Hindi daw maintindihan ni dating Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos kung bakit siya isinama sa pinakakasuhan ng Senado kaugnay sa ma-anomalyang kontrata para sa pagpatayo ng telecommunication network sa Pilipinas (national Broadband Network) na gagawin sana ng ZTE, isang kumpanya sa China.

“Bakit? Nakasuhan na kami. Ano pa ang gusto nila?,” tanong daw ni Abalos. Ini-imagine ko lang na kuntodo paawa effect pa itong si Abalos.

Ano ang gusto ng mga tao? Makulong ka kasama ang iyong mga amo na si Gloria at Mike Arroyo.
Mabuti naman at isinama si Gloria Arroyo sa rekomendasyun ng Blue Ribbon Committee na pinamumunuan ni Sen. Richard Gordon ngayon sa kanilang mga rekomendasyun na kakasuhan at i-impeach.

Alam naman natin na malabo na ma-impeach si Arroyo at busy na ang lahat na mga congressman para sa 2010 na eleksyun (pero maganda sana, ano) ngunit pwedeng magamit ang Senate report sa mga kaso na maaring masampa kay Arroyo kapag siya ay wala na sa Malacanang.

Sabi ni Gordon nakasaad sa Constitution na obligasyun ng isang pangulo “to preserve and defend the Constitution, execute its laws, do justice to every man.” (pangalagaan at dependehan ang Constitution, ipatupad ang batas ant biyan ng hustisya ang bawat isa) batas).

Sabi ni Gordon ng sinabi ni dating NEDA chief Romy Neri kay Arroyo na inalok siya ni Abalos ng P200 milyon, walang ginawa si Arroyo.

Talagang masugid ang interes ni Arroyo sa NBN/ZTE na kasama sa maraming kontrata sa mga kumpanyang Intsik na pinasukan ng kanyang pamahalaan. Hindi maa-aring sabihin na hindi alam ni Arroyo ang detalya ng kontrata dahil maraming pruweba na “close” sila ng mga opisyal ng ZTE. May litrato na nagpapakita sa magkasama sila sa Senzhen.

At diba, iniwanan niya ang kanyang asawa na nasa ICU noong panahon nay un para lamang mag-witness sa pirmahan ng $321 milyon na halagang kontrata dahil yun ang kailangan ng mga Intsik bago sila magbigay ng downpayment na sinabi ni Dante Madriaga, isang engineer na kasama sa grupo nina Abalos, ay umabot sa $40 milyon.

Ang hindi maganda doon sa report na ginawa ni Gordon ay ang isinali sina Jose (Joey) de Venecia III, president ng karibal na kumpanya ng ZTE na siyang nagbulgar ng ma-anomalyang kontrata. Sinabi na inalok siya ni Abalos ng $10 milyon para lang iatras ang kanyang mas mababang offer sa proyekto.

At bakit naman kakasuhan si Lozada at siya na nga ang tumulong sa imbestigasyun ng committee.

Sabi ng ibang miyembro ng committee katulad ni Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, dating chairman ng Blue Ribbon Committee na hindi siya pipirma sa naturang report.

Kahit maraming pagkukulang itong report, dapat kabahan pa rin sina Arroyo dahil ito ay preview lamang kung ano ang mangyayari sa kanya at ang kanyang mga kasabwat sa panloloko at paglustay ng pera ng taumbayan kapag wala na sila sa Malacañang.

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Even whistleblowers don’t escape Gordon fire

by JP Lopez
Malaya

President Arroyo committed an impeachable offense, that of culpable violation of the Constitution, when she did not stop the corruption that attended the negotiations for the overpriced $329 million national broadband network project with the Chinese firm Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment, the Senate Blue Ribbon committee said in its draft report.

“There’s a culpable violation of the Constitution. Why did she not stop these people from committing crimes?” committee chair Sen. Richard Gordon said in a press conference.

Gordon routed the 127-page report among senators yesterday.

The committee started its investigation in September 2007. It has conducted 13 hearings and four technical working group hearings since then.

Aside from Gordon, four other senators signed the report as of last night. They were minority leader Aquilino Pimentel, Senators Edgardo Angara, Gregorio Honasan and Joker Arroyo.

Recommended charged before the Office of the Ombudsman were Jose Miguel Arroyo, Benjamin Abalos, Jose de Venecia Jr, Romulo Neri, Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza and transportation assistant secretaries Lorenzo Formoso and Elmer Soneja.

The report also recommended the filing of charges against whistleblowers Joey de Venecia III and Rodolfo Lozada Jr.

Gordon said that except for the President, they should all be charged with violation of Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Environment Secretary Lito Atienza and Executive Deputy Secretary Manuel Gaite should also be charged with violation of Section 150 of the Revised Penal Code or disobedience to summons issued by the national assembly for restraining Lozada from attending the hearing.

Gordon said the President “has lots of explaining to do.”

He cited Article VII, Section 5 of the Constitution which provides that the President should “preserve, and defend its Constitution, execute its laws, and do justice to every man.”

Article VII, Section 17 of the Constitution also provides that “The President shall have control of all the executive departments, bureaus, and offices. He shall ensure that the laws be faithfully executed.”

“Her acts in this case reveal that her performance of presidential duty has been wanting,” Gordon said in the report.

He also said Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez is wrong in dismissing the case against the President Arroyo on the ground that she is immune from suits.

“It is the duty of the Ombudsman to investigate impeachable officers,” he said.

He said what Gutierrez should have done was investigate the allegations and if probable cause was found, refer the case to the House of Representatives.

Gordon said the Ombudsman should not have made a blanket statement of immunity.

The government officials involved were likewise accused of violating R.A. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standard for Public Officials.

The committee report was in contrast to the recommendation of the Office of the Ombudsman last August, which dismissed the complaint against the First Gentleman for lack of probable cause and dropped President Arroyo as respondent due her immunity.

Gordon cited the presence of Mike Arroyo in a game of golf with ZTE officials in Shenzen, China, in November 2006 where the President and Speaker De Venecia were also present.

In March 2007, Joey de Venecia told the committee that Mr. Arroyo told him to “back off” from the broadband project at a “conciliatory meeting” at the Wack-Wack Golf and Country Club hosted by Abalos.

Neri testified that Abalos tried to bribe him with P200 million to approve the deal with ZTE.

Joey de Venecia also claimed that Abalos offered him a $10 million bribe during the Wack-Wack meeting.

The report also said the former Speaker intervened in at least three instances in the NBN project.

Gordon said the two “whistleblowers” actively participated in the project, with Joey de Venecia crying foul only when his firm, Amsterdam Holdings Inc., lost in the bidding.

He said Lozada could be tapped as a state witness and could not be called a whistleblower. He however, recognized the contribution of Lozada in the investigation of the anomaly.

Senators, upon learning the inclusion of Lozada and Joey de Venecia in the recommendation to be indicted, said they would not support the report.

Alan Peter Cayetano, former Blue Ribbon chair, has said there is a probability that his colleagues from the minority, might come up with a “minority report,” a dissenting report, if they were not satisfied with the findings and recommendations of the Gordon panel.

Not true

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said there was no truth that the President did not act on Neri’s report about Abalos’ bribe attempt.

Remonde said the President ordered Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno to investigate through the PNP.

He said Puno said the PNP promptly conducted an investigation but the result was inconclusive.

Remonde said Puno told the President that there was no basis to file charges against anybody at that time.

Gordon agreed to release the final report on the NBN-ZTE- deal on the prodding of Joey de Venecia.

For the young De Venecia, the release of the report is the culmination of a two-year odyssey to ferret out the truth about the project.

“It really doesn’t matter if Senator Gordon has prejudged me by saying I was guilty even after the Ombudsman cleared me,” he said, “What’s more important is that the committee report be released for the people to judge for themselves if its findings are valid.” – With Regina Bengco

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Nov. 16, 2004

Aquino promised to put Hacienda Luisita under the land reform, but in 1989, instead of having the land distributed, Aquino implemented the Stock Distribution Option (SDO) program under which the 5,000 farm workers were given shares of stock in the company instead of individual titles to the hacienda land.

On the second week of November 2004, Hacienda Luisita sought the help of the Arroyo government, which gladly sent members of the Philippine national Police complete with armored vehicle carrier. Hostilities between the strikers and the police escalated. On November 16, the police fired at the strikers. Seven were killed on the spot , 72 were badly injured, 27 sustained gun shot wounds, and 110 were arrested by the police. That became known as the Hacienda Luisita massacre.

Seven more persons involved in the Hacienda Luisita case were later killed in separate incidents.
Last Sunday, Former Sectoral Representative Loretta Ann Rosales, Akbayan chair emeritus, wrote Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, III, the Liberal Party presidential candidate on the Hacienda Luisita issue.

Here’s Etta’s letter:

Dear Noynoy,

I write you as friend and former colleague in Congress re Hacienda Luisita, an issue that involves not just your family and the farmers of Tarlac but, of larger import, the issue of land and the crisis of food production threatened by climate change. I make this an open letter to include in our conversation the people who have clamored for you to run for president.
“November 16 marks the day when seven farmers of Tarlac were killed initially and scores injured by security forces that attacked protesting farmers pressing to open the gates of the Hacienda. It is therefore no surprise that the issue has surfaced in a broadsheet and will continue to be the subject of media reports to get your position on the matter.

The following points may be helpful for us to consider.

We are all committed to seeking a peaceful and just solution to the issue of Hacienda Luisita farmers. This is in line with the spirit of social justice defined by international law on human rights, the 1987 Charter and tenets of the newly passed CARPER law (although some of its provisions remain controversial, as they represent views from recalcitrant landed interests).

Perhaps we can address specific issues on the ground and resolve them from a rights-based perspective, the underpinnings of governance that ensures government for all and not just for a few.

One, while you may not have been aware, it is true that Hacienda Luisita Inc. issued a letter stating that all occupants must vacate the land end-October. This triggered strong emotions from farmers who had occupied the land as a matter of survival, which occupation followed the paralysis of organized production with the tragic killings of November 16 and shortly after (a total of fourteen farm workers were killed).

Two, it is equally true that some of the occupying farm workers did rent out the land they occupied to those who were financially capable of using the land for crops they wanted to plant. It must have been a matter of survival – they had nothing to eat, they had zero income, they had no capital for production. Renting out was a way of making both ends meet while the land reform question remains pending. One can readily conclude that it mattered less to the farmers that the renters were insiders or outsiders, farm workers or not. To provide food and shelter for the family was paramount.

Three, the issue of Stock Distribution Option (SDO) as an agrarian reform scheme precedes CARPER; it was in Section 31 of the original CARP. We now have to deal with the new law.

Four, SDO likewise preceded your run for the presidency; you inherited a problem that needs to be resolved peacefully but with dispatch for the common good. This is especially urgent in the light of the emerging food crisis where climate change has affected not just Philippine rice fields but also fields from Vietnam and Taiwan, traditional sources of imported rice.

Five, when farmers lack capital to produce crops, they will not hesitate to reach out to outsiders to rent their lands. Sending notices to the farmers to rid them of non-SDO members does not alleviate the hardship. It merely exposes the problem of the dearth of capital and support services.

Six, the only guarantee that support services can be provided the farm workers is after the land has been fully and completely awarded to them by the DAR. And this is at least a possibility under the CARPER framework.

Seven, AKBAYAN is committed to the call for land redistribution in Hacienda Luisita and we hope that our current alliance with the Liberal Party will hasten and facilitate the enforcement of this call. We look forward to a meaningful and long-term solution to Hacienda Luisita anchored on social justice, human rights and an ecology-based system for sustainable development.

Your friend as always,
Etta P. Rosales
AKBAYAN Chair Emeritus

Starting today up to Nov. 27, 2009, the daily activities of Sen. Noynoy Aquino, Liberal Party presidential candidate,can be seen in capsule, in a video blog in his website:www.noynoy.ph.

Speaking from his residence in Times street via video satellite with reporters assembled at the office of Campaigns and Grey, an advertising and public relations firm, Aquino admits to being not so New Media- savvy but said “he is a student by nature.”

He said he recognizes the power of the internet as an important source of information but also sees the need for a balance between “rights and responsibility”.

Yoly Ong, the Aquino presidential campaign’s director for communications said the vblog, which its the first of its kind in the country’s political campaign, will offer an “unscripted and raw look” of Aquino to allow voters to know him better, his advocacies and his platform of governance.

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The Concerned Citizens movement today filed a Supplemental Motion for reconsideration from a decision of the Supreme Court upholding the legality of the COMELEC- Smartmatic Automated Election Systems.
In a 25 page motion, CCM singled out two new grounds both of which arose from “supervening events” since the High Court dismissed the CCM Petition against the COMELEC. The grounds alleged by CCM are as follows:

I. Comelec/Smatmatic will not be able to comply with the July 10, 2009 because of their failure to provide telecommunication facilities –both satellite and land-based- that will assure one hundred per cent communications coverage at all times during the conduct of the 2010 general elections as stated in the contract.

2. Smartmatic resorted to subcontracting to manufacture the Precinct Count Optical Scan machines in question, first to JARL-Tech, and now, to a Chinese company known as Quisdi, violates not only the Comelec’s own bidding rules but also Republic Act 9184, the government’s New Procurement Act.

The first ground is due largely to recent study conducted by NBN-ZTE whistleblower Jun Lozada who was commissioned by the religious providing him sanctuary to review the automation contract. One important finding arrived at by Lozada was a failure of Smartmatic to provide a budget for satellite communication despite Smartmatic’s bid and the requirement of the COMELEC that it should provide satellite communication to areas of the country with no GPRS telecommunication facilities. “This failure of Smartmatic to provide a budget for satellite communication despite its knowledge that the country does not have nationwide GPRC telecommunications facility proves that it would be impossible for both the COMELEC and Smartmatic to provide for 100% automated elections in 2010”, Lozada claimed.

The second ground is based on pronouncements made by Smartmatic that it has changed the manufacturer of the PCOS machine. Originally, the manufacturer, Jarltech of Taiwan, was allegedly majority owned by Smartmatic. The requite ISO certification, to ensure the manufacturer’s reliability and Environmental Clearances were in the name of Jarltech or its sub-contractor, Kenmech. “This change in manufacturer violates the procurement law and the COMELEC’s bidding rules as it is tantamount to sub-contracting. This practice is not allowed because obviously, we need to hold the manufacturers directly liable to answer for product warranty defects. This change in manufacturer is also a major change in the contract specifications required by the COMELEC in its request for proposals. If allowed, it would be most unfair to the losing bidders and the Filipino people as it is as if the contractor was allowed to dictate new terms of contract when a bidding is precisely to ensure that the people enjoy the best terms and conditions of contract pursuant to specified requirements”, declared Atty. Harry Roque, Co-convenor of CCM.

The automation project is already very much delayed on the basis of the timeline submitted by the COMELEC to Congress. Under the contract signed between the COMELEC and Smartmatic, delivery of the PCOS machines should commence this month of November. Full delivery should be made by January, 2010. Smartmatic also opted to change its original logistics provider, 2GO, with several other regional logistics company. “All these fundamental changes in contract do not bode well for the ability of Smartmatic and the COMELEC to conduct the first ever nationwide automated elections system. I urge the COMELEC now to be prudent and faithful to its constitutional mandate and declare at the earliest time its inability to proceed with full nationwide automation”, Roque added.

CCM has consistently maintained it is not against automation per se., but is against an “automated failure of elections” where an untested automated system is implemented without partial implementation. “We urge the COMELEC to opt for partial automation in 2010 so that it can implement a full automated elections system in 2013. This, after all, is what the law provides”, Roque added.

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Kinukuha pala ng Lakas-Kampi si Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. na bise president para sa kanilang presidential candidate na si Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.

Ini-report ng Philippine Star na sabi daw ni Revilla, handa raw siya na maging bise kay Teodoro kung makukuha niya ang ng basbas ng kanyang ama na si dating Senador Ramon Revilla Sr.

Sabi sa Star, “Unang binalak ni Bong na tumakbong bise presidente ngunit nang ma-stroke ang nakatatandang Revilla ay hiniling nito sa anak na muling na lamang kumandidatong senador para sa kanyang ikalawang termino.

Sabi pa ng Star, “Ngunit muling nabuhay ang posibleng pagtakbo muli ni (Bong) Revilla bilang bise presidente nang mawalan ng running mate si Teodoro, napipisil na presidential candidate ng administrasyon.”

Nawalan kasi ng VP si Teodoro nang biglang umatras sa planong pagtakbong pangalawang pangulo si Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno. Naisip yata nina Arroyo na mas makatulong si Puno sa kanyang kandidato kung sa DILG si Puno kasi kontrolado pa rin niya ang local governments.

Mabuting kumbinasyun itong Teodoro-Revilla. Kasi di ba ang campaign slogan ni Teodoro ay “Galing at Talino”. Balanse na ang tiket nila.

Ito ang trapong-trapo (traditional politics) na political strategy. Kukuha ka ng kandidato na popular kahit na hindi naman kahanga-hanga record sa public service. Ano ba ang accomplishment ni Revilla sa Senado maliban sa imbestigasyon ng Katrina Halili-Hayden Kho na video?

Naala-ala nyo ang tanong niya kay Katrina Halili noon sa Senado: “Ano ang naramdaman mo?” Lalim ano.
Good luck kay Gibo kasi noong 2007 na eleksyun hindi pumatok si Cesar Montano para senador kahit na sikat siyang artista.

Ngunit marami pa ring artista ang gustong pumasok sa pulitika. Si Montano nga tatakbong gubernador sa Bohol. Si Richard Gomez naman tatakbong congressman ng Ormoc City. Si Ara Mina, tatakbo rin bilang konsehal ng Quezon City.

Humingi si Ara ng klaripikasyun sa Comelec kung pwede pa siya maka-labas sa kanyang mga shows sa TV pagkatapos siya mag-file ng certificate of candidacy bago mag-Dec. 1 samantalang ang campaign period ay Feb. 9 pa naman ang simula. May limitasyun kasi ang TV appearances ng mga kandidato.

May nagsasabi naman na pati na rin daw ang mga nagkakampanya para sa mga kandidato katulad ni Kris Aquino ay dapat mag-resign sa kanilang mga shows. Ang sagot ni Kris, na kasama sa top 1,000 na malaki ang binabayad na buwis: “If I go on leave from TV, kawawa ang BIR.”

Anong say mo dyan?

Noynoy Aquino

I’m using the word “again” because the two met last Sept. 28, two days after typhoon “Ondoy” turned many areas in Metro Manila into an ocean and battered thousands of families.

The Sept. 28 meeting, held at the Estrada residence on Polk Street in Greenhills, San Juan, was widely reported. Reports said Aquino was accompanied by his sisters while Sen. Jinggoy Estrada joined in the dinner/meeting.

Reports said they talked about “uniting the opposition” or fielding a common senatorial slate.

But then, three weeks after that meeting Estrada launched his presidential bid for 2010 in Tondo. So much about “unity.”

Last week, ABS-CBN quoted Estrada as saying that it’s the Aquino camp that is asking for a meeting. I asked an insider in the Aquino camp and they denied this quoting Noynoy as saying, “I did not ask for a meeting” with Erap.

A source said even without a second Erap-Noynoy meeting , there are negotiations for the inclusion of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada in the LP ticket.

I got a variation of that info: aside from Jinggoy, Estrada also wanted the LP to take in Makati Mayor Jojo Binay and Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile. JPE is simply unacceptable to the Aquinos (although Enrile and then Philippine Constabulary chief Fidel Ramos coup d’etat against President Ferdinand Marcos paved the way for People Power and the installation of Cory as president, it was alleged also JPE was behind the numerous coup attempts that shook the Aquino administration). Binay, I was told, wanted to push ahead with his vice presidential bid.

If the talks between the Estrada and Aquino camps are true, it indicates that Erap’s presidential bid is not going anywhere and a Supreme Court decision disqualifying him from among the candidates would be a graceful exit for him.

But what does this say of Aquino’s much-hyped reform politics? I’m told there’s an ongoing debate between his advisers whether to wage a “traditional” or “non-traditional” political campaign.

The non-traditional or “purists” among his advisers feel that Aquino, with his overwhelming popularity has the rare chance to introduce radical change by not having in the ticket “tainted” politicians. The politicians, on the other hand know, the realities on the ground and the risk of isolating themselves from sectors heavily influenced by traditional politics.

Where does Aquino stand in this?

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Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said Gloria Arroyo is ready to reassure Hillary Clinton of clean elections in 2010.

There is something wrong here. The press secretary and spokesman of a president of one country assuring a cabinet member of another country that the elections in her country would be clean. In the first place, elections should be clean and credible. Not for the United States or other countries but for the Filipino people.

Elections is the engine that drives democracy. Through elections, the people choose their leaders. In the a presidential system like the Philippines, elections is supposed to be an equalizer because when a voter goes to polls. Rich or poor, young or old, highly-educated or illiterate, his vote is counted as one vote. That what it should be in a clean and credible election.

You tamper the results, as what Arroyo did in the 2004 elections, you destroy the trust of the people in the elections and you undermine democracy.

Remonde’s assurance of clean elections on 2010 is an indirect admission that the 2004 presidential elections were not clean

Remonde also said Arroyo will assure Clinton of “ a peaceful orderly transition of power.”

It’s the Filipino people that Arroyo should assure. By even taking it up with a foreign secretary of another country, even if it’s the United States of America, showed how low Arroyo’s illegitimate presidency has brought the country down.

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by VERA Files
Philippine Daily Inquirer

If Filipinos are wondering how government officials and employees become millionaires overnight, buying expensive cars, moving to upscale homes, or taking frequent trips abroad, the answers can be partly found by checking their Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALN).

A SALN is a document that all those serving in government—from the lowliest clerk to the President—are required to submit. It discloses how much money they have, what property they own, what companies and businesses they have interests in, how much they owe and who their relatives in government are.

The disclosure includes not just the officials’ own assets and liabilities, but even those of their spouses and children below 18.

(This article was written for the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s “Talk of the Town.” Read the full text in the Inquirer. Also read “SALN violators: No big fish since Marcelo’s Time” and “Where to get SALN.”)

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The discussions in the previous post on this question of how the next president would handle Gloria Arroyo have been vibrant. However, I noticed that some quoted just a part of the answers which could be misleading.

Although Che-Che Lazaro didn’t ask exactly the same questions to all the interviewees, more or less, you have an idea of their stand or lack of stand.

***

Ang isang bagay na gusto ng marami nating kababayan marinig sa mga kandidato para pangulo ay kung ano ang kanilang gagawin kay Gloria Arroyo kung sila ang maupo sa Malacañang.

Tinanong ito ni Che-Che Lazaro sa kanyang magkahiwalay na interbyu sa kanyang programang Probe Profiles . Hindi eksakto ang tanong ni Che-Che sa bawat isa ngunit ang kanilang mga sagot:

Manny Villar:

Q: Speaking about the Office of the President, how would you handle GMA?

A: Well, again, sa akin, sinasabi ko kanina, na yan ay trabaho ng judiciary. Kung may magpa-file sa kanya ng charges, she will have to defend herself sa mga charges na yun, sa judiciary natin. Hindi tama na ang pangulo na ang makikialam dyan. Sa judiciary natin.

Q: Would you pardon her? Just in case, she’s convicted ha?

A: Hindi, mahirap naman sagutin mo kaagad yan. Dapat alam mo yung mga circumstances din naman kung mako-convict nga siya o hindi.

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro:

Q: So, if GMA, if cases are filed against her, and you are president, what will you do?

A: You’re not supposed to do anything because there are institutions that are supposed to do that.

Senator Francis Escudero:

Q: Kung masintensyahan si GMA, will you consider pardon? Presidential pardon?

A: Sa ngayon, hindi. At kung saka-sakali man, hayaan nating taong bayan ang magdesisyon kaugnay sa sensitibong bagay na ito. Hindi kahinaan ang pagtanong sa sambayanan ng opinyon nila, partikular sa mga sensitibong bagay na maaaring pagmulan ng kaguluhan. Kabilang na, katulad ng nabanggit ko, ang cha-cha. Kadalasan, ang nagiging problema natin, nagmamarunong ang mga opisyal. Inaangkin nila lahat ng talento, galing at dunong kaugnay sa pagpapasya. Kung saka-sakali, gaya ng sabi ko, hindi, sa ngayon ang sagot ko. Pero bago ko buksan ‘yon, tatanungin ko ang taong bayan kung yan ba ang gusto nila o hindi.

Q: At kung sabihin nilang gusto nilang ipardon si presidente?

A: Yun ang gagawin ko. Kung anuman ang sabihin ng mas nakararami. Sa isang demokrasya, iisa lamang ang batas na dapat mong sundin–kung ano ang boses at ninanais ng mayorya. Trabaho siguro natin na hubugin, giyahan kung ano yung magiging opinyon na yun. Pero, anuman ang kanilang isaboses, dapat igalang at tanggapin natin.

Sen. Benigno Aquino III

Q: Si GMA ba kakasuhan mo?

A: “First of all, I want closure dun sa many issues and she seems to be either directly, peripherally involved in some of these. Having said that, my father did teach me rather that democracy’s test is your ability to defend the rights of your enemies, especially, not just of your friends. Yung paniwala niya, pag pumayag kang may maapi yung isang grupo, eventually lahat ng grupo aapihin. Yung grupo ng lipunan, ano? So kung ayaw mong ikaw na lang ang natitirang aapihin, ay siguraduhin mo sa umpisa pa lang pinagtanggol mo na yung karapatan mo. So, in our system, innocent until proven guilty. I will ensure that she gets all of her rights–people around her, etc, members of this current administration. At the end of the day, I want closure. Yung pasensyahan na lang kung san umabot.”

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