The congressmen/women who killed the FOI bill

   

Faced with heavy criticism for the non-ratification of the Freedom of Information Bill, House Speaker Prospero Nograles on Saturday released the names of 139 congressmen who were either absent or were present but did not respond to the roll call.

Their absence during roll call resulted in a lack of quorum, which in effect killed the FOI bill as the 14th Congress is now drawing to a close.

GMANews.TV highlighted in bold the names of those who were authors or co-authors of the FOI bill but were absent during the roll call.

1. Abaya, Joseph Emilio A.
2. Agbayani, Victor Aguedo E.
3. Agyao, Manuel S.
4. Albano, Rodolfo III T.
5. Alcover Pastor Jr. M
6. Almario, Thelma Z.
7. Alvarez, Antonio C.
8. Amante, Edelmiro A.
9. Amatong, Rommel C.
10. Angping, Maria Zenaida B.
11. Aquino, Jose II S.
12. Arnaiz, George P.
13. Arquiza, Godofredo V.
14. Arroyo, Diosdado M.
15. Arroyo, Ignacio T.
16. Arroyo, Maria Lourdes T.
17. Balindong, Pangalian M.
18. Barzaga, Elpidio Jr. F.
19. Bautista, Franklin P.
20. Bichara, Al Francis C.
21. Biron, Ferjenel G.
22. Bondoc, Anna York P.
23. Bravo, Narciso Jr. R.
24. Briones, Nicanor M.
25. Britanico, Salvador B.
26. Cagas, Marc Douglas IV C.
27. Cajayon, Mary Mitzi L.
28. Canonigo, Ranulfo P.
29. Castro, Fredenil H.
30. Celeste, Arthur F.
31. Chiongbian, Erwin L.
32. Chong, Glenn A.
33. Clarete, Marina P.
34. Climaco, Mara Isabelle G.
35. Cobrador, Ceasar A.
36. Cojuangco, Mark O.
37. Coscolluela, Ma. Carissa O.
38. Dangwa, Samuel M.
39. Dayanghirang, Nelson L.
40. Daza, Paul R.
41. De Venecia, Jose Jr. C.
42. Diasnes, Carlo Oliver D.
43. Dimaporo, Abdullah D.
44. Duavit, Michael John R.
45. Dumarpa, Faysah RPM
46. Durano, Ramon VI H.
47. Dy, Faustino III G.
48. Enverga, Wilfrido Mark M.
49. Estrella, Conrado III
50. Estrella, Robert Raymund M.
51. Fabian, Erico Basillo A.
52. Fernandez, Danilo Ramon S.
53. Ferrer, Jeffrey P.
54. Fua, Orlando B.
55. Fuentebella, Arnulfo P.
56. Garcia, Albert S.
57. Garcia, Pablo P.
58. Garcia, Pablo John F.
59. Gatchalian, Rex
60. Gonzales, Aurelio Jr. D.
61. Gonzales, Neptali II M.
62. Gonzalez, Raul Jr. T.
63. Guanlao, Agapito H.
64. Gullas, Eduardo R.
65. Gunigundo, Magtanggol I.T.
66. Hataman, Mujiv S.
67. Hernandez, Ariel C.
68. Hofer, Ann K.
69. Ilagan, Luzviminda C.
70. Jala, Adam Relson R.
71. Jalosjos, Cesar G.
72. Jalosjos-Carreon, Cecilia G.
73. Jikiri, Yusop H.
74. Kho, Antonio T.
75. Lacson, Jose Carlos V.
76. Lagdameo, Antonio Jr. F.
77. Lazatin, Carmelo F.
78. Ledesma, Julio IV A.
79. Leonen-Pizarro, Catalina G.
80. Lim, Teodoro
81. Lopez, Carol Jayne B.
82. Lopez, Jaime C.
83. Macapagal-Arroyo, Juan Miguel
84. Malapitan, Oscar G.
85. Mamba, Manuel N.
86. Marañon, Alfredo III D.
87. Marcoleta, Rodante D.
88. Martinez, Celestino
89. Matugas, Francisco T.
90. Mendoza, Raymond DC
91. Mendoza, Vigor Ma. D
92. Mercado, Roger G.
93. Miraflores, Florencio T.
94. Nava, Joaquin Carlos Rahman A.
95. Nicolas, Reylina G.
96. Omar, Haron D.
97. Palparan, Jovito Jr S.
98. Pancho, Pedro M.
99. Pancrudo, Candido Jr. P.
100. Pingoy, Arthur Jr. Y.
101. Plaza, Rodolfo G.
102. Ponce-Enrile, Salvacion S.
103. Prieto-Teodoro, Monica
104. Puno, Roberto V.
105. Ramiro, Herminia M.
106. Remulla, Jesus Crispin C.
107. Reyes, Carmencita O.
108. Reyes, Victoria H.
109. Robes, Arturo B.
110. Rodriguez-Zaldirriaga, Adelina
111. Romarate, Guillermo Jr. A.
112. Romualdez, Ferdinand Martin G.
113. Romulo, Roman T.
114. Roxas, Jose Antonio F.
115. Salvacion, Andres Jr., D.
116. Santiago, Narciso III D.
117. Santos, Estrella DL.
118. Sarmiento, Ulpiano II P.
119. Seachon-Lanete, Rizalina L.
120. Singson, Ronald V.
121. Solis, Jose G.
122. Suarez, Danilo E.
123. Sy-Alvarado, Ma. Victoria R.
124. Talino-Mendoza, Emmylou J.
125. Tan, Sharee Ann T.
126. Teodoro, Marcelino R.
127. Teves, Pryde Henry A.
128. Tieng, Irwin C.
129. Tomawis, Acmad
130. Tupas, Niel Jr. C.
131. Umali, Czarina D.
132. Uy, Edwin C.
133. Uy, Rolando A.
134. Uy, Reynaldo S.
135. Valdez, Edgar L.
136. Villar, Cynthia A.
137. Villarosa, Ma. Amelita C.
138. Yu, Victor L.
139. Zamora, Ronaldo B. (MDM, via GMANews.TV)

Noynoy: How about no Chief Justice at oath-taking?

   

SEN. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, whose election as president is all but assured, yesterday said he might not take his oath before incoming Chief Justice Renato Corona whose appointment he seeks to be withdrawn by President Arroyo.

“We are studying the matter,” said Aquino who is still holed up in the Cojuangco family’s 6,400-hectare Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac.

Presidential spokesman Ricardo Saludo said the appointment would ensure stability and continuity in the High Court and the Judiciary especially in this “crucial… time of elections and transition.”

via Business Insight Malaya.

ALSO READ:

Noynoy enjoying last days of ‘ordinary’ life

HACIENDA LUISITA, TARLAC – Sen. Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III is enjoying the last days of his “ordinary” life here before assuming the most important office of the land – the presidency.

The 50-year-old bachelor, in shorts and t-shirt, drove some of his aides to the Microtel Inn Wednesday midnight where reporters were billeted.

The pair of short pants is what Aquino uses for sleeping, according to one of his closest aides. “Mukhang hindi pa nagsi-sink in sa kanya ang pagiging presidente niya,” the aide said.

Via Malaya

Erap junks Binay? Check out the video

MAR Roxas, LP vice presidential candidate, on Headstart

   

Video upload via ABS-CBN News (Five parts)

(1/5)

(2/5)

(3/5)

(4/5)

(5/5)

Villar desperate for using own mom, says Erap

   

MANILA, Philippines – Former president Joseph Estrada on Tuesday branded as an “act of desperation” Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Manny Villars move to use his own mother to defend himself from allegations that he is corrupt.Estrada, who is running for re-election under the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino banner, said he purposely shielded his mother, Doña Mary Ejercito, from all negative reports about him during his impeachment trial in December 2000.”It happened  to me also during the impeachment. In fact, ang ginawa ko at ng mga kapatid ko,wag pakita sa mama ko yung tv. Kakaunti na lang panahon niya? Bakit ko sasaktan kalooban ng nanay ko? Bakit bibigyan ng sama ng loob,” he said in a ANC “Headstart” interview.

via ABS-CBN News Online Beta.

EARLIER:

Villar denies knowing about mom’s press conference

MANILA, Philippines—Hours after his 86-year-old mother made a tearful public appeal, embattled presidential bet Manuel Villar said he had no idea his family had decided to face the media in his defense.

“’Di ko nga alam na in-interview ang mother ko eh. Ininterview ba ang mother ko? (I didn’t know that my mother was interviewed. Was she interviewed?)” Villar asked reporters on the sidelines of a presidential forum Monday night.

Wheelchair-bound Curita Villar faced the media in her Las Piñas City home on Monday morning with daughters Lourdes, Cecille, Gloria V. Benedicto and Vicky V. Divinagracia by her side.

via Inquirer.net

AND:

Villar should blame self for falling ratings: Aquino

MANILA, Philippines – Liberal Party presidential candidate Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III on Tuesday said his rival, Nacionalista Party standard bearer Manny Villar, has no one to blame but himself for his falling ratings in pre-election surveys.

“Wala siyang dapat sisihin kundi sarili niya,” Aquino told reporters who asked about the NP bet’s continuous slide in the ratings.

A Social Weather Stations survey, conducted on April 16-19 and published on Monday, showed that support for Villar dropped by 2 points to 26%.

via ABS-CBN News

Gordon tells voters, media: Just ignore surveys

   

MANILA, Philippines — Four days after suing survey firms for damages, presidential candidate Richard Gordon said the media should just “ignore” election survey results.

Sought for comment on Monday on a new survey showing rival Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III leading the race by a wide margin, consistent fifth-placer Gordon said: “The media should ignore these survey results.”

Last week, Gordon sued survey firms Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia for their “misleading surveys” and asked the Quezon City regional trial court for a temporary restraining order.

Via Inquirer.net

ALSO READ:

Malacañang cool to Gordon anti-survey case

MALACAÑANG HAS declined to support Partido Bagumbayan presidential bet Senator Richard “Dick” J. Gordon’s position to stop the release of pre-election survey results but backed his call for voters to look beyond surveys in choosing the next leaders in the coming elections.

“We understand Senator Gordon’s concerns as to why he wants to stop the release of survey results. But we are not in the same position in this issue because for us, what is much more important is the freedom of speech and expression,” Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary B. Olivar told Palace reporters yesterday.

“We are one with the senator in his calls for voters not to sacrifice their freedom to choose [the next leaders] just because the surveys tells them to vote for particular candidates. Let us not allow ourselves to be led blindly by the surveys.”

via BusinessWorld Online.

Remulla admits visiting Ampatuan Sr.

   

•Insists he did not seek endorsement for NP

MANILA, Philippines – Nacionalista Party spokesman and senatorial bet Gilbert Remulla admitted visiting a member of the influential Ampatuan clan in Maguindanao last month because of “personal safety and security reasons” and not to seek endorsement or support for him and the party.

“Yes I did, I don’t deny it but it’s for personal and security reasons why I did it. And so to elaborate on it I think will be a little bit more dangerous,” Remulla told a press conference or Monday when asked of his reported visit to Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.

Ampatuan is one of the prime suspects in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre of 57 people, including 32 media workers.

via INQUIRER.net.

CORRECTION: Adel Tamano is not a Liberal Party spokesman, but is from the Nacionalista Party, And by the looks of it, this a whole new telenovela from the party of Money Villaroyo, with Remulla and Tamano both gunning for the part of the bida.

I mean seriously, is this an electoral contest or what? The latest political happenings and issuances from the NP makes me believe there is a best acting award at stake here. First you had Andal Ampatuan Jr. earlier proclaiming he was supporting Villaroyo, then a week later, switching his allegiance supposedly to LP presidential bet Sen. Noynoy Aquino.

This afternoon, we had that curious case of Villaroyo’s mom, Nanay Curita, doing a Marlene Aguilar, bawling her eyes out and crying that her “poor son” was oppressed, the same way she was oppressed by her rich customers. (Of course by poor she meant kawawa, not mahirap.) Her spiel went like this: “Inaapi na ako sa palengke, inaapi pa ang anak ko. Akala ba ninyo hindi ako nasasaktan dun sa pinagsasabi sa anak ko? Halos ikamatay ko na….Huhuhu.” Then she sings Stardust: “My lonely night….dreaming of a song…” Geez! Can anything be weirder?

Not too long after Nanay Curita goes hysterical, Villaroyo’s sister, Gloria Benedicto, blows up at the media blaming the two major TV network’s for her brother’s problems. “Yang ABS-CBN na ‘yan masyadong unfair sa kapatid ko yan, Channel 7 very unfair sa kapatid ko. Masyado kayong unfair, you media people!” Sige ate, magsumbong ka nalang sa TV5!

Then you have the two NP spokesmen playing good-cop, bad-cop. Remulla admits visiting Ampatuan Sr., then Tamano congratulates him for confessing to this, before spanking him on the butt w/ his “you naughty, naughty boy” attitude. Gads, too much drama! Metro Filmfest na ba?

Villar’s mother comes out to defend ‘poor son’

   

MANILA, Philippines – An emotional mother of presidential candidate Senator Manny Villar came out in public for the first time Monday to defend her son against allegations that he was a liar, especially on his claims that he came from a poor family.

When asked why she called a press conference, Curita “Nanay Curing” Villar broke into tears, saying “Kasi aping-api na ang anak ko.”

“Diyos ko kayo na po ang bahala… Mahal na Birhen, kayo na ang testigo sa aking mga anak,” said Nanay Curing, days after her son was accused of allegedly defrauding the government of millions of pesos in taxes.

via INQUIRER.net.

EARLIER:

Estrada calls Villar ‘one big liar’

MANILA, Philippines—Deposed President Joseph Estrada on Monday stepped up his tirades against Senator Manuel Villar by accusing the Nacionalista Party standard-bearer of being “one big liar.”

“Mr. Manny Villar is one big liar” for allegedly making false claims in defense of his questioned transactions involving his family-controlled Vista Land and Lifescape Inc. in the Philippine Stock Exchange, Estrada said in a news conference.

“(Villar is) taking the whole country for a ride,” he added.

Via Inquirer.net

RIDICULOUS! Not content on using his dead brother in his political ad, Money Villaroyo also has the gall to use his sick mother confined to a wheelchair to speak at a press conference to defend him! The height of desperation!

Int’l group may hale Arroyo to UN over Ampatuan case

   

An international media watchdog group threatened to hale President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo before a United Nations human rights body if her administration continues to do nothing to stop the impunity that has marred the process of the murder case stemming from the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre.

Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders)/RSF made the call in the wake of Justice Secretary Alberto Agras decision to clear two Ampatuan clan members of murder charges relating to the gruesome massacre.

“We hope that the purpose of the political will displayed after the massacre on this crucial matter for the international credibility of the Philippines was not just the immediate impact. We therefore urge you to reinforce the resources available to the judicial system and to guarantee its independence so that the trial will be exemplary and so that the massacre’s instigators as well as its perpetrators can be punished,” the group said in an open letter to Mrs. Arroyo signed by RSF secretary general Jean-François Julliard.

via GMANews.TV.

ALSO READ:

Detainees now need DILG approval before holding press briefings

Detained persons will now need the personal approval of the Philippines’ Interior Secretary before being allowed to hold a press conference.

Previous jail policies only required approval from BJMP officials and consent from detainees and their lawyers, Chief Superintendent Serafin Barreto, chief of the BJMP-National Capital Region, said.

Rules covering these media briefings have been tightened after massacre murder suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr. was able to hold a press conference earlier this week.

via GMANews.TV

AND: Agra decision to form review panel known next week

LP links NP to Ampatuan caper

   

LIBERAL Party senatorial bet Risa Hontiveros yesterday said lawyers identified with Nacionalista Party vice presidential bet Loren Legarda were the ones who orchestrated the “endorsement” caper of Maguindanao massacre prime suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr.

“We have received reports that operatives of the NP were responsible for the latest smear job against Sen. Noynoy Aquino. They were the ones who rehearsed him before the presscon,” she said, referring to the press conference held by Ampatuan Tuesday in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, where he is detained.

In the press conference, Ampatuan expressed the support of his clan for Aquino’s presidential bid.

via Business Insight Malaya.

ALSO READ:

Presscon in hi-risk jail? A phone call did it

MANILA, Philippines—All it took was a phone call for jail officials to allow Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. to hold a news briefing inside a high-security prison compound in Taguig City.

Senior Inspector Lloyd Gonzaga, warden of the Quezon City Jail Annex (QCJA) at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, said Ampatuan did not file any written request for the press conference on Tuesday at the detention facility.

During the briefing, the primary suspect in the grisly killings in Maguindanao of 57 people, including at least 30 media workers, declared his family’s support for Sen. Benigno Aquino III, Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer.

via INQUIRER.net.

AND: Raps eyed vs Andal Jr., jail execs over prison presscon

State prosecutors slam jail officials over Andal Jr. press conference

   

MANILA, Philippines—Government prosecutors on Wednesday assailed jail officials for allowing Andal Ampatuan Jr. to hold a news briefing inside the prison facility in Bicutan, Taguig City on Tuesday.

During the arraignment of 15 of the accused in the Maguindanao massacre, state prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon asked Quezon City Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes to order jail officials to explain in writing why they let a high-risk prisoner step out of his prison without the consent of the court.

“We find it highly questionable that he was allowed to hold a press conference only because he wanted to clear something,” Fadullon told the judge during the hearing held at the Quezon City Jail Annex QCJA at Camp Bagong Diwa.

via INQUIRER.net.

EARLIER:

Puno says it was a ‘lapse in judgement’

MANILA, Philippines (1st UPDATE) – Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno on Wednesday said jail officials should be held accountable for allowing Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., the suspected mastermind of the Maguindanao massacre, to hold a press conference inside one of the country’s maximum security detention facilities.

“Certainly, the event itself was a lapse in judgement. I’ll want an explanation on what possessed him to have that kind of an exercise inside the jail. If they held it outside, then that’s even more for him to explain,” Puno told radio dzMM.

Puno said he has yet to find out who authorized the press conference of Ampatuan Jr., who is being held for the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao province last November.

Via ABS-CBN News

AND: ‘Andal Jr. being manipulated,’ LP says

EDITORIALS

   

Phil. Star: ‘Obscene’

If Malacañang had reacted to the Maguindanao massacre as indignantly as it did to insinuations that President Arroyo had a hand in clearing members of the Ampatuan clan in connection with the murders, the Palace would find it easier to sell its case to the public.

via Philippine Star.

Malaya: Agra’s incendiary ruling

THE country’s top state prosecutors yesterday placed their careers on the line by publicly questioning acting justice secretary Alberto Agra’s decision to clear two prominent members of the Ampatuan clan of murder charges arising from the massacre last November of 57 political enemies, their supporters and media men.

via Malaya

Inquirer: Obscenity

FIRST, the Arroyo Administration made possible the horrific massacre of 57 people, including 31 journalists, in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, last November. Now, it has massacred justice and the rule of law by dropping murder charges against two members of the Ampatuan clan who are suspected to have a hand in the heinous crime.

via inquirer.net

Phil. Star opinions

   

EDITORIAL – Jurisprudence

In June 2001 and June 2003, the Supreme Court ruled on issues involving party-list organizations. Among other things, the ruling on a case filed by Ang Bagong Bayani affirmed the intent of the framers of the Constitution to utilize the party-list system as a way of promoting the interests of marginalized and underrepresented sectors in Congress. In addition, the SC ruled that the candidate party or organization must not only represent marginalized sectors; its nominees must also belong to those sectors.

Click Phil. Star

Significant and insignificant developments
AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR
By William M. Esposo

Now Villar is trying to make political capital out of a security agency where Noynoy Aquino had a minor participation. Aquino had already divested from this firm in 1987 and explained that his involvement was due to security concerns then — the many coup attempts against the Cory government. Aquino almost became a casualty of one of these coups — carrying to this day the fragment of a bullet in his body which occasionally causes him pain and discomfort.

Click William Esposo

To each his own
TAKIN’ CARE OF BUSINESS
By Babe Romualdez

If there’s anybody who has had the strongest influence on GMA, particularly with regard to her economic policies, it’s none other than Albay governor Joey Salceda. Despite a number of gaffes – the most unforgettable of which was when he called his boss “the luckiest bitch” – he has remained one of the staunchest defenders of the president, highlighting her administration’s accomplishments at every turn possible.

Which is why the news that he is bolting Lakas-Kampi to join the Liberal Party camp of Noynoy Aquino comes as a shock to many, since of all people, Salceda would be the last in mind to defect. But then again, nothing should come as a surprise anymore when it comes to Philippine politics where more often than not, the rule of the game is survival and expediency. The election season can make erstwhile enemies become the new best friends, while those who have been the closest of allies can turn into the most bitter of rivals.

Click Babe Romualdez.

Black ops and the nature of the 2010 campaigns

   

TELLING IT LIKE IT IS
By Maria Ressa

On the morning of Thursday, April 8, I called a meeting of our top editorial minds to discuss a potentially explosive document given to us by a source from the Nacionalista Party. It was a report allegedly done by Ateneo’s Psychology Department on Sen. Benigno Aquino III signed by Fr. Carmelo Caluag.

If true, it could spell the end of Sen. Aquino’s campaign.

If we didn’t pursue the story, we could give our source reason to say we are biased. If we did, we could potentially wade into a morass of ethical issues dealing with the mental health of the frontrunner for the presidency.

True or false, we decided to do the story and air it in the coming days. We didn’t believe there was any rush because we thought our source had given us a headstart. That proved a wrong assumption.

A short time later, we received the same document from another source connected to the Nacionalista Party.

Click Maria A. Ressa.

EDITORIALS

   

Inquirer: Dirty tricks

A Presidential candidate’s psychological profile is a legitimate election issue, in the exact same way that a candidate’s track record in the use or abuse of political privilege is a legitimate election issue. The main difference between the slithering insinuations of allegedly impaired mental capacity thrown at Liberal Party standard-bearer Senator Benigno Aquino III, and the now-familiar charges of alleged corruption related to the C-5 controversy hurled at Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar, is that the rumors against Aquino are based on a spurious document.

via INQUIRER.net.

Daily Tribune: May 2010 opportunity

The financial state of Nacionalista Party (NP) bet Manuel Villar Jr. is a factor for voters to consider since it has been this side of his candidacy, that of his having spent to high heavens to win the presidency, that had chiefly stuck in the mind of the public.

The president has wide access to government resources and assets, a privilege that is prone to manipulation and abuse as inarguably proven by the plundering couple now occupying Malacañang.

Click Daily Tribune

Malaya: Gloria’s whimsy

Then shortly before midnight, the word from the Palace was that Gloria would be sticking to the old schedule, staying one more day in Hanoi for the summit’s retreat session.

All’s well that ends well? Not quite. Arroyo is the president of the Republic, not some hereditary potentate who can do as she pleases and to hell with the possible worries and alarm among the populace her change of schedule can generate. Many people may hate Gloria, but even inveterate Arroyo-bashers continue to hold the office in high respect. If the case were otherwise, Gloria and Mike would have long been dragged out, screaming and kicking, of Malacañang.

Click Malaya

Phil. Star: Glitches

Absentee voting started with the Commission on Elections preparing to re-bid the contract for the supply of indelible ink on election day after tests showed that the ink from the winning bidder is not as indelible as specified. In Hong Kong, a glitch in one of the Precinct Count Optical Scan machines slowed down the voting over the weekend.

Meanwhile, in Manila, the Comelec still has to pick a winner in the bidding for the supply of ultraviolet lamps that are needed to read ballot security markings. The Comelec has been urged to ensure that Smartmatic-TIM, which produced smudged ballots that cannot be authenticated by the PCOS machines, will shoulder the cost of the UV lamps.

Click Phil. Star