BROADSHEETS

PHIL. DAILY INQUIRER -- Don’t Dumb Down Viewers, TV Urged

MANILA BULLETIN -- ‘No Harassment’

PHILIPPINE STAR -- Fuel Subsidy Starts Today

MANILA STANDARD -- Aquino Drops Protesting Aunt, Appoints LP Wives

MANILA TIMES -- Atienza Faces Plunder Case

MALAYA -- Mikey’s Firm Sells US House For $1.125M

DAILY TRIBUNE -- DoJ, BIR In Tug Of War Over Arroyo Tax Case

TABLOIDS

PEOPLE’S JOURNAL -- Marcos A Hero - Palace

ABANTE -- 3 Sunog Na Bangkay Ikinalat

PILIPINO STAR NGAYON -- Brgy. Chairman Niratrat Sa Pasay

 

BALITA -- Umayos Ka

BULGAR -- P4.5 Bilyon Plunder Kay Atienza

 

ISSUES MONITORING

On Congress

Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara said the House of Representatives is expected to pass the Whistleblowers’ Bill when Congress resumes session in May. “I am elated to note that both proposals, contained in several bills, are now being finalized by separate technical working groups formed by (Iloilo Rep.) chairman Neil Tupas Jr. of the House committee on justice,” he said. Angara said the House is also set to approve a bill granting additional benefits for state witnesses. (Philstar-p5) 

On Presidency

President Aquino has replaced his aunt, Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco, with Ruben Platon as president of the Philippine Public Safety College. Aquino also named the wife of STAR columnist Jarius Bondoc to the board of the John Hay Management Corp. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte yesterday announced the appointments of Platon, Marissa Bondoc and several others on state-run radio dzRB. Valte said though that she has yet to check if Cojuangco resigned or was replaced. (Philstar-p1) 

On Tax Cases

A tug of war appears to have started between the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) over jurisdiction on the P74-million tax evasion case on the eldest son of former President Arroyo who now sits as a party-list representative in Congress. The DoJ is not giving up its power to investigate and prosecute taxes and had opposed a House bill seeking to transfer such functions to the BIR. (Tribune-Banner) 

On Fuel Subsidy

Operators of jeepneys and tricycles will get their fuel subsidy starting today. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Executive Order 32 aims to cushion the impact of continuing increases in fuel prices. “It was not really meant to be the long-term solution to the (oil price hike) problem,” she said. “That is why it is called Pantawid Pasada.” (Philstar-Banner) 

On The Armed Forces

The military yesterday branded as “unfair” a US State Department report blaming Philippine security forces for a spate of unlawful killings in 2010. Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr. maintained the military advocates respect for human rights and complies with the international humanitarian law (IHL). “That (blaming security forces for killings) is unfair. It has to be substantiated. AFP has improved leaps and bounds since last year wherein we gave emphasis on the primacy of human rights, IHL and rule of law,” Mabanta said. (Philstar-p10)

On Basilan Explosion

An improvised explosive device (IED) exploded and destroyed a small lodging house here last Saturday night, but no one was reported hurt. Investigators said a second bomb was found a few hours later at a hotel in nearby Isabela City while another IED was discovered near a school in Lamitan yesterday morning. (Philstar-p4) 

On ARMM

Detained former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan and at least 10 of his former staff used spurious receipts and invoices to support disbursements of some P2.559 billion of regional funds in 2008 and 2009, according to the Commission on Audit (COA). In its Special Audit report, COA reported that some transactions might be considered fictitious as these were supported with spurious receipts and invoices. The audit covered the period of January 2008 to September 2009 and was conducted from Feb. 1 to Dec. 20, 2010. (Philstar-p11) 

On Hunger

Supporters of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill have blamed the country’s ballooning population for the reported rise in hunger incidence in the last three months. Benjamin de Leon, president of the Forum for Family Planning and Development (The Forum), said on Saturday that the latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS), which showed that more Filipinos experienced involuntary hunger in the past three months, “is a reflection of the dire need for the country to be better educated on the benefits of family planning to address the problem of the growing number of Filipinos who have experienced hunger and poverty.” (Philstar-p1) 

A network of food security organizations called on President Aquino over the weekend to implement a package of urgent measures to relieve consumers of high prices after a survey found that a growing number of people were experiencing hunger and considering themselves poor under his administration.  Among the short-term measures the Task Force Food Sovereignty (TFFS) proposes include suspension of the implementation of the 12 percent value-added tax (VAT), suspension of oil price hikes, increase of minimum wage, and increase of production and price support for farmers. (Tribune-p3) 

On Witness Protection Program

Whether the Witness Protection Program (WPP) of the Department of Justice (DOJ) has turned into a milking cow is still the biggest question surrounding WPP after its creation under Republic Act 6981, or the act Providing for a Witness Protection Security and Benefit Program for Other Purposes, that was passed into law on July 23, 1990. While many officials of the Justice department who headed the WPP admitted that it was a big help to secure witnesses who lost their income in order to testify in heinous-crime cases or cases concerning national security, there was also the fact that it was used for personal ambitions and gains of former officials of the department. (Mla Times-p1) 

On The Marcoses

The elections in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) cannot be decided by "who shouts the loudest and who has the biggest placard," Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said yesterday said.  Marcos, chair of the Senate committee on local government, said the plan of Malacañang to synchronize the ARMM elections with the 2013 mid-term elections and appoint officers-in-charge (OICs) could be contested at the Supreme Court. (Malaya-p4) 

Pursuant to a Sandiganbayan decision made against the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda, the anti-graft court ordered the Marcoses to return the P10 million that they took from the coffers of the National Food Authority (NFA). In a writ of execution dated April 1, the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division asked the Sheriff Division to order the Marcos matriarch who was presently a representative of Ilocos Norte, to return the amount to the state. (Mla Times-p2) 

The Sandiganbayan has ordered former first lady and now Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos to comply with the anti-graft court’s recent decision on a civil case, which directed her to pay the government P12 million. The amount represents the money that former President Ferdinand Marcos illegally withdrew from the funds of the National Food Authority (NFA) 27 years ago including P2 million for litigation costs and damages. (Philstar-p13) 

Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was mum over reports of his supposed Australian half-sister when he graced the 20th Commencement Exercises of PLT College here last Friday. He neither confirmed nor denied the information concerning his alleged Australian half-sister Analisa Josefa Hegyesi.  “I have been hearing of rumors about that for the past 20 years,” the senator said.  (Tribune-p3) 

On Pinoy Peacekeepers

Six Filipino United Nations military observers in Ivory Coast are safe, the Armed Forces said yesterday. Lt. Col. George Tagle, one of the Filipino UN military observers, reported heavy fighting between the loyalists of Alassane Ouattara and supporters of his rival, Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo.  Tagle, an Air Force colonel, said pro-Gbagbo forces are targeting the UN headquarters. They are trapped in the basement of the Seborko hotel, he added. (Philstar-p11) 

On Child Soldiers

A United Nations special representative for children and armed conflict said on Friday that communist leaders have agreed to hold talks on a plan to eliminate child soldiers. Coomaraswamy Radhika said in a briefing that her team has been invited by the leaders of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines to Utrecht to discuss an action plan similar to one forged earlier by Muslim rebels. (Malaya-p1) 

On Mikey Arroyo

A company partly owned by former First Son and current party-list Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo recently sold for $1.125 million a controversial house in upscale Foster City, California that used to belong to him and his wife Angela, and transferred the deed of ownership just last month, according to real estate websites and the San Mateo County Assessor-Recorder’s Office.  The five-bedroom beachfront house at 1655 Beach Park Blvd. was sold by Beachway LLC, a company Arroyo admitted to being part owner, with the transaction reported to the San Mateo County Assessor’s office on March 16.  (Malaya-Banner) 

Air Accident

A small plane with six people on board crashed at a popular tourist destination here yesterday, killing two passengers. Four others were injured. Officials of the Air Transportation Office (ATO) here said the six-seater RPC 5140 Piper Aztec plane crashed in a horse-riding trail of Camp John Hay, shortly after taking off from Loakan Airport. One person on board was killed while five others were taken to the Baguio General Hospital. (Philstar-p1) 

On Taal Volcano

Thousands of people living near a volcano in an island close to Manila defied official warnings to evacuate last Sunday as fears of an eruption grew. Only 77 people living near the crater of Taal Volcano left the island, a popular visitor spot 65 kilometers (40 miles) south of Manila, over the weekend, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said. The island is home to 7,000 farmers, fishermen and tourist guides, according to the country’s volcanology institute. (Tribune-p3)