Day 34 : Atienza, Cuevas and Trial Recess (Corona Impeachment Trial)

After 34 days of the trial the Impeachment Court finished today their last day before going to the Lenten break. The session was adjourned passed 6pm this afternoon and will resume trial on May 7, 2012.

But before the trial adjourned 2 witnesses were able to be presented by the defense panel. First to be presented was Miriam Mosuela of the John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC). Prosecution at the onset opposed the offer of her testimony, citing its relevance to the case at hand, but the court admitted. She then testified on the benefits, salaries and compensation Mrs. Cristina Corona earned during her tenure at JHMC.

After her, the prosecution then called on former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza to the witness stand. He testified with regards to the sales of the property owned by the Basa-Guidote Enterprise which is a family business by the Chief Justice’s wife Cristina.

On his testimony he told the court that the property bought by the city government was owned by BGEI and was sold through it’s authorized representative Mrs. Corona. During the direct examination he stated that a cheque of 34.703 million pesos was paid to Mrs. Corona in trust of the Basa-Guidote Enterprise.

The prosecution meanwhile, during its cross examination tried to test the credibility of the witness. They’ve tried to dig-in whether the sale has no indication of some special favors. They’ve also tried to show that there is some degree of lack of due diligence because the owner of the property was the BGEI but the cheque was named to Mrs. Corona and not the corporation.

Thereafter some senator-judges also inquired on the witness Atienza to ask some clarificatory questions. But the one that created the spotlight was Sen. Recto, who in his line of questioning made lead defense counsel, former Justice Serafin Cuevas quite irate. Cuevas even seemingly went into an offensive tirade to Recto saying his remarks was unfair saying they are yet to present evidence on the matter being raised by the senator. Before the conversation becomes more heated presiding judge Sen. Juan Ponce-Enrile immediately interrupted Cuevas and said that Recto was just clarifying on the matter being testified already by the witness Atienza.

At the end Cuevas just apologized for his quite over reaction to Recto’s statement and then it was followed by the senate adjournment.

Day 9 of still UNPREPARED and MIS-MANAGED prosecution (Corona Impeachment Trial)

After more than 2 weeks of the trial, the prosecution still cannot seem to get their acts together. Evident by the mis-management of handling their direct examination to their own witness during today’s trial.  Presiding Judge Senate President Enrile and defense lead counsel Serafin Cuevas seemed lecturing the prosecution counsel on how to conduct direct examination to his witness because it seemed the prosecutor is impeaching their own.

Seating in the witness stand that day was MegaWorld Senior Vice President for Marketing and Sales Noli Hernandez who seemingly transformed as a witness of the defense instead of the prosecution by the way he was asked. Several times that the counsel of the prosecution Atty. Joemar Perez was cautioned by the presiding judge because he’s gearing towards cross examining his witness instead of direct examination. To which found out later that they were not able to confer with Mr. Hernandez before he was presented. During his testimony Hernandez said that the 40% “Corona Discount” on the Bellagio condo unit was brought by the damage in the unit caused by a typhoon and not through any favor.

The trial adjourned it’s day 9 with only 1 witness being presented but noted also during that day is Sen. Villar who as a real state businessman stood and explained that indeed discounts can be possibly given to a buyer due to economic or any undue circumstances. The day also took long time with clarifications and questions from the Senator-Jurors who can’t seem to hide their irate on some topics which kept on repeating.

I hope prosecution will level up their strategy and be more diligent in acquiring and handling their witnesses and evidences because they might loose a good case just because they’re “too lazy” to study the case at hand.

10 of 9/11

World Trace Center Twin towers on Fire.Photo from Flickr by Cyril Attias

Today, the world, specially the United States, commemorate a dark day in their history. It was a decade ago when the famous Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York fell down as 2 hijacked commercial planes crashed on it.

I was in 3rd year college then, and as a regular viewer of news programs, I regularly surf channels when I know news shows are on. It was in NBN Channel 4 that I first knew about the incident. NBN4 have a tie-up then with Fox News so every primetime evening they are showing Fox News Programs.

At first I thought it was a simple case of a burning building being shown on TV, but moments later when a plane flying around the world trade center building suddenly crashed on the other tower, changed my view of the things. On that very moment the seemingly simple news turned out to be a world history breaking in front of my eyes. Different local news programs also picked up that incident and confirmed that indeed it was terror attack. It was also reported that other series of attacks have occurred in other parts of the US. One in the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia and the other in Pennsylvania which was supposed to be heading towards The White house or The Capitol Compound.

Who would have known that a country such as United States, known for its power would be trespassed by terrorists. With its highly skilled intelligence agencies and the ‘superpower’ country that they are, it was really unexpected to see such event.

Days later US most wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden admitted via a video recording that he was the one responsible for attacks. Due to that then US President George W. Bush launched its War on Terror program aimed at capturing Bin Laden and giving justice to the 2 thousand lives taken by that act of terrorism.

Now after 10 years what does it changed? What lessons have been brought about by this massive terror actions? The US may have already killed the main perpetrator (as Bin Laden is already dead), but are they now safer from another threat of terror attack?

This 9/11 incident is not only about the US and their war against terror. Every human being who are advocating a peaceful living here on this world are all part of this scenario. We may not be Americans but we are all humans. We Filipinos are also poised with this imminent threat of terror specially that links to the Al-Qaeda terror group are traced in Mindanao. And we have also experienced many incidents involving terrorist groups in the country and they’re still continuing to terrorize.

I think what we should learn from this is to be vigilant. To look after the welfare of each other. To cease everyday as our last because the rage of terror will always be there waiting for another opportunity. Terrorism is not only about Osama Bin Laden. Yes he may have died, but his group is still alive and anytime they can attack again. The quest for peace doesn’t end by merely killing the mastermind, but killing the root of it’s existence. Because it doesn’t matter how many terror leaders are killed if the core still exist, terrorism will continue.
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“Fighting terrorism is not unlike fighting a deadly cancer. It can’t be treated just where it’s visible – every diseased cell in the body must be destroyed.” – David Hackworth

Aba Ginoong Garci

Dahil sa muling paglutang ni dating Commission on Election (COMELEC) Supervisor Lintang Bedol at sa mga akusasyong binitiwan ni suspended Autonomous Region on Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Zaldy Ampatuan hinggil sa mga di umanoy dayaan noong 2007 election hindi maiiwasang mabanggit at hanapin ang dating COMELEC official Virgilio Garcillano na di umano’y isa sa mga utak sa naturang dayaan sa halalan.Si Garci ang itinuturong kinausap ng dating Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sa isang wire-tapped audio recording kung saan pinagusapan ang planong pandaray.

Ilang beses na rin na nabalita ang di umanoy pakikipagugnayan ni Garci sa palasyo para magsiwalat ng mga umanoy anomalya sa eleksyon. Ngunit sa kanyang muling paglabas sa telebisyon ay tahasan nitong itinanggi muli ang mga akusasyon at sinabing wala syang kinalaman at malinis ang kanyang kunsesya.

At dahil sa muling paglutang na ito ni Garci at sa pakikipagkulitan sa twitter with one of my twitter friends na si @tianrhoy ay nabuo ang isang dasal para sa kanya at sa mga taong may kinalaman sa kanya. At narito nga ang Aba Ginoong Garci, ang panalangin ng mga sinungaling.

Aba Ginoong GARCI napupuno ka nang grasya
Ang BALOTA ay sumasaiyo
Bukod kang PINAGPALA sa lalaking lahat
At pinagpala ka naman ng iyong mga AMO

Madame GLORIA Ina ng Daya
Ipanalangin mo kayong MAKASALANAN
Ngayon at kung kayo’y MAMAMATAY
Amen

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“Ang Sinungaling ay Kakampi ng Magnanakaw” – Susan Roces

One

Today marks the 1st year of Benigno S. Aquino III presidency. It’s been a year since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo turned over the driver seat to the bachelor Noynoy. His ascendance to the presidency is brought by high hopes of fight against corruption and good governance. I will not be ashamed to admit that I am one of the yellow armies who campaigned eagerly for the presidency of then Sen. Noynoy Aquino. And I was very happy that the “people’s campaign” triumphed and with over 15 million votes Noynoy was elected.

Photo by AP / Pat Roque

During his inaugural speech in front of huge crowd in Quirino grandstand, you can feel the high hopes from people who are tired of an administration who cannot do anything to uplift the lives of its citizens. And with his famous “Kayo and Boss ko” line, people are overwhelmed by the changes that could really happen under his leadership.

But after a year of driving towards his “daang matuwid”, are we getting any better or we’re still living the same government we had in the past.

In my opinion yes, it may have been not so good first year, but hey there’s still 5 more years to go. It’s been a year but there’s still a long way to go for the Aquino III presidency. Although there are flaws in the way the country is being managed the past year, I think laying the ground for good governance and future development is under way. Yes WE are Noynoy’s boss,but in every management setup a “boss” doesn’t only sit on his chair and wait for results, but he/she is part of the collaboration in attaining the organization’s growth. Just like in running a country, the burden does not lie only on the shoulders of the president but on every citizens who comprises the larger part of the equation.

In his “Ulat Sa Bayan” this afternoon he laid down some of the gains of his 1 year tenure in Malacanang. Of course the usual “Bashing” of former administration is present which for me should be stopped at the soonest time. Yes it is really necessary to find accountability on the anomalous deeds by former boarders of the palace but it should not make the present government neglect its duty to address the current and more pressing problems burdening our people. I admire PNoy’s dedication to really curb the corruption in all departments and agencies because that is really the reason why he was elected the promise of good governance but he should also not forget that a house cannot only stand by its cleanliness, the tenants should be working also towards the growth of its household. Another thing that PNoy should deal seriously is his “non-performing close friends”. The “KKK : Kaibigan, Kaklase, Kabarilan” if he’ll continue to deal with them softly will be his downside and pain in the ass. He should learn to separate his friend from being “friends” and friends from being “government appointees”.

As I’ve said I’m one of the eager yellow armies who joined the people’s campaign for Noynoy, but being yellow army will not hinder me from criticizing any act of this administration that I think is not parallel to what it has promised. But I will not also be just a criticizer but a collaborator. A collaborator voicing out and suggesting views and opinions on how our country can move forward and how the government can address our problems.

I am still with high hopes and optimism that our country will finally step to that stage of development that we long to achieve. This is a challenge not only to Pres. Aquino but to all of us Filipinos. This is our country and this is our home. Do everything to make our home a better place to live not only for ourselves but for the next generations of Filipinos that will come.

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“It’s not enough to understand how everybody in the room thinks. You have to decide which ones in the room are right, and stand with them. A leader is not a mediator or an umpire or a convener or a facilitator.” – Maria Ressa