Maniolas

Senator Jinggoy Estrada arrives at the Sandiganbayan in Quezon City on Monday, June 30, for his arraignment over the plunder charges filed against him and businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles in connection with the alleged P10-B pork barrel scam. (MNS photo) MANILA, Mar 9 (Mabuhay) – While Sen. Jinggoy Estrada is disappointed by the decision of the Sandiganbayan to allow the testimony of the Anti-Money Laundering Council in his bail hearing, he remains confident of his chances for temporary freedom. “Athough we are saddened by the decision of the court, we have to abide by it. We are ready. I’m totally unfazed,” Estrada told reporters after his bail hearing Monday. The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division denied with finality the motion of Senator Jinggoy Estrada to block the admission of the AMLC inquiry report on his bank accounts and other assets as the prosecution’s evidence against him for his plunder and graft charges in connection with the pork barrel scam. In an 18-page resolution issued on Thursday, the anti-graft court junked Estrada’s motion for reconsideration for “lack of merit,” saying the senator failed to prove that he had the right to protected from the State’s power to inquire into bank accounts believed to be engaged in illegal activities. Estrada said his lawyers would come up with an appropriate defense against the report, so long as the AMLC special investigator does not tell tall tales. “Ayos lang, basta wag lang sila gumawa ng ibang kwento,” Estrada quipped. In his motion for reconsideration filed last month, Read More …

President Benigno S. Aquino III huddles with the ASEAN Law Association (ALA) Officials and Delegates, led by ALA president Indonesian Chief Justice Dr. Hatta Ali, for a snap shot during the courtesy call at the President’s Hall of the Malacañan Palace on Friday (February 27). A non-government organization, ALA brings together all the different branches of the law profession – judges, law teachers, law practitioners and government lawyers. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Malacañang is not concerned about the treason complaint filed by a former assemblyman against President Benigno Aquino III and several other officials over the government’s peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). In a text message on Thursday, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the accusations made by lawyer Homobono Adaza and Herman Tiu-Laurel did not have any solid basis. “Hindi natitinag ang determinasyon ng Pangulo na isulong ang prosesong pangkapayapaan sa kabila ng mga paratang na walang matibay na batayan,” Coloma said. On Wednesday, Adaza and Tiu-Laurel lodged a treason complaint against Aquino and members of the Philippine government’s peace panel with the Office of the Ombudsman. The complainants accused Aquino of allowing the MILF, which they described as a “terrorist organization,” to have a “territory, more powers and more new institutions” through the comprehensive peace deal signed by the group and the Philippine government last year. They cited Article 114 of the Revised Penal Code, which states that an individual is guilty of treason when he or she “levies war against the Philippines Read More …

Manny Pacquiao does his daily routine of exercises at Griffith Park in Los Angeles as the Filipino pugilist is in deep in training for the “fight of his life” against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo: Benny Uy Los Angeles, United States | AFP| – Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao has matured a lot since his six-round knockout loss to Mexican boxer Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012. “He has learned a big lesson out of that. He became more cautious and has matured a lot as a fighter,” says Restituto “Buboy” Fernandez, a long-time associate and the assistant trainer for Pacquiao. Fernandez said Pacquiao was winning the fight and was about to finish off Marquez when he became hasty. “He is a fearless fighter inside the ring. In his desire to end the fight in a convincing fashion just to make the fans happy, he went for the kill in the dying seconds of the sixth round. And he paid dearly for it,” recalled Fernandez. Now, Fernandez says, Pacquiao has remained ferocious but is no longer a careless fighter. “His punches now are sharper and harder than before. We’ve been training together for years and I can say it based on actual experience,” said Fernandez, who suffered a cut on his mouth during the punch mitts session at the Fortune Gym on Tuesday. Several times during the punch mitts session, Fernandez was dazed due to non-stop pounding from the Pinoy Read More …

In this photo taken Feb. 25, 2014 by surveillance planes and released Thursday, May 15, 2014, by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, a Chinese vessel, top center, is used to expand structures and land on the Johnson Reef, called Mabini by the Philippines and Chigua by China, at the Spratly Islands at South China Sea, Philippines. The Philippines has protested China’s reclamation of land in the disputed reef in the South China Sea that can be used to build an airstrip or an offshore military base in the increasingly volatile region, the country’s top diplomat and other officials said Wednesday, May 14, 2014. The white arrow was added by the source. (MNS photo) Manila, Philippines |   – The Philippines has suspended operations at a South China Sea natural gas project because it is also claimed by China and the dispute is before a UN tribunal, its contractor said Tuesday. UK-listed Forum Energy said the Philippine energy department’s order halted its exploration activities at the Reed Bank section of the sea, as of December 15 last year. “Forum… today confirms that the Philippine Department of Energy has granted a force majeure on Service Contract 72 because this contract area falls within the territorial disputed area of the West Philippine Sea,” said its mother firm Philex Petroleum. The area “is the subject of an United Nations arbitration process between the Republic of the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China”, according to the Philex disclosure released by the Philippine Stock Read More …