BROADSHEETS

PHIL. DAILY INQUIRER -- APO frat forms legal team to defend brod

PHILIPPINE STAR -- Raps filed vs blast suspect

MANILA BULLETIN -- Power Rate Hike Unlikely

MANILA STANDARD  --  P10-b Peace bonds mature next year at P35b, admits Code-NGO

TABLOIDS

PEOPLE'S JOURNAL -- GMA wins

PEOPLE'S TONIGHT -- Revillame posts P426-M bail

PILIPINO STAR NGAYON -- Webb hiling i-abswelto sa 'Vizconde' 

ABANTE -- Patay kung patay!

ABANTE TONITE -- Dila ng DH panlinis ng sapatos

ISSUES MONITORING

On Congress

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has joined calls for the Supreme Court to exercise judicial restraint in its move against faculty members of the University of the Philippines College of Law who had denounced and called for the resignation of a magistrate for plagiarism. In a statement, Enrile said he felt compelled to air his position on the order issued by the Supreme Court for the faculty members to explain why they should not be cited for indirect contempt for denouncing Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo and calling for his resignation for committing plagiarism. The SC had earlier dismissed the complaint of plagiarism against Del Castillo.

On bar exam blast

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday filed criminal charges against Anthony Nepomuceno, the principal suspect in the Sept. 26 grenade attack in this year’s Bar examinations in Manila. The NBI filed charges of multiple frustrated murder and multiple attempted murder before the Department of Justice (DOJ), a day after Nepomuceno surfaced to deny the allegations implicating him in the grenade attack. NBI spokesman Cecilio Zamora said the charges stemmed from the testimony of several witnesses. (Philstar)

On ZTE deal

The Sandiganbayan yesterday ruled that former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo could not be a witness for the prosecution against her former socioeconomic planning chief Romulo Neri in the approval of the controversial $329-million national broadband network (NBN) contract. In a four-page ruling, the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division granted the motion of Arroyo to quash the subpoena compelling her to appear as a witness for the prosecution against Neri. Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative, cited the provisions under the Constitution over her right to remain silent and refuse to take the witness stand.

On Dacer-Corbite case

A US district court has junked the appeal of former police senior superintendent Michael Ray Aquino against his extradition, paving the way for him to stand trial in the November 2000 murders of public relations man Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Judge Esther Salas of the US District Court of Newark in New Jersey issued a ruling on Oct. 21 approving Aquino’s extradition. “Once the ruling becomes final, the DOJ shall work on his deportation to face the criminal charges against him here,” she told reporters.

On barangay elections

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday issued an apology over the delays in the delivery of election paraphernalia that hampered the conduct of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls last Oct. 25. “We apologize for the delays that happened causing much anguish and pain among our voting public,” said Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento in an interview.  Asked if such an apology is an admission of fault, Sarmiento said it was an “apology in a sense that there was really a delay.”

Maguindanao, Philippines – Voters have been picketing the town hall of detained Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr.’s hometown since Monday to prevent the holding of barangay elections. This, after only the names of re-electionist barangay officials identified with the Ampatuans appeared on the election paraphernalia they were to use in Monday’s electoral exercise in their respective barangays. The Army-led Task Group Hope (honest, orderly and peaceful elections) and the multi-sectoral Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) have already recommended a failure of elections to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in all of the more than a dozen barangays here.

On human rights

 A human rights watchdog yesterday urged the government to consider working with foreign governments to provide a safe haven for whistleblowers in sensitive cases as well as the victims’ families. Human Rights Watch cited the case of former Sgt. Esequias Duyogan who is testifying today in a pre-trial hearing on a case implicating soldiers in the murder of six young men in Trento, Agusan del Sur in 2000.  Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Elaine Pearson said the government should protect Duyogan and the families of the victims.

On corruption

Alarmed by the “highly corrupt” tag given to the country, Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone proposed yesterday the creation of a permanent congressional oversight committee that would monitor the major regulatory agencies of government. The lawmaker made the proposal after the Philippines was classified as “highly corrupt” by a survey released by the Transparency International (TI) and was given a ranking of 134 among 178 countries. Those at the bottom of the survey based on the TI benchmarks are countries troubled by official corruption, including the Philippines.

On budget

If the government is incurring a record budget deficit this year and the national debt is growing, blame it on former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. This is the gist of the letter Budget Secretary Florencio Abad sent to The STAR on Wednesday in reaction to the paper’s series of articles on more than P16 billion in pork barrel funds Mrs. Arroyo released to her congressional allies before and after the national elections last May 10. The releases included P239 million for the newly created second district of Camarines Sur, which the former president’s son Diosdado or Dato represents in the House of Representatives.