BROADSHEETS

PHIL. DAILY INQUIRER -- Tax Case Filed Vs Garcia

MANILA BULLETIN -- Tormenting Rains Ahead

PHILIPPINE STAR -- Germany Wants NAIA-3 Row Settled

MANILA STANDARD -- Open Skies Set For Davao, Cebu, Zamboanga, Laoag

MANILA TIMES -- NAIA Row Roils Investors

MALAYA -- Plea Bargain Leaves P55M To Garcia

DAILY TRIBUNE -- Germany: No Resolution Of NAIA-3 Row, No Aid To RP

TABLOIDS

PEOPLE’S JOURNAL -- Flood Kills 12

ABANTE -- P-Noy: Toll Hikes ‘Di Ko Aawatin!

PILIPINO STAR NGAYON -- Mass Evac, Utos Ni Pinoy

BALITA -- Hirit Sa 2011

BULGAR -- Misis Pinatay Sa Sakal Ni Mister

 

ISSUES MONITORING

On Congress

While the Senate can exercise powers to impose disciplinary action on fugitive Sen. Panfilo Lacson, there is no reason to initiate such action, even under the present circumstances.  Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile emphasized this yesterday in an apparent move to underscore the misplaced assumptions made by Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis  “Chavit” Singson as he challenged critics of his son to instead initiate expulsion proceedings against Lacson rather than Rep. Ronald Singson. (Tribune-p1) 

A Catholic bishop has a simple solution for the twin problems roiling Congress—for Senator Panfilo Lacson to surface and face the law and for Ilocos Sur Representative Ronald Singson to resign if found by the House ethics committee to have committed wrongdoing. (PDI-p1) 

Amid calls for Ilocos Sur Rep. Ronald Singson to resign or face expulsion from the House of Representatives, the embattled lawmaker appealed yesterday to his colleagues to wait for the outcome of his trial before making any judgment. Members of the House of Representatives called for Singson’s resignation to spare him and the chamber from embarrassment, after the congressman expressed his intention to plead guilty to the drug trafficking charges before the Wan Cha District Court. (Philstar-p8) 

Prudent spending may be his mantra now but President Aquino hardly exhibited it during his brief stint in the Senate. Mr. Aquino joined the high-rolling triumvirate of Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Gregorio Honasan and Antonio Trillanes IV as the biggest spenders in the upper chamber in 2009, according to Senator Joker Arroyo, based on a Commission on Audit (CoA) report. (PDI-p3) Big spenders

On Presidency

President Benigno S. Aquino III on Tuesday ordered the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) to conduct a thorough review of the country’s disaster risk reduction measures to minimize loss of lives during calamities especially in communities. The President issued the directive to NDRRMC head and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin following reports of casualties in Southern Luzon, Bicol region, Eastern Visayas and Mindanao due to floods and landslides last month. (Mla Bulletin-p1) 

On Amnesty Program

It was President Aquino himself who spoke for Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV saying that the former Navy officer and leader of at least two failed military uprisings against former President Arroyo will file his amnesty proposal today in an effort to douse specula-tions that the amnesty offer will not likely be taken up by most mutineers because of a provision in Proclamation 75 that requires admission of guilt before the pleas are processed. (Tribune-p1) 

Four officers and 15 enlisted personnel who were either demoted or dismissed for their involvement in attempts to bring down the Arroyo government have so far applied for amnesty. Army Corporal Paul Paner was the first to personally file his amnesty application with the defense department’s ad hoc amnesty committee at 9 a.m. yesterday. (PDI-p2) 

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, a former Navy officer who led several coup attempts against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, will avail of amnesty today, President Aquino told reporters yesterday during a press briefing at the Navy headquarters in Manila. Aquino said he was informed by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin of Trillanes’ intention to file an application for amnesty. (Philstar-p6) 

On Gen Garcia

Former military comptroller Carlos Garcia is headed to another legal battle over his family’s unexplained wealth. The Department of Justice has recommended the filing of a tax evasion case against the retired major general and his wife Clarita for undeclared income of close to P28 million in 2002 and 2003. (PDI-Banner) 

On The President’s Men

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. is now more powerful under the P1.645-trillion 2011 General Appropriations Act or the national budget. Aside from President Aquino, the budget law authorizes Ochoa to make disbursements in the P400-million intelligence fund of the Office of the President for this year. When the President submitted his first budget proposal to the House of Representatives and the Senate in August, he used the clause “upon approval by the Office of the President,” in referring to the disbursement of the fund. (Philstar-p5) 

Six months on the job, Education Secretary Armin Luistro makes a run for it. For health, that is. As his New Year’s resolution, the head of the Department of Education (DepEd) has returned to a health regimen he had skipped since becoming a member of the Aquino Cabinet last year. Literally behind him in running laps is his executive team, from undersecretaries to assistant secretaries also hoping to be fitter this year. (PDI-p1) 

On NAIA Terminal -3

German Ambassador Christian-Ludwig Weber-Lortsch called on the administration yesterday to do away with the “ghosts of the past” created by the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA 3) and to bring the parties to the negotiating table. In a statement, Weber-Lortsch said the Supreme Court has ruled that no acts of ownership are allowed until full payment of just compensation by the government to Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piatco) and its investors. (Philstar-Banner) 

On The Comelec

Outgoing Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo said yesterday that retired Supreme Court associate justice Leonardo Quisumbing was among those being considered as his possible replacement. (Philstar-p1) 

On North Rail Project

Transportation and Communications Secretary Jose de Jesus expressed confidence yesterday that the government could renegotiate the expensive US$503-million contract for the construction of the Northrail with a Chinese firm. In an interview on Manila-based radio dzRH yesterday morning, De Jesus said that contractor China National Machinery and Equipment Corp. Group (CNMEG) has been very cooperative in previous discussions with them on the contract it forged with the previous administration. (Philstar-p3) 

On The Armed Forces

New Navy chief Rear Adm. Alexander Pama yesterday vowed to implement training programs to enhance the competence of Navy personnel. “In the area of competence, I would like to pay particular focus on educating and training our personnel in order to equip our sailors, Marines, airmen, seabees and support and maintenance personnel with new skill sets,” Pama said in a speech during the turnover rites the Navy headquarters in Manila. (Philstar-p8) 

The acquisition of a multi-role vessel (MRV) for the Navy is not a top priority under the AFP Modernization Program, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said yesterday. Gazmin’s announcement seemed sad news for the Navy that welcomed Rear Adm. Alexander Pama as its new chief yesterday. Pama replaced Rear Adm. Danilo Cortez who reached the mandatory retirement age of 56. (Malaya-p1) 

On The Peacetalks

Communist rebels vowed yesterday to launch attacks against the military and companies that rejected extortion demands, ahead of a planned resumption of peace talks this month. Arman Guerrero, a spokesman for the New People’s Army’s (NPA) political front, said all cadres were to launch the attacks after an 18-day Christmas ceasefire with government officially ended at midnight Monday. (Tribune-p3) 

On The Marcoses

The Sandiganbayan reiterated that Imelda Marcos and daughter Irene Marcos-Araneta cannot acquire a once-secret account worth $35 million, further strengthening the court’s previous decision that the Arelma assets of the Marcoses are ill-gotten. In a resolution promulgated on December 29, Associate Justice Efren de la Cruz said that the arguments of the Marcoses in their omnibus motion for reconsideration over the Panama-funded Arelma account “are a mere rehash or reiteration.” In its April 2009 decision, the Sandiganbayan junked the claim of the Marcoses on the Arelma assets, adding that the assets were “manifestly out of proportion to the combined salaries of the Marcos couple.” (Mla Times-p3)