Mar - Leni sealed

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said that the Mar Roxas-Leni Robredo team up is almost “sealed.”

The vice presidentiable slot has been offered to Robredo by Secretary Mar Roxas but she asked for three weeks to decide.

Robredo said she did not have the resources and national awareness required for a vice presidential run.

I am sure that Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Roxas will give her enough “resources” to take care of her campaign requirements.

Belmonte had endorsed Senator Alan Peter Cayetano to Roxas as his running mate but Roxas offered it instead to Robredo as the congressman was also President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino’s choice.

Robredo, who represents Camarines Sur’s 2nd district in the House of Representatives, will surely split the Bicolano votes with Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero who comes from Sorsogon.

That gives the edge to Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos if he runs for vice president with Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay as he will have a solid Ilocano vote.

Albay Governor Joey Salceda said Robredo will beat Escudero in Bicolandia as the Camarines provinces are double the voting population of Sorsogon.

Meanwhile, Palawan Rep. Douglas Hagedorn, Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo and Romblon Rep. Eleandro Jesus Madrona proposed a draft for Speaker Belmonte as vice presidential candidate.

SC disqualified naturalized mayor

The Supreme Court (SC) declared that a candidate who had renounced his American citizenship and had taken his oath of allegiance to the Philippines but who, thereafter, continued to use his American passport for traveling will be disqualified to run for public office.

The SC disqualified Mayor Rommel Arnado of Kauswagan Lanao del Norte, who run twice in 2010 and 2013.

The Higher Court said only “natural-born Filipinos who owe total and undivided allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines can run and hold elective public office.

If Senator Grace Poe is disqualified by the SC after the deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacy on October 16, she cannot be substituted as she is an independent candidate. Only a political party can nominate a substitute candidate.

That would be a good reason for Poe to take her oath as a member of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).

Meanwhile, three legal experts – Dean Pacifico Agabin, Dean Amado Valdez and Lawyer Raymund Fortun – said that the residency issue can still be raised against Poe when she files her certificate of candidacy with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) because the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) decision did not establish the eligibility of her to run for 2016 presidential election.

Senator Vicente Sotto said they could finish the disqualification case against Poe in November, which is beyond the filing of the certificates of candidacy.  But Senate President Franklin Drilon, vice-chairman of the Liberal Party, strongly urged the SET to immediately come out with a decision on the quo warranto petition against Poe to help the public decide whom to vote for next year.

Congress probe on Soliman

Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., chairman of the House committee on justice, has filed House Resolution 2394 calling for an inquiry into alleged anomalies in the implementation of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) multi-billion peso Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) program for the survivors of Yolanda.

Tupas said he had received thousands of individual complaints in his congressional district about DSWD taking cuts from the P30,000 allotted to Yolanda survivors, citing gross incompetence of DSWD personnel.

Others complained that the cash assistance of P30,000 and P10,000 to families whose houses were totally or partially damaged by Typhoon Yolanda have been split into smaller amounts to accommodate more beneficiaries.

Tupas also said unqualified residents were included as beneficiaries for a fee, wherein the qualified ones were excluded from the original list for refusing to cooperate with corrupt project officials.

Earlier, Anakpawis party-list Rep. Fernando Hicap filed a resolution to conduct an investigation into the alleged anomalies committed by DSWD officials in implementing the ESA.

Clearly an indication of irregularities in the distribution of ESA benefits.

Tidbits

LP Congressman Roman Romulo is reportedly transferring to the Grace Poe-Chiz Escudero camp to be one of its senatorial candidates.

The same appears to be true for Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Secretary Joel Villanueva who is not acceptable to the LP leadership as a senatorial candidate.

Caloocan LP Congressman Recom Echieverri is also rumored to shift from the LP to the Poe-Escudero camp.

Raul Daza is running for Congress again in Northern Samar.

The MRT-3 had another two-hour breakdown on Sunday.  

Former Palawan Governor Joel Reyes and his brother, former Coron Mayor Mario Reyes, both suspects in the 2011 murder of journalist and environmentalist Gerry Ortega, have been arrested in Thailand.

COA has accused the MMDA of wasting government funds (P803,000) for the beautification of the Circulo del Mundo Rotunda, despite knowing that the structure was scheduled for demolition.

300,000 Cubans, led by President Raul Castro, attended the Papal Mass at Havana’s Plaza dela Revolucion. Compare that to the six million that attended the Papal Mass at the Luneta.