Category: senate

“anonymous source” #cj trial

what goes on kaya behind the closed doors of a senate caucus, especially the one today yesterday where they “refined” the decision to compel bank officials to bring and testify on corona’s bank accounts, with the caveat of course that this is an exception, bank secrecy laws hold.  of course. they also have to be protecting their own interests — they have SALNs and BIR records, plenty properties and huge bank accounts too — but with the second-envelop fiasco on everybody’s mind, they are bending over backward and allowing the prosecution to subpoena practically any and all documents desired, never mind defense objections, para hindi sabihin ng taongbayan na kumakampi sila kay corona at meron silang itinatago o ipinapatago.  a boon to the prosecution.

it’s a highwire act for the senators, keeping a balance, keeping the people out of the streets.  yesterday was tense.  would the senate order that corona’s bank records be subpoenaed or not.  but it was like the decision had been taken out of their hands.  media was already feasting on the juicy details of alleged dollar accounts based on documents provided  the prosecution by an  “anonymous source”.  the senate could not have said no, never mind that that anonymous source is an illegal source.  probably a concerned citizen, said the prosecution lawyer who received the documents.

i wonder about this concerned citizen.  did she act independently?  motivated only by personal anti-corona sentiments?  or did she act upon instructions from someone powerful who’s pulling strings behind-the-scenes?  sana she acted independently.  because if she didn’t, then that’s bad news.  worse even, we’ll probably never know.

corona’s bank records #cj trial

Prosecution’s ‘smoking gun’ went pffft!
Senate Cautioned on Bank Subpoenas
Tupas stripped of lead role for bungling case

senators holding-up RH bill

RH interpellation cancelled again today.  excuse ni senator sotto last monday, when it was also cancelled, kesyo hindi daw handa ang mga dapat mag-interpellate, so it’s out of his hands, or something to that effect.

ah so, kaya si senate president enrile pa rin ang nakasalang last tuesday and wednesday, kasi siya lang ang handa, at hindi pa raw siya tapos.  ano ba yan.  so bakit hindi itinuloy today as scheduled para matapos na si enrile?  at bakit hindi i-extend ang sessions para matapos na si enrile?  at kung hindi handa ang iba pang senador na naka-sked na mag-interpellate pagkatapos ni enrile, bakit hindi puwedeng they lose their chance, forever keep their silence, and allow the bill to be voted upon finally?  the senate is being run like an old boys’ club, and so openly and shamelessly at that.

reproductive health has been on the agenda of congress since 1998, pero lagi na lang nauudlot, never mind that 7 out of 10 filipinos want it.  bakit nga ba ang minority ang nasusunod?

here’s a facebook exchange with sylvia mayuga a.k.a. sylvia morningstar some minutes ago.

Stuart Santiago via bethangsioco on tweeter. FYI: Senate RH bill interpellation today is cancelled per Tito Sotto’s office. BOO!

Sylvia Morningstar BOO? O BOBO?

Stuart Santiago parang hindi bobo, sylvs, more like deliberately knowingly craftily delaying the progress of interpellations so that it never comes to a vote, so BOO!

Sylvia Morningstar Sige. Sabay tayo – BOO, TITO SOTTO!

Stuart Santiago and BOO, ENRILE! and BOO! to all interpellators na hindi handa kuno (this was sotto’s excuse last monday)!

Sylvia Morningstar Matay ko mang isipin, Angie, hindi ko maintindihan ang trip ng mga senadores na ‘to. Hindi naman sila masasabing maka-relihiyon, at alam din nilang hindi na ganoon kalakas ang mga obispo sa taong bayang pabor sa RH (70% daw ang support). E bakit sila nagpapaka-gago, sa palagay mo?

Stuart Santiago ito ang sey ni senator osmena: “There is definitely a very strong group lobbying against it. I cannot blame those who want to remain under the radar,” he said.

Stuart Santiago para bagang kay mideo, di man ganoong kalaki ang blind followers ng mga obispo, sila pa rin ang nasunod, di ba? it almost seems like the bishops have something on these senators, something unimaginable that does not necessarily have anything to do with RH…

Sylvia Morningstar Ha! Pera o babae? Or both?

Stuart Santiago pera, babae, america?

Sylvia Morningstar Sus, ginoo. Ano naman ang mapapala ng America sa pagdami natin? Labor force? Oversea military cannon fodder in case of a war with China? Or just another stupid unguided missile from the CIA?

Stuart Santiago haha. might not have anything to do with population ek. maybe some trade or debt or ex-deals we know nothing about, kaya rin hindi matuloytuloy ang FOI ?

Sylvia Morningstar Hmm. Makapagtanong nga.

Sylvia Morningstar Matagal nang basket case ang Konggreso. Unti-unting na ring nawawala ang credibility ng Senado. On the defensive na ang Supreme Court. Si Noy, now you believe him, now you don’t. Sa madali’t sabi, the nation is adrift.

Stuart Santiago RH might be tipping point?

Sylvia Morningstar Or a trigger to a series of tipping points…

 

senators absolve poor bishops

Sen. Franklin Drilon said the Senate would have no reason to hold the bishops accountable if they agreed to turn over the SUVs to state-run Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

Sen. Francis Escudero said he was not keen on grilling the bishops after they agreed to return the SUVs and after the CBCP opened an inquiry into the matter. “I hope it would end [the controversy],” Escudero said over dzBB.

Sen. Ralph Recto said the bishops could not be absolved of any crime they did not commit. “They did not commit any crime. The legal burden is on the one who gave it,” Recto said in an interview, referring to the old PCSO board. “The real issue is propriety. The allegations basically are that they were bribed.”

hmm. are these senators running for re-election already? making sure they get the support of the church?  so what else is new.

MANILA, Philippines—The Catholic Bishops’Conference of the Philippines on Monday said that the seven bishops linked to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office fund mess are ready to accept responsibility for their action and to face the consequences should their actions be proven unlawful, anomalous and unconstitutional.

“We assure you that their action was done without malice,” says Tandag bishop Nereo Odchimar, CBCP president reading a prepared statement during a press conference at the Pope Pius XII Center in Manila.

yeah, sure, without malice maybe, but certainly without any sense of propriety and ethics either, much less of political correctness.  akala ko ba, anti-gambling ang simbahan.  so what’s going on?  for the alleged sake of the poor that they allegedly serve they are willing to compromise — at least the money is from legal gambling and not from jueteng? lol

whatever happened to the spirit of sacrifice and the vows of poverty?  what exactly has the church done for the poor anyway in the last hundred years that has made any difference in this blighted catholic country of ours?

if anything the church gets richer by the year and yet her princes have the gall to compete against poor Filipinos for meager government funds.

read this too from elizabeth angsioco and weep.