Belmonte rejects invitation to P-Noy

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has rejected suggestions by some opposition lawmakers to invite the President to testify at the House hearings into the Mamasapano incident on April 7 and 8. But the Chief of the House said he would welcome any information the President would give.

Isabela Rep. Rodito Albano supported his minority colleagues’ suggestion to invite the President to the House hearings to once and for all clear the issues raised on the massacre of 44 police commandos and to give him the chance to be heard. Youth Against Corruption and Poverty Rep. Carol Jayne Lopez also favored the suggestion to invite the President.

Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer, chairman of the House committee on peace and order, and public safety, said the President may send Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa to represent him.

Rep. Karlo Nograles agreed with him to allow the President to  send a representative on his behalf. He also said the President’s statement could shed light about his involvement in the covert police operation with former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima and sacked Special Action Force (SAF) director Getulio Napeñas as investigation by the PNP Board of Inquiry (BOI) showed that they violated the chain of command by keeping information about the Mamasapano police operation to themselves.

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said there is no need for President Aquino to appear before the House as he can instead submit his statement to Congress.

But for some lawmakers, it is important that the President be personally present at the House hearing to explain his side, since Malacañang had criticized the BOI and Senate report for being incomplete because they did not contain the President’s statements.

We agree with Speaker Belmonte’s decision. Due respect must be given the President who heads an independent and co-equal branch of government.

Visayan-bloc against BBL

The 44-member Visayan bloc in the House of Representatives, headed by Congressman Alfredo Benitez, announced their opposition to the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

Congressman Benitez said the Ad-Hoc Committee should first assure the constitutionality of the BBL before putting it to a vote.

Benitez said the Department of Justice (DOJ) should come up with a firm statement that all the BBL provisions conform with the Constitution.

The recent Pulse Asia survey reported that 44 percent of the 1,200 respondents disagreed with the BBL, while only 20 percent agreeing. Thirty-six percent remain undecided on the passage.

Meanwhile, the Senate adopted Resolution No. 1240, filed by Senator Ferdinand Marcos, directing the government peace panel to ask for a copy of the report of the special investigation committee of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on the Mamasapano incident. Sen. Marcos has set the joint hearing of the committee  on local government and committee on peace, unification and reconciliation on April 13 to discuss the GPH (Government of the Philippines)-MILF ceasefire mechanisms.

Binay slams DILG, DOJ and Ombudsman

In a speech before the National Convention of lawyers, during the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) meeting in Cebu City, Vice-President Jejomar Binay assailed the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Ombudsman, for their “stubborn display of political arrogance,” who brazenly ignored the Court of Appeals’ (CA) temporary restraining order (TRO).

“Since when can an opinion and speculation override a court order?” Binay asked.

Binay thanked IBP president Vicente Joyas for asserting the primacy of the TRO of the CA over the opinions of the two Executive departments and the Ombudsman.

CHR assails Senate report

Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairman Loretta Ann Rosales assailed some of the statements made in the Senate report on a joint-committee investigation into the Mamasapano clash, which gives the appearance that “emotion, rather than objectivity, prevailed in the articulation of its findings.”

Rosales said the report categorizing the incident as a massacre is excessive.

Rosales noted the failure of the Senate investigation to highlight the welfare of civilians who died in the firefight.

While condemning what happened in Mamasapano, the Commission must caution against broad statements, which serve no purpose other than polarize public opinion.

The actions of a few rogue members cannot and should not be interpreted as the actions of the whole, she added.

For Senator Chiz Escudero, he insisted that the Mamasapano incident was a massacre and not simply a misencounter, noting that majority of the 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers were shot at close range.

Escudero said he hopes that the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) would, for once, side with the government forces, which the office is representing in the peace talks.

Crime update

Cheryll Bonifacio, 35, a Grade 1 teacher at Commonwealth Elementary School (CES), was robbed and shot dead in Commonwealth, Quezon City by motorcycle-riding gunmen.

Barangay Chairman Rodolfo Antenero, 60, and his bodyguard Raymond Sabilla were shot dead in Calatrava, Negros Occidental.

Businessman Edwin Tan was shot dead in a traffic altercations in Valenzuela City.

Vacationing overseas Filipino worker, Abner Abuan was shot dead by a motorcycle-riding gunman in Guimba, Nueva Ecija.

Tidbits

Condolence to the family of longtime journalist Amante Bigornia who died last week at the age of 98.

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Mujiv Hataman should be commended for deciding to build a concrete and steel “bridge of peace” to replace the wooden Mamasapano footbridge. Hataman allocated P17 million from ARMM funds.  The project “will also symbolize government efforts to bring progress and development to Mindanao,” he said.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda denied that President Aquino suffered a collapse last Friday. He said the President is in good condition.