Manila, Philippines -

Please find time to join the rally tomorrow to express our objection to charter change under the current administration. Got below details of the event from tonyocruz.com.

Dear Friends and Concerned Citizens,

Greetings of peace in these turbulent and uncertain times!

Recent moves in the House of Representatives by no less than Speaker Prospero Nograles and other administration allies to railroad their discredited bid to change the Philippine Charter (Chacha) by convening Congress into a Constituent Assembly (Con‐Ass) has raised the alarm among many concerned sectors of our society.

Like in previous failed attempts at Chacha, a vast majority and still growing number of our people, are convinced that their real purpose is to extend the stay of Mrs. Arroyo in power well beyond 2010.

We thus call on you to be one with our people in declaring, “Enough! Stop Gloria’s Chacha now!”

Join us in an inter‐faith, multisectoral prayer and protest rally on Friday, 12 December 2008, 4:00 pm.

Let us congregate at the Ninoy Aquino Monument, Ayala corner Paseo de Roxas, Makati City.

We also enjoin our kababayan in other cities and provinces to express their rejection of Chacha in various forms of protest nationwide.

Let us take a united stand once more so that truth, justice and the will of the people may prevail!

MOST REV. DEOGRACIAS S. INIGUEZ, JR., D.D.
Diocese of Caloocan

BISHOP ELIEZER M. PASCUA
General Secretary, UCCP

BR. ARMIN LUISTRO, FSC
Lasallian Justice & Peace Commission

MO. MARY JOHN MANANZAN, OSB

FR. JOE DIZON
Solidarity Philippines

 

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Credits to http://www.comelec.gov.ph/

Manila, Philippines -

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has resumed the continuing registration of voters for the 2010 elections. Registration is open for all areas outside the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Schedule of registration is from December 2, 2008 to December 15, 2009 at the Office of the Election Officer (OEO) of the district/city/municipality where the applicant resides from Monday to Friday, during regular office hours at 8:00 o’clock AM to 5:00 o’clock PM. Applicants must personally appear and bring any valid ID such as Employee’s identification card (ID) with the signature of the employer or authorized representative, Postal ID, Student’s ID or library card, signed by the school authority, Senior Citizen’s ID, Driver’s license, NBI/PNP clearance, Passport, SSS/GSIS ID, Integrated Bar of the Philippine (IBP) ID, or License issued by the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC).

Everyone eligible to vote is encouraged to register so as to exercise his/her right of suffrage in the 2010 polls. Meanwhile, registered voters with no biometrics record with the COMELEC yet need not register again and only needs to be processed for the data capturing machines. During the said period, deactivated voters may also apply for reactivation.

For more details, you may check out the COMECLEC website and blog.

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Credits to http://www.philstar.com/

Manila, Philippines -

As expected, President Arroyo’s allies in the Lower House junked the impeachment complaint filed by Joey de Venecia by a majotiry vote of 42-8 among the members of the justice committee.

Though sufficiency in substance may have been established through the recital of facts, pro-administration congressmen who voted against the impeachment complaint still argued that offenses included in the complaint are mere rehash. This decision will now be endorsed by the committee to the plenary for possible adoption or predicted rejection.

Since majority of the House members are pro-administration, the complaint has a nil chance of getting one-third of the votes needed to be adopted for trial. Unless these congressmen realize how truly unpopular GMA is, the possibility of them turning off their constituents and putting their reelection bids at risk will never faze them.

Indeed, the impeachment is virtually dead and GMA will have another year to celebrate her victory. Still, we must continue fighting. The bigger fight, the fiercer battle, the ultimate war is drawing near, the Cha-cha, that is. GMA will surely be in for a surprise because Filipinos are ready for it, ready to go to the streets if needed so as to uphold the Constitution and to protect it from attempts of self-serving politicians to utilize it to feed their greed for power.

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Credits to http://www.tribune.net.ph/

Manila, Philippines -

Former House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. is set to launch his autobiography in Washington, D.C. this week. The book entitled “Global Filipino: The Authorized Biography of Joe de Venecia Jr., the Visionary Five-Time Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines” is said to contain first-hand accounts of JdV on the “secret meeting” held in Shenzhen, China among President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr., and ZTE officials in 2006.

Through “backdoor negotiations”, the anomalous contract was said to have been awarded to ZTE Corporation and changed from the suggested Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) financial scheme to direct contracting scheme (government-to-government loan). It came under fire and public scrutiny when it was revealed by former Philippine Forestry Corporation head Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, Jr. and former NEDA chief Romulo Neri that Abalos among other people stand to receive millions of kickbacks from the higly-overpriced project.

With the impeachment complaint filed by JdV’s son Jose “Joey” de Venecia III in Congress currently in the “sufficiency in substance” phase, JdV will certainly be in the hotspot and is expected to shed light on various issues involving the President. A lot of people are questioning his actions, specifically the timing of his revelations. “Why now?”, “isn’t it too late?”, or “what for, the administration has the numbers in the Lower House?”.

JdV’s actions are certainly late but not too late. It would’ve been very useful during the Senate investigation of the NBN-ZTE deal as it would strongly backup Lozada’s testimony. Still, it is as valuable at the moment as it may give the impeachment enough push to enter the trial phase. It will also serve as a reminder to the people not to falter in watching out for attempts by this admistration to stay in power and continue with their corrupt acts.

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Credits to http://www.apec2008.org.pe/

MANILA, Philippines -

Leaders of 21 member countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation will meet on November 22 to 23 in Lima, Peru to re-align APEC’s commitment to economic development, among other issues, in the Asia Pacific region. These countries are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Republic of the Philippines, Russian Federation, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, United States of America, and VietNam.

The Philippines will of course be represented by our “beloved” president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Unfortunately, she seem to be in such a joyful mood as of late (blame it on the masterful cover-up provided by Jocjoc Bolante in the Senate inquiry) that she extended an invitation to all the lawmakers present during the 61st birthday celebration of Speaker Prospero Nograles in Davao City.

In an instant, over 40 congressmen have signified their intention to join the trip. Talk about austerity in this time of financial crisis worsen by global economic slowdown. Press Sec. Jesus Dureza was quick to counter that congressmen who will join the trip are set to personally shoulder the expenses. While it may be protocol for the president to be accompanied by representatives form the Senate and the Lower House during such meetings, isn’t 40+ congressmen just too much? At the same time, Congress is still in session. For a large number of them to skip session for an endeavour where their participation is negligible is simply unacceptable.

Honorable congressmen, please don’t deprive your constituents their due. Your time spent in lawmaking and in local governance are the most effective means to serve them.

Credits to http://www.reedleyschool.com/

Manila, Philippines -

The president of the Philippines may have been ignored but not the Filipino youth. Two Filipino students have been invited to attend the induction of Barack Obama as 44th U.S. President at the White House on January 20, 2009.

College freshmen Anne Marie Liwanag and Paul Michael Thomas Cruz are expected to be part of the historic ceremony which shall forever be remembered by America and the rest of the world. Both students were shocked upon receiving the invitation letter and consequently proud and very excited about the rare opportunity to experience this great American moment.

“I wanna know, like, when he was my age, parang, what did he do? If he was of leadership status also,” said Liwanag.

On the other hand, Cruz was just hopeful that America’s first colored president really can make a difference.

“Sana matulungan niya yung mga third-world countries tulad ng Philippines, lalo na sa hunger (I really hope he can help third world countries like the Philippines, especially in terms of hunger),” he said.

During their senior year at Reedley International School in Libis, Quezon City, Anne and Paul participated in the Global Young Leaders Conference (GYLC) held in June 2007 in Washington and New York . The two definitely stood out and left their mark earning them the attention of University Presidential Inaugural Conference (UPIC) and subsequently the invitation.

Dubbed as “inaugural scholars”, the pair together with participants from other nations are primarily set to experience the inaugural parade and presidential motorcade. Other activities lined up for them in this five-day affair include a chance to meet members of the U.S. Congress, White House officials, and other political dignitaries.

For now, they need all the support they can get as the trip would cost them $4,000 or about P200,000 each. Let’s hope they gather enough sponsorship from the government and private individuals to fund this remarkable activity.

To Anne and Paul, hats off to you guys and good luck!

House of Representatives, Philippines -

In a move to clear the names (or probably to cover up the mess) of congressmen involved in the fertilizer scam controversy, the House of Representatives will conduct today their own inquiry on the scandal that allegedly diverted the fertilizer funds to the campaign funds of President Arroyo and spread to her allies in the Lower House and other local officials during the 2004 elections.

But it seems to be a very bad joke with the Lower House scheduling the inquiry one day before the Senate inquiry already scheduled tomorrow. The Senate has legal custody of Jocjoc Bolante and is not expected to relinquish their claim to the scam mastermind anytime soon especially to a body tattered with the President’s hands all over.

And as to how one can expect a “free, fair and fearless” investigation as claimed by agriculture committee chairman Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra, I have no idea. Talk about suspects being part of the prosecution team, defense team and jury altogether. The rotten congressmen involved in this controversial misappropriation are better off inhibiting themselves if at least to give the slightest bit of significance to this inquiry.

It’s now a toss up between the Senate and the House of Representatives. With both bodies being co-equal, it’s now a battle of impartiality, credibility, and resolution. Or will both inquiries be mere venues for grandstanding, that we’ll soon find out.

Modernizing elections

Republic of the Philippines -

Though the latest ARMM (Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao) elections were successfully automated, the computerization of the upcoming 2010 polls is still a mystery. Until now, the COMELEC (Commission on Elections) remains non-committal on the status of the historic project.

Filipinos can only marvel and wallow with envy at how quick and peaceful the recent U.S. elections were conducted. In less than 24 hours, a new president was proclaimed as compared to our manual elections which take weeks to finish. At the same time, the losing candidate was gracious in acknowledging defeat as compared to our losers err losing candidates who can only claim they were cheated and nothing else.

But the integrity of the election can never lie solely on the automation of the voting process. A change in mindset of everyone involve in the electoral exercise is the greater challenge. Will every eligible Filipino participate and actually exercise their power and duty to vote instead of abstaining and looking at the entire process as futile and hopeless? If and when they vote, will they vote “wisely” basing their choice on past performance, political and economic maturity, and moral ascendancy instead of mere popularity? Will the candidates be mature enough to lay down their platforms in public/televised debates or still stick to gimmickry to conceal their ignorance of the responsibility they are aspiring for apart from lack of vision on how to serve the people once elected? Will the election officials who are confronted with the gargantuan task of putting up an efficient system to ensure a fast, clean, and transparent election face up to the challenge or just succumb to the pressure of money and power offered by corrupt candidates?

So many questions only we can answer soon. With a little over a year left, let’s work together to bring about the needed changes to improve the system. The Filipino can. To quote a famous slogan from Adidas, impossible is nothing.

The 2010 elections may be more than a year a way but with the tragic experiences we had with our recent disgraced presidents, it pays more than ever to be critical of the would-be candidates before exercising our vote.

I thus invite you to participate in this poll conducted by FilipinoVoices.com: Who are YOU Supporting in 2010? Filipino Voices Asks for YOUR VOICE.

Let our voice be heard and together we will make a big difference.

Credits to http://www.abs-cbnnews.com

Manila, Philippines -
Until now, the inequality of wealth and the imbalance of power in our country never cease to fascinate me. Just look at how our purported public servants are regularly accorded special treatments to the point of being abusive. Still, its the way nature works to restore equality and balance that is more astonishing.

The recent controversy wherein retired police Director Eliseo dela Paz and his wife were held by Russian Customs authorities at Moscow airport for carrying a questionably large amount of money is one such example. The €105,000 or P6.9 million, they were carrying clearly exceeded the allowable limit of €10,000. Had Mr. dela Paz and company followed airport procedure and declared the money before leaving the country and upon arriving at Moscow, they would have avoided the mess they are in right now.

Did i just say karma?

Oh well, the PNP big bosses are on the move to save their asses, as they always do. And they have less reasons to worry about even if the Napolcom and Ombudsman are set to conduct their formal (meaning, simply for formality) their separate investigations on the case.

But its the Filipino people they owe an explanation to. More so that they’re top-secret contingency fund is believed to be taxpayers’ money. Why were they carrying such a large amount of money? Why was the money not declared? Why do they have such fund after all when Senator Lacson had stated that no item in the contingency fund of the 2008 budget is alloted for travel expenses? Why were their wives part of the trip when it was an official mission? More and more questions waiting for answers.

Will heads roll this time or will this issue again die a natural die just like all the anomalies of the Arroyo administration? Abangan…