin ang gastos ng pagpasok. Nagtayo tayo ng mga eskwela sa higit isang libong barangay na dati walang eskwelahan, upang makatipid ng gastos ng pasahe ang mga bata. Tinanggal natin ang miscellaneous fees para sa primary school.

Hindi na kailangan ang uniporme sa mga estudyante sa public schools.

We assist financially half of all students in private high schools..

We have provided 600,000 college and post-graduate scholarships. One of them Mylene Amerol-Macumbal, finished Accounting at MSU-IIT, went to law school, and placed second in the last bar exams--the first Muslim woman bar topnotcher. Congratulations.

In technical education and skills training, we have invested three times that of three previous administrations combined. Narito si Jennifer Silbor, isa sa sampung milyong trainee. Natuto siya ng medical transcription. Now, as an independent contractor and lecturer for transcriptions in Davao, kumikita siya ng P18,000 bawat buwan. Good job.

The Presidential Task Force on Education headed by Jesuit educator Father Bienvenido Nebres has come out with the Main Education Highway towards a Knowledge-Based Economy. It envisions seamless education from basic to vocational school or college..

It seeks to mainstream early childhood development in basic education. Our children are our most cherished possession. In their early years we must make sure they get a healthy start in life. They must receive the right food for a healthy body, the right education for a bright and inquiring mind—and the equal opportunity for a meaningful job..

For college admission, the Task Force recommends mandatory Scholastic Aptitude Tests. It also recommends that private higher education institutions and state universities and colleges should be harmonized. It also recommends that CHED will oversee of local universities and colleges. For professions seeking international recognition—engineering, architecture, accountancy, pharmacy and physical therapy—it recommends radical reform: 10 years of basic education, two years of pre-university, three years of university.

Our educational system should make the Filipino fit not just for whatever jobs happen to be on offer today, but also for whatever economic challenge life will throw in their way..

Sa hirap at ginhawa, ang ating overseas Filipinos ay pinapatatag ang ating bansa. Iyong padala nilang $16 billion noong isang taon ay record. Itong taon, mas mataas pa..

I know that this is not a sacrifice joyfully borne. This is work where it can be found—in faraway places, among strangers with different cultures. It is lonely work, it is very hard work..

Kaya nagsisikap tayong lumikha ng mga trabahong maganda ang bayad dito sa atin so that overseas work will just be a career choice, not the only option for a hardworking Filipino in search of a better life.

Meanwhile, we should make their sacrifices worthwhile. Dapat gumawa tayo ng mga mas malakas na paraan upang proteksyonan at palawak ang halaga ng kanilang pinagsikapang sweldo. That means stronger consumer protection for OFWs investing in property and products back home. Para sa kanila, pinapakilos natin ang Investors Protection Task Force.

Hindi ako nag-aatubiling bisitahin ang ating taong bayan at ang kanilang mga hosts sa buong mundo – mula Hapon.hanggang Brazil, mula Europa at Middle East hanggang sa American Midwest, nakikinig sa kanilang mga problema at pangangailangan, inaalam kung paano matulungan sila n gating pamahalaan—-by working out better policies on migrant labor, or by saving lives and restoring liberty.

Pagpunta ko sa Saudi, pinatawad ni Haring Abdullah ang pitong daang OFW na nasa preso. Pinuno nila ang isang buong eroplano at umuwi kasama ko.

Mula sa ating State Visit to Spain, it has become our biggest European donor. At si Haring Juan Carlos ay nakikipag-usap sa ibang mga bansa para sa ating mga namomoblemang OFW. Ganoon di si Sheikh Khalifa, ang Prime Minister ng Bahrain.

Pagpunta ko sa Kuwait, Emir al-Sabah commuted death sentences.

We thank all the world leaders who have shown compassion to our OFWs, Maraming salamat po.

Our vigorous international engagement has helped bring in foreign investment. Net foreign direct investments multiplied 15 times during our administration.

Our vigorous international engagement has helped bring in foreign investment. Net foreign direct investments multiplied 15 times during our administration. Kasama ng ating mga OFWs, they more than doubled our foreign exchange reserves. Pinalakas ang ating piso at naiwasan ang lubhang pagtaas ng presyo. They upgraded our credit because while the reserves of our peers shrunk our reserves grew by $3 billion.

Our international engagement has also corrected historical injustice. The day we visited Washington, Senator Daniel Inouye successfully sponsored benefits for our veterans as part of America’s fiscal stimulus package.

I have accepted the invitation of President Obama to be the first Southeast Asian leader to meet him at the White House, this week.

That he sought us the Philippines testifies to our strong and deep ties.

High on our agenda will be peace and security issues. Terrorism: how to meet it, how to end it, how to address its roots in injustice and prejudice—and most and always how to protect lives.

We will also discuss nuclear non-proliferation. The Philippines will chair the review of the nuclear weapons non-proliferation Treaty in New York in May 2010. The success of the talks will be a major diplomatic achievement for us.

There is a range of other issues we will discuss, including the global challenge of climate change, especially the threat to countries with long coastlines. And there is the global recession, its worse impact on poor people, and the options that can spare them from the worst.

In 2008 up to the first quarter of 2009 we stood among only a few economies in Asia-Pacific that did not shrink. Compare this in 2001, when some of my current critics were driven out by people power, Asia was then surging but our country was on the brink of bankruptcy.

Since then, our economy has posted uninterrupted growth for 33 quarters; more than doubled its size from $76 billion to $186 billion. The average GDP growth from 2001 to the first quarter of 2009 is the highest in 43 years.

Bumaba ang bilang ng nagsasabing mahihirap sila, mula 59% sa 47%. Kahit na lumaki ang ating populasyon, nabawasan ng dalawang milyon ang bilang ng mahihirap. GNP per capita rose from a Third World $967 to $2,051. Lumikha tayo ng walong milyong trabaho, an average of a million per year, much, much more than at any other time.

In sum:

1. We have a strong economy in a strong fiscal position to withstand political shocks.
2. We built new modern infrastructure and completed unfinished ones.
3. The economy is more fair to the poor than ever before.
4. We are building a sound base for the next generation.
5. International authorities have taken notice that we are safer from environmental degradation and man-made disasters.

As a country in the path of typhoons and in the Pacific Rim of Fire, we must be as prepared as the latest technology permits to anticipate natural calamities when that is possible; to extend immediate and effective relief when it is not….The mapping of flood- and landslide-prone areas is almost complete. Early warning, forecasting and monitoring systems have been improved, with weather tracking facilities in Subic, Tagaytay, Mactan, Mindanao, Pampanga.

We have worked on flood control infrastructure like those for Pinatubo, Agno, Laoag, and Abucay, which will pump the run off waters from Quezon City and Tondo flooding Sampaloc. This will help relieve hundreds of hectares in this old city of its age-old woe.

Patuloy naman iyong sa Camanava, dagdag sa Pinatubo, Iloilo, Pasig-Marikina, Bicol River Basin, at mga river basin ng Mindanao.

The victims of typhoon Frank in Panay should receive their long-overdue assistance package. I ask Congress to pass the SNITS Law.

Namana natin ang pinakamatagal ng rebelyon ng Komunista sa buong mundo.

Si Leah de la Cruz isa sa labindalawang libong rebel returnee. Sixteen pa lang siya nang sumali sa NPA. Naging kasapi sa regional White Area Committee, napromote sa Leyte Party Committee Secretary. Nahuli noong 2006. She is now involved in an LGU-supported handicraft livelihood training of former rebels. We love you, Leah!

There is now a good prospect for peace talks both with both the Communist Party of the Philippines and the MILF, with whom we are now on ceasefire.

We inherited an age-old conflict in Mindanao, exacerbated by a politically popular but near-sighted policy of massive retaliation. This only provoked the other side to continue the war.

In these two internal conflicts, ang tanong ay hindi, “Sino ang mananalo?” kundi, bakit ba kailangang mag-away ang kapwa Pilipino tungkol sa mga isyu na alam ng dalawang panig over issues na malulutas naman sa paraang demokratiko.

There is nothing more that I would wish for than peace in Mindanao. It will be a blessing for all its people, Muslim, Christian and lumads. It will show other religiously divided communities that there can be common ground on which to live together in peace, harmony and cooperation that respects each other’s religious beliefs.

At sa lahat ng dako ng bansa, kailangan nating protektahan an gating mamamayan kontra sa krimen -- in their homes, in their neighborhoods, in their communities. How shall crime be fought? Through the five pillars of justice. We call on Congress to fund more policemen on the streets.

Real government is about looking beyond the vested to the national interest, setting up the necessary conditions to enable the next, more enabled and more empowered generation to achieve a country as prosperous, a people as content, as ours deserve to be.

The noisiest critics of constitutional reform tirelessly and shamelessly attempted Cha-Cha when they thought they could take advantage of a shift in the form of government. Now that they feel they cannot benefit from it, they oppose it.

As the process of fundamental political reform begins, let us address the highest exercise of democracy.voting!

In 2001, I said we would finance fully automated elections. We got it, thanks to Congress.

At the end of this speech I shall step down from this stage, but not from the Presidency. My term does not end until next year. Until then, I will fight for the ordinary Filipino. The nation comes first. There is much to do as head of state—to the very last day.

A year is a long time. Patuloy ang pamumuhunan sa tinatawag na three E’s ng ekonomiya, environment at edukasyon. There are many perils that we must still guard against.

A man-made calamity is already upon us, global in scale. As I said earlier, so far we have been spared its worst effects but we cannot be complacent. We only know that we have generated more resources on which to draw, and thereby created options we could take. Thank God we did not let our critics stop us.

As the campaign unfolds and the candidates take to the airwaves, I ask them to talk more about how they will build up the nation rather than tear down their opponents. Our candidates must understand the complexities of our government and what it takes to move the country forward. Give the electorate real choices and not just sweet talk.

Meanwhile, I will keep a steady hand on the tiller, keeping the ship of state away from the shallows some prefer, and steering it straight on the course I set in 2001.

Ang ating taong bayan ay masipag at maka-Diyos. These qualities are epitomized in someone like Manny Pacquiao.Manny trained tirelessly, by the book, with iron discipline, with the certain knowledge that he had to fight himself, his weaknesses first, before he could beat his opponent. That was the way to clinch his victories and his ultimate title: ang pinakadakilang boksingero sa kasaysayan.Mabuhay ka, Manny!

However much a President wishes it, a national problem cannot be knocked out with a single punch. A president must work with the problem as much as against it, and turn it into a solution if I can.

There isn’t a day I do not work at my job or a waking moment when I do not think through a work-related problem. Even my critics cannot begrudge the long hours I put in. Our people deserve-a-government that works just as hard as they do.

A President must be on the job 24/7, ready for any contingency, any crisis, anywhere, anytime.

Everything right can be undone by even a single wrong. Every step forward must be taken in the teeth of political pressures and economic constraints that could push you two steps back-if-you flinch and falter. I have not flinched, I have not faltered. Hindi ako umaatras sa hamon.

And I have never done any of the things that have scared my worst critics so much. They are frightened by their own shadows.

In the face of attempted coups, I issued emergency proclamations just in case. But I was able to resolve these military crises with the ordinary powers of my office. My critics call it dictatorship. I call it determination. We know it as strong government.

But I never declared martial law, though they are running scared as if I did. In truth, what they are really afraid of is their weakness in the face of this self-imagined threat.

I say to them: do not tell us what we all know, that democracy can be threatened. Tell us what you will do when it is attacked.

I know what to do.

I know what to do, as I have shown, I will defend democracy with arms when it is threatened by violence; with firmness when it is weakened by division; with law and order where it is subverted by anarchy; and always, I will try to sustain it by wise policies of economic progress, so that a democracy means not just an empty liberty but a full life for all.

I never expressed the desire to extend myself beyond my term. Many of those who accuse me of it tried to cling like nails to their posts.

I am accused of misgovernance. Many of those who accuse me of it left me the problem of their misgovernance to solve. And we did it.

I am falsely accused, without proof, of using my office for personal profit. Many of those who accuse me of it have lifestyles and spending habits that make them walking proofs of that crime.

We can read their frustrations. They had the chance to serve this good country and they blew it by serving themselves.

Those who live in glass houses should cast no stones. Those who should be in jail should not threaten it, especially if they have been there.

Our administration, with the highest average rate of growth, recording multiple increases in investments, with the largest job creation in history, and which gets a credit upgrade at the height of a world recession, must be doing something right, even if some of those cocooned in corporate privilege refuse to recognize it.

Governance, however, is not about looking back and getting even. It is about looking forward and giving more—to the people who gave us the greatest, hardest gift of all: the care of a country.

From Bonifacio at Balintawak to Cory Aquino at EDSA and up to today, we have struggled to bring power to the people, and this country to the eminence it deserves.

Today the Philippines is weathering well the storm that is raging around the world. It is growing stronger with the challenge. When the weather clears, as it will, there is no telling how much farther forward it can go. Believe in it. I believe.

We can and we must-march-forward-with-hope, optimism and determination.

We must come together, work together and walk together toward the future.

Bagamat malaking hamon ang nasa ating harapan, nasa kamay natin ang malaking kakayahan. Halina’t pagtulungan nating tiyakin ang karapat-dapat na kinabukasan ng ating Inang Bayan.

And to the people of our good country, for allowing me to serve as your President, maraming salamat.

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas.

WASHINGTON TIMES EDITORIAL: Obama the sanitizer

Somebody at the National Security Council dropped the ball. On Thursday, President Obama is welcoming Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to the White House for his presidency's first visit by a Southeast Asian leader. The choice of Mrs. Arroyo for this honor was a mistake because Mr. Obama is being used to give political cover for the Philippine president's troubles back home.

Mrs. Arroyo's domestic political position is precarious. A poll released June 8 by the Pulse Asia polling firm pegged Mrs. Arroyo's public approval at only 26 percent. Street demonstrations against her are routine and growing in size. These protests are in response to a dubious mandate following a dirty 2004 election and numerous allegations of corruption against her family and administration. Her husband, Mike Arroyo, has left the country and used doctors' notes to say he is too ill to obey court summons related to corruption charges.

The Philippines has become less free during Mrs. Arroyo's 10-year presidency. According to Freedom House, "Corruption is extensive throughout the Philippine state apparatus, from the lowest to the highest levels. Bribes and extortion seem to be a regular element of the complex connections among bureaucrats, politicians, businessmen, the press and the public." In Transparency International's 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index, the Philippines ranked 141st out of 180 nations on a list in which No. 1 is the least corrupt. The level of Philippine corruption is tied with Iran and Yemen and worse than in dodgy places such as Libya and Nigeria.

The corruption problem is affecting Manila's relationship with other allies. A senior Philippine official told The Washington Times that German Chancellor Angela Merkel sent Mrs. Arroyo an ultimatum last month that Berlin-Manila ties are at risk if the Philippines doesn't pay $60 million owed to the German government for Manila's new international airport. The Philippine government seized the airport and refused to pay a German company -- which is partly owned by the German state -- for its construction after revelations that the contract allegedly was laden with millions in bribes and kickbacks.

There are also serious human-rights abuses in the archipelago. According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, "The Philippines ranks sixth worldwide among countries that fail to prosecute cases of journalists killed for their work." Between 1992 and 2008, at least 34 journalists were murdered in the Philippines; there were convictions in only three of these cases. Four more members of the press were killed this June alone. Opposition voices regularly disappear as well.

On top of all this are machinations by Mrs. Arroyo to cling to power by setting aside next May's presidential election. The president and her allies are pushing to amend the Philippine constitution to change the current U.S.-style presidential system into a parliamentary system whereby Mrs. Arroyo could serve as prime minister. This would allow her to circumvent the presidential term limit which prevents her from staying in office. This move, incidentally, is similar to the strategy strongman Ferdinand Marcos used to stay in power after declaring martial law in 1972.

The relationship between Washington and Manila is an old and important one. After the U.S. victory in the Spanish-American war in 1898, the Philippine islands were a U.S. colony for half a century and have remained a close ally in the six decades since independence was granted in 1946. The current Visiting Forces Agreement between the two countries allows U.S. troops on Philippine soil to help in the war on terrorism and to assist the Philippines with its fight against Islamic insurrection in the southern islands.

But the nation should be differentiated from its lame-duck leader. Welcoming Mrs. Arroyo to the White House only validates her troubled rule. (Washington Times)


Link:http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/26/obama-the-sanitizer/

Kidapawan Students Hold Concert, Protest Vs. Charter Change

Members of the National Union of Students of the Philippines hold a concert-rally Sunday, July 26, 2009 against Charter change in the southern Filipino city of Kidapawan. President Gloria Arroyo’s allies in Congress are pushing for amendments in the Constitution that could prolong her into power beyond 2010. Arroyo is to hold her state of the nation address on Monday, but militant and progressive groups vow to hold a nationwide rally to protest Charter change. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Geo Solmerano)