COPY FOR SPML
(Inquirer,Page 1)
SENSING that the public would not
accept a big power rate increase at this time, Manila Electric Co. on Tuesday
submitted a revised proposal to the Energy Regulatory Commission tempering the
increase. In a presentation before the ERC, Meralco said consumers using 100
kilowatt-hours a month would be charged 624.50 pesos, an increase of 10.6
percent from their current bill of 564.86 pesos. In the petition it submitted on
Dec. 26, 2001, Meralco said consumers using 100 kwh a month would be charged
25.4 percent more. The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan had earlier accused Meralco of
seeking to raise its rates by as much as 116 percent. In the House of
Representatives, Iloilo Rep. Raul Gonzalez, deputy speaker for the Visayas, has
filed a resolution calling for a probe of Meralco's "unjustified" rate
hike.
(Philippine Star, Page 1)
Oil companies are mulling another
increase of 30 to 50 centavos per liter in the price of their refined petroleum
products this week as crude prices continue to rise in the world market.
"We are seriously considering a price adjustment. Dubai crude has peaked at
a six-month high of $24.40 per barrel on March 28," Pi-lipinas Shell
Petroleum Corp. general manager for external affairs Robert Kampi said
yesterday. Shell and market rivals Caltex Philippines Inc. and Petron Corp. —
the industry’s so-called "Big 3" — raised the pump price of
gasoline by 35 centavos and diesel by 30 centavos last March 20 based on the
movement of international crude prices in January and February. Kampi said if
the trend continues, Shell may have to consider another increase, which would be
implemented on a staggered basis.Caltex to raise pump prices by 40-45 centavos this week (Tribune,Page
1) Major oil company Pilipinas Shell yesterday said it is raising its
pump prices by 40-45 centavos this week as a result of the high price of crude
in the world market that is now hitting an alarming $24.60 per barrel.“We feel
that the price hike that we implemented last week is not sufficient so we are
looking at an increase in oil price of not more than 45 centavos,” Roberto
Kanapi, Shell vice president for corporate communications, said during an
interview.Caltex Philippines, on the other hand, also yesterday said the company
is bent on implementing another oil price increase if the parameters that would
make it high favors an increase.
(Tribune,Banner)
Deposed President Joseph
Estrada’s camp yesterday lashed at the Special Division of the Sandiganbayan
for threatening to jail his personal physician should he refuse to testify in
court, once he is on Philippine soil. At the same time, Public Attorney’s
Office (PAO) chief Persida Rueda-Acosta said there was no need to present Mow in
court. She said the defense, at this point, is not entertaining the possibility
of presenting Mow to the court.
MOVE ON ERAP DOCTOR ASSAILED
(Malaya, Page 1)
The Partido ng Masang Pilipino
yesterday lashed at the Special Division for threatening to jail American
orthopedic surgeon Christopher Mow if he refuses to testify in court. PMP
Spokesman Jesus Crispin Remulla said the threat aired by Special Division
Spokesman Renato Bocar confirmed suspicions that the court is actively working
with the prosecution to convict Joseph Estrada and further make miserable his
condition while under detention.
(Today, Page 1)
A government physician will
continue to give her testimony today in support of deposed President Joseph
Estrada's bid to travel to the United States for his knee surgery as the special
Division resumes its hearing on its petition.
(Philippine Star,Banner)
Authorities will investigate banks
in Mindanao following a US intelligence report that the Abu Sayyaf has been
channeling money to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist network, a justice
department official said yesterday. The move is part of a probe, led by the
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), on the Abu Sayyaf’s links to al-Qaeda.
Justice Undersecretary Jose Calida said the Abu Sayyaf is suspected of
laundering money in banks in Basilan, Sulu and Zamboanga.There was an upsurge of
bank deposits in those areas, he said, citing a tip from the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas. Movement of funds alarms
gov’t;BSP orders Zamboanga, Basilan banks to submit daily reports of
transactions (Manila Times, Page 2)
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has
ordered banks in Zamboanga City and Basilan province to submit daily reports of
transactions following a “significant increase” in movement of funds in the
Abu Sayyaf strongholds. Justice Undersecretary Jose Calida said law enforcers
are closely monitoring deposits and withdrawals in the two areas to prevent
possible money-laundering activities of the Abu Sayyaf.
(Inquirer, Page 2)
Where's the money?THE JUSTICE
department and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation are looking
into the possible involvement of Libya in the Sipadan crisis and subsequent
hostage-taking incidents in Palawan and Mindanao, Justice Undersecretary Jose
Calida said Tuesday. This developed as the Department of Justice began the work
of establishing the paper trail of the ransom money that was paid to the Abu
Sayyaf bandit group during the Sipadan hostage crisis in 2000. Press Secretary
Rigoberto Tiglao said the government was checking out an FBI report that the Abu
Sayyaf had funneled to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida international terrorist
network part of the ransom money it collected for the Sipadan hostages. He said
the FBI had obtained the evidence "from different countries."
FBI confirms Libya helping to fund Abu Sayyaf
bandits (Manila Times, Page 1) The US Federal Bureau of
Investigation has confirmed that the Libyan government is financially helping
the Abu Sayyaf, the Department of Justice said yesterday.
Some of the money eventually reaches Osama bin Laden, which proves
Libya’s undercover support to the suspected terrorist leader, Justice
Undersecretary Jose Calida said.
(Manila Times,Page 2)
ZAMBOANGA CITY – US intelligence
operatives here are also keeping tabs of fund movements from the Abu Sayyaf to
the al-Qaida global terrorist network. But contrary to earlier reports
identifying the local extremist rebels as a source of funds for Saudi fugitive
financier Osama din Laden, US intelligence sources said most of the money
transfers went to the purchase of weapons.
FBI report on Abu money trail
for 2000, says gov’t (Tribune, Page 1) Presidential
spokesman and Press Secretary Rigoberto Tiglao yesterday clarified the
information linking the Abu Sayyaf with the al-Qaeda network was gathered in
year 2000, not under the present circumstances.Tiglao issued the clarification
in reaction to pronouncements made by Justice Secretary Hernando Perez about a
report of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) disclosing the supposed
transfer of ransom made by the Abu Sayyaf to the account of international
terrorist Osama bin Laden and his group al-Qaeda.Despite what could be a
misinterpretation of the FBI report, President Arroyo still instructed the
Department of Justice (DoJ) to double check the veracity of the information.
“We are still trying to build up on this, we don't have enough (evidence) to
make conclusion,” Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said during an ambush
interview in Fort Bonifacio, Makati City.
(Philippine Star,Page 2 )
At least eight more US lawmakers
are set to arrive to assess the kind of assistance the country needs to combat
homegrown terrorist groups like the Abu Sayyaf. Meanwhile, Vice President and
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teofisto Guingona has told visiting US Senators Daniel
Inouye (Democrat, Hawaii) and Ted Stevens (Republican, Alaska) that Filipino
troopers need more access to American military technology to make the ongoing
joint RP-US military "Balikatan" military exercises in Basilan more
meaningful. Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) chief Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu
said the increasing arrival of US lawmakers is precisely to assess additional
military assistance needed by the country. The President herself hinted that the
visit of Inouye and Stevens is connected with the "budget that they are
providing the Philippines US SENATORS SUPPORT $100-MILLION AID TO RP (Today,
Banner) An American Senator who heads the subcommittee in the US Senate
that approves the US Defense Budget has expressed
support for the proposal to grant the Philippines nearly US$ 100 Million
in military assistance.
(Philippine Star, Page 1)
ZAMBOANGA CITY — American
missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipina nurse Deborah Yap are
still being held in the jungles of Basilan, the military said yesterday. Lt.
Col. Danilo Servando, spokesman for the Armed Forces Southern Command, denied
reports that Abu Sayyaf bandits have taken the three hostages to Sulu to escape
pursuing government troops. "No, that is not true," he said. "Our
information still maintains that the Burnhams are in Basilan." Earlier
reports coming out of Basilan said the Burnhams and Yap are now in the hands of
Mujib Susukan, one of the commanders of the Abu Sayyaf band in Sulu.
Guingona: RP Balikatan troops can
only gawk at US high-tech gear
(Tribune, Page 1)
Pinoys don't get chance to use
high-tech equipment, says Tito
(Malaya,page 1)
Vice President and Foreign Affairs
Secretary Teofisto Guingona Jr. yesterday complained that not all Filipino
soldiers participating in the Balikatan 02-1 military exercises in Mindanao are
being given access to high-tech US military equipment and hardware.Guingona,
during his visit to Basilan province last Monday, noted that only a few local
troops were being given the chance to use night vision goggles and sniper's
rifles and are still not allowed to board the P-3 Orion spy plane and other US
aircraft showcased in the war games.“The Filipinos should be able to fly. They
should be able to at least board the P-3 Orion,” he said in Pilipino.Guingona
said he had immediately suggested to US and Philippine authorities in charge of
the Balikatan 02-1 being held in the province for the Philippine military forces
to be allowed the use of the Americans' sophisticated gear.
Bomb planters point to Palace,
Senate, House;And throw in PSE and NAIA
(Malaya,Banner)
A shadowy group calling itself
Indigenous Peoples Federal Army (IPFA) yesterday said it has planted two bombs
each in Malacañang, the Senate, House, and the Philippine Stock Exchange and
four at the Ninoy Aquino International airport."Unless there's political
will from the government, tuloy-tuloy pa rin kami sa aming gawain," Adrev,
who has been identifying himself as IPFA spokesman in previous radio interviews,
told RMN radio in Cotabato. The previously unknown group has been calling for
the adoption of a federal form of government. President Arroyo the other day
said she was not against federalism but the economy should first be strengthened
before the system of government is changed."Pressure lang naman ito para
magkaroon ng political will ... Ang target lang naman namin ay ang government at
hindi yung civil society," Adrev also said.
(Inquirer,Page 1)
THE Presidential Commission on Good
Government has nine days to act before the lifting of the freeze on the Swiss
bank accounts of three alleged Marcos cronies actually takes effect. "It's
not yet in force. It's like an administrative judgment that is on appeal,"
PCGG Chair Haydee Yorac said Tuesday. "An appeal immediately suspends the
effectivity of the judgment. We have until April 12 to file that appeal."
Yorac said this meant that the Swiss deposits of former Energy Minister Geronimo
Velasco, his secretary Carmencita de Borja Clavecilla, and his nephew Alfredo de
Borja -- amounting to some 17 million dollars -- had "not yet been
dissipated." Yorac's words of reassurance did not calm lawyer Rod Domingo,
who represents victims of human rights abuses under martial law. Domingo said
that the underlying implication of the Feb. 6 order of Zurich district attorney
and investigating magistrate Dieter Jann, reiterated in his order of March 12,
is that even the funds of other Marcos cronies in Switzerland could also be
"unfrozen" by Jann. PCGG Commissioner Ruben Carranza said it was not
as simple as that. But he admitted that other Marcos cronies could indeed try to
ask Switzerland to lift the freeze on their assets.
(Inquirer, Banner)
SLOWLY but surely, the House of
Representatives is pushing for amendments to the 1987 Constitution, aimed mainly
at changing the form of government. The House committee on constitutional
amendments has approved a measure calling for convening barangay assemblies
nationwide on May 6 to serve as a forum to discuss proposals to amend the
Constitution. There are 41,940 barangays in the country. As proposed, the people
would be asked whether they see a need to amend the Charter. If they favored
Charter change, they would be asked about the specific amendments that they
wanted and the manner by which the Charter would be amended.Results of the
consultations would be submitted to the House and the Senate. House Speaker Jose
de Venecia Jr. has espoused Charter change, saying he favors a shift to a
parliamentary form of government. He is calling a national political summit on
the first week of May to discuss Charter change and other issues. In House
Resolution No. 8, 35 members of the committee on constitutional amendments is
asking the Department of Interior and Local Government to convene the barangay
assemblies in order to determine the stand of the people on proposals to amend
the Constitution.
(Philippine Star,Page 1 )
President Arroyo and her Cabinet
have agreed to seek a total budget of P798 billion for 2003, according to the
Department of Budget and Management (DBM). In an interview, Budget Secretary
Emilia Boncodin said the proposed budget for next year will merely be P18
billion more than this year’s appropriation approved by Congress. She said the
national government’s budget this year is P780.8 billion, which was provided
for in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2002, or Republic Act 9162,
signed into law last Jan. 21 by Mrs. Arroyo. This year’s budget of P780
billion, as originally proposed by the Arroyo administration, was approved by
Congress without cuts, although there were major realignments of the budgets of
many departments, the bulk of which, or P5 billion, were those re-allocated from
the modernization program for this year of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
(Philippine Star, Page 6)
NEW YORK CITY — Filipinos in the
US East Coast and Canada gave an enthusiastic reception yesterday to the
proposed bills on absentee voting and on dual citizenship. Some 150
representatives of various organizations of Filipinos in New York, New Jersey,
Connecticut and Canada voiced their support for the two bills, while giving
their proposals during a bicameral consultations held at the Philippine
consulate in Manhattan.
(Philippine Star, Page 6)
(Manila Times, Page 2)
The composer must have needed a
lyricist in heaven. Two days after National Artist Lucio San Pedro’s death,
National Artist Levi Celerio also passed away. He would have turned 92 at
month’s end. Celerio died of multiple organ dysfunction at around 3:35 p.m.
yesterday at the Delgado Clinic in Kamuning, Quezon City. The famous lyricist
also suffered a stroke sometime ago. Celerio and San Pedro’s most famous
collaboration is"Sa Ugoy ng Duyan." The classic has remained popular
through generations despite changing musical tastes. Proof of the song’s
enduring quality is its being one of the carrier songs in Aiza Seguerra’s
latest gold album, Pinakamamahal.
(Inquirer, Page 2)
(Tribune,Page 1)
DISCONTENT is again brewing in the
military in the wake of reports that the next Armed Forces of the Philippines
chief of staff would be a general whose term would be extended. Lt. Gen. Jaime
de los Santos, commanding general of the Philippine Army, aired this warning
Tuesday shortly after he retired from service. "It will not be a popular
decision. It will create disenchantment. There will be low morale..." De
los Santos told reporters. De los Santos had been considered as one of those
qualified to take the place of AFP chief Gen. Diomedio Villanueva once he
retires on May 20. But he retired Tuesday without achieving this. The Army
witnessed a change of command when De Los Santos bowed out and relinquished his
post to Maj. Gen. Dionisio R. Santiago, former commander of the AFP's Visayas
Command. ‘Red tape delaying AFP modernization’
(Philippine Star, Page 9) After
retiring as Army commander yesterday, Lt. Gen. Jaime de los Santos criticized
the government for the slow implementation of the Armed Forces modernization
program. Speaking at the turnover of command to new Army chief Maj. Gen.
Dionisio Santiago at Fort Bonifacio in Makati, Delos Santos said the military
has yet to acquire "advance weaponry" to increase its fighting
capability since the passage of the AFP Modernization Act in 1995. "Still
another battle we face is the unfilled saga of the modernization program,"
he said. "More than five years after the enactment of the AFP modernization
program, (there’s) not one new troop carrier purchase." Delos Santos said
bureaucratic red tape was to blame for the hampered Armed Forces modernization
program, which has not been a priority in the government’s budget
appropriation.
Danding asks Sandigan to reconsider forfeiturE
(Philippine Star, Page 9)
Business tycoon Eduardo "Danding"
Cojuangco Jr. asked the Sandiganbayan yesterday to reconsider its decision
declaring as ill-gotten two blocks of shares in the Manila Bulletin, including
46,626 shares under his name. In a 55-page motion for reconsideration submitted
to the anti-graft court’s fourth division, Cojuangco maintained that the
Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) failed to substantiate its
allegations that the stocks in question were "ill-gotten." In its
decision handed down last March 14, the Sandiganbayan ruled that the PCGG
legally owned the 46,626 shares, as well as 90,877 other shares in the newspaper
transferred by Cojuangco and two other stockholders to the H.M. Holdings
Management Inc. in 1983.
(Philippine Star, Page 9)
Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. has
pleaded for lenient immigration rules for the more than 200,000 Filipino workers
in Italy. In a dialogue last week with members of the Chamber of Deputies of the
Italian Parliament led by his counterpart, Pier Ferdinando Cassini, De Venecia
said Italy should extend to Filipinos the same privilege America gave to its
citizens when many of them migrated in the early 1900s.
(Philippine Star, Page 9)
The Department of Transportation
and Communications (DOTC) has posted a revenue of P26.54 billion in 2001, a 15
percent increase from total collections the previous year, Secretary Pantaleon
Alvarez said yesterday. In 2000, the DOTC and its attached agencies generated
P23.07 billion. Target revenue for 2001 was P24.41 billion. "The DOTC was
able to surpass the target revenue due to the strengthened and enhanced efforts
of all attached agencies," Alvarez said. Income of the Metro Rail Transit
was P1.29 billion, a hefty 139 percent increase from the P543 million in 2000.
The highest earner among the attached agencies was the Land Transportation
Office, which posted revenues of P5.35 billion. It was followed by the
Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) and the Manila International Airport Authority
(MIAA) with incomes of P4.61 billion and P4.51 billion, respectively.
(Inquirer,Page 2)
HONG KONG -- Foreign domestic
workers in Hong Kong expressed concern on Tuesday that a proposal to boost their
minimum wage could threaten their jobs by making them too expensive to employ. A
spokesperson for an organization representing the city's substantial population
of foreign helpers says the proposal -- reportedly to boost salaries
substantially from 3,670 HK dollars to 5,000 HK dollars (471 US dollars to 640
US dollars) -- would price them out of the market. Only last January, the
foreign domestic workers, most of them Filipinos, fought attempts to cut their
minimum wage. "If the monthly wage goes up to 5,000 US dollars, we will
become a luxury, as most of the middle income employers in Hong Kong could not
afford to hire foreign domestic helpers any more," said Connie
Bragas-Regalado, spokesperson for the Asian Migrants' Co-ordinating Body.
(Inquirer,Page 1)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- Despite the
Supreme Court's upholding of his conviction for sexual harassment and sentence
of six months imprisonment, former city health officer Dr. Rico Jacutin remains
a free man. His lawyer, Manuel Singson of the Manila-based Singson and Valdez
Law Offices, said they were still awaiting a copy of the high court's decision
of March 6, "so we don't know what's the basis of the decision."
Singson told the Inquirer in a phone interview that the defense would file a
motion for reconsideration, and noted that it had 15 days after receipt of the
decision to do so.He said he was puzzled why it was taking so long for their
copy to arrive when the complainant, Juliet Yee, had already received hers.
"Normally, we should be getting our copies at the same time," he said
in Taglish. "We don't know why the other party received its copy
earlier."
(Inquirer, Page 1)
STILL on holiday mode? You've got
another three-day treat coming up. President Macapagal-Arroyo has declared April
8, a Monday, as a non-working holiday in place of April 9, which is
traditionally observed as "Araw ng Kagitingan" and which falls on a
Tuesday this year. This means that all you hedonists out there have all the time
to hit the road again -- three straight days from Saturday to Monday -- and, in
the course of it, spend more money and invigorate the domestic market. Or at
least that's what the government hopes to achieve in pushing its so-called
"holiday economics." While official ceremonies commemorating the Fall
of Bataan during the Japanese occupation will still be held on Tuesday, that day
will be a regular working day for both public and private sectors, according to
the President's spokesperson Rigoberto Tiglao.
Workweek messy as ever (Manila Times,
Banner) IF IT is not the
Department of Labor who is seeing to it that the new workweek schedule for
government employees is being carried out, then who is? The question remained
unanswered yesterday, the second day of the experiment in shortening the working
week for state workers. As a result, employees in some government agencies are
unsure whether they are covered by Administrative Order 32, the presidential
directive calling for the adjusted work schedule. A number of local governments
in Metro Manila refuse to adopt the new scheme. The Senate and the House of
Representatives, who are exempt from the order, have announced they are sticking
to the five-day workweek. AO 32 covers only “employees of all departments,
bureaus, offices and other agencies under the executive branch of the
government, including government-owned or controlled corporations.”
But MMDA sees traffic silver lining (Manila
Times, Page 1) TRAFFIC flow
in Metro Manila has considerably improved since the four-day workweek scheme was
started last Monday, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority reported
yesterday. “The new work schedule has at least helped ease the traffic on EDSA
and other major roads in Metro Manila, but we still have to wait for the next
few weeks to find out if it is really effective,” MMDA Executive Director
Ernesto Camarillo said. Half-cooked cure to woes, says UP prof
(Manila Times,Page 1) THE
adjusted work sche-dule for government employees is nothing but a half-cooked
attempt to address the country’s economic woes, a sociologist said yesterday.
To Professor Nanette Dungo, head of the Socio-logy Department at the University
of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, the four-day workweek scheme is not
a well-thought plan, since there is no guarantee it could boost domestic
tourism.
TIGLAO BRACES FOR CA GAUNTLET
(Inquirer,Page 3)
Newly appointed Press Sec.
Rigoberto "Bobi" Tiglao yesterday said he would continue to "just
tell it like it is" even as his confirmation is going through the
congressional Commission on Appointments wringer.Tiglao has crossed swords with
a number of opposition legislators,particularly those identified with jailed
ex-President Joseph Estrada and they could give him a rough time at the CA.
RP remains neutral on Israel-Palestine hostilities
(Tribune, Page 1)
The Philippine government yesterday
maintained its neutral stance on the Israel and Palestine conflict.Vice
President and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teofisto Guingona Jr. stressed the
Philippines has not changed its policy on the issue and said the government
should “remain friends” to both sides.“We are neutral. We are not in favor
of Israel or Palestine. We are friends to both,” Guingona said.