BROADSHEETS

PHIL. DAILY INQUIRER -- Noy To LP: Impeach Her

MANILA BULLETIN -- Have Mercy On Me

PHILIPPINE STAR -- LP Takes Stand To Impeach Merci

MANILA STANDARD -- Military To Install Radars On Nine Spratly Islands

MANILA TIMES -- AFP Chief Vows Graft War

MALAYA -- Ligot Garnishment Gets Going

TABLOIDS

PEOPLE’S JOURNAL -- Food Crisis Looms

ABANTE -- Palalakihin Ang Bilibid Para Sa mga Kurakot!- PNoy

PILIPINO STAR NGAYON -- Food Crisis Nakamba!

 

BALITA -- Matinding Hamon

PEOPLES TONIGHT -- 2 Die, 3 Hurt In Latest NLEX Tragedy

BULGAR -- Magpapasugal Sa Burol ‘Di Babasbasan

ISSUES MONITORING

On Congress

The 81-strong Liberal Party bloc in the House of Representatives adopted the party stand on the impeachment of the Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, a few votes shy of the magic number of 94 (or one-third vote of 282 congressmen) with just a week to go before the expected submission of the two complaints before the plenary. (Malaya-p1) 

On Presidency

Flying commercial, President Benigno Aquino III was expected to arrive late last night for the first of two state visits this week to key Association of Southeast Nations allies. Mr. Aquino will meet with Indonesian President Susilo Yudhoyono and sign several bilateral agreements, including one on fighting transnational crime. He will also meet members of the Filipino community and key Indonesian businessmen before proceeding to Singapore Wednesday for his second state visit. (PDI-p2) 

President Aquino launched yesterday the first batch of infrastructure projects worth roughly P47.1 billion under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program. Aquino made the announcement shortly before embarking on state visits to Indonesia and Singapore. The President said the five big-ticket infrastructure projects, once completed, would help ease the movement of goods and products in and out of the country. (Philstar-p2) 

On The Ombudsman

Saying that Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez had been “given so many chances” to do her job but failed to do it, President Benigno Aquino III on Monday gave the go-signal for members of the ruling Liberal Party in the House of Representatives to ensure her impeachment. Mr. Aquino, who is the Liberal Party chair, issued the marching orders at a luncheon meeting with party mates on the eve of a crucial vote by the House justice committee that would decide whether the impeachment complainant against Gutierrez would be sent for plenary debate. (PDI-Banner) 

The Liberal Party (LP) voted yesterday to officially support the impeachment of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez in the House of Representatives after President Aquino reminded lawmakers to “change the system” in government. Aquino’s statement and the consequent stand of his party came on the eve of a crucial and final vote by the House committee on justice tackling the impeachment complaints against Gutierrez. (Philstar-Banner)

Employees of the Office of the Ombudsman are praying for Merci. On Monday, they came out to support their beleaguered chief, holding a program during lunch break to extol her virtues, thank her for the benefits she had showered upon them and denounce what they said was the unfair treatment she was getting from the House justice committee. (PDI-p6) 

The Supreme Court (SC) cried foul yesterday over what it believes to be a concerted effort to destroy its integrity as a result of its earlier move to temporarily stop the impeachment proceedings against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. “There appears to be concerted efforts to bring the court down,” SC spokesman Midas Marquez told reporters. (Philstar-p6) 

On Pinoy’s Libya

As Libya edges toward civil war, the Aquino administration is urging some 13,000 Filipinos still in the North African country to leave immediately, officials said yesterday.  Foreign Undersecretary Rafael Seguis told a news briefing that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and Employment had raised the alert level in Libya from No. 3, or voluntary repatriation, to No. 4, which strongly urged Filipinos to depart. (PDI-p1) 

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said they were conducting “mop-up” operations to locate and possibly send home more than 13,000 to 15,000 Filipinos still in Libya, in the face of escalating violence in the North African nation. “This week and up to Saturday, we will be on mop-up operations. We will get Filipinos in other areas aside from Tripoli and Benghazi who wish to be repatriated home to the Philippines,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis said. (Philstar-p3) 

On South China Seas

A new kind of diplomacy in the disputed Spratlys is in the works. And Filipino soldiers stationed on Philippine-occupied islands in the Spratlys are looking forward to engaging their counterparts from the five other state claimants to the oil-rich specks in the South China Sea. It is called football—not gunboat—diplomacy, although the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is also dispatching a vessel or two in the area to hook up with a Filipino survey ship reportedly harassed by two Chinese patrol boats last week. (PDI-p1) 

President Aquino might raise the issue of joint exploration in the South China Sea with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during his visit to Indonesia this week. “I will be exploring the possibility,” the President said yesterday when asked by reporters in an ambush interview at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City about his view on a common ASEAN stand on exploration in the South China Sea. (Philstar-p7) 

On The Armed Forces

The new chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) vowed to stamp out corruption in the military through greater transparency in disbursement of funds, among other major reforms that he hopes to accomplish during his nine-month watch. Lt. Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr., during turnover ceremonies at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Monday also promised to sustain reforms initiated by his predecessors and address internal grievances of the 130,000-strong men and women of the Armed Forces. (Mla Times-Banner) 

Vice President Jejomar Binay said on Monday that P7 billion from the President’s Social Fund (PSF) would be made available for low-cost housing projects for soldiers and policemen. Houses for soldiers and policemen would cost as low as P100,000, said Binay during the launch of the “Pabahay” caravan of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council at the Baguio Country Club. (PDI-p2) 

President Aquino assured the people that he is not advocating a revolving door policy in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) amid questions on why he chose Gen. Eduardo Oban when there were other candidates who could serve longer. “That is not going to be a policy to give everybody a modicum of time. It’s always going to be the best person available at this time regardless of the position,” Aquino said. (Philstar-p9) 

The Philippine Navy on Monday announced that it had bought a large Hamilton-class patrol craft from the United States to help it guard Philippine waters, amid tensions over territorial claims, notably with China. The announcement was made by Lt. Gen. Eduardo Oban, the new Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff. “As I speak, Philippine Navy officers are now in the United States . . . preparing to sail our first Hamilton class navy [vessel] to the Philippines,” he said in a speech to troops. (Mla Times-p1) Modernization

On The Whistleblower

Former state auditor Heidi Mendoza has admitted that she wants to be the next chair of the Commission on Audit. “I’m praying for it,” she said, in reply to a question at a student forum at Sacred Heart College, her alma mater, yesterday. Mendoza, however, said President Benigno Aquino III had yet to renew his offer of a government post for her. (PDI-p3) 

On The Flag Carrier

The Philippines Airlines Employees Association (Palea) on Monday filed another notice of strike over Philippine Airlines (PAL) management’s purported refusal to come to the bargaining table. The union representing the airlines’ ground crew accused management of unfair labor practices in refusing to hold negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). (PDI-p4) 

On Oil Sharing

The Philippines may consider forging an emergency oil-sharing agreement with Japan or the United States to avert a looming oil crisis due to continuing tension in the Middle East. President Aquino said the government would consider the proposal despite an assurance by the energy department that there is enough supply of oil. “We will consider that, but at the present time, the DOE (Department of Energy) and trade secretaries told me that we have guarantees from certain oil producing countries. In fact, there is a non-traditional supplier. And they were saying, ‘so long as you are ready to pay the price, we are ready to supply you,’” the President said in an ambush interview after the change-of-command ceremony in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City yesterday. (Philstar-p1) 

On Price Control

The government will not impose price controls despite the rise in the prices of basic commodities.  “It is very clear that price control is a last resort,” Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo said in an interview on the sidelines of the launch of the first batch of public-private partnership (PPP) projects yesterday. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced that the price of loaf bread went up by P2 yesterday while the price of canned goods rose two percent to three percent. (Philstar-p1) 

On Sandiganbayan

Justices of the Sandiganbayan second division were awed by the claim of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) that it had the power to prosecute or at least intervene in any case pending before any court in the exercise of its right as the government’s law office. Magistrates of the anti-graft court questioned the OSG’s claim of having powers greater than even that of the Department of Justice (DOJ) during a clarificatory hearing last Friday on the motion for intervention filed by the OSG. (Philstar-p5) 

On Euro Generals

The case of the “Euro generals” has not made it to the dockets of the Sandiganbayan, two certifications from the anti-graft court showed. In a letter transmitted to Representatives Teodoro Casiño of Bayan Muna party-list and Kaka Bag-ao of Akbayan party-list, copies of which The Manila Times was furnished recently, Sandiganbayan spokesman Renato Bocar affirmed that no charges had been filed against the Euro generals. (Mla Times-p) 

On ASEAN

India, an emerging economic powerhouse, has been increasing trade and investments in Southeast Asia, but the Philippines is apparently missing out on it. Rodolfo Severino, a Foreign Affairs undersecretary and formerly Asean secretary general, said that the rapidly rising trade and investments between the regional bloc and India was “lopsided.”  Severino now heads the Asean Studies Center in Singapore. Asean is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a regional bloc of 10 countries that includes the Philippines. (Mla Times-p1)