president noynoy aquino’s SONA 2013 – transcript & video

a great find:

State Of The Nation Addresses 1935 to 2012
http://www.gov.ph/past-sona-speeches/

in tomorrow’s SONA 2013, we’re expecting the following:

• definitive words to address, fix, resolve and punish those guilty in the most recent P10B pork barrel scam. aquino won a landslide election on the basis of his anti-corruption platform, “daang matuwid”. he has been bragging about his “daang matuwid” stance from the beginning of his term as president. being silent about the pork barrel scam in his SONA in inconsistent with his platform. he should in fact be emphatic about it, state his action on how to get to the bottom of it and prevent it from happening again with the same passion he had during the corona impeachment.
• job generation. poverty is a key issue in the country, still affecting a majority of the population. job generation is a key component to fixing the country’s poverty.
• infrastructure – so many components of the philippine economy are hampered by the country’s poor and high lack of infrastructure.  all industries and specially the people will benefit from an aggressive pursuit of infrastructure, including job generation.

english translation of SONA 2013 here : http://www.gov.ph/2013/07/22/english-benigno-s-aquino-iii-fourth-state-of-the-nation-address-july-22-2013/

 

State of the Nation Address
of
His Excellency Benigno S. Aquino III
President of the Philippines To the Congress of the Philippines

[Delivered at the Session Hall of the House of Representatives, Batasang Pambansa Complex, Quezon City, on July 22, 2013]

Marami pong salamat. Maupo ho tayong lahat.

Bise Presidente Jejomar Binay; Senate President Franklin M. Drilon; Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.; Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno at ang ating mga kagalang-galang na mahistrado ng Korte Suprema; mga dating Pangulong Fidel Valdez Ramos at Joseph Ejercito Estrada; mga kagalang-galang na kagawad ng kalipunang diplomatiko; mga miyembro ng Senado at Kamara de Representante; mga opisyal ng lokal na pamahalaan; mga miyembro ng Gabinete; mga unipormadong kasapi ng militar at kapulisan; mga kapwa ko nagseserbisyo sa taumbayan; at sa aking mga Boss, ang mga minamahal kong kababayan:

Isang , magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat. [Applause]

Ito po ang aking ikaapat na SONA; dalawa na lamang ang natitira. Halos apat na taon na nga po ang lumipas nang una akong nilapitan ng ilang kampo upang hikayating tumakbo sa pagkapangulo. Ang sabi nila: Alam naming hindi masosolusyonan sa isang tulog, sa isang taon, o kahit pa sa anim na taong termino ng isang Presidente ang lahat ng problema ng bansa. Pero simulan mo lang, at tiyak, kasama mo kaming mag-aaruga nito.

Noon pa man, mulat po ako sa tindi ng mga problemang aking kakaharapin. Mula sa pagiging kandidato, o Presidente na, o kahit ba matapos nang makababa sa puwesto, hindi biro ang peligrong kakambal ng trabahong ito. Malawakang transpormasyon ng lipunan ang aking hangarin, at mulat akong marami akong kailangang banggain para matupad ito. Pero hindi po ako pinalaki ng aking mga magulang para tumiklop lamang sa mga hamon. Hindi ko mahaharap ang aking sarili kung tinanggihan ko ang pagkakataong bawasan ang pagdurusang hindi naman dapat dinaraanan ng Pilipino. [Applause]

Tumugon nga po tayo sa panawagan, at ang mga kasama natin noong una, nadagdagan pa. Sa paniniwala ko nga po, kung tama ang aking ginagawa, lalo pang dadami ang ating magiging kasangga. Nito ngang nakaraang Mayo, tinanong ko kayo, “Boss, tama ba ang direksyon natin?” Ang tugon ninyo: “Tama, at pabilisin pa natin ang transpormasyon ng lipunan.” Humiling ako ng mga kakamping makikisagwan sa iisang direksyon, at ibinigay ninyo ito. Ang totoo nga po, hindi lang mayorya, hindi lang siyam sa labindalawa, kundi siyam sa sampung pinakamataas na puwesto na senador ay mga taong inilapit ko sa inyo. [Applause] Sa aking pakiwari, malinaw po ang mensahe nitong huling halalan: tama, ituloy natin, damihan pa natin ang 8,581 na sitiong napailawan; dagdagan pa natin ang 28,398 na pamilyang dati’y informal settler, ngunit ngayon ay mayroon na o magkakaroon na ng disenteng tirahan; palaguin pa natin ang di bababa sa 40 bilyong piso kada taong dagdag ng perang napupunta sa edukasyon, kalusugan, serbisyong panlipunan, at marami pang iba, dahil sa tama at mas masugid na pagkolekta ng buwis; dama namin ang marami pang ibang patunay na talagang nagbabago ang lipunan. Lalo nga po akong nabuhayan sa ipinarating ninyong mensahe; malinaw po talagang hindi ako nag-iisa sa pagpasan ng mga responsibilidad. [Applause] Paano ba naman pong hindi lalakas ang aking loob, kung pati ang mga tulad ni Ginoong Niño Aguirre ay nakikihubog sa ating kinabukasan? Isipin po ninyo, hindi na nga makalakad dahil sa kapansanan, pilit pa rin niyang inakyat ang presintong nasa ikaapat na palapag ng gusali, para lang makaboto at makiambag sa tunay na pagbabago ng lipunan. Salamat, Ginoong Aguirre. [Applause]

Hindi nga po nauubos ang mga Pilipinong handang makiambag, na siyang ugat ng pagbabagong tinatamasa natin ngayon. Ang stratehiya: Sagarin ang oportunidad para sa lahat, lalo na para sa mga mas nangangailangan. Hindi natin pakay maghintay ng trickle down; hindi puwedeng baka sakali o tsamba lang silang daratnan ng mga biyaya ng kaunlaran. Ito pong tinatawag nating inclusive growth—itong malawakang kaunlaran—ang mismong prinsipyong bukal ng bawat inisyatiba, bawat kilos, bawat desisyon ng inyong gobyerno. Ang maiiwan na lamang ay ang ayaw sumama, dahil hindi sinamantala ang pagkakataon.

Ang atin pong batayang prinsipyo: Malawakang pagkakataon ang susi sa malawakan at pangmatagalang kaunlaran. Huwag po sana nating kalimutan na ang pagkakataon ay punla lamang. Kailangan itong diligin ng sipag, alagaan ng determinasyon, at payabungin ng dedikasyon. Tingnan nga lang po natin ang mga TESDA-DOLE scholars. Sa 500,521 na napagtapos na natin dito, tinatayang anim sa bawat sampu ang nagtatrabaho na. [Applause] Noong araw po, ayon sa pag-aaral ng DBM noong 2006 hanggang 2008, ang nakakahanap ng trabaho sa mga napagtapos ng TESDA: 28.5 percent lamang. Noong lumipas na taon naman po: sa IT-BPO program, 70.9 percent ang employment rate ng ating mga nagtapos sa TESDA. Sa electronics and semiconductor program naman, umabot sa 85 percent na mga nagtapos noong 2012 ang nagkatrabaho. Malinaw po: Kayo mismo ang huhubog, kayo mismo ang magdidikta kung hinog at matamis ang bungang kolektibo nating pipitasin, o kung magiging bulok at katiting ang kahihinatnan ng mga pagkakataong bumubukas sa kabanatang ito ng ating kasaysayan.

Isa-isahin po natin. Ang layuning palawakin ang saklaw ng Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program: natupad. Ang dinatnan nating mahigit 700,000 kabahayang benepisyaryo ng programa noong 2010, umabot na sa halos apat na milyon na kabahayan sa ating pong administrasyon. [Applause]

Mayroon pa po: Galing sa pag-aaral ng Philippine Institute for Development Studies, mas malaki ng tinatayang 40 porsyento ang sinasahod ng mga naka-graduate ng high school, kumpara sa mga elementarya lang ang tinapos. Di po ba makatuwirang sagarin na natin ang tulong na ibinibigay natin sa mga pamilya, upang makumpleto na ng mga batang benepisyaryo ang high school, at sa gayon ay maisagad na rin ang benepisyo ng programang ito? Kaya nga po, sa susunod na taon, magiging saklaw na ng programa ang mga pamilyang may kabataang abot sa 18 taong gulang, upang hanggang sa high school ay makapagtapos na sila. [Applause]

Sa edukasyon naman po: ang layunin nating itaas ang kalidad ng kaalamang natututuhan ng kabataan, upang matapos mag-aral ay mapanghawakan nila ang mga oportunidad na bumubukas sa ating lipunan: natupad po. Nabura na ang minana nating kakulangan sa libro at upuan, at kung magpapatuloy nga po ang pagpapakitang-gilas ni Kalihim Brother Armin Luistro, [Applause] pati po ang kakulangan sa silid-aralan ay mabubura na rin sa taong ito. Ang magandang balita pa: May kakayahan na tayong paghandaan ang magiging pangangailangan dahil sa K to 12 program. [Applause]

Hindi po biro ang dinatnang mga problema ni Brother Armin sa DepEd. Isipin po ninyo, kada isang textbook, pinepresyuhan dati ng 58 pesos; nang siya na ang namumuno, bumaba ang presyo ng eksaktong libro sa 30 pesos. Paano po kaya kung dati pa nagbayad ng tamang halaga para sa mga aklat na ito? Kung natipid natin ang diperensyang 28 pesos, at may limang textbook ang bawat sa isang tinatayang 20.7 million na estudyante sa ating public school system, ang katumbas nito: halos 2.9 billion pesos. [Applause] Kaya po sana nitong pondohan ang plano nating pagpapaayos at rehabilitasyon ng nasa 9,502 na silid-aralan.

Kung nagkulang sa lakas ng loob si Brother Armin, puwede namang ipamana na lang sa susunod sa kanya ang kultura ng pagwawalang-bahala sa kanyang ahensya. Puwede naman din pong ipamana na lang ang mga backlog; ipasa na lang sa susunod ang lolobong pagkukulang dahil sa dumaraming mga enrolee kada taon. Pero itong si Brother Armin, imbes na makuntento, imbes na sabihing, “Puwede na ‘yan, tapos na ang trabaho ko,” gagawa pa siya ng mas maraming upuan at classroom, at bibili ng mas maraming libro, upang siguruhing pati ang para sa susunod na mga taon ay mapunuan na rin. [Applause]

Ang pagpapalakas naman sa sektor ng agrikultura: natupad din. Isipin po ninyo, ayon sa NFA: Noong 2010, nag-angkat ang bansa ng mahigit dalawang milyong metriko tonelada ng bigas. Noong 2011, bumaba ito sa 855,000 metric tons. Noong 2012: 500,000 metric tons na lang. At ngayong 2013: Ang pinakasagad na nating aangkatin, kasama na ang pribadong sektor, ay ang minimum access volume na 350,000 metric tons. [Applause] Nakapaloob na po dito ang 187,000 metric tons sa reserbang buffer stock sakaling magsunud-sunod ang bagyo; malamang, dahil on-target pa rin tayo sa rice self-sufficiency, hindi na rin kailangan pang mag-angkat ng pribadong sektor. Dagdag pa po diyan, nagsimula na tayong mag-export ng matataas na uri ng bigas. Ang layo na po talaga natin doon sa panahong sinasabing hindi raw natin kayang pakainin ang ating sarili. [Applause]

Datos na rin po ang pruweba: lumago ng 3.3 percent ang sektor na ito sa unang tatlong buwan ng 2013. Triple po ang itinaas nito mula sa 1.1 percent growth noong parehong panahon ng 2012. Kaya naman, patuloy po tayong nagpupunla ng mga inisyatibang pihadong magbubunga ng higit na kaunlaran sa ating mga magsasaka.

Halimbawa po, sa niyog. Ayon sa pagsusuri noong 2009, isa sa mga pinakamahirap na sektor sa bansa ang coconut farmers. Ang proseso ng pagsasaka nito: Pagkatanim, pitong taong hihintaying mamunga ang niyog, pero pagkatapos, dalawang henerasyon ang wala nang ibang kailangang gawin kundi mamitas na lang nang mamitas. May potensyal po tayong palakihin ang kita ng sektor na ito kung maglalatag tayo ng kulturang mas nang-eengganyo ng sipag at pagiging produktibo. Ang tugon: intercropping.

Tutulong ang gobyernong magpalakas sa iyong niyogan, kapalit ng obligasyong magpunla ng iba’t ibang binhi sa pagitan ng mga hilera ng niyog. Mas dadalas ang ani ng magsasaka, at depende sa kanilang itatanim, lalaki ang kanilang kita. Kung sa niyog lang, sa bawat ektarya, nasa 20,000 piso po kada taon ang kinikita ng magsasaka. Kung dadagdagan ito ng kape, maaaring pumalo ng 172,400 pesos ang kita; kung saging, aabot sa 102,325 pesos ang maaaring kitain, samantalang 89,000 pesos naman sa cacao. Ang laking diperensya, di po ba?

Nasimulan na po nating ilatag ang mga inisyatiba para rito: Nitong 2012, umabot na sa 5,500 hectares ng lupain ang ginagamit natin para sa intercropping sa 90 lokasyon sa bansa. Saklaw po nito ang 10,000 sa ating mga magsasaka. Ang target naman natin ngayong 2013: dagdag pang 434 sites para sa coconut intercropping. [Applause]

Itinitimon na rin po natin tungo sa mas produktibong pampang ang ating mga mangingisda. Isipin po ninyo: Pumalo sa 193.65 billion pesos ang ambag ng industriya ng pangingisda sa ating ekonomiya nitong 2012, pero sa kabila nito, 41 porsyento pa rin sa ating mga mangingisda ang maralita nang huli itong sukatin noong 2009. Sila ang nanghuhuli ng isda, pero ang natitira para sa kanilang pamilya, tinik na lang.

Kaya nga po: Nariyan ang maraming inisyatiba ng pamahalaan upang tulungang makaalpas sa lambat ng kahirapan ang ating mga mangingisda. Halimbawa nga po ang para sa Bataraza sa lalawigan ng Palawan. Sagana ang katubigan sa paligid nito. Pero dahil hindi mapaabot sa mga merkado nang sariwa ang isda, ginagawa na lamang itong tuyo. Sayang naman po, kasi sa bawat tatlong kilo ng lapu-lapu, isang kilo lang ang tuyong nagagawa. Paano kung mapahaba ang pagkasariwa ng isda dahil sa cold storage facility? Pupunta ka sa merkado nang sagad pa rin ang presyo ng huli mo. Parehong sikap sa paghuli, pero ang makukuha mo, tamang halaga. Kaya nga po, kasado na ang cold storage facility para sa Bataraza. [Applause] Kasabay po nito, nagtatayo na rin tayo ng mga bagong pantalan sa mga stratehikong lugar upang mapalago pa ang produksyon at kita. Ipinapaayos natin ang mga kalsada, tulay, at iba pang imprastruktura, pati na ang serbisyo para sa ating mga mangingisda.

revilla, enrile, estrada, marcos, lanette & 23 other lawmakers contributed their pork barrel funds to P10B “mother of all scams” – PDI

PDI photo

we are aggregating here the articles published at the Philippine Daily Inquirer which is being called the P10B Mother Of All Scams involving the pork barrel funds (PDAF) of senators and members of congress. we think this is so important we are making it easy for pinoys to read all the important articles on the matter.

28 solons linked to scam

Revilla gave pork to syndicate 22 times

By Nancy C. Carvajal
Philippine Daily Inquirer

12:13 am | Monday, July 15th, 2013

(Fourth of a series)

Five senators and 23 members of the House of Representatives allegedly made available their pork barrel funds to dummy nongovernment organizations for purported ghost projects worth P10 billion over the past decade, according to affidavits submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation.

Janet Lim-Napoles. president of JLN Corporation – PDI pic

Revilla gave the syndicate access to his PDAF, or pork barrel, to dummy NGOs formed by Napoles and registered in the Securities and Exchange Commission in 22 instances; followed by Senators Juan Ponce Enrile on 21 occasions; Jinggoy Estrada, 18 times; Ferdinand Marcos Jr., four; and Gringo Honasan, once with a small amount.

Contrary to one newspaper report, Sen. Loren Legarda was not involved in the scam, said the principal whistle-blower, Benhur Luy, a former Napoles employee. “There was an attempt, but I heard she was dropped because she scrutinized it and she was very keen on receipts,” Luy told the Inquirer.

Seachon-Lanete

Topping the list of 23 House representatives is Rizalina Seachon-Lanete of Masbate’s third district, who allowed her pork to be used 13 times; followed by Conrado Estrella III of Pangasinan’s 6th district and Rodolfo Plaza of Agusan del Sur, both nine occasions; and Samuel Dangwa, of Benguet, eight.

Contacted by the Inquirer last week, Estrada said he would comment after he had read the affidavits secured by the NBI and had enough background information on the subject. Enrile and Revilla were not immediately available at the weekend but were expected to likewise respond to the issues raised against them.

Faced with a similar issue on their pork barrel funds going to spurious projects of bogus NGOs a few months back, Estrada called for an investigation into who could have unduly benefited from the scam.

All three senators earlier acknowledged that they had identified agriculture projects that were funded by their pork but denied any knowledge that an NGO that handled the funds was a bogus organization.

The three had asked the Department of Agriculture to shed light on how the concerned PDAF funds released between 2009 and 2010 were actually spent.

Reached by phone last week, former Rep. Arthur Pingoy asked where the PDAF was supposedly sourced from. He asked for details about the JLN company and said he would have it checked. He said he would then get back to the Inquirer.

‘Nothing to do with that’

Rep. Victor Ortega said: “I have nothing to do with that. I did not receive a single sack of fertilizer nor received a single peso from the fund for the fertilizer. The accuser should face me and tell me personally.” He said of Napoles: “I have never met her nor talked to her. I do not know her.”

Each senator has a PDAF budget of P200 million annually; congressmen each have a P70-million pork allocation, but during the Arroyo administration, favored senators and congressmen received more than they were supposed to get. Under the law, the lawmakers have the sole discretion in the disposition of their pork barrel.

Based on the documents obtained by the Inquirer, Enrile, at one time, downloaded P111 million of his PDAF to three dummy NGOs on the same date. Of the total amount, only P35 million allegedly went to the Napoles NGOs.

LGU involvement

A total of P3 billion was on the whistle-blowers’ list for the years 2006-2011. Implementing agencies for this total amount were the National Livelihood Development Corp. and the Technology Resource Center.

Apart from the 20 dummy organizations, the list also showed that 30 local government units were recipients of the pork barrel. However, according to the whistle-blowers, there were LGUs that were not aware of the funds and did not receive a single centavo.

The whistle-blowers also identified banks where the accounts of the bogus NGOs were deposited.

Banks

Deposits were made in the following banks:

P10Billion pork barrel scam : so much cash that money placed in the bathtub – PDI

we are aggregating here all the articles philippine daily inquirer has published on the P10 Billion pork barrel scam. this is so important to the country that we want to make it easier for pinoys to get all the important information PDI has been publishing.

our thanks to PDI for this series of articles.

this is article #1:

continuation of above article :

The sworn affidavits—prepared by six whistle-blowers with the assistance of their lawyer, Levito Baligod, and submitted to the NBI—stated that JLN Corp., with offices on the 25th floor of Discovery Suites in Ortigas Center in Pasig City, had defrauded the government of billions of pesos in ghost projects involving the creation of at least 20 bogus nongovernment organizations. These NGOs were supposedly the ultimate recipients of the state funds, but the money went to Napoles, according to the affidavits of the six whistle-blowers.

All six were interviewed by the Inquirer, which also secured copies of their sworn statements. The extent of the swindling brought tears to one NBI agent in an interview.

The kidnap victim, Benhur K. Luy, the principal witness to the scam, was rescued by a special task force headed by Rolando Argabioso, assistant NBI regional director, on March 22 from a condominium unit in the South Wings Gardens of Pacific Plaza Tower in Bonifacio Global City.

Kidnapping charges were brought by the NBI against Napoles and Lim, but these were subsequently dropped purportedly for “lack of probable cause.” Lim was arrested and briefly detained. Napoles issued an affidavit denying involvement in the abduction.

Since then, the 31-year-old Luy, Napoles’ cousin and personal assistant in JLN Corp., has executed affidavits detailing his abduction and the reasons why he was kidnapped. In one signed statement, he said he was accused by Napoles of striking out on his own concocting illegal deals, without her knowledge, copying schemes from his cousin’s operations.

Five others who had worked in JLN Corp. have come out to corroborate the account of Luy, detailing the activities of Napoles. One of them was a project coordinator and another was a nanny who was made president of a dummy NGO. The rest were clerks and support staff.

Joc-joc scam probe

The 49-year-old Napoles was summoned to the investigation conducted in 2008 by the Senate blue ribbon committee on the P728-million fertilizer scandal involving then Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-joc” Bolante. She then testified she had used dummy companies in that scheme but no charges have so far been brought against her in connection with that case.

The sources of funding for the supposed projects, ostensibly meant largely to benefit poor farmers through provisions of fertilizers and farm equipment and implements, came from the priority development assistance funds (PDAF), or pork barrel, of three senators and 11 members of the House of Representatives.

Also tapped by the syndicate were the Malampaya oil fund and allocations by the Department of Budget and Management for the Technology Resource Corp. (formerly the Technology and Livelihood Resource Corp.), National Livelihood Development Corp. and National Agri-Business Corp., Department of Agriculture and Department of Agrarian Reform.

 

Lawmakers’ commissions

The whistle-blowers said JLN Corp. was able to carry on the swindle through Napoles’ vast network and connections.

“JLN offered to lawmakers commissions equivalent to 40 to 60 percent of the amount of PDAF in exchange for the right to determine the implementing agency and fund beneficiary,” according to Luy.

“Apart from senators and congressmen, Madame Janet has also connections in almost all branches of government, friends in the right places, and lawyers who do her bidding,” he told the Inquirer in an interview.

Luy, who has a ready smile and sports a white side wall haircut, said he began working for his cousins in September 2002. Over the past decade, he said he had gained intimate knowledge of their operations, how they manufactured receipts, forged signatures of local government officials, fabricated names of beneficiaries of the state funds.

He said he had planned to put up his own business and establish his own network similar to his cousins’. But before he could go on his own, Napoles learned of his plan and locked him up first in the JLN office on Dec. 19, 2012, before he was later taken to the condominium.

The NBI team rescued Luy on the evening of March 22 on orders of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and NBI Director Nonnatus Rojas following a complaint for abduction lodged by Baligod in the Department of Justice.

Janet Lim-Napoles denies involvement in P10B pork barrel scam & other scams

we are aggregating here all the articles philippine daily inquirer has published on the P10 Billion pork barrel scam. this is so important to the country that we want to make it easier for pinoys to get all the important information PDI has been publishing.

our thanks to PDI for this series of articles.

this is article #2:

click link below to read the rest of the article.

from the article :

High-profile scams

“I certainly was not involved in any of the high-profile scams which occurred during the previous administration. In fact, I found out in news reports that the Sandiganbayan issued a resolution clearing the suspects in the (Joc-joc Bolante) fertilizer scam. My name or JLN Corp. was not even mentioned in the said resolution clearing the suspects in the fertilizer scam.

“My name or JLN Corp. was not even mentioned in said resolution, proving that I and my business outfit are not involved in said scam,” Napoles said in her affidavit.

She said that Luy concocted the supposed kidnapping after she confronted him about a claim that he had secured an unauthorized loan for the company of P5 million and that he pocketed P300,000 she had asked him to deposit in the bank.

Since 2001

In 2001, Napoles and her husband, retired Army Maj. Jaime Napoles, were among 18 personnel of the Navy Marine Corps and civilians, charged by the Office of Ombudsman in the Sandiganbayan with graft and malversation in connection with the acquisition of substandard Kevlar helmets worth P3.8 million.

Seven years later, Napoles was called in the investigation conducted by the Senate blue ribbon committee on the P728-million fertilizer scam involving then Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-joc” Bolante. The inquisitors extracted from her statements that she had formed dummy companies to launder the funds of the Department of Agriculture. Curiously, no charges were officially filed against her.

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/443825/i-am-not-involved-in-any-scam#ixzz2Z5NfCyUZ 

P10B pork barrel scam – Napoles talked to senators & congressmen

we are aggregating here all the articles philippine daily inquirer has published on the P10 Billion pork barrel scam. this is so important to the country that we want to make it easier for pinoys to get all the important information PDI has been publishing.

our thanks to PDI for this series of articles.

this is article #3:

continuation of the article :

The funds, which were deposited in the foundations’ bank accounts, were eventually remitted to her to be split between her and the lawmaker whose PDAF allotment was used, or the official of the state agency involved.

The first step was to identify the source of fund, such as the pork barrel.

Napoles talked to senators

Either JLN staff would write a lawmaker requesting funding, say for the purchase of farm inputs on behalf of mayors or governors, or the lawmaker himself would indicate that his pork barrel be allocated to an agency, say the Department of Agriculture (DA).

It was Napoles who would talk to the senator, or his or her chief of staff, according to Merlina Suñas, JLN’s former account executive.

For good measure, the letters forwarded to the lawmaker’s office bore the scanned letterhead of the mayor’s or governor’s office, and the official’s forged signature.

Once everything was cleared, the staff would convince local governments to agree that the fund be released into preidentified foundations or NGOs with the promise of commission. The Department of Budget and Management would then issue a special allotment release order (Saro) to be charged against the lawmaker’s PDAF allocation, and later the notice of cash allocation (NCA), to the agency upon the submission by the lawmaker of a list of beneficiary-agencies.

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/444275/how-p10-b-racket-works#ixzz2Z5QjJuFu

to read the rest of the article, please click the above link

anti RH Law lawyers embarrass themselves at the Supreme Court

we are printing in full here the article written by Oscar Franklin Tan published at the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

we think this was very well written article – it gave all the salient facts of the oral arguments at the SC on the RH Law in a very easy to read and easy to understand way. we are not a lawyer but it was very easy for us to understand it as the article very wisely put the legal logic in the proper sequence and the legalese reachable to the ordinary reader. you come out understanding all of it after reading the article.

RH: No case, Carpio shows

 By Oscar Franklin Tan
Philippine Daily Inquirer

8:44 pm | Friday, July 12th, 2013

Lawyers seeking to invalidate the Reproductive Health Act bogged down in the first Supreme Court hearing on July 9 after failing to argue jurisdiction and misstating doctrine.

Former Sen. Francisco Tatad opened with a triple gamble. He framed the law as “imposing population control through state-mandated contraception.” He argued that it installed the government as official provider of contraception, which conflicts with its constitutional duty to protect the “sanctity of family life,” the “right of spouses to found a family according to their religious convictions” and the “life of the unborn from conception.” He thus hinged the anti-RH case solely on proving contraception violates the “life of the unborn.”

Tatad tripled the bet, arguing that the RH Act violates international law by preventing births and causing genocide, and that Congress failed to render truth and justice in passing the law. “Are there some things that cannot be legalized?” he quoted Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. In minutes, he tripled his burden with two extreme positions extraneous to the constitutional debate.

atty. maria concepcion noche

Second, Noche’s claim was much narrower than what her rhetoric suggested. She argued that the Constitution protects life from fertilization but some contraceptives prevent the fertilized ovum’s implantation in the uterus, which she considers abortion. The narrow claim cannot cover all RH Act drugs, undercutting her broad attack on a still unimplemented law. (She barely discussed the right to health, alleging in a sentence that abortifacients also cause cancer.)

Floundering under most questions, Noche was knocked out by Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on the jurisdiction issue she ignored. He asked whether she objected to the RH Act’s use only of drugs that do not prevent implantation (precluding the need to decide whether life begins at conception or implantation). She did not. Carpio asked if she objected to the law’s use only of nonabortifacient devices. She did not. He pointed out that she thus had no case over which the Court should take jurisdiction.

Noche insisted that, regardless of the law’s text, which she appeared to have no disagreement with, Carpio should take “judicial notice” that some drugs are abortifacient. He sprang his coup de grace: This request admits the case was premature. Carpio, and Justices Mariano del Castillo and Marvic Leonen, reminded Noche that evidence regarding abortifacients should be presented to the Food and Drug Administration, not the Court which is not a “trier of facts” (a ground to decline jurisdiction).

Noche’s all-or-nothing wager on abortifacients hamstrung her even before Carpio’s knockout punch. She admitted to Justice Presbitero Velasco and others that she is not objecting to condoms and other contraceptives that prevent fertilization, thus conceding that the law is valid at least in the context of condoms and weakening her blanket attack. She also tied this wager to her reenactment of congressional debates on when life begins, and insisted that the constitutional commissioners did not intend to allow Congress to define this. Carpio responded that the framers intended only to preclude the termination of pregnancies and never discussed conception’s meaning.

Noche unnecessarily took several extreme positions. Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno asked if a lowly clerk of court who had several children and felt another pregnancy might endanger her life would violate the Constitution if she used birth control to preserve her health. Noche replied yes. Sereno gave pointed examples ranging from her impeachment if she suggested birth control to such a clerk to whether Filipino women have been violating the Constitution since 1987. Noche even presented the unborn as having the most fundamental constitutional right. Sereno made her read the entire paragraph aloud: “[The State] shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn….”

Justice Diosdado Peralta asked how Filipinos understood the word “conception,” and Noche gave a jaw-dropping reply: “I don’t think there’s a need to further consult the people on the meaning of the Constitution.” Peralta rebuked her, reminding her that it was the people who ratified the Constitution. Finally, Noche also asked Carpio to take judicial notice of medical journals which allegedly establish that life begins at fertilization. Carpio replied that several justices reviewed these and found medical opinion to be mixed, adding: “So if it is not settled in the medical profession, how do you expect us to rule?” Noche could only repeat her claim that constitutional-commission deliberations decided the issue (again, these are not a source of law).

Noche was unprepared for questions and, toward the end, simply fell into awkward silence when grilled by Carpio. Sereno also called her attention to noticeably long pauses during Sereno’s queries. Noche clearly misstated basic doctrine; she repeatedly pushed her central “legal basis” that the constitutional-commission deliberations determined that protection of life from the moment of conception means from the moment of fertilization—even after Peralta and Leonen reminded her that these deliberations are not binding law because the people ratified the Constitution, not its authors. When Leonen asked about “facial challenge,” the doctrine on general attack of a law, Noche was unfamiliar with it. Many times, she unresponsively repeated her speech, and Sereno at one point said, “I know your position, but you have not answered my question.”

Surprisingly, Noche claimed to Justice Lucas Bersamin that she was unfamiliar with spermicides. She also faltered when Leonen walked her through certain jurisdictional doctrines, highlighting he needed to satisfy his conscience that he was exercising legal, and not political, judgment.

Noche’s emotional tone distracted. At one point, she said RH Act author Rep. Edcel Lagman “conveniently redefined and reengineered” medical definitions to hold that life begins at implantation. She ended her speech passionately: “[The unborn] cannot even utter a word, or cry, or scream, or beg. … I now plead, your Honors, let the voice of the unborn be heard in the august halls of this supreme tribunal. Let their voice be yours.”

Her sole progress was having several justices agree with or be open to her argument that conception means fertilization, but Carpio already demonstrated the issue’s irrelevance. Bersamin drew laughter when he noted that Noche’s name is “Concepcion.” Small comfort given that she left jurisdiction—and thus her case—in grave doubt.

Oscar Franklin Tan (facebook.com/OscarFranklinTan, Twitter @oscarfbtan) teaches constitutional law at the University of the East.
Read more: http://opinion.inquirer.net/56385/rh-no-case-carpio-shows#ixzz2Z53YrD16 
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senator miriam’s Internet Freedom Bill – all pinoy internet users should support

if you are pinoy and use the internet, with the use of your cellphone, computer or tablet either for work or pleasure, you have to support senator miriam santiago’s “Internet Freedom Bill” ( Magna Carta for Philippine Internet Freedom). the bill is meant to repeal the poorly written, badly thought of Cybercrime Law which was unfortunately passed last year but now put on hold as it is challenged at the Supreme Court.

read here : challenges to the Cyber Crime Law at the Supreme Court

 

Miriam files Internet freedom bill to counter anti-cybercrime law

Ernie Reyes, InterAksyon.com · Tuesday, July 2, 2013 · 4:40 pm

  

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. InterAksyon.com

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Tuesday filed a separate bill on Internet freedom virtually to counter the repressive and contentious provisions of the Cybercrime Prevention Act, which was stopped by the Supreme Court pending resolution on its constitutionality.

Under the Magna Carta for Philippine Internet Freedom, Santiago explained that the time has come for the establishment of a comprehensive State framework for the administration of Internet and information and communication technology in the Philippines, “a task that should be jointly undertaken by the government and the private sector.”

“Unless this framework is set in place, the temptation looms that the challenges engendered by these new technologies will be addressed in a reactionary, irrational, and haphazard manner that ultimately impede national progress,” Santiago said.

She added that the Senate Bill No. 53 provides for appropriate mechanism and command structures within the government to address ICT-enabled threats and promote online access and social benefits.

Shortly after the Internet was first used in the country in 1994, Congress has crafted measures to ensure the protection of the public, such as the Electronic Commerce Act (RA 8792) and Data Privacy Act (RA 10173).

“Unfortunately, there remains legislation that confines the Philippines to 20th century capabilities in this 21st century information society,” she said.

“Clearly, the laws that have an impact on cyrberspace must address the realities of the present and the challenges of the future,” Santiago added.

Among the pertinent provisions on Internet rights and freedom instituted by Santiago on the proposed measure (Part 2, Chapter III), are:

• Protection of the Internet as an open network
• Promotion of network neutrality
• Promotion of universal access to the internet
• Right to privilege access to devices
• Right to freedom of speech and expression on the internet
• Protection of the freedom to innovate and create without permission
• Right to privacy of data
• Right to security of data
• Protection of intellectual property
• Promotion of development of internet, network and information and communications infrastructures

“The State, as the primary duty-bearer, shall uphold constitutional rights, privileges, guarantees, and obligations in the development and implementation of policies related to the Internet and information and communication technology,” the bill said.

If passed, the law mandates the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to be the principal administration of this Act as such take the necessary measures for the implementation of policies and objectives set forth in the measure.

http://www.interaksyon.com/infotech/miriam-files-internet-freedom-bill-to-counter-anti-cybercrime-law

read in full here, click : Internet Freedom Bill