Category: Politics

Shame  on Rappler. 
This is not news in the strictest sense. This is tabloid news.
File this as another proof that Rappler has become the press agent of the VP.
 
First why is the basic question not stated?
There is a big difference in how you ask/frame the question.
 
For example:
If they go head to head in the 2016 Elections who would you vote for Aquino or Binay?
versus
If President Aquino was not president and ran head to head against Binay who would you vote for.
versus
If President Aquino despite being constitutionally barred from running  ran head to head against Binay who would you vote for.
 
Rappler had so much promise but damn it has shown it’s true colors in it’s coverage of Binay.
EDIT: I think this is too knee jerk a reaction  and too general.
It should rather read: The editorial standards of Rappler are slowly eroding. Instead of aspiring to become the New York Times It is slowly becoming philstar.com.
 

 
MANILA, Philippines – The consistent frontrunner in presidential polls, Vice President Jejomar Binay, will not be threatened so easily.
The results of a confidential survey obtained by Rappler show that, in a one-on-one, Binay will wallop the administration’s best bet for the 2016 presidential elections – President Benigno Aquino III himself.
Binay will get 62% of voters nationwide while Aquino will get 36%.
via Binay will wallop Aquino in 2016 – survey.

Angara bill FTW!
Three measures are currently filed in the Senate to lower the income tax rate. How much less would you pay in income taxes if any of the three measures are passed? Check out in the calculator below.
via CALCULATOR: How much less income tax would you pay if reform bills are passed? | News | GMA News Online.

BOO YAH!!!

MANILA, Philippines–Justice is catching up with accused plunderer Sen. Bong Revilla, with a forensic investigation into his and his family’s bank transactions from 2006 to 2010 indicating that he received kickbacks from the pork barrel funds he channeled to bogus foundations controlled by Janet Lim-Napoles as exposed by whistle-blower Benhur Luy.
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) report on Revilla’s bank transactions involving his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) also showed discrepancies in his official cash declarations that could indicate “concealment of unexplained wealth”; P87.626-million deposits made in the personal accounts of Revilla, his wife, Cavite Rep. Lani Mercado, and his children, and some of his siblings that tended to confirm his receipt of the kickbacks; and more than P40 million in suspicious funds were poured into a dummy corporation, Nature Concepts Development and Realty Corp., controlled by his wife.
The AMLC said the deposits and withdrawals from the bank accounts of the five foundations corresponded with the names, amounts and dates in the entries made by Luy, Napoles’ finance officer, in his ledger of Napoles’ cash and check disbursements, one of the evidence in the P10-billion pork barrel scam case.
“Considering all the foregoing, there are indications of money laundering scheme using the aforementioned bank accounts. There is, however, a need to conduct further investigation to determine the extent of the subjects’ participation and identify the other monetary instruments that were possibly involved in the laundering scheme,” the AMLC said in a confidential report received by the Office of the Ombudsman on Oct. 8.
via Revilla P87M deposits found | Inquirer News.

#NeverAgain
These marcos zombies need to be identified and shamed.

Political roots intact
The 1986 People Power Revolution did chop down the Marcos political tree. But its intricate roots that spread far and wide across the state bureaucracy and Philippine society remained intact. All the Marcoses had to do was nurture the roots and wait for the tree to grow back.
In 1998, by Imee Marcos’ own reckoning, “we waited 12 years to be on the right side of the fence.” Right side meant a political alliance with then victorious President-elect Joseph Estrada, velvet seats in Congress for Imee and her mother, and a governorship for Bongbong.
An ecstatic Imee spilled the family’s secret to success: “Many professionals were appointed by my father. So you have this immense bedrock of Marcos appointees who keep moving up.”
Like secret stay-behind units, this vast army of professionals scattered in all sectors of society have defended the Marcoses and helped erase the dark legacy of their regime.
via The Marcoses never really left home | Inquirer Opinion.

Big fan of both of these women. Upright people should not stand alone, We cannot let Comm Mendoza feel she is fighting alone.
 

Miriam wants 24-hr security for Heidi Mendoza
ABS-CBNnews.com
Posted at 10/03/2014 5:06 PM | Updated as of 10/03/2014 5:06 PM
MANILA – Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago is asking for 24-hour police protection to Commission on Audit Commissioner (COA) Heidi Mendoza after she revealed receiving threats and harassment for testifying in the Senate investigation on the alleged overprice of the Makati City Hall building 2 and other anomalies.
In a statement, Santiago said she sent a letter to Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas to provide security for Mendoza.
She is also set to file a resolution that calls for heightened and fully-armed, 24-hour VIP police protection in favor of Mendoza, after she testified in the subcommittee hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee last October 2.
“If we let this pass, no other significant witness will be willing to testify in any congressional hearing because of fear. Let’s put our boots on the ground and stomp out fear sown by hooligans,” Santiago said.
via Miriam wants 24-hr security for Heidi Mendoza | ABS-CBN News.

Why media people should stop interviewing Neri Colmenares.

It pains me to write this because I have great respect for many figures who stood up to lead the antipork movements, but I have severe reservations regarding others. As I fear that the proposed law was not well thought out, I instantly face-palmed when I saw Rep. Neri Colmenares quoted in many reports. He had previously consistently come unprepared and made vague claims before the high court. He was quoted saying, “I am not very familiar with the Internet” in the cybercrime case and, “I am not very familiar with Epira (Electric Power Industry Reform Act)” when he sued the Manila Electric Co. Similarly, it is difficult not to have reservations about the CBCP, given how they seem to be more of a political actor than a moral compass these days. So what are the real agenda?
via Pointless initiative | Inquirer Opinion.