BROADSHEETS

PHIL. DAILY INQUIRER -- SC Junks Suit Vs Mikey A

MANILA BULLETIN -- Garcia “Pleads Guilty”

PHILIPPINE STAR -- Poll: 9 Of 10 Pinoys Hopeful About 2011

MANILA STANDARD -- Bangko Sentral Lost P17B In Tempering Peso’s Rise

MANILA TIMES -- Shun Popularity, SC Urged

MALAYA -- Garcia Cops A Plea, Evades Plunder Charges 

DAILY TRIBUNE -- Garcia Enters Plea Bargain, Admits Graft

TABLOIDS

PEOPLE’S JOURNAL -- HIV Cure Found

ABANTE -- Webb: Payag Kami!

PILIPINO STAR NGAYON -- 2-Anyos Dedo Sa Silver Cleaner

BALITA -- Babala Sa Taxi Drivers

BULGAR -- 2-Anyos Todas Sa Silver Cleaner

 

ISSUES MONITORING

On Congress

Senate  President Juan Ponce Enrile yesterday said the controversial reproductive health bill "will divide the country politically" but the chamber has to tackle it. "It’s not a priory in the Senate but something that we could not avoid to confront. This is going to be one of the most debatable and the most serious piece of legislation that would confront both houses of Congress," he said. (Malaya-p4) 

AT about 16 percent of the 280- strong members of the House of Representatives have registered perfect attendance during the first 45 session days of the Fifteenth Congress, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. said Thursday. (Mla Times-p3) 

On Presidency

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas yesterday launched its "new generation" set of peso bills that feature younger pictures of presidents and heroes, and tourist sites and natural wonders found in the Philippines. The new P500 bill, for instance, shows younger and smiling faces of the parents of President Aquino -- former president Corazon Aquino and her martyred husband, former senator Benigno Aquino Jr. It also features a monument of the elder Aquino. (Malaya-p1) 

Malacañang yesterday refused to make any comment on the positive reviews given by the governments of China and the United States to Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during her nine-year stint as President of the country based on the classified documents obtained by the whistleblower website, WikiLeaks. The Palace earlier had expressed alarm over the WikiLeaks disclosures, but stressed it was not interested  in finding out the information related to Manila.  (Tribune-p1) 

On The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has remanded the petitions filed against Ang Galing Pinoy (AGP) Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo to the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET), saying that it no longer has jurisdiction over the complaints against him. A party-list group, AGP represents security guards and tricycle drivers. In a unanimous decision promulgated on Dec. 7, the high court said Arroyo was already a member of the House of Representatives and thus the HRET has jurisdiction over him. (PDI-Banner) 

The apparent unpopularity of recent Supreme Court decisions should not cause alarm among justices of the country’s highest tribunal, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said on Thursday. “I respect the Supreme Court. Let’s face it. I don’t think they [High Court justices] should pay attention to popularity because that [popularity] should not be a guide for them [in doing their job as magistrates],” Belmonte added. The House Speaker defending the High Tribunal came after the Supreme Court over the past few weeks issued a status quo ante order stopping the House Committee on Justice from tackling the merits of two impeachment complaints against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and declared unconstitutional the creation through Executive Order 1 of the Truth Commission. (Mla Times-Banner) 

On Vizconde Massacre

“Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus.” This legal maxim—“falsity in one is falsity in all”—explains why the Supreme Court decision acquitting Hubert Webb of the 1991 Vizconde massacre no longer dwelled on the evidence against the six other accused and focused only on the testimony of star witness Jessica Alfaro against the principal suspect, according to the high court’s spokesperson and administrator Jose Midas Marquez. (PDI-p1) 

A recent decision of the Supreme Court on the Vizconde massacre case should not stop authorities from moving for reinvestigation of the case even if they only have six months left to initiate legal action against any person or any party linked to the case.  “[In] six months, it [new probe] can be done,” Palace deputy spokesman Abigail Valte said during a press briefing in Malacañang on Thursday. “But you have several factors to consider as well in any investigation [such as] availability of evidence, availability of witnesses,” Valte added. (Mla Times-p1) 

On Yuletide Ceasefire

Malacañang assured the people yesterday that the administration is committed to the ceasefire between the government and communist rebels even as officials expressed concern over the recent ambush staged by rebels in Samar on the eve of the truce that left 10 soldiers and a child dead. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the New People’s Army attack showed that the path to peace is much harder with some communist rebels refusing to show good faith. (Philstar-p1) 

On The Coming Year 2011

Nearly nine in 10 Filipinos look to 2011 with hope, buoyed by the reform agenda of President Aquino, with just one in 20 feeling apprehensive, results of a recent Pulse Asia survey showed. “There is a perception that things will be better because we have a new administration,” Ana Maria Tabunda, Pulse Asia chief researcher, said. However, Tabunda warned that optimism levels would go down if the economy did not improve, adding that a Philippine president’s approval ratings tended to go down the longer he or she had been in office. (Philstar-Banner) 

On Luneta Carnage

The Philippines apprised Hong Kong yesterday on the efforts being undertaken by the Philippine government after the Aug. 23 hostage-taking incident at the Quirino Grandstand to ensure the safety of tourists and move bilateral relations forward. The Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong said that Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim, who was in Hong Kong on a mission of goodwill, met with Chief Executive Donald Tsang at the Hong Kong Government House to discuss the measures undertaken by the Philippine government after the crisis. (Philstar-p1) 

On Campaign Against Corruption

Maj. Gen. (ret.) Carlos F. Garcia, former AFP comptroller accused of amassing P303 million while in the service, yesterday pleaded guilty to lesser offenses in an effort to avoid life imprisonment, the penalty for plunder. Garcia’s move came after a Malaya report that the Office of the Ombudsman was close to wrapping up a compromise deal with Garcia and his family in their plunder and money laundering cases. (Malaya-Banner) 

On Frozen Meat

A local federation of pork producers on Thursday expressed support for the implementation of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Administrative Order (AO) 22, banning the selling of frozen meat and meat products in wet markets across the country.  In an interview, Pork Producers Federation of the Phil. Inc. incoming president Edwin Chen said that the Agriculture department should not lift the ban on the selling of frozen meat products, but instead reinforce the implementation of the order to prevent “unfair competition” between importers and local pork producers. (Mla Times-p1) 

On The Marcos Wealth 

The fabled pieces of jewelry of former First Lady and now Rep. Imelda Marcos of Second District of Ilocos Norte are safe from the prying hands of auctioneers, for now. This was after the current batch of commissioners of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) appeared lukewarm to the idea and efforts pushed by controversial former Commissioner Ricardo Abcede to sell or auction off the jewelries. PCGG Chairman Juan Andres Bautista told reporters in an interview the idea to sell the pieces of jewelry has been placed in the backburner. (Mla Times-p3) 

On The Truth Commission

The solution is right under Malacañang’s nose, yet it refuses to see it, which creates for itself an even bigger problem. Malacañang’s continuing attempts to have one over the Supreme Court’s after its striking down of President Aquino’s Executive Order No.1 (EO1) creating the Philippine Truth Commission (PTC) received a beating from Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. (Tribune-p1)