Aquino government to spend millions for CNN ads

MANILA, Philippines - Close to $1.5 million or P63 million will be spent by the Aquino administration to support the Department of Tourism's current advertising effort on CNN.

DOT assistant secretary for tourism planning and promotions Domingo Ramon Enerio III, said “many agencies participated in the funding requirement” for the TV ads currently running on CNN.

These agencies, he said, include the Departments of Budget and Management, Finance, Trade and Industry and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

He declined to reveal the total budget outlay for the TV commercials, but said the ads "will run [on CNN] all the way up to August in the USA, Asia Pacific, and Europe/Middle East. But the concentration will be for this week in time with the ADB meeting and up to next week."

Father Raped two Daughters with the Help from the Mother

For months, two teenaged girls were allegedly drugged by their father each time he raped them as their mother held their arms to prevent any struggle.
The sisters’ ordeal only ended when the father allegedly raped a third victim—a classmate of one of his daughters—who was able to escape and report the abuses to the police.
The blood-curdling picture of parenting warped by drugs and diabolic lust emerged with the father’s arrest on Thursday in Quezon City.
Supt. Crisostomo Mendoza of the Novaliches police substation said the sisters, aged 14 and 16, were allegedly forced by their 33-year-old father to take “shabu” before they were raped.
The suspect’s 35-year-old live-in partner, the girls’ mother, allegedly helped her man perpetrate the crime by firmly holding the girls in place as they were being ravished.

Chief Justuce Corona has no $ 10 million

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) - The defense team of Chief Justice Renato Corona raised the issue of jurisdiction of the Ombudsman over his supposed bank accounts, even as they debunked allegations he has $10 million.

In a phone interview, defense lawyer Tranquil Salvador told ABS-CBNnews.com that they stand by their answer that Corona does not have $10 million as alleged by several petitioners who sought to bring the case before the Office of the Ombudsman.

He said the timing of the order has raised speculations among stakeholders and observers in the trial of Corona, which would resume May 7.

He said the issue could be used to “push the Chief Justice to sit on the witness stand to supposedly explain the $10 million when no such funds or accounts actually exist.”

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales asked her former colleague in the Supreme Court to explain in writing how he was supposed to acquire peso and dollar accounts.

“This office finds that there is reasonable ground to proceed further with the conduct of an inquiry vis-à-vis the charges that you, during your incumbency as a public officer, accumulated wealth that is purportedly grossly disproportionate to your salary and other lawful income,” Morales was quoted as saying in her April 20 order, a copy of which has yet to be formally disclosed.

Salvador did not answer whether or not Corona has already replied to the order, noting only that a copy of which was received last week.

“All individuals in [the petition] have interest in the [impeachment trial proceedings]. There was already a forfeiture case instituted by a congressman during the break. This one, I’m not surprised,” he said.

source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/04/29/12/defense-team-cj-does-not-have-10m

No Demand for Passwords

A New York Congressman has introduced federal legislation nicknamed "SNOPA" that would make it illegal for employers and educational institutions to require a potential or current employee, or a potential or current student, to divulge personal online information as part of the hiring, enrollment or discipline process.

The bill, with a full name of the Social Networking Online Protection Act, was introduced Friday by Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.). 

Six Filipinos Indicted in the Medicare Fraud

US Federal Law Officials indicted 11 new defendants among them several Filipinos in Illinois to a federal indictment alleging they were part of a group defrauding Medicare of at least $20 million over the past five years.

Federal officials allege the 11 new defendants conspired with the initial defendant, Jacinto “John” Gabriel, to submit millions of dollars in false claims for reimbursement of home health care services purportedly provided to Medicare beneficiaries, which allegedly were never provided or were not medically necessary so that they could profit from the fraudulently-obtained funds.

“Gabriel and his co-schemers allegedly used the proceeds for various purposes, including using cash to gamble at casinos in the Chicago area and Las Vegas; to buy automobiles, jewelry; to purchase real estate in the United States and the Philippines; to perpetuate the businesses by paying his employees and providing them with gifts; and to bribe physicians and pay kickbacks to others in exchange for patient referrals,” the US Department of Justice said in a statement.

The 44-year-old Gabriel has been charged with one count of health care fraud conspiracy, 43 counts of health care fraud, 11 counts of money laundering, and four counts of federal income tax evasion, said Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

source: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/35149/6-filipinos-indicted-in-us-medicare-fraud-case

Earthquake in Southern California

Los Angeles (CNN) -- A magnitude 3.8 earthquake in southern California struck San Bernardino County near the San Andreas Fault Saturday morning, but no major damage was reported, authorities said.

The quake's epicenter was two miles northwest of Devore, California, where residents told CNN affiliate KCAL that their homes shook, without damage, authorities said.

"It's not on the San Andreas fault. It's located very close to it," seismologist Lucy Jones of the U.S. Geological Survey told KCAL.

Chief Justice Corona asked to explain dollar accounts

Aside from his peso accounts and real estate properties, impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona allegedly has at least $10 million in bank accounts that the Ombudsman is now asking him to explain.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, acting on several complaints filed with her office, asked Corona to explain in writing within 72 hours how he acquired several peso and dollar accounts, allegedly “grossly disproportionate” to his salary, in different banks.
The order was dated April 20 and served on Corona on April 23.
“This office finds that there is reasonable ground to proceed further with the conduct of an inquiry vis-à-vis the charges that you, during your incumbency as a public officer, accumulated wealth that is purportedly grossly disproportionate to your salary and other lawful income,” Morales said in the April 20 order, a copy of which was obtained by the Inquirer.
In addition, Morales said in the letter that she had received information that “there are several bank accounts in PSBank and several other banks in your (Corona’s) name, including those denominated in US dollars the aggregate value of which amounts to at least US$10,000,000.”
Through his lawyer, Ramon Esguerra, Corona responded with a terse four-point reply:  (1) I do not own 10M. It simply does not exist. (2) It’s part of the black propaganda and mind-conditioning preparatory to the resumption of trial on May 7. (3) No different from the phoney LRA [Land Registration Authority] list, phoney US property list, phoney surveys, phoney letters to the Inquirer editor, etc., etc. (4) The Ombudsman has no jurisdiction over the Chief Justice.
Three complaints
Invoking her powers under Republic Act No. 6770, which defines the powers and functions of the Office of the Ombudsman, Morales asked the Chief Justice to reply in writing to the complaints and to the information concerning his alleged accounts in several banks.
Morales cited three complaints filed against Corona before her office for violation of antigraft laws, invoking the Ombudsman’s power to investigate impeachable officers for serious misconduct, including violations of RA 9194, or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001.
“They claim that you do not have the means to acquire properties in substantial amounts, supposedly considering your ‘indicated net worth, modest means and salary as a Chief Justice,’” the Ombudsman said in her letter to Corona.
Complainants Ruperto Aleroza, Gibby Gorres, Harvey Keh, Risa Hontiveros and Albert Concepcion sought to have Corona investigated for allegedly amassing “real and personal properties in significant amounts” and not declaring them in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) as required by law.
In a complaint dated Feb. 17, the complainants cited 10 pieces of real property which were presented by the House prosecution in Corona’s impeachment trial at the Senate. These include supposedly “posh” units at the Bellagio, Spanish Bay, The Columns, One Burgundy Plaza condominium developments and houses in the La Vista and Ayala Heights gated communities.
The complainants also cited Corona’s alleged 10 peso accounts and two dollar accounts at Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) and five peso accounts with Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI).
A second complaint was filed on March 1 by party-list member Walden Bello (Akbayan), Earnest Francis Calayag, Moses Mikael SD Albiento and Tristan Diane Brioso Zinampan.
They claimed that Corona underdeclared the values of his real properties in his SALN and did not declare his property in La Vista, Quezon City, and in McKinley Hills, Taguig.
They claimed that the “actual value of his personal properties in the amount of P31,752,623.00 exceeded the declared value in his SALN by P27,252,623.09.”
“According to complainants, the real and personal properties supposedly owned by you and your family are manifestly out of proportion to your salary as public officer, as well as other lawful income, during your respective tenures as associate justice and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court,” the Ombudsman said.
A third complaint dated March 28 was filed by Emmanuel Tiu Santos who said Corona had unexplained wealth consisting of P24.6 million in five accounts at PSBank and P12 million with BPI.
Santos, citing reports published in the Inquirer, pointed out that Corona also withdrew P32.6 million on the day he was impeached.
Trial resumes May 7
“While you may only be removed from office through impeachment proceedings, this office has, as reflected earlier, the power and duty to investigate you for any serious misconduct in office for the purpose of filing a verified complaint for impeachment, if warranted. It was on this account that this Office conducted an initial evaluation on the complaints,” the Ombudsman said.

Aquino Rating Down

Public satisfaction with the performance of the Aquino administration has slipped from a “very good” net score of plus-56 in December to a “good” net score of plus 46 in March, according to a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The survey showed 64 percent of respondents were satisfied while 18 percent were dissatisfied with the administration’s general performance.

In terms of addressing specific issues, the survey found that the  administration scored “very good” net satisfaction ratings in helping the handicapped (plus 57), helping victims of disaster (plus 50) and promoting human rights (plus 50).

It scored a “poor” minus 17 in resolving the Maguindanao massacre case with justice, its lowest mark among 19 issues raised in the survey.

The survey, conducted from March 10 to 13, used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 respondents. It had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.

Malacañang officials appeared pleased with the survey results and said the ratings would spur the administration all the more to do what was best for the country.

The net satisfaction score is the difference between the percentages of satisfied and dissatisfied responses.

SWS considers net satisfaction ratings of +70 and above, “excellent”; +50 to +69, “very good”; +30 to +49, “good”; +10 to +29, “moderate”, +9 to -9, “neutral”; -10 to -29, “poor”; -30 to -49, “bad”; -50 to -69, “very bad”; and -70 and below, “execrable.”

Mexican Woman to give birth to nine babies

MEXICO CITY – A Mexican woman is due to give birth to six girls and three boys in May, the local media is reporting.

“I feel different because there are nine of them. I feel odd, but so be it. We must move forward and hopefully everything goes well,” Karla Vanessa Perez Garcia, a resident of the town of Arteaga in the state of Coahuila, told the Televisa television network.

Perez Garcia and her husband, Juan Bernardo Morales, who works as a mechanic, already have four children. Three of them were triplets born last November.

The 32-year-old woman learned she was carrying nine fetuses in January, when she was four months pregnant. Her doctors have scheduled a Caesarean section for May 20.

Aquino Cabinet yields to Supreme Court on Vat on Toll Fees

 The BIR Commissioner promised that she would defend the implementation of the VAT on toll fees but Finance Department Cesar Purisima advised the President to wait for the Supreme Court decision.

Here is the story from GMA7.

It is now up to the Supreme Court to rule whether or not the proposed 12-percent value added tax on toll rates by is legal.

His economic managers advised President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III to wait for the Supreme Court decision on the petitions stopping government from imposing the VAT – a sales tax – on fees for the right to use the country’s expressways or toll roads.

Pork Barrel Increased

Next year, the pork barrel is increased to Php 22.3 billion from the original Php 6.9 billio.

Here is the news:

Aquino for P22.3-billion 'pork'

DBM requires menu of projects

By GENALYN KABILING

August 10, 2010, 4:31pm

Despite its belt-tightening pronouncement, the Aquino government has proposed a P22.3-billion pork barrel next year, a 223.18 percent increase from this year’s allocation of P6.9 billion – with the P15.4 billion increment to finance infrastructure projects.

Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said President Benigno S. Aquino III raised the allocation of the pork barrel, officially known as Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), next year with a safeguard, requiring a “menu” for the utilization of the fund.

“The PDAF is higher at P22.3 billion. However, this will incorporate both the hard and soft components of the program. The menus will be limited to the priority programs of the administration,” Abad said last the administration,” Abad told reporters last Monday.

Office of the Press Secretary is now PCOO

President Benigno Aquino has two cabinet secretaries for his communications need.
Except of the news:

(Updated 3 p.m.) Malacañang finally issued Executive Order (EO) No. 4 formally creating the administration's communications team tasked to disseminate messages from President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and receive feedback from the public.

EO No. 4 restructures the Office of the Press Secretary and renames it the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).

"There is a vital need to re-organize and effect functional changes within the Office of the Press Secretary and create an office to systematize, rationalize, and complement the existing structure to achieve a more efficient and systematic interaction between the people, the Office of the President, and the Executive Branch," according to EO 4.

The PCOO has two heads — former broadcaster Ricky Carandang and former Department of Transportation and Communications Undersecretary Sonny Coloma, both with Cabinet rank. Its tasks include developing guidelines on information dissemination and managing state-owned media entities for the Office of the President and the rest of the executive branch.

Hacienda Luisita Compromise Deal

 It seems the problem on Hacienda Luisita is not yet solved with the compromise deal reached by the management and the representatives of the labor unions.

Excerpt of the news:

More than a third of the 10,502 farmer-beneficiaries of Hacienda Luisita Inc. have chosen to retain their stocks in the corporation instead of land parcels as of Saturday afternoon. However, an agrarian reform official warned that the previous government already revoked the stock distribution option (SDO), now the subject of a Supreme Court case.

Some 6,000 have yet to make their choice.

More than 4,000 farmer-beneficiaries from five barangays in the hacienda have so far chosen to stick with the SDO while only 41 signed up for actual land distribution, according to farmer Eldifonso Pingol.

Agrarian Reform Undersecretary Narciso Nieto meanwhile said he was personally “surprised" at the figures apparently showing that more farmers prefer to keep their stocks in the corporation than acquire their own land.

“Hindi ba (Didn't) the PARC [Presidential Agrarian Reform Council] order the SDO to be revoked in 2005 because of clamor of the farmers? Then all of sudden, mukhang nanalo ang SDO (it now turns out that SDO won)," he told GMANews.TV in a separate interview.

He however declined to comment further on the referendum, saying majority of the farmers have not yet participated in the signing.

President Aquino fired all midnight appointees

President Aquino revoked all midnight appointments allegedly made by former President Gloria Arroyo.
Here is the excerpt of the news:

Malacañang, through its second executive order, revoked on Wednesday the "midnight appointments" made by the previous Arroyo administration.

This was revealed by Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Eduardo de Mesa and presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda at a press briefing in Malacañang as they presented President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III's Executive Order No. 2 "recalling, withdrawing, and revoking appointments issued by the previous administration in violation of the Constitutional ban on midnight appointments."

EO No. 2, signed July 30, laid out three conditions that constitute midnight appointments made by Arroyo and other appointing authorities in "departments, agencies, offices, and instrumentalities including government owned or controlled corporations."