MANILA, Philippines – Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s hospital bill at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City has reached more than P120,000.
The VMMC reported that the running total of Mrs. Arroyo’s stay at the hospital is now at P126,661.21. The former president was transferred to the VMMC from the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City on Dec. 9, 2011.
Of the said amount, Mrs. Arroyo’s electrical consumption at the hospital was already at P65,635.43 and medical procedures done on the former president reached P52,547.
The amount is being shouldered by …

Corona dollar accounts in trust for kids?
MANILA, Philippines – Lead defense lawyer Serafin Cuevas blew his top in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona on Thursday amid questions by Senator-judge Ralph Recto on Corona’s bank accounts.
He accused Recto of looking only at the evidence presented by the prosecution.
Cuevas also objected to what he felt was Recto’s alleged bias in favor of the prosecution.
“You are making a summation of facts solely on the basis in favor of one party. There is no evidence yet on our part. The only …

MANILA, Philippines – A church-based network of religious leaders, priests, seminarians and lay individuals laid down 3 challenges to Chief Justice Renato Corona regarding his ongoing impeachment trial in the Senate.
Representatives of the Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan, a church-based network of religious leaders, priests, seminarians and lay individuals, went to the Supreme Court (SC) this morning to deliver a letter addressed to Chief Justice Renato Corona in connection with his ongoing impeachment trial.
The group raised 3 main points in their 2-page letter: 1) a call for opening of Corona’s foreign …

“WALANG maiiwan.”
Thus said Malacañang as the Department of Budget and Management has already released the so-called pork barrel or Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) of minority lawmakers.
Deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said that the PDAF of Representatives Dato and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay and Toby Tiangco were already released.
Records from the DBM show that the P70 million PDAF of House Minority Floor Leader Rep. Danilo Suarez for 2011 has been fully released. The same holds true for former Minority Leader Rep. Edcel Lagman, Rep. Ma. Amelita Villarosa, …

Chief Justice Renato Corona received over P21 million in salaries and benefits during his stint in the Supreme Court from 2002 to 2011, the court’s chief disbursement officer said Tuesday.
Araceli Bayuga, chief judicial staff officer of the SC’s cash, collection and disbursement division, was called to the witness stand by the defense panel to authenticate documents on Corona’s benefits and allowances she said she issued.
Bayuga said Corona’s annual salary in the SC rose from P353,000 in 2002 to P1.1 million in 2011—a year after he was appointed chief magistrate.
She added …

MANILA, Philippines – It’s Article 2 or bust.
Chief Justice Renato Corona’s future in the Supreme Court could be decided by impeachment complaint’s Article 2, law experts said on Tuesday.
Atty. Raul Pangalangan, former dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law, told ANC that the article, which pertains to Corona’s alleged failure to disclose to the public all of his assets, liabilities and net worth, as required by the Constitution, is the make-or-break issue in the impeachment complaint.
“Prosecution strongest in Article 2, weaker on Articles 3 and 7 both on factual and …

 
The camp of Chief Justice Renato Corona on Tuesday formally opposed the Senate impeachment court’s decision allowing his bank records to be subpoenaed to the proceedings.
In a seven-page motion, Corona’s counsel said the documents should be deemed “inadmissible and irrelevant” to the proceedings.
The defense also noted that the Senate had earlier ruled that no evidence should be presented in connection with Paragraph 2.4 of Article II of the impeachment complaint, which is about Corona’s alleged ill-gotten wealth.
“The introduction of the subpoenaed documents relating to CJ Corona’s bank deposits should therefore …

Spokespersons of the prosecution in the trial of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona on Friday said the criticism directed at it for its failure to present proof of his purported 45 properties is not only undeserved but also missed the point of the impeachment.
“They claimed we have lost the case because we only presented 25 and not 45 [properties]. But whether it is 5 or 10 or 20 or 45, the point is he did not disclose and declare them for years. And why were these declared at very low …

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official, who was asked by House prosecutors to testify on the company that allegedly loaned Chief Justice Renato Corona P11 million, on Wednesday admitted that he didn’t really know anything about the firm and its transactions.
Benito Cataran, director of the SEC Company Registration and Monitoring Department, testified during the day’s trial that they had already revoked the license and dissolved Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. in 2003, the year Corona got a P11-million loan from the firm.
Cataran likewise said that Corona nor his wife Cristina, the …

MANILA, Philippines – The wife of Sen. Lito Lapid is now required to wear an ankle monitor after being placed under house arrest in the US for allegedly smuggling $50,000 in cash last November 27.
Marissa Lapid was arrested at the Las Vegas International Airport last January 15. The arrest was based on a warrant issued last January 5 for allegedly smuggling $50,000 in cash last Nov. 27.
In a copy of the arrest warrant obtained by ABS-CBN North America News Bureau’s Bev Llorente, the senator’s wife said she only had with …

Senator Franklin Drilon will not withdraw from the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, even after the defense panel accused him of partiality and asked the senator-judge to inhibit himself from the trial.
“The rules of the Senate is that the rules of inhibition is addressed to the person… the senator, and I will not inhibit because there is no basis for the motion to inhibit me,” he said.
In a motion filed Thursday before the Senate as an impeachment court, the defense said Drilon showed his partiality at least twice …

Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo Jr. died Thursday after life-support systems were removed from his body, said his brother, former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo.
“Support systems were pulled out already thirty minutes ago. My brother passed away already. I’m so sad,” he said.
The Negros lawmaker was earlier declared “clinically dead” and was only relying on life support systems after he suffered a cardiac arrest Wednesday night.
“At that point, an ambulance was called for him in London. He was revived at the hospital but he went into a coma. …

The House prosecution team on Tuesday asked the Senate impeachment court to summon corporate records from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pertaining to a company owned by the wife of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona.
The prosecution wants the Senate to subpoena the SEC’s director of Company Registration and Monitoring Department to bring original and certified true copies of the articles of incorporation of Basa-Guidote Enterpises Inc., owned by Mrs. Cristina Corona, the prosecution said in a statement.
It also wants the SEC to present the company’s general information sheet and …

MANILA, Philippines (UDPATE) – The impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Renato Corona covers the issue of ill-gotten wealth since the respondent himself acknowledged the charge, a law expert said Saturday.
This week’s proceedings saw defense lawyers posing continuous objection to prosecutors’ presentation of evidence on Corona’s alleged illegal wealth, a charge they claimed was not made properly in Article 2 of the impeachment complaint.
But Amado Valdez, dean of the University of the East College of Law, said that Article 2 is “already sufficiently informative as far as what the accusation is,” …

By Senator Pia S. Cayetano
As all eyes turn to the Senate, to watch the impeachment trial unfold, an understanding of the procedure and the intent of the Constitution would help everyone understand this process better.
Role of the Senate
Article XI, section 6 of the Constitution states:
The Senate shall have the sole power to try and decide all cases of impeachment. When sitting for that purpose the Senators shall be under oath or affirmation.
Following the above mandate, last December 14, 2011, we took our oath as judges of the impeachment court. A …

MANILA, Philippines – A loyal servant of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo or a fierce protector of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights? House prosecutors and defense lawyers presented different pictures of embattled Chief Justice Renato Corona at the start of his impeachment trial in the Senate Monday.
Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Sr. described Corona as a “loyal servant” of Mrs. Arroyo even before she became president in 2001. He said Corona’s loyalty reaped numerous rewards.
“Imagine, GMA paid for his back surgery. His wife was given plum positions in the …

MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Jejomar Binay is the most appreciated and trusted while Chief Justice Renato Corona has the lowest approval and trust rating among top government officials, according to Pulse Asia’s November 2011 Ulat ng Bayan survey released yesterday.
Corona had a low approval rating even though the Supreme Court together with the Senate emerged as the most appreciated and trusted government institutions.
The survey, taken from Nov. 10 to 23 – at the height of the controversy over the high tribunal’s issuance of a temporary restraining order on the …

MANILA, Philippines – Former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo wants the Supreme Court to nullify the filing of electoral sabotage raps and the subsequent warrant of arrest against his wife, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
In an urgent petition filed before the Court, Arroyo is asking the SC to declare all the actions of the Joint Department of Justice-Commission on Elections fact finding and preliminary investigation committee to be illegal.
This includes the filing of information which was basis for last Friday’s issuance of a warrant of arrest.
“All the acts so far performed …

The Maguindanao massacre trial prosecution will ask a Quezon City court to arraign “as soon as possible” murder suspect Rizaldy Ampatuan in the high-profile case, almost two years after the killings happened.
The request came after the Court of Appeals Eleventh Division upheld — 4-1 — in a ruling the suspect’s inclusion on the charge sheet on the killing of 57 people at Barangay Salman in Ampatuan, Maguindanao on November 23, 2009.
However, prosecution cannot yet ask Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the QC Regional Trial Court Branch 221 to arraign Ampatuan due …

THE Las Piñas police are mulling perjury or obstruction charges against Ma. Ramona “Mara” Belen Bautista for retracting her statement last Friday about her abduction on the night her brother, Ramgen “Ram” Bautista was murdered on October 28.
Las Piñas City police chief Senior Supt. Romulo Sapitula said they are studying whether to sue Mara in connection with her retraction.
Another matter they are looking into is whether they can file charges since it is the Parañaque police which is handling the murder investigation, he said.
Sapitula said they were surprised by Mara’s …

MANILA, Philippines – Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is seeking to travel overseas from October to December for medical treatment.
A document from the Office of the Secretary General shows that Artemio Adasa Jr. has endorsed to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs Arroyo’s travel authority (TA).
The travel authority is an amendment of the one granted by House Speaker Sonny Belmonte to Arroyo originally dated September 16, 2011 for travel last September 18 to October 11.
The amended travel authority is dated October 19, 2011 and labeled as a 1st endorsement.
The amended TA reads, …

Credit belongs to the taxpayers, so take those billboards with your big smiling face somewhere else.
This, in essence, is the message of Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago in Senate Bill No. 1967, her version of what the man in the street would call an “anti-epal” measure, as it is directed at politicians or bureaucrats who claim credit for projects built with public funds.
“Epal” is slang for “mapapel,” a Filipino term for attention grabbers, scene stealers, or people who crave a role (papel) in affairs that are not necessarily theirs to handle or …

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Former actor and senator Ramon Revilla Sr. fathered 72 children to 16 different women, the spokesman of one of his sons said Wednesday.
Thirty-eight of his children are officially acknowledged and carry his surname, according to Portia Ilagan, spokesperson of Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.
The Revilla patriarch was born Jose Acuña Bautista and took the screen name Ramon Revilla when he entered the movies.
His eldest child is Evelyn Bautista, wife of another former senator and basketball legend Robert Jaworski.
Revilla’s youngest child, meanwhile, is 15-year-old Abigail.
One daughter, Andrea, …

MANILA, Philippines – The new generation Philippine peso bills, which came under fire for its design that included error-filled maps, has received accolades from an international currency association, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
In a statement, the BSP said the new generation currency banknote series was a finalist for the Best New Banknote Series award at the 2011 Currency Conference of the US-based International Association of Currency Affairs (IACA) in Singapore last October 5. IACA’s membership includes central banks, financial institutions and industry players.
The Philippine banknotes, however, lost …

Vice President Jejomar C. Binay has sought the help of historians in rectifying what could be an oversight in proclaiming revolutionary General Miguel Malvar as the rightful second President of the Philippines.
In his letter to National Historical Commission chair Maria Serena I. Diokno and heads of history departments of various universities and colleges, Binay said he received information that Malvar was Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo’s right-hand during the war against the United States and took over command when the latter (Aguinaldo) was captured by American forces in Palanan, Isabela.
Since he took …