BROADSHEETS 

PHIL. DAILY INQUIRER -- LTO chief tied to car theft

MANILA BULLETIN -- Donaire wins 2 titles

PHILIPPINE STAR -- 79 Pinoys on China death row

DAILY TRIBUNE -- Noynoy tentative, naïve on execution

TABLOIDS

PEOPLE’S JOURNAL -- Donaire wins

ABANTE -- 60,000 OFWs ipit sa Middle East crisis!

PILIPINO STAR NGAYON -- 1,700 OFWs na-trap sa Libya!  

PEOPLES TONIGHT -- Avoid becoming drug mules — Romualdez 

ISSUES MONITORING

On Congress

Sen. Franklin Drilon lamented yesterday that Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and Special Prosecutor Wendell Sulit lacked delicadeza for ignoring calls to resign from their posts following their negligence on the cases involving former military comptrollers retired generals Jacinto Ligot and Carlos Garcia. He assailed Gutierrez and Sulit for what he saw as a “consistent pattern of covering up” the transactions that may have expanded the filing of graft charges against the two former comptrollers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).(Philstar)

Las Piñas City Rep. Mark Villar has proposed the enactment of a ‘lemon law’ to protect buyers of defective motor vehicles. He said his Bill 1966 would strengthen consumer protection in the purchase of brand new vehicles and provide for legal remedies to buyers of substandard units. He said his proposal is patterned after American state laws that provide a remedy for purchasers of cars that repeatedly fail to meet standards of quality and performance.(Phistar)

On OFWs

Apart from the three whose execution has been deferred, there are 79 other Filipinos awaiting their fate on China’s death row, an overseas workers group said yesterday. Migrante International said more than 120 other Filipino workers are also facing death sentences in other countries. The group lauded the efforts of President Aquino in successfully halting the execution of the three Filipino workers in China. (Philstar)

On Donaire

Proving he’s a man of his word, Nonito Donaire Jr. made good on his vow to knock out Fernando Montiel of Mexico in a sensational performance reminiscent of Manny Pacquiao’s second round demolition of Ricky Hatton. Donaire promised to be the first fighter ever to stop Montiel and did it with a flourish in the second round of their WBC/WBO bantamweight title bout before 4,805 fans at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas last Saturday night (yesterday morning, Manila).(Philstar)

On PH-Taiwan row

Former senator Manuel Roxas II will leave for Taiwan today as the special envoy of President Aquino to explain to Taiwanese officials some unsettled issues regarding the deportation of 14 Taiwanese nationals to China last Feb. 2. Roxas, who is scheduled to take an 8 a.m. flight of Philippine Airlines, hopes to be able to appease Taiwan on behalf of the Filipino people. “We confirm that former senator Mar Roxas is the personal emissary of the President to Taiwan. He is traveling to Taiwan in his private capacity,” said presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda. (Philstar)

On NFA

The administration will transfer to the private sector from the National Food Authority (NFA) the task of importing rice. Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the move is among the reforms to be put in place to help address the money-losing operations of the state-owned agency. “The other reform in NFA is we’ll use the private sector to be the one to import rather than the NFA doing the bulk of it,” he said. (Philstar)

On Ombudsman

Malacañang will observe a hands-off policy regarding the impeachment of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, and the administration would let the members of the House of Representatives decide on their own. “Impeachment is a function of the legislature. We all know that impeachment is the function of the legislative department, and it is up to our congressmen (to decide on the complaint),” presidential deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte said yesterday. (Philstar)

On peace talks

The military and communist rebels traded accusations yesterday of ceasefire violations as the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF) continue to hold peace negotiations in Oslo, Norway. Separate Army reports said the New People’s Army (NPA) attacked soldiers in Davao Oriental and Eastern Samar. On the other hand, the NDF said troops launched offensives patrols in various parts of Mindanao. (Philstar)