Vessels Needed In Panatag – Gazmin Country ‘Window Shopping’ For Fighters

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NEWS UPDATE June 22, 2012 (Friday)

Assert Rio+20 Role, Philippines Told

By ELLALYN B. DE VERA The Manila Bulletin, page 7

The international conservation group World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines (WWF-Philippines) has urged the Philippine delegation to the Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) being held in Brazil, to participate more actively and be more assertive in the negotiating table in supporting a range of measures that can reduce poverty while promoting decent jobs, clean energy and a more sustainable and fair use of resources.

“Twenty years after nations committed to refashion the world’s economic development into one that is green, fair, and sustainable, world leaders have once again converged in Rio de Janeiro to hash out a blueprint to secure a sustainable future,” WWF-Philippines vice chairman and CEO Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan said.

Agenda 21, a blueprint to rethink economic growth, advance social equity and ensure

environmental protection, was adopted during the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Tan said WWF-Philippines has written its partners in the Philippine delegation to encourage them to reinvigorate the deliberations by being more assertive in the negotiating table.

“We are counting on you,” Tan said.

The Philippine delegation is headed by National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chairman Dr. Arsenio Balisacan. Other members include representatives from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Climate Change Commission (CCC), National Anti-Poverty Commission, and the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD).

The WWF said the ongoing deliberations at the UNCSD, referred to as Rio+20, “are rapidly

disintegrating and have produced a very weak negotiating text eliminating any urgency on the need for sustainable development.”

“Rio+20 leaders have released their compromise text and it compromises our future. It is

unfortunately weak, and in some cases so regressive it sets the clock back pre-Rio 1992. In WWF's opinion, 193 governments are facing a Copenhagen like failure. It is time to push for change,” Tan said.

He said weak words, which appear in sections that need to be most toughened-up, are nowhere close to the kind of commitments needed to ensure that future generations have access to clean water, food and energy.

WWF International director-general James Leape asked, “World leaders recognized problems 20 years ago, and they’ve done little about them since. How long are we going to accept ‘We’ll look into it’ as a solution?”

He highlighted the presence of “toothless language” like “commit to progressive realization” and several promises to “recognize” problems and solutions.

There were positive actions around oceans protection, but the negotiating text has words that commit parties to nothing, such as “commit to promote” and “commit to systematically consider.”

At the conclusion of Rio+20 on June 22, heads of state will vote on whether to adopt the negotiating text.

WWF is calling on nations to make a difference and “step up their game dramatically.”

The decision of state heads on Friday will either chart a path to sustainable the development or fail to deliver positive results for the planet we all depend on, WWF said.

Vessels Needed In Panatag – Gazmin Country ‘Window Shopping’ For Fighters

By AARON B. RECUENCO The Manila Bulletin, page 8

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Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin sees the need for Philippine government ships to go back to Panatag Shoal, saying the absence of any vessel may eventually lead to the country losing its claim to the dispute area.

“If we do not send back our ships there, they may eventually use it as basis for their claim,” said Gazmin, referring to China.

The Philippines has been locked in a dispute with China over the Panatag Shoal which is located off Zambales province. The country’s three vessels earlier left the area following Butchoy’s visit.

The Foreign Affairs department earlier said that the withdrawal of vessels was part of verbal agreement but China ships did not follow suit.

As soon as the weather condition improves, Gazmin said he would recommend for the return of at least three Philippine government vessels to Scarborough.

“They did not leave so we have to go back there,” said Gazmin.

He said that it would be ships from the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources which he would recommend to return.

The Philippines is now upgrading its military capability after the Panatag standoff. The concentration of the modernization program is on the Philippine Air Force via procurement of fighter jets.

Meanwhile, Gazmin said the reported purchase of T50 fighter jets from South Korea is not yet definite as an evaluation team is still conducting “window shopping” in other countries.

“The T50 is just one of the candidates for our leading fighter jets,” said Gazmin.

A T50 costs some P1.2 billion and the Philippine government is planning to buy 12 fighter jets.

Another option is the Super Tucano in Brazil, he said.

“We are just completing our study so that we can select the best possible option for us,” said Gazmin.

Gazmin assured that the procurement of 12 fighter jets and other military hardware for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) would not be tainted by graft.

He said the government may even end up saving money due to their decision to turn the purchase of military hardware into a government to government transaction.

“There is no longer middleman in government-to-government, so the price will not be padded because there is no more need for the commission of the middleman,” said Gazmin.

Gazmin made the statement amid concerns of corruption in the purchase of jet fighters from South Korea since the procurement will no longer undergo the normal bidding process.

Aside from fighter jets, the Philippine government is also planning to buy helicopters and other military hardware that would serve the need to strengthen the country’s territorial defense following the Scarborough standoff with China.

The fund for the purchase will come from the AFP modernization program which is proposed to be funded with P75 billion for five years, starting 2013.

Enrile Backs GMA’s Bail Bid

By BEN R. ROSARIO

The Manila Bulletin, page 8

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile yesterday joined the call for the immediate release from hospital arrest of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, saying that

government may rely on three strong arguments in foregoing of any attempt to block his bid for bail.

He also warned that the government may find itself liable if something happens to her.

However, Enrile’s appeal was immediately rejected by the Left-leaning Karapatan and Bayan organizations with its leaders accusing the government of being soft on the former chief executive.

Interviewed over radio station DWIZ, Enrile said he supports Arroyo’s bail appeal because of her stature as a lawmaker and former President, her medical condition, and the weak evidence presented against her.

The Senate leader asked government to reconsider its previous position to block Arroyo’s medical treatment abroad as called for by a recent medical bulletin on her condition.

“I heard that the former President is still in a critical condition; she can’t swallow and she only takes liquid. No doctor would also like to handle her. I think, if something happens to her this would be another big issue,” Enrile said in Filipino in an interview over radio DWIZ.

Enrile said he is not in favor of the move to transfer Arroyo from her hospital suite at the Veterans

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Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City to a regular jail facility.]

“Huwag naman sana dahil dating presidente yan and no matter how bad some people think she is, she is still presumed innocent until proven guilty. Huwag naman siyang ihalo sa mga drug lords at tulisan, mahirap yan,” he said.

Enrile said the evidence presented against Arroyo should be carefully studied and that she should be released on bail if it is found that the case against her is weak as she stated in her bail motion.

He admitted being informed that the evidence presented by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to prove her guilty of electoral sabotage is weak.

“Mukha yatang mahina ang ebidensya… kaya dapat alagaan natin ang kalusugan nya kasi kung may nangyari dyan ang gobyerno ang sasagot,” Enrile said.

He warned that the Philippines will be facing international rebuke and embarrassment if Arroyo is sent to a regular jail and her medical condition would worsen.

“Kung biglang mamatay yan, ano na lang sasabihin sa atin ng buong mundo?,” he said.

The veteran senator recalled that during his time as defense secretary of then President Ferdinand E. Marcos, they decided to allow then Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. to seek medical treatment in the United States despite his conviction by the military tribunal.

Enrile also cited the case of former President Joseph Estrada who was also allowed under the Arroyo administration to seek medical treatment abroad while his plunder case was pending.

However, the militant Karapatan and Bayan organizations called for the junking of Arroyo’s bail motion, saying that she should not be given a chance to escape prosecution for electoral sabotage and human rights violations.

Karapatan spokesperson Cristina Palabay noted that despite the lapse of six months after her arrest, the Aquino government has failed to have Arroyo pay for her alleged crimes.

“Malacañang’s real intentions to prosecute Arroyo is betrayed by the fact that it has approved the special treatment of Arroyo in detention, being ‘detained’ in a hospital with extraordinary perks as a detained person, and the inordinately slow process of prosecuting her for the electoral fraud cases,”

Palabay said.

He added: “The Aquino administration has likewise done nothing to go after GMA for the rights violations conducted under her term, which she has spurred through her counter-insurgency policy Oplan Bantay Laya.”

Rise In Employment Rate Reported

By CZARINA NICOLE O. ONG The Manila Bulletin, page 8

A survey reported by the National Statistics Office showed that the country’s employment rate improved in April this year compared the same period in 2011.

The NSO said the April 2012 Labor Force Survey (LFS) reported a 93.1 percent employment rate compared to 92.8 percent recorded in the same period last year.

The 2012 LFS also showed that, except for the National Capital Region, all regions in the country recorded employment rates of over 90 percent.

The NSO said that out of an estimated 62.8 million people 15 years and older, 40.6 million belong to the labor force as of April 2012, compared to 39.7 million recorded last year.

It added that the labor force participation rate (LFPR) in April 2012 was 64.7 percent, compared to 64.2 percent in April 2011.

Among the regions, only the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) recorded an LFPR lower than 60 percent.

Those employed in the services sector comprised the largest group of the labor force, making up more than half (51.4 percent) of the total employed.

Workers in the agriculture sector comprised the second largest group, consisting of one-third (33 percent) of the total employed.

Only 15.6 percent of the total employed were in the industry sector, with the manufacturing sub- sector contributing the largest share (8.4 percent of the total employed).

Among the various occupation groups, the laborers and unskilled workers comprised the largest group making up 33.2 percent of the total employed persons in April 2012. Farmers, forestry workers and fishermen were the second largest group with 14.7 percent share.

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According to the NSO, employed persons fall into any of these categories: wage and salary workers, self-employed workers without any paid employee, employers in own family-operated farm or business, and unpaid family workers.

Wage and salary workers are those who work for private households, private establishments, government or government-controlled corporations, and those who work with pay in own family- operated farm or business.

"The majority (55.5 percent) of the total employed population in April 2012 were wage and salary workers, with the largest percentage (42.9 percent of total employed) working for private

establishments. Those working for the government or government-controlled corporations accounted for only 8 percent and those working for private households, 4.3 percent. In April 2011, wage and salary workers accounted for 55.0 percent of the total employed," the NSO said.

“Self-employed workers without paid employees comprised 29.3 percent of the total employed in April 2012. The unpaid family workers accounted for 11.9 percent of the total employed. Employers in own family-operated farm or business made up 3.3 percent," it said.

US tells PH, China: Settle row; Aquino to redeploy ships

By Jerry E. Esplanada

Philippine Daily Inquirer, page 1

The United States on Thursday called on the Philippines and China to sit down and find a peaceful solution to their territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

Speaking at the US Embassy’s first news forum, called Kapihan sa Embahada, Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. said Washington “has been very clear on our commitment to support a resolution of these claims in a peaceful manner at the negotiating table.”

But President Benigno Aquino told reporters on Wednesday that a military plane would fly to the area when the weather cleared and if Chinese vessels were still there by then, he would order the two Philippine vessels back to the shoal.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, who recommended the redeployment of the two vessels to the shoal, told reporters yesterday that heavy rains and strong winds kept the government from sending a plane to the area.

Gazmin said the government still had to decide which service, whether the Navy or the Coast Guard, would send the reconnaissance plane.

Definitely, however, the Philippines will go back to Scarborough Shoal to maintain effective control in the area.

‘Occupation’

Gazmin said the continued absence of Philippine forces at the shoal would amount to Chinese

“occupation” of that part of Philippine territory.

“If you can’t man that place, they (China) will consider it occupancy since they are there, so that will be the basis for their claim,” Gazmin said in a phone patch interview with reporters at Camp

Aguinaldo.

China and the Philippines have withdrawn vessels from Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground off the western coast of Luzon, where they had a more than two-month standoff over sovereignty.

The standoff ended during the weekend, when President Aquino ordered home a Philippine Coast Guard patrol vessel and a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources survey ship, citing bad weather.

China, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), withdrew two government vessels during the weekend.

The Chinese Ministry of Transport announced late last week that more than 20 fishing boats in the shoal’s lagoon were being called home because of bad weather.

But an unnamed Philippine government official reported on Wednesday that there were six Chinese government vessels outside the shoal’s lagoon and at least 30 fishing boats inside the lagoon.

Manila refers to the area as Panatag Shoal and Bajo de Masinloc.

Despite statements from China that it had no plans of leaving Scarborough Shoal, which China calls Huangyan Island, the DFA insisted on Wednesday that talks were going on for the withdrawal of the Chinese government vessels that were positioned outside the lagoon.

Thomas said the United States would like to see a “deescalation *of tensions+ and peace and this can be negotiated.”

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“We would not like to see any nation take untoward action,” Thomas said.

New Vietnamese law

The dispute began on April 8 with Chinese vessels blocking Philippine patrol vessels to prevent the arrest of Chinese fishermen caught poaching sharks and collecting rare clams and corals at

Scarborough Shoal, which is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) recognized under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).

Although a signatory to Unclos, China refuses to recognize the Philippine EEZ, insisting that ancient maps prove it owns the shoal and nearly all of the West Philippine Sea.

Pressing that claim, China on Thursday opposed a new Vietnamese law asserting sovereignty over islands in disputed areas of the South China Sea.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun summoned Vietnamese Ambassador to China Nguyen Van Tho and told him that Vietnam’s new law claiming the contested Paracel and Spratly Islands was a “serious violation” of Chinese sovereignty and called for an “immediate correction.”

The law was void, Zhang said. China, he added, would “resolutely defend” its sovereignty.

To settle the dispute, the Philippines proposed to China in April that they bring their disagreement to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (Itlos), but China refused.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the Philippines would go ahead anyway and bring the dispute to the Itlos.

Asked if the United States would support the Philippine bid for international mediation, Thomas referred the query to Joy Yamamoto, the US Embassy’s political officer, who said: “We’re very consistent in supporting international law and settling this kind of disputes under international law.

We would support China and the Philippines settle the issue through international means.”

Thomas reiterated, however, that the United States was not taking any sides in the dispute, but he said the Americans were “very proud that we’re able to partner with President Aquino and the fact that he has an honest administration.”

“That’s been extremely important,” Thomas said. “We’re able to tell our Congress repeatedly that there’s an honest administration that allows us to maintain and even increase the assistance we’re getting. We’re able to increase US Agency for International Development assistance and also our Peace Corps assistance, as well as veterans affairs. We’ve been able to tell our Congress that the Aquino administration is honest in ensuring the funds they provide are going to the people as intended for.”

Committed to MDT

Thomas said the Philippines “has been the largest recipient of US military aid in Southeast Asia” for the past 50 years.

“The aid is an average of $50 million a year,” he said. “We’re very proud we were able to give that assistance. And we’ll always look for ways to assist within our means.”

Thomas stressed that the United States was standing by its commitments under the Philippines-US Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT).

Thomas disputed reports that the United States planned to set up once again military bases in the Philippines.

“We have no intention of having bases here,” he said.

On reports the US government was beefing up the capability of the Philippine National Police in Palawan province, Thomas said, “We have given four boats and we plan to give two more to the police to help them catch smugglers.”

He added, “Our interest in Palawan is mainly supporting efforts to protect the environment.”

New US strategy

Earlier this month, the United States announced details of a new military strategy under which 60 percent of its warships would be deployed in the Asia-Pacific region by the end of the decade.

The United States is also working out arrangements with its allies for the rotational deployment of troops, with Australia and Singapore already agreeing to limited US troop presence.

The Philippines already has a troop-rotation deal with the United States under which Filipino and American troops train in annual joint military exercises.

The new US military strategy is seen as aimed at containing China, which is aggressively pursuing development programs designed to make it an economic and military superpower.

During President Aquino’s visit to Washington earlier this month, he and US President Barack Obama

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reaffirmed the two countries’ alliance, now 60 years old.

The two leaders discussed expanded intelligence sharing and cooperation on maritime security, but avoided mentioning China in their talks with the press.

Obama, however, reiterated Washington’s desire to be viewed as a Pacific power. With a report from DJ Yap

Enrile warns Aquino against putting Arroyo in regular jail

By Christian V. Esguerra

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Thursday warned the Aquino government against mistreating former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, noting that she has not yet been convicted in the electoral sabotage case filed against her.

“No matter how bad they think about her, she is presumed innocent until she is really convicted,”

Enrile said in an interview with dwIZ radio.

Nor is Enrile amenable to suggestions that Arroyo, who is now a Pampanga congresswoman, be transferred from the Veterans Memorial Medical Center suite in Quezon City where she is being detained to a regular jail while she is on trial.

Placing Arroyo in the company of common criminals would not sit well with the international community, considering that she is a former president, he said.

“What if she dies in jail? How would it look like to the rest of the world when you put a former president in jail together with (common criminals)?” he said.

The Senate President said he had received information that the former President remains in

“critical” condition, apparently because of a lingering problem with her cervical spine.

“My information is that she cannot swallow, she takes only liquid, and no doctor here wants to handle her,” he said in Filipino.

“I think if something happens to her, that would be a big issue,” he said.

Enrile reminded the administration of political upheavals in the past triggered by the death of a political figure.

He noted that the martyred opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr., the father of President Aquino, had been allowed to seek medical treatment abroad despite being convicted by a military court during the Marcos regime.

Enrile served as the defense minister of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos and was one of the key implementers of martial law. His defection along with then Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Fidel Ramos triggered the first Edsa People Power Revolution in 1986.

“So long as it was (a) medical (case), we allowed prisoners to go to the hospital because it was a matter of life and death,” he recalled.

In the case of Arroyo, Enrile pointed out that she remains an accused.

Bishop raps bill banning religious rites and images in government offices

By Jerome Aning

LINGAYEN-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas on Thursday described as “crazy” the bill seeking to ban religious rites and images from the premises of government agencies, saying such law would make the Philippines a “soul-less” nation.

“There’s separation of church and state but there’s no separation of God and man,” said Villegas, vice president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), in opposing the controversial House Bill No. 6330 or the Freedom of Religion in Government Office.

The bill was filed by Kabataan party-list Representative Raymond Palatino.

“It’s crazy because if you separate the body from the soul, what do you create? A dead man. If you separate the soul of the nation from the nation, what do you have? A dead nation,” Villegas told reporters. He added that losing our soul as a nation would be “the real downfall.”

Former CBCP president and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo earlier criticized the bill but expressed doubt whether the congressmen, most of whom are Catholics like Palatino, would pass the measure.

Pro-Life Philippines also opposed the bill, calling it unconstitutional and would “take God out of the

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government and in the public sphere.”

Under the bill, the conduct of religious ceremonies such as prayers, masses and other liturgical celebrations as well as he display of religious symbols would be prohibited within the premises and perimeter of offices, departments and bureaus, including publicly-owned spaces and corridors within such places.

“Take away prayers, crosses, religious signs and symbols and portraits, and take away all that remind people of God. How does that make our government officials and employees better public

servants?” said Pro-Life president Eric Manalang.

Manalang said Palatino should be crafting laws that would empower the young.

The prolife movement officer said Palatino might have had a misconception about the principle of separation of Church and State that his bill aims to enforce.

He said the principle, as adapted by the framers of the Philippine Constitution, was patterned after the so-called nonestablishment clause in the United States Constitution which ensures that

government will not endorse a state religion and would protect the people from the government’s interference in their chosen religion.

According to the Central Intelligence Agency Factbook, 80.9 percent or about 75.6 of the 91 million Filipinos are Catholic. Nearly nine out of 10 Catholics in Asia live in the Philippines.

Malacañang has yet to form an opinion on whether to support or thwart the bill.

“There’s still no issue because it has yet to go through the legislature. The process would still take long,” said presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, adding that it would be up Congress to conduct debates on the controversial provisions of the bill.

Lacierda said the administration is waiting for legal opinions on the matter from the Office of the Solicitor General and the Department of Justice. With a report from Norman Bordadora

Palace: Philippines duty-bound to help poor nations

By Norman Bordadora

It is the Philippines’ obligation to help countries in dire need of funding through the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Malacañang said on Thursday.

Edwin Lacierda, President Benigno Aquino’s spokesperson, made the remark in response to a suggestion that the Philippines’ $1-billion loan to the IMF was rather risky for a country that continues to deal with hunger and poverty issues.

“We have been a recipient of IMF assistance for the past 40 years. Now, that we have been

considered a creditor nation, we feel it is our obligation to assist those nations who require funding from IMF,” Lacierda told reporters in a news briefing.

“This would also help in stabilizing the crisis that’s going on in Europe. As to whether it is risky or not, we believe that IMF will act judiciously on the funds,” he added.

Lacierda said the IMF now has a standby fund for around $456 billion and the Philippines contributed $1 billion to that fund.

“It is our responsibility; it is part of our obligation *to the+ IMF who has assisted us during our times of crisis in the Philippines,” Lacierda said.

In a separate statement, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco said the Philippines will get returns from the loan it extended to the IMF.

“For nearly 40 years until 2006, the Philippines itself was a net borrower from the IMF. We finally fully paid our loans to IMF in December 2006 as the implementation of continuing reforms have made our economy stronger,” Tetangco said.

“Today, our economic fundamentals are sound, our banks are able to meet domestic credit needs, and we are capable of lending $1 billion from our international reserves to the IMF. This is a loan to the IMF and we will get our money back with interest,” he said.

“In effect, by extending a loan to the IMF that will earn money for the Philippines we are also able to help other nations saddled with financial problems. Other nations have also committed to help IMF address the current financial crisis,” he added.

CJ bets linked to Noy, GMA told to back out

By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star) page 1

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MANILA, Philippines - A senior administration lawmaker urged yesterday candidates for the position of chief justice identified with either President Aquino or former President and now Pampanga Rep.

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to withdraw their nominations.

“This is for the good of the country to ensure the judicial independence of the Supreme Court from the executive (branch), influential political figures and other parties,” House Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II told reporters.

Gonzales cited the case of acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, who was accused by former chief justice Renato Corona of plotting to oust him so that Carpio could take over his post.

“Acting Chief Justice Carpio should be out from the race. The President locked in himself not to appoint a candidate close to him because the challenge for him is to appoint the next chief justice who is very much qualified and has no connection with him,” he said.

“I think the President would also be sensitive and would not want anyone to reproach him in the future for his choice for chief justice,” he added.

Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., ex-officio member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) as chairman of the House committee on justice, earlier told reporters that the close ties of some of the nominees for chief justice to Aquino or Arroyo could be made into an issue by critics.

Guidelines for live coverage

Meanwhile, a JBC member said yesterday they have drafted the guidelines for the live broadcast of the interviews of candidates for chief justice.

Jose Mejia, who represents academe, said media networks that will be accredited for live coverage will have the discretion to cover only the bets they are interested in.

“The whole idea is to make the process transparent and make live coverage available to the media.

It’s hard to second-guess the media but it would be your own lookout which ones you would want to cover. We can’t compel you to cover everyone,” he told reporters.

He also cited concerns that the nominees would be subjected to humiliation and harassment with allegations that could come up during the interview.

“But it’s a risk you have to take when you decide to seek a top public position,” he said.

Under the proposed guidelines subject for approval of members of the JBC, only one camera

provided by the SC public information office would be allowed inside the venue of the oral interview.

The SC camera will then be hooked up directly to the cameras of TV networks, which will transmit the footage to their respective OB vans to be stationed outside the venue.

“This is the best setup we can think of where the process can be more transparent to the public with the least possible distraction,” Mejia said.

Saying the selective live coverage of interviews could be unfair to less prominent nominees, Mejia said he would propose a dialogue with representatives of the media to discuss the issue.

The JBC executive committee composed of Mejia; Milagros Fernan-Cayosa, representing the Integrated Bar of the Philippines; retired Court of Appeals justice Aurora Lagman from the private sector; and retired SC justice Regino Hermosisima, who will lead the council’s selection process for chief justice, deferred discussion on the proposed live coverage of their deliberations and voting for the shortlist.

“The sense of the executive committee is to take it one step at a time,” Mejia said.

2 SC justices decline nomination

As this developed, Associate Justices Mariano del Castillo and Estela Perlas-Bernabe declined their nomination in separate letters received yesterday by the JBC.

Bernabe, Aquino’s third appointee to the high tribunal, said she would rather defer to more senior justices for the top judicial post.

Former energy secretary Raphael Lotilla also declined his nomination.

“In the past, I took the position that in a highly politicized context as in the Philippines, appointment to the office of the chief justice based on seniority is a tradition that minimizes the jockeying for appointment from within and outside of the Court. I still have to be convinced of the wisdom of departing from that view,” Lotilla said in his letter received by the JBC last Monday.

Former defense secretary and presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro Jr., Integrated

Bar of the Philippines national president Roan Libarios, Laguna Assistant State Prosecutor Cesar Sasondoncillo, former senator Rene Saguisag and lawyer-businessman Rodolfo Robles earlier

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declined their nominations.

At least 13 have so far accepted their nomination. They are Associate Justices Arturo Brion and Roberto Abad, former UP law dean Raul Pangalangan, De La Salle University founding law dean Jose Manuel Diokno, former Ateneo law dean Cesar Villanueva, election commissioner Rene Sarmiento, retired judge Manuel Siayngco Jr., former executive secretary Ronaldo Zamora and lawyers Katrina Legarda, Soledad Cagampang-de Castro, Rafael Morales, Vicente Velasquez and Ferdinand Jose Pijao.

The other nominees are Carpio and the three other senior justices of the SC – Presbitero Velasco Jr., Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, and Diosdado Peralta – who apart from Brion were automatically nominated for the post under JBC rules.

SC Justices Lucas Bersamin, Martin Villarama Jr., Jose Mendoza, Bienvenido Reyes, Jose Perez, Roberto Abad and Maria Lourdes Sereno were also nominated along with Court of Appeals presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr. and Associate Justices Japar Dimaampao and Magdangal de Leon and Sandiganbayan presiding Justice Francisco Villaruz Jr.

Also in the list are Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacinto- Henares, Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza, former Makati City Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., former solicitor general Francisco Chavez, Manila regional trial court Judge Ma. Amelia Tria-Infante and lawyers Pedro Aquino, Hilarion Aquino, Nepomuceno Aparis, Teresita Herbosa, Jose Renante Terre Jr., Vicente Velasquez, Alexander Padilla, Antonio Villamor, Rey Oliver Alejandrino and Ramon Maronilla.

The other nominees are University of the East

College of Law dean Amado Valdez and former UP law dean Marvic Leonen.

A nurse named Jocelyn Esquivel and dismissed judge Florentino Floro are so far the only applicants.

Henares undecided

Henares said she has yet to decide on whether to accept her nomination. She said her major consideration is her work at the BIR.

“We’re doing a lot of things at the BIR. We are in the middle of reforms and the process is ongoing,”

Henares told reporters.

She added that aside from putting in place reforms at the BIR, she is also helping push the tax reform measures of the Aquino administration, the sin tax reform measure among them.

“The work of a chief justice is important. What we are doing is also important,” Henares said.

The JBC extended to July 2 the deadline for candidates to accept their nominations. – With Edu Punay, Iris Gonzales

Show compassion for GMA, gov't urged

By Christina Mendez (The Philippine Star) page 1

MANILA, Philippines - Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Pia Cayetano called on the Aquino administration yesterday to show compassion to Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo by reconsidering its reported plan to move her from a government hospital to an ordinary detention facility.

“That’s politically dangerous,” Enrile said of the reported plan.

“That triggered the fall of the regime of President Marcos because somebody had died. Evelio Javier died during the snap elections, and Marcos lost in the snap elections. It’s a sensitive issue,” Enrile said in Filipino in a radio interview.

He was referring to the former Antique governor – an anti-Marcos politician – who was gunned down at the height of the canvassing of votes in the Feb. 7 snap elections.

In her rare public appearances, Arroyo was in a wheelchair and had a neck brace. She is under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City.

Enrile said Arroyo’s condition remains critical. “I heard she can’t eat anymore and she’s only taking liquid and that doctors are avoiding her. I think if something happens to her, it’s going to be a big issue,” he said.

Enrile noted that even Marcos had allowed the President’s father and namesake to undergo heart surgery in the United States. Enrile was Marcos’ defense minister.

“I’m not saying that we treat Mrs. Arroyo exactly the same way, but we really need to consider her

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poor health. You know, Filipinos would always sympathize with the dead,” he said.

For her part, Cayetano noted that former leaders accused of crimes are still entitled to courtesies while on trial. She cited the case of ousted President Joseph Estrada who was freed from house arrest after being pardoned by Arroyo.

“In the past, they have always extended courtesies to past presidents and even senior officials, especially since the reasons for the supposed urgency for departure were health reasons,” Cayetano said.

“She should be put in a place where it is comfortable and accessible to immediately address her health concerns,” she said. “I leave it up to the administration to make the best decision on this.”

Cayetano added, “Normally, they extend courtesies. Let’s see how they handle it.

“I am imagining that they would be extending these kind of courtesies and making such arrangements. If you look at our presidents, look at President Erap,” she said.

'UNCLOS won't resolve sea row'

By Jose Katigbak, STAR Washington Bureau (The Philippine Star) page 1

WASHINGTON – US accession to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) will not resolve conflicting claims by a number of countries including the Philippines and China to barren islands, reefs, shoals and coral outcrops in the South China Sea, said retired admiral James Lyons, a former commander of the US Pacific Fleet.

“The argument made that we must have a ‘seat at the table’ to secure the US Navy’s freedom of navigation and other transit rights, including the right of innocent passage, is nonsense,” he wrote in an article published in Wednesday’s issue of The Washington Times.

President Aquino during an official visit to Washington in early June to seek US backing in the WestPhilippine Sea was careful not to publicly voice support for the Obama administration’s efforts in Congress to make the US a signatory to UNCLOS, but aides privately said the Philippines supported such a move.

Lyons said the assertion that US rights to freedom of navigation would be eroded unless it joined the treaty was simply false.

The United States has enjoyed the same navigation rights and freedoms available to the 153 parties to UNCLOS for decades and will continue to do so without becoming a member, he said.

Ratifying the treaty will not end excessive and illegal claims by other nations nor will it help resolve US issues with Iran and China, he said.

He pointed out Iran was not a party to the treaty and therefore viewed itself as not bound by its terms.

China, which is party to UNCLOS, has nonetheless undertaken illegal maritime claims in the South China Sea, manipulating the text of the treaty as a means to support these claims, Lyons said.

“Furthermore, China illegally has claimed sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, rendering UNCLOS inapplicable in China’s view,” he said.

He said the UNCLOS had provisions that could seriously interfere with legitimate US naval operations by allowing other nations to avail themselves of the treaty’s mandatory dispute-resolution

mechanisms.

“These could be used to interfere with training exercises and other operations, such as

hydrographics or intelligence. Such interference could adversely impact our anti-submarine warfare operations with serious consequences,” he added.

Feasible but costly

Meanwhile, the former president of the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines (ASEP) yesterday said putting up a permanent structure in the disputed Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal is feasible but costly.

While it would be the Aquino administration that will decide on whether a permanent structure would be built in Panatag Shoal, the possibility is present, said former ASEP president Cesar Pabalan.

“This is possible but (erecting a bridge from Zambales to Panatag Shoal) would be very long. It would also be very costly, the funding, where will it come from?” said Pabalan.

It has been reported that the shoal is located 124 nautical miles from Zambales province.

Pabalan added that even if the shoal is at times exposed to harsh weather such as typhoons that

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bring about rough seas, infrastructureprojects could still be built there.

“It can withstand weather. It can be designed (and built) as long as it would conform with the National Building Code and National Structural Code of the Philippines. Anything that would be designed and constructed should conform with our building codes,” Pabalan said.

Apart from complying with the building code, he added that the design should also take into consideration “the lateral load against the wind and the earthquake.”

He also said that there “should be a geotechnical report on the material, classification of soil so that we can choose what foundation type would be used.”

He says the depth of the water leading to the shoal will also not be a problem.

He, however, stressed that the success of these projects will depend on whether or not there will be objections from other claimant countries.

US, Phl stand by treaty

For the United States’ top diplomat in the Philippines, there is no doubt and no question that his government stands by its commitment under the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT).

“We stand by our treaty commitment. It’s amazing to me that people would question that,” US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. told the media during the first Kapihan sa Embahada.

He said the US is concerned about the events in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), including the tensions surrounding Panatag Shoal, emphasizing that Washington opposes coercion by any nation to advance its claim and the US clearly supports the Code of Conduct between China and ASEAN.

However, Thomas did not give a categorical answer when asked about the provision in the MDT on an attack on one party being considered an attack on the other, saying it is hypothetical and the US hopes for de-escalation and no violence in the disputed waters.

“All we can say (is) we stand by our commitments and I’m not going to change that. The Secretary of State, the President of the United States have also said we stand by our treaty commitments,” he said.

US embassy Political Counselor and acting Deputy Chief of Mission Joy Yamamoto said, “The language of the MDT demonstrates our very strong commitment to the Philippines.”

According to Yamamoto and Thomas, the US supports settlement of disputes in the West Philippine Sea towards the use of a rules-based regime in accordance with international law and the

International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).

“We’ve been very consistent throughout the dispute in supporting international law and settlement of this kind of dispute under international law so we would support China and the Philippines settling the issue through international means,” Yamamoto said.

China accused the US of creating tension in the region and repeatedly warned that territorial disputes over the West Philippine Sea were issues between China and claimant countries. Beijing said it would not allow US involvement in territorial disputes.

The ambassador said the US has been very clear that it takes no side in territorial disputes or cross cutting claims between several states not just China, but urged all parties to sit down and iron out disputes in a peaceful and legal manner.

Although the US position is not to get involved in territorial disputes, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing concerns on the US accession to UNCLOS and said Chinese claims exceeded what was permitted by the convention.

“Clearly this is something that Secretary Clinton recently testified in support of the law. We’ve to wait to see what our Senate… we’re under orders to be very careful in terms of pending legislation we comment on,” Thomas said. “As Secretary Clinton has said, she views that (UNCLOS) as a reaffirmation of our support for freedom of navigation, unimpeded commerce and treaty-based decision making on international disputes.”

The US expressed support for the establishment of the National Coast Watch Center that will enable the Philippines to know what is happening in its maritime territory on a 24-hour basis.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said the US support for the National Coast Watch System was announced during the luncheon hosted by Clinton last June 8 in Washington.

The US, Thomas said, is assisting the Philippines in the coast watch system to be able to see what is going on in the maritime territory, especially in terms of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Clinton said the US support would come in the form of intelligence exchanges on maritime domain

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issues and funding for the construction of the National Coast Watch Center as well as equipment and training.

The Department of National Defense (DND) also expressed support yesterday for the return of Philippine vessels to Panatag Shoal.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said Philippine ships should return to the shoal once the weather condition improves since Chinese vessels have remained in the area.

“Why not? The Chinese are not leaving the area. We need to go back,” Gazmin said in Filipino when asked if he would recommend sending back ships to the shoal once the weather improves.

Gazmin said China could use the presence of its ships in the area to assert its claim over the shoal, which is well within Philippine territory.

“Pag hindi mo tinauhan yung lugar na yun (If you don’t put personnel in that area), they (China) can cite occupancy, that they are there and that will be the basis for their claim,” the defense chief said.

Ships of the Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) might be sent to the shoal in case the government decides to restore its presence in the disputed area, he added.

Last week, President Aquino ordered two Philippine ships to pull out of the shoal due to bad weather.

Ordered to return to port was a Philippine Coast Guard ship and a BFAR vessel, which symbolized the country’s claim over the area.

Aquino ordered the pullout even if tropical storm “Butchoy” was hitting the Philippines’ eastern seaboard, not the western portion where Panatag Shoal is located, although the seas around Panatag were rough.

Del Rosario said they would evaluate whether the ships would be sent back once the weather improves.

The Department of Foreign Affairs had claimed that China would also pull out its ships but this was later denied by Beijing.

Beijing’s denial dashed hopes that the standoff, which triggered fresh tensions in the West Philippine Sea, was nearing its end.

DND earlier claimed that the pullout of vessels would not weaken the Philippines claim over the area, which is rich in marine resources.

Last Monday, Aquino said the government is ready to send ships back to the shoal if Chinese vessels remain in the area.

“The guidelines are very clear. If there are vessels that are not ours, we have to send back our vessels,” the President said. – With Evelyn Macairan, Pia Lee-Brago, Alexis Romero

Comelec star witness tagged as brain in 2007 election fraud

By Perseus Echeminada (The Philippine Star) page 2

MANILA, Philippines - Two witnesses presented yesterday at the Pasay City court by the lawyer of Lintang Bedol, former provincial election officer of Maguindanao, claimed that the star witness of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the electoral sabotage case against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was the brains in the tampering of election results in Maguindanao in 2007.

Saliao Amba and Magsaysay Mohamad, former election officers of Mamasapanu and Sultan sa Baronguis, respectively, in Maguindanao province, testified during yesterday’s bail hearing at the Pasay Regional Trial Court that former Maguindanao provincial administrator Norie Unas headed the manufacturing and distribution of fake and tampered election documents that were submitted to the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City after the elections.

Unas had earlier denied involvement in the massive cheating during the May 2007 midterm polls in Maguindanao.

Under cross-examination by defense lawyers in the bail hearings before Judge Jesus Mupas, Unas admitted that he provided logistical support to election officers to ensure the victory of Team Unity bets.

Unas was the lone witness presented by the Comelec against Arroyo, now a Pampanga

congresswoman, and her co-accused Bedol and former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr.

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Unas had testified that he heard Arroyo give orders to Ampatuan to ensure a 12-0 victory for the administration senatorial candidates belonging to Team Unity.

Under direct examination of Bedol’s lawyer Reynaldo Princesa, Amba and Mohamad, who earlier swore before the Holy Koran, said that after the distribution of the fake election returns they were directed to go to the provincial capitol to fill up blank ballots in favor of Team Unity senatorial candidates.

“Unas who was the little governor (of Maguindanao) provided the code that we wrote on the blank ballots,” Saliao said.

He said they were not able to defy the order of Unas because he was the little governor with fully armed men at his disposal.

“We do not want to die so we follow the orders of Unas,” he said.

Saliao said the manufactured ballots and election returns were submitted to the NBOC and were the basis of the proclamation of some senatorial candidates after the election.

He said aside from the logistical support given by Unas, they were also given a total of P40,000 each for their efforts to rig the result of the election.

For Sultan sa Baronguis with at least 8,000 registered voters, Mohammad said the tally he submitted had more than 10,000 votes for administration candidates.

Defense lawyers had earlier branded as hearsay the testimony of Unas that Arroyo ordered Ampatuan and Bedol to change election results to ensure a 12-0 victory for Team Unity.

Unas had also admitted in his earlier testimony that his fear of being implicated in the electoral fraud case in Maguindanao compelled him to come out and testify in the electoral sabotage case filed against Ampatuan, Arroyo and Bedol.

When asked what made him decide to come out, Unas admitted that he decided to be a state witness for the Comelec after Bedol and several election officers of Maguindanao had implicated him in the cheating in Maguindanao during the 2007 senatorial elections.

Lawyers and allies of Arroyo insisted that so far there was no strong evidence against the former president.

Opposition Rep. Orlando Fua of Siquijor told ABS-CBN that no credible witness has yet linked the former president to the election sabotage.

He said those who testified are government officers who were allegedly influenced through bribes or even promises of promotion.

“Justice must prevail. If there is no evidence, by all means legally and constitutionally she must be provisionally released,” he said. “We are dealing with justice and justice cannot be compromised.”