Vol. II No. 73 • ISSN 2094-4098 OCTOBER 31-NOVEMBER 6, 2011 • P15.00

Page3A flashback to Martial Law press days

RAM’S MURDER:A SCRIPT BONG

WILL NEVER PLAYBy HERNZ CUARE

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TRIAL OFBONIFACIO:THE ORIGINAL SIN

By BERTENI “TOTO”CATALUÑA CAUSING

IF the Biblical story in Genesis tells of the first sin committed by man and it is the

act of Adam of eating the forbidden apple in Eden, the “Book of Be-ginning” of the Philip-pines has its own: “The Trial of Andres Bonifa-cio.”

And if the world can-not be free from sin it must have some relation to the wrong beginning: When Eve convinced Adam to eat an apple.

The same could be the reason why the Fili-pinos have not survived from greed for power and wealth, treachery, sexual misconduct, election cheating, mo-ro-moro lying and mak-ing a show in justice procedures to annihilate rivals to positions, and a desire for glory even in the most difficult days.

Dyaryo Magdalo publishes this story to give substantive mean-ing to the untold life and works of Andres Bonifacio who ought to celebrate 158th birth-day this November 30 against the truth that his real story has never been told in any history book prescribed in all schools.

The omission of the Bonifacio trial story may be a part of the bar-gain for Emilio Agui-

naldo’s capture by the Americans on March 23, 1901 in Palanan, Isabelan or the fact that Aguinaldo’s grandson, Cesar E. A. Virata was Marcos’s prime minis-ter.

This may be the rea-son because the first civil governor-general, William Howard Taft who became a President of the United States of America, was the one who began the public education system in all the islands by bringing in thousands of Thoma-sites, or the so-called Peace Corps volunteers from America.

So that the purpose of Dyaryo Magdalo is to educate the Filipinos of the real history that has not been taught in all schools since the be-ginning.

The birth of Katipunan

Born in Tondo, Ma-nila, Andres learned reading by his own. And when he learned, he read substantive books on patriotism and struggles of men. He knew how to read and speak English because he worked as a calligraphic artisan at a British-run Fleming and Co.

He gave premier im-portance to books that he would spend sub-stantial income buying them.

According to philipi-nereporter.com, among those read by Bonifacio were the immortal nov-els of Jose P. Rizal, the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibustirismo, Ro-biespier’s The French Revolution, Eugene Sue’s The Wandering

Jew, Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, The Ruins of Palmyras, the Holy Bible, International Law, Penal and Civil Code, the Lives of the Presidents of the United States, and the novels of Alexander Dumas and his son.

Inspired by Rizal’s novels, he founded a secret society called “Kataastaasang Ka-galang-galang na Kati-punan ng Inang Bayan” on July 7, 1892 at a house on Calle Ilaya with Ladislawa Diwa, Teodoro Plata and Deo-dato Arellano. He took in University of Sto. To-mas law student Emilio Jacinto to become the secretary general of the Supreme Council.

In San Mateo and Montalban mountains,

THE initial po-lice script of how the mur-

der of actor Ramgen Revilla was done is one that his half-brother, actor Senator Bong Revilla, will never play no matter the prize or the price, even if it would be the biggest blockbuster of all time in the world.

Who will when it is your brother’s death, and the kill-ers being tagged are Bong’s half-brother and half-sister?

Is the act of physi-cally hurting a brother enough as a reason for the brother who was hurt to plan, hire kill-ers, and ultimately kill the dominant brother by his own hands?

According to a witness, Ruel Puzon, the reason Ramgen “Ram” Bautista (Ram

Revilla in showbiz) was killed by his brother Ramon Joseph was because Ramgen was physically hurting Ra-mon Joseph.

Puzon said that the murder plan was first carried on October 12, but the hired killers missed Ram.

On October 28, the dark plan was once more carried out and finally blood show-ered a bedroom leaving Ram and his girlfriend Janelle Ann Caren Ma-nahan gasping for air.

It was already late at night when Ramona knocked on the bed-room of Ram who was then taking a bath inside the comfort room.

Janelle opened the door and invited Ramo-na who was allegedly to take video footages.

Just in time, Ram got out of the bathroom

but he was shot by a masked gunman who tailed Ramona by the door.

Despite the gun-shot he suffered, Ram rushed to close the door but he was rid-dled with bullets until he slumped flat on the floor.

Janelle saw the whole incident and she too was shot on the face and shoulder.

The gunman left the room after Ramo-na pleaded to the gun-man “Tama na! Tama na!” (That’s enough! That’s enough!).

Ram died in the process while Janelle asked Ramona to call her brother Ramon Joseph Bautista or call an ambulance, but she did nothing.

Janelle is now recuperating at the

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2 Vol. II No. 73 October 31-November 6, 2011

From page 1

Ram’s murder: a script Bong will never ...

To page 7

TRIAL OF BONIFACIO:THE ORIGINAL SIN

Asian Medical Center in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.

After learning of the killing of his half brother, Senator Ramon Revilla asked the po-lice to investigate the case, and he also offered P200,000 for the arrest of his Ram’s killer .

But it was surpris-ing for the Bautista fam-ily to be informed by the police that siblings Ramon Joseph and Ra-mona were tagged as the

perpetrators of the crime that took away their brother Ram.

Task force led by Chief Insp. Enrique Sy insisted that the siblings were involved in the kill-ing based on accounts of Ram’s production assis-tant, Ronaldo Ancajas, subdivision and Security guard Joyrex Asimbrad.

Ancajas claimed that he saw Ramon Joseph left the subdivision and was followed by Ramo-na before the discovery

of the crime.His claim

coincided with A s i m b r a d o who said that at about10:45 p.m. on Octo-ber 28, he saw Ramon Joseph followed by Ramona leav-ing BF Homes through the main gate.

Star witness Ruel Puzon also claimed that RJ Bautista is the mas-termind.

Puzon said that he learned of the failed at-tempt to kill Ram on October 12 and the sus-pects asked him if he could carry out the mur-der instead.

Their testimonies were further boosted when arrested suspects Michael Cruz Altia and Roy Francis Tolisora admitted that they were

hired by Ramon Joseph for P200,000 to kill Ram.

However, at the night of the murder, they said that Ramon Joseph was the one who carried out the plan, and that they were never inside the house of Ram on Phase 6, BF Homes.

Following the mur-der, Ramona confessed that she was dragged by the gunman inside a white van and she was dropped in Alabang.

However, upon learning that Janelle was recuperating at the Asian Medical Center, she re-canted her story.

She said that the truth was, due to her fear that she will also be killed, she ran as far as she can to escape the fang of death from the hands of a masked gunman.

She said that her first statement that she was

abducted was only a product of her troubled mind upon witnessing the murder of her broth-er.

Because of the testi-monies of the witnesses and admission of the suspects, Ramona, Ra-mon Joseph Bautista, Michael Cruz Altia, Roy Francis Tolisora, Glaiza Vista, Norwyn Dela Cruz, and a certain Bry-an were charged with murder and frustrated murder.

Ramon Joseph, Altia and Tolisora are now de-tained at the Parañaque jail while Ramona was reportedly under the care of Senator Revilla.

Vista, Dela Cruz and a certain Bryan were still at large as this writ-ing.

Atty. Dennis Man-zanal, the counsel of Ramon Joseph and Ra-mona, filed a motion for

the immediate release of Ramon Joseph and a motion to conduct a pre-liminary investigation before the Parañaque prosecutor’s office.

Manzanal said Ra-mon Joseph’s arrest was illegal, because witness Ruel Puzon has no di-rect knowledge of the crime.

The lawyer also claimed that his client was not at the scene of the crime when his brother Ram was killed.

Manzalan said that warrantless arrest in hot pursuit operation can-not apply to his client, Ramon Joseph, because the police officers had no personal knowledge of the crime since the testimony that probers obtained from the wit-nesses pointed only to the planning and not the commission of the crime.

From page 1

they came upon the caves of Makarok and Pamitinan where they undertook initiation rites and Andres wrote on its walls, “Long Live Philippine Indepen-dence.”

The beginning of bloody wars

After the Katipunan was discovered on Au-gust 19, 1892, Boni-facio’s group gathered on August 23 in Pugad Lawin, tore their ce-dulas and declared an open war against Spain.

After some skir-mishes, there was the first major encounter, called the Battle of Pinaglabanan, on Au-gust 31, 1896 in San Juan, Rizal. More than a hundred Katipuneros were killed. It was fol-lowed by the “Battle of Zapote Bridge” on Feb-ruary 19, 1897.

This led to the two groups, Magdiwang led by Bonifacio and Magdalo led by Emilio Aguinaldo, to unify.

Thus, they first agreed to meet in Imus but it did not push through. On March 22, 1897, they gathered in Tejeros and the assem-bly elected Aguinaldo in the contest for presi-dency. Bonifacio placed second.

Severino delas Alas suggested that Boni-facio take the vice-

presidency but it was not heeded. It led to the election of Mariano Trias as vice-president. Bonifacio was chosen to be the minister of the interior but he was ques-tioned by Daniel Tirona who insisted that a law-yer should be the one who should fit the post. This led to Bonifacio to nearly shoot Tirona, but he was prevailed upon by cooler heads.

The group of Bonifa-cio felt aggrieved by the results because they felt that he should be the president for being the initiator of the armed revolution. This led the Magdiwang kati-puneros to sign a decree called Acta de Tejeros declaring the elections as “null and void.” This was affirmed by Gen. Ricarte by refusing to take the oath as the cap-tain general.

This led Bonifacio, his brothers Procopio and Ciriaco, and his Magdiwang follow-ers to leave for Indang, Cavite where they were captured by the men of Aguinaldo. The skir-mish led to the death of two soldiers of Aguinal-do and Ciriaco.

Colonel Agapito Bonzon, the leader of the team sent by Agui-naldo, was accused by Bonifacio of raping his wife Gregoria de Jesus, then 19 years old.

The events that fol-

lowed showed the mockery of investiga-tion, trial and judgment to ensure that Bonifacio and Procopio were sen-tenced to a firing squad on charges that the Bon-ifacio brothers commit-ted treason against the revolution.

This led to the story of the country’s “Origi-nal Sin.”

The “Original Sin”

Knowing the back-ground where Boni-facio’s group felt they were cheated in the election and the fact that Magdiwang faction declared the election as null and void, Agui-naldo’s ego was hurt too much.

So that it was ex-pected that the judg-ment was to end in the death sentences for the brothers.

The specific charges against the Bonifacio brothers were that An-

dres gave ten pesos to Colonel Pedro Giron to assassinate Aguinaldo and that Andres wrote letters to several gener-als and officials to side with him and kill Agui-naldo.

Aguinaldo resented so much the act of all members of Magdi-wang in signing on March 23, 1897, a day after the controversial assembly, a declaration of “Acta de Tejeros,” where they declared the election as null and void due to cheating.

So that when Boni-facio’s group left, Aguinaldo sent over Colonel Bonzon and a company of soldiers to chase the Supremo and they caught up with his group in Limban in In-dang, Cavite.

When the group of Bonzon came, a fire-fight occurred resulting in the death of two sol-diers of Bonzon and the slaying of Ciriaco Boni-

facio. Andres suffered serious wounds.

There was no ac-tual trial that occurred. It was a clear mockery where the result was pre-determined.

After Colonel Bon-zon reported their own version of the incident about what happened that led to the arrest of Bonifacio that a firefight occurred first, Brigadier General Mariano Noriel issued an official com-munication dated April 28, 1897 to Emilio Aguinaldo submitting the following:

“I have the honor to submit to your Excel-lency (Aguinaldo) the following report ren-dered to me by Colonel Agapito Bonzon, who, with our soldiers, was detailed to Yndang to investigate the truth of the rumor concerning our “Supremo” Bonifa-cio.

“On seeing the ‘Supremo’, Colonel

Bonzon used the best language he could to induce Bonifacio to ac-cept his good offer, but he failed to soften the stubborn heart of the ‘Supremo’ who, in ad-dition to refusing, acted as a real enemy and ordered his soldiers to fire. Our soldiers fired back, so that the inci-dent resulted in the piti-ful shedding of blood, something which our Colonel did not wish to happen for love of his fellow men; still, in the fulfillment of his duties, he deemed this procedure wise. Two of our soldiers died one from Ymus armed with a gun, and another from Gargamo armed with a sword. However they killed one brother of the ‘Supremo’ and left the latter in the tribunal (town-hall) at Yndang in a serious condition as a result of wounds received in the larynx. They captured twenty

soldiers with guns and another brother of the ‘Supremo.’

“From this occur-rence, it is up to your high sense of fairness to judge the extent of the evil and treacherous intentions of Andres Bonifacio.

“May God protect us forever.

“Maguagui, April 28, 1897.

“MARIANO NORI-EL

“Brigadier General”Out of this, Aguinal-

do issued an order com-manding that a colonel be appointed to act as a special judge, leading Noriel to appoint Colo-nel Pantaleon Garcia as the special judge.

There was actually no trial that took place. What happened was that the special judge just called in all the parties and interroga-tions were conducted by means of asking the prepared questions and recording the answers.

These questions and answers were then com-piled by Colonel Garcia and he submitted the same on May 4, 1897 to the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, who was Aguinaldo.

Aguinaldo then for-warded the same to Brig. Gen. Noriel as the head of the Council of War who then called in all members of the council to a meeting on May 5, 1897 to examine the investigations sub-mitted by Garcia.

The Bonifacios were brought before the council and the Secre-tary, Lazaro Macapagal, who was the one who attested to the truth of all the investigation pa-pers, read all the ques-tions and answers be-fore the council.

Aguinaldo’s govern-ment appointed Placido Martinez and Teodoro Gonzalez as the attor-neys of the two Bonifa-cios.

Martinez, who was Andres’s counsel, did

October 31-November 6, 2011 3 Vol. II No. 73

Publisher:RONALDO E. RENTA

Editorial:TOTO C. CAUSING

Editor-In-ChiefDesign & Layout:

RONALDO B. HERICODisclaimer: All news articles and opinions expressed by the writers are entirely their own and do not reflect the opinion of the publisher, the management or the editor of this publication.All Rights Reserved: No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced nor translated in any language or form for commercial pur-poses without prior written permission from the publisher and its writers or columnists.

MAGDIWANGPUBLICATIONS

ByWILLY

ESPINAIRINCOA FLASHBACK TO

MARTIAL LAWPRESS DAYSForty years after

the Martial Law was declared by then President Ferdinand E.

Marcos on September 21, 1972, anti-Marcos and pro-Marcos news men squeezed the National Press Club (NPC) like the myth of Bernardo Carpio push-ing his two hands in opposite directions just to stop two mountains from clashing with each other.

It was even charac-terized by two groups of newsmen suppressing or attacking each other. But then the NPC man-aged to wade through the darkest days of press freedom to survive until the triumph of liberty cherished by both the pro and the anti.

Back then, the NPC was the center of the war between the mili-tant writers and the “Marcos-leaning” writ-ers.

The militants took in-spiration from Saturnino “Satur” Ocampo, a Ma-nila Times top business writer and a die-hard freedom-loving jour-nalist. Soldiers arrested him the night before Marcos proclaimed the iron-fist law.

Despite the fear per-vading from the power of Marcos, another firm

A clipping of the Sun-day issue of the Phil-ippines Daily Express when then President Ferdinand Marcos de-clared Martial Law on September 21, 1972. The declaration was triggered by the ‘zar-zuela ambush’ of De-fense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile.

believer in the freedom of the press and speech, the late Antonio “Tony” Nieva, became the mili-tant president of the NPC.

Nieva’s act of defy-ing the dictatorial re-gime is a legend today. He stood firm that Fili-pino writers should be free and should not be dictated upon by the powers-that-be.

Nieva was a Chavacano from Zam-boanga City, located at the tip of the elon-gated land connecting from the left corner edge of Mindanao is-land through a neck that spreads down to the southwest, stopping right in front of Basilan Island.

While still alive, Nieva was a Filipino-Spanish Creole. He was hot-tempered and hap-py-go-lucky. As NPC leader, he opened the bar at the 4th floor of the NPC building for media men to relax after a day of rigors as journalists.

Those who chose not to antagonize Marcos for fear of completely losing the freedom of the press and of losing work were antagonized by anti-Marcos pen men.

There was lack of compassion among the brave that they ostra-

cized or despised the “pro-Marcos” writers. They did not forgive those who were working for newspapers operated by publishers and edi-tors who reasoned out they behaved in such a way because they be-lieved in strict rules of discipline. The reason-ing was looked with dis-belief because the truth is these news entities were run or financed by Marcos cronies or rela-tives.

Upon the other hand, the “pro-Marcos” writ-ers accused those who were in the league of Ka Satur that they were only being used by com-munists and political op-positions whose agenda were to crush Marcos, a University of the Philip-pines law scholar, a con-gressman, and a senator before getting elected President in democratic polls in 1965, defeating then President Diosdado Macapagal, perceived as the complete opposite of his daughter Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who rose to power in a man-ner described by Susan Roces as one of steal-ing the presidency, “not once but twice.”

To this writer, Mar-cos was a visionary, be-lieving that it was only through an iron hand that the people can be disciplined.

But this writer be-lieves Marcos erred in his belief because the Filipinos are descen-dants of freedom-lov-ing Rajah Baguinda, an Indonesian chieftain who left the Sri-Vishay-an and Madjapahit Em-pires. The ascendants were warriors and fami-lies who rode balangays, an outsized banca with outriggers, to land on Mindanao and spread later to the Visayas and Luzon islands.

Marcos clamped down on the free-wheel-ing media he looked at as tools of his enemies. He closed down Manila Times, Manila Chroni-cle, Daily Bulletin, Eve-ning News and other

media vehicles such as radio and television stations.

The proofs that Marcos got it wrong are the events that occurred thereafter.

Filipinos be-came enemies of Marcos. He also lost the support of almost all writ-ers, except for those employed in newspapers beholden to him, like the Evening Post published by the late Palanca awardee Keri-ma Polotan Tuvera, wife of Marcos presidential assistant Juan Tuvera; The Times Journal, published by Kokoy Romualdez, a brother of then First Lady Imelda Marcos; the Daily Ex-press, run by crony Ro-berto Benedicto. There were only a few news-papers during Martial Law.

The only other jour-nalists not critical of Marcos were the sports-writers and those writ-ing for movie maga-zines.

No other political pages that could exist legally that time, other than those that trumpet-ed the political ideology of Marcos. Only clan-destine news entities could dare to exist.

The Marcos propa-gandist news pages were called “Marcosism” by the late Humanities Professor Pura Santillan Castrence, of Manuel L. Quezon University and a respected writer.

The media entities that went against Mar-cos -- Malaya, Daily Inquirer, Bulletin and the so-called “mosquito press” were actually lit-tle newspapers that had bitten the Palace dicta-tor.

The NPC, believe it or not, was then guard-ed by a Marine soldier. Many journalists who were unrepentant and who did not side with Marcos were incarcer-ated in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig barracks.

Because newsmen are like blood brothers, Ka Satur was given a pass to attend an NPC anniversary at the NPC Bldg. along with big men of Marcos, includ-ing then Blas Ople. Ka Satur escaped by pass-ing through a secret staircase at the back of the building.

At one instance, anti-Marcos newsmen got a chance to hit at some pro-Marcos jour-nalists when a big fire hit a big hotel along Epifanio delos Santos Ave. (EDSA) corner Roxas Blvd., Pasay City. Heritage Hotel is now the one standing at this spot.

It was one occasion the pros and the an-tis met. They reported the conflagration that trapped foreign tour-ists. Hotel waiters en-tertained media men with the consent of the hotel management, en-joying free foods, beers and other amenities in an open veranda at the safe side of the hotel facing Roxas Blvd., when the other side of that road was still part of the waters of Manila Bay.

The antis, mostly covering Pasay City Mayor Pablo Cuneta, maliciously reported the next day that three reporters—this au-thor who was writing for of Evening Post, Boy Tingzon of Balita and Joseph Lariosa of Bulletin—stole cloth napkins, novels and

what-have-you from the hotel.

Roberto “Bobby” Burgos, brother of anti-Marcos Malaya publisher Jose “Joe” Burgos, led the tirade against the three.

Daily, the militant newsmen reported intrigues against the three they considered enemies although they were all NPC mem-bers-brothers.

Irinco (this writer) was bothered by the turmoil. He sought the advice of lawyer Demetrio Loresca, an anti-Marcos opposition leader from Muntinlu-pa City and a survivor of the Plaza Miranda bombing used by Mar-cos to justify the proc-lamation of Martial Law.

“Willy, don’t wor-ry, they (anti-Marcos newsmen) are just on a fishing expedition,” Loresca said.

Irinco kept his cool. But he checked if he had a criminal case with the police that he dropped by the office of then Brig. Gen. Ru-ben Escarcha, Southern Police District (SPD) director, a friend and often a subject of his stories about police incidents happening in the cities of Makati, Pa-say, Parañaque, Taguig, and Muntinlupa.

“Don’t worry, Willy, you’ve no case in my jurisdiction,” Escarcha, a former Manila Police District ace policeman

w h o r o s e f r o m t h e r a n k s to a one-star g e n e r a l rank, as-sured this writer.

T h e n Lt. Gen. Fidel V. R a m o s , who was the Armed

F o r c e s of the Philip-pines (AFP) Deputy Chief of Staff and the chief of the Philippine Constabulary-Integrat-ed National Police (PC-INP), called a press conference in Manila Hotel to patch up the media war.

After the Ramos meeting with the antis and pros, the intrigues weakened.

But Nieva, a hard-core anti-Marcos jour-nalist, likewise called a press conference at the NPC Bldg., invit-ing Irinco, Tingzon and Lariosa. This writer did not attend on an advice of Atty. Loresca.

Tingzon and Lariosa joined the meeting and the result was devastat-ing.

The two were forced to leave the country. Tingzon went to Can-ada and Lariosa fled to New York City.

Irinco kept calm, stayed and chose to weather the storm.

Whatever each jour-nalist did during those dark days, they all con-tributed to the birth of the People’s Power Revolt that gathered all freedom-loving Filipinos to crush once and for all the dictato-rial regime and compel Marcos to flee.

At last, this writer who is now a lifetime member of the NPC and the rest of his coun-trymen tasted freedom anew.

4 Vol. II No. 73 October 31-November 6, 2011

Sacrifice the queen to win the game“I am sorry.”

This phrase can never be forgot-ten by the Filipinos who moved heaven and hell just to forc-ibly remove from Malacañang the for-mer palace queen, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA for brevity), on June 28, 2005.

But they, espe-cially her political opponents, were proved wrong for after her “confes-sion,” the Church rallied its support for GMA.

But how did the “I am sorry” idea crop up?

Actually, three days before the speech of GMA, I was phoned by a friend, Jun Cobar-rubias, for political advise. He offered me drinks at Hao Bee at the foot of the historic Jones Bridge near Savory

restaurant.At 10 in the eve-

ning, while we were drinking bottles of beer, a much younger journalist, Rex Bor-romeo, arrived and joined us. We talked about the political turmoil besetting the country and the shaky administration of GMA.

Cobarrubias start-ed his story of his company that day with former Come-lec Commissioner Virgilio Garcil-lano somewhere in Batangas. This fact ultimately belied news reports that the most beleaguered election operator had shipped out of the country.

Because the is-sue that shook GMA was her wiretapped conversation with Garcillano on ma-nipulation of votes in Mindanao in the contested 2004 elec-

tions – the undying “Hello, Garci tape,” the aid of Garcil-lano was sought by GMA.

In turn, Garcillano asked advise from his men, including Cobarrubias who likewise sought the minds of his friends, but we first took it as a joke.

However, we came to a serious part when he divulged that on top of the plans to survive the rule of GMA was the idea of an “ambush me” in front of the Palace.

He further di-vulged that for the “ambush me” to look real and convinc-ing, a member of the Presidential Security

Group (PSG) was to die in the process.

After the “ambush me,” it was planned that GMA will de-clare a State of Emer-gency.

The plan was a copycat of the “am-bush me” zarzuela of now Senator Juan Ponce Enrile that triggered the declara-tion of martial law in 1972 by strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

Rex and I were troubled by the “am-bush me” plan for blood was its unac-ceptable part.

I asked what’s the other plan.

Cobarrubias an-swered that either Secretary Leandro Mendoza or Angelo Reyes was to take

the cudgels for GMA by making their new story on “Hello Gar-ci” tape.

Rex and I com-mented that as proved by events, the taking of attacks directed to GMA was of no use.

We narrated the part of then Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye in stonewall-ing GMA. Bunye was only perceived as adding more fire when he presented two CDs saying that one was “original” and the other was “spliced.”

We also failed not to part the denial of then Comelec Chair-man Benjamin Aba-los that turned to have no positive re-sult. Abalos was left

in silence after fail-ing to turn the politi-cal tide.

Left with no other positive move, the “ambush me” plan was the last line of defense.

But why should blood be shed for a mere drama just to survive the president called by Filipinos as “fake?”

C o b a r r u b i a s opined that it was ac-tually the plan of the generals, somewhat like the game of the generals.

In a quick turn I re-spond “no”. It should not be a game of the generals. Rather it should be a game of chess.

In analysing the game of chess, some-times you have to sacrifice the queen to survive the crown and ultimately win the game.

However, I told Cobarrubias that our

group must be the architect of the plan and the implemen-tor of the same.

After a few more discussions to wrist aside the plan of shedding blood, Cobarrubias was convinced. He im-mediately called on his cellphone and relayed our plan to the man he identi-fied as Garcillano.

We adjourned our conversation at 2:00 in the morn-ing.

Three days af-ter drinking those two cases of beer, I was amazed by the appearance of GMA on television addressing the Fili-pino people: “I rec-ognize that making any such call was a lapse in judgment. I am sorry.”

The rest is his-tory.

This was my quarry.

STOP ‘KOTONG’ AT MALL OF ASIAWORDS are spread-ing that Malacanang is moving heaven and earth to contain the controversy sur-rounding the massa-cre of our soldiers in Mindanao.

Just like the pal-ace “miscommuni-cation group” led by spokersperson Ed-win Lacierda, gov-ernment peacemak-ers Ging Deles and Marvic Leonen are fast becoming syn-onyms of incompe-tence and inefficien-cy in government.

They can no lon-ger shield President Benigno Aquino III from the flak brought by his ad-minsitration’s slow response to the Basi-lan massacre and it’s inability to uphold the peoples’ interest in the peace talks.

So desperate are the government’s ‘damage control’ men that they are already floating the idea of destabiliza-tion moves being

hatched by the former administration.

The idea suggests that those “fanning the fire” arising from the Basilan massacre are supporters of for-mer president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and could be part of plans to mount a coup d’ etat.

Thus, anybody crit-ical of Malacanang and Aquino at present can be considered an Arroyo supporter and a threat to govern-ment stability.

That’s a baloney.The only way to

appease the people and the families of the slain soldiers is to let the military do its job and perform what it is trained for.

Hoorah!***

TOP business-man Henry Sy and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Nicanor Barto-lome must get rid of “kotong cops” at the Mall of Asia (MOA) in Pasay City at the

soonest possible time.In the guise of pro-

tecting the riding pub-lic, a bunch of “en-terprising” policemen are turning MOA into a lucrative place for their illegal business by milking the erring taxi drivers.

MOA and other SM malls, despite employing an army of security guards, are notoriously known for accommodating taxis that refuse rides to commuters.

Sy must seek to replace the cops sta-tioned at his largest mall because they further compound the problems being con-fronted by SM.

SM is currently trying very hard to re-cover from the blows it got from the recent twin fatal shooting incidents inside its

malls and the twin ty-phoons that hit MOA weeks ago.

The unfortunate in-cidents rocked SM as it put a big question mark on the safety of the thousands of Filipinos who visit its malls everyday.

Bartolome, on the other hand, must dis-cipline the MOA cops this early as this brand of policemen is the kind that grows into a huge menace such as the multi-million PNP chopper scam if it re-mains unchecked.

The good general is at the forefront of reforming the PNP and all his efforts to provide the organiza-tion a better image are being wasted by the “kotong cops” sta-tioned at the MOA.

Sy and Bartolome may start dealing with

a certain Capt. Ferrer who proudly claims as the “hepe” of the police outpost .

Aided by young policemen, Ferrer, the name indicated by the nametag in the captain’s light blue t-shirt PNP uniform, is inexplicably the one flagging down erring taxi cabs, confiscating taxi drivers’ licenses, and bringing them inside the outpost for interrogation.

What’s sickening is that after all, the real victims -- the mall goers waiting for cen-turies for a taxi ride -- are forgotten and ignored by the cops and the taxi drivers.

Aside from being a very bad model for his young subordi-nates, the captain is a big insult to the young Army lieutenants and

soldiers who died in Basilan recently in the name of law en-forcement.

*** The Department

of Agriculture (DA) is in a hurry to disburse billions of govern-ment funds to finance farm-to-market roads.

In Mindanao alone, the DA has P8 billion to spend for infra-structure projects and has stepped up efforts to meet the deadline.

The fund could be part of the more than P72 billion stimulus package recently re-leased by Malacaang to perk up the ailing local economy.

But the problem is that contractors may not be able to meet the deadline simply because they lack the time.

Despite this, Mala-canang reportedly gave instructions to the DA to finish the projects on time.

Just like the DA, the Department of Public Works and

Highways (DPWH) is now overflowing with funds for in-frastructure projects and facing the same problem.

A district engi-neer admitted that the DPWH cannot finish the projects on time even if it works 24 hours a day but is also being pressured to meet the dealine by the higher ups.

Now, we know what happens when projects are done in haste. They result in sub-standard bridg-es, school buildings and roads. Aside from wasting pre-cious funds, it puts peoples’ lives in great danger.

The culprit? The Department of Bud-get and Magement (DBM) headed by Sec. Butch Abad. The agency hoarded the people’s money for so long because it thinks that the honest people can only be found in Malacanang.

The Last Mohican

By Mario F. Fetalino, Jr.

Hernz quarry

By Hernani Cuare

October 31-November 6, 2011 5 Vol. II No. 73

Houses love built for journalistsTHIS is a story of how a group is using its small assets to produce a proj-ect that is worth at least six times more and at the same time retain the same assets with addi-tional small profit at the end of two years.

What is the project?It is called National

Press Club Village, con-sisting of 48 houses at a piece of lot located right near beside the North Lu-zon Expressway (NLEX) and right next the Pulilan Exit in Bulacan.

How much is the project?

It is about P40,800,000, if each of the 48 units to be built has an average worth of P850,000.

How much is the capital?

The National Press Club has P6,000,000 only.

How did the Club make it possible?

Knowing the cash on hand is not enough, it convinced the land-owner to pair the about 3,000-square-meter lot with the Club’s money to build homes for the newsmen. If each square meter costs P1,500, that is conservative for lands beside NLEX, then the contribution of the lot owner to the project is P4,500,000.

The Press Club ar-ranged with the landown-er that the 48 houses shall be built in four phases, with each phase project-ed to be costing enough for the P6,000,000.

Further, to remove the cost of development, the Press Club was lucky to have an architect of-fering his services to do the same without cost to him except for reason-able service fees and sal-aries of his workers and

other attendant contingent costs.

In short, the capital of P6,000,000 will go to actual cost of building houses only and no more margin for profit for the developer.

For removing the de-veloper costs, the Club can be assured of building houses that are of minimal cost compared to the usual offered by commercial de-velopers.

The first phase of 11 units shall then be sold to NPC members on a first-come-first-serve basis.

The proceeds of the sales of the first-phase houses shall then be used to build the second phase. The system goes on until the four phases are com-pleted and sold.

Will these units sell to NPC members?

Yes, easily saleable to them.

How?Those who have ready

cash can buy a unit out-right.

Otherwise, they can enjoy the arrangement of the NPC with the National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. (NHMFC), which is commonly called “Pag-Ibig.”

The Pag-Ibig commit-ted to fast-track the pro-cessing of the applications for housing loans of NPC members to ensure the re-lease of payments in two weeks.

Additionally, the re-quirement of a cash eq-uity from applicants that amounts to at least 10% of the cost of one housing unit equity would most likely be waived or paid for by the NPC.

How can the NPC be able to answer or waive the cost of equity when the cost is substantive so as not eat up into the P6,000,000?

For those lucky to be awarded, the NPC will stage fund-raisers for the P600,000 needed to an-swer the equity require-ment for all houses of the first phase.

How much would each NPC member pay every month as amortization?

The monthly install-ment could go down to as low as P3,000 or an aver-age of P5,000.

However, the amount of installment depends on how old is the applicant.

By the formula of Pag-Ibig, the maximum num-ber of years that can be allowed is 70 minus the present age.

So that if one is 40 years old, one awardee can choose the payment period of 30 years or 360 months.

Can we have a specific example?

Yes, and this is it.If the amount of loan

is P800,000 and this shall be repaid in 30 years or 360 months, apply first the interest of loan at 7% per year and multiply it by 30, or 210%.

This means that the to-tal amount to be paid for all 30 years shall be 2.10 x 800,00 = P1,680,000.

Then, divide this by 360 months and the loan is payable with a monthly amortization of P4,666.67.

This is about the same cost one will pay if he rents a place in Metro Manila. So that, rather than paying monthly without the pros-pect of owning, it is much better to take one.

What are the assuranc-es of those many members

who fear the P6,000,000 invested may go to waste because the project might not go as expected?

There are sufficient safeguards written in the tri-partite contract.

First, the three par-ties—the landowner, the NPC, and the developer-contractor—committed their selves to be sureties of each other. This means that if one or two back out, the remaining party shall have the responsibility to complete the project.

Second, the con-tract limits the release of the P6,000,000 to two. Only P3,000,000 shall be released to the con-tractor. After showing physical proof that all the P3,000,000 were spent to the work as scheduled, the next P3,000,000 shall then be released. This is to en-sure the NPC that the first half of the works is done before the next trance is released.

Third, the contractor is required to post a bond of P3,000,000 to ensure that in case he runs away or fails to comply with the obligation, the NPC can get the P3,000,000 bond.

Fourth, daily and weekly monitoring and re-porting are required by the contract to ensure that the project is moving.

Fifth, the NPC has its hands full in processing the loan applications of NPC members to ensure that the loan proceeds are released on time as payments to the NPC that the Club will use for the next phase.

Is the P6,000,000

enough to complete the first 11 houses?

Yes, it is.While the equivalent

of P6,000,000 for each of the 11 houses is only P545,545.60 for each unit, the contractor commit to lend his funds to ensure that the first phase is com-plete.

Is it not that this author was very vocal against the handling of P6,000,000 when he ran and lost in 2010 for vice president of NPC and yet he is now vouching for this project that is the brainchild of his nemesis then?

In answering this, the author sticks to his motto. He writes in the language of truth and in the spirit of liberty that is the mark of press freedom.

Yes, during the height of NPC elections in 2010, the author ran for vice president and raised an issue out of former NPC president Benny D. An-tiporda about the latter’s handling of P6,000,000.

This was because the author expressed what he believed in as genuine fears that the funds might be embezzled.

The author was the one tasked by the board then to take care of the money when the Regional Trial Court of Pasay issued a garnishment order on the case filed by the GSIS against the Press Club.

After a year, the author turned over the funds in full up to the last centavo to Mr. Antiporda, then the president. The turnover was mandated by a board

resolution upon the pledge of the latter that if the funds were to be left under his care, he would use it in a sure way and that the NPC will get P60,000 a month. In fact, the author and Mr. Antiporda had heated exchanges during the board meeting where the latter raised a concern that the author had taken some from the funds. The acid arguments cooled down, nevertheless.

Second, there were circumstances and ru-mors that reinforced those doubts and the author had no reason to have assur-ance that the P6,000,000 would remain intact in the hands of Mr. Antiporda.

Third, there was an incident that built a wall between the author and Mr. Antiporda who mis-understood the actions of the author in handling that potentially-explosive situ-ation. This was heightened by the impulsive man that was the mark of Mr. Anti-porda.

But the test of time showed Mr. Antiporda proving his pledge, and showing him already a quite good anger manager. During their one-on-one honest talk, Mr. Antiporda even agreed to the author’s suggestion for him to al-ways observe the rule of letting 30 minutes pass be-fore confronting a person who may have sparked his blood to surge. While he was quiet when the author asked him to forgive NPC treasurer Amor Virata, time will heal the wounds sooner between them.

When Miss Vi-rata raised the issue of P6,000,000, the author did his own investigation and he found out that the money remained intact as it was turned over by Mr. Antiporda to the present president, Jerry S. Yap.

Moreover, Mr. Anti-porda fulfilled the pledge of giving P60,000 a month to the NPC for about two years or for a total of P1,440,000 in exchange for him hav-ing the custody of the P6,000,000.

Fourth, the author found the housing proj-ect very doable and the NPC can get back the P6,000,000 in addition to a small margin.

With these, how can the author have any reason to remain a devil advocate?

And to smoothen fur-ther the project, the au-thor volunteered to com-plete the design of the contract to ensure that at the end of the two-year period required to com-plete the project the NPC Village is a reality, the P6,000,000 is intact, and all parties, particularly the NPC and all the NPC members, laugh out loud.

How can the hous-ing project now be de-scribed?

It can be described as houses love built for journalists.

This is because there is no element of gain.

The contractor com-mitted his time, talent, and other resources that he agreed not to add a profit margin.

The landowner al-lowed her land to be used although she may have other prospects.

The NPC did all the works needed for free. Its officers, led by direc-tor Tina Maralit, make sure that all the Pag-Ibig matters and problems are resolved just so the loans of NPC members are ap-proved and released on time.

So how does one call a work that gives pain without gain?

Privileged spits

By Toto C. Causing

Senador tinanggihan ni Ruffy sa pwestong CIIS ....From page 8

pleyado na may mga sakit ang kamag-anak kaya nag-request na ma-release na ang kanilang benefits.

Kalakaran na kasi sa mga nakaraang MIAA General Manager na ibigay na ang 13th month pay tuwing Nobyembre.

Pero natapos umano ang usapan na walang kasagutang nakuha ang mga kausap ni SAGM Bautista.

Ayon sa ating SOURCE, hindi na nila alam kung ano pa ang nangyari pagkatapos no’n. Hanggang mabali-taan na lang nila na nasa ICU na nga si SAGM Bautista.

Well, nauunawaan natin ang damdamin ng pamilya ni SAGM Bau-tista. S’yempre TOSGAS ‘yan saka nakapag-aalala talaga dahil kalusugan at

kaligtasan ang pinag-uusa-pan d’yan. Sana naman ‘e maka-recover siya. Totoo po ‘yan from the bottom of my heart!

Pero s’yempre kailan-gan din isaalang-alang ang damdamin at kalagayan ng mga empleaydo ng MIAA lalo na nga’t pinagtraba-huan na nila ang hinihingi nila sa MIAA administra-tion sa pamamagitan ni SAGM Bautista.

For the meantime, wait and see muna ang mga EMPLEYADO ng MIAA?

OOOPPPPSSSS … TWO MEN DOWN?

HABANG pinag-uu-

sapan ang nangyari kay MIAA SAGM Antonio Bautista, bigla na lang din pumutok ang balitang NAOSPITAL din si Air-port’s chief of the Intel-ligence and Investigation

Division (IID) & Pass Control ret. Gen. SALVA-DOR PEÑAFLOR.

Kung matatandaan nin-yo mga suki, itong si GEN. PEÑAFLOR ay nakagiri-ian ni Major Mel de los Santos a few weeks ago na muntik na raw umabot sa barilan.

Kaya nga nagulat na lang ang marami nang mabalitaang NAOSPITAL din siya last week halos kasabay ni SAGM BAU-TISTA.

Mayroon bang KRUS sa DILA ang mga emplea-do ng MIAA?

Sonabagan! Huwag naman sana…naniniwala na ako sa power of prayer ng mga MIAA employees. Malakas lang siguro ang dalangin nila!?

Anyway, sana’y wala nang sumunod na MIAA officials na magkasakit nang malubha.

Let us pray for them, especially GM Bodet Hon-rado.

NAIA KA-PUSH NA KA-PUSH PA RIN SA PUSH CARTS!

HUWAG na po tay-

ong magtaka kung bakit nababansagan na WORST AIRPORT ang Ninoy Aquino International Air-port (NAIA) Terminal 1.

Aba ‘e sa PUSH CART pa lang, BAGSAK na BAGSAK na tayo.

D’yan lang sa NAIA Terminal 1 kapag NAG-KASABAY ang dalawa o tatlong FLIGHT ‘e UBOS na agad ang PUSH CART.

‘Yun bang TIPONG walang magagamit na PUSH CART ‘yung isa pang FLIGHT. Kaya ang mga pasahero paglabas mula sa Immigration ang unang hinahanap ay push cart. Madalas ay may nag-

aaway pa na pasahero sa pag-aagawan sa push cart.

Luma na nga ang mga push cart, ay wala pang magamit!

Susmaryosep!Anong klaseng Air-

port manager meron tay-ong mga Pinoy ‘e PUSH CART lang hindi pa maga-wan ng paraan.

Aba ‘e MAHIYA na-man kayo sa mga PASA-HERO na nagbabayad ng TRAVEL at TERMINAL FEE.

Kumbaga, BASIC NEED ‘yan sa isang AIR-PORT dahil malaking tu-long ‘yan para magaang na madala ang bagahe ng mga pasahero. Tapos KA-POS?!

Ano ba ‘yan? Ano na lang ang sasabihin ng mga PASAHERO o TURISTANG dumarat-ing sa ating bansa?! Isang MISERABLENG bansa

ang Airport ng Philip-pines my Philippines dahil PUSH CART lang ‘e hindi pa mai-PRODUCE?!

NAIA Terminal 1 man-ager DANTE BASANTA, hindi ka man lang nakaku-ha ng TIP kinaex-GM AL CUSI at kay Engr. BING LINA kung paano mag-PRODUCE ng MARAM-ING PUSH CART?!

ESEP-ESEP, Mr. BA-SANTA, nasasayang ang PORMA mo…

Hak hak hak!!!

ANG MASAKLAP NA KAPALARAN SA AIRPORT POLICE DEPARTMENT

OPISYAL nang luma-

bas ang MEMORANDUM para sa Airport Police De-partment (APD). Wala na silang OVERTIME PAY. OTSO ORAS/3 SHIFT-ING na silang magtatra-baho.

Okey, wala na. Walang problema at unti-unti na nilang tatanggapin ang katoto-hanan na hindi na sila babayaran ng OT. Wala na silang overtime ben-efits sa administration ni GM Bodet Honrado.

Pero ito pa ngayon ang masaklap, nagla-bas ang Commission on Audit ng report, na sila pa ang may UTANG sa MIAA.

SONABAGAN!!!DOSE ORAS silang

pinagtrabaho sa nakali-pas na ilang buwan na ‘yung iba ay hindi pa sila nabayaran ng overtime tapos sila pa ang may utang sa MIAA?!

Tsk tsk tsk …KASAKLAP naman

ng kapalaran na ‘yan … nawalan na ng OT ‘e may UTANG pa sila?!

Oh my God!!!

6 Vol. II No. 73 October 31-November 6, 2011

Simplified Libel Lawin the Philippines

By BERTENI “TOTO” CATALUÑA CAUSING

A.THE DOCTRINE OF PUBLIC FIGURE

In most cases of libel that have been filed against newsmen, it is common to see the application of a defense of qualifiedly-privileged communication by reason of the fact that the persons against whom the imputations were attributed are public figures.

The jurisprudence is settled that public figures in the context of libel law refer to three kinds of per-sons: (a) public officers or persons employed in the government service of whatever rank; (b) persons who are well known or notoriously known or per-vasively known in the community where the publi-cation took place; and (c) persons who are actually private persons but are regarded as public figures when they voluntarily threw themselves into the vortex of the controversy to influence the minds of the public.

Under this doctrine, if the complainants for libel are established as public figures as defined above, the defense is easy for the newsmen concerned.

This is so because the doctrine compels the com-plainant for libel to prove actual malice in order to convict the accused. The doctrine removes the pre-sumption that in every defaming word or phrase or article there is always malice or intention to defame.

This doctrine is founded on the theory that public figures have the obligation to behave well before the public because people look at them as examples. As such, the public figures are valid subjects of criti-cisms to ensure they always act uprightly.

Actually, the justifications are the same as that of the author wrote about GIJUMO defense.

So that, if it is really to be dug into, the wisdom behind these qualifiedly privileged doctrines are the inherent good intention and justifiable motive (GI-JUMO) that are always present in articles having public figures as subjects.

Public officers

For public officers, it is always the right of the public to criticize because it is an obligation of the public officers to perform their official functions within the satisfaction of the people.

With this, the acts of the officials that may be considered as private acts but that will affect their efficiency are included as valid subjects of criti-cisms.

Included in these are the acts of taking mistresses or paramours, for indulging in the same will tend the public officers to steal money from their offices just to sustain the partners other than their spouses.

Actually, even if there would be no stealing be-cause the officers concerned may have been rich, still sex escapades are acts of immorality that al-ways go with the requirements in behaving to give high respect to the offices they serve.

If “public office is a public trust,” how then can it be said that immorality does not breach the trust?

The most common subject matters in-volving public officers are corruption cases, particularly bribery and manipulations to em-

bezzle funds for public expenditures. Com-mon acts of defalcations are done through

public biddings or faking of biddings or other forms needed for procurement of goods and services.

So that if it was reported that a public official, for instance, was

reported to have rigged the bidding of a public

market or a contract for garbage collection, even if the truth is there was no rig-ging that took place, the public official concerned cannot complain.

Unless of course there is actual malice on the part of the news reporter.If it was reported that a mayor was seen in a nightclub, he cannot complain

if he cannot show a proof first that there was actual malice on the part of the one who wrote and published the report.

A governor who was criticized for sponsoring and protecting illegal gambling in his province cannot complain if he has been reported in the newspaper as such. Of course, by the Libel Law in the Philippines and the jurisprudence, he should first prove there was actual malice on the part of the reporter and publisher.

A congressman reported as having received lobby bribes in exchange for his support to a bill being proposed cannot also complain. Of course, that is only until he could show proofs of actual malice.

Even a policeman who was reported to be coddling criminals cannot complain for libel. That is so until he can come up with proof of actual malice on the part of the reporter and publisher.

Well-known persons

For persons who are well known, like basketball players, boxers, actors, ac-tresses, politicians who are either incumbent or not, a rich man, society personali-ties, or any persons who are known in the community where the publication of the allegedly defaming words occur, any matter that was reported about them are valid interests of the public.

As such, they cannot also complain unless they can show proofs of actual malice.

If Manny Pacquiao is being accused by Floyd Mayweather as taking drugs before each fight, Pacquiao cannot complain until he can prove that there was actual malice on the part of Mayweather.

If a basketball player was written and published as having fixed the game, he cannot also complain if he cannot prove that the sportswriter had actual malice in publishing the same.

If an actor was published as having dated with another man, he cannot com-plain for libel unless he can show proof that there was actual malice on the part of the one who wrote and published the item.

If a well-known priest is published as receiving funds from the government in exchange for cooperation with a public official, he cannot complain if he cannot prove any proof of actual malice.

Voluntary public figures

These types of public persons are actually private persons to begin with.They become considered as public figures if they have come out of the privacy

of their homes or private offices to commit crimes or to join a controversial mat-ter and made some acts to influence the resolutions of issues.

An example is a very private man who maltreated his children and wife, he cannot complain for libel if it has been reported that he did these acts.

A private woman who agreed to be a mistress becomes a valid subject of criti-cism and she cannot complain if it was so published as such.

A private corporation can become a public figure if it engages in pyramiding or Ponzi schemes that victimizes the public duped into investing in it.

B.THE DOCTRINE OF FAIR COMMENTS

Under the Doctrine of Fair Comments, fair commentaries on matters of public interest are qualifiedly privileged.

Under this doctrine, fair comments mean as opinions that are fairly logical to be inferred from a given set of facts. It is not an issue if the inferences turned out to be incorrect; what is important is there is some relevance in coming out with the inferences in the form of opinions.

It is important, however, that at the time of writing the article, it is required that the writer believed in good faith in the facts he used as bases for his opinions.

So that it does not matter if after the publication the writer found out that the facts he used as bases turned out to be false. So that good faith belief in the facts are marks of innocence.

Additionally, it is an additional requirement that the matters are of interest to the public.

With these present, it is no longer required whether the person being defamed is a private person for what is important is the meat of the topic, and the topic must be one of valid interest of the public.

As said in the earlier chapter, this doctrine is actually a creation of the Phil-ippine Supreme Court, spun off by Justice Bellosillo from the principles of the public figures doctrine.

To understand this doctrine further, it is proper to quote here Borjal vs Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 126466. January 14, 1999, to wit:

“To reiterate, fair commentaries on matters of public interest are privileged

Chapter VIQUALIFIEDLY-PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION

and constitute a valid defense in an action for libel or slander. The doctrine of fair comment means that while in general every discreditable imputa-tion publicly made is deemed false, because every man is presumed innocent until his guilt is judicially proved, and every false imputation is deemed mali-cious, nevertheless, when the discreditable imputa-tion is directed against a public person in his public capacity, it is not necessarily actionable. In order that such discreditable imputation to a public offi-cial may be actionable, it must either be a false alle-gation of fact or a comment based on a false suppo-sition. If the comment is an expression of opinion, based on established facts, then it is immaterial that the opinion happens to be mistaken, as long as it might reasonably be inferred from the facts.”

To re-state, this means that the doctrine of fair comments merely says that if what are involved are fair commentaries on matters of public interest, the same is qualifiedly privileged if the comments are based on established facts.

The same doctrine says that it is immaterial if the opinion is mistaken so long as it might be reason-ably inferred from the established facts.

And like in the case of the doctrine of public fig-ures, the complainant for libel cannot win against a reporter if the complainant cannot show proofs that the reporter had actual malice in writing and pub-lishing such matter that was of public interest.

The same decision of the Supreme Court ex-plained that the Fair Comments Doctrine still ap-plies even if the person subject of a defaming article was a private person at the time of the publication.

Thus, the Court said:“But even assuming ex-gratia argumenti that pri-

vate respondent, despite the position he occupied in the FNCLT, would not qualify as a public figure, it does not necessarily follow that he could not validly be the subject of a public comment even if he was not a public official or at least a public figure, for he could be, as long as he was involved in a public issue. If a matter is a subject of public or general interest, it cannot suddenly become less so merely because a private individual is involved or because in some sense the individual did not voluntarily choose to become involved. The public’s primary interest is in the event; the public focus is on the conduct of the participant and the content, effect and significance of the conduct, not the participant’s prior anonymity or notoriety

So that if it is going to be analyzed deeply, the wisdom underlying behind the Fair Comments Doc-trine is the same as in the GIJUMO defense the au-thor wrote in Chapter V.

And like the Public Officers Doctrine, once it is proved that the article in question is within the am-bit of Fair Comments Doctrine, the burden of proof of actual malice is now thrown at the complainant for libel.

Because of the length of the topic, actual malice shall be dealt with in Chapter VII.

October 31-November 6, 2011 7 Vol. II No. 73

TRIAL OF BONIFACIO:THE ORIGINAL SIN

COTABATO City - The Department of Health in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DOH-ARMM) has dispatched a group of health work-ers on-board the mobile clinic recently purchased by the regional government to conduct a series of medical outreach programs in some selected towns in Ma-guindanao.

ARMM Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo on Sunday said the outreach health service forms part of a barrage of relief and humanitarian aid organized by the ARMM government in partnership with the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division to help indigent families in the province especially those affected by the recent flooding.

“This will be the maiden mission of the newly acquired mobile clinic,” Si-narimbo said.

The mobile clinic along with the rest of the relief and humanitarian aid is set

to go to at least four towns in successive days.

The mission’s first stopover was the municipality of Pagalungan on Thurs-daywhere hundreds of residents from four flood-affected villages turned up at the municipal government’s compound to avail of the free medical and dental service, and eye examination. Young boys also lined up to get circumcised.

Moreover, the ARMM government distributed relief goods and fishing nets to affected families. Children from en-listed schools of the Adopt-a-School program of the Office of the Regional Governor (ORG)-ARMM, on the other hand, received new pairs of slippers and a set of school supplies.

Pagalungan Mayor Norodin Matalam expressed gratitude to the regional gov-ernment for the array of assistance that was provided to his constituents.

Matalam said the relief and humani-

tarian aid convergence was unprecedent-ed and a big help to the families whose lives were disrupted due to the flood.

Sinarimbo also took the opportunity to visit the Dataya Elementary School in the village of Kudal where at least 415 children from six grade levels are forced to take classes in makeshift classrooms or under trees since February of this year.

According to the school’s principal, Buwao Samad, they had to abandon the former school grounds due to the fre-quent and severe flooding in the area.

A six-classroom school building now being constructed at the new site with the help of the Philippine Army’s Special Forces and Task Force Bigkis Lahi was made possible after the school was taken in by the ORG-ARMM in its Adopt-a-School program.

The classrooms should be ready by next month, according to Sinarimbo.

ARMM’s mobile clinicrolls out maiden mission

not defend the Supre-mo. Instead, his speech before the council stat-ed that he was already conceding the guilt of the Magdiwang leader but just pleaded for mercy that the Boni-facios be spared of the death penalty.

Andres requested to be allowed to speak and when he did he spoke with fervor, arguing in the main that while he was aggrieved of the election, all the accusa-tions were not true.

Andres further stated that the truth of the mat-ter was that what hap-pened was that Colonel Bonzon arrived in the place in Indang where they were taking a so-journ while waiting for a guide back to Manila and there was no fire-fight that took place.

Andres then insisted that he even treated Bonzon to a “tinola” inside the house where they stayed. He add-ed that after eating, it turned out that Bonzon had with him his sol-diers disarming the men of Andres.

Andres continued that his brother Ciriaco

From page 2

reacted and killed out-right two soldiers of Aguinaldo. Yet, despite that, he still managed to keep his men not to fight for they were all brothers anyway.

Then Andres re-vealed to the council that Colonel Bonzon

ers in their ranks. But Bonzon attempted for the second time to rape Bonifacio’s wife.

The audience in the trial, demanded for Andres to be stopped

because he was just re-peating what he stated in the investigation question-and-answer. But the Supremo con-tinued and he delivered the best arguments thus

far: where he invoked he could not be guilty of treason because Aguinaldo was calling their organization as Republica De Cavite or Republica De Tagalog,

that they were Magdalo and Bonifacio’s group was Magdiwang, and that there was no coun-try yet to be offended with treason.

In addition, not one document was produced as evidence to prove the claim that Andres wrote generals and other offi-cials urging them to as-sassinate Aguinaldo.

The prosecutors did not even submit names of alleged generals or officials who were writ-ten by Andres to urge the assassination of Agui-naldo.

The prosecutors also did not submit the al-leged P10.00 bill that was claimed to have been given by Andres to Col. Giron.

Despite the complete lack of evidence and the soaring arguments of Bonifacio, the coun-cil members—Mariano Noriel as the head, Mariano Riego De Dios, Crisostomo Riel, Este-ban Ynfante, T. Mascar-do — voted unanimous-ly finding the Bonifacios guilty and recommend-ed to Aguinaldo the ex-ecution of the Supremo and Procopio.

In an act seen as an attempt to disguise, Aguinaldo commuted the sentence to indefi-nite exile for Andres and Procopio.

However, it was ob-vious that he made it appear that he was pre-vailed upon by his allies that he approved the ex-ecution by firing squad with five bullets to be fired at each of them.

But at the same time, the soldiers who were with Bonifacio were just slapped with a one-year service in the camp like slaves.

It was Colonel Maca-pagal who was tasked to carry out the execution.

even chased his wife Gregoria De Jesus, then 19 years old, and tried to drag her to another hut and tried to rape her. But that the colonel was prevailed upon by oth-

Thus, when they were already in the mountains of Maragondon, An-dres and Procopio were killed like chicken.

The root causes of never-ending greed, crab mentality etc

Thus, right during the beginning of the birth of the republic there was already election cheat-ing to explain the mas-sive election fraud hap-pening in all elections nowadays, particularly the Hello Garci scandal and the Lintang Bedol scams.

Then it was marked by deep-seated envy by the rich Aguinaldo against the poor Bonifa-cio, typical of the pres-ent scenes where only the moneyed can win in all contests in all aspects of life.

There was also the extreme desire for pow-er, wealth and glory, that the Magdalo group wanted to eliminate al-together the Magdiwang faction for them to cor-ner all the goodies and the glories.

There was also the occurrence of acts de-picting that the char-acters of leaders as sex maniacs like the act of Colonel Bonzon desir-ing to destroy the purity of the wife of Andres.

There was also the occurrence of people who despite their brav-ery in facing the en-emies were actually willing to serve as tools of injustices. These hap-pened in many instances during the Marcos and the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo administrations.

There were also the habits of staging a mockery of justice sys-tem, including trials.

These are the “Origi-nal Sins.”

By JULMUNIR I. JANNARALCorrespondent

8 Vol. II No. 73 October 31-November 6, 2011

SENADOR TINANGGIHAN NI RUFFY SA PWESTONG CIIS! PWESTO SA IMMIGRATION, BATA-BATA LANG

GAYA nga ng sinabi ng mga eksperto sa larangan ng public administration, ang korapsyon ay hindi kayang pawiin ng isang termino lamang.

Pero ang GENUINE na POLITICAL WILL ng isang pinuno sa isang ahensiya ng pamahalaan ay sapat na para magti-wala ang mamamayan na kaya niyang magpasimula ng pagbabago sa kanyang pinamumunuan.

At ‘yan po ang nakikita ng ilang OBSERVER sa BoC ngayon sa pamu-muno ni Customs Com-missioner RUFINO ROZ-ZANO “Ruffy” BIAZON.

Ang unang pinapawi ngayon ng administrasyon ni Commissioner Biazon ay ang PADRINO SYS-TEM. Meaning QUALIFI-CATIONS FIRST before REFERRALS (POLITI-CAL BACKERS). Ibig sabihin kahit may NOTA BENE (NB) ang House of the Representatives, Sena-do at Malacañang, susuriin pa rin ni KOMISYONER ang qualifications ng inir-erekomenda nilang TAO.

Ibig sabihin pa rin n’yan, hindi PUMAPAY-AG si Commissioner Bi-azon na ang ahensiyang kanyang pinamumunuan ay maging “milking cow” ng inirerekomenda o kaya ay maging GWARDIYA sa INTERES ng nagreko-menda sa kanya sa loob ng Bureau of Customs.

Ang katunayan nga raw n’yan ayon sa isang taga-Palasyo na nakausap natin, isang Senador ang nagpadala ng recommen-dation ng kanyang “bata” sa Malacañang para sa po-sisyon ng CIIS Director.

Para sa protocol ay ipinasa muli ng Malaca-ñang sa Bureau of Cus-toms pero dahil LACK OF QUALIFICATIONS ay OUTRIGHT DENIED kay Commissioner Biazon.

At ganyan daw po ang ginagawa ng Malacañang ngayon. Lahat ng inirer-ekomenda ng mga politiko ay ibinabalik ng Malaca-ñang kay Commissioner Biazon for necessary com-ments at approval.

Bukod nga raw do’n sa Senador ay may ini-rekomenda rin ang isang maliit ‘este’ mataas na opisyal ng Noynoy admin-istration pero dahil LACK of QUALIFICATIONS at RETIRADO na ‘e TABLADO rin kay Com-missioner Biazon.

Hindi kasi alam ng mga pulpolitiko éste’ poli-tiko na may direct line si Biazon kay PNoy ... at may instruction pa si Presidente sa kanya, na isumbong kung sino-sino ang gagamit ng political

pressure para makakuha ng juicy position sa BoC.

TUMPAK ka d’yan sa ginagawa mo Commis-sioner BIAZON.

Tuhog na tuhog mo ang DAANG MATUWID ni Pangulong NOYNOY!

APRUB na aprub kami d’yan!

CHIEF OF STAFF NI CUS-TOMS COMMISSIONER RUFFY BIAZON BIKTIMA NG DEMOLITION JOB

DUMARAAN daw

ngayon sa tinatawag na BAPTISM OF FIRE ang chief of staff ni Customs Commissioner Ruffy Bi-azon.

‘Yan ay matapos kum-alat ang isang ‘white pa-per’ at may mga email pa laban sa chief of staff ni Commissioner na si Atty. Hilario “Jet” delos Santos.

Mahigit isang buwan pa lamang sa kanyang pwesto si Commissioner Biazon pero sunod-sunod na UPAK na ang ginawa sa kanyang chief of staff.

Pero sabi nga ‘e, talag-ang ganyan sa BoC, hindi pwedeng hindi ka dumaan sa BAPTISM OF FIRE.

Tatantiyahin ka muna nila at “paglalaruan” para subukin ang iyong ITATA-GAL sa Bureau.

Kaya naman hinihil-ing ni Atty. Delos San-tos, ano mang kumakalat na paninira sa kanya ay pwede muna siyang tanun-gin. Mahigpit din niyang pinasisinungalingan na hindi siya nanghihingi ng “BLOOD MONEY.”

Una sa lahat, hindi raw niya papayagan na ma-mantsahan ang kanyang pangalan lalo na’t pinag-kakatiwalaan siya ni for-mer Sen. Pong Biazon at Commissioner Ruffy Bi-azon na itinalaga naman ni Pangulong Noynoy.

Well said, Attorney!The next thing to do is

to be very “CAREFUL,” dahil nariyan ka na ngayon sa tinatawag na “SNAKE PIT.”

Walang nakalalabas d’yan na hindi natutuklaw ng AHAS!

Gets n’yo Attorney?!

SARILING TAO IPINATIMBOG NI COMMISSIONER RIC DAVID?

N A K A A A L A R M A

raw ang mga kaganapan sa Bureau of Immigration …nagpapatimbog si Com-missioner Ric David ng kanyang sariling tauhan sa loob mismo ng Bureau of Immigration main office sa Intramuros, Maynila.

Isang legal officer na halos d’yan na tinahiran sa Immigration ang “IBI-NUSLO” sa pamamagitan

ng set up ‘este’ entrapment operation ng mga opera-tiba ng National Bureau of Investigation (BI).

Ginawa ang ENTRAP-MENT doon mismo sa loob ng kanyang opisina sa BI main office.

Ibig sabihin, doon mismo sa kanyang opisina na pwedeng itinuturing na sanctuary ng isang empe-lyado sa oras ng kanyang pagtatrabaho. ‘E di lalo na kung isa pa siyang LE-GAL OFFICER.

Tsk tsk tsk …Masamang precedent

daw ‘yan Komisyoner.Hindi ba’t ang una

mong tungkulin ay protek-tahan ang iyong mga tau-han? Kung totoo man na may kabulilyasohan na gi-nagawa ‘yang mga dinat-nan mong tao d’yan sa BI, bakit hindi mo paimbesti-gahan? I-lifestyle check saka kasuhan sa kaukulang ahensiya ng pamahalaan.

Ang balita, basta na lang daw inilagay sa mesa no’ng legal officer ang marked money pero hindi hinawakan. Pero kahit gano’n ang sitwasyon, sa-pilitan pa rin siyang inila-bas sa kanyang opisina at PINOSASAN pa.

Ang pagpoposas daw ay special request pa mis-mo ni Komisyoner?!

Malala na nga ‘yan!Malala nang mag-isip,

meaning PARANOID, ang isang PINUNO ng isang ahensiya ng pamahalaan na nagpapa-entrap sa loob mismo ng kanilang terito-ryo.

Lalabas din na walang LIDERATO o COM-MAND ang pinuno sa kanyang nasasakupan.

Ano sa palagay mo Komisyoner David?!

BI OFFICIAL KASABWAT SA LAGLAGAN

MATAPOS masilayan

ng BI employees sa main office ang huling set-up éste’ entrapment ng NBI operatives sa isang Legal Officer ng Bureau, umu-gong ang balita na may malaking kinalaman daw sa pangyayari ang dalawa-ng hepe ng isang dibisyon sa nasabing Bureau.

Ang dahilan, malaking “threat” daw sa kanilang posisyon ang nasabing Legal officer dahil malapit umano siya kay DoJ Sec-retary Leila De lima.

Mukhang nagseselos daw at natatakot ang dala-wang hepe na maungu-san o biglang masipa sa kanilang mga posisyon kaya naisipan nila na ipa-hamak ang kaawa-awang Legal officer na halos di-yan na namuti ang buhok sa Bureau.

Imposible naman daw

na makapagsumbong kay Commissioner David nang diretso ang dalawang bombay na may pakana ng entrapment.

Alam naman ng la-hat sa BI main office na walang basta-basta na-kapapasok sa kwarto ni Comm. Ric “Weiller” Da-vid dahil takot nga huma-rap sa tao!?

Ano sa tingin ninyo Atty. Santos at Atty. Man-grobang?

Totoo kaya ang tsismis na ‘to?!

IMMIGRATION PROMOTIONPALAKASAN/BATA-BATA SYSTEM PA RIN?

MABIGAT ang pro-

nouncement kamakailan ni Commissioner Ric Da-vid ng Immigration, wala raw palakasan sa promo-tion kanyang termino.

Baka naman AKALA lang n’ya ‘yun?

Alam ba niya na may-roong isang empleyado agad na-promote bilang IMMIGRATION OFFI-CER 2?!

Mantakin naman nin-yo, hindi pa nagiging Im-migration Officer 1 ‘e bi-glang naging IO2 na?!

Isa palang GUNIGUNI at HAKAHAKA ang sina-sabi ni Commissioner Da-vid na walang palakasan sa kanyang termino … ‘e bakit may NAKALUSOT?

Hindi yata alam ni Commissioner David na mayroong isang VILLAN-UEVA na sinabing malapit kay Justice Secretary Leila De Lima na biglang nag-ing IO2?!

Sonabagan!Press release lang pala

‘yung sinasabi ni Com-missioner na “NO PAL-AKASAN SYSTEM?”

Na wala na raw PA-DRI-PADRINO system.

Owwsss … talaga? Ka-hit si Secretary De Lima?

Sige nga … patunayan mo nga Commissioner David!

SI EPAL AGENT NG DAVID’S ELITE TEAM

MUKHANG malaki

na raw ang inilaki ng ulo o iniangas ng ilan sa

“Elite Team” kuno ni Comm. Ric David mula raw noong magsagawa ng operation sa mga Bombay

sa Davao.Ang ilan sa kanila ay

nagyayabang at nagsasabi pa na matindi raw ang nag-ing resulta ng kanilang op-erasyon dahil nalinis daw nila ang mga illegal alien sa Davao?!

Owws, talaga lang ha?Isa sa David’s elite

team na maepal at “feeling superstar” ay ‘yung isang alyas “LOREX” na may style-bulok pa na makikip-agkaibigan kuno sa ibang BI Agents at pagkatapos ay magre-report sa amo niyang si Col. Orot-papel ‘este’ Orople para ilaglag ang karamihan sa kanyang mga kasamahan!

‘E mukhang idol pala nito si Richard Gomez na pumapel bilang “Tuklaw” sa isang pelikula noon. Ibang klase pala kung lu-maro si alyas “Lorex.”

Kasama sa huling bikti-ma si CA Bernard Cruzata na balitang sinasabayan pa sa pag-uwi para makuhaan lang ng impormasyon la-ban sa ibang empleyado.

Ang resulta kasama sa nalaglag si CA Bernard Cruzata sa Bureau.

Kaya kayong mga taga-BI main office, mag-ingat po kayo kay alyas Lorex!!!

BI HAO-SHIAO AGENT HUMAHATAW!

N A K ATA N G G A P

tayo ng INFO na may isang pusakal, notoryus at hao-shiao na nagpapang-gap na Immigration Agent ngayon ang gumagala at nag-o-operate kasama ang ilan dating Confidential Agents ng Bureau of Im-migration.

Ang notorious Hao-shiao na Agent ay si Sal-vador, Jr., na mas lalong kilala sa tawag na “Bud-dy” o “Badong!” Ang modus operandi ng grupo ay manghuhuli ng mga Bombay sa mga probinsya at Metro Manila gamit ang pekeng Mission Orders para ipanakot sa mga bom-bay na hindi nakakikilala sa kanya.

Ginagamit din nitong panakot ang “GRUPONG MAGDALO” dahil alam din niya ang nakaraang operation sa Davao.

Dati nang nakulong at na-entrap ang grupo ni Badong sa Angat, Bu-

lacan dahil sa pangingikil sa isang “Intsik” na nag-mamay-ari ng hardware pero nakapagpiyansa ang damuho.

Dati rin “Asset” ng kung sinu-sinong intelli-gence agents si “Badong” kaya nang matuto, biglang kumaliwa at gumawa ng sariling grupo kasama pa ang isang alyas “Vincent Bakla” at “Bobby Waray” at iba pa.

Kaya nananawagan tayo sa mga foreigner na kung sakalaing puntahan kayo ng grupong ito, mangyaring i-report agad kay Immigration Comm. Ric David at sa NBI.

Paging Comm. Ric David, lagi raw nakikita at nagpupunta si “Badong hao-shiao” diyan sa main office para makahanap ng foreigner na bibiktimahin. Ipa-monitor mo sa iyong elite team ang aktibidades niya dahil baka nakasasal-isi pa ‘yan d’yan sa opisina mo!

IMMIGRATION NAIA,KULANG SA COMPUTERAT WALANG OFFICE SUP-PLIES?!

AKALA natin ‘e sa

hanay ng mga PULIS lang nangyayari na wala silang OFFICE SUPPLIES at computers...

Ganyan din pala ang sitwasyon ng mga IM-MIGRATION OFFICE sa Ninoy Aquino Internation-al Airport (NAIA)?!

Talaga naman mapa-paisip ka talaga.

A government agency that is dealing with peo-ple’s travel papers kulang sa computer at walang OF-FICE SUPPLIES?!

SONABAGAN!No supplies, no bond

papers, no ballpens, no computers, no computer ink. Lahat wala?!

Hindi ba’t ipinagyaya-bang ni BI notorious fixer Betty Chuhuahua na siya ang No. 1 supplier ng Bu-reau ng office supplies!? É Bakit walang supplies sa BI-NAIA!?

Paano na ang WRIT-TEN REPORTS na kailan-gan gawin ng mga IO?!

Aba Mr. Commissioner David, baka hindi mo alam puro ABONO ang mga tauhan mo sa BI-NAIA sa pagbili ng office sup-

plies?!Wala na ngang OVER-

TIME PAY, WALA PANG SUPPLIES?!

Sino ang mag-AABO-NO?!

S’yempre ‘yung gaga-wa ng mga report. Kaysa naman magkaroon sila ng BACKLOG ‘e ‘di bumili na lang sila ng mga office supplies para makagawa sila ng trabaho nila.

Ang tanong, ire-RE-FUND ba naman ‘yan?! KELAN?!

Paging Commissioner Ricardo David! Alam mo bang WALANG OFFICE SUPPLIES ang opisina ninyo sa NAIA?!

Baka naman hindi mo alam ‘yan?! Aba ‘e kapag NAMASYAL ka sa BI-NAIA ay alamin mo ang tunay na sitwasyon diyan. Huwag ‘yung pa-display-display ka lang ala-Paqui-to Diaz.

ITAAS mo ang MOR-AL ng mga empleado mo roon na tila na-DESTIE-RO sa DISYERTO.

MAKIKISUYO na po KOMISYONER DAVID!

MIAA SENIOR ASSISTANT GM ex-MAJOR GEN. ANTO-NIO BAUTISTA NA-STROKE at NASA ICU

UNA, hangad natin ang

recovery ni Manila Inter-national Airport Authority (MIAA) Senior Assistant General Manager, retired Major Gen. Antonio Bau-tista na iniulat na naipa-sok sa intensive care unit (ICU) matapos ma-stroke nitong nakaraang linggo.

Pero bago raw ma-STROKE si SAGM BAU-TISTA nagkaroon muna siya ng maraming bisita sa kanyang tanggapan.

Ang mga BISITA ay organic employees ng MIAA kabilang ang gru-po ng Samahan ng mga Manggagawa sa Paliparan ng Pilipinas (SMPP), ang kinikilalang unyon ng mga empleaydo sa airport.

Hinihiling umano ng mga kausap ni SAGM Bautista na makakuha na sila ng kanilang 13th month pay dahil ilang em-pleyado ang magbabayad ng tuition fee ng kanilang mga anak ngayong papa-sok na semestre.

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