'MEGA NA, PACQUIAO PA' Mammoth INC Rally Paralyzes Roads in Manila
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Toronto, Ontario Feb. 7 - Mar. 6, 2012 www.philippinecourier.com Vol. 8 No. 7 Miss Gay Philippines Canada 2012 contest is now Open! ...... page 24 ‘‘MEGAMEGA NNA,A, PPACQUIAOACQUIAO PPA’A’ Mammoth INC rally paralyzes roads in Manila Sharon Concert & Pacquiao Fight in a back-to-back Show in Toronto! FForor GGod,od, NotNot PPoliticsolitics GIGANTIC SHOW: The Manny Pacquiao-Tim Bradley title fi ght MONSTER TRAFFIC: Parked buses clog a long stretch of June 9 in Las Vegas would be beamed LIVE! via satellite at the Roxas Boulevard after ferrying people attending a prayer rally Massey Hall huge screen after the Sharon Cuneta concert! A of the Iglesia ni Cristo yesterday. Right photo shows the mam- one-of-a-kind entertainment presentation only Royal Mark Can- moth crowd at the Quirino Grandstand estimated at not less ada Productions of couple Lito and Ruth Roquillo could show- than 800,000. (AP/Jonjon Vicencio) case this part of North America. 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Claudio, Jose "Bong" Abellon, Tessie Lagtapon, Don Collantes, John Tel No. 905-780-0114; Cell # 647-588-7844 (Mon) E-mail [email protected] Agustin, John Bello, Tony Sicat, Romy Zetazate, Al Mendoza, Alex Vidal, Ores Ting and Jojo Taduran. EDITORIAL F R O N T L I N E NINEZ CACHO-OLIVARES Legal nincompoops House prosecutors saw their im- It is also almost certain that oth- peachment case against the Chief er Chief Justices also were given Justice crumble, right before their platinum cards by PAL, as pre- eyes, as not only were the alleged sumably, would other justices and “perks” of CJ Renato Corona from even Noynoy Aquino. Philippine Airlines (PAL), such I can bet my bottom peso that as his and his spouse’s platinum even some of these congressmen, cards along with the inconsequen- apart from their pocketing their tial number of trips they had taken, pork barrel’s “soft component,” but also that the illegally obtained also get a lot of perks and not just bank records of the CJ, as well as for their trips. the testimonies of the Philippine These congressmen and the yel- BSP, AMLC should be made to answer Savings Bank offi cials — being lows are such a hypocritical bunch. During the early period of the administration of former President Gloria Arroyo, the Philippines the fruit of a poisonous tree — will They too — including Noynoy — was placed in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) blacklist of so-called non-cooperative coun- very probably be barred by the have not been truthful about their tries on the international battle against money laundering. impeachment court as evidence assets. The FATF is a body under the powerful Organization for Economic Cooperation and Develop- for Article 2.3 on his statement Noynoy himself undervalued ment (OECD) which groups the richest industrialized countries. The Philippines, along with 14 of assets and liabilities networth his Times Street house at merely other countries, were threatened with trade sanctions from OECD members for being a tax haven (SALn). some P2 million then corrected and money laundering center. The problem has always lain this in his latest SALn, placing it The FATF then demanded that the country relax its strict bank secrecy law that allowed dirty with the hastily done impeach- at some P14 million. Hello. The money to be safely hidden from investigation. A new law against laundered money was crafted ment articles against the CJ, owing increase in land and home values, and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) under the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) was to the fact that not only was this despite remodelling, can’t just in- born. document railroaded — on orders crease from P2.4 million to P14 The function of AMLC based on the law it was crafted is investigative and recommendatory and of the master at Malacañang — million in a year’s time! So is he thus has on its own limited powers on looking into suspicious bank accounts without a court order. but also that the House members corrupt as well and unfi t for the During the impeachment trial, impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona’s depository bank Phil- did not have any evidence backing presidency for under declaring his ippine Savings Bank (PSBank), through its president, Pascual Garcia III, related that sometime up their Articles of Impeachment. SALn and not being upfront about in late 2010, the BSP and the AMLC held a periodic check of the bank and that the accounts of Apart from obtaining evidence his assets and even his bank de- Corona in the bank may have been peered into during the examination. illegally, the prosecutors have also posits? The testimony of Garcia was in relation to a document being held by the House prosecution been doing nothing but fi sh for Oddly enough, even as the panel purportedly containing details of the bank accounts of Corona in PSBank and the Senate evidence from the start of the trial prosecutors claim that these PAL impeachment court is trying to determine whether the document is forged or leaked, which either and getting the court to provide “perks” enjoyed by the CJ and his way will involve some form of liability for those involved. them with evidence through sub- wife are “impeachable crimes,” Presiding judge Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile was reconstructing the events prior to the poenas. But that has all changed there went their master, Noynoy, surfacing of the document and through Garcia, it was narrowed down to representatives of either as they really have gone too far, defending the “perks” obtained the BSP or the AMLC as the likely source if the documents were leaked. merely for them to try and convict by Pagcor offi cials, which include The AMLC was particularly identifi ed as source of the leak because of the varied high offi cials Corona by publicity by reading his appointee and kaibigan Bong that make up the council who are identifi ed closely with Aquino. It would not take a huge effort for out these bank records for media Naguiat who were discovered to them to satisfy the interest of the Palace on the Corona accounts. on which the yellow media feast. have been given some $110,000 The AMLC promptly issued a statement accusing Garcia of inaccuracy in his statement and They even wanted a PAL execu- to facilitate a gambling license in misleading the Senate court, supposedly away from the initial suspicions that the possible leaking tive to testify on the so-called PAL Pagcor’s Entertainment City, as of the Corona bank records was an inside job that would tend to taint the credibility of the bank. platinum card and announce the “cost-cutting measures.” AMLC’s head Vicente Aquino said the body doesn’t have the authority to audit accounts and number of trips Corona took for As the CJ is Noynoy’s political could have not instituted such an action on Corona’s PSBank accounts since the law prohibits the free. They even wanted a witness foe, his receiving perks from PAL AMLC to look into bank accounts without the consent of the owners or authority from the court. from Rustan’s department store is a betrayal of public trust, his un- He also said not one of the AMLC’s fi nancial investigators have set foot on PSBank’s Katipunan to testify on the grocery sales to fi tness to be the head magistrate, branch.