Focus
President Benigno Aquino III’s inaugural address
ANG pagtayo ko rito ngayon ay patunay na kayo ang aking tunay na lakas. Hindi ko inakala na darating tayo sa puntong ito, na ako’y manunumpa sa harap ninyo bilang inyong Pangulo. Hindi ko pinangarap maging tagapagtaguyod ng pag-asa at tagapagmana ng mga suliranin ng ating bayan. (Note: The official English translation of his address is found below)
Ang layunin ko sa buhay ay simple lang: maging tapat sa aking mga magulang at sa bayan bilang isang marangal na anak, mabait na kuya, at mabuting mamamayan.
Nilabanan ng aking ama ang diktadurya at ibinuwis niya ang kanyang buhay para tubusin ang ating demokrasya. Inalay ng aking ina ang kanyang buhay upang pangalagaan ang demokrasyang ito. Ilalaan ko ang aking buhay para siguraduhin na ang ating demokrasya ay kapaki-pakinabang sa bawa’t isa. Namuhunan na po kami ng dugo at handang gawin itong muli kung kakailanganin.
More
Arroyo leaves a presidency littered with landmines
By YOUTHVOTEPHILIPPINES
GLORIA Macapagal-Arroyo exits the presidency before noon today, bequeathing her successor, Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III, a path littered with “landmines” that could weaken his control over the bureaucracy, former government officials said.
These landmines come in the form of hundreds of “midnight” appointments, said Former Senior Government Officials (FSGO) member and columnist Lito Banayo. Banayo and former Civil Service Commission chair Karina Constantino-David said the list includes names identified as known supporters of Arroyo, with some even appointed twice to different agencies.
At least 58 people were appointed after the March 10 appointments ban and at least 20 after the May 10 elections. The post-election appointees include the 11 members of the board of the Land Bank Realty Development Corp. who were appointed May 13, and most members of the board of the Clark International Airport Authority on May 17.
More
‘Strong, incorruptible’ judiciary is Corona’s goal, says spokesman
By LUZ RIMBAN
CHIEF Justice Renato Corona will oversee the computerization of all 2,200 courts throughout the country as part of what a High Court official said was the strengthening of the judicial branch.
Court Administrator Midas Marquez, who is also the High Tribunal’s spokesperson, told a gathering of member of the Philippine Press Institute Thursday night that the Supreme Court under Corona would strive to dispose of the backlog of cases that has plagued the country’s judicial system for the longest time.
Marquez said the Corona court would be “a strong, competent and incorruptible court” that would act as check and balance to the executive.
More
‘Midnight’ order to extend stay of Arroyo appointees, gov’t lawyers beyond her term?
By YVONNE T. CHUA
OUTGOING President Gloria Arroyo has issued an executive order that would turn most government lawyers in the executive branch into career executive service officers (CESO) and guarantee them not only bigger pay and higher rank, but permanent appointment that incoming president Beningo Aquino III and future presidents may not revoke except for cause.
Executive Order 883 issued on May 28 authorizes the Career Executive Service Board (CESB) to initially confer on lawyers occupying legal positions in the government service the rank of CESO III.
CESO III is held by regional directors and has a corresponding Salary Grade 28 (nearly P40,000 a month) under the government compensation scheme.
Key witness in Maguindanao massacre killed
By ELLEN TORDESILLAS
A KEY witness in the Maguindanao massacre who was refused protection by the Department of Justice was killed 10 days ago.
Lawyer Harry Roque, counsel for 14 of the 57 victims of the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre, said three sources confirmed the killing of Suwaid Upham, one of the seven gunmen, who had wanted to testify against the Ampatuans.
Roque said Upham, who was given the alias “Jessie” by reporters, was shot in the poblacion (town center) of Parang, Maguindanao on June 14, nine days before the 7th anniversary of the massacre that shocked the world and reinforced the Philippines’ reputation as the most dangerous place for journalists.
Arroyo lawyer: Hacienda Bacan to be converted before GMA steps down
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s family expects the Department of Agrarian Reform to approve within the next seven days or before she steps down from office their application to convert the 157-hectare family-owned Hacienda Bacan in Isabela, Negros Occidental from agricultural to industrial use.
The application, which will exempt Hacienda Bacan from coverage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, was filed at the DAR central office at virtually the eleventh hour of her presidency on June 15, DAR sources said. It also goes against Arroyo’s promise to farmer-beneficiaries she will distribute Hacienda Bacan to them during her term.
Pinay in textbook scam nabbed in the US
By ELLEN TORDESILLAS
MARY Ann Maslog, the woman who delivered a P3-million bribe in Malacanang 11 years ago in connection with a P200-million textbook contract and was on the run for a string of swindling cases in the Philippines and the United States, has finally been arrested.
A newspaper in the state of Virginia reported the arrest last week of Maslog, now known as Mary Ann Smith, in Seattle, Washington in connection with an immigration scam she operated out of Henrico, a county in Virginia.
“Mary Ann Smith, 41, was arrested in Seattle last week and is awaiting extradition to Memphis, Tenn., where she will stand trial for her role in a Virginia company operating as the International Business Network Inc. (IBN),” the Richmond Times Dispatch said in its June 16 issue. There is still no trial date.
More
Vera Files wins Manila Rotary Club award for special media
THE Rotary Club of Manila yesterday awarded VERA Files a special citation for outstanding reporting under the New Media category.
“For its exhaustive investigative reports on the Assets and Liabilities of government officials, particularly of the President and the First Gentleman, highlighting the people’s right to information,” the citation read.
This is the first time that the 91-year-old organization has included New media in its annual journalism awards.
Pinay in textbook scam wanted in the US for swindling
By ELLEN TORDESILLAS
THE woman who shook the nation by delivering P3 million in bribes to Malacañang 11 years ago is wanted in the United States for swindling and is believed to be in hiding in the Philippines.
Former textbook agent Mary Ann T. Maslog, who tried bribing officials of the Department of Budget and Management in 1999 so that her firm could wangle a P200 million textbook contract, is now Mary Ann Smith and married to an American who allegedly became her partner in crime.
Court records in Orange County in Florida show that Maslog is wanted for theft and scheme to defraud. She is facing charges of grand theft amounting to more than $100,000 and scheme to defraud in the amount of $50,000 which are classified as criminal felonies punishable with imprisonment.
Gov’t, MILF sign ‘Declaration of Continuity for Peace Negotiations’
By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS
Mindanews
DAVAO CITY.–The Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) ended nine years of peace negotiations under the Arroyo administration with the signing of a “Declaration of Continutiy for Peace Negotiations” and the “Guidelines on the Humanitarian, Rehabilitation and Development Component of the International Monitoring Team” shortly after noon today in Kuala Lumpur.
“Yes , we had a breakthrough! We have just signed the Declaration of Continuity of the Negotiations between GRP and MILF,” government peace panel chair Rafael Seguis, also Foreign Affairs Undersecretary, told MindaNews in a text message.