Probe sought on 6 party-list groups

In a letter to Comelec Chairman Jose Melo, Kontra Daya said Agbiag Timpuyag Ilocano Inc. Agbiag, Babae Para sa Kaunalaran Babae Ka, Youth League for Peace Advancement Lypad and Kalahi Sectoral Party Kalahi would “bastardize” the party-list system if allowed to run on May 10.

In a memorandum dated Oct. 16, 2006, Malacañang’s Office of External Affairs said these party-list groups must be supported, the letter added.

Kontra Daya said Adhikain ng mga Dakilang Anak Maharlika ADAM was formed by Energy Undersecretary Zamsamin Ampatuan, while the Binigkis na Interes ng mga Drayber sa Adhikain Inc. Bida was founded by Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. chairman Efraim Genuino.

Click Philippine Star.

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Be fair, government tells observers

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang urged yesterday local and foreign election observers to be fair in their assessment of the country’s first nationwide automated elections on May 10.

Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar also advised the poll monitors to be aware of and abide by regulations set by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

President Arroyo last week encouraged international and local groups to observe the country’s first-ever nationwide automated polls that she considers one of her legacies. She, however, vowed to “stay out” of the elections.

Click Phil Star

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Saving Gibo: Lagging numbers don’t faze Palace strategists

MALACAÑANG yesterday said it is too early for administration presidential candidate Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. to throw in the towel especially since a recent survey conducted with the participation of the election watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting showed him already climbing to second place early March.

“Hindi pa po tapos ang laban… it is certainly too early for anybody to say na dapat mag-give up ang administrasyon sa tsansa ng kanilang standard bearer,” said Gary Olivar, deputy presidential spokesman.

Click Business Insight Malaya.

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Mar wants independent study of nuclear power in RP

“I have an open mind about it. Let us think about it. It’s the cheapest form of power and [it is for long term],” Roxas, the Liberal Party’s candidate for vice president, told reporters here on Saturday.

He said the Philippines’ neighboring countries were either using or open to the use of nuclear power.

Click Inquirer.net

EDITORIALS

The Emperor/Inquirer

IT SHOULD come as no surprise to the new chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that President Macapagal-Arroyo’s legitimacy problem extends even, or especially, to his own appointment. Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit, code-named “Emperor,” ought to know that his perceived closeness to the appointing power will always be suspect—at least until President Arroyo actually turns Malacañang over to her successor, as scheduled, on June 30. It’s not his fault; it’s hers.

Click Inquirer

Fourth most corrupt | The Philippine Star

From an improvement last year, the Philippines has once again slipped in the latest annual survey of corruption in the Asia-Pacific. In the poll, conducted by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, the Philippines was ranked as the fourth most corrupt among 16 major investment destinations in the region, worsening from sixth place in the previous year, although still an improvement from its worst country status in 2008.

Click The Philippine Star.

Cultural flaw

PALACE propagandists have turned into amateur sociologists cum anthropologists in trying to dismiss the Philippines’ worsening standing among the most corrupt countries in Southeast Asia.

“Ang corruption, that is an old, old problem. It is a problem in our culture, di lang institutions, pati kultura natin sa pulitika at civic life,” Gary Olivar, deputy presidential spokesman, said.

Click Malaya

Palace admits increase in hunger incidence

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang admitted yesterday that hunger incidence has increased since President Arroyo assumed power in 2001, but said this could be the “only major sore spot in a sea of good news about the President’s economic legacy.”

Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said that self-rated poverty, which has some correlation with hunger incidence, has actually gone down during the Arroyo administration from previous administrations, as indicated in surveys conducted by the Social Weather Stations.

Olivar was reacting to the statement made by the President’s economic adviser Albay Gov. Joey Salceda that in spite of the continuous economic growth being experienced by the country, more Filipinos are hungry.

Click Philippine Star.

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GMA leaving presidency with more Pinoys overweight

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga , Philippines – President Arroyo is leaving the presidency with more Filipinos overweight.

Latest statistics from the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) have revealed that while undernutrition in the country was estimated at 11.6 percent, incidence of overweight and obesity was recorded at 26.6 percent.

Statistics also showed that one out of every four adult Filipinos suffers from hypertension, five of 100 have high fasting blood sugar (FBS) and four out of every 100 have diabetes.

Click Phil. Star

MMDA owns up to ‘thank you, Arroyo’ banners

(Footbridge along Commonwealth Ave., QC)

MANILA, Philippines — The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) admitted on Sunday it was behind the putting up of banners at foot bridges in the metropolis with a message thanking President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for their construction.

Saying that no government funds were used in putting up the green tarpaulins, MMDA chair Oscar Inocentes said the agency put them up “because it believes that the statement reflects the feelings of Filipinos.”

Click INQUIRER.net.

MGA sipsip!

‘Alis na dyan!’

AS I SEE IT
By Neal Cruz

MANILA, Philippines—Ang kapalmuks naman ng mga Cabinet members who are running for public office. The Supreme Court has said very clearly that they are deemed resigned from the time they filed their certificates of candidacy, but they refuse to leave their positions. The decision is not yet final and executory, they say. They will file a motion for reconsideration or a motion for clarification, they add.

This is clearly a dilatory tactic. There is nothing to clarify or reconsider.

Click Neal Cruz.

Arroyo, De Venecia kiss and make up

PRESIDENT Arroyo and former Speaker Jose de Venecia have agreed to let bygones be bygones, Malacañang said yesterday.

“We’re gratified that our call for reconciliation has struck a responsive chord…We can reconcile at a personal level. The President has shown an example by mending fences with the former Speaker,” deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said.

Arroyo and De Venecia, along with his wife Gina, reportedly met and reconciled two weeks ago.

Click Business Insight Malaya.

UH-OH, watch out for this one.

Do not pay NPA, Palace urges candidates

MALACAÑANG on Monday reminded those seeking elective posts in the May 10 elections not to secure so-called permits to campaign from the New People’s Army (NPA), as  it is against the law.

Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar told reporters that candidates who fear for their safety when venturing into known NPA bulwarks should seek security escorts instead of paying for the “right” to safely campaign in those areas.

Click BusinessMirror.

Palace sees trend turning the tide for Gibo

Malacañang hopes that the good showing of administration senatorial bets in the surveys could pull the survey rating of other candidates, particularly its presidential bet former Defense chief Gilbert Teodoro.

“I hope this is just the beginning of a trend in favor of administration candidate as more and more people begin to know them better . . . Gibo and Edu and as we continue to roll out the extent of the campaign,” deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said in a radio interview on Sunday.

Administration senatorial bets Ramon “Bong” Revilla and Lito Lapid faired well in recent surveys. In a Social Weather Station (SWS) survey conducted from January 21 to 24, Revilla, a reelectionist senator, would definitely top the senatorial race.

Click Manila Times.

Arroyo’s deputy spokesman a foreigner

As I See It
Neal Cruz

Can Olivar, an American citizen, be legally appointed to an important position in the Philippine government, a Cabinet position no less, and speak for the President? What do our laws say about a situation like this?

According to Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code: “Usurpation of Official Functions—Any person who shall knowingly and falsely represent himself to be an officer, agent or representative of any department or agency of the Philippine Government or any foreign government, or who, under pretense of official position, shall perform any act pertaining to any person in authority or public officer of the Philippine Government or of any foreign government, or any agency thereof, without being lawfully entitled to do so, shall suffer the penalty of prision correctional in its minimum and medium periods.”

Click Neal Cruz.

Angie’s vow: No election brownouts

ENERGY Secretary Angelo Reyes has given the assurance that there would be no brownouts during the election period, Malacañang yesterday said.

Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said Reyes has been meeting with power generators and distributors to ensure adequate power supply until the election period ends in June.

“They would take steps to make sure there would be no red, or even yellow, alert during the elections. Reyes has been meeting with people in Visayas and Mindanao to ask for their commitments,” he said.

Click Business Insight Malaya.

Gary Olivar must dump US passport

DEMAND AND SUPPLY
By Boo Chanco, The Philippine Star

Granted that Gary Olivar is a dual citizen of both the Philippines and the US by virtue of our laws, the honorable thing for him to do is to totally renounce his US citizenship to dispel any doubts of conflicted loyalties now that he is an important official in Malacañang. Gary, of all people, should know there is no such thing as mutual interest between the Philippines and the US. A conflict will always arise (trade issues like IPR and market access, for instance or political issues like the VFA) that will put his loyalty in serious doubt.

Gary is an old friend going back to our days as student activists at UP. When he returned to the Philippines after getting his MBA at Harvard and decades of working in the Big Apple as an investment banker, Gary and I kept in touch. Last Sunday afternoon, we had coffee at Rockwell’s Power Plant mall. We may not agree on a lot of things about the country’s political life but I want to believe we remain friends.

Click Boo Chanco.

Arroyo-less admin proclamation rally looms

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo may or may not grace the proclamation rally of administration presidential bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Tuesday in Antipolo City, a Malacañang official said on Sunday.

Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said President Arroyo has a tight schedule on Tuesday, which includes a trip to Bulacan for a Cabinet meeting and a visit in one of the Urban Beltway infrastructure projects there.

Click GMANews.TV.

‘Cheap Justice’, Money Villaroyo

My friend from Tondo, who grew up in San Rafael Village astride Balut, and who remembers Manny Villar’s younger siblings because they went to the same parochial school in the vicinity, chafes at the man-who-would-be-president for misrepresenting Tondo folks.

“Walang duwag sa Tondo,” Villar declared before his peers on Tuesday, establishing his roots while denying Juan Ponce Enrile’s labelling him as a “coward”.

“Pagkatapos, imbes na sumabak sa laban,” my Tondo friend said, “nag-walkout…ayaw sumagot….ayaw lumaban…ayaw ng may katapat.”

Click LITO BANAYO.

Holding company puts Smartmatic in control

GOTCHA
By Jarius Bondoc

Although only 40 percent, Smartmatic paid up 90 percent of the capital. TIM, the 60-percent “majority”, paid only 10 percent. That gave Venezuelan-owned, Barbados-based Smartmatic control over the Filipino TIM — worrisome in case of failure.

It’s okay to debate publicly whether President Arroyo can or can’t name the next Chief Justice. But shouldn’t foreigners keep out of it — even if they’re presidential spokesmen? From official records it appears that Gary Olivar, who has been insisting that Arroyo may appoint a CJ even without nominees from the Judicial and Bar Council, travels with a US passport. Flying out of RP 11 times between Mar. 2003 and Nov. 2009, he showed the US document numbered 0958687472.

Click Jarius Bondoc.