BROADSHEETS

PHIL. DAILY INQUIRER -- Church OKs Ceasefire

MLA BULLETIN -- Palace, Church OK Ceasefire

PHILIPPINE STAR -- Bishops Observe Ceasefire With Noy

MANILA STANDARD -- House To Double Aquino’s P1B Family Planning Fund

MANILA TIMES -- Sober Up, Aquino Tells CBCP

MALAYA -- Cease-Fire Urged On Family Planning

DAILY TRIBUNE -- Low Mark For 100 Days A Non-Issue - Noy

TABLOIDS

PEOPLE’S JOURNAL -- Catholics To Defy Church

ABANTE -- Simbahan Susuwagin

PILIPINO STAR NGAYON -- Ambush: RTC Judge, Itinumba

BALITA -- Salamat, Titser

PEOPLES TONIGHT -- Girl, 4, Killed Like A Pig!

BULGAR -- Judge Niratrat Todas

REMATE -- Hukom, Treasurer Itinumba

 

ISSUES MONITORING

On Congress

The current Senate has generally kept its image of independence but has not shown hostility either to its most eminent ex-member - the President. President Aquino’s Liberal Party colleagues in the chamber are generally in good standing with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, whom they had supported in a leadership joust with former Senate president and defeated presidential candidate Manuel Villar Jr. The President’s men in the Senate – Franklin Drilon, Ralph Recto, Teofisto Guingona III of the Liberal Party and Sen. Sergio Osmeña (an independent) – hold juicy positions in the chamber. Another LP stalwart, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, has stayed away from the spotlight after losing the Senate presidency to Enrile. (Philstar-p4) 

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. asked the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday to lift its status quo ante order and to respect the “exclusive power” of the House of Representatives in initiating the impeachment case against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. In his Motion for Leave to Intervene and Comment in Intervention Ex Abundanti Cautela, Belmonte said the status quo ante order issued by the high tribunal “emasculates the power of the House of Representatives to exact any form of accountability” from the Ombudsman, and endows Gutierrez with “the status of an untouchable.” (Philstar-p6) 

President Aquino wants Congress to keep intact his proposed P21-billion fund for the conditional cash transfer to as many as 2.3 million poor households. Budget Secretary Florencio Abad made this clear yesterday as the House of Representatives opened plenary debates on the President’s proposed P1.645-trillion 2011 national budget. (Philstar2) 

On Presidency

President Benigno Aquino III is unfazed by the low grades given to him by groups or people critical of his performance during his first 100 days in office, Malacañang said yesterday  “The President has said he will do his job regardless of what people say or what pundits will say,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told reporters. (PDI-p1) 

Malacañang said yesterday being transparent would be one of the hallmarks of the Aquino administration for its first 100 days, and even beyond. “The biggest difference in this government – though this may not be measured quantifiably – is that change of attitude of the people towards the government. We have a government that has been transparent, we have been a government responding to all the concerns,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing. (Philstar-p1) 

On Contraceptives War

Catholic Church leaders yesterday acceded to a Palace request for a ceasefire over the explosive issue of birth control. “We respect the request of Malacañang for a ceasefire to calm everyone,” the executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) Commission on Family and Life said, even as the Palace appealed to everyone to avoid inflammatory statements. (PDI-Banner) 

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday declared a unilateral “ceasefire” by momentarily keeping a vow of silence and not issuing “incendiary statements” in an attempt to defuse the growing Church-government row over contraceptives. Malacañang spokesman Edwin Lacierda, however, said that the Aquino administration will not back down on its pro-choice stand on the reproductive health issue and will seriously push for responsible parenthood as a means of family planning. (Philstar-Banner) 

On The Supreme Court

A Supreme Court committee met behind closed doors Monday to hear the testimony of a senior law student who has been implicated in the bombing that marred the last day of the Bar examinations outside the De La Salle University on Aug. 26. Court spokesperson Jose Midas Marquez said Jed Lazaga, 24, a fourth year law student at the University of San Jose Recoletos in Cebu, was “at the moment being interviewed” by the panel. (PDI-p2) 

On The South China Sea

China and the Southeast Asian nations disputing ownership of the Spratly Islands need to turn their 2002 accord into a legally binding code to prevent clashes and keep the vast region open to commerce, the US ambassador said yesterday. China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a nonbinding accord eight years ago that called for a peaceful resolution of competing claims to ownership of the Spratlys in the South China Sea and a freeze on any steps that could spark fighting. (PDI-p1) 

The United States is willing to help craft a legally binding “code of conduct” to end a territorial dispute between members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China that threatens regional stability, an American diplomat said on Monday. US Ambassador to Manila Harry Thomas Jr. said that Washington had a clear interest in ensuring that tensions surrounding overlapping claims to the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea were settled peacefully through dialogue.  “We don’t want to see conflict. We don’t wish to see a war, and we do not take sides to this issue,” Thomas told foreign correspondents. He said that the 10-nation Asean should sit down with China and negotiate an enforceable code of conduct to ensure that the vital sea lane remains free from incidents that could disrupt trade. (Mla Times-p1) 

On The US Forces

The United States will agree to any Philippine government plan to review a defense treaty allowing American military presence in the country, Ambassador Harry Thomas yesterday said, but added US troops would remain as long as the government wants them to help fight continuing terror threats. Thomas also stressed that Ame-rican troops have not engaged in local combat and that Washington has no plans to reopen US military bases in the country — both are banned by the Philippine Constitution. (Tribune-p1) 

On The Fight Against Terror

The United States on Monday said that it would keep sending forces to the Philippines until the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf was wiped out as part of its security engagement with Manila. Washington believes that the Abu Sayyaf and its regional terror ally, the Jemaah Islamiah, remain serious threats more than eight years after US forces deployed to the country’s troubled southern Mindanao, according to US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas Jr.  Mindanao serves as the base of operations of the Abu Sayyaf. “We constantly and consistently assess with the government of the Philippines what we need to do,” Thomas told reporters. “But reducing the size is not the key, it’s eliminating the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiah, because even one person can perpetuate a terrorist threat, a terrorist act,” the US ambassador said. (Mla Times-p1) 

On The Truth Commission 

President Aquino already possesses the powers that the Truth Commission seeks to exercise, former justice secretary Agnes Devanadera said yesterday. In a statement, Devanadera said the Truth Commission would only make use of the Department of Justice, National Bureau of Investigation, Office of the Ombudsman, and Office of the Solicitor General in enforcing its mandate. (Philstar-p7) 

On Local Governance

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) released P30 million to reward 15 poor municipalities for their good performance in governance. Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said 15 local government units (LGUs) successfully obtained the seal of good housekeeping – meaning they exhibited strong performance in key areas of governance – and received P2 million each. (Philstar-p16) 

On Education

How will an additional two years improve basic education when schools are forced to hold classes in three shifts and students can’t understand their lessons because they are hungry? Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, the president of Ateneo de Manila University, could not see how the Aquino administration’s proposed two-year extension of the 10-year basic education cycle would lift the quality of education. (PDI-p1) 

On The Poor

More than 16,000 people have been purged from the list of almost a million “poorest of the poor” under the government’s conditional cash-transfer program because they are either unqualified or their names were entered twice, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman said yesterday. (PDI-p1) 

On The Armed Forces

The Department of National Defense (DND) has deferred the awarding of a P3.2-billion contract for seven Air Force attack helicopters, as well as the bidding for an P851-million contract for two Navy multi-role helicopters, while it looks into a possible collusion among defense officials and suppliers. (PDI-p4)  

On Barangay Elections

There’s no stopping illiterate and other unqualified candidates from running in the coming barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections. Despite the law requiring a candidate to be able to read and write, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday admitted they are having difficulty eliminating unqualified bets in the list of candidates for the Oct. 25 electoral exercise. (Philstar-p3) 

On The Peace and Order

A judge was gunned down in Ilocos Sur yesterday. Judge Reynaldo Lacasandile of Regional Trial Court Branch 20 in Vigan City was waiting for a ride at 4:45 a.m. along the national highway in Barangay Lacong, Tagudin, Ilocos Sur when two men on a motorcycle shot him, according to Ilocos region police director Chief Superintendent Orlando Mabutas. Lacasandile sustained two gunshot wounds in the chest from a caliber .45 pistol. He was declared dead on arrival at the hospital. (Philstar-p1) 

On La Niña

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) yesterday advised the public to prepare for above normal rainfall in the last quarter of the year because of the onset of the La Niña phenomenon. Flaviana Hilario, chief of Pagasa’s Climatology and Agrometeorology division, said La Niña is expected to bring more than average rainfall in most parts of the country from October to December. (Philstar-p2) 

On Gov’t Bonuses

The Commission on Audit (COA) has sought an explanation from the Intramuros Administration (IA) for giving more than P4.1 million in additional compensation to its employees last year.  State auditors reported that IA’s grant of incentive bonuses and calamity relief allowances was unauthorized. They explained that the release of P4,150,279 in funds in September and November 2009 was “not supported by a specific law or authority allowing such allowances.” (Philstar-p5)