BROADSHEETS

PHIL. DAILY INQUIRER -- Lacson Won’t Surrender

MANILA BULLETIN -- $10 M For Marcos Victims

PHILIPPINE STAR -- Global Manhunt On For WikiLead Head

MANILA STANDARD -- Unhappy Hong Kong Sets Its Own Rizal Park Inquest

MANILA TIMES -- House OKs Amnesty Grant

MALAYA -- Ping Sets ‘Surrender’ Terms

DAILY TRIBUNE -- HK To Conduct Own Hostage Fiasco Probe

TABLOIDS

PEOPLE’S JOURNAL -- Lacson Won’t Yield

ABANTE -- PNoy Sinisindak Sa RH Bill

PILIPINO STAR NGAYON -- Ping” ‘Di Ako Susuko!’

 

BALITA -- Rally Ng Kuliglig

PEOPLES -- Toothpaste Cause Brain Damage!

 

ISSUES MONITORING

On Congress

The Senate approved last night the P1.645-trillion national budget for next year with minimal changes in the version passed by the House of Representatives. Senate committee on finance chairman Franklin Drilon said the P21-billion budget for the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) was left intact amid efforts of some senators to cut down the outlay. (Philstar-p11) 

The House committees on justice and on national defense endorsed yesterday President Aquino’s proclamation of amnesty for rebel soldiers led by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV. The two committees unanimously approved a resolution expressing the concurrence of the House of Representatives to the amnesty grant. Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II and Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III authored the Concurrent Resolution 8. (Philstar-p3) 

The Commission on Appointments has deferred the confirmation of the appointment of Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras. Almendras became the second member of President Aquino’s Cabinet whose confirmation was deferred by the CA after Education Secretary Armin Luistro was also not confirmed. (Philstar-p2) 

Senior deputy minority leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez raised alarm yesterday about a syndicate preying on lawmakers to skim off portions of their pork barrel funds allocated for health services. Suarez said he discovered the scheme after the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) called his attention to some suspicious endorsements of patients purportedly coming from his office. (Philstar-p2) 

Members of the House minority bloc yesterday reminded Malacañang to be careful in its pronouncements on the increasing tension in the Korean peninsula because it may lead to escalating violence, thus endangering Filipinos working in South Korea. In a statement read by Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay, the opposition bloc also called on President Aquino to urge fellow Asean members to use the regional grouping’s influence to prevent a full-blown armed conflict. (Philstar-p5) Korean Crisis             

On Presidency

President Aquino need not approve a bounty for the capture of fugitive Sen. Panfilo Lacson since concerned government agencies are the ones that must decide on the issue, Malacañang said yesterday. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the reward was only a proposal, which would have to be decided by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP). (Philstar-p1) 

President Aquino posthumously conferred the Philippine Legion of Honor with the rank of chief commander on former New York representative Stephen J. Solarz in recognition of his life achievements as an outstanding public servant. The award is the highest that can be accorded by Malacañang to a Filipino or a foreigner, according to deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte. (Philstar-p7) 

On The Fugitive Lacson

Fugitive Senator Panfilo Lacson will surface only if the warrant for his arrest is lifted, his lawyer told reporters yesterday. Lawyer Alex Poblador claimed ignorance of the whereabouts of Lacson who, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said on Tuesday, was hiding in the country. He said that his last conversation with his client was in December 2009, and that his moves were being made in consultation with the senator’s family. (PDI-Banner) 

On RH Bill

An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)  yesterday cast doubts on the Pulse Asia survey showing that nearly seven in every 10 Filipinos support the reproductive health bill. Fr. Melvin Castro, executive director of the CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Family and Life, said it was not clear if the people who said they supported the bill had read its provisions. (PDI-p1) 

Mayors belonging to the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) backed yesterday the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, saying they wanted their constituents to have an informed choice. Bacoor, Cavite Mayor Strike Revilla, LMP national president, said the RH bill will promote responsible parenthood. “In Bacoor, I promote family planning because I believe there should be an informed choice and responsible parenthood,” he said. (Philstar-p1) 

On Maguindanao Massacre

“Kalunos-lunos” (in a terrible state) was how Khadaffy Mangudadatu described the female corpses that he and his elder brother, Esmael Mangudadatu, retrieved from the massacre site in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, and brought to a funeral home. “I pitied them,” he said in reference to his brother’s wife Genalin Mangudadatu, his sister, and other relatives who were among the 57 civilians killed on Nov. 23, 2009. (There is a reported 58th victim whose remains have yet to be found.) (PDI-p1) 

On The Comelec

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima hinted yesterday that she is not interested in becoming chairman of the Commission on Elections to replace Jose Melo who has recently announced his resignation. De Lima said she feels that her mission at the Department of Justice (DOJ) is not yet complete. “I think I still have many tasks to do here in DOJ. There are so many challenges in this position, and I want to face all these even if it is really hard,” she stressed. (Philstar-p4) 

On AFP Modernization

Four firms have expressed interest in bidding for the P276- million contract to provide the Navy with three multi-purpose attack craft, documents from the Department of National Defense (DND) showed. The companies which bought bidding documents from DND’s Bids and Awards Committee are Prop-Mech Corp., Tactical Exchange & Security Solutions Inc., R & L Shipyard, and Geneve S.A. Phil Inc. (Philstar-p7) 

On The Marcos Wealth

A federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, recently awarded a $10-million settlement to at least 9,539 Filipino human rights victims during the 20-year regime of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos. US District Judge Terry R. Means approved the class-action lawsuit filed by activist Romulo del Prado and thousands of Filipino victims and their heirs, known legally as Class of Judgment Creditors of the Estate of Ferdinand E. Marcos, against the late strongman after he was deposed in 1986. The plaintiffs all claimed they were subjected to torture, murder, rape, and imprisonment for opposing Marcos. In his three-page order signed last November 16, Judge Means called the settlement “fair, reasonable, and adequate.” (Mla Bulletin-Banner) 

Former first lady Imelda Marcos has only until today to submit evidence on the P51 billion ill-gotten wealth case before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division. In a hearing last Nov. 17, the graft court gave Mrs. Marcos and the estate of Ferdinand Marcos until today to refute allegations in the complaint filed by the Presidential Commission on Good Government in Civil Case No. 0005. (Malaya-p3) 

On ‘Kulilglig’

“Dirty Harry”  yesterday began a crackdown on the new “King of the Road”—motorized pedicabs, called kuliglig, that are emblematic of the dramatic deterioration of the country’s public transportation system. Police, implementing Mayor Alfredo Lim’s Executive Order No. 17 banning the three-wheeled motorized contraptions on main roads in Manila, seized 81 defying the directive near 168 Mall in Divisoria and Legarda. (PDI-p1) 

On Vehicles On EDSA

The oft-congested EDSA (Epifanio De los Santos Avenue) may soon be declared polluted, or a “nonattainment area,” to limit the public vehicles allowed to use it and the factories built along it, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said yesterday. Paje said the move was intended to limit the sources of pollutants that could further foul up EDSA’s already dirty air. (PDI-p1) 

The Supreme Court has allowed the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to continue implementing its new number-coding scheme for public utility buses operating along EDSA. The SC did not issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) sought by four bus drivers that filed a petition last week to stop the enforcement of MMDA Resolution No. 10-16. (Philstar-p2) 

On The Presidents Men

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisma is the Aquino administration’s richest Cabinet member with a net worth of over P252 million while Education Secretary Armin Luistro is the least moneyed with only over P89,000. The figures were based on the Statements of Assets and Liabilities and Net worth (SALN) submitted by the two officials and 16 other Cabinet members to the Commission on Appointments. Luistro declared his annual gross salary at P989,496. (Philstar-p1) 

On Lotto Winners

Officials of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) disclosed yesterday that many of the lucky winners of the online lottery draws that now belong to the so-called Lotto Millionaires Club are actually “rags to riches” stories. A PCSO source cited the 51-year-old mayordoma or governess who previously worked for a wealthy family in Bacolod City, was wearing a pair of worn out slippers when she claimed the P140 million jackpot she won in 2000 at the former PCSO office at the old Quezon Institute compound along E. Rodriguez Blvd. in Quezon City. (Philstar-p3) 

On Luneta Hostage Carnage

To tie up the many loose ends in the government’s handling of the hostage fiasco probe, Hong Kong has decided to hold its own public inquest into the bus hijacking crisis that happened at the Quirino Grandstand last Aug. 23 which left eight Hong Kong tourists dead, a spokesman for the coroner’s court said yesterday.(Tribune-Banner) 

On The Rebel-Soldier

Former Marine commandant retired Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, who was among the top-ranking military officers tagged in the February 2006 plot to overthrow the Arroyo  administration, is now working with the Aquino government.A source said that Miranda was appointed as head of the anti-illegal logging Task Force Kalikasan under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). (Tribune-p3)