3 Manila congressmen deny supporting Erap

 From: People’s Journal

           journal.com.ph

THE three Manila congressmen whom UNA had claimed would accompany former President Erap Estrada and his vice mayoral bet Isko Moreno when they file their certificates of candidacy were a no-show yesterday.

Congresswomen Naida Angping (3rd district), Trisha Bonoan-David (4^th district) and Amado Bagatsing (5th district) -- were nowhere to be found when Estrada and Moreno filed their COCs at the Comelec office in Arroceros.

A media advisory by UNA Monday had said Estrada, Moreno, Angping, David  and Bagatsing will file their certificates of candidacy at noon at the Comelec office in Arroceros.

When informed of the advisory, both Bagatsing and Angping denied any knowledge of it. David had earlier declared that she will abide by her party which is fielding Alfredo Lim as reelectionist mayor.

Angping and Bagatsing dismissed the false announcement as another political intrigue and expressed relief that Lim is not at all affected by it.

“Ano ang gagawin namin sa Comelec Arroceros eh sa Comelec Intramuros naman kami kailangang mag-file?” Angping added.

Bagatsing said he is no longer surprised about the false advisory, saying ‘this is the season of disinformation. ###

Some LP members hypocrites --UNA

From: inquirer.net

The United Alliance (UNA) described as hypocrites some of the members of the administration coalition for forging an alliance with personalities identified with former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“There are those in the administration coalition who are attempting to recast themselves as true-blue believers in reform and good governance. The truth is that these personalities were among the most rabid defenders of Mrs. Arroyo when she was in power, but have found it politically convenient to wear yellow and proclaim themselves as advocates of Tuwid na Daan,” UNA secretary general and Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco said in a statement.

“Nandiyan pa ang mga nagsabing handa silang kupkupin si Mrs. Arroyo sa kanilang probinsya kung ayaw na ng mga taga-Metro Manila sa kanya. Ganyan ang klase ng suporta na ibinigay kay Mrs. Arroyo ng mga ngayon ay nagmamalinis at pumuposturang maka-reporma,” Tiangco said.

UNA also clarified that its support for President Bnigno Aquino III was “beyond question”.

In the Senate for instance, UNA said its allies have firmly stood behind the President’s legislative priorities and even pointed out how its members voted in the impeachment trial of ousted Chief Justice Renato Corona. ###

Jinkee Pacquiao running for Sarangani vice gov

From: abs-cbnnews.com

Jinkee Pacquiao, wife of boxing champion and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, will be running for vice-governor of Sarangani province.

Jinkee filed her certificate of candidacy at around 2 p.m. at the Sarangani office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).  Jinkee is running under her husband’s People’s Champ Movement Party.

She will be running alongside incumbent Sarangani Vice Governor Steve Chiongbian, who is now gunning for a gubernatorial post.

Jinkee said she has decided to throw her hat into politics to help her husband. ###.

Villars on Manny’s loss to Pnoy: We’ve moved on

From: abs-cbnnews.com

Former Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar said she bears no ill will against President Benigno Aquino III after her husband, Manny lost to PNoy in the 2010 presidential election.

"Nag move on na kami ni President Aquino. We have always been friends," she told reporters after filing her certificate of candidacy at the Commission on Elections main office in Intramuros.

Villar said she has also moved on from squabbles with President Aquino as well as former senator Jamby Madrigal. Madrigal, who is also in the Liberal Party senatorial ticket, was one of Sen. Villar's fiercest critics in the 2010 election.

"We should always move on. Di tayo dapat magdwell sa past,” Villar said. .

Villar, a member of the administration senatorial ticket, was accompanied by her husband, Manny, and son, Las Piñas Rep. Mark Villar, to the Comelec.  

She told reporters that if she is elected, she will not be joining her husband in the Senate since his term will end in 2013. ###

Bartolome charged with graft

From: philstar.com

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome and 15 other PNP officials were charged yesterday with graft before the Office of the Ombudsman over an allegedly anomalous P1.2-billion gun deal.

The complainants, Roferma Enterprises and CM Countermeasures Equipages and Security Technologies Inc., asked Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales to issue a preventive suspension order against Bartolome and his co-accused.

Also charged were Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) chairman Deputy Director General Emelito Sarmiento, PNP Logistics Director and BAC vice chairman Arnulfo Perez, and BAC members Directors Felipe Rojas, Roque Ramirez and Catalino Cuy, Chief Superintendent Francisco Uyami Jr., Senior Superintendents Edwin Roque and Alexander Pumecha, Superintendents Percival Placer, Antonio Cirujales, Marlon Gnilo and Roman Merin Jr., Chief Inspector Jinky Acacio, Senior Police Officer 4 Nonelon Sabigan, and civilian employee Bernardo Sube.

The complainants said the PNP invited bidders for the supply and delivery of 59,904 units of 9mm pistols with an approved budget of P1.198 billion early this year.

They said the BAC committed grave misconduct when they required each bidder to buy bidding documents at P275,000 to recover the cost of production. They said the documents would actually cost only P1,000 to reproduce.

The BAC also required each bidder to submit 10 sample pistols, two of which will be subjected to testing during the post-qualification stage.

The submission of bids was set on June 28 but the PNP issued an authority to import only on June 22, thus preventing Roferma from importing, transporting and releasing the 10 guns from he Bureau of Customs on time.

Bartolome had earlier said that the bidding for the gun deal was transparent and credible. ###

GMA faces arrest, again

From: People’s Journal

           journal.com.ph

FORMER president now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo again faces arrest. 

The Office of the Ombudsman affirmed the plunder charges against her and former officials of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Commission on Audit in connection with the alleged fraudulent transfer of P366 million in confidential intelligence funds of the PCSO from 2008 to 2010.

The move removed the last obstacle for the Sandiganbayan to determine whether or not probable cause exists to proceed with the trial and to issue arrest warrants against all the accused.

Plunder  is non-bailable.

Also charged were PCSO Board of Directors chairman Sergio Valencia; former PCSO general manager Rosario Uriarte; PCSO directors  Manuel Morato, Jose Taruc V, Raymundo Roquero and Ma. Fatima. Valdes; PCSO budget officer Benigno Aguas; former Commission on Audit chairman Reynaldo Villar and former CoA-Intelligence Fund Unit head Nilda  Plaras.

The Ombudsman prosecution panel said evidence gathered during the investigation established the roles of each defendant that points to a “concerted effort” and “common designs.”

The panel rejected the defendants’ argument that the plunder charge has no leg to stand on because there was no evidence that they pocketed the P366 million.

The panel pointed out that the Plunder Law penalizes the act of “acquiring, amassing and/or accumulating ill-gotten wealth” but does not limit such offense to whether or not the defendant personally benefited from such unlawfully acquired wealth.”#

Trillanes won’t stop attacking GMA

From: inquirer.net

Re-electionist Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said issues related to former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would be among those he would tackle during his campaign.

Trillanes, who led two failed uprisings against Arroyo when she was President and he was a Navy officer, said there was still a need to remain vigilant about the former chief executive because her influence and supporters are still in the bureaucracy.

“That would still be there because the tentacles of [Arroyo] are still rooted in the bureaucracy, which is why we our weeding it out,’’ he told reporters.

He said in seeking a second term, he would revalidate his mandate and hoped that those who voted for him in 2007 would see that he had fulfilled his duties when he was in the Senate.

Trillanes also said he was not afraid that Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile Sr. would derail him during the campaign.

“I trust the people more. Sen. Enrile can do what he wants to do. I can’t control it. But I’m not afraid of him. I know him, his personality. He’s afraid of [Arroyo], so why would I be afraid of him?” Trillanes said. he said.

LP bets not thieves -- PNoy

From: inquirer.net

President Benigno Aquino III said Monday that the 12 candidates chosen for the senatorial slate of the Liberal Party (LP) “are not thieves” and “they will not betray your trust.”

“They swear to us: They are not thieves. They will further accelerate the change we have been enjoying. They will not betray your trust. You, our countrymen, are still our bosses,” Aqauino he added.

The LP lineup is composed of candidates from several political parties. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, and former senator Jamby Madrigal are from the LP.

Former Las Piñas representative and senator Manuel Villar’s wife, Cynthia Villar, and Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Alan Peter Cayetano are from the Nacionalista Party (NP).

The rest of the candidates are Sen. Loren Legarda from the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), former Akbayan partylist representative Risa Hontiveros, Aurora representative Juan Edgardo Angara of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), and independent candidates Sen. Francis Escudero, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III and MTRCB Chair Grace Poe-Llamanzares. ###