Cha-cha gets moving

The Resolution of Both Houses No. 1 (RBH 1), authored principally by House Speaker Sonny Belmonte Jr., was taken up in the plenary session with Davao City Congresswoman Mylene Garcia-Albano sponsoring the Resolution, and being interpellated by Akbayan Party-list Representative Walden Bello.

The plenary debates on a resolution seeking to ease restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution, with leaders of the chamber vowing to block any attempt to insert provisions aimed at removing term limits for elected officials. But it merely provides that Congress be given the power to pass a law to lift bans on foreign ownership of land.

Representative Bello pointed out that in China, Vietnam, and Indonesia foreigners are not allowed to own land, but foreign investors have invested much more in those three countries than in the Philippines.

Belmonte again reiterated that no political amendments will be taken up as a rider to RBH 1 that would amend the Constitution and allow President Aquino to seek another term. Belmonte also said that he is only seeking economic reforms.

Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II said it was possible that some lawmakers from Aquino’s allies, led by Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, could try to introduce amendments to RBH 1 to push their agenda of extending the President’s term in office.

Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, leader of Independent Minority Bloc, said the bloc will do everything it can to block the lifting of term limits for Aquino and the current elective officials in proposed changes to the Charter.

Abad resign

Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello, an ally of the President, wrote a letter to President Aquino asking for the firing of Budget Secretary Butch Abad and Agrarian Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes  to restore the credibility of his “matuwid na daan” (straight path) reform agenda.

“Owing to Mr. Abad’s bad judgment, your administration has been severely wounded by the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) issue,” Bello wrote the President.

Bello wants Abad fired for damaging the administration’s reform program with his DAP, which the SC had declared unconstitutional.

Bello also wants De los Reyes replaced for being weak and indecisive in implementing the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (Carper) Law.

Senator J.V. Ejercito also called for Abad’s head.

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago was more blunt in asking for Abad’s head. She said, “The Supreme Court (SC) said the DAP is wrong. Someone has to be made liable. Secretary Abad should resign to save the face of the President.”

The President rejected Bello’s appeal.

Bello criticizes Abad for keeping the existence of the DAP a secret for three years and for having no qualms about giving P12.8 billion to senators and congressmen.

Up to now Commission on Audit (COA) has not released its audit for 2010-2013 of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

Why no Malampaya investigation?

Senator Nancy Binay called on Senator T.G. Guingona, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, to schedule a hearing on the use of the P160 billion Malampaya scam.

Earlier, Benhur Luy said P900 million from the Malampaya Fund was released to congressmen and mayors through pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

Senator Jinggoy Estrada had previously asked Senator Guingona to investigate the so-called Malampaya scam, but has not done so yet.

Senator J.V. Ejercito has filed a resolution to investigate the said scam.

Yesterday, Guingona announced he will hold a hearing on September 25, 2014. 

Pork barrel continued

Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Patricia Licuanan admitted during a House Appropriations Committee hearing that lawmakers had been given P14 million each from the P4.1 billion realigned PDAF fund given to CHED.

Congressmen were allowed to nominate the scholars this year. Clearly, this is a continuation of the PDAF system.

The congressmen were also allowed to get allocations from the Department of Health (DOH) for medicines and hospital bills.

Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Rep. Antonio Tinio played a recording where CHED Chairman Licuanan declared in an executive session that congressmen will get an allocation for their scholars.

Tinio said the allocation of a lump sum of P14 million per congressman is essentially a pork barrel that is already prohibited by the SC decision declaring the PDAF unconstitutional.

Just a guess

The credibility of Atty. Renato Bondal suffered when he admitted to Senator Vicente Sotto that his claim of P1,000 price per cake given to Makati senior citizens was “hula” or plain guess work.

He was proven wrong when Makati City Administrator Eleno Mendoza Jr. presented documents to show that the cakes cost only P306.75 each.

It was also proven that Senator Nancy Binay had nothing to do with the procurement of cakes.

Tidbits

Atty. Rodolfo Felicio was shot dead by four men riding-in-tandem in two motorcycles in Taytay, Rizal.

Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said that 200 Muslim youths from Davao have joined Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Iraq.

A Philippine National Railways (PNR) train derailed at Paco, Manila. PNR service to Bicol has not been restored.

Makati Business Club chairman Ramon del Rosario Jr. said on TV that he hopes P-Noy backs off from pushing term extension so he can focus on the real institutionalization of reforms that we need so badly.

DWIZ Dagupan station manager Orly Navarro was shot and seriously wounded in that city.