UP tops lists of schools withunsettled advances - Malaya 09.29.2006

THE "favorite" university of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez is the runaway winner in the list of state universities and colleges (SUCs) with unsettled cash advances.
UP’s unliquidated advances in December 2005 stood at P16.7 million, documents presented to the ongoing budget hearings at the Senate showed.

UP last week landed on news pages after militant students in Diliman campus protesting political killings pelted Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon with eggs and mud.
The action drew strong rebuke from Malacañang and conservative groups that called the UP students undeserving of the subsidy they receive from taxpayers.

Gonzalez earlier called the UP a breeding ground for destabilizers and nude runners.
Palawan State University is a distant second with P7.4 million in unliquidated cash advances followed by Cotabato City Polytechnic State College with P7.3 million.

Landing in the top 10 list are Ramon Magsaysay Polytechnic College, P5.8 million: University of Eastern Philippines, P4.5million; Cagayan State University, P4.3 million: Isabela State University, P3.7 million; Panay State Polytechnic College, P3.4 million: MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology, P3.3 million, and Sultan Kudarat Polytechnic State College, P3 million.

The Commission on Higher Education has unsettled advances of P6.9 million while the Department of Education has P385 million.

COA, which was the source of the documents, is also a poor role model with unliquidated advances of P9.26 million.

Sen. Franklin Drilon, Senate finance chairman, bared early this week that the national government has P17 billion in unliquidated cash advances. – Dennis Gadil

Esperon’s 3rd, 4th stars confirmed in single CA sitting - Malaya 09.28.2006

BY DENNIS GADIL

AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon yesterday breezed through the Commission on Appointments, which confirmed his promotion to three- and four-star ranks in one sitting.

No opposition member invoked Section 20 of the CA rules, which would have automatically frozen Esperon’s confirmation.

Senate President Manuel Villar, CA chairman, said there was no railroading during the proceedings.

"Everything underwent the normal and regular processes," he said.

Villar said after Esperon was found fit to wear three stars, then he was also qualified for four stars.

"I mean kung iko-confirm mo sa three-star, di ba puwede gawing four-star? Either qualified ka sa dalawa or hindi ka qualified at all," Villar said.

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile said: "If you confirm an officer to the highest post, you automatically confirm his other promotions, especially if these were to lower ranks."

Aside from Esperon’s, the promotion of 64 other military officers were confirmed after a closed-door caucus among the commission’s members.

Esperon was promoted to three-star rank in August last year when he was named Army chief. The CA had yet to act on this promotion when Esperon was named AFP chief last July. The post of Armed Forces chief is a four-star position.

Villar said Esperon’s smooth confirmation by the CA does not absolve him from his alleged involvement in the cheating last elections as insinuated in the "Hello, Garci" tapes scandal.

"Hindi naman nangangahulugan na makakalimutan na iyan. Wala naman kinalaman iyon. Ang confirmation ay isang proseso rin na dapat natin igalang at kagaya iyan sa (AFP) chief of staff," Villar said.

Rumors of railroading flew after none of the senators who were earlier strongly opposed to Esperon’s confirmation invoked Section 20.

CA member Iloilo Rep. Rolex Suplico said Sen. Sergio Osmeña, allegedly on instructions of Sen. Jose "Jinggoy’ Estrada, withdrew the reservations he aired during CA defense committee’s Tuesday hearing also on behalf of Estrada.

"He (Sen. Osmeña) said Sen. Estrada was withdrawing his reservation because he could not attend the hearings and the session because he had to attend to his son. He could not find the time. So there was no more block to his (Esperon’s) conformation as chief of staff," Suplico said.
Osmeña on Tuesday said he would invoke Section 20 if asked by Estrada.

Estrada failed to attend the plenary session yesterday because he was still looking after his 13-year-old son who is confined at the Cardinal Santos hospital in San Juan for dengue.

CA defense committee chairman Rep. Jurdin Jesus Romualdo said with all reservations withdrawn, "there was no more hindrance to our confirming Gen. Esperon’s promotions."
Esperon, after the confirmation, said a "common friend" facilitated a phone conversation between him and Estrada "some three days ago."

"I don’t think I have to convince anybody. We discussed things on the basis of enlightened discussion and willingness to accommodate each other," Esperon said.

He said: "I am so happy with this double confirmation. I was expecting to be confirmed as lieutenant general but the CA has so graciously given me the fourth star. I sincerely thank them.

This all the more makes my resolve even firmer in pursuing the task given to me by the President, especially that of defeating the No. 1 threat to our national security."

Estrada confirmed the telephone conversation with Esperon when he arrived at the Senate for the afternoon session.

He said Esperon called to reiterate that he had nothing to do with the alleged cheating in the 2004 polls.

On Esperon’s confirmation, Estrada said: "Anong magagawa ko? It’s the majority that confirmed him."

CA panel OKs Esperon promotion to 3-star general - Malaya 09.27.2006

BY DENNIS GADIL

THE committee on national defense of the Commission on Appointments (CA) yesterday gave the go-ahead for the plenary approval of the promotion of AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. to lieutenant general.

Esperon was promoted to three-star rank in August last year when he was named Army chief. The CA had not acted on this promotion when Esperon was named AFP chief last July. The post of Armed Forces chief is a four-star position.

The CA committee voted 9-2 on a motion to defer Esperon’s confirmation hearing for next week, with Senators Sergio Osmeña and Alfredo Lim voting for deferment.

The panel also voted 9-1-1 on the motion to endorse for plenary approval Esperon’s promotion. Osmeña cast the lone "no" vote while Lim abstained.

The CA recommended the confirmation of the promotion of 65 other military officers to various ranks.

If confirmed, Esperon would undergo another CA hearing for his four-star promotion.

Opposition senators could still block Esperon’s confirmation in the CA plenary today by invoking Section 20 of the CA rules. Section 20 automatically defers confirmation hearings of a government appointee when invoked.

Under the CA rules, Section 20 may be used once, and never on the last plenary session of the bicameral body before Congress adjourns its session.

Congress adjourns on Oct. 14.

Osmeña, who attended in the committee hearing on behalf of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, said he might invoke Section 20, if Estrada failed to show up today.

Estrada has registered strong opposition to the confirmation of Esperon, one of four generals implicated in the alleged rigging of the May 2004 elections to ensure the victory of President Arroyo.

"The one who requested a hearing on General Esperon is Senator Estrada but unfortunately his son took ill with dengue fever last night and he had to rush his son to the hospital. So he asked me to intercede on his behalf and ask for a deferment next week," Osmeña said.

"So I guess we’ll have to face it in the caucus and plenary tomorrow (Wednesday)," he added.

Osmeña said it is up to Estrada to invoke Sec. 20.

Asked what he would do if Estrada fails to make it to the CA plenary today, Osmeña said: "If he asks me to (invoke Section 20), I will have to."

Senate opposition members initially blocked Esperon’s confirmation on the ground that his name was mentioned in the "Hello Garci" wiretapped recordings on the alleged 2004 electoral fraud.

Esperon, after the hearing, said he never talked with controversial former elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, alleged mastermind of the cheating. He said he does not personally know Garcillano.

He also said he had nothing to do with the relief of Marine Brig. Gen. (ret.) Francisco Gudani from Lanao supposedly as part of the plot of cheat in the 2004 polls.

Gudani, who retired in October last year, was invited to the CA hearing yesterday but failed to show up. Osmeña asked the CA panel to subpoena Gudani anew for its next hearing. Gudani’s name was also mentioned in the "Hello Garci" recordings. He was relieved in September last year after testifying before the Senate on massive cheating in some Mindanao provinces.

House attempt to change legislative calendar bared - Malaya 09.25.2006

BY DENNIS GADIL

THE House of Representatives last month tried to revise the calendar of Congress to suit its charter change advocacy, sources said yesterday.

Under the "revised" calendar approved as Concurrent Resolution 34, Congress was to have adjourned last Saturday Sept. 23. The original calendar calls for a break on Oct. 14 with sessions to resume on Nov. 5

The "revised" calendar called for the resumption of session on Nov. 6 and a Christmas break starting on Dec. 21. The original calendar calls for a break starting Dec. 22.

Sources said the almost two-month break would provide congressmen more time to organize assemblies to galvanize support for amending the Charter either through a people’s initiative or constituent assembly (con-ass).

The Cha-cha drive is expected to continue during the holidays as Congress takes another month-long break from Dec. 22 to Jan. 21, 2007. In the original calendar, holiday break runs from Dec. 23 to Jan. 21, 2007.

The House likewise adopted a more "busy" session calendar by extending post-holiday sessions from Jan. 22 to March 29 contrary to the much-shorter version of Jan. 22 to Feb. 9, 2007 as provided in the original calendar.

The sources said the House sought to prolong session for 2007 to accommodate debates on proposed amendments, which could later lead to a referendum.

The sources said the House approved the "revised" calendar in a flash. The approval successfully escaped the attention of opposition stalwarts who were then strengthening their second impeachment case against President Arroyo.

Minority leader Francis Escudero was even listed as co-author of the "revised" calendar which was passed barely a week after President Arroyo delivered her State-of-the-Nation-Address.
It was endorsed by the committee on rules chaired by majority leader Prospero Nograles and transmitted to the Senate late August.

Under the Constitution, the House and Senate operate under a single legislative calendar, which is ratified by both chambers.

The 13th Congress is on its last and third regular session.

The Senate reportedly gave a mute reaction to the "revised" calendar and affirmed the original calendar through Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 16 with majority leader Francis Pangilinan as author. Sources said the House leadership was forced to withdraw its "revised" calendar as Sept. 23 drew near.

A check at the House showed that the Senate version was finally adopted barely "two weeks ago" after Nograles made a discreet motion on the floor to officially withdraw the revised version.

"They (House) yielded to the Senate calendar," a House official, who was privy to the drafting of the "revised" calendar, said over the weekend.

The House official said Nograles now claims the "revised" calendar was only a "proposal."
Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., principal drumbeater for the shift to a parliamentary system, has boasted that at least four to six senators are willing to sit in the proposed House-led constituent assembly. The House has secured a total of 190 signatures calling for the convening of a con-ass to amend the charter.

A Senate resolution declared that the chamber will not support the bid of the House to convene a con-ass unless both chambers vote separately.

It also opposed the bid of local government units and pro-Cha-cha groups to amend the Constitution via the people’s initiative, citing a high court ruling that people’s initiative lacks an enabling law.

Cha-cha advocates Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) and Sigaw ng Bayan have asked the Supreme Court to reverse its 1997 ruling declaring that there is no enabling law to activate the provision on people’s initiative.

The high court has scheduled oral arguments on the petition tomorrow.

NENE SLAMS ULAP

Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said the failure of ULAP to reveal the source of funding of its advertisements is another ground for the Supreme Court to dismiss the people’s initiative.

He said ULAP may have collected contributions from governors, mayors and other local chief executives.

The other source of funds, he said, could be Malacañang which may be using ULAP and Sigaw ng Bayan coalition to funnel the funds for the campaign for the shift to a unicameral parliamentary system.

Pimentel said that if the money is coming from the coffers of LGUs, including shares of internal revenues that are remitted by the national government, the governors and mayors should be made to explain under what authority they have channeled the funds to Cha-cha drive.

"My own inquiry into this thing indicates that there is a group here that wants to promote its own agenda and claiming that the initiative comes from the people because these advertisements are mainly intended to support the approval of the people’s initiative," he said.

He said a one-page advertisement in some broadsheets was titled "We the sovereign Filipino people are just fed up."

"We are fed up with a non-performing Senate. We are fed up with the presidential system and the bicameral legislature," the ad said.

Pimentel said the advertisements entailed enormous expenses since a full-page advertisement in a major daily easily costs P100,000.

He said the TV ads cost much more.

POLITICAL CIRCUS

Charter Change Advocacy Commission (AdCom) chairman Lito Monico Lorenzana, in a statement, said the country would be spared from traditional politics if the people choose to be under a parliamentary system.

"This country has had enough of politics, of shouting matches and grave abuse of subpoena powers. It’s about time that we spare the people of the horrible political circus," he said.

Lorenzana also said the animosity between the executive and the legislature has no place in a parliament simply because the two branches are already fused into one branch.

He said that should there be any investigation, or the Parliament decides to question a member of the Cabinet, basic courtesy is observed.

He said the unicameral system would necessitate members of Parliament to be judicious and objective in dealing with the officials of the executive branch. – With JP Lopez

Enrile bill to provide PAO autonomy from DOJ - Malaya 09.23.3006

SEN. Juan Ponce Enrile yesterday said the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) should be extricated from the clutches of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and be reborn as an "independent" and "autonomous" government agency to effectively deliver justice to marginalized clients.
And he has filed a bill to do just that.

The PAO, which provides free legal assistance to poor clients, is presently under the DOJ, which, in turn, is the legal counsel and prosecution arm of the government.

"The Secretary of Justice cannot wear two hats at the same time. With this kind of set-up, due process can never be genuinely served for as long as the prosecution and defense are housed in the same department, reporting to the same superior," Enrile said.

Enrile said PAO should be allowed to morph into an independent and autonomous legal institution to avoid suspicion of colluding with or being influenced by the DOJ. "By representing poor litigants, public service is rendered, justice is equally dispensed, their rights are protected and in terms of representation, party litigants are placed on equal footing," he said.

Enrile said PAO as a separate agency can take an independent legal position against any party in upholding its clients’ rights. "It would mean greater flexibility in the performance of its avowed legal mandate – to give life and meaning to the principles of justice, right to due process, and equal protection and access to law," he said.

Senators Panfilo Lacson and Ralph Recto had earlier batted for additional allowances for PAO lawyers "to make sure they do their jobs more effectively."

"For the past several years, the PAO has suffered from lack of personnel and lack of financial and logistical support to handle the mounting criminal cases involving poor litigants," Lacson said.

Recto said 1,016 lawyers of the Public Attorney’s Office served 4,379, 850 mostly poor clients in 2005.

He said the fiscal turnaround should result in the grant of special allowances to PAO lawyers "to prevent the fast turnover of PAO lawyers and their mass migration to lucrative private practice."

He said an increase in compensation must be prioritized when pay hikes are made to government employes. Most PAO lawyers do not even clear P20,000 a month in salaries. – Dennis Gadil

Gov’t to borrow P1B a day to finance 2007 operations - Malaya 09.23.2006

GOVERNMENT’S borrowing binge will go full blast next year as it plans to borrow up P1.07 billion a day to sustain its operations, administration Sen. Ralph Recto said yesterday.

"(This is) proof that despite good revenue stream, government is not yet totally cured of debt dependency," Recto said. "At this pace, we are not out of the debt trap yet."

The borrowings would amount to P390.8 billion based on the budget documents submitted by Malacanang to Congress. The proposed national budget for 2007 is P1.136 trillion.

Of this amount, P130.7 billion would be borrowed abroad while P260.1 billion would be sourced domestically, Recto said.

He said the fresh debts would be used to retire old debts, pay off principal amortization and plug the projected budget deficit next year.

He said government is actually borrowing an amount bigger than the projected deficit, "in anticipation perhaps of some contingencies so it is building a cash hedge."

"Clearly, the more than P1 trillion in taxes that we will collect next year will not be enough to sustain our needs so we still have to run to our usual sources of creditors," he said.

Malacañang said the income gap between the rich and the poor would soon be bridged because of the government’s fiscal reform program.

The Palace was reacting to the statement of Masahiko Takeda, senior advisor of the International Monetary Fund, that the Philippines has the widest income gap and the fastest-rising divide between the rich and the poor in the past decade.

Takeda said the inequality rose more from the "rich getting richer than the poor getting poorer" and that the economic cycle generally favored the income growth and wealth accumulation of the richer portion of the population.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said President Arroyo’s fiscal reform program is driving the country’s favorable finances and market indicators as well as the bullish outlook of various financial institutions.

Bunye said Malacañang is confident that the economy would sustain its resiliency and "strengthen through the remaining months of the year despite the vagaries in the world economy."

"Soon enough we will see the payback to the poor through improved infrastructures, enhanced social services and better education for all – as we close the income gap," he said.

Takeda said the increasing inequality is a concern among policy makers and the public. He said government should increase social and infrastructure spending in the rural areas to cut the gap with urban areas. – Dennis Gadil and Regina Bengco

SC frees Sabio, freezes Senate probe, Awaits resolution of immunity row - Malaya 09.22.206

BY EVANGELINE DE VERA

THE Supreme Court yesterday ordered the release of Good Government Chairman Camilo Sabio from Senate custody and suspended the arrest warrants against four PCGG commissioners and five officials of Philcomsat Holdings Corp. (PHC) pending resolution of the case revolving on PCGG officials’ immunity.

Agreement was also reached that the Senate committee on public corporations and government enterprises chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon in the meantime would suspend its inquiry into alleged fund diversion at PHC, Supreme Court spokesman Ismael Khan said.

At the conclusion of the oral arguments, Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban imposed a gag order on the parties until the court has resolved the PCGG’s petition for certiorari one month after the submission of the parties’ respective memoranda.

"All parties were ordered to submit memorandum in 15 days after which the court is expected to issue their decision after 30 days. The warrants versus other commissioners are likewise suspended, which means that Sabio is allowed to go home with the consent of the Senate," Khan said.

Gordon’s panel is investigating alleged mismanagement of PHC by the PCGG through its sequestered parent firm Philippine Overseas Telecommunications Corp. (POTC). PHC is the biggest stockholder in Philippine Communications Satellite Corp.

The commissioners cited by the Senate in contempt were Ricardo Abcede, Nicasio Conti, Narciso Nario and Tereso Javier.

The PHC officials were Benito Araneta, Philip Brodett, Manuel Andal, Julio Jalandoni and Luis Lokin Jr.

Sabio claimed victory.

"The SC upheld the validity of Section 4 (b) and does not limit its charter. We maintain that Section 4 (b) continues to operate. There is absolute immunity as long as these matters are within the purpose of the charter of the PCGG," Sabio said.

Sabio was referring to Executive Order No. 1, which created the PCGG. It says that "no member or staff of the Commission shall be required to testify or produce evidence in any judicial, legislative or administrative proceeding concerning matters within its official cognizance."

During interpellations, Associate Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez said Sabio’s claim of absolute immunity was weakened by his his assertion that he would comply if the Ombudsman, the Sandiganbayan or the SC would compel him and other officials to testify or produce evidence.

"Therefore you are not absolutely immune from any judicial inquiry. Then why did you advise other PCGG officials not to appear (before the Senate)?" Gutierrez said, noting that no government official under the Constitution enjoys such privilege.

Gutierrez said the refusal of the commissioners to attend the Senate hearings might be viewed as an attempt to cover up for the alleged anomalies in PHC.

"Why couldn’t you just obey the order (to appear before the Senate)? Are you just being elusive because you do not want to know what is actually happening there? Are you scared that they might ask you about the losses incurred? The truth will set you free, you know," Gutierrez said.
Sabio said he declined to appear in the inquiry as this might later affect their efforts to recover ill-gotten wealth, considering that some of the senators who are part of the inquiry have interest in these cases.

"The arrest was illegal. I did nothing wrong except that I did not want to be compelled to testify in the Senate inquiry. I don’t want to go there and present evidence which will later hamper our investigation and efforts to recover ill-gotten wealth," Sabio said.

Solicitor General Antonio Eduardo Nachura, who is representing the PCGG in the case, said the order of the Gordon committee to arrest Sabio and the other commissioners was illegal.
"Only the Senate in plenary has the power to cite officials in contempt and order their arrest and such power cannot be delegated to its committees," he said.

"The power to cite in contempt having been recognized, however, while they are vested with such power, the power to cite a witness in contempt cannot be delegated to the committees because they are not vested with such legislative power," he said.

Nachura also assailed Gordon’s committee for ignoring the rules laid down by the SC on the case of Ermita vs Senate in conducting an inquiry in aid of legislation.

He said the members of the committees failed to indicate the questions they intend to ask and also did not cite what particular law they intend to amend or the law they intend to legislate in inviting the PCGG commissioners to the inquiry.

He said the inquiry is invalid as there was no publication of Senate Rules of Procedure Governing Inquiries in Aid of legislation as well as the rules of the committees, which he said is a clear violation of the Constitution.

Sen. Joker Arroyo, who appeared as counsel for the Senate, said the ratification of the 1987 Constitution repealed Section 4 (b) of EO 1, the provision being incompatible with the Constitution.

"A provision of the 1987 Constitution provides that any incompatibility within the provisions of the Constitution with any existing law will naturally be repealed. So my respectful submission is that, with the ratification of the 1987 Constitution, EO 1, Section 4 (B) was nullified. That is why, no PCGG executives and commissioners ever invoked this particular provision," he said.

Gordon, in an interview said that despite the SC decision Sabio remains technically under arrest and would have to appear before his panel when asked to. "If he does not show up, we will arrest him again," he said. – With Dennis Gadil

PRC, NBI execs show up at Senate hearing - Malaya 09.21.2006

ONE "leak" and a recent arrest.

These were the reasons which compelled officials of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to finally show up in yesterday’s Senate hearing on the leakage that attended this year’s nursing examinations.

PRC commissioner Avelina de la Rea admitted after the hearing that their presence was mainly due to the list of questions that Sen. Bong Revilla "leaked" to their office.
"The good senator (Revilla) sent us the questions. At siyempre hindi n’yo maiaalis na may pag-aresto na naganap kamakailan. Nobody wants to be jailed," De la Rea told Senate reporters.

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, chair of the Senate committee on civil service and government reorganization, confirmed that Revilla indeed submitted a list of questions to the PRC officials but distanced his Senate panel from Revilla’s action. – Dennis Gadil

Joker to argue Senate case vs. PI at SC - Malaya 09.20.2006

SEN. Joker Arroyo will argue the Senate’s case against the people’s initiative before the Supreme Court during oral arguments set for Sept. 26.

Arroyo was designated Senate representative to the high court hearing after the Upper House decided to participate as intervenor in the petition for certiorari filed by the Sigaw ng Bayan group and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP).

Sigaw and ULAP have petitioned the high court to reverse the ruling of the Commission on Elections junking its motion for a people’s initiative to amend the Constitution and to schedule a plebiscite on their proposed amendments within 90 days.

The Comelec junked the two groups’ petition based on the SC’s own ruling in 1997 that there is no enabling law for a people’s initiative. Petitioners Raul Lambino of Sigaw and Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado of ULAP claimed that the SC has the power to overturn existing jurisprudence on people’s initiative.

Arroyo, chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee, will tangle against solicitor general Eduardo Nachura. He will be assisted by Senate legal counsel David Yap and Dean Pacifico Agabin.

"The Senate, as an institution, has actual and material interest in the subject matter of the petition and would be irreparably prejudiced if the petition is granted," the senators said in a resolution filed by Senate majority floorleader Francis Pangilinan.

Among the amendments being pushed by Sigaw and ULAP is the shift from the presidential to the parliamentary form of government, effectively abolishing the Senate.

Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. yesterday asked in a privilege speech where ULAP has been getting the money to finance its full-page ads in newspapers, and radio and television plugs endorsing the people’s initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution.

"I’d like to find out where does the money (paid for the advertisements) come from, especially the money spent by ULAP," Pimentel said.

He noted that "billions of pesos in government funds are going to the coffers of local government units as their internal revenue shares." He said the Senate should determine if the funds being used by ULAP for its pro-Charter change activities have been taken from the internal revenue allotment (IRA) of local government units.

He said the minimum P100,000 cost of advertisements in major newspapers is "a great amount of money." A one-minute radio advertisement, on the other hand, costs at least P45,000 per airing.

Sigaw and ULAP radio ads run for a minimum of 90 seconds or 1.5 minutes. They are aired at least five times a day for a total of P337,500 a day.

Pimentel said his office monitored ULAP paying for at least six full-page advertisements on Aug. 10 in the Philippine Star, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Bulletin, Manila Standard Today and in the tabloids People’s Tonight and Abante. – Dennis Gadil and JP Lopez

Sabio freed 2 days for medical check-up - Malaya 09.19.2006

BY DENNIS GADIL

PRESIDENTIAL Commission on Good Government chair Camilo Sabio was allowed yesterday by the Senate to have a check-up at the Makati Medical Center for two days starting today.

Sen. Richard Gordon, chair of the Senate committee on government corporations and public enterprises, said Sabio will be accompanied by officers from the Office of Senate Sergeant-at-Arms led by security chief Jose Balajadia Jr.

"He can leave tonight," he said.

Gordon said he would consider giving Sabio a "conditional release."

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile posed no objection to the motion filed by Sabio’s lawyer Ermin Louie Miguel for the PCGG chief’s temporary release to undergo medical check-up.

Sabio said he will be back immediately. "It’s my word of honor," he told reporters.

"I’m not yet released," he said.

Sabio said he will be back Wednesday.

The Supreme Court has directed the Senate to produce Sabio at its hearing Thursday on the latter’s petition for habeas corpus.

Sabio will check in at around 1 p.m. today and will check out noon the next day.

Sabio was arrested last week at his PCGG office in Mandaluyong on the strength of an arrest warrant issued by Gordon’s committee.

In yesterday’s hearing, Sabio said he did not encourage PCGG commissioners to defy the Senate’s warrants of arrest.

Sabio likewise thanked the Senate panel for allowing him to undergo a medical check-up.

Gordon wished him well, saying, "I hope your check-up will be all right. I remain your friend."

Sabio replied: "I will remain your friend, your honor."

Gordon suspended the hearing until Sabio returns from his check-up.

He said his panel expects to hear soon the testimony of Benito Araneta, chair of Philcomsat Holdings Corp. (PHC).

PHC is the subject of the Senate probe for allegedly being mismanaged by PCGG through its parent firm, Philippine Overseas Telecommunications Corp. (POTC), and subsidiary Philippine Communications Satellite Corp. (Philcomsat). Both POTC and Philcomsat are sequestered while PHC is publicly listed.

Former justice secretary Serafin Cuevas, Araneta’s lawyer, said his client will show up once he returns from abroad.

Araneta reportedly was in President Arroyo’s entourage which traveled to Europe, Cuba and Hawaii.

Gordon said he received "overtures" from other "wanted" PCGG officials.

"There are overtures from PCGG officials who would like to appear but pinipigilan daw sila," he said.

He said he received the calls shortly before noon of Monday.

Victor Africa, president and chair of Philcomsat, told the Senate panel that it is practically the PCGG that is blocking the owners’ efforts to regain control of PHC.

Africa said the factions contesting control of PHC have united the "owners’ group."

He said the "owners’ group" is composed of five of the six families which have a controlling stake in the PHC, namely the Africas, Ilusorios, Benedictos, Enriles and Pobladors.

Africa said the "owners’ group" is pitted against the group of former Ambassador Manuel Nieto Jr, president and chief executive officer of PHC.

He said the family of Nieto has denied association with the current management which claims to represent the "Nieto-PCGG faction." This leaves the PCGG as the sole block to a takeover by the owners.

Enrique Locsin, PHC vice president and acting board chair, told the Senate panel that the Africa-Bildner group was actually responsible for the dissipation of Philcomsat and POTC assets.

Bildner is Philcomsat president Erlinda Bildner, a daughter of the late Potenciano Ilusurio.
Locsin said the Senate should stop wasting its time engaging in a fishing expedition through the prodding of the Africa-Bildner group.

He said it was the Africa-Bildner faction which approved the sale of a P58 million Cessna plane, a P60 million helicopter, a number of villas and a lot in Cavite, the acquisition of the Montemar beach resort in Bataan and the soured investment in Oriental Petroleum shares worth P600 million. The transactions took place between mid-1990s to early 2000.

Africa and Bildner said the PCGG was aware of the transactions and its nominees approved the deals.

"The PCGG was in the board of directors," Africa said.

"The PCGG was active during those times," Bildner said.

Bildner said they sold the aircraft because it proved too costly to maintain.

She said the rest of the proceeds from the sale were used to finance Philcomsat’s retrenchment program, which downsized its 137 manpower to 22.

Mayors bat for moratorium on creation of new cities - Malaya 09.19.2006

OFFICIALS of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) yesterday asked senators for a moratorium on the creation of new cities.

The LCP, a bastion of people’s initiative advocates, trooped to the Senate to advise senators that newly-created cities effectively shrink their share of internal revenue allotment (IRA).
City mayors led by Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn and Dagupan City Mayor Amadeo Perez also expressed opposition to the House’s passage of a joint resolution exempting towns vying for cityhood from complying with Republic Act 9009.

RA 9009, which partially amended the Local Government Code, requires towns vying for cityhood to have an average annual income of P100 million for the last two consecutive years. The Local Government Code also requires prospective cities to have a territory of at least 100 square kilometers and a population of not less than 150,000.

If passed by the Senate, the counterpart resolution would allow aspirants for cityhood to skirt the law’s requirements and usher in a deluge of new cities.

Perez, a former congressman, said the House is practically passing four cityhood bills a month and this is undermining the economic development of existing cities which have to compete for their shrunken IRA every time a new city is created.

He also said the cityhood shortcut is unfair to cities which complied with the requirements.
Perez said that of the 23 cityhood candidates awaiting action by the Senate, three should be disqualified outright for not having the required land size and population: El Salvador in Misamis Oriental, Pototan in Iloilo and San Juan in Metro Manila. – Dennis Gadil

Gordon proposes abolition of PCGG - Malaya 09.18.2006

BY DENNIS GADIL

SEN. Richard Gordon yesterday said he will soon file a bill seeking to abolish the Presidential Commission on Good Government for allegedly milking sequestered corporations suspected to be owned by cronies of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.

"Matagal na ang 20 years. Meron na ba silang napakulong? Ilan bilyon ang nasa kanilang pag-iingat na nasa mga sequestered corporations?" Gordon said in an interview.

The PCGG was created in February 1986 with the purpose of retrieving the ill-gotten wealth of Marcos and his cronies.

Gordon, chair of the committee on government corporations and public enterprises which is investigating the mismanagement of Philcomsat Holdings Corp. (PHC), said his proposal will breeze through the Senate and will likely get the support of the House of Representatives, where many members have been calling for PCGG’s abolition.

"Palagay ko makakakuha kami ng suporta ng Kongreso," he said.

Gordon said under the law that his Senate committee envisions, the Sandiganbayan and Ombudsman will take over the job of the PCGG.

He said the proposed law will also require that all sequestered corporations be finally privatized to shore up government revenues and stop these firms from becoming milking cows of PCGG nominees.

On Friday, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile produced stacks of photo-copied documents which he said showed that officers of PHC abused their positions and milked the holding firm.

The documents, which were received by Gordon’s committee, included Bank of the Philippine Islands checks encashed by Johnny Tan, assistant vice president and accountant of PHC, between January and April 2004.

PHC is a major stockholder in the sequestered Philippine Communication Satellite Corp. (Philcomsat).

The checks range from P54,000 to P1 million.

Also presented were photocopies of several checks issued to Manuel Andal, PHC treasurer and chief financial officer, between January and March 2004, ranging from P3,000 to P62,775.51.

Other documents were photocopies of:

* A check worth P75,000 issued to Ernesto U. Pereda and/or Oragonon Bikol News magazine, allegedly requested by Andal.

* A typewritten reimbursement list of Andal for Feb. 1 to 28, 2005 totaling P87,542.

* A typewritten reimbursement list of Andal for May 28 to June 28, 2004 amounting to P45,036.

* Nine checks issued to PHC president Enrique Locsin between January to April 2004, from as low as P18,000 to as high as P83,158.95.

* Three checks issued to Philip Brodett, PHC director and vice president, between January and March 2004, ranging from P73,933.75 to P100,000.

* A public relations contract signed by Tan and Melvyn Martin, president of Martin Associates Inc., on May 23, 2006.

* A voucher in the amount of P224,000 issued to Melvyn Martin by PHC.

* A typewritten listing of cash deposits made by Monet Pangilinan, secretary of PCGG Commissioner Ricardo Abcede at the PHC and niece of Andal’s wife, totaling P172,000.

US court rejects petition for bail of ‘Joc Joc’ Battling Lou Gehrig's disease - Malaya 09.15.2006

A UNITED States district court in Northern Illinois has rejected the petition for bail by former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Jocjoc" Bolante, according to lawyer Harry Roque in a television interview shown over GMA-Channel 7.

Roque said the court also rejected Bolante’s petition for the court to dismiss Roque’s amicus brief, although the judge said the brief would be "under advice."

Roque and other lawyers from the Philippines submitted the amicus brief to oppose Bolante’s bid for bail, habeas corpus and asylum.

The brief also asked the court to deport Bolante to the Philippines where he is being investigated for allegedly diverting P728 million in fertilizer funds to the campaign chest of President Arroyo in 2004.

The court set another hearing on Bolante’s case for September 27.

Bolante has been in detention since July 7 when he was taken in custody upon landing in Los Angeles from Inchon, Korea, for a cancelled visa.

Court records show his B1/B 2 was cancelled by the US Embassy on the request of the Senate which had issued an order for his arrest.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Malacañang’s alleged plan to file a diplomatic protest regarding Bolante’s arrest in the US shows government’s true colors.

"Their slips are now showing. It only proves that no matter how they camouflage it, their true colors will show. No matter how Malacañang proclaims they don’t have anything to do with Bolante, their true sentiment will prevail in the end, or at least when the heat starts to radiate towards their direction," Lacson said.

Lacson said the plan, as bared by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, belies government’s repeated claims that it will not assist Bolante except with "mandatory" consular assistance provided a Filipino in a foreign country, a claim reiterated yesterday by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

Reports from Brussels quoted Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo as saying the planned diplomatic protest was the "recommendation" of Santiago who joined President Arroyo in her five-nation, nine-day trip.

Lacson also raised the question of who is paying Bolante’s American lawyers from Azulay, Horn and Seiden LLC, which is said to be among the biggest law firms in the US.

"Who is assisting Bolante in paying all his legal fees to the fourth biggest law firm in the US?" Lacson said.

Roque has said one would need "access to billions of pesos" to hire the services of this firm which, he said, "charges by the hour."

Roque said Bolante’s arrest was in pursuit of US government policy not to grant safe haven to "kleptocrats."

Lacson said Santiago’s "recommendation" to Malacañang shows "there is no doubt she is a Malacañang ally."

In his petition for habeas corpus with the US district court for the Northern District of Illinois, Bolante has impleaded US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. – Dennis Gadil and Regina Bengco

Gordon, Sabio in shouting match over immunity - Malaya 09.15.2006

BY JP LOPEZ

A DEBATE on a two-decade-old executive order issued during the revolutionary government of President Corazon Aquino resulted yesterday in a shouting match between Sen. Richard Gordon and Camilo Sabio, chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government who has been under Senate detention since Tuesday.

Sabio appeared at the resumption of the Senate investigation on the reported anomalous losses of the Philippine Holdings Corp. (PHC) but remained defiant and refused to answer questions from senators.

He maintained that Executive Order 1 grants PCGG officials immunity from judicial, legislative and administrative inquiries. Under the EO, he said, they also could not be compelled to produce documents during such investigations.

But Gordon said EO 1, which created the PCGG, was issued when there was no constitutional government in existence.

The PCGG, which was tasked to recover the alleged ill-gotten wealth of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, supervises PHC which is a major stockholder in the sequestered Philippine Communications Satellite Corp. (Philcomsat).

Gordon said 1987 Constitution, ratified a year after the PCGG was created, nullified the supposed immunity of commission officials.

Gordon first asked Sabio when was the EO issued and when was the Constitution ratified.
Instead of answering the question, Sabio lectured senators on the provisions of EO1.

"My question is very simple. When was Executive Order No. 1 issued?" Gordon asked.

"I am answering the question," Sabio said.

"No you are arguing," Gordon said.

"I have to argue. I have to state the reason … would like to put my answer in context," Sabio said.

"Thank you very much. I am being polite to you," Gordon said.

"I am polite," Sabio said.

"No you’re not polite. You’re raising your voice," Gordon said. "I do not appreciate the lecture and the high-handedness by which the resource person (Sabio) has treated the committee."

"Do not abuse me, you have no right to abuse me," Sabio said.

Sabio contested claims by senators that the 1987 Constitution superseded EO 1. He cited the PCGG v Pena ruling of the Supreme Court in 1988, which he said upheld the PCGG’s power.

He said Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile even sought an amendment to the executive order, recognizing the validity of the law.

Enrile, who inhibited himself at the start of the hearing, was forced to react on Sabio’s reference to him.

Enrile said he never questioned the validity of the executive order, only the provision that gives PCGG officials absolute immunity from investigations.

"I am not the Supreme Court. My opinion is that the EO 1 has outlived its usefulness," Enrile said.

"Since there is no remedy for me as a senator… I decided to use my prerogative as a legislator to expunge from the statute book the provision that you are using in order to exercise a right of immunity," he said.

ABOVE THE LAW

Sabio said although they are dispensed from attending inquiries, it does not mean that they are above the law.

In turn, he asked the Senate not to be above the law, saying the inquiry is not in aid of legislation.

"It is our contention here that this is not in aid of legislation because (this investigation) is not necessary," Sabio said.

He said what the senators need could be obtained from the Sandiganbayan and the Supreme Court.

After the shouting match, Gordon was seen giving a glass of water to Sabio.

A calmer Sabio then faced questioning by Sen. Sergio Osmeña III, who requested that the Senate panel be furnished a listing of the PCGG’s shares of stocks in sequestered corporations where it has directorships.

Sabio told Osmeña that PCGG officials who are named government representatives in sequestered companies are entitled to an allowance of P10,000 a month or P120,000 a year, based on a memorandum circular issued by President Fidel Ramos.

He declined to answer questions on whether PCGG officials get perks other than the stipend for their directorial seats.

STILL DETAINED

Gordon said Sabio would stay under Senate custody until Sept. 21.

The Supreme Court has ordered the Senate to present Sabio in court on Sept. 21 during oral arguments on Sabio’s petitions for a writ of habeas corpus and certiorari and permanent injunction.

"We will present him before the SC on Sept. 21, if that is what the SC ordered. In the meantime, he will stay here," Gordon said in an ambush interview.

Ismael Khan, Supreme Court spokesman and assistant court administrator, said the oral arguments on Sept. 21 will push through even if it is a holiday.

"This is an unusual matter considering that the justices met immediately and scheduled the oral argument and the writ is issued by the court itself and not by the Court of Appeals," he said.
Gordon said the Senate’s legal defense will be prepared by Senate legal counsel David Yap.
Gordon scheduled the next committee hearing today.

Gordon said he would have asked his colleagues to allow Sabio to go home yesterday for humanitarian reasons had the PCGG chairman not been too "high-handed and disrespectful."
He said he will personally recommend Sabio’s release from Senate custody "if he cooperates and testifies before us."

Senate security officials have yet to arrest other PCGG officials and executives of PHC.

Subject of arrest orders are PCCG Commissioners Ricardo Abcede, Narciso Nario, Nicasio Conti and Tereso Javier and PHC officials Benito Araneta, board chairman; Philip Brodett, director and vice president; Manuel Andal, treasurer; and directors Julio Jalandoni Luis Lokin Jr.

FEELERS

Senate sergeant-at-arms Jose Balajadia said some of the PCGG and PHC officials have sent emissaries saying they would want to discuss the terms of their arrest.

"May mga vibrations akong natatanggap. Gusto daw makipag-usap sa akin," Balajadia said.
He said he turned them down and told the emissaries to go directly to Gordon.

"Sabi ko sa kanila mabuting kausapin nila si Sen. Gordon, hindi ako. I’m just following orders," Balajadia said.

Balajadia declined to give the names of the PHC and PCGG officials or their emissaries.
He said they had difficulty arresting the officials.

"Mahirap ito kasi bukod sa marami silang kaibigan ay marami pa silang pera," he said.
Balajadia said they would file charges against individuals found to be protecting or hiding the wanted officials.

"We will charge them. That’s harboring fugitives," he said.

Malacañang is hoping that the Senate and the PCGG would have a "meeting of minds" to settle their differences.

Presidential Adviser for political affairs Gabriel Claudio said what transpired in the Senate, particularly the exchange between Gordon and Sabio, was "a horrible scene."
He also described it as "most regrettable" and "unfortunate."

Claudio said he was sure neither Gordon nor Sabio wanted that exchange to happen.

BULLYING

Administration Congressmen Gerry Salapuddin (Lakas, Basilan) and Douglas Cagas (NPC, Davao del Sur) warned of a constitutional crisis if the Senate would continue to "bully" the administration by threatening to arrest officials who refused to attend investigations in aid of legislation.

They suggested a dialogue between the Senate and the Executive to head off the possible constitutional crisis which they said could arise from the hard-line stance of both parties regarding invitations of administration officials to Senate hearings.

"Senators should realize that officials are refusing to testify in their probes for fear of getting embarrassed or humiliated by senators. They lambaste, prejudge and accuse officials as if they are all inept and corrupt. Perhaps officials will be more encouraged to attend the hearings if they are assured of proper treatment," he said. – With Czeriza Valencia, Jocelyn Montemayor, Dennis Gadil and Wendell Vigilia

Gordon to Abcede: Be man enough - 09.14.2006

BY JP LOPEZ

SEN. Richard Gordon yesterday challenged Commissioner Ricardo Abcede of the Presidential Commission on Good Government "to be man enough" and submit himself to Senate inquiry.
Abcede, subject of an arrest warrant issued by the Senate for ignoring summonses, earlier said he was not hiding.

"I am not hiding because for me this is an illegal act. I cannot be part of a criminal act by the Senate," Abcede said.

Senate security on Wednesday arrested PCGG Chairman Camilo Sabio at the PCGG office in Mandaluyong City.

Senate security failed to serve the warrants on Abcede and Commissioners Narciso Nario, Nicasio Conti and Tereso Javier who have thrice snubbed the hearings of the committee on government corporations and public enterprises which is looking into the fund mess at Philcomsat Holdings Corp. (PHC), together with the committee on public services headed by Sen. Joker Arroyo.

Several PHC officials have also been issued arrest warrants by the Senate. They are Benito Araneta, board chairman; Philip Brodett, director and vice president; Manuel Andal, treasurer; and directors Julio Jalandoni Luis Lokin Jr. They were not at their office in Makati when Senare security sought to serve the warrants.

Gordon said he hoped other PCGG officials would show up.

"Sana … yung ibang mga commissioners na hindi pa dumadating, imbes na nagtatago sila, they should follow the sample of their chairman (Sabio)," Gordon said.

"Dapat magpakalalaki… kung ako ang kasama ni chairman, the man that I think I am, I would go, I would go beside my chairman," he added. "Hindi yung sasabihin mo na you’re fighting, which is very, very defiant and very arrogant when in fact you’re hiding," he said.

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile said Abcede is reputedly a gambler who frequents casinos at night.

"(So) we know where to find him," Enrile said.

Enrile also said Abcede is protecting the group of Araneta because of the perks he enjoyed, including a brand new Toyota Camry worth P1.7 million.

The Gordon panel has discovered that the Toyota Camry was delivered at Abcede’s house on Amorsolo st. in Makati City sometime in August.

Gordon has said the vehicle was tantamount to a bribe.

LIBEL CASE

Enrile said he is mulling a libel suit against Abcede for tagging him a "Marcos crony."
Enrile said while he held several positions during the administration of the President Ferdinand Marcos, this did not necessarily mean he was a Marcos crony. An investigation conducted during the Aquino administration did not prove him a crony, he said.

Enrile said Abcede recently met with him and his daughter Katrina at the Manila Peninsula. In that meeting, Enrile said, Abcede offered positions at the Philcomsat.

Enrile has told the Senate his family indirectly owns interest in Philcomsat. The Enriles own 6.6 percent of Philippine Overseas Telecommunications Corp., a firm that is 100 percent owned by Philcomsat. PHC, on the other hand, is 80 percent owned by Philcomsat.

Gordon said he might ask the justice department and the Bureau of Immigration to issue hold departure order against the PCGG and PHC officials who are subject of the Senate’s arrest order.

"Si (Ricardo) Abcede ang tatamaan dito," Gordon said.

He said he will formally raise the proposal during today’s resumption of hearing.
Gordon said the PCGG, which has been in existence for almost two decades, has failed in its mission, particularly the recovery of the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses.

"Unfortunately, these commissioners are good only for commissions," Gordon said.
CASE GOES TO SC

Government lawyers asked the Supreme Court to compel the Senate to present Sabio before the tribunal and to justify his arrest and imprisonment.

In a 63-page petition for habeas corpus, PCGG legal department director Jay Miguel assailed the legality of Sabio’s detention.

Miguel also asked the high court to nullify all orders and issuances of the Senate relative to Sabio’s detention and to permanently restrain the Senate from ordering his arrest and detention.

The pleading was basically the same in content as the petition for certiorari that the PCGG filed on Tuesday.

HIGHLY IRREGULAR

The PCGG said the inquiries are highly irregular with the participation of Enrile who has minority interest in Philcomsat.

"The matter subject of the inquiries cover ill-gotten wealth cases instituted by the Republic wherein respondent Senator Enrile was impleaded as a principal defendant. Being a principal defendant in the aforementioned cases, and given his clear pecuniary interest in the corporations subject of the inquiries of the Senate committees, Senator Enrile’s membership and active participation in the proceedings thereof are irregular," petitioners said.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez disputed the statement of Senator Joker Arroyo that EO 1 has been repealed by the 1987 Constitution.

"I don’t think it has been repealed. If at all the Constitution may have to be construed in connection with that EO but there is no specific pronouncement that I know," he said.

Gonzalez, however, said Malacanang would not meddle in the controversy because the PCGG officials have not invoked executive privilege, only EO 1.

"I don’t think it involves the executive privilege because what is invoked is EO 1, an executive order that was issued specifically for PCGG. And it is not GMA who issued that. That is now being litigated in SC, that is actually sub judice," he added.

Gonzalez further said he does not believe that a constitutional crisis would ensue because of Sabio’s arrest.

"I don’t see that it would aggravate that far because this is now a matter on whether EO I has been repealed or not or whether PCGG can invoke EO No. 1. As long as we will respect SC decision. I don’t think it will take a long time," he said.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said they fully support Sabio and the other PCGG officials who invoked EO 1.

ABNORMAL BP

Sabio continued to have abnormal blood pressure up to yesterday morning, according to Dr. Mariano Blancia, Senate medical director.

Blancia said Sabio’s blood pressure shot up to 140/100 from Tuesday night’s 130/90.
He said his team and the physician of Sabio agreed that the PCGG chief should be taken to a hospital.

"It’s better for him to stay in the hospital," Blancia said.
Gordon said the Senate panel would not object to the doctors’ recommendation. He said it is Sabio who refuses to be taken to a hospital.

"It’s up to him. There’s no objection from any member of the committee," he said.

Blancia confirmed that the 70-year old Sabio refuses to be hospitalized. – With Dennis Gadil, Evangeline de Vera and Jocelyn Montemayor

PCGG chair arrestedfor snubbing Senate - Malaya 09.13.2006

BY DENNIS GADIL

THE Senate yesterday showed its teeth in going after officials who snub its committee hearings by arresting Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) chairman Camilo Sabio.

The warrant of arrest was served at Sabio’s office in Edsa, Mandaluyong, around 10 a.m. It was signed by Senate President Manuel Villar Monday night.

PCGG commissioners Ricardo Abcede, Narciso Nario, Nicasio Conti and Tereso Javier were not around when the members of the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms (OSSAA) headed by retired Brig. Gen. Jose Balajadia came to serve their arrest warrants.

The PCGG supervises the Philcomsat Holdings Corp. (PHC) which is major stockholder in the sequestered Philippine Communications Satellite Corp. (Philcomsat).

Sabio, a former House secretary general, said he will question his arrest before the Supreme Court.

Sabio said he yielded to the Senate order but maintained that his arrest was "null and void from the beginning."

PCGG lawyers led by Jay Miguel said they will file a petition for habeas corpus. He said the Office of the Solicitor General is drafting the petition.

Miguel said they will continue to invoke Executive Order 1, which created the PCGG and provides the agency blanket immunity from judicial and congressional investigations.
"There’s a legal basis for refusing to attend the Senate inquiry," Miguel said.

Sen. Richard Gordon, whose Senate committee on government corporations and public enterprises initiated the arrest orders on motion by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, appealed to officials of PCGG and PHC to follow Sabio’s example.

Senate security forces failed to serve the warrants on PHC board chair Benito Araneta, director and vice president Philip Brodett, treasurer Manuel Andal, and directors Julio Jalandoni and Luis Lokin Jr. at the company’s office in Makati.

Balajadia said they will serve the arrest warrants at the residences of the PHC officials.
Gordon said Sabio was in high spirits at the Senate clinic.

Mariano Blancia, Senate medical director, said they will recommend to the Gordon panel that Sabio be immediately transferred to a hospital due to his erratic blood pressure.

Blancia said Sabio was on maintenance drugs.

He said they are awaiting Sabio’s medical history from his cardiologist. He said they will still have to make a formal recommendation to the Senate joint panel.

Sabio’s blood pressure shot up to 120 over 100, prompting Gordon to order the temporary detention of Sabio at the Senate clinic for observation.

Gordon said the Senate is prepared to bring Sabio to any medical facility if his condition worsens.

PCGG co-legal counsel Tomas Evangelista said Sabio was "sickly and could be suffering from asthma."

He said Sabio does not often read or watch news reports, which should explain why he was caught unaware by the service of the warrant.

Evangelista said the arrest was an "overkill."

Senate sources said Sabio got a call from Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita during his transit to the Senate building. Ermita apparently was confirming Sabio’s arrest.

The sources said Ermita promised Sabio that the government would exert all efforts to have him released.

Gordon said the PCGG could no longer invoke EO 1 since it was issued under a revolutionary government.

He cited a Supreme Court ruling saying that as a co-equal branch, the high tribunal can look into PCGG’s actions.

Gordon said the Senate, being a co-equal body of the executive and the judiciary, also possesses the same powers.

Sen. Joker Arroyo, chair of the committee on public services, said Sabio "cannot invoke EO 1 dated February 1986 for the simple reason that the provision has been effectively repealed by the Constitution, Article VI, Section 21 and 22."

"In Feb. 1986, we had no Congress, there were no legislative investigations. All that Commissioner Sabio has to do is to answer questions that he has been asked but which he refused to answer invoking provisions in EO 1," said Sen. Arroyo, who was executive secretary of President Corazon Aquino when the EO was issued.

EO 1 exempts the PCGG and its officials from appearing and submitting documents in any judicial, legislative or administrative proceedings.

Sen. Franklin Drilon said Sabio’s arrest clearly shows that the Senate "was prepared to assert its authority."

"This is a warning to the bureaucracy that when summons are issued by the Senate, my friendly advice to all of you is to heed the summons because this is part of the function of the legislature," Drilon, a former Senate president, said.

Drilon said under the Senate rules, persons ordered arrested and detained by the Senate would be set free only "until they would cleanse themselves of their contemptuous conduct by testifying."

Sabio will have his chance to testify on Thursday when the Gordon panel resumes its Philcomsat hearing.

The Gordon panel, which is probing PHC’s alleged mismanagement with Sen. Arroyo’s committee on public services, was forced to issue the arrest orders after PHC and PCGG officials snubbed the joint panel hearings three consecutive times.

GRAVE ABUSE OF DISCRETION

The PCGG filed a petition at the Supreme Court seeking to nullify the issuance of a warrant of arrest by the Senate against its officers and to enjoin Senate from compelling the commissioners to testify and produce evidence before them.

Solicitor General Eduardo Nachura said the arrest warrant issued by the Senate committee was in excess of its jurisdiction and with grave abuse of discretion, considering that the inquiries conducted by respondent committees are not in aid of legislation.

"Proceedings were conducted in the absence of duly published rules of procedure, and (respondent committees) are not vested with the power of contempt. The questioned inquiries are rendered all the more anomalous with the active participation of respondent Senator Juan Ponce Enrile," Nachura said.

The OSG said there is no justifiable ground for Gordon’s committee to plainly ignore or discard Section 4(b) of EO 1.

Under this provision, "no member or staff of the Commission shall be required to testify or produce evidence in any judicial, legislative or administrative proceeding concerning matters within its official cognizance."

"The validity and constitutionality of the above provision of law has not been questioned.

Section 4(b) of EO 1 thereby constitutes a limitation on the power of the legislative inquiry and a recognition by the State of the need to provide protection to the PCGG in order to ensure the unhampered performance of its duties under its charter," Nachura said.

Senate arrest warrants poised on PCGG officials - Malaya 09.12.2006

BY DENNIS GADIL

THE Senate committee on government corporations and public enterprises yesterday moved to cite in contempt officials of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and Philcomsat Holdings Corp. (PHC) for snubbing its hearing on the PHC fund mess for the third time.

"I move that this committee cite all those officials mentioned in contempt of the Senate and direct the Senate sergeant-at-arms, with the assistance of the law enforcement units of the Republic, to cause their arrest and bring them here," said Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, a senior committee member.

The PCGG officials are chairman Camilo Sabio and commissioners Ricardo Abcede, Nicasio Ponti, Tereso Javier and Narciso Nario.

The PHC officials are board chairman Benito Araneta, director and vice president Philip Brodett, treasurer Manuel Andal and directors Luis Lokin Jr. and Julio Jalandoni.

PHC director Guy de Leon, assistant treasurer Honorio Poblador, accounting head Johnny Tan, and external auditor Virgilio Santos were not included in the arrest order despite their absence yesterday.

Only Philcomsat and Philippine Overseas Telecommunications Corp. (POTC) director Victor Africa and PHC vice president Enrique Locsin showed up at the hearing.

Sen. Richard Gordon, committee chair, said his panel and the committee on public services of Sen. Joker Arroyo expect Senate President Manny Villar to soon sign the arrest warrants.

"The motion would be circulated among the members for signatures. Upon signing of the resolution, the motion will be enforced," Gordon said.

As of 6 p.m., 14 senators have signed the motion directing sergeant-at-arms Maj. Gen. Jose Balajadia to enforce the order.

Arroyo supports the move of the Gordon panel.

"It’s all up to him. I told him already," he said.

Both panels need seven signatures each from their members to secure a majority.

Enrile said the issuance of arrest warrants was within the prerogative of the Senate to exercise its "coercive powers."

"The separation of powers should be obeyed and constitutionalism upheld. They may seek relief from the Supreme Court, they may do so," he said.

Enrile, whose family indirectly and partially owns PHC, said the Senate could not just sit down and take no action.

Enrile said Executive Order 1 (EO) which created the PCGG should be amended to lift the "immunity" of its officials from being subjected to congressional hearings. "That immunization provision is unconstitutional," he said.

The PCGG officials led by Sabio have invoked EO 1 in skipping the Senate hearings.

Sabio told the committee in a letter that they are invoking the EO 1’s provision which says that no member or staff of the Commission shall be required to testify or produce evidence in any judicial, legislative or administrative proceeding concerning matters within its official cognizance.

Gordon said there was also a need to re-assess the performance of sequestered corporations to determine if the PCGG has been faithful to its mandate.

In last week’s hearing, Erlinda Bildner, a stockholder of PHC, said the "dissipation" of the company’s finances continues even while a Senate probe into the corporations’ alleged fund diversion is going on.

"Since the last hearing, P10 million got out or was spent on advances by PHC to POTC and Philcomsat," Bildner, who sits in the PHC board, said.

Bildner, who is also president of Philippine Communications Satellite Corp. (Philcomsat), which has a stake in PHC, said the P10 million advances did not pass through the approval of the PHC board.

She said the questionable advances occurred between March 31 and June 30, 2006. The Gordon panel held its first hearing last May.

She said a P1.6-million 2006 model Toyota Camry was also purchased by the PHC for Abcede who sits in the PHC. The purchase order was originally under the name of Abcede but the name was crossed out and was replaced with the handwritten name of PHC.

Bildner said the luxury vehicle, which was acquired on Aug. 12, 2006, was delivered to Abcede’s residence at No. 120 Amorsolo st., Makati City.

The purchase was processed through Tan.

PHC is a subsidiary of the Philcomsat, which in turn is a subsidiary of POTC as the parent firm. The government owns 28 percent of PHC by virtue of its 35 percent stake in Philcomsat.

Palace rules out new taxmeasures - Malaya 09.11.2006

MALACAÑANG has ruled out new tax measures but said it will work for full compliance with the reformed value added tax (RVAT) law next year to bankroll its "super region" programs and to expand coverage of the cash-strapped Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
"While we will work for the full compliance of the (RVAT) law. We do not intend to expand its coverage. But we will not hesitate to temper the law if there is a need for it," President Arroyo told senators and congressmen in her budget message which contained the proposed P1.13 trillion outlay for 2007.

Arroyo said "basic commodities and socially-sensitive products such as vegetables, meat, fish and the like" will continue to be exempted from RVAT even as she warned that the full force of digital technology will be used to run after evaders.

She also said there is a need to "mitigate the adverse impact" of the 70 percent cap on RVAT input claims by business establishments.

Business is asking that RVAT input payments be 100 percent deductible from output payments.

President Arroyo said bulk of RVAT collections next year will bankroll her "super regions" vision that she outlined in her State-of-the-Nation Address last July 24. The "super regions" vision calls for pump-priming through massive social and infrastructure development programs in provinces targeted for economic take-off.

"A great deal of RVAT collections will be plowed back to social services and infrastructure projects in the super regions," she said.

She said a portion of RVAT windfall would also be channeled to cash-strapped PhilHealth to recruit more indigents under its health coverage in 2007, an election year.

Malacañang said that as of May this year, the number of PhilHealth members reached 15.2 million from 13.4 million in 2005. The 15-million mark was last seen in 2004 when membership sharply rose from 9.9 million in what critics said was a campaign to buy election support for the administration.

Arroyo expects to expand PhilHealth’s coverage to 22.44 million in 2007.

The President warned that the full force of "internet technology" would be used against suspected tax evaders, who were compromising her government’s tax collection efforts.
"We will use information technology to flush out tax dodgers, improve tax take and handle taxpayer queries," the President said.

Some P815 million was allocated to the BIR to put up a super computer network that would wire all its district offices and allied agencies.

The government expects to rake in P75.9 billion in RVAT collection this year and hopes to increase it to P89.4 billion in 2007.

Goods and services under the RVAT list are slapped with a 12 percent tax from the original 10 percent tax when the first expanded value added tax was introduced years ago.

Congress, upon prodding of Malacañang, expanded the list last year by including previously exempted sectors such as the air-sea transport industry and the medical profession.

The President said her government is projecting a revenue collection of P1.12 trillion in 2007, of which P784.1 billion will come from Bureau of Internal Revenue and P235.1 billion from the Bureau of Customs. – Dennis Gadil

SSBT ISSUE: Who's barking up the wrong tree? - Tinig ng Marino Sept to Oct 2001

By DENNIS GADIL

THE brouhaha generated by the mandatory training of marine deck officers in the course of Ship Simulator and Bridge Teamwork (SSBT) appears to be “premature.” Maritime experts and scholars who choose to stay on the sidelines of the ongoing debate between proponents and oppositors to the SSBT course as part, among others of the compliance to the 95 STCW Convention have entered the picture to put the debate on proper perspective.

Even a high-ranking official of the Professional Regulations Commission -- who at the inception of SSBT, strongly backed the mandatory implementation of the course -- was reported to have had a change of heart.

MISSING LINK

For one, they said, there is a “missing gap” in the bridge teamwork training of deck officers which is a preparatory course called the “Basic Shiphandling and Maneuvering Course” or BSMC.

Second, the preparatory course, the BSMC is an almost forgotten training course that has been relegated as a mere textbook curriculum in most maritime schools and has not been identified as among the required training courses in IMO’s Standard for Training Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention, as amended in 1995.

Third, concerned maritime authorities like the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) and the Maritime Training Council (MTC) are not aware of the importance of the course to the overall training of deck officers in demonstrating their competency in bridge teamwork functions.

Fourth, the IMO, through the amended STCW Convention, has “presumed” that Filipino deck officers – and their counterparts abroad – were already proficient in the BSMC that’s why the world maritime body did not bother including the course as among the mandatory model courses under the 95 STCW Convention.

The BSMC as a preparatory course is actually envisioned to arm marine officers with the basic knowledge and skill in handling and maneuvering the vessels from its berthing and undocking positions, in all conditions, through the use of simulators. No training center, however, offers such course which, according to good-minded maritime leaders, leaves a big loophole in the over-all competency of deck officers in managing the bridge and in maneuvering their vessels. The course, they said, should have been taken first as part of their mandatory training and even before taking the SSBT course.

PREMATURE DEBATE

When seafarers, including deck officers, were instructed to upgrade their certificates to comply with the amendments set forth in the 95 STCW Convention, the controversy on the necessity of the SSBT as mandatory training course arose. A debate erupted between manning agencies and maritime training centers.

Those opposing the mandatory training argued that aside from spending alot of money for the training because they have already experiences in bridge teamwork while serving their ships.
They stressed that the “in service experience” derived by deck officers while onboard their ships was enough to demonstrate and prove their competency in bridge teamwork procedures.

Capt. Nestor Vargas of Gallant Maritime Services, the leading voice against the mandatory training, said the simulator training being provided by local training centers lacks “physical realism” to actually test the competency of deck officers. He added that the training centers are only cashing in on the mandatory training requirements by charging exorbitant fees.

A one-week course in bridge teamwork procedures cost around $200 or about 20,000 while other centers charge between $700 to $950. IDESS is charging $950, Norwegian Training Center, $750; PTC, $700; NYK, $650; and Protect Marine, $200.

There are about 33,000 deck officers while only about 10,000 are currently employed onboard international vessels.

On the other hand, Engr. Antonino Gascon of Protect Marine said experiences and training derived by the marine officers were part of the old STCW and should be upgraded based on revised STCW 95. Citing a book on how to understand the STCW 95 by Capt. WSG Morrison, Gascon argued that the completion of refresher and updating training or demonstration of competence by the use, among others, of integrated bridge system were the “minimum standards of STCW.”

Gascon even warned that should the country fail to provide proof of bridge competency for our marine officers, international maritime authorities like the United States might use this to blacklist Filipino seamen. He said even the US Coast Guard has started to order US marine officers to prove their competency in bridge teamwork procedures in compliance with STCW 95.
PRC Commissioner Alfonso Abad nevertheless stressed the importance of using simulators in training to improve the competency of marine officers and in pursuant to the provision of the STCW 95. He was, however, vague on whether the SSBT course should be made compulsory as big-time training operators lobby for the Commission’s favorable decision on the issue.

SIX ‘DOF’

But before the debate on SSBT broke out, the course on shiphandling and maneuvering or BSMC were only taught as a textbook subject in maritime academies. The actual use of a vessel, however, was next to impossible that time since it was deemed very “risky” and “costly” once the ship runs into major mishaps during the maneuvering and shiphandling exercises. The basic objective of the training was supposedly to familiarize the seafarer or the deck officer in the various basic movements of the vessels, aptly called as the “Six Degrees of Freedom” or "6 DOF." These six movements are “surge”, “sway”, “yaw”, “roll”, “pitch” and “heave.” And with the introduction of simulators, the basic principles and its actual application could be learned in a room where a simulator is installed.

But Capt. Edwin Itable, president and maritime lecturer at the Eureka Maritime Foundation, revealed that all the existing training simulators used by training centers in the country lacked “behavioral realism” which is imperative in grasping the 6 DOF. He said the present batch of training simulators that are in use today are “Class B” type of simulators which could only provide “visual realism.” According to him, only “Class A” type of simulators are capable of providing “behavioral realism.” He said what SSBT course could only offer is the know-how and training in running the bridge but not the skills and training on how to maneuver the vessel. At present, all of the maritime training centers offering the SSBT course use the Class-B type of simulators.

BEHAVIORAL REALISM

Based on the IMO-approved handbook on training simulators, a simulator equipment that provides behavioral realism must “realistically simulate a ship’s hydrodynamics in open water conditions, including the effects of wind forces, wave forces, tidal stream and currents.” The simulator must also “realistically simulate ship hydrodynamics in restricted waterways, including shallow water and bank effects, interaction with other ships and sheer current.”

Itable said the above requirements for simulator are essential in training the marine deck officer of the basic movements and maneuvering of the vessels. In essence, he said, the marine officer, particularly the deck officer, must familiarize himself first with the basic movements of the ship before he goes into learning the aspect of bridge teamwork. He said the above requirements for simulator are essential in training the marine officer of the basic movements and maneuvering of the vessel.

Itable stressed this was precisely the reason why the debate about the SSBT was premature and therefore, misplaced. He said added that without the training on basic shiphandling and maneuvering, any marine officer is sure to imbibe ‘negative learning.”

“Kapag tinuloy pa natin ang SSBT, without the preparatory course on basic ship maneuvering magkakaroon ng negative learning ang marine officers because of negative knowledge,” he stressed.

TOO ADVANCED

Maritime scholar and instructor Edgar Martinez said the SSBT course was too advanced for an inexperienced junior marine officer to appreciate. He said only senior marine officers like chief mates and master mariners could appreciate the SSBT course since they have already the adequate “on-board experience” in bridge teamwork.

Martinez, a World Maritime University graduate, boldly stated that all active marine officers, including third and second mates, must take the basic shiphandling and maneuvering course once the government declares it as a mandatory course. He stressed that the PRC must push for the course as a mandatory training since it was the one issuing the competency certificates of marine officers. "To fast-track the re-training of all marine officers in shiphandling and maneuvering, the training centers could make do with their Class B simulators while the others are in the process of upgrading," he explained.

But he stressed that Class A type of simulators which provide “behavioural realism” must be used in the training of harbor pilots.

Ideally, only harbor pilots should be trained on the aspect of shiphandling and maneuvering since they are the ones usually tapped by shipowners to guide their vessels when anchoring or undocking from ports.

BACK TO BASICS

Nevertheless, Martinez stressed that aside from being a basic training course, a marine officer must be trained in ship-handling and maneuvering as a “check" on the harbor pilots and which could come in handy during emergency cases when a harbor pilot is not available. Harbor pilots are trained seafarers who are tapped to steer the ships when making an approach to a port or when navigating unfamiliar bodies of water like shallow rivers. He said compared to other maritime states, harbor pilots go to a specific school and training academy to become experts.

The WMU alumnus said, as a start, maritime training centers could offer the course as a separate course but eventually as part of a course package which would include the SSBT and basic shiphandling and maneuvering courses.

In the long run, Martinez said, the basic ship handling and maneuvering as a mandatory training course must be integrated in the undergraduate curricula of all aspiring seafarers. When all these are done, the industry could perhaps stop spewing discordant voices and get their acts together, according to the good-minded maritime scholar.

Drop VIPs’ security check exemption: Mar - Malaya 09.08.2006

NO more "express lanes" for the country’s traveling honorables.

That is, if Sen. Mar Roxas would have his way. The senator yesterday said all VIP’s including legislators and cabinet members up to the chief executive should be stripped of their "frisking privileges" when going through airport security checks amid tightened security precautions in all national and local airports and ports.

Roxas said government officials should be arrested and detained if they resist being bodily frisked and their belongings inspected. "Anybody who tries to pull rank, flashes a badge, or drops important names to evade these security checks should be arrested and questioned on the spot by our airport security," he said.

Roxas said airport security measures should be applied equally to all Filipinos and foreign nationals, including VIPs and their bodyguards. His call will directly affect congressmen who usually fly to their congressional districts and are usually exempted from rigorous body and cargo searches at the airports.

Roxas stressed that all airport security and key personnel must be given the chance to detect explosive materials and components that could be used to make bombs regardless of who tries to bring them in.

He said the breaching of airport security by anti-terror expert Samson Macariola and the embarrassment it caused may turn out to be a life-saving wake-up call for the country’s top security officials and the public at large. – Dennis Gadil

PCGG, Philcomsat officials snub Senate - Malaya 09.07.2006

GOOD government officials and executives of Philcomsat Holdings Corp. (PHC) yesterday snubbed a Senate hearing into the alleged dissipation of corporate funds, prompting Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile to move that they be cited in contempt and arrest orders issued against them.

No-shows were Presidential Commission on Good Government chair Camilo Sabio; PCGG commissioner Ricardo Abcede; Manuel Nieto Jr., president and chief executive officer of PHC; Benito Araneta, PHC chair; Victor Africa, Philcomsat/ Philippine Overseas Telecommunications Corp. (POTC) chair; Enrique Locsin, PHC president and acting board chair; and Philip Brodett, PHC director.

Araneta was represented by his counsel, former justice secretary Serafin Cuevas.

Sen. Richard Gordon, chair of the Senate committee on government corporations and public enterprises, substituted Enrile’s motion with "show cause" orders.

"If they still continue to snub the committee, we will have no recourse but to order their arrest and detain them here," he said.

Gordon’s panel has joined the Senate committee on public services of Sen. Joker Arroyo in conducting the probe.

Enrile said he would make the same motion next week if the PCGG and PHC officials continued to defy the panel’s summons.

Abcede and Sabio invoked Executive Order 1 in skipping the Senate hearings.

EO 1 provides that "No member or staff of the Commission shall be required to testify or produce evidence in any judicial, legislative or administrative proceeding concerning matters within its official cognizance."

Sabio said the provision was upheld by Chief Justice Claudio Teehankee in an April 1988 ruling.

Cuevas said he accepted Araneta’s invitation to be his counsel two days ago. He said would have not attended had he known that his client would not be around.

In the hearing, Philcomsat president Erlinda Bildner said the dissipation of the company’s finances continues even as the Senate is investigating.

"Since the last hearing, P10 million got out or was spent on advances by PHC to POTC and Philcomsat," said Bildner who sits in the PHC board.

Bildner said the P10 million in advances did not have the approval of the PHC board.
She said the release of the questionable advances was from March 31 to June 30.

The Gordon panel held its first hearing last May.

Bildner said a P1.6 million 2006 model Toyota Camry was purchased by the PHC for Abcede who sits in the board.

She said the purchase order was originally under the name of Abcede but the name was crossed out and replaced with the handwritten name of PHC.

Bildner said the luxury vehicle, which was acquired on Aug. 12, was delivered to Abcede’s residence at No. 120 Amorsolo st., Makati City.

The purchase was processed through Johnny Tan, assistant vice president and chief accountant of PHC.

Bildner said apart from the luxury vehicle and the P10 million advances, some P300,000 worth of manager’s checks were also issued to "individuals who have nothing to do with PHC."

Bildner said the corporation, which makes money through money market placements, lost about P22 million in 2005.

Bildner said Abcede’s group used the name of Nieto in the "plunder" of the corporation.
"They’ve done this claiming that this was under the auspices of Ambassador Nieto. This is a sham," she said.

Bildner also asked the Senate panel to cause the freezing of funds of the PHC while the issues among the warring PHC shareholders are not resolved.

"We’re afraid between now and then, a few more Toyotas could be purchased," she told the Senate committee.

Gordon said the panel could introduce legislation but not order the freezing of PHC’s funds.
"You have to address it to the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)," he said.

Gordon nevertheless said PHC and PCGG officials should have at least observed "delicadeza" and exercised restraint in spending PHC funds while the investigation is going on.

The hearing resumes Monday.

PHC is a subsidiary of the Philcomsat, which in turn is a subsidiary of POTC. Government owns 28 percent of PHC by virtue of its 35 percent stake in Philcomsat. – Dennis Gadil

Sigaw says SC ban on initiative does not apply - Malaya 09.05.2006

CHARTER change advocates yesterday asked the Supreme Court to nullify a resolution of the Commission on Elections denying their petition for a people’s initiative to revise the 1987 Constitution.

In a 64-page petition, Raul Lambino, spokesman of the Sigaw ng Bayan movement, and Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (Ulap) also asked the SC to order a plebiscite on the proposed charter revisions before the end of the year.

At the House, a resolution calling for the convening of Congress into a constituent assembly is expected to be passed today by the committee on constitutional amendments in what critics of the proposed charter change said was the administration’s fallback position in case the Supreme Court throws out the Sigaw ng Bayan petition.

The Palace-backed charter change groups said the Comelec in its resolution last Thursday committed grave abuse of discretion when it rejected the petition on the ground that people’s initiative lacks an enabling law.

The petitioners said the Comelec cannot ignore the sovereign will of the people.
They said Comelec is bound by its constitutional duty to set a date for a plebiscite on the proposed shift to a parliamentary system.

Lambino said the 1997 Supreme Court ruling in Santiago vs Comelec, which permanently barred the Comelec from entertaining people’s initiative petitions, is not applicable to their case.

"We consider the Santiago ruling as a non-existent jurisprudence because the tribunal voted 6-6, where six justices were in the opinion that Republic Act 6735 (People’s Initiative and Referendum Act) has provided adequate mechanism for the implementation of people’s initiative to amend the constitution," the petition said.

It said the Comelec’s refusal to act is "contrary to the clear mandate of the fundamental law of the land that it has a ministerial duty to set the date of the plebiscite not earlier than 60 days nor later than ninety 90 days after the certification by the Comelec whether the petition for initiative filed before it is sufficient."

It said the Comelec, in its resolution, made a determination that the petition for initiative "appears to have met the required minimum percentage" of 3 percent of all registered voters in each congressional district and 12 percent of all registered voters nationwide.

Sigaw ng Bayan and Ulap said they had gathered over 10 million signatures nationwide for their petition. Of the total, 6.3 million have been verified by the Comelec.

The House committee on constitutional amendments is set to approve today Resolutions 1230 and 1285 convening Congress into a constituent assembly.

The panel chaired by Rep. Constantino Jaraula (Cagayan de Oro) will resume deliberations on the resolutions after the House’s charter change campaign was stalled a few months ago because of the Senate’s hardened stand against it.

But with the House leadership mustering 195 signatories (three-fourths of Congress’ members), Speaker Jose de Venecia’s drive to shift to a unicameral-parliamentary has found renewed vigor.

Majority leader Prospero Nograles said Rep. Prospero Pichay (Lakas, Surigao del Sur) who sponsored HR 1285 has gathered 204 signatories but the list has yet to be presented.

Rep. Luis Villafurete (Kampi, Camarines Sur) said at least 20 Liberal Party members have signed the resolution.

"No one can stop us now but the Supreme Court," Nograles said.

Jaraula said the signatures were mere "commitments."

"What we need are warm bodies in the plenary," he said.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo said the minority bloc’s fight against constituent assembly could suffer the same fate as that of the recent impeachment complaint.

"Hindi kami solid. May realization kami na may mga miyembro ng minority na sumusuporta sa Cha-cha," he said in a press conference.

Rep. Risa Hontiveros (PL, Akbayan) dared the majority to present the names of minority congressmen who signed the resolution, since she and fellow Akbayan Representatives Etta Rosales and Mario Aguja were listed as co-authors of HR 1230.

"If we, who have expressed staunch opposition to charter change, were considered co-authors of HR 1230, how sure then is the majority of the veracity of the signatures?" she said.

Hontiveros said there’s a need "to verify if all those included in the majority’s list are actually supportive of the resolution."

CON-ASS DIALOGUE A ‘FAÇADE’

Senators downplayed an offer by Nograles for a dialogue on charter change.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said the offer is only for show without any sincere intention of reaching a reasonable agreement.

"A dialogue is sought for the purpose of looking into a possible middle ground solution to disagreements and not to force or insult the party into submission, which is exactly what Nograles and his House allies have been doing," he said.

"Una sa lahat ang ino-offer niya sa amin ay burahin kami. So sinong luko-lukong senador ang makikipag-usap sa kanya?" Lacson said.

Lacson said nothing will come out of such a dialogue as Nograles lacks credibility.

Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel said: "We’ll see what they have in mind, if reasonable it’s OK. If not, we’ll let them go back home and just follow the Constitution then we’ll all be OK."

Senate majority leader Francis Pangilinan said the dialogue should be premised on the understanding that the House and Senate should vote separately on the proposed amendments.

"Kung ang pagpapalit lamang ng pangalan ng kalye sa pamamagitan ng batas e kailangan ng hiwalay na kilos ng Senado at Kamara, paano pa kaya yung Saligang Batas?" he said.

Early this year, a similar dialogue was spearheaded by Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments, and Jaraula. It broke down when both chambers stood pat on their positions. – Evangeline de Vera, Dennis Gadil and Wendell Vigilia