Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III wants to make senators approximate Pontius Pilate by allowing public opinion to influence the outcome of the impeachment trial of respondent Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez
A senator sitting as a judge in the impeachment court must make his own judgment based on his personal appreciation of the evidence and the law irrespective of the temper and whim of public opinion.
Otherwise, the Senate’s power as an impeachment court would be eroded and avoided if the ombudsman’s culpability can be partly determined in an opinion poll.
However, the constitution categorically mandates that “The Senate shall have the sole power to try and decide all cases of impeachment” after the senators have first taken an “oath or affirmation.”
The senators cannot share their constitutional authority and responsibility with anyone, not even with the people through the variables of public opinion.
“Washing one’s hands” is a pathetic evasion of a sublime duty.
The 500-M fuel subsidy to franchised jeepneys and tricycles is a tentative and selective solution to the escalating fuel crisis which demands a nationwide all-sector solution which must be more lasting.
A cosmetic balm to avert a transport strike is a deceitful approach being deodorized as a “populist” initiative.
The fuel subsidy is a haphazard remedy even as the executive order admittedly has not been detailed, crafted and finalized.
While the President’s admission that we have “no control” over the developments in the Middle East is defeatist, albeit true, the Aquino administration must exercise control over policies to adequately address the aftermath in the Philippines of the Middle East crisis.
The country has faced and surmounted worse crises before and the responses of the previous administrations could be instructive to the Aquino administration.
Justifying the proposed burial in the Libingan ng mga Bayani of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos by invoking the recent hero’s burial of Gen. Angelo Reyes constitutes a grave historical amnesia and a contemporary aberration.
Contrary to the contention of Senator Antonio Trillanes, there is no parity between Marcos and Reyes, and the country has moved on without bestowing hero’s honors to the late dictator by transferring his remains from Batac, Ilocos Norteto the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
The following factors vastly differentiate the two military figures:
1) While Reyes was the victim of a yet unsubstantiated involvement in military corruption, Marcos accounts in Switzerland were frozen by Swiss authorities as ill-gotten wealth and transferred to the Philippines government some of the bank deposits amounting to multi-million dollars. Marcos also faced sequestration cases in the Philippines for colluding with subalterns and cronies in cornering government contracts and marauding private enterprises;
2) Reyes inherited the culture of corruption and impunity of the military which was nurtured by Marcos to make the military beholden to him and buttress his regime;
3) Reyes was never charged with human rights violations but Marcos was found guilty of human rights abuses by a US Federal Court and held his estate liable;
4) The corruption and profligacy during the 14 years of the Marcos martial rule resulted in the devastation of the Philippine economy to below zero growth at the time he was forcibly ousted by the people in 1986; and
5) While Reyes was distraught by allegations of corruption against him, Marcos died unrepentant of plunder charges even as his heirs and scions maintain an aura and arrogance of being lily white.
“Honoring and rewarding Filipino centenarians is a fitting testimonial to our giving value to life and life-long achievements.”
This was declared by Minority Leader and Albay Representative Edcel C. Lagman who is the author of House Bill No. 834 or “An Act Honoring and Granting Additional Benefits and Privileges to Filipino Centenarians, Declaring the 25th of September as National Respect for Centenarians Day and for Other Purposes.”
The bill was approved unanimously last week by the House Committee on Population and Family Relations.
Lagman added that “centenarians are role models for aging well and living long, three decades past the current life expectancy of the average Filipino at 71 years.”
Under the centenarian bill, Filipinos, both in the Philippines and abroad, are entitled to the following benefits:
1) A cash gift of P100,000.00 on their 100th birthday and a congratulatory letter from the President of the Philippines;
2) An additional cash reward from the local government unit where they are residing at the option of the LGU concerned;
3) Posthumous plaques of recognition in honor of all deceased centenarians who died before the effectivity of the law, to be presented to the nearest surviving relative;
4) Fifty percent (50%) discount and exemption from the value added tax (VAT), if applicable, on the sale of goods and services from all establishments for the exclusive use and enjoyment or availment of centenarians; and
5) Declaring every 25th of September as “National Respect for Centenarians Day” wherein all Filipinos who have become centenarians during the year shall be awarded plaques of recognition and cash incentives by their respective city or municipal governments in appropriate ceremonies.
Lagman also said that while we correctly and repeatedly say that “the youth is the hope of the motherland, we seldom acknowledge that elderly citizens, particularly centenarians, are the fulfillment of the motherland.”
In 2007 there were a total of 7,323 Filipino centenarians, 4,206 of which were females and 3,117 were males.
The United States has the most number of centenarians estimated at 72,000 while Japan is second with a centenarian population of about 30,000. However, it is estimated that China will actually lead the world population of centenarians by 2050 with over 450,000.
Unremitting and yearly pregnancies are serious cases of violence against women who are denied access to family planning, including legal, medically-safe and effective contraception.
The principal culprits are: (1) the Catholic Church hierarchy which continues to oppose the enactment of the reproductive health bill and propagates misinformation on modern family planning methods; (2) the government for procrastinating on the passage of the long-delayed RH measure; and (3) husbands and men who impose themselves on their wives and partners in the absence of any viable family planning method.
This form of violence against women constitutes physical, psychological and financial violence which are punishable under Republic Act No. 9262 or the “Anti Violence Against Women and Their Children Act”.
It is physical violence because unremitting pregnancies pose high risks to women and constitute a major cause of maternal death and illness. The National Demographic and Health Survey reveals that 11 women die daily from maternal causes.
It is psychological violence because women who are driven to abortion because they cannot afford another child suffer grave psychological trauma. According to the UP Population Institute an average of 500,000 abortions are performed annually in the country.
It is likewise financial violence because unremitting pregnancies prevent women from finishing their education and securing remunerative work for which reason they are condemned to financial subjugation.
