Maniolas

Allies of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo on Thursday appealed to the Sandiganbayan anew to allow her to be placed under house arrest as her condition remains fragile following the choking incident she experienced last month. Former House minority leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said that allowing Arroyo to be detained at her La Vista residence may help improve her health. “Baka psychologically makatulong sa kanya kung sa La Vista siya magste-stay,” Suarez told reporters at a news forum in Quezon City. House independent bloc leader and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said the Sandiganbayan should allow Arroyo to be placed under house arrest for humanitarian reasons. “I appeal to the good heart of our Sandiganbayan justices to allow the treatment of the former President in a hospital of her choice. For humanitarian reason, she should be [allowed to post] bail or at least be placed under house arrest,” he said. Arroyo has been detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) since 2012 for allegedly conspiring to fraudulently divert P366 million in confidential Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office intelligence funds “for personal gain” from 2008 to 2010. She was rushed to the emergency room last month after she choked on a piece of broccoli. The blockage prompted her attending physicians to perform an endoscopy on her. Further restrictions In a medical abstract dated Sept. 15, VMMC medical team head Dr. Martha Nucum said Arroyo’s response to pain medications has diminished, with the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) Read More …

A Sandiganbayan special division has found probable cause to try two of detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles’ children for graft in connection with the alleged pork barrel scam. In a decision promulgated Monday, Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang, along with Associate Justices Samuel Martires, Alex Quiroz, Jose Hernandez and Maria Cristina Cornejo, affirmed that Jo Christine and James Christopher Napoles had a hand in the scam that their mother allegedly masterminded. Meanwhile, the anti-graft court cleared Napoles’ driver, Fernando Ramirez, due to insufficiency of evidence. “After further considering the records of these cases, and due deliberations, the court finds the existence of probable cause against the said accused except for accused Fernando Ramirez,” the three-page resolution said. According to the affidavit of the whistleblowers, the Napoles siblings were both officials of their mother’s JLN Corp., which was allegedly used in the scam. Merlina Suñas, one of the whistleblowers in the case, said the siblings were among those who forged signatures of the beneficiaries of projects supposedly funded by the pork barrel of several lawmakers. The court has set the arraignment of Napoles’ children on October 13. Other than Jo Christine and James Christopher, seven others will be arraigned for graft charges, namely: – Margarita Guaninez, accountant;– Dorilyn Fabian, incorporator and secretary (Agrikultura Para sa Magbubukid Foundation Inc.);– Amparo Fernandez, incorporator and secretary (Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic Development Foundation)– Jesus Castillo, incorporator and treasurer (Peoples’ Organization for Progress and Development)– Renato Ornopia, Masaganang Ani para sa Magsasaka FoundationAileen Palama, Countrywide Agri and Read More …

Dismissed Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Gregory Ong allegedly tried “influencing” Supreme Court justices while he was being investigated over his links with alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Jante Lim-Napoles, according to one of the magistrates. In his 38-page concurring opinion, Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said he received information that Ong tried negotiating with SC magistrates on how to deal with the complaint filed against him. The SC last week voted 8-5-2 to dismiss Ong from service for gross misconduct, dishonesty and impropriety. Leonen, who did not disclose where he got his information, said that over the course of the SC’s motu proprio probe on Ong, colleagues have pointed to the need for “compassion” over the case. “We are told that he has served long years as a judge and as a justice,” Leonen wrote. “We were even told that he attempted to informally circulate a letter through other colleagues in this court that he was willing to take an optional retirement should he be meted with any kind of suspension,” he added. While Ong was dismissed for gross misconduct, dishonesty and impropriety for fraternizing with Napoles, Leonen said Ong’s “audacity to try to influence” SC justices could have been another basis for his dismissal. “It shows that he has at least made attempts to communicate ex parte with members of this court outside the formal processes allowed by our rules,” Leonen said. “Ex parte communication sub rosa by one being investigated with any member of this court while we sit in Read More …

(Updated 12:47 p.m.) The Sandiganbayan Third Division on Friday granted the motion of suspended Senate Minority Floor Leader Juan Ponce Enrile to remain under hospital arrest. In a 16-page resolution issuedFriday, the justices of the Third Division unanimously granted Enrile’s motion for hospital arrest at the Philippine National Police (PNP) General Hospital pending the resolution of his motion for bail. “Premises considered, accused Juan Ponce Enrile’s Motion for Detention at the PNP General Hospital pending the resolution of his motion for bail is granted… until he is determined by the doctors to be physically fit for detention at the proper Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility or until further orders from the court,” the resolution said as read by Third Division clerk of court Dennis Pulma. Pulma said the court has also allowed Enrile to seek medical services or to be confined to other medical facilities outside the PNP general hospital “first, in case of emergency or necessity and second, if the required procedure is not accessible to Enrile inside the PNP.” The resolution said all the medical expenses would have to be shouldered by Enrile.Enrile is facing plunder and graft charges in connection with the alleged pork barrel scam. On July 15, the Sandiganbayan allowed Enrile, 90, to continue his temporary stay at the PNP General Hospital for another 30 days so that doctors may examine him more thoroughly. Doctors who examined Enrile at the Philippine General Hospital had recommended that he be allowed hospital arrest since he Read More …

HAIKOU CITY, China – A Chinese think tank believes the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the Philippines and the US furthers American interests and not regional stability. The state-run National Institute for South China Sea Studies said on Wednesday that China is “not happy” about the agreement that Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and US Ambassador Philip Goldberg signed in time for US President Barack Obama’s visit to Manila in April. The agreement, which has been questioned at the Supreme Court, allows the increased rotational presence of US troops in the Philippines as well as limited access to Philippine military facilities, has been touted as a way to upgrade the Armed Forces of the Philippines and to bring stability to the area. But Wu Shicun, president of the NISCSS, told Filipino reporters in Haikou on Wednesday that the agreement opens the door for US “intervention”. He said the agreement was signed because the “US would like to come back to major bases like Clark and Subic Bay to contend with China.” Parties to the agreement have yet to determine which Philippine military installations will be opened up to US forces but activist groups in the Philippines have said the EDCA gives the US a free hand over Philippine territory. The US has raised concerns over freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, which contains major sea and air routes. But Wu said the US is “using freedom of navigation as an excuse to interfere in the South China Sea” and Read More …