To GMA: Fire Martinez to save SEC
Mar 11th
GMA should immediately fire Martinez to save SEC credibility.
I urge President Arroyo to immediately fire Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Jesus Martinez Jr. and not allow him to continue discharging his functions, even on a holdover capacity, “in order to salvage whatever is left of the Filipino people’s trust on the SEC.”
Martinez, who was alleged to have received bribes from distressed pre-need Legacy Group, was scheduled to retire on Thursday, March 12, but may continue to serve on a holdover capacity unless his replacement was immediately named by Malacanang.
President Arroyo should not reappoint Commissioner Martinez and Martinez should immediately More >
Why the “double speak?”
Nov 24th
The Arroyo administration is guilty of “double speak” on the issue of charter change. The deceitful moves of Malacañang and its allies only reinforce suspicions that the exercise is intended to extend the president’s stay in power beyond 2010.
While President Arroyo appears to be no longer be interested in pushing for Charter Change and extending her term, her eldest son, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, was spearheading a signature campaign in the House of Representatives to amend the 1987 Constitution through a constituent assembly.
The double speak of Malacañang on the issue to Charter Change is too obvious to ignore. It More >
This fertilizer fund scam can happen again
Oct 29th
Despite the expected protestation from Malacanang and its cronies in Congress, there is a clear justification for the Senate to immediately reopen its investigation into the P728-million fertilizer fund scam allegedly engineered by former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante, now the most famous wheelchair-bound balikbayan in the country.
In fact, I strongly believe the Senate must now conclude its unfinished inquiry into the controversy which was started in February 2006 because the same multi-million scam can very well happen again next year.
Our legislators should be reminded that under the proposed 2009 national budget, the Department of Agriculture, which has been mired More >
Teehankee release is blatant abuse of discretion
Oct 7th
I denounce Malacanang’s “blatant abuse of discretion in the exercise of executive clemency” in the controversial release of convicted murderer Claudio Teehankee Jr.
I express alarm over the abuse of discretion showed by President Arroyo when she disregarded the rules in the application of executive clemency in the Teehankee case. Just a bit of information, I led the justice department as secretary in the prosecution of Teehankee in 1991.
Claudio Teehankee Jr. walked out of prison in the dead of the night on October 3, because he had access to power, because he had access to President Arroyo and Justice Secretary Raul More >
Mindanao state post-GMA only
Aug 12th
“Whatever its noble intentions, the prospect of Charter Change under the Arroyo administration will always be suspect. Given the awfully low credibility of the President among Filipinos today, I am afraid the chances of setting up a federal state of Mindanao under the current dispensation is next to nil.”
However, when Congress is convened as a Constitutional Assembly, its powers to amend the Constitution cannot be limited only to a shift to a federal system as required by the proposal to establish a federal state of Mindanao.
All provisions will be open to Charter Change once the Constitutional Assembly is convened and More >
Bar signing of MILF agreement
Aug 11th
I, together with Adel Tamano, petitioned the Supreme Court to bar permanently the Philippine panel from entering into an agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), because the proposed pact was in gross violation of the 1987 Constitution.
In the “Petition-in-Intervention,” we filed on August 11, 2009, we asked the High Tribunal to render a decision prohibiting and permanently enjoining the Respondents from further signing, executing, entering into, proceeding or implementing the terms of the MOA or any other agreement with terms similar to the MOA.
Our petition was also in support of an earlier petition filed by North Cotabato Gov. More >
The President will be committing an impeachable offense
Aug 4th
I warn Malacanang not to sign the GRP-MILF Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain. President Arroyo will be committing an impeachable offense since the agreement constitutes a gross violation of the 1987 Constitution.
No doubt, Presidential Adviser to the Peace Process Hermogenes Esperon Jr and RP Panel Chair Rodolfo Garcia will be signing the agreement only upon the authority and orders of President Arroyo.
The MoA clearly violates the 1987 Constitution because it grants the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) a status of belligerency, which is a step closer to granting it international recognition as a separate and independent state. It will More >
