OPINION: P-NOY VS THE SUPREME COURT
MANILA, NOVEMBER 23, 2010 (PHILSTAR) SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH By Ernesto M. Maceda - It certainly looks like the Chief Executive, President Benigno S. Aquino III, is continuing his fight against the Supreme Court.
He has come out to call on the Supreme Court to reverse its decision in two cases. He has issued a statement calling for live media coverage of the Ampatuan trials in spite of a Supreme Court decision to the contrary. He also announced his support for the 37 UP law professors in the plagiarism case in a speech before UP alumni.
He said that those in power should not threaten those who only want to express their opinions which was an obvious reference to the SC's warning to initiate disciplinary action against 37 members of the UP Law Faculty. He is ill-advised here.
At the birthday party of retired Justice Fidel Purisima, he did not sit beside Chief Justice Renato Corona or talk to him. Watch for the Supreme Court decision on the Truth Commission and four other cases filed against P-Noy's Executive Orders.
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SAY IT AGAIN. . . President Aquino defended Executive Secretary Jojo Ochoa in the case of the erroneous issuance and substitution of Memorandum Circular No. 1 on the non-Ceso issue.
He defended and retained DILG Sec. Jessie Robredo and Usec. Rico E. Puno on the Luneta Hostage taking fiasco, and, against Archbishop Oscar Cruz' expose of jueteng bribe to 2 ranking officials.
He expressed full trust and confidence in OPAPP Sec. Teresita Deles despite her arrogant attitude against Muslim Congressmen.
He absolved his speechwriter, Maria Carmen Mislang who made disparaging remarks against host Vietnam, saying "charge it to her youth".
Yesterday, true to form, he reiterated his confidence in Tourism Secretary Albert Lim despite a clear case of incompetence in the "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" slogan boo-boo. Shouldn't somebody be canned for this?
Up to when will he tolerate the inaction of subordinates on the rampant smuggling going on, on the failure of the PNP to stop murders and kidnappings and to arrest 112 persons involved in the Ampatuan massacre, illegal fishing and worse, the wide open, flourishing illegal drug trade? Twenty-one Ampatuans continue to elude arrest. A bomb exploded in the poblacion of Sharif Aguak, the capital of Maguindanao on Sunday, wounding two persons.
What will it take to get the President to start firing people? This does not augur well for competence and integrity in government. Walang sibakan, walang performance. By Nov. 30, this Administration will be in office 150 days.
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ALVAREZ MISSES AGAIN . . . BOC Commissioner Angelito Alvarez failed to achieve his collection target for October, the 4th month in a row. He collected only P18 billion of the P24 billion target.
Meanwhile, Cebu City vendors are complaining of a slowdown of their market sales because 10 containers weekly of imported pork and chicken have flooded the market, a clear sign of smuggling.
Manila Councilor Lou Veloso sponsored a resolution calling for a stoppage of botcha from China which has found its way to Manila markets.
With the new bird flu case in Hong Kong, the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Animal Industry must strictly enforce the ban on imported chicken from China.
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TIGHT RACE FOR SENATE 2013 . . . Just like 2010, reelectionist senators and former senators dominate the prospective list for 2013. They are:
1. Senator Mar Roxas; 2. Senator Richard "Dick" Gordon; 3. Senator Jamby Madrigal; 4. Senator Antonio Trillanes; 5. Senator Migz Zubiri; 6. Sen. Chiz Escudero;
7. Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano; 8. Sen. Gringo Honasan; 9. Sen. Rodolfo Biazon; 10. President Joseph Erap Estrada; 11. Ex DND Sec. Gilbert Teodoro; 12. Atty. Koko Pimentel
Other potential candidates: Rep. Imelda R. Marcos, Rep. Abigail Binay, Rep. Rex Gatchalian, Sec. Dinky Soliman, Sec. Leila de Lima, TV star Willie Revillame and Rep. Mikey Arroyo. Manny Pacquiao and Shalani Soledad are not yet qualified being below 35 years old.
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OUTSTANDING . . . Governor Enrique "Tet" Garcia has done something no other provincial executive has accomplished. He has solved the classroom shortage in Bataan 100 percent. He took out a DBP loan to build all the needed schoolrooms. Now that's real top priority for education.
No President has solved the lack of schoolrooms for the whole country. Can P-Noy do it? Not if his priority is for Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT). When are we going to have typhoon proof school buildings? That's the challenge to DepEd Sec. Armin Luistro and DPWH Sec. Rogelio Singson.
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TIDBITS . . . Retired Supreme Court Justice Fidel Purisima, father of DOF Sec. Cesar Purisima, celebrated his 85th birthday recently at the Manila Polo Club. It was a formal sit down dinner. President Aquino was in a suit and tie, President Erap was in formal barong. Four retired Chief Justices, Andres Narvasa, Hilario Davide, Artemio Panganiban, Reynato Puno and incumbent Renato Corona were in coat and tie. All the guests were in coat and tie or barong including Sec. Cesar Purisima, former Sec. Titoy Pardo, Sec. Butch Abad and Atty. Leonardo Siguion Reyna except for one who came in denim pants and untucked polo shirt — Executive Sec. Jojo Ochoa. Like Carmen Mislang, lack of manners.
The average annual income of Filipinos went up 19 percent in 2009 at P17,170 a month according to a National Statistics Office. GMA can claim credit for that. . .Representatives Karlo Nograles (Lakas, Davao City, 1st dist.), Ben Evardone (Lakas, Eastern Samar) and Ted Haresco (Kasangga Party-List) are spearheading the fight against excessive profits of oil companies. . .
The big Nickel Asia Corporation IPO of Manny Zamora was listed yesterday at the PSE. Priced at P15/share it opened at P18.10 — reached a high of P19.40 before closing P16.50. The big foreign underwriters did most of the selling to the dismay of local investors.
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GUESS WHO? . . . A Cabinet Member is building a mansion estimated to cost P50 million at Plainsville and Kingsville Street, White Plains, QC. So soon? It is not listed in his statement of assets and liabilities.
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QUOTATION OF THE WEEK: "We should be close to God. The way we seek to be close to our family, the way we struggle for ourselves, we should be that close to God. We rarely tell God we love him, not as much as we say 'I love you' to our loved ones." — Rep. Manny Pacquiao
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