BROADSHEETS

PHIL. DAILY INQUIRER -- Palace Eyes Steps To Ease High Prices

PHILIPPINE STAR -- Noy Eyes Measures To Ease Price Hikes

MANILA STANDARD -- Bishops Support Strikes To Protest PAL Layoffs

MANILA TIMES -- Court Upholds Ombudsman

MALAYA -- Abductors Free All 12 Hostages

DAILY TRIBUNE -- Noy Opts For Populist Moves Amid Ratings Fall

TABLOIDS

PEOPLE’S JOURNAL -- Day Of Outrage

ABANTE -- 12-Anyos Nakawala Sa ‘Dukot’ Gang

PILIPINO STAR NGAYON -- 12 Agusan Hostage Laya Na

 

BALITA -- Makakaunawa

PEOPLES TONIGHT -- Major, Wife Burned Inside Bus

 

ISSUES MONITORING

On Congress

Chances of the recently adopted Senate impeachment trial rules undergoing amendments, as pushed by Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, are nil, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III yesterday said. “I don’t think that resolution will even be approved in the plenary,” he stressed, referring to filed Resolution 441 introduced by Pangilinan last week. Pangilinan, a known staunch supporter of Malacañang, wants  the impeachment court to decide on an article of impeachment as soon as the prosecution and defense teams present their cases to keep the process short. (Tribune-p1) 

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is ready to serve the warrant of arrest against Dinagat Islands Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr., who is facing a parricide case for the killing of his wife. Central Visayas Police director Chief Superintendent Ager Ontog clarified that they have yet to receive any order of arrest from the Cebu City Regional Trial Court (RTC) handling the case of Ecleo. (Philstar-p4) 

On Presidency

With his survey ratings fast declining, President Aquino yesterday launched a major offensive to earn brownie points through a directive to his economic team to study populist measures such as a wage increase for private sector employees, a reduction of value added tax (VAT) on oil, and the imposition of price controls on basic commodities which moves are no different from the populist maneuvers of the past administration to raise ratings and woo voters. Aquino denounced the Arroyo administration for making similar moves that led to the worsening situation in the government budget. The Aquino administration is looking at a budget deficit of P290 billion after a record P314 billion fiscal gap last year. (Tribune-Banner) 

Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano yesterday warned of an escalation of workers’ protest in the run-up to May 1, Labor Day, after Malacañang rejected a P125 legislated across the board wage hike for private workers. “The Aquino administration will be facing a ‘perfect political storm’ this summer. It will brace an escalation of workers protest after its rejection and denial of the workers’ just demand for a substantial wage increase,” said Mariano, main author of House Bill 375 seeking a P125 across the board wage hike for private workers. (Tribune-p3) 

President Aquino told judges yesterday they are being given P107.9 million to augment their monthly pay. “We bent over backwards to give you additional pay,” he said. Aquino also called on the Supreme Court (SC) to open its books on the Special Allowance for the Judiciary (SAJ) to allow the government to determine the amount of funds and help judges and court personnel with their salaries. (Philstar-p4) Judges pay

On High Prices

A wage increase, price controls and a reduction in the 12-percent value-added tax (VAT) on goods and services are among the measures that Malacañang is considering to help people cope with soaring oil prices, President Benigno Aquino III said yesterday. The President said he had instructed his economic managers to study all means to mitigate the impact of high fuel prices on the poor and wage earners. (PDI-Banner) 

On Agusan Sur Hostages

The remaining 13 hostages held by five Manobo gunmen were abandoned and eventually released yesterday morning in the mountainous area of Sitio Balete, about seven kilometers from Barangay La Purisima in this province, according to authorities. President Aquino, worried about a repeat of last year’s Aug. 23 bungled hostage-taking incident in Manila, hailed the peaceful resolution of the hostage crisis and lauded the efforts of the local crisis management committee (CMC) and other government officials who were instrumental in resolving the issue. (Philstar-p5) 

On Corruption

The Department of Finance (DOF) has filed criminal charges against Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) chairman Prospero Pichay Jr. and other ranking officials of the agency for their “highly irregular” and “anomalous” acquisition of a controlling stake in a thrift bank in Cabuyao, Laguna in 2008. In a separate administrative case, the DOF through Secretary Cesar Purisima also accused Pichay and the others of “grave misconduct” and violation of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2009 for making the transaction without approval from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. (Philstar-p1) 

On Fuel Subsidy

The group that spearheaded the transport strike last week said yesterday transport organizations are again planning a nationwide protest action to denounce the fuel subsidy as a temporary solution offered by the Aquino administration. George San Mateo, secretary-general of the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operaytor Nationwide (Piston), said their group preferred a freeze or the imposition of controls on oil prices and the suspension of the value added tax (VAT) on oil. (PDI-p1) 

On Jailed Overseas Pinoys

More than 40 Filipinos are in jail in Brazil for drug trafficking, according to Brazil’s top diplomat in Manila. Ambassador Alcides Prates said most of the Filipinos jailed for drug-related offenses in Brazil are women. Prates spoke to reporters at the first diplomatic reception hosted by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario at The Peninsula Manila in Makati on Monday. (Philstar-p1) 

On The Chief Auditor

Malacañang explained yesterday that newly appointed Commission on Audit (COA) chair Maria Gracia Pulido-Tan would serve only four years or until Feb. 2, 2015 and not seven years because she would only serve the remaining years of the term of her predecessor Reynaldo Villar. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, however, clarified that this does not mean that Villar’s term should have expired in 2015. Villar had filed his resignation effective upon the appointment of his successor. (Philstar-p2) 

On Morong ‘43’

Malacañang is keeping an eye on the civil suit filed by some members of the so-called Morong 43 against Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. “We have taken note of the filing of the case against former President Arroyo by some of the Morong 43. We’ll be watching the case as it unfolds,” Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Secretary Ricky Carandang said. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte also said they are monitoring the developments of the case against Arroyo. (Philstar-p3) 

On The Ombudsman

The Office of the Ombudsman clarified yesterday that it is not defying Malacañang’s order dismissing Deputy Ombudsman Emilio Gonzalez III. “There is no intention to be defiant. We can never be defiant of the President of the Republic of the Philippines,” said Assistant Ombudsman and spokesperson Jose de Jesus Jr. He said that in deferring the implementation of the dismissal order, they were merely following the proper dismissal procedure. (Philstar-p5) 

On The Armed Forces

The Armed Forces yesterday re-lived the exploits of Medal for Valor awardees as it re-launched the "Wall of Heroes" in Camp Aguinaldo in time for the celebration of the Araw ng Kagitingan on April 9. Former President Fidel Ramos, who once served as Armed Forces chief, led the inauguration of the new "Wall of Heroes: The Medal for Valor Awardees" at the AFP Museum, together with Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, AFP deputy chief of staff for operations and concurrent acting AFP deputy chief. (Malaya-p1) 

On Child Labor

Malacañang yesterday said the Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Social Welfare and Development are working with the International Labor Organization in addressing the problem of child labor. The workers groups Alliance for Progressive Labor and the Partido ng Manggagawa said the massive number of child laborers, which is almost the population of Quezon City, shows that the government’s economic strategy has failed. (Malaya-p1) 

On Human Trafficking

A preliminary report of the US State Department has noted “significant progress” in the Philippines’ effort to curb human trafficking, but did not say if the country would be removed from a crucial watchlist this year and not end up in a severe blacklist that would cause it to lose American development aid. If the Philippines fails to graduate from the State Department’s Tier 2 watchlist this year, it would land on Tier 3 category of countries that have failed to uphold international standards to combat trafficking and face sanctions such as the withholding of US assistance. (Tribune-p1) 

On Drug Conviction

President Aquino, his Palace aides and his House of Representatives’ allies are bearing down on Ombudsman Merceditas “low conviction” rate, which is one of the grounds constituting betrayal of public trust in her impeachment case, but Aquino’s Department of Justice (DoJ) has an even much lower conviction rate in the matter of drug-related cases. Only one case in one hundred drug cases handled by the DoJ results in conviction, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima bewailed yesterday . (Tribune-p1)