Archive - Top Stories

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

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

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

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

By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS Mindanews (Conclusion) SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao.—In the province where the worst pre-election violence in Philippine history happened on Nov. 23, there was reason to celebrate when the worst-case scenarios on election day did not happen. Soldiers and policemen were already tearing down the posters of candidates and other election paraphernalia a day

By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS Mindanews (First of two parts) SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao.—Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu will take his oath of office as the new governor on June 30 and deliver his inaugural address in his hometown Buluan, 40 kilometers from the provincial capitol here. Mangudadatu intends to be far from this place, the bailiwick of the

By YVONNE T. CHUA AN election watchdog has this piece of advice for the Commission on Elections: Don’t buy the counting machines used in the May 10 elections. Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform (IPER), instead urged the Comelec to just lease the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines

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

By BONG LACSON Punto! Central Luzon A PAMPANGA-based multisectoral group is offering President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III an alternative official home, given that he refuses to move into Malacañang and his Quezon City neighbors don’t want him to hold official residence on Times Street. The Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement suggests Aquino consider building a home

By MARK JOSEPH UBALDE THE dust may have settled from what is deemed to be a generally peaceful May 10 elections, but records show the first automated polls also gave rise to a dozen of abductions. Compared with the 2004 and 2007 elections, when no abductions were recorded, about 12 individuals were kidnapped this year

It's official: The Philippines has a new president and vice president. On Wednesday afternoon, Congress proclaimed Sen. Benigno Aquino III and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay winners in the May 10 presidential and vice presidential races

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS and YOUTHVOTEPHILIPPINES WHATEVER the final outcome of the tightly contested vice presidential race, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay has made history by being the first local official to be possibly catapulted to a top national position, just a breath away from the presidency. Unlike another former mayor, Joseph Estrada, Binay bypassed Congress in his quest