BROADSHEETS 

PHIL. DAILY INQUIRER -- Police tag Pilapil’s companion suspect

PHILIPPINE STAR -- Government threatens to sue oil firms for overprice

MANILA BULLETIN -- Oil pricing abuse?

DAILY TRIBUNE -- Ping insists travel papers genuine

TABLOIDS

PEOPLE’S JOURNAL -- Fuel prices down this week

ABANTE -- INC tumukod sa RH bill

PILIPINO STAR NGAYON -- Pinas magiging 'Narco-State'

PEOPLE'S TONIGHT -- Missing woman hunted

 

ISSUES MONITORING

On Congress

Insisting on the authenticity of the travel documents with which he used to enter the Philippines after hiding from the law for over a year, Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson yesterday told reporters he had personally applied before Philippine authorities abroad for his travel documents that enabled him to fly back to the country last month. The senator debunked Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) officials’ claims that he was not issued any travel document since the authentic document has not yet been released by the agency when he returned last March 26. (Philstar)

On oil prices

Oil firms should roll back pump prices this week or be haled to court for overpricing after they unduly increased fuel prices by an average of 40 centavos per liter, Energy Secretary Jose Almendras said yesterday. As he issued the statement, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Seaoil Philippines and Eastern Petroleum Corp. announced a rollback of diesel pump prices by 40 centavos per liter and gasoline prices by 25 centavos per liter effective today.  Noting that world crude prices went down last Thursday and Friday, Almendras said oil companies that raised pump prices last week have been ordered by the government to explain in writing the reason for the increase.(Philstar)

On STL

Operators of small-town lotteries (STL) have been given 60 days to shift to the Loterya ng Bayan (PLB) to be able to stay legal. The final notice was signed yesterday by Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board chairman Margarita Juico and directors Mabel Mamba, Aleta Tolentino, Francisco Joaquin III  and Betty Nantes. PCSO general manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas said the PLB’s final guidelines will take effect 15 days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation.(Philstar)

On Compostela landslide

Rescue teams recovered yesterday the bodies of three more miners, which brought to eight the confirmed fatalities in the landslide that hit a mining village on Good Friday in Pantukan, Compostela Valley. Local officials are still verifying if the three latest fatalities were among the 17 miners who were reported missing after a landslide in Barangay Kingking in Pantukan that also buried 13 shanties.(Philstar)

On RH bill

Various religious groups, including the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), joined hands in calling for the swift passage of the controversial Reproductive Health bill in Congress. The Interfaith Partnership for the Promotion of Responsible Parenthood, Inc. (IPPRP) said that the RH bill is “truly pro-life, pro-family, pro-poor and pro-national development.” “We urge our legislators to seriously push for the passage of the long-overdue RH/RP (responsible parenthood) bill toward its immediate implementation,” the group said in a statement yesterday.(Philstar)

On P-Noy's Cabinet

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has retained the top spot in the approval rating for Cabinet secretaries. Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. garnered the most improved rating among them. Recent survey results of Pulse Asia, held between Feb. 24 and March 6 this year among 1,200 respondents nationwide, showed that De Lima is the most popular Cabinet member. She garnered a 61 percent approval rating from the public. Her rating has increased by one percentage point from 60 percent in October 2010. (Philstar)

On fertilizer scam

Bohol congressman and former National Food Authority administrator Arthur Yap denied yesterday allegations of discrepancies raised by the Commission on Audit (COA)regarding the NFA’s P432-million fertilizer procurement project with the Department of Agriculture in May 2003. In response to claims by state auditor Flerida Jimenez, Yap stated that in March 2004 – as a result of COA’s February 2004 notice – it was found that “only a total of 198,654 bags of fertilizer amounting to P93.8 million was procured directly by NFA.” (Philstar)

Most lawmakers and local officials who received fertilizer funds in 2004 were allies of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a witness in the Senate inquiry on the scam said yesterday. Jose Barredo told ABS-CBN News Channel that Arroyo critics and her allies who jumped to the side of the opposition before the 2004 elections were taken out of the list of recipients prepared by then agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante. (Philstar)

On tax evaders

The Department of Justice has created a panel of three prosecutors to handle the P73.85-million tax evasion charges against Ang Galing Pinoy Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo and his wife Angela. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, in Department Order No. 292 issued last week, named Senior State Prosecutor Lagrimas Agaran as chair of the panel. Lagrimas used to head DOJ’s task force on child abuse cases.(Philstar)