Maniolas

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. on Friday confirmed receiving in June 2012 a request for P250 million from Senator Jinggoy Estrada to fund livelihood projects for poor farmers in several provinces. Ochoa made the statement after the deleted files recovered from the hard drive of principal pork barrel scam whisteblower Benhur Luy included a document entitled, “200M_Sexy_Ochoa.doc.” Luy is a former finance officer of alleged scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles. Napoles ran the scam by convincing lawmakers to fund livelihood projects in agricultural communities through her dubious non-government organizations.  Instead of delivering the programs for the farmers, the allocations are pocketed by Napoles and the lawmakers as fat kickbacks. It couldn’t be determined immediately if the file “200M_Sexy_Ochoa.doc” contained a letter endorsing one of Napoles’ NGOs as a recipient of the funds being requested supposedly for the farmers. A check with Ochoa’s office indicated that the request they received from Estrada was indeed for P250 million instead of just for P200 million. Estrada, a leader of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance, is one of the three senators charged with plunder before the Ombudsman in connection with the P10-billion pork barrel scam.  The other two are Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, also an opposition stalwart, and Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. “In June 2012, the Office of the President received a letter from Sen. Jinggoy Estrada requesting funding support amounting to 250 million pesos for livelihood projects for small farmers located in various provinces,” Ochoa said in a statement on Friday. “As with Read More …

(Updated 10:14 p.m.) Businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles was brought back to Fort Sto. Domingo, a police camp in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, on Thursday night after recuperating from surgery at the Ospital ng Makati, where she had been confined since March 31. She arrived at the camp, which is also used as a training area for the Philippine National Police Special Action Force, at a little past 10:00 p.m. after going through the South Luzon Expressway, a dzBB report said. According to the report, security was tight throughout the trip, with dzBB reporter Olan Bola describing her security escorts as being “in full battle gear.” Napoles was whisked away from Ospital ng Makati in a gray van amid heavy security around 9:30 p.m. A Makati court on Thursday ordered the immediate return of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Napoles to her detention cell at Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.   Napoles, detained in connection with a serious illegal detention case, has been confined at the Ospital ng Makati since April. Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda denied her motion asking the court to recall its earlier order to return her to Fort Sto. Domingo due to vaginal bleeding. “The director of Police Regional Office IV-A or any of his deputies is requested to provide adequate security personnel to escort the accused from the Ospital ng Makati to Fort Sto. Domingo, Sta. Rosa, Laguna. This order must be implemented immediately,” said Alameda in his four-page order. According to Read More …

Former TESDA director general Augusto Syjuco Jr. on Thursday filed a libel complaint against President Benigno Aquino III for allegedly maligning his reputation during last year’s State of the Nation Address (SONA). In his last SONA, Aquino bared the alleged overpricing in the purchases by TESDA, or the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, under Syjuco. A report on “24 Oras” quoted Syjuco as saying in his complaint that Aquino’s speech lacked proper research. Syjuco, who filed his complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman, denied overpricing in TESDA purchases under his watch. “The pertinent portion of the presidential speech translated in English reads… ‘In fact, we are already holding the former leadership of TESDA accountable for his part in the outrageous overpricing of purchases by the agency. For example: one incubator jar is priced at 149 pesos. But Mr. Syjuco priced the same jar at 15,375 pesos’,” a portion of Syjuco’s nine-page complaint said. “The pertinent portion of the presidential speech translated in English reads… ‘Perhaps when he finally has his day in court to face the cases filed by the Ombudsman, Mr. Syjuco will finally learn to count’,” it added. The “24 Oras” report quoted Syjuco as saying that he had no hand in the purchase of incubator jars. Malacañang, meanwhile, dismissed Syjuco’s complaint on account of Aquino’s presidential immunity from suit. —KBK, GMA News

With just days to go before the new school year starts, an environmentalist group on Thursday warned students and parents against the presence of lead in some school supplies sold in Metro Manila. EcoWaste Coalition said some of the school supplies it had sent to a private laboratory for analysis were found to have lead content of up to 140,000 parts per million (ppm). The group noted the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Administrative Order 2013-24 prohibits the use of lead in the making of school supplies. Also, it said, the US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) prohibits lead greater than 90 ppm in paint or any similar surface coatings of children’s products.   It added the US law sets a limit of 100 ppm of lead content in any accessible component part of a product for children, such as zippers of school bags. The group said it bought various school supplies with prices ranging from P7.50 to P599.75, from retailers in Divisoria and Quiapo in Manila; and in Makati City. It then had the items tested for lead by SGS, a global testing company. The group also quoted pediatric toxicologist Bessie Antonio of the East Avenue Medical Center as saying lead is particularly dangerous to young children “because their growing bodies absorb and keep more lead than adults do.” She warned the damage to their brains and nervous systems is “often irreversible, but fully preventable.” The group said the tests showed lead levels of school supplies were Read More …

Malacañang on Thursday defended itself against criticisms that the government’s slow pace in its post-Yolanda rebuilding efforts was to blame for the Tacloban City tent fire that killed at least seven people earlier this week. Presidential Communications Operations Office head Herminio Coloma Jr. countered Senator JV Ejercito’s allegation that red tape and supposed slow rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts caused the death of a mother and her six children in a fire that hit a tent community for Yolanda survivors. “We must acknowledge the breadth, depth and complexity of the task at hand, and it would not be responsible to simply blame government because this is something that can be empirically determined,” Coloma said in a news briefing on Thursday. He cited foreign experts who supposedly said that the country’s relief and rehabilitation programs are moving at a reasonable pace given the extent of the damage caused by Yolanda. “Kung tutunghayan natin yung mga evident indicators, katulad nga ng sinabi ni Secretary Lacson, wala namang civil disorder na naganap. Wala naman ding malawakang epidemya o pagkakasakit at wala rin namang kagutuman na umiiral. Yang ang pinaka-fundamental na indicators ng kalidad ng pagtugon natin,” Coloma said. “Baka naman hindi rin karapat-dapat na tayo ay maglalatigo sa sarili na walang katwiran—self-flagellation. Dapat lang siguro yung balanseng pananaw na kinikilala kung ano na yung nagawa; kinikilala rin kung ano po yung mahalagang hindi pa nagagawa; at higit sa lahat, mayroong determinasyon at commitment na pagdugtungin ‘yung dalawang bagay na ‘yon para sa kapakanan ng Read More …