Estrada tries int'l media
to get 'fair treatment'
(Inquirer, Page 1)
DEPOSED President Joseph Estrada believes he cannot get a fair treatment from local media and now wants to seek an international audience for his litany of gripes. The ex-President said Sunday he would start sending out press materials to foreign media companies to expose the "conspiracy" and "falsified facts" surrounding his ouster. "I cannot get a fair treatment from the current setup of the media here which is controlled by some families and suppresses news that are favorable to me," he told the Inquirer in a telephone interview. Asked to cite examples of "suppressed" news, Estrada recalled only news reports concerning the opening of the controversial "second envelope," shortly after his ouster. He said that when the envelope yielded bank documents pointing not at him but at his friend, Jaime Dichaves, as the real owner of the Jose Velarde account, local media did not give prominence to the news. Estrada said his press materials would be distributed mainly "in the US and Europe."
(Tribune,Page 1)
Deposed President Joseph Estrada
has more reasons to distrust the Sandiganbayan-appointed lawyers from the Public
Attorney's Office (PAO) who are now Estrada's lead counsels.It was discovered
recently by the Estrada camp that lawyer Persida Rueda-Acosta, who leads the PAO
team and who has become the lead counsel in the cases against the ousted leader.
This decision was reached after a conference among the private and PAO lawyers
was held.Acosta, the Estrada camp charged, is a "civil society"
stalwart who, moreover, is said to have gotten her position in PAO after the
Edsa II revolt.Edsa II's civil society members are known to have manifested a
strong bias against the evicted president and have declared him guilty of
plunder, even before the trial.
(Manila Times, Banner)
Deposed president Joseph Estrada
has found himself a new champion. Former senator Jovito Salonga has reportedly
offered to defend the ousted chief executive, according to sources close to the
former president. However, Salonga’s offer carries an “unacceptable”
condition — Estrada must plead guilty. The same sources said Salonga made the
offer through a letter sent to Estrada during the Lenten holidays. The former
senator, however, made it clear that he was against any US treatment for
Estrada’s bum knee. While Salonga said he was no fan of Estrada, he
acknowledged some hope of redemption. However, Salonga said this would involve
an admission of guilt and a tacit acknowledgement that crime no longer pays in
this country.
NO OK THEN BUT OK NOW?
(Malaya, Page 2)
Former President Joseph Estrada
yesterday questioned a recent pronouncement of the Sandiganbayan Special
Division to allow retired Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Manuel Pamaran to make
a verbal petition for twice-a-week hearings instead of the earlier scheduled
thrice-a-week hearings.
(Philippine Star, Banner)
Unmanned
US spy plane crashes off Zamboanga
(Inquirer, Page 1)
Robot
spy plane crashes off Zambo
(Manila Times, Page 1)
ZAMBOANGA CITY — A US Gnat
unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) being used in the joint RP-US "Balikatan
02-1" military exercises crashed yesterday morning in a bay outside the
city, the US military announced yesterday. The drone took off from Edwin Andrews
Air Base here around 8:30 a.m. for an unspecified "routine"
surveillance mission and was on its way back to the air base at around 9:27 a.m.
when it crashed into Caldera Bay, some 14 kilometers west of Zamboanga City. US
army Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster, commander of US Special Forces in the Pacific,
said Philippine divers and US navy SEALs recovered the drone in waters some six
miles off Barangay Recodo at 11 a.m. Hostile
fire ruled out in US spy plane crash (Tribune, Page 1)
(Philippine
Star, Page 8)
ZAMBOANGA CITY – The military may
have foiled another massive kidnapping operation by the Abu Sayyaf following the
arrest of 11 of its members and followers riding a speedboat near a coastal
village of this southern port city the other day. Armed Forces Southern Command
chief Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu said yesterday the seized speedboat had five huge
outboard engines that could sustain "extensive travel time for almost 20
persons." "The boat was a potential mode of transport for kidnapping
operations here and Basilan. The bandits were trying to hatch another plot to
kidnap more victims, but were prevented because of the interception of the
vessel," Cimatu said. "This is a big blow to their operation and
terroristic activities."
(Philippine Star, Page 1)
Hundreds of Filipino workers
continue to leave for Cuba to join other Filipinos already at the US naval base
at Guantanamo Bay to construct jails for captured Taliban and al-Qaeda members
from Afghanistan. US navy officials have cordoned off a huge open space in
Guantanamo naval base as site of the detention center for Taliban and al-Qaeda
"battlefield detainees," which has been dubbed as "Camp
X-Ray" because the jail cells are transparent from the outside. Sources in
the Department of Labor and Employment said the necessary documents for the
deployment of 150 more Filipino construction workers are being processed by the
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). They are reportedly
getting an average of $1,000 monthly pay, with free accommodation, food and full
benefits in case of any work-related accident.
Next
batch of Cuba-bound Pinoys not as lucky (Inquirer, Page 4)
BECAUSE of the revelation that
Filipino workers who had been hired on a "special mission" for the
United States military in Cuba had been given special treatment, the next batch
of workers to go to that island nation will no longer be given the same
privileges. A source who requested anonymity said the next group of 150
engineers and construction workers who are leaving to build prison cells to hold
the al-Qaeda prisoners of the Americans will be taking a commercial flight to
Cuba instead of a chartered plane. They will also have to undergo the usual
security checks at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, unlike the first
batch of 250 Filipino workers who did not have to go through normal departure
procedures when they left Monday last week.
(Philippine Star, Page 1)
JAKARTA (AFP) – One of three
Indonesians arrested in the Philippines on suspicion of terrorism has accused
Philippine police of planting explosives in his luggage, a report said here
yesterday. "I saw it myself, the hand of the police that put those things
into my luggage," Tamsil Linrung told the Koran Tempo daily from Manila. He
said police did not check the luggage of other passengers and that they planted
the explosives in his luggage when they opened it for a manual check following
X-ray examination. Linrung said that police planted several round containers the
size of marbles containing a white powder. He said that he also had the
impression that the Philippine police, including plainclothes officers, had been
waiting for his arrival and were ready with a video camera to record the luggage
check when it took place.
(Inquirer, Page 2)
DAVAO CITY--Mindanao radio
announcers and "outspoken commentators" are most vulnerable to
violence, according to an international group fighting for the safety of
journalists around the world. The New York City-based Committee to Protect
Journalists (CPJ) in its 2001 Philippine country report said there was also a
continuous threat to radio announcers and outspoken commentators throughout the
country because it remains "one of the most dangerous places in the world
to practice journalism." Since the 1986 peoples' revolt that ousted
strongman Ferdinand Marcos, the CPJ said 37 Filipino journalists have been
killed. "(However) no one has ever been convicted of murdering a journalist
(in the Philippines)," the CPJ observed.
3. MARCOS WEALTH
(Inquirer, Banner)
SWITZERLAND has just dropped a bomb
on the Presidential Commission on Good Government: Controversial Zurich district
attorney and investigating magistrate Dieter Jann has lifted the freeze on the
Swiss bank deposits of at least four Marcos cronies. Jann's decision caught the
PCGG by surprise. The lifting took place sometime in January, but the PCGG
learned of it only recently. "All I can say is that it was really
unexpected," a PCGG commissioner, who requested anonymity, said.The lifting
came on the heels of the PCGG's filing of forfeiture cases against Geronimo
Velasco, Carmencito de Borja Clavecilla, Fe Roa and Ignacio Gimenez, and Alfredo
"Bejo" Romualdez, who are reportedly keeping Swiss accounts together
worth at least $20 million.
(Manila Times, Page 6)
FORMER first lady Imelda,
flamboyant widow of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, did not squander away
some P98 million in public funds for her personal use in 1984, the Sandiganbayan
Fourth Division ruled in its decision to junk the two graft cases against her.
(Tribune, Banner)
Two more military generals have
joined the clamor against the possible appointment and eventual extension of
service of Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu as earlier announced by President Arroyo. Cimatu,
the current chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Southern Command (Southcom),
is reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56 in July, or barely two months
after incumbent AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Diomedio Villanueva retires on May 20.
On Monday last week, the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabayan (RAM) warned Mrs.
Arroyo against extending Cimatu’s term.
Go defies court, gets back P990M
foreclosed land;Despite case in CA, cops seize property
(Malaya, Banner)
While the Supreme Court continues
to be under siege from former President Joseph Estrada, a regional trial court
in Las Piñas City openly defied the Court of Appeals with the help of the
police.Records obtained by Malaya during the holidays show that Las Piñas Judge
Jose F. Caoibes issued an order restoring possession of Ever Gotesco shopping
mall and directed Police Col. Armando Pineda to implement immediately the order.
The decision was made while Caoibes had full knowledge of the existence of a
petition for certiorari pending in the sixth division of the Court of
Appeals.The arbitrary decision of Judge Caoibes reverberated in banking circles.
Many bankers expressed fears that if the courts lend themselves to stopping
creditors from taking possession of assets used as collaterals for unpaid loans,
the banks may have to limit their loans to clients with good paying
records."That means that new and small borrowers may have to be denied
because we do not want the kind of trouble we are getting from Joe Go,"
said a banker who requested anonymity.
(Manila Times, Page 1)
AN experiment reducing the
government’s work week to four days starts today. President Arroyo had ordered
that a shortened work week be tried out until May. If successful, the plan will
be adopted in all state offices.
(Tribune, Page 1)
President Arroyo lost her cool
yesterday during her visit to the Baseco Compound in Manila which was razed by a
fire and quickly banned any and all photographs of her which caught her foul
mood.She was specially incensed to discover that Manila Mayor Joselito Atienza
was not on hand to welcome her in the compound upon her arrival, despite an
earlier advisory issued to the mayor informing him of her arrival in the area
before noon.It was Manila Councilor Kim Atienza, the mayor's son who welcomed
the President at the Baseco Compound. 10,000
families homeless in Port Area fire; GMA irked at ‘inaction’ of Manila city
officials (Manila Times, Page
6) A Palace source said yesterday President Arroyo was irked by
Manila city officials’ apparent lack of initiative to improve the poor living
conditions of 10,000 families rendered homeless by a fire that razed five
barangays in the Port Area. The President found that only Manila Councilor Kim
Atienza, Manila Mayor Lito Atienza’s son dealt with the affected families at a
covered court in the Baseco Compound where the fire’s victims were temporarily
housed.GMA
slams Manila officials over response to Baseco fire (Philippine Star,
Page 1)President Arroyo chided Manila officials yesterday after she
failed to contact any of them while fire of still undetermined origin was razing
some 3,500 shanties in the squatters’ area in Baseco compound in Tondo. Two
toddlers were injured in the two-hour fire. Alanie Balagbag, 5, and Dangdang
Maunac, 1 and 3 months, were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Arson
investigators said some P15 million worth of property was destroyed in the
blaze. Mrs. Arroyo said she was not able to talk with the chief of the Bureau of
Fire Protection and that fire trucks failed to immediately arrive at the fire
scene. Councilor Kim Atienza was said to be the lone Manila official who was
with Mrs. Arroyo at the scene and that he reportedly bore the brunt of the Chief
Executive’s anger. Mrs. Arroyo reportedly ordered Defense Secretary Angelo
Reyes, chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, to go at once to
Baseco and take charge of fire-fighting operations.
(Philippine Star, Page 1 )
The Philippines plans to forge
currency swap arrangements with Asian countries including China and South Korea,
similar to its existing accord with Japan. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)
Governor Rafael Buenaventura said the swap agreements would help guard against
external shocks that might affect the foreign exchange rate. In a transcript of
remarks released yesterday, Buenaventura said the government was considering a
$3-billion swap agreement with China and a smaller one with South Korea.
(Philippine Star, Page 1)
"He broke his promise
again!" Between sobs, Claudine Barretto broke her silence yesterday
afternoon in an interview with Boy Abunda on ABS-CBN’s The Buzz about Rico Yan,
her former boyfriend who died in his sleep due to hemorrhagic pancreatitis on
Good Friday at the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan. Choking with emotion, Claudine
said that before Rico left for Dos Palmas with five friends, among them his MTB
and Whattamen colleague Dominic Ochoa, the actor promised to "fix
everything" as soon as he came back. "But he broke his promise,"
cried Claudine, who had to be sedated when told about Rico’s sudden death
while she and her family were vacationing in Subic. Rico did come back at around
6:30 p.m. on Good Friday, his body in a leather body bag, accompanied by his
father Roby and brother Bobby first to Camp Crame for autopsy and then to the
Arlington funeral home on Araneta Avenue in Quezon City for embalming.
(Inquirer Analysis, Page 1)
AGAIN, consumers are being punished
to protect manufacturers. The 10-percent increase in the price of cement in
Metro Manila followed the imposition by the Department of Trade and Industry
last December of a provisional duty of 20.60 pesos per bag on cement imports.
The DTI attributed the price increase--135 pesos per bag from 125 pesos per bag
in February--to the surge in demand from the construction industry, which it
attributed to the "confidence of the business community." A less
convoluted and more credible explanation is that local cement manufacturers
cannot supply the shortfall and a shortage of cement has developed. And there
are speculations that part of the reason for the shortage is hoarding, driven by
the prospects of higher prices and continuing shortages. If it is true that
there is a high demand for cement because of the construction industry's
apparent revival, this means that the new tariff is propping up the high cement
prices Legarda backs tariff plan for local cement industry
(Philippine Star, Page 5)Sen. Loren Legarda welcomed
yesterday President Arroyo’s decision to keep the provisional P20.60 per bag
tariff on imported cement as demanded by local manufacturers. "The
Department of Trade and Industry must protect domestic industries that provide
jobs to Filipinos and make use of locally sourced inputs," she said.
"What more can we ask for? If we keep the tariff on imported cement, we not
only protect industries that directly help the economy, we also generate new and
much-needed income for the government." Keeping the provisional tariff on
imported cement would boost government revenue, she added.
(Inquirer, Page 3)
AS OTHER firms sponsored Easter
events for their employees, about 143 workers of Nippon Paint Phil. Inc. have
decided to file a notice of strike with the Department of Labor and Employment
against the company. Singaporean-owned Nippon Paint controls 65 percent of the
architectural and car paint market nationwide. Thus, the workers said, there was
no reason for the company to claim in ongoing collective bargaining talks that
the company was losing money. "How is that possible when we supply 32
million liters of the 50 million liters of car paint used nationwide? We cover
65 percent of the total market demand," said Adonis Guansing, a chemist and
auditor of the Nippon Paint Labor Union
(Philippine Star,Page 2)
Two congressmen from California
have filed a bill allowing family members of Filipinos serving in the United
States Navy to legally reside and work in the US. House Resolution 3906 filed
last March 7 by Representatives Randy Cunningham (Republican) and Robert Filner
(Democrat) sought to correct a negative effect of amendments to the Immigration
law adopted in 1996. The measure, entitled Military Families Unification Act of
2002, underscored that wives and children of Filipinos serving in the US Navy
are not allowed to work in the US while accumulating what he called "time
unlawfully present." Cunningham, a Navy fighter pilot in the Vietnam War,
said under existing laws, family members of Filipinos serving in the US military
who wanted to work in America "should accrue bad time," thus
diminishing their chances of becoming permanent US residents or American
citizens.
(Inquirer, Page 2)
Opposition Sen. Edgardo Angara
proposed yesterday the formulation of a "national water plan" to
combat the El Niño weather phenomenon and its effect on the country’s water
resources. Angara said the need for a national water plan has become more urgent
after experts warned that more than 160,000 hectares of prime rice lands may be
vulnerable to the severe dry spell brought by El Niño. Angara said the plan
should be formulated by water conservation and generation experts, end-users,
government and non-government organizations and the various state agencies
involved in water generation, distribution and use. The plan should also cover
the vital and broad concerns such as water for drinking, irrigation, industrial
use and power generation.
(Philippine
Star, Page 7)
You can’t fool him for sure!
Incoming Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao has asked
President Arroyo to delay the effectivity of his appointment for just one day so
it will not be made today, which is April Fools’ Day. April Fools’ Day in
Western tradition is when practical jokes are played on the unwary. Not wanting
to be a victim or the butt of practical jokes on that day, Tiglao told The STAR
his appointment as concurrent Press Secretary to replace Noel Cabrera has not
been issued yet by the President, upon his request. Cabrera’s resignation took
effect yesterday, March 31, to assume a new post as board chairman and chief
executive officer of the Cocolife Insurance Corp., one of the sequestered
subsidiary companies of the Coconut Industry Investment Fund.
(Philippine Star, Page 8)
LIMASAWA, Southern Leyte —
President Arroyo attended yesterday the commemoration of the first Christian
Mass in the country held in this Visayan island on March 31, 1521, or exactly
481 years to the day. On board a chopper from Surigao, Mrs. Arroyo arrived at
this historic tadpole-shaped island around 9 a.m. yesterday as guest speaker of
the Eucharistic celebration of the Roman Catholic Church. In her message, she
talked about the ceremonial holy Mass that was celebrated 481 years ago also on
an Easter Sunday. Mrs. Arroyo, Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon and other
visitors coming from Western countries received a warm welcome from residents
and local officials led by Rep. Aniceto Saludo Jr., Gov. Rosette Lerias and
Limasawa Mayor Albert Esclamado.
(Philippine
Star, Page 8)
The Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP)
turned down anew the appeals for parole of the two communist hit men convicted
for the 1989 assassination of US army Col. James Rowe. The BPP turned down
before the Holy Week the parole bid of Juanito Itaas, 37, and Donato Continente,
39, who were convicted for the murder of Rowe, an official of the Joint US
Military Assistance Group (JUSMAG), and the wounding of his Filipino driver
Joaquin Binoya on April 21, 1989 in Quezon City. The rejection of their parole
bids dashed the hopes of the two men who were found to have been assassins of
the Alex Boncayao Brigade, the urban hit squad of the communist New People’s
Army
South
Koreans in Davao to seek release of abducted treasure hunter
(Philippine Star, Page 8)
Some compatriots of kidnapped
Korean treasure hunter Jae Keon-yoon have flown to Davao City in search of an
intermediary that could arrange ransom negotiations with the abductors believed
to be members of the Pentagon gang. This developed as government emissaries
urged the military anew to suspend its tactical operations to give way for
negotiations on the safe release of a kidnapped Korean treasure hunter. A source
told The STAR that the Korean delegation was being cautious in going about their
mission to ensure that they are dealing with the right people.
(Tribune, Page 1)
Is Sen. Renato Cayetano formally
out of the Senate presidency race?Talks that the senator, who had reportedly
been "assured" of the third-highest position in the country through a
gentlemen's agreement with the current Senate president, appeared to be
expecting nothing as far as the seat is concerned.This realization was further
bolstered by a source from the majority bloc in the Senate, saying the
"race" is actually now between Majority Leader Loren Legarda-Leviste
and Senate President Pro Tempore Manuel Villar.The sources said Cayetano, who is
supposed to equally share Senate President Franklin Drilon's three-year term by
taking over the post by the middle of next year, is allegedly getting frantic
and has been "emphasizing" to colleagues that he has the full backing
of former President Fidel Ramos.
(Philippine Star, Page 8)
National artist in music Lucio San
Pedro passed away at the Angono Medics Hospital in Angono, Rizal at 1:45 p.m.
yesterday. According to CCP artistic director Nanding Josef, he received a text
message early afternoon from San Pedro’s daughter Cristina informing him of
her father’s passing. The cause of death was cardiac arrest, according to the
daughter. The national artist is survived by Gertrudes Diaz. They have five
children, namely: Rhodora, Bienvenido, Ma. Conchita, Ma. Cristina and Lucio Jr
(Tribune, Page 1)
Is Sen. Joker Arroyo an anachronism
in the making in the Senate?Besides being known as the senator with the most
"lean" staff, he probably would soon be remembered as the member of
the Senate with the least number of resolutions and bills filed in the current
12th Congress.During the last eight months, Senator Arroyo, a staunch ally of
President Arroyo, had introduced only one bill while some of his colleagues came
up with as many as 260.He had "zero" resolutions filed.
(Philippine Star, Page 1)
LONDON (AFP) — Britain’s Queen
Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, born in the final years of the Victorian era, died
peacefully in her sleep Saturday aged 101, Buckingham Palace announced. Regarded
as one of the best loved members of Britain’s royal family, her death came
just six weeks after that of her younger daughter, Princess Margaret, at the age
of 71. The double royal tragedy has cast a pall over celebrations this year to
mark the 50 years that her elder daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, has held the
British throne.