De Lima: Did GMA gov’t hide truth about Glorietta blast?
Ina Reformina | ABS-CBN News
Arroyo gov’t had propensity to lie and conceal, says de Lima
MANILA, Philippines – Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has not received instructions from President Aquino to reinvestigate the Glorietta 2 blast in October 2007 that killed 11 people and injured more than 100 others.
This was bared by de Lima following a statement of Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte on Wednesday that Malacañan may ask the Philippine National Police (PNP) to reopen the case if retired Army Col. Allan Sollano could provide more evidence. Read More…
GMA Network says net income to exceed target of P3b this year
Jenniffer B. Austria | Manila Standard Today
GMA Network Inc. expects to exceed its P3-billion net income target this year on higher advertising revenues, a top official said Wednesday.
GMA Network president and chief executive Felipe Gozon told reporters ad spending started to pick up significantly in September and October, after weakening in July and August due to increased rates.
Gozon said the network exceeded its internal ad revenue target for the month of October with still more than a week to go. Read More…
Corona defends high court from Palace, other attacks
Rey E. Requejo | Manila Standard
CHIEF Justice Renato Corona has vowed to defend the Constitution and the rule of law following the attacks on the Supreme Court and the judiciary’s independence, integrity and power of judicial review.
The Judiciary will continue to protect and defend the Constitution and the rule of law by making decisions based on the facts and without fear or favor, Corona said in a speech Tuesday night during the 49th anniversary of the Philippine Constitution Association at the Manila Hotel. Read More…
Aquino to Travel Light in Vietnam
GENALYN D. KABILING | Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines — President Aquino will keep his travel expenses low when he visits Vietnam next week to attend a regional summit, a Palace official said on Thursday.
Secretary Ramon Carandang of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office said the President would bring a lean delegation and remain prudent in his travel expenses in Vietnam similar to his recent economical trip to the United States. Read More…
De Lima takes ‘hands-on’ role in hunt for Lacson
Nikko Dizon | Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—She might just hunt him down herself.
Feisty Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Thursday she was now going to be “hands- on” in the search for fugitive Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, a former police general who is among those charged in the murder of a well-known public relations man almost 10 years ago.
“I’ll be hands-on from now on in this effort to track down Senator Lacson. Before, I would just be asking for updates from the NBI [National Bureau of Investigation]. Now I have decided to be hands-on,” De Lima said in a press conference at the Department of Justice in Manila. Read More…
Fire! 3rd gov’t witness says he heard Andal Jr. give order
Philip Tubeza, Miko Morelos | Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—They begged for mercy but their pleas were met with bullets.
This was the testimony Wednesday of a government witness, farmer Akmad Abubakar Ismael, at the resumption of the trial of the Maguindanao massacre in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.
Ismael, 42, of Sitio Masilay, Ampatuan, Maguindanao, testified in court that then Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. led more than 100 armed men in killing 57 men and women in November 2009. He said he was two to five meters away from some of the victims when they were shot dead. Read More…
10 dead, 30 hurt as bus explodes in North Cotabato
INQUIRER.net, Inquirer Mindanao
MATALAM, North Cotabato, Philippines — Ten bus passengers were killed while 30 others were injured as a bomb exploded aboard a bus traveling along the national highway in Matalam, North Cotabato, on Thursday morning.
Senior Inspector Joyce Birrey, spokesman of the North Cotabato Police Command, identified eight of the fatalities in the 10:45 a.m. blast as bus conductor Bryan Galacas, 29; Romel Espaniola; Tanting Usup Dlidan; Lita Manzano; Slorni Belong; Camino Abson; Adam Guiamid; and Guaria Duad.
Two other fatalities remained unidentified. One of them died while being transferred to a hospital in Davao City, police said. Read More..
Region’s Tuna Supply Dwindling
Ali Macabalang | Manila Bulletin
Gen. Santos City — Tuna supply in Mindanao has reached a critical level and further study is needed on how to make the supply sustainable, a fishery expert disclosed last week.
Regional Director Sani Macabalang of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Region XII based in here said there is an ongoing biological study on stock assessment to meet the problem on tuna supply.
Macabalang said the one-year biological study is the commitment of BFAR to the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) on the proper regulations, protection and management of tuna resources.
PAGASA: Team RP proves world wrong
Christine O. Avendaño, Norman Bordadora | Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—“Team Philippines” proved the world wrong after it was able to overcome the strongest typhoon so far this year with minimal loss of lives, the officer in charge of the weather bureau said Tuesday.
Science Undersecretary Graciano Yumul said international news reports last weekend had been saying that heavy damage to life and property was expected in the Philippines, being a developing country with weak houses and infrastructure.
“I think we were able to prove them wrong,” said Yumul, the OIC of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).
Pagcor bought Bro. Mike Velarde condos
Philip Tubeza | Philippine Daily Inquirer
The question is why Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) bought El Shaddai leader Mike Velarde’s pricey condo units which may just end up as casino raffle prizes.
Pagcor employees were not consulted before the agency bought 66 units worth P268 million from the Velarde real estate firm, Maricar Bautista, the company’s assistant vice president for corporate communication, said Tuesday.
Bautista said that the employees, the purported beneficiaries of the deal, were unaware that the agency was buying the condominiums in Parañaque City from the Velarde-owned Amvel Mansions Condominium. Read More…
Philippine massacre victims begged for mercy, court told
Agence France-Presse | news.ph.msn
A farmer who said he witnessed the Philippines’ worst political massacre told a court Wednesday the victims begged for mercy before being shot from close range.
Akmad Ismael, 42, recounted how he saw the prime defendant Andal Ampatuan Jnr and his gunmen stop a convoy of cars carrying 57 people in November last year, before shooting and them and burying the victims in a hill.
“The men and women were screaming: ‘please have mercy on us Datu Unsay, don’t kill us, we have done nothing against you’,” Ismael recalled, referring to Ampatuan Jnr by his nickname.
Man found strangled in Gulf Air plane toilet in Philippines
Agence France-Press | news.ph.msn
Flight attendants on a plane landing in Manila were shocked to find one of their passengers strangled in the plane’s toilet on Wednesday, the city’s international airport said.
Police are investigating to see if the death of the 36-year-old Filipino man, found strangled with his own jacket, was a case of suicide, a statement from Ninoy Aquino Airport said.
Crew on the Gulf Air flight from Bahrain were checking the plane’s toilet before landing and found it locked. After no one responded to their knocking, they forced it open and found the body.
Malacañang-House showdown today over Deles’ fate, budget
Christine Herrera and Joyce Pangco Pañares | Manila Standard Today
MALACAÑANG and the House are headed for a showdown today, Wednesday, over the fate of peace adviser Teresita Deles and her proposed P235-million budget.
The House will this morning convene a five-member panel that will review all the amendments and insertions to the P1.654-trillion national budget for 2011.
Among the amendments is the motion of Davao del Sur Rep. Marc Douglas Cagas IV that the Office of the Presidential Peace Adviser be appropriated only P1 for 2011.
‘Explosive, not gas, blasted Glorietta 2’
By Alcuin Papa | Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—Now on his second lease on life, he wants what he calls the truth about the Glorietta explosion on Oct. 19, 2007, to be told.
Retired Army Col. Allan Sollano, said he believed then—as now—that an improvised explosive device, and not methane gas, had caused the blast. He said his belief was reinforced by a purported cover-up by the military and police leadership on orders allegedly of Malacañang.
In an interview with the Inquirer on the third anniversary of the explosion that killed 11 people and injured more than 100 others, Sollano, the leader of the Army Explosive and Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit.
