Respect the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court junked the Motion for Reconsideration filed by Lauro Vizconde assisted by PAO Chief Persida Acosta and many others against the decision acquitting Hubert Webb and 6 others of murder. It also rejected former Vice President Tito Guingona’s Motion to Intervene. It also cited VACC Chairman Dante Jimenez for contempt who cursed the Supreme Court Justices in a presscon after the decision.

It is good that the Supreme Court decided the case with finality as this preserves the independence and credibility of the highest court of the land.

The Supreme Court should have also reprimanded Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz for his unflattering comments, even charging the Supreme Court with partisanship. As a ranking officer of the court and an official with Cabinet rank, Cadiz should have been more circumspect and respectful in his statements. If he has any delicadeza, Cadiz should now resign.

The NBI officials and PNP officers who filed the case should also be charged with incompetence, to say the least.

Let’s all move on by giving Hubert Webb et al the benefit of the doubt. After all, they have already been imprisoned for 15 long years and have lost the major part of their youth.

The Supreme Court must improve its performance by acting expeditiously on its big backlog of cases.  There are 83 pending PCGG cases in that court, many of them for more than 10 years.

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NO PROTECTION FOR THE CITIZEN. . .The charred body of Venson Evangelista, another car dealer, has been found in Cabanatuan City. He is the third person found shot and burned to death this week by carjackers after Emerson Lozano and Ernani Sencil. This is a very disturbing development as kidnapping, akyat bahay robbers, bank robbers and now carjackers do not hesitate to kill their victims.

It’s worse today as the victims are mutilated and burned. In Magallanes, Cavite, 16-year-old Mary Jane de la Vega was raped, stabbed to death and decapitated. Ilocos Norte RTC Judge Fredelito Pingao was found dead in his house in Currimao with his neck slashed.

Again and again we ask, when is the P-Noy administration going to start collecting loose firearms, including stopping smuggling of firearms. It’s just too easy for every Tom, Dick and Harry to get hold of a gun.

As Boy Evangelista, the father of Venson remarked, there is no protection for the citizen.

The ruthless killers of Evangelista, Lozano, Sencil and dela Vega deserve to be burned also in the electric chair. These cases are a good reason to restore the death penalty as proposed by Senator Miguel Zubiri.

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PUZZLING. . . It is a wonderment why P-Noy announced the appointment of Sen. Mar Roxas as Presidential trouble shooter six months in advance. There is a one year ban on the appointment of losing candidates. I can think of 2 possible reasons: 1) It was a way of reassuring Mar Roxas that he is not being forgotten or marginalized or 2) it was meant to reassure the public: don’t worry, the trouble shooter/economics expert Mar Roxas is coming in to help give you a better life.

Whatever the reason, there is good ground to believe that P-Noy considers Mar Roxas his security blanket whom he regularly consults on major appointments.

The only fly-in-the-ointment, it is clear that Roxas as LP president has a clear political agenda to assure the victory of the LP Presidential candidate in 2016 which at the moment looks like Mar Roxas himself.

This fact he clearly indicated when he objected to the appointment of Sixto Brillantes Jr. on the ground it would assure the presidency of Jojo Binay or Chiz Escudero as President in 2016.

Meanwhile, there is no word yet from the Malacañang on the previously announced January mini revamp of the Cabinet.

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FROM THE MAIL . . . We acknowledge the letters of the following: DPWH Sec. Rogelio Singson, DOLE Sec. Rosalinda D. Baldoz, PCSO Chairperson Margarita P. Juico, Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez, Atty. Angel Cruz, PNP Director General Raul Bacalzo, NBI Director Magtanggol Gatdula, COGEO President Florino, Ibañez. Ret. COA Commissioner Bartolome Fernandez Jr., Dr. Vernon Dula Clelo, Sen. Victor Ziga, Ibrahim Dianalan, Atty. Jeanie Bacong, Melissa Angeles, Cora Ortiz, Mel Robles and Apolonio Ramos.

Your letters were sent to the Philippine STAR offices at the Port Area and so we received them late. Rest assured we appreciate your concerns which we have read and considered. Thank you for your support.

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SLOW TO ACT . . . From January to September 2010, 2,086 accidents happened on Commonwealth Ave., QC. Extrapolate that to 3,000 a year. You cannot solve the problem of Commonwealth Avenue by just hiring more lady bus drivers. To begin with, reduce the speed limit to 40-45 kilometer per hour and assign at least 10 motorcycle cops to enforce it. Confiscate the license of overspeeding drivers and suspend them for at least a year. Do it now.

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TIDBITS . . . Palawan is the 26th province to be battered by heavy rains and floods. The towns of Narra, Aborlan and Roxas are affected. There are now 57 deaths due to floods and landslides. Dapitan City in Zamboanga del Norte has also been hit by floods.

Barangay Chairman Madia-as Arevalo Mendez, 69 of Barangay Biñan, Pagsanjan, Laguna died from 9 gunshot wounds by 2 armed motorcycle gunmen along the national highway.

Congratulations to Rep. Georgina Perez de Venecia (Pangasinan, 4th dist.) for being unanimously elected president of the 64 member Association of Lady Legislators.

DOH Secretary Enrique Ona should be commended for initiating a program to hire 10,000 contractual nurses with an allowance of P8,000 a month.

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For more details on the above issues, tune in to our radio program, “Mr. Expose” every Sunday from 8-9:30 a.m. over Station DZRJ-AM, 810 KHZ on your dial.