QUEZON CITY – Actor and Quezon City Councilor Roderick Paulate is facing charges of falsification of public documents, and graft and corruption before the Quezon City Prosecutors Office.
Also charged was Jocelyn Antonio, a member of Paulate’s staff.
The complaint was filed by Gina Magbanua, 36, of 461 Katarungang St., Barangay Commonwealth, a former employee of the councilor at City Hall.
Paulate was not immediately available to comment on the complaint, but his aides denied the allegations against the councilor.
Magbanua, in her two-page complaint, said she was a volunteer for Paulate’s office, and that in August 2011, she had received P5,000 as allowance for five months from February to June 2001, or P1,000 per month. 
She said Antonio informed her there was no need for her to go to Paulate’s office every day, except when she would be called to report. 
She added later on, she found out that she was included in the monthly payroll of the councilors office from July 1, 2011 to Dec. 31, 2011 receiving P11,600 a month as project monitoring officer. 
She complained she had never affixed her signature opposite her name in the monthly lists of paid employees and their wages approved by the councilor himself and city budget officer Marian Orayan.

QUEZON CITY – Erstwhile friends talent manager Annabelle Rama and actress Nadia Montenegro are now bitter enemies.
In fact, their quarrel has turned to worse as Montenegro filed charges against the controversial talent manager, who is mother to actress Ruffa Gutierrez and actors Raymond and Richard Gutierrez, before the Quezon City Prosecutors Office.
The case slapped on Rama are child abuse and defamation complaints.
Rama had asked the prosecutor’s office to dismiss the case against her  due to what she said as lack of basis and insufficient evidence.
Montenegro also charged Rama with defamation for allegedly circulating rumors that one of her daughters had a sexually transmitted disease and the other had been raped.
Recently, the former actress charged Rama with libel and unjust vexation for calling her “piggy” in her Twitter account. She also alleged that Rama announced over the social networking site that she had an affair with another man and that she could not pay her debts.
In a 17-page counter affidavit, Rama said her role as talent manager of Montenegro’s daughters Anykha and Alyana is only to get jobs for the children, aged 15 and 17.
She said Montenegro, being the “guardian” and mother of the two, has the authority to accept or decline the offered TV projects or appearances and to agree on their working hours.
She also said Montenegro is provided with the taping schedules of her children’s TV appearances.
Montenegro’s kids and Rama signed a five-year contract in April 2010.
Montenegro filed a child abuse complaint against Rama in September 30 for allegedly making her children who are minor talents work for more than 40 hours, in violation of the Anti-Child Abuse Act.
She said Rama failed to protect the interests of her children by making them work even during school hours.
She said Rama gave the impression that the network required the children to work.
She also accused Rama of making her two daughters wear adult and sexually suggestive clothes and attend social events that exposed her kids to situations and circumstances that were prejudicial to their morals.QC Assistant City Prosecutor Liezel Morales asked Montenegro to file her reply to Rama’s counter affidavit by November 15, 2011.

MANILA  — Award-winning coach Freddie Roach agrees with his ward world boxing icon Manny Pacquiao that he could knock down  Mexican champion Juan Manuel Marquez in their third fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vergas on November 12.

Roach made the bold prediction as he personally supervised Pacquiao’s training in Baguio City although the training was slowed down by the strong typhoon that battered the city and Northern Luzon and is expected to be affected by two more typhoons in the coming days.
This developed as a colleague of Sarangani Congressman Pacquiao urged him to stage his next bout in Manila to  help boost the Philippines’ tourism industry.

Pacquiao should stage at least one “patriotic fight” in the country’s capital before retiring, said party-list Rep. Arnel Ty .
The pound-for-pound king earlier said he was considering retiring by 2013 when he runs for governor in the province of Sarangani.
 “We would like to believe that professional boxing is not just about money. That it is also about the sport. And in this case, it is also about Manny giving his country a much-needed lift,” said Congressman Ty, who is a member of the House committee on sports and youth development.

Ty assailed Top Rank Promotions chief, Bob Arum, for saying that “there is zero chance” that Pacquiao would hold any fight in the Philippines, due to the alleged inability of Filipinos to pay for high-priced gate tickets.
“I don’t think Manny himself is personally worried at this stage in his boxing career about making more money. I believe Manny the flag-waver is personally willing to hold a fight here. It is his promoters, who are driven only by financial rewards, who don’t want a fight here,” Ty said.
“Mr. Arum is underestimating the capacity of Filipinos to go out of their way to pay for expensive tickets just to see their idol fight. We Filipinos can be very passionate fans,” the lawmaker added.

Ty also said the Philippines has more than enough large corporations that would be willing to help sponsor Pacquiao’s bout in Manila.
Roach shrugged off the many distractions hitting the training of Pacquiao for his November fight, saying it is  “part of our lucky charm.”
“It’s always been like that since we started training here. It’s always been an issue. Typhoons, social commitments, etc. It’s part becoming a part of our lucky charm,” he said with a smile.

Last Friday, Pacquiao drove to Manila to attend with his family and celebrate the birthday of five-year-old daughter Princess, canceling his scheduled workout on the road and at the Shape Up boxing gym inside the Cooyeesan Hotel.
Last week marking a fortnight of his three week stay here, the wrath of typhoon “Pedring,” lashed out the entire Luzon,” likewise, canceled several of his roadworks.”
 
“Well, in the first place, Manny is a family man. It’s within his right to join the celebration of his daughter. Secondly, that kind distractions is already in the calendar,” Roach told PNA reporter Eddie G. Alinea.
 “No distraction really as far as the training schedule is concerned. We’ve been expecting this things to happen and we already have prepared remedies to offset them,” Roach added.

To make up, Pacquiao for the training, Pacquiao has been playing basketball, saying it is the most effective way to make up for whatever mileage he lost on the road.

Pacquiao preferred basketball instead of swimming which was proposed by his strength and conditioning coach Alex Airza.
 In the sparring department, Roach said that what had been started Thursday last week, the frequency would be increased to five rounds instead of four in his three previous skirmishes with lightweight contender Jorge Linares.

“No addition yet. It’s still very early in the game and I don’t want to hurry things up,” he said. We have to be careful. I don’t want to push him hard. Burning out is one of the things I don’t want to happen here.”

“I just want to maintain what we’ve started here. This part of the training is actually for Linares who’s fighting for the world lightweight championship on October 15,” he said.

“Truth is, Manny has offered this phase of preparation to Linazres. Although they will both benefit for this, Linares stand to get more from Manny. Linarex needs this more than Manny,” the four-time ‘trainer of the year’ said.

HISTORICAL MARKER. President Aquino leads the unveiling of the National Historical Institute marker in the Aquino ancestral home in Barangay San Jose , Concepcion, Tarlac.

The NHC said the government declared the Aquino ancestral house as a landmark because of its historical significance being the home of well-known patriots from the Aquino clan.

Three generations of Aquinos lived in the house since it was built in 1939. General Servillano Aquino, the great grandfather of the present President lived in the house.

General Aquino was a Katipunero who joined the revolution against the Spaniards. He also fought the Americans during the Filipino-American war.

The President’s grandfather, Benigno Aquino Sr. also lived in the house. Aquino Sr. was the speaker of the national assembly, became a Tarlac representative, a senator and secretary of agriculture and commerce.

Also, Benigno Aquino Jr., the father of the president resided in the ancestral house when he was the mayor of Concepcion town. He then became Tarlac governor and eventually senator. He fought the dictatorial leadership of former President Ferdinand Marcos and was assassinated in August 1983.

NHC declared the Aquino home historical landmark in 1987 based on its board resolution 1 series of 1987.

Since its building in 1939 with the help of wood craftsmen from Pampanga, the surviving Aquino family members decided to renovate the house this year so the public could appreciate its historical value.

Aside from unveiling of the marker, the President was in Concepcion Saturday to join other Aquino family members in celebrating the 80th birthday of Maria Aurora Aquino Lichauco, the President’s aunt. Aquino-Lichauco is the eldest of all the seven Aquino siblings.

Among those who joined the occasion were Aquino family members, Rep. Jesli Lapuz (Tarlac District III), Concepcion Mayor Noel Villanueva and Concepcion barangay officials. 

Like the major Christian-Judaic-Islamic religions, I do not believe in re-incarnation. But some signs are pointing to their inevitabilities if not possibilities. Although, a long shot. Maybe a very long shot.
In some countries, like India, Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism believe that after one dies, his soul or spirit comes back to life in a new form, such as another animal or anything that is living. But once reborn, some things from a person’s previous life are forgotten.
And this where the re-incarnation and the belief of Abrahamic religions (Christian-Judeo-Islamic) part ways. The latter believe that when one leads an honorable life, he will be rewarded with a ticket to heaven. But if one does the opposite, he burns in hell.
But for those unbaptized but innocent with righteous souls as those infants or people who lived before the coming of Christ, they are assigned in an intermediate place or state of confinement in oblivion and neglect.
Since Philippine national hero Jose Rizal considered himself as a Christian and his descendants in the same mold, it is easy to assume that if his relatives would agree to Rizal’s teachings and beliefs, these relatives are not actually Rizal’s re-incarnations but branches of a Rizal tree.
 
IF RIZAL AGED 150
For this reason, Rizal’s relatives like Dr. Ramon G. Lopez, the great grandnephew of Dr. Rizal, could be drawing inspiration from the national hero when Dr. Lopez promoted beliefs and aspirations had Rizal got to live to 150 years old today.
In excerpts to the book, “Remembering Rizal, Voices From the Diaspora,” an anthology edited by Edwin Agustin Lozada (Philippine American Writers and Artists, Inc., San Francisco, 2011),  Dr. Lopez messaged that if his martyred great granduncle were alive today, he would have still dreamed of making sure his passion of plucking the 92 million Filipinos out of the throes of abject poverty.
Dr. Lopez continued: “His (Rizal’s) clarion call resounds for the 23 million impoverished Filipinos subsisting on less than two U.S. dollars per day (84 pesos).
“His clarion call resounds for the poorest of the poor. For the estimated 1.2 million of the Philippines’ street children, 50,000 to 70,000 alone are roaming the streets of Manila – children born into poverty and hopelessly mired n poverty.”
He said, “In my mind, if Dr. Jose Rizal were still alive today, he would be a very active and progressive liberal, always looking for reforms, and always cognizant of opportunities to improve the lot of his people.
 
WALL OF SEPARATION
 “He would espouse issues for human capital development, for gender equality, for social protection and for agrarian reform. He would work for the economic stability and progress of the Philippines in order to attract back its expatriates. He would demand for an honest, effective and transparent governance of the country. He would be for the Jeffersonian philosophy of “wall of separation” between church and state. 
“Knowing his humanism, he would support an effective, sustainable “Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health” bill. Dr. Jose Rizal would be a national and international leader.
“But he would refuse to be President.
“Instead, what I see is him standing at the world podium, proclaiming what the Roman orator and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero said n 63 B.C. (and what was repeated by President John F. Kennedy in his inaugural):
“Ask not what your country can do for you,
but rather what you can do for your country.”
Indeed, spoken by a chip off the old block of the martyred hero, Dr. Lopez’ re-instatement of some of Rizal’s passions should be heeded by the Catholic Hierarchy which is moving heaven and earth to oppose the Reproductive Bill.
I always believe that there should be liberal interpretation of the Biblical injunction to “go and multiply.” The edict should not be narrowly interpreted as to prop up population explosion.
With the Philippines ranked as the 12th most populous country in the world, according to a
United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) estimates, the Philippines cannot afford to keep this dubious distinction that would only exacerbate the Philippine situation.
Rizal should be cringing from his grave if the Catholic Church will not reconsider its stand on the RH bill. (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net

Ex-Comelec officer, Ampatuan expose ‘point saving’ in polls

MANILA – Was it the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. who won the presidential elections in 2004 and not former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo?

If dismissed Maguindanao Election Supervisor Lintang H. Bedol and former Governor Rizaldy “Zaldy” Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are to be asked that question, their answer would probably be that there is a big possibility the Movie King was the winner in that elections.

Bedol, known for his notoriety in Comelec for alleged voting manipulation in elections who has been in hiding for four years, and Ampatuan, who is one of the principal accused in the Maguindanao massacre, exposed although belatedly what they alleged as massive cheating not only in the 2004 presidential elections but also the 2007 senatorial elections.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said that Bedol is now under government custody, adding that his allegations will be thoroughly investigated.

Through their alleged vote-shaving and vote-padding operations,  then President Arroyo won in the 2004 presidential election and Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri won over bar topnotcher Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III in the last slot in the 2007 senatorial balloting.

Reacting to Bedol and Ampatuan’s allegations, Vice President Jejomar Binay said he was hoping  that the poll fraud revelations would lead to the vindication of Poe.

“Matagal na nating sinasabi yan, na dinaya si FPJ. Sana ngayon maresolba na yan para mabigyan ng hustisya si FPJ at ang mga bumoto sa kanya. Kung automated ang eleksyon noong 2004, sana hindi nangyari ang pandaraya (I have said it before that FPJ was cheated. I hope this case will be resolved to give justice to FPJ and to those who voted for him. If the elections were already automated in 2004, the fraud would have not happened),” Binay said in a press statement released by his office.

Susan Roces and Grace Poe-Llamanzares, widow and daughter of Poe, urged witnesses with details of cheating in the 2004 and 2007 elections to come out.

Llamanzares, who now heads the Movie, Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), told GMA News she sees a new chance to hold accountable the persons responsible for alleged massive cheating in the 2004 and 2007 elections.

“Bedol’s statement of cheating in 2004 just adds proof to the quietly accepted fact that FPJ won the 2004 elections. He was simply cheated. Hopefully more witnesses will come out and profess the same… If there is another chance to make it right, that chance is now,” Llamanzares said

“My family and I are hopeful that the recent information regarding massive cheating in 2007 and 2004 elections will continue to gain speed and snowball and lead to the convictions of those responsible for making a mockery of the Philippine electoral process and ultimately crushing the hopes of a fair and corruption-free government during the dark years before the present Aquino administration,” Llamanzares said.

Raul Lambino, a former senatorial candidate and now lawyer of Mrs. Arroyo,  dismissed the allegations of Ampatuan and Bedol as mere hearsay meant to gain concessions from Malacañang for their freedom.

Lambino said that Mrs. Arroyo will face all the criminal charges filed against her by allies of the Aquinoadministration, which he said, is resorting to a media campaign to stir up public anger against her while at the same time diverting the people’s attention to the failures of the government.

“She (Arroyo) is going to face and answer all these charges, but in the proper forum,” Lambino said, adding all the complaints against her were baseless.

He said the vilification campaign was connected to the approaching State of the Nation Address (SONA)on July 25 where President Aquino would be hard-pressed to present concrete achievements after one year in office.

Bedol was tagged as the one responsible for the sweep in Maguindanao of Arroyo’s Team Unity in the 2004 elections and the zero votes received by opposition bets in the 2007 midterm polls.

He was actually sentenced in August 2007 to six months imprisonment and fined P1,000. He was released after paying a bail of P15,000 after his camp expressed interest in appealing the ruling, which was eventually denied by the Supreme Court.

In his new statements, Bedol claimed Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, former Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos, and former Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer had roles in the alleged election fraud in 2007. Sarmiento has denied the allegation.

A GMA News report stated that Sgt. Vidal Doble, the former military Technical Sergeant who leaked the so-called “Hello Garci” audio recordings, has also resurfaced and warned that Bedol has no credibility as a witness.

In an exclusive report of Maki Pulido for GMA News’ “State of the Nation,” Sgt. Doble said Bedol was one of those operators involved in election fraud.

Bedol alleged in a television interview with ABS-CBN that dagdag-bawas or vote padding and shaving operations were conducted in the 2004 presidential race when Arroyo was in power.

Bedol said told the network the investigation on poll fraud in 2004, including the “Hello, Garci” vote rigging scandal, should be revived. He said he was willing to testify on the alleged anomalies that resulted in Arroyo’s election as president.

He said during the 2004 elections, ballot boxes were switched and he believed that original ballots were replaced with fake ones.

“If we have fake (election) documents, then we have a fake president – that’s what I want to prove,” he said in the interview.

Bedol said that at least two truckloads of fake election returns were distributed in Maguindanao as part of the special election operations to ensure the victory of the Arroyo administration’s Team Unity senatorial candidates in 2007.

ALLICE KUMARES & KUMPARES
COLLABORATE WITH EPISCOPALIANS

Exclusively for Philippines Today

For the fifth straight year ALLICE Kumares and Kumpares staged their free faith-focused, family-oriented seminar “Our Family, Our Future” June 25 at Holy Child and St. Martin Episcopal Church in Daly City. Some 100 people listened and learned from the testimony of Kumare Edna Biscocho Murray, who experienced and overcame verbal, emotional, psychological, financial and physical abuse from her mother.

On behalf of Consul Gen. Marciano Paynor Jr. who could not attend because of a family engagement, Vice Consul Leah Rodriguez captivated the audience with her remarks.

“The campaign… must continue to enlighten the minds and hearts of our kababayans about being pro-active in fighting domestic violence,” said Rodriguez said. “It is everybody’s obligation, as embodied in our Filipino attribute of having a having a ‘bayanihan’ spirit.

She cited from a letter by Jose Rizal, reminding Filipino Americans of the first national hero’s respect for women and informed non-Filipinos of the seeds that sowed the women’s rights movement in the Philippines. Her mention of the Philippines’ Violence Against Women and Children law illustrated the ancestral country’s regional leadership in protecting women, girls and families. Consul Reggie Bernabe and consular officer Lynn Sesante were also present.

“We believe and appreciate the work of ALLICE,” said Daly City Mayor Carol Klatt, who encouraged support for their work in educating the community about family violence. She shared her niece’s experience with domestic abuse and thanked our ALLICE 2009 president and resident psychologist Dr. Jei Africa in whose training she learned about the many forms of abuse.

Holy Child and St. Martin Episcopal Church pastor Leonard Oakes and women president Mariterie Adams and Archdiocese of S.F. Pastoral Council Vice Chair Nellie Hizon said faith communities should do all they can to help troubled families.

KTVU Channel 2 News South Bay bureau chief Lloyd LaCuesta emceed the event for the third time, with ALLICE 2011 vice president Kristine Averilla at this fifth presentation.

“We are truly a family of volunteers, said Cherie Querol Moreno, ALLICE executive director and Philippines Today columnist. “We are grateful for the support from we get that continues to grow every year. Together we gave hope and saved lives.”

About 100 people attended and some 17 resource providers participated. They shared services for addressing family problems. Kaiser Permanente Filipino American Association gave free health tests
At least two attendees expressed desire to join the Alliance for Community Empowerment and become Kumares.

Principal sponsor Seton Medical Center and collaboratoe Thomasians USA and regular donors led by Lucky Chances, Moonstar, Starbucks, Yashi Okita Design, Forex Cargo, Ray Satorre and Georgette’s of Westlake were joined by new donors Law Offices of Amancio Liangco Jr., FALEO, Mona Lisa Yuchengco, Eva Alminiana Monroe, Tastebuds, and Manila Eatery. Philippines Today and Philippine News were the major media sponsors.

ALLICE Kumares and Kumpares include Alice Bulos, Bettina Santos Yap, Edna Murray, Elsa Agasid, FNP; Erlinda Galeon, Dr. Jei Africa, Jennifer Jimenez, Kristine Zafrani Averilla, Hon. Joanne del Rosario, Lina Susbilla, Lorraine Canaya, NP; Malou Aclan, RN; Rev. Mark Reburiano, Paulita Malay, MFT; Sgt. Randy Caturay, Robert Uy, Esq., Sarah Jane Ilumin, and Susan Roxas.

For more information call (650)636-4031 (Erlinda), 878-4739 (Malou) or (650)872-2301 (Alice).

You may not believe it, but the relationship of Shalani Soledad and her popular television co-host Wille Revillame is nothing but professional.

Shalani herself is insisting that their friendship is on that level, despite going out together on many occasions, including a grand vacation in Boracay.

Willie also has been in denial mode about their rumored romantic ties. Willie has been known for being close to many women.

Shalani  dismissed Willie’s verbal insinuations towards her on their show that cause the undying speculations of romance between them.

“Naku, si Willie, I think he’s ano… usual charming self. Ganyan naman yata si Willie,” she said.

Asked if there’s anyone courting her right now, she answered “May mga nag-i-invite naman,” and even intimated that this included some politicians.

Shalani admitted that though she never dreamed of being a host, she’s still enjoying her stint on the popular “Willing Willie” show on TV 5. She added that her co-hosting job will remain her top priority when it comes to showbiz.

Meanwhile,  “Eat Bulaga!” host Joey de Leon said he was willing to be a guest on “Willing Willie.”

“Wala nang isyu sa amin ni Willie [Revillame] dahil ‘Magkapatid’ na nga kami dito sa TV5. Kahit imbitahan pa niyang akong mag-guest sa ‘Willing-Willie,’ okey lang. Kaso ang problema ko lang ‘yung sked ko. Masyado kasing hectic, kasi ang dami kong shows,” de Leon said.

The veteran comedian-host  gave his two cents on Revillame’s surprising plug for “Eat Bulaga!” on Jan. 26.

“Okey lang. Although alam naman natin kung bakit niya ginawa ‘yun kasi inis siya sa mga kaibigan niyang sina Randy [Santiago] at John [Estrada] na tinanggap ’yung noontime show sa Dos nang hindi man lang siya nasabihan,” de Leon said.

Revillame, who turned out to be personally negotiating for a project for Estrada and Santiago in TV5, was apparently stung by the duo’s move to work for ABS-CBN. He made his ill-feelings towards his two friends known publicly via the infamous phone call he made to Estrada live on his show, also in late January.

If Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) had made the decision to bow to Chinese pressure and boycott the Nobel Peace Prize event in Oslo on December 10, few eyelashes would have batted.  But it wasn’t GMA, it was Pres. Benigno S. Aquino III who did so, explaining that “it was in the national interest” to save the lives of 5 Filipinos in China’s death row.
GMA bowed to a similar hostage demand in the past, as this news account from the Sydney Morning Herald of July 15, 2004 may remind us: “In a move to save the life of a Filipino hostage held in Iraq, the Manila Government has bowed to his kidnappers’ demands and begun the early withdrawal of its forces from Iraq… accepting the demands of Islamic militants who threatened to behead the 46-year-old Mr. Angelo de la Cruz unless the Philippine contingent was pulled out of Iraq by next Tuesday.”

Even Pres. Barack Obama last week had to bow to Republican pressure to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% in order to extend the same tax cuts to the rest of the 98% of the people. In a press conference, Pres. Obama explained that he had no choice because the Republicans would also not have allowed unemployment benefits for 2 million Americans to continue beyond December 31, 2010 if he did not do so. He said the American people were the hostages and, as president, he had to look out for their interests.

The number of hostages is immaterial – whether it is 1 Filipino OFW worker in Iraq, 5 Filipino drug mules in China or 2 million unemployed Americans without benefits, a president has to consider the political and personal consequences of his or her decisions and make the call.

While Pres. Aquino can justify the boycotting of the Oslo ceremony which was held on International Human Rights Day (of all days), we can express our extreme disappointment because the man who was honored with a Nobel Peace Prize that day was the “Ninoy Aquino of China”.

If Pres. Aquino had attended the Oslo ceremony, he would have heard Thorbjørn Jagland, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, describe Liu Xiaobo as follows:

“Liu was born on the 28th of December 1955 in Changchun in China’s Jilin province. He took a Bachelor’s degree in literature at Jilin University, and a Master’s degree and a PhD at Beijing Normal University, where he also taught. Stays abroad included visits to Oslo, Hawaii, and Columbia University, New York.”

“In 1989 he returned home to take part in the dawning democracy movement. On the 2nd of June he and some friends started a hunger strike on Tiananmen Square to protest against the state of emergency that had been declared. They issued a six-point democratic manifesto, written by Liu, opposing dictatorship and in favor of democracy.”

“In 1996, Liu was sentenced to three years in a labor camp for “rumor-mongering and slander.” He was president of the independent Chinese PEN-centre from 2003 to 2007. Liu has written nearly 800 essays, 499 of them since 2005. He was one of the chief architects behind Charter 08, which was made known on the 10th of December 2008, which … defends fundamental human rights and has in due course been signed by several thousand persons both in China itself and abroad.”
“On the 25th of December 2009, Liu was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment and two years’ loss of political rights for, in the words of the sentence, “incitement to the overthrow of the state power and socialist system and the people’s democratic dictatorship.” Liu has consistently claimed that the sentence violates both China’s own constitution and fundamental human rights.”
What was subversive about Liu Xiaobo’s writings?
In Charter 08, he wrote: “Authoritarianism is in general decline throughout the world; in China, too, the era of emperors and overlords is on the way out. The time is arriving everywhere for citizens to be masters of states. For China the path that leads out of our current predicament is to divest ourselves of the authoritarian notion of reliance on an “enlightened overlord” or an “honest official” and to turn instead toward a system of liberties, democracy, and the rule of law, and toward fostering the consciousness of modern citizens who see rights as fundamental and participation as a duty.”
These words could just as easily have been written by Ninoy Aquino who spent nearly 8 years in solitary confinement for his refusal to bow to the Marcos dictatorship.
Less than a year after he was imprisoned in 1972, Ninoy wrote a letter to his son Noynoy to explain why he chose not to participate in the kangaroo court that was convened by Marcos to try him.  “Son, my decision is an act of conscience. It is an act of protest against the structures of injustice that have been imposed upon our hapless countrymen. Futile and puny, as it will surely appear to many, it is my last act of defiance against tyranny and dictatorship.”
Both Ninoy Aquino and Liu Xiaobo understood and accepted Mahatma Gandhi’s words that “the willing sacrifice of the innocent is the most powerful answer to insolent tyranny that has yet been conceived by God and man”.

The decision to boycott the Oslo ceremony was not a product of “bungled incompetence” like the Luneta hostage crisis nor was it made for personal monetary gain, as decisions of previous Philippine presidents may have been. But it was just as disappointing.

By snubbing Liu Xiaobo, Noynoy had turned his back on his father’s legacy.

(Send comments to Rodel50@aol.com or mail them to the Law Offices of Rodel Rodis at 2429 Ocean Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94127 or call 415.334.7800).

Fugitive Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson is hiding in plain sight somewhere in the Philippines. This breaking news was confirmed by a local elected official who told Philippine Daily Inquirer correspondent Arlyn dela Cruz that he saw Lacson just last month in “a chance meeting (in the) place of a common friend.”

Sen. Lacson is the subject of a warrant of arrest for  the November 2000 abduction and execution of Bubby Dacer and Emmanuel Corbito by agents of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) which he headed. After the warrant was issued last January, Lacson went into hiding and was thought to have fled to China.

In the last month, however, Lacson has stepped up his public pronouncements of innocence and has launched a media offensive to exert pressure on Philippine Secretary of Justice Leila De Lima to “ask the court to withdraw the information and conduct a reinvestigation.” This has fed speculation that Lacson is in the Philippines protected by wealthy Chinese benefactors and military cohorts.

Lacson’s closest friends in the Senate including Sen. Gringo Honasan and Sen. Juan Ponce-Enrile have belittled the government’s case against Lacson and are working behind the scenes to fashion a scenario that would allow their colleague to surrender without being jailed. Because Lacson is charged with double homicide, a non-bailable capital offense, he cannot be released on bail.

Sec. De Lima said the conditions laid down by Lacson for resurfacing should be discussed only after he had surrendered. She made it clear that Lacson’s “present status does not accord him the privilege of laying down terms with a tenor of finality.”

But Lacson is undeterred. “I will only come out when justice is rightly served, or when I’m already dead,” he said. “ I prefer to suffer in pain but with dignity, sitting alone with my conscience for the rest of my life, rather than do time in jail for a crime I did not commit,” he proclaimed.

There are two Filipinos, Michael Ray Aquino and Leandro Aragoncillo, who are serving time in federal detention facilities in Hudson Bay and Woodbury, New Jersey. They would be glad to know that Lacson would rather “suffer in pain but with dignity” than to trade places with either of them.  According to US Attorney Christopher Christie, now governor of New Jersey, the two are serving time for crimes committed at the behest of Sen. Lacson.

According to the April 16, 2007 Memorandum filed by then US Attorney Christie in the US District Court of New Jersey, Michael Ray Aquino is “a spy and a foreign agent” who acted on behalf of his “patron, godfather, mentor and friend, Senator Panfilo M. Lacson.”
Christie added that Aquino “participated in a criminal conspiracy against the United States that spanned the globe, involved the theft of classified national defense documents from the White House and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

Michael Ray Aquino, according to the Christie Memorandum, “is a trained intelligence officer (who) quickly rose through the ranks of the Philippine National Police (PNP) under the tutelage and careful watch of Senator Panfilo Lacson, the former Director-General of the PNP and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF).”

Michael Aquino, who fled to the US in 2001 to escape arrest for his role in the Dacer-Corbito murders, befriended FBI agent Leandro Aragoncillo sometime in 2005 and thereafter discussed obtaining classified information from Aragoncillo about the “political situation” in the Philippines.

“Aquino dutifully introduced Aragoncillo to Lacson in an email dated January 2, 2005” and thereafter “transmitted to Lacson classified information provided by Aragoncillo”  which Aquino believed “could be a catalyst for change in our country,” the Christie Memorandum noted. The “change” was about a coup d’etat.

Aragoncillo started transmitting directly to Lacson, or sometimes indirectly through Aquino, “classified documents, including national defense documents classified SECRET and containing information about US government confidential sources and methods.”

On March 7, 2005, Aquino was arrested by US immigration agents for overstaying his tourist visa. While in government custody, Aragoncillo visited him and identified himself to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as an FBI Officer which aroused the suspicions of ICE agents.  Aquino’s bail was set at $50,000 which was posted by Sen. Lacson through Cezar Mancao.

After Aquino was released, he continued to obtain information from Aragoncillo which would be transmitted to Lacson.  Aquino then arranged for Aragoncillo to go to the Philippines to meet with Lacson.

On April 4, 2005, Lacson emailed Aragoncillo: “I will be happy to make myself available in May and meet with you when you arrive in RP. We have a lot of things to discuss although May might be a little late. I hope that it is not. No need to elaborate.”

According to the Christie Memorandum, on April 21, 2005, after learning from Aragoncillo that he was under investigation by the FBI, Lacson “instructed him to “discontinue transmitting classified information to Aquino after Aquino’s release from ICE custody for fear that they would be discovered.”

The Christie Memorandum notes further: “Aquino did not, however, discontinue his relationship with Lacson, or exit the conspiracy. Indeed, he continued to act as Lacson’s illegal agent in the United States along with Aragoncillo…Moreover, Aquino knew that Aragoncillo continued to communicate with Lacson after Aragoncillo discontinued transmitting classified information to Aquino and that Aragoncillo travelled to the RP to meet with Lacson in June 2005.”

On September 6, 2005, Aragoncillo transmitted classified documents to Lacson about a coup in “Country #2”.  Later that day, Aragoncillo received a call from Lacson which was secretly taped by the FBI. According to the transcripts of the conversation, which is included in the Christie Memorandum, Lacson thanked Aragoncillo for sending him “the blueprint on how to do it”.  Lacson told him that he would print it “because we are preparing something like this.”

That was the last recorded communication between Lacson and Aragoncillo because on September 9, 2005, US government agents arrested Aquino and Aragoncillo after charging them with “conspiracy to defraud the United States and act as an illegal foreign agent…and acting as an illegal foreign agent.”

According to FBI Special Agent in Charge Leslie Wiser, Jr., “the arrests of Leandro Aragoncillo and Michael Ray Aquino affirm the FBI’s commitment to apprehending those who would seek to reveal classified information to foreign nationals,” he said.

US Attorney Christie added: “Crimes like these strike at the heart of our national security. These defendants will face the full weight of federal prosecution.”

For almost two years, Aquino maintained his innocence but agreed to plead guilty on July 17, 2007 after US attorneys were set to fly to the Philippines to depose Sen. Lacson. In exchange for not deposing Lacson, Aquino pled guilty to one count of unlawful possession of secret US government documents.  He was sentenced to six years and four months. Leandro Aragoncillo, on the other hand, was sentenced on July 18, 2007, to ten years in prison.

“Aquino is now an admitted spy, who cultivated and used Aragoncillo, a willing accomplice, to transfer US intelligence secrets abroad,” declared US Attorney Christie after the defendants had entered their guilty pleas in court. The US intelligence secrets were transmitted to Lacson who reportedly paid for the legal defense fees of Michael Ray Aquino.

While locked up in US prisons, both Aragoncillo and Aquino must feel warmly comforted by the thought that the man they willingly fell on the sword for is feeling their pain and doing so “with dignity”. Merry Christmas.

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