Rants 2008 #1

It's been a wild year last 2007, now enter 2008..and it is still wild..Filipinos haven't learned much of what happened in the previous years. Filipinos still have the ack to be used by greedy politicians, by priest who have lost sight of what really their jobs is, by personalities acting like they did not do wrong..and by hypocrites, and lastly soldiers who betrayed the country and the constitution.

Speaking of the soldiers, 9 of them have already been sentenced by the courts..and aside from that they still have to be tried via Court Martial. Now something is bothering me, why would the AFP mention pardon for them? Just because they have publicly apologize to the President and somehow to the public does not mean that they are entitled to pardon..Look at what happen to "Mr. Pig" Erap, he got pardoned by the President but look at what he is doing once again..He seems not remorsed by the consequences of his actions when he was a president and when he was in jail. He got pardoned right, but he could have just lived a quite life and just shut up on politics..Pigs are still pigs regardless of being in jail and subsequently being pardoned.

Here is the excerpt on "The Star" newspaper:

MANILA, APRIL 9, 2008 (STAR) By Michael Punongbayan and Jaime Laude -
The Makati Regional Trial Court yesterday meted life sentences on two
ringleaders of the failed Oakwood mutiny and sentenced seven junior
military officers of the Magdalo group to jail terms ranging from six to
12 years for taking part in a foiled coup attempt against President
Arroyo in 2003.

Following the conviction and sentencing, the leadership of the Armed
Forces of the Philippines is seriously considering filing an appeal for
pardon on their behalf, although Malacañang officials denied that
there are any moves for a presidential pardon.

Makati RTC Branch 148 Judge Oscar Pimentel sentenced Captains Gerardo
Gambala and Milo Maestrecampo to reclusion perpetua or 20 to 40
years’ imprisonment.

The court imposed a lighter sentence on Captains Alvin Ebreo,
Laurence Louis Somera, Albert Baloloy and John Andres; 1Lt. Florentino Somera,
1Lt. Cleo Dongga and 2Lt. Kristoffer Bryan Yasay to prision mayor, or
six to 12 years.

The court slapped the heavier penalty on Gambala and Maestrecampo,
considered the core leaders of the Magdalo group of junior military
officers and men who, along with detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, seized
the Oakwood Premiere Hotel in Makati City in a short-lived mutiny on
July 27, 2003. 

Does the AFP leadership still thinks this former soldiers can make good of their apology?? Look at "The Gay Coup Plotter" Trillanes, he's supposed to be still in jail, but look at him, he got voted as another Pig Senator and made another coup attempt apparently using Pork Barrel fund to buy his toys and goons that unfortunately was crying during last november's failed coup attempt.

Does the AFP forgotten about it?? Do filipinos really learned from it??

Ex-Philippine President Estrada set for freedom

A ridiculous day for the Philippines..Pardoning Mr. Erap may have been a good short term decision..(1 month) but for the longer term, this creates a negative image, an image wherein any government official can be corrupt as ever because he/she knows that Pardon is always there..especially if your close to the one's on power. Mrs. Arroyo should not have bowed down to what the surveys, the CBCP, and to most of her allies (two faced allies) granting Mr. Erap a pardon. It was even an unconditional pardon..she should have made it a conditional pardon. Conditions for the pardon should have been: (1) expression of guilt for the charges against him, (2) televised admission of guilt and asking for forgiveness to the filipino people, (3) cannot run for any government post, (4) cannot vote, (5) must refrain from any political maneuvering, (6) must refrain from attending any political event, (7) refrain from any politically motivated advertisements, (8) continuing the process of sequestered assets during his presidency.

The calls for national unity is being used again just to give this man a pardon, how about those people behind bars that have neither been convicted of any crime but still in jail. If national unity was the purpose, I think only half of the filipino's accepted the president's decision of granting pardon, the other half do not concur to it.

-zerotech99

By Karen Lema 19 minutes ago

MANILA (Reuters) - Joseph Estrada, the playboy former leader of the Philippines, was preparing for life as a free man on Friday as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo faced criticism for rushing through his pardon.

Arroyo set aside her ousted predecessor's life sentence on Thursday, just six weeks after he was convicted on corruption charges, raising suspicion the clemency was designed to curry favor with the opposition amid mounting bribery scandals.

"We are disappointed, especially with the haste with which it was done. The timing is very suspect," said Albert Lim, executive director of the Makati Business Club, the Philippines' main commercial forum.

Arroyo, who was Estrada's vice-president and succeeded him after he was ousted in an army-backed revolt in 2001, is facing fresh controversy over accusations of government kickbacks in a $330 million telecoms deal and allegations of cash handouts to allies.

But analysts say unless dramatic new evidence is unveiled Arroyo's position is secure, saved by a middle class fed up with political squabbling, no obvious candidate to replace her and record economic growth.

The criticism of her decision to release Estrada, famed for his "midnight cabinet" of drinking buddies and gamblers, is also not expected to bubble over into popular outrage.

"I don't think there is going to be a hell of a lot of popular fallout for her other than just giving more ammunition for the opposition to beat her up a little bit," said Tom Green, executive director of Pacific Strategic Assessments, a risk consultancy.

"All the polls say that people favor turning Estrada loose."

OPPOSITION FIGUREHEAD

Estrada, 70, has pledged not to seek public office, but the former movie star is still popular among poor voters who often refer to him by his nickname "Erap" and, as a figurehead for anti-Arroyo groups, could stir up trouble for the president.

"I reiterate my wish to spend the rest of my life as plain citizen Erap. However, this does not mean turning my back on my commitment to our people," Estrada said in a statement.

Financial markets shrugged off the damage to the Philippines' credibility from his impending release, with the stock market closing up 0.45 percent and the peso quoted at 44.03 against the dollar, compared with 44.04 on Thursday.

"It is the fundamentals that's been keeping the market up so I think that would continue to be the case," said Jose Vistan, of AB Capital Securities.

"If these (political scandals) would continue to drag on for an extended period of time, eventually it will have an impact on share prices but as of now, the market is awash with so much liquidity both local and foreign money."

Three bishops have called for Arroyo's resignation and an online petition calling for her and vice-president Noli de Castro to stand down to allow a snap election has gathered 250 signatures since it went live five days ago.

"It's a groundswell of citizens who are disgusted, fed up with all of these things," said Marietta Goco, one of the signatories and a former head of the country's anti-poverty commission.

But Arroyo, who has survived two impeachment bids and at least two coup plots, has a track record of shrugging off challenges.

"If you are asking me, are we going to call for resignation? No, because we already did before and she ignored that so why will we waste our breath," the Makati Business Club's Lim said.

(Additional reporting by Rosemarie Francisco)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071026/wl_nm/philippines_estrada_dc

DUTCH POLICE ARREST JOMA SISON

Yes!! Its about time that this guy will be brought to face the real justice. Good job by the dutch police!!...Communism is a dying ideology, please help the Philippines improve by clamping down on th supporters of Mr. Sison. They call themselves "For the people" but look at what their doing, imposing revolutionary taxes to the poor farmers, extorting money from legitimate business, blowing up buses or business establishments that don't pay revolutionary taxes. Killing people who get in their way. The CPP-NDF-NPA organization is just a terrorist organization that needs to be defeated. And, just look at those so called Labor groups, marching on the streets, crying like in the movie because there beloved comrade has fallen. Is this proof enough to filipinos worldwide that these so called labor groups, rights groups, and even those so called MASA are part of the NPA organization?? Please stop supporting these people...Groups like "Bayan", "Bayan Muna", and all those other organizations that have a seat in congress as a party-list representative, most of them or all of them are just communist individuals in the guise as a democratic politician. -zerotech99

DUTCH POLICE ARREST JOMA SISON

MANILA, AUGUST 29, 2007 (STAR) By Jaime Laude - Self-exiled founder
of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Jose Maria Sison was
arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of involvement in the murders of
suspected military spies among communist rebels in Leyte.

Initial reports said the Dutch police arrested Sison in Utrecht, the
central Dutch city where he has lived in exile since 1987.

Authorities also raided Sison’s office in Utrecht where lawmen
reportedly seized several computers.

Sison, who has been in exile in Europe since 1987, is a political
consultant of the National Democratic Front (NDF).

Although Philippine authorities have yet to confirm the arrest of
Sison, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) issued a statement hailing
his arrest.

“The arrest of Sison is a triumph of justice,” AFP Public
Information chief Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said.

“Ironic as it is, he (Sison) is assured of his day in court, a
 right denied to thousands of innocent victims of the communists’ kangaroo
 court. This is the long arm of the law catching up with Mr. Sison.”

News of the arrest of Sison also prompted Malacañang to convene the
Cabinet-National Security Council (NSC) last night.

President Arroyo even congratulated National Security Adviser
Norberto Gonzales for Sison’s arrest, a Cabinet official said.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, however, refused to issue a statement
on the arrest saying Gonzales would have to make his own response
regarding the arrest.

Gonzales has been pushing for the arrest and return of Sison to the
country to answer for the purge of communist rebels in the last three
decades that killed thousands of suspected government deep penetration
agents.

While it could not be immediately ascertained who filed the charges
against Sison, it was gathered that these cases were in connection with
the CPP-NPA purges in Eastern Visayas, more specifically the victims of
 New People’s Army summary execution in Inopacan, Leyte from the early
 1980s to early 1990s.

Several former NPA commanders in Leyte who have turned state witness 
linked Sison, along with Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo, as
 the masterminds of the purge, whose victims were mostly civilians suspected
 to be military spies.

Sison’s arrest came two days after relatives of the victims of the
Inopacan massacre celebrated the first anniversary of the discovery of
the mass grave of their missing loved ones in the mountains of Barangay
Kaulisihan.

As to the impact of Sison’s arrest on the underground communist
movement in the country, Bacarro, for the time being, had declined to issue any
assessment.

Meanwhile, Senator Jamby Madrigal said they need to know the reasons
 why Joma was placed under arrest. “What were the charges brought against
 him? Was the Dutch court properly informed? Who made the representations
 with the Dutch court? The arrest of Joma raises more questions than
 answers,” she said. – Paolo Romero, AP

Oh come on, who voted for this communist hugging girl?? - zerotech99


3 NPAs say rebels kidnapped Burgos 

By Cecille Suerte Felipe
Wednesday, August 29, 2007

(STAR) Three self-confessed active members of the New People’s Army
(NPA) claimed that members of the revolutionary movement abducted Jonas
Burgos for alleged pilfering of funds and disloyalty to the
organization.

The three NPA members – Emerito Lipio, alias Ka Tibo; Marlon
 Manuel, alias Ka Carlo; and Melissa Concepcion Reyes, alias Ka Lisa – accused
 the group of Delfin de Guzman, alias Ka Baste, of responsibility in
 abducting Burgos last April 28 in a mall in Fairview, Quezon City.

  The three also named a certain Ka Dante and Enso as among the four
 men who actually abducted Burgos, who has not been seen since then.
  The rebels had given voluntary statements to Senior Superintendent
Joel Coronel, chief of the High Profile Case division of the Criminal
Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG). They were presented to the
media yesterday afternoon.

Coronel said charges of kidnapping will be filed against De Guzman,
Ka Dante and Enso, of the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA
Rebolusyonaryong Yunit Guerrilla before the Department of Justice
(DOJ).

“We will endorse their statements and the result of the
investigation to the DOJ for evaluation and recommendation for
possible inclusion in the witness protection program as they now
fear reprisal from the  leadership of the CPP-NPA,” said Coronel.

The breakthrough in the investigation of the Burgos case came after
Lipio’s arrest for extortion by the Bulacan Provincial Police Office.
During the investigation, Lipio told probers that he knew vital
information about the disappearance of Burgos.

He also claimed that Burgos, whom he knew as Ka Ramon, was his
comrade in the “white area” of the Bulacan Party Committee of the CPP-NPA.

Lipio said he joined the movement in 2004 but Burgos had been with
the group for quite sometime.

However, Lipio said De Guzman instructed him and Manuel last April to
conduct discreet surveillance and investigation on Burgos, who had
reportedly violated some regulations in the organization. The movement,
he said, suspected Burgos of pilfering the funds of the organization and
acting as a military agent.

Acting on De Guzman’s instruction, Lipio said he and Manuel tried
to monitor Burgos’ movements without his knowledge. Last April 28, the
two were tailing Burgos in a mall in Fairview, Quezon City when they saw
him meet Reyes and another comrade known only as Ka Jo.

“While inside the mall, we were surprised to see Burgos being
forcibly taken out by four men who shoved him inside a van,” Lipio said.

Lipio was arrested for extortion last Aug. 20, during which he
revealed his knowledge on the Burgos case and helped the police trace Manuel,
who corroborated his statement. Later, the police also located Reyes who
gave a similar statement to the police.

Lipio said he decided to reveal what he knows for fear that he might
suffer the fate of Burgos. He could not, however, pinpoint where the
rebels may have hidden Burgos or if he is still alive.

New bill on enforced disappearances

As this developed, 131 lawyers from the administration and opposition
camps crossed party lines yesterday to support a measure aimed at
penalizing the crime of enforced disappearances.

Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, principal author of House Bill 2263 or
An Act Defining and Penalizing the Crime of Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearance, said they hope to end the cycle of desaparecidos, who
are victims of military violence.

“If passed, this law will be a breakthrough for human rights in the
Philippines,” Ocampo said.

The bill carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for those who
directly commit the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance, those
who induce others to commit the act, and those who allow the act to be
committed when it is within their power to stop the commission of the
act.

The measure likewise penalizes co-conspirators with a jail term of 12
to 20 years.

Ocampo said there are at least 83 documented cases of forced
disappearances under the Arroyo administration alone.

“The series of abduction of Jonas, Ma. Luisa Posa-Domingo and Nilo
Arado, to name a few, underscore the gravity of the problem. Then and
now,the perpetrators have remained unpunished and free to commit the act
over and over,” he said.

Burgos’ mother Edita and his wife lambasted the Armed Forces of the
Philippines and the Philippine National Police for allegedly conniving
to cover-up Burgos’ disappearance by claiming that he was a victim of a
communist purge.

“This is not funny anymore,” Edita Burgos told reporters in a
 news briefing, adding that the government is obviously engaging in another 
“diversionary tactic.” – With Delon Porcalla


Another communist.... - zerotech99

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