GMA ALLIES BOYCOTT HOUSE BUDGET HEARING / GARCI ON IMMIGRATION WATCH
MANILA, AUGUST 2, 2011 (STAR) By Jess Diaz - Allies of former President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the House of Representatives boycotted yesterday's first House hearing on President Aquino's proposed P1.8-trillion 2012 national budget.
They shied away from the hearing apparently in protest over the delay in the release of their pork barrel funds this year.
Conspicuously absent was the head of the opposition bloc, Minority Leader Edcel Lagman, who attended most committee and plenary deliberations on the new administration's first budget last year.
Even with the absence of Lagman and other minority members, Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya, appropriations committee chairman, started the hearing with briefings from the administration's budget and finance officials.
Those who gave briefings included Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr. of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
More than 80 members of the majority coalition led by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. heard the briefings.
Shortly before the hearing started, Abad, when informed of the absence of minority members, said, "When we were in the opposition (during the Arroyo administration), we got zero pork, but we attended budget hearings because the national budget is a lot more important than pork."
He told The STAR that "all members of the majority and several members of the opposition have received full or partial releases."
"Only 11 from the opposition have not received their funds. We are still processing their requests," he said.
He denied Lagman's accusation that Malacañang is using "divide and rule strategy to divide the opposition" by selectively releasing pork barrel funds to its members.
"That's not true. The President just wants to make sure that the projects are in line with his priorities. Remember that he is ultimately responsible for the budget," he said.
"The big difference between P-Noy and the GMA administration is that P-Noy has committed that all districts will get their allocation, unlike in the past when those in the opposition received no funds at all," he said.
Among the Aquino administration's critics who have received pork barrel funds are Lagman, P35 million; Simeon Datumanong of Maguindanao, who served as Arroyo's justice secretary and public works secretary, P13.5 million; and Imelda Dimaporo and her daughter Fatima Aliah, who received P15 million each.
The younger Dimaporo is one of the minority's spokespersons.
One member of the majority, Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco, received yesterday documents on the release of P29.4 million of his P35-million allocation for the first half of this year.
Toward the end of the briefings, opposition Rep. Douglas Cagas of Davao del Sur arrived and Abaya, pursuant to tradition, gave him the first opportunity to question the resource persons.
Smacking of sarcasm, Cagas said he came "not to ask questions but to thank our guests for masterfully crafting the budget, which does not allot a single centavo for infrastructure in my district."
"Even my PDAF (priority development assistance fund, the euphemism for pork barrel) has not been released," he said.
He lamented that while his district contributes hundreds of millions in taxes, "unlike the second district, it will get zero, while the second district will get at least P800 million."
Abad denied Cagas' claim that his district would get no infrastructure funds.
"There is at least P260 million allotted for Davao del Sur's first district," he said.
Over the weekend, Lagman demanded that the PDAF funds of all members of the minority be released or they would consider boycotting the budget hearings.
Among opposition lawmakers who have not received releases are Mrs. Arroyo, her sons Juan Miguel of the party-list group Ang Galing Pinoy and Diosdado of Camarines Sur, Aurelio Gonzales Jr. of Pampanga, Danilo Suarez of Quezon, Amelita Villarosa of Mindoro Occidental, and Martin Romualdez of Leyte.
Garcillano placed on immigration watchlist By Edu Punay (The Philippine Star) Updated August 02, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (31)
MANILA, Philippines - After refusing to cooperate in the government's investigation on cheating allegations during the 2004 presidential election, former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano was placed on the Bureau of Immigration's (BI) watchlist yesterday.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima issued the order, citing "national interest" in putting closure to the poll fraud charges against the previous administration.
She also said Garcillano is a purported flight risk.
"I think the absence of closure of this kind, with respect to the issue of the 2004 poll fraud, is a matter of national interest and therefore, the issuance of a watchlist order," De Lima told reporters in an ambush interview, explaining her use of her motu proprio power to issue the order.
She also cited the former election official's history of going into hiding as another basis.
While on the watchlist, Garcillano needs to ask for clearance from the Department of Justice (DOJ) before he could leave the country.
The BI, upon receiving De Lima's order, immediately ordered the distribution of the copies to all international airports and seaports in the country.
As part of the bureau's regulation, the watchlist against Garcillano's will be in effect for 60 days, unless ordered revoked by the DOJ secretary.
Asked why he is considered a flight risk, De Lima cited reports on the visit of certain personalities while he was in Subic, Zambales.
"We don't know the purpose but I guess they were not just there to say 'Hi.' It has something to do with, I think, with his reported surfacing to cooperate in the investigation," she theorized. "We don't want to be hoodwinked by former commissioner Garcillano."
The DOJ chief admitted that she was disappointed by Garcillano's firm denial of his involvement in the alleged poll fraud operations during the 2004 presidential poll won by former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
But she believes the government should not give up on the controversial former official.
"I'm one of those disappointed that he remains evasive. But I think we should not give up on him. Who knows? Maybe he would still change his mind and cooperate and maybe be truthful this time," De Lima said, adding the controversial former election official will be included in the joint DOJ and Commission on Elections (Comelec) investigation that was hatched last week.
"Ideally, we want him to cooperate. But if he doesn't change his mind, I don't think it will preclude or prevent the discovery of truth because I'm sure there are still more people – apart from Col. (Rafael) Santiago – who will tell the truth," she stressed.
Comelec wants to uncover truth
The Comelec is set to discuss in a meeting today how it will go about its joint investigation with the DOJ on the electoral fraud in 2004 and 2007.
"I cannot decide on this alone so I'll get the approval of the en banc. That's how we do it here in the Comelec, we decide (as collegial body)," Comelec chair Sixto Brillantes said.
The poll chief gave assurance that there will be no whitewash in case Comelec officials or employees were behind the irregularities.
"It's about time we resolve these issues. If they are still here (in the Comelec) it would be much better because we won't be looking for them anymore," he said.
The Comelec has jurisdiction over the electoral offense and electoral sabotage aspects of the investigation for the 2004 and the 2007 polls, respectively, while the DOJ will be in charge of criminal aspects like graft and corruption, falsification of public documents and trespassing.
The witnesses who have come out are dismissed Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol, former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan, three Comelec employees in Maguindanao and some police personnel.
They claimed that the 2004 election was rigged to favor Arroyo while the results of the 2007 polls in Maguindanao were manipulated to make her senatorial candidates win.
Earlier, De Lima said the government's investigation may inevitably determine who between Arroyo and the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. won in the 2004 presidential poll even if it is already legally impossible to make any correction.
The camp of Arroyo, on the other hand, accused the Palace of resorting to a publicity stunt in what they describe as political persecution of the previous administration.
Arroyo, who was proclaimed winner with a margin of 1.1 million votes over Poe, had publicly apologized for the wiretapped conversation but had denied the cheating allegation and also did not confirm if it was Garcillano at the other end of the phone conversation.
Legarda: I have evidence
Meanwhile, Sen. Loren Legarda has called on the two agencies to review the transcripts of her electoral protest before the Supreme Court (SC) in its investigation because all the evidence it needs is already there.
In a press briefing at the Senate yesterday, Legarda said she would turn over her copy of the transcripts to the DOJ and Comelec as well as other evidence supporting her claim that electoral fraud was committed in the 2004 presidential elections.
She noted that dozens of witnesses were presented before the SC during the three-year period when her case was heard.
The SC, which served as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, dismissed the case of Legarda in 2010 after finding insufficient proof that there was fraud.
One of the most significant testimonies presented during those hearings was that of Roberto Payongayong of Ernest Printing, the official Comelec printer of election returns (ER), who confirmed that Congress' copy of the ERs were fake.
In the transcripts provided by Legarda, Payongayong determined the authenticity of the ERs with the use of a magnifying lens and ultraviolet light.
Upon examination, the copy of Congress,was deemed fake.
Legarda said the testimony of Payongayong corroborated the claims of members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force that they switched the ERs kept at the House of Representatives to ensure Arroyo's victory and that of her running mate Noli de Castro.
"This is something I fought for from 2004 to 2007, three long painful years. I and my lawyers presented our own pieces of evidence. The truth has been staring us in the face since 2004. The fraud is clear," she said.
Legarda recalled that she and the camp of Poe moved for the opening of one ER before the National Board of Canvassers, which at the time was dominated by the allies of Arroyo in Congress.
She said she personally made the appeal but was promptly dismissed with a "noted" and her microphone was turned off.
Legarda said she has forgiven everyone who stood in the way of her efforts to prove her case, including some of her colleagues who headed the National Board of Canvassers.
"I have forgiven them all and have even befriended them. I bear no ill feelings towards them," she said.
However, she said that the issue of poll fraud itself has not been given closure and this has become clear with the reemergence of various witnesses claiming knowledge of fraud in the 2004 and 2007 elections and the consequent decision of the DOJ and Comelec to conduct a joint investigation into this. – Sheila Crisostomo, Evelyn Macairan, Marvin Sy
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