Careless slip of the tongue

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said on Friday that President Aquino had neither decided on term extension nor endorsing a candidate “if the elections will take place.” Lacierda later clarified that in both instances the 2016 elections will push through.

The problem here is due to the fact that up to now President Aquino has not issued a clear statement that he is not backing a political Charter change (Cha-cha) or better yet declaring once and for all an end to his term in 2016.

The other problem is due to the fact that Lacierda, Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma and Deputy Presidential Spokesman Abigail Valte were issuing conflicting statements.

Leyte Congressman Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, head of the independent minority bloc in the House of Representatives and president of the influential Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa), said that the President should set the record straight and state categorically that he is or he is not for amendment of the Constitution that would allow him to run for reelection. 

Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian and Zamboanga City Rep. Lilia Nuño expressed their opposition to term extension.

Anti-Pork rally

The Abolish Pork Movement (ABM) launched a campaign at the Luneta to gather at least 6 million signatures for a People’s Initiative to abolish all forms of pork barrel, mandates line-item budgeting, prohibits and criminalizes allocation and use of lump sum discretionary funds, and penalizes violators with six years and one day to ten years imprisonment and disqualification from holding public office.

“The pork barrel system is still very much evident in the national budget, we should not stop at the abolition of the PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) and the DAP (Disbursement Acceleration Program),” Monet Silvestre, spokesperson of the Abolish Pork Movement, said.

The anti-pork groups aim to rid the nation of a corrupt system of patronage that undermines the principles of separation of powers, checks and balances, transparency and accountability.

The rallyists also protested against moves for a political Cha-cha to allow President Aquino to have a second term.

Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Butch Abad said there is no pork in the 2015 National Budget. But there is a P501-billion lump sum, including P30 billion for additional assistance to local government units.

Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairman Patricia Licuanan  and Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Janette Garin have admitted that congressmen have been allocated funds for scholarships and medical assistance.

There is also P400 billion in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget for infrastructure, from which congressmen can propose projects in their districts.

The DAP is also clearly a presidential pork barrel.

To try to rival the anti-pork rally, supporters of President Aquino launched an alliance to support him called KOMPRe or Koalisyon ng Mamamayan para sa Reporma.

The KOMPRe aims to ensure that the people’s hard-fought gains under the current administration are continued past 2016 by broadening and deepening the reform process and making the necessary institutional changes in our governance and economic frameworks,” the group said.      

Good decision

It is a good decision to withdraw 446 Philippine soldiers from United Nations (UN) peacekeeping duties in Golan Heights Israel and Liberia.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) can assign the returning troops to undermanned battalions in Mindanao, especially Sulu, Basilan, Compostela Valley, Surigao del Sur and Agusan del Sur.

Australian, Japanese and Croation troops in Golan Heights have been withdrawn.

Ask the President

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., vice chairman of the Liberal Party (LP), joined his colleagues in seeking an audience with President Aquino to once and for all clear doubts about his purported support to constitutional amendments to clip the alleged excessive powers of the Supreme Court (SC).

There is a need for the President to clarify his statement that he was open to Cha-cha.

If we recall, his father, Ninoy, fought against the dictatorship and yet, more than three decades ago after his death, here is his son, Noynoy, trying to consolidate power for himself.

Belmonte also wants to be enlightened with what the  President meant when he said he was not really interested in a second term. A lot of people, including himself, are guessing because of the mixed signals from his spokesmen.

But it was certainly reassuring to note that Belmonte has not shown any sign of backing off from his commitment to block any attempt to amend the political provisions of the Constitution.

Belmonte added even a single political amendment such as lifting of term limit for the President should not be pushed as a “rider” to his Resolution of Both Houses No. 1 which seeks to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution.

Close associates of the President have said that he will step down after his term ends on June 30, 2016.

Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez said any political amendments to the Constitution should be voted in a referendum simultaneous with the 2016 presidential pools so that no incumbent officials will benefit from it.

In effect, Benitez is ruling out a second term for President Aquino.

2 NPA attacks

The New People’s Army (NPA) raided two banana plantations in one day in Mindanao. The first being the Del Monte Philippines plantation in Tubay, Agusan del Norte and the second in Pantukan, Compostela Valley.

The attacks on the plantations were in retaliation for the companies’ refusal to meet extortion demands, said a Mindanao army spokesman, Major Christian Uy.