PNoy pays final respects to late ex-Chief Justice Narvasa

 News
Nov 012013
 
President Benigno Aquino on Friday night paid his respects to the late former Chief Justice Andres Narvasa, who died at age 84 last Thursday.

Aquino went to the Mount Carmel Shrine Parish in Quezon City, according to a post on his Facebook account. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte confirmed Aquino’s visit.

“He visited the memorial of the former Chief Justice last night,” Valte said on government-run dzRB radio Saturday morning.

The photo posted on Aquino’s Facebook page showed him wearing a striped shirt, standing in front of the urn bearing Narvasa’s ashes.

But Valte said she may have to inquire with Aquino on the possibility of a posthumous award for Narvasa.

Narvasa passed away early Thursday at age 84. The Supreme Court said he was the country’s 19th Chief Justice.

He served as Chief Justice from Dec. 8, 1991 to Nov. 30, 1998, and as defense counsel of then President Joseph Estrada in his impeachment trial in 2000.

Also, he was a former dean of the University of Santo Tomas’ Faculty of Civil Law.

Before joining the high court, Narvasa was the general counsel of the Agrava fact-finding board that investigated the assassination of former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., incumbent President Aquino’s father.  — LBG, GMA News

5 million signatures enough to abolish PDAF, DAP – Ex-CJ Puno

 News
Oct 082013
 
5 million signatures enough to abolish PDAF, DAP – Ex-CJ Puno

Who needs the House of Representatives and the Senate to pass a law to abolish pork barrel and other lump sum appropriation? According to former Chief Justice Reynato Puno the electorate can can bypass Congress and directly scrap the Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF), commonly known as pork barrel, and the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) if five million signatures advocating their abolition can be gathered. “Hindi lang Kongreso ang may karapatang magpanukala ng batas. Ang taumbayan mismo ay may karapatan na magpanukala ng batas kung sa palagay nila ang ating Kongreso ay hindi ginagawa ang kanilang katungkulan,” Puno said in a television report aired on GMA 7’s “24 Oras” on Tuesday. “You cannot expect them [lawmakers] to pass legislation that will be contrary to their selfish interest,” he noted, adding, “Nawala na ‘yung moral authority nila to enact this kind of law.” Republic Act No. 6735, says the citizenry has the power to directly propose, enact or approve a law provided: – At least 10 percent of Filipino voters signed the petition. There are about 52 million voters in the country, so the petition needs to be signed by at least 5.2 million people. – At least three percent in all the legislative districts signed up the petition The Commission on Election, then, will verify the signatures in the petition and, eventually, set the election date for the Filipino voters to choose to abolish pork barrel or not. During the Ramos and Arroyo administrations, there were attempts to use a Read More …

So little time left, still so much to do

 Economy
Jul 172013
 
So little time left, still so much to do

On his 4th State of the Nation address, President Benigno Aquino III will hark on some outstanding accomplishments that most past presidents have not been able to deliver. First off will be the upgrade in investment status by two major credit rating institutions, Fitch Ratings and Standard and Poor’s, and the recent hint by another agency, Moody’s Investors Service, that it may lift the country’s rating later this year. All these are cognizant of the upbeat tempo in the economy the past year as gleaned from the strong GDP reports, improved tax collections and the better fiscal condition of government, and returning optimism among foreign investors to park their money in the country. The legislative has nonetheless also contributed a significant share, largely by passing measures such as the sin tax law that have raised collections by and impressive 28.2 percent year-on-year compared to the 12.4 percent figure in 2012. There will be more upbeat statements that we can expect from P-Noy as he addresses his “new” and old colleagues in Congress, those who have been given the mandate to rule our legislature for at least the next three years. It’s a relief that the last May elections had delivered to the current presidency a political government on the local, Lower House and Senate levels that is supportive and looks favorably on P-Noy’s leadership. This augurs well for the final stretch of the President’s six-year term. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In truth, time will fly, Read More …

JBC wraps up interviews for Sandiganbayan top post; lawyer disqualified

 News
Jun 212013
 
JBC wraps up interviews for Sandiganbayan top post; lawyer disqualified

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on Friday concluded its two-day public interviews of the second and final batch of candidates for the vacated Sandiganbayan presiding justice post. The conclusion of the interviews came with the “disqualification” of one of the 10 candidates—Jasper Lucero, a private lawyer—for failing to submit necessary documents needed before the interview. The last two candidates to face the JBC panel were a Sandiganbayan justice who wants closed-circuit television cameras during anti-graft trials, and a Justice undersecretary who had previously applied in other plum judicial posts. During his interview, Justice Alex Quiroz said it was his “dream” to have Sandiganbayan proceedings open to the public through CCTV cameras and the internet. “I have a dream should I be appointed. Since criminal proceedings in open court should be in public, it is my wish that a court be covered by a CCTV [camera] and the same would be connected to the Internet,” he told the panel, led by JBC chair Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. He also said he wanted to cut down the Sandiganbayan’s use of paper by 30 percent in a bid to turn it into a “paperless” anti-graft court. “I’ve been with the prosecution. Now, I’m in the judiciary so I’ve seen all those aspects,” said Quiroz, the fifth most junior member of the Sandiganbayan. “I don’t think there is any applicant (who) possesses such credentials as being a prosecutor, being at the Office of the Solicitor General, then judiciary,” added the 55-year-old Quiroz. Read More …