BROADSHEETS

PHIL. DAILY INQUIRER -- Return Of US Military Forces In Subic Feared

MANILA BULLETIN -- Audit Of Intel Funds OK’d

PHILIPPINE STAR -- GMA Camp: Plunder Case Full Of Holes

MANILA STANDARD -- Lacson Vows To File More Plunder Cases Vs. Arroyo

MANILA TIMES -- Belmonte Bucks Oil Caps

MALAYA -- DoJ Enters GMA Plunder Case

DAILY TRIBUNE -- De Lima Takes Over GMA Plunder Rap

TABLOIDS

PEOPLE’S JOURNAL -- Willie Charged

ABANTE -- Gloria, Pamilya Nilaglag Na!

PILIPINO STAR NGAYON -- GMA Uulanin Ng Plunder

 

BALITA -- Metro Drivers Uunahin

PEOPLES TONIGHT -- Housewife Raped Inside ‘Dog House’

 

ISSUES MONITORING

On Congress

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has ruled out the government regulating oil prices despite oil having become costlier seemingly by the week. Belmonte, during a chance interview on Wednesday, noted that scrapping the oil deregulation law should not be done haphazardly because doing so would impact heavily on the economy and the people. (Mla Times-Banner) 

Despite the raging debate between the Catholic Church leaders and the advocates of the Reproductive Health and Responsible Parenthood bill (RH/RP bill), a big chunk of House members are still undecided on whether they should vote for the passage of the measure. This was disclosed by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. late Tuesday, saying that he does not even want to predict the voting on the RH/RP bill. (Mla Times-p3) 

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte yesterday said that the House is now ready to remove from its roll Dinagat Island Rep. Ruben Ecleo who has been sentenced to serve 18 to 31 years of life imprisonment in connection with the fraudulent construction of projects amounting to P2.86 million while still serving as mayor of San Jose town in Surigao del Norte from 1991 to 1994. (Tribune-p3) 

On Presidency

President Aquino acknowledged Sen. Panfilo Lacson here yesterday for the first time in public since the lawmaker emerged from hiding after being sought in connection with the Dacer-Corbito double murder case. The President twice met privately with Lacson after the Court of Appeals ruled the warrant for his arrest was without legal basis.  “I’m really glad to be seeing you again,” Aquino said to Lacson, who was one of the guests in the inauguration of the R-1 Expressway Extension of the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway Project that he led, (Philstar-p5) 

On US Forces

High-level visits here by American officials have raised the prospect of a return of the United States’ military presence in this former naval base in the wake of disasters that hit Japan, which have delayed the planned US military build-up in Guam. US Senators Daniel Inouye and Thad Cochran visited this free port on Tuesday and met with Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and Olongapo City officials. (PDI-Banner) 

On Fertilizer Scam

The Office of the Ombudsman is investigating Sen. Lito Lapid and 11 incumbent members of the House of Representatives in connection with the P728-million fertilizer scam in 2004. House members being investigated are Florencio Miraflores of Aklan, Rogelio Espina of Biliran, Erico Aumentado of Bohol, Luis Villafuerte of Camarines Norte, Antonio Kho of Masbate, George Arnaiz of Negros Oriental, Eleandro Jesus Madrona of Romblon, Orlando Fua Sr. of Siquijor, Napoleon Dy of Isabela, Renato Unico Jr. of Camarines Norte, and Augusto Syjuco Jr. of Iloilo. (Philstar-p4)

On Local Governments

Take it from Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo: Seminars for local government officials are not intended to be summer escapades. In fact, officials and employees of local government units (LGUs) are “strongly discouraged” from conducting training sessions, seminars and meetings “outside of their territorial jurisdictions,” according to a memorandum that Robredo issued Wednesday to governors and mayors, as well as barangay captains and presiding officers of provincial and town councils. (PDI-p1) 

On OFWs

Filipino workers were stopped from going to Syria yesterday. However, Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz said the deployment ban only covers newly hired workers, not those returning to their previous employment. “Since it’s just an alert level 2, returning workers are still allowed to leave the country,” he said. Cruz said the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has already ceased from processing the deployment of workers to Syria. (Philstar-p4) 

On The Comelec

President Benigno Aquino III has appointed a 71-year-old information technology executive to fill the vacancy at the Commission on Elections (Comelec).  The President’s deputy spokesperson, Abigail Valte, announced yesterday the appointment of Augusto “Gus” Lagman as Comelec commissioner, to replace Nicodemo Ferrer who has retired. (PDI-p1) 

On Plunder Cases

The plunder complaint filed against former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is full of holes and unlikely to hold up in court, one of her staunchest supporters said yesterday. House Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said the plunder case filed by former solicitor general Frank Chavez was part of efforts by the Aquino administration to rid the bureaucracy of Arroyo appointees as well as divert the attention of Filipinos from various crises besetting the country. (Philstar-Banner) 

A panel of prosecutors will be created to handle the P551-million plunder complaint filed against former president and now Rep. Gloria Arroyo in connection with the alleged misuse of funds of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima also said yesterday that she is considering looking into other cases filed against Arroyo before the Ombudsman which shelved investigations because Arroyo then had immunity from suit. (Malaya-Banner) 

Former President Joseph Estrada yesterday maintained that his successor, former president and current Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo should be made accountable for her past actions and anomalies that surrounded her administration. “There is the ZTE-NBN broadband deal. There is the fertilizer fund scam. And she cheated my friend, FPJ (Fernando “Ronnie” Poe, Jr.) of his electoral victory in 2004,” he said. (Tribune-p1) 

On The Armed Forces

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has claimed that it did not overspend but rather saved millions of pesos in its allocations for oil and petroleum in the first quarter of 2011. The AFP spokesman, Commodore Juan Miguel Rodriguez, on Wednesday disclosed that official figures from the office of the deputy of staff for logistics or J4 showed that the military only spent P86 million out of its P106- million budget for the period or savings of P20 million, contrary to reports that the military anomalously spent P400 million during the first three months of the year. (Mla Times-p1) 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is all set for the preliminary investigation into the plunder complaint filed by former military budget officer George Rabusa, who blew the whistle on alleged corruption in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against 17 officials including three former AFP chiefs. Secretary Leila de Lima has designated two prosecutors that would complete the composition of the special DOJ panel chaired by Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, head of the DOJ’s National Prosecution Service, tasked to handle the investigation. (Philstar-p2) 

On The Peace Process

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is not buying the claim of former Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Chairman Nur Misuari that rival group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is a spent force with no followers to speak of, and that the government should stop negotiating with them, a military spokesman said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Marvic Leonen, chairman of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) peace panel, urged the MILF to resolve its differences with a splinter group, as well as with the MNLF. (Mla Times-p2) 

The Philippines’ main Muslim rebel group may be unable to formalize a peace deal after a leadership split, the chief government negotiator said yesterday as the two sides opened talks. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) faces a potentially serious rebellion in its ranks after one of its commanders, Ameril Umbra Kato, quit nine months ago, taking at least a thousand fighters with him. (Tribune-p1) 

On Labor Day

 Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz clarified yesterday that there will be no announcement of a salary increase on May 1, despite Malacañang’s pronouncement that the government is coming out with a Labor Day gift that will help workers cope with the rising prices of commodities. “I have no idea what good news he is talking about. But definitely there is no chance for any wage increase because the earliest public hearing is set on May 2,” Baldoz explained. (Philstar-p1) 

On Water Utilities

President Aquino has named Antonieta Ibe as member of the board of trustees and administrator of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) to replace Orlando Hondrade. But yesterday, LWUA chairman Prospero Pichay questioned the appointment over radio dzMM and claimed it should be recalled by Malacañang because their term at the agency runs until 2014. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, who made the announcement over dzRB last Sunday, said she was not aware of any opposition to the appointment. (Philstar-p1) 

On Dacer-Corbito Murder

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is working for the immediate extradition of former police senior superintendent Michael Ray Aquino so he can face trial for the November 2000 murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito. She said she would ask the Office of Chief State Counsel to confirm the reported decision of the US Court of Appeals dismissing Aquino’s habeas corpus petition and his appeal to stop his extradition. “If he (Aquino) no longer has other remedy or does not avail of any remedy against his extradition, then we have to fast- track his extradition so he can face trial here,” she said. (Philstar-p2) 

On Natural Resources

The long-delayed implementation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) modernization program has resulted in the loss of billions of pesos worth of natural resources from poaching activities within the country’s 200-mile exclusive economic zones (EEZ), according to the AFP. The chief of the AFP Modernization Program Management Office, Brig. Gen. Roy Deveraturda, disclosed Wednesday that there is rampant intrusion and illegal activities in Philippine territory, particularly in the Sulu Sea and South China Sea, which covers the disputed Spratly Group of Islands. (Mla Times-p3)