Category: senate

merci & the senate

from newsbreak‘s glenda gloria: ‘Lp now a force to reckon with’

The overwhelming House vote for the impeachment of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez proves two things: that the ruling Liberal Party is now a real force to reckon with and that President Aquino has been able to exercise political command without trying too hard.

“The impeachment project was a consolidating project for the LP, and they succeeded,” said Earl Parreño, a veteran House watcher and former journalist who’s now with the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform (Iper). “After this consolidation phase, they could push for their reform agenda and if they do it well, it could only be good for the country.”

The victory becomes sweeter because the Iglesia ni Cristo pushed hard—but failed—to support the Ombudsman, according to a political ally of the President.

At total of 212 members of the House of Representatives voted to impeach Gutierrez for betrayal of public trust (see how they voted). This is 30 votes less than the total members of the ruling coalition—250. President Aquino earlier made it clear to his partymates that he wanted the Ombudsman out since he considered her an obstacle to honest governance.

The INC reportedly managed to persuade some solons to vote no, abstain or not register their votes. Among the 4 who abstained are relatives of senator-judges: Cavite Rep. Lani Mercado, wife of Sen. Bong Revilla, and Las Pinas Rep. Mark Villar, son of Sen. Manuel Villar.

… A senior government official close to the President told Newsbreak that they had about 4 estimates of how the voting would go—anywhere from 140 to 160 to close to 200, but never 200 or more. In the early headcount phase, the President even said he’d be content with just the 94 votes, according to this source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

i was surprised when gma showed up, looking rather woebegone.   was her one vote perceived to be so important as to make a difference, be a tipping point maybe?   when in fact wala pala silang kalaban-laban?   i bet she regretted coming.    manny pacquiao who stayed away but voted via twitter was way smarter.   even if he got heckled online for his no vote, and of course his weird, and graceless, retort to why he was absent, serves him right.

so now, all eyes on the senate.   manila standard‘s emil jurado predicts that merci will be acquitted.

Will the Senate convict Gutierrez? There are serious doubts. Senator Francis Escudero, an Aquino ally, says that no less than 16 senators are needed to convict Gutierrez, and at least seven to acquit her.

Out of the 24 senators, two are not present. Senator Panfilo Lacson is still a fugitive from justice. Former Senator Noynoy Aquino has risen to the presidency. But it is clear that the Senate needs a two-thirds vote in order to convict an official.

Who might be the seven senators to decide in Gutierrez’s favor. They are Senators Lito Lapid and Bong Revilla, known to be former President Arroyo’s allies; the minority in the opposition composed of Nacionalista Party senators, like Manny Villar, Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Bongbong Marcos, and Loren Legarda. That’s already seven. Others who will also likely join them are Senators Joker Arroyo, Miguel Zubiri and Miriam Santiago. That brings the total to 10 senators in favor of Gutierrez.

Thus, my gulay, it’s unlikely that Gutierrez will be convicted. Her acquittal will be a slap on President Aquino, he who does not hide his obsession to run after his predecessor and prosecute her with a “friendlier” Ombudsman.

hmm.   read raul pangalangan‘s Gutierrez impeachment prospects in the Senate and tony la vina‘s Impeachment as a lesson in civics.   the senate would be wise to give the prosecutors of the lower house, and not the impeached ombudsman, the benefit of the doubt.   senators who acquit do so at their own peril.

that’s entertainment sa senado

caught just the last part of the jinggoy & mrs. ligot show, and wondered what mrs. ligot was on, she who was so teary and high-blood the first time she showed up in the senate investigation.   twitter provided quick answer, valium-laced testimony, said @wagmagalit.   ah so.   ilang mg. kaya, lol.   she was not only quite composed and alert, invoking her right against self-incrimination at every turn, she was also making eyes at the senator and the senator was returning an eye for an eye, LOL.   they were almost ummm flirting, she playing the coquette, appealing for mercy, and he playing gallant macho, willing to withdraw contempt motion if only she would oblige by answering allegedly harmless questions.   kulang na lang magkalabitan sila.   that’s entertainment, complete with innuendo about mrs. ligot’s “constant lady companion.”   thanks to
@drippingmind for the link.  thanks to @SagadaSun for the retweets.

impeaching mercy

i don’t get why senators pangilinan and guingona are urging the ombudswoman to resign rather than be impeached and go to trial.   “to spare the country of this conflict” daw.   more like, to spare us the truth?   the facts?   of the cases against her?   but why?   masyado bang maraming madadamay?   but why spare them?

or is there a chance na mapapahiya lang sila, whether the lower or upper house, because they don’t have the numbers pala?

and this recommendation of senators to impeach her for the plea-bargain agreement with garcia, when there is already an impeachment process going on in the lower house for other cases — ano ‘yon?   obvious naman that that would have to wait until next year, should the ongoing one fail.   besides, merceditas says it’s for the sandiganbayanto decide the plea-bargain complaint against her, not the senate.

what’s going on, honorable senators?

eat bulaga! vs. RH?

Sotto stakes post in anti-RH fight.   hmm.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III Wednesday said he was willing to risk his position in the chamber if his colleagues would insist on passing the reproductive health (RH) bill, which is said to be on the Aquino administration’s list of priority measures.

… “I cannot guarantee that it will be in the order of business,” he told the Inquirer by phone. “They rather replace me as the majority leader. They might as well find someone else.”

As the majority leader and chairman of the committee on rules, Sotto is instrumental in the preparation of the chamber’s order of business, in consultation with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

ah so.   akala ko his post as senator.   yun pala his post as majority floorleader and chairman of the committee on rules lang.   tipong he’s saying na it’s up to him whether, if at all, the RH bill is ever included in the senate’s order of business.   and, reading between the lines, tipong the RH bill gets tabled over-his-dead-body, that is, he would have to be replaced first.   aba, naghahamon, ang lakas ng loob, bakit kaya.

“There are many issues and questions to hurdle before the RH bill is even placed in the actual priority list of the Senate,” Sotto said.

Sotto, for instance, rejected the idea that proponents of the measure wanted a national policy that would impose their position on the use of contraceptives even among people not amenable to them.

“Why do they impose their choice on us? Suppose I file a bill banning all contraceptives in the country, would they like that?” he said.

hmm again.  who’s talking ba about imposing anything on anyone?   the idea is to make all these contraceptive measures available.   it’s up to individuals, couples, given adequate information, to decide what kind of contraception they want to use, IF ANY.   maybe he doesn’t understand english?

At present, he pointed out that contraceptives were available around the country to anyone who wished to purchase one. A national RH policy would require the use of taxpayers’ money to buy contraceptives and make them available to all, he added.

naku, sounds just like roilo golez of the lower house.   so contraceptives are only for those who can afford them?   paano na the 80 percent poor, let them multiply and multiply, the better to keep augmenting a cheap labor force?

and what’s wrong with using taxpayers’ money to help out couples who want to plan their families, the better to feed clothe and shelter them?   taxpayers’ money is used for obscene pork barrels that build basketball courts and waiting sheds and sub-standard roads, not to speak of the commissions that line their pockets for every government contract they approve, or how else do these public servants get so rich?

what really intrigues me is, who’s behind sotto?   who has tasked him to kill the RH bill in the upper house?   and in exchange for what?    who, what makes him so uncaring of the wishes of 7 out of 10 pinoys who want an RH law?   bosslady gma?   the bishops?   is he katoliko sarado pala?   kailan pa?

what about his fellow commedians vic & joey kaya?   anti-RH din ba sila?   the better for eat bulaga!?   ika nga, habang may bata, may eat bulaga!?