Risky

Lead Defense Counsel Serafin Cuevas announced last Thursday that Chief Justice Renato Corona will appear at the Senate yesterday. This is a good decision as it will make up for his “walkout” at the Senate last Tuesday. He signed an unconditional waiver of the confidentiality of his bank deposit.

His doctors at Medical City agreed to accompany him to the Senate, but have advised him to sign a medical waiver absolving them from any responsibility, saying his attendance at the trial is “risky.”

At press time, CJ Corona arrived at the Senate accompanied by his doctors from Medical City and family members. He was no longer subjected to further direct examination questions. The prosecution also did not ask him any cross examination questions.

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DIARRHEA OUTBREAK . . Contaminated water killed 3 persons and downed 80 barangay residents with diarrhea in Nabua, Camarines Sur and 59 in Oas, Albay. The contaminated water came from deep wells.

Diarrhea outbreaks have been reported in several provinces in 2011 to date. It is getting to be a nationwide problem.

In some areas, people are forced to drink contaminated water from dirty rivers.

In many places, artesian wells and deep wells have run dry, forcing people to drink whatever water they can get.

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POOR PERFORMANCE . . NIA fails to meet irrigation target as it accomplished only 72 percent of its 33,431 hectares target in 2011.

NIA manages 212 national irrigation systems with a service area of 783,457 hectares. There are about 1.3 million hectares of irrigable lands.                                                                                              

It is targeting to increase irrigated farmlands by 224,850 hectares in 2012.

Considering the poor performance in 2011, that looks like a pretty ambitious target.

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SAD DAY . . It’s a sad spectacle to see two police units, the CIDG and the QCPD accusing each other of hulidap and trying to extort millions from Manilyn Ong and Edna Alfuerto demanding P20 million for their release.

QCPD Director Mario dela Vega alleged that 15 CIDG men intervened and assaulted 3 QCPD cops to prevent them from taking custody of Ong and Alfuerto. Soon after the 70 QCPD policemen arrived and disarmed the CIDG personnel and took the custody of Ong and Alfuerto who were subjects of arrest warrants issued by a QC trial court.

DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo has ordered an investigation into this matter.

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CLINTON FINALLY SAID SO . . In a hearing of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that China’s claim to the West Philippine Sea exceeded what was permitted by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Democratic Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and Sen. Barbara Boxer supported Clinton’s opinion.

Meanwhile, 94 Chinese vessels are at the Scarborough Shoals continuing to fish under the protection of Chinese gunboats. With our limited Maritime capacity, the Philippines is helpless to prevent the Chinese from fishing in the area.

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CBCP AGAINST DIVORCE . . As expected, an official of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has come out to oppose the divorce bill sponsored by Sen. Pia Cayetano.

Fr. Melvin Castro, Executive Secretary of the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Family and Life said “We should protect the sanctity of marriage. It’s a life long commitment.”

It has been noted that divorce is allowed in Catholic countries like Spain, Italy, Ireland and several Latin American countries but its chances of passing here slim in view of the CBCP opposition. The Catholic Church allows annulment of marriage. Divorce is allowed among Muslims.

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SLOW JOB CREATION . . Speaking at the National Career Advocacy Congress, President Aquino admitted that domestic and foreign investments have resulted in creating 200,000 jobs in 2011. He promised to increase the number of jobs created in coming years. He admitted that 1 million persons are added to the work force every year.

This is creating a backlog of 3 to 4 million unemployed Filipinos.

For the last 2 years there has not been any significant increase of jobs created in the manufacturing sector.

The Government should triple the budget allocated for farm to market roads, communal irrigation dams, school building constructions and other labor intensive projects. Projects costing P10 million or less should be devolved to local governments for faster implementation at lower cost.

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TIDBITS . . . An arrest warrant was issued by the Sandigan Bayan for former Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca on charges of graft.

Jessica Bugay Sanchez’ mother is from Samal, Bataan. American Phillip Phillips was declared the winner of the American Idol contest.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda announced the suspension of new scholarship grants due to a cut in its internal revenue allotment.

Earlier, Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay and several minority Congressmen announced the stoppage of scholarship grants due to non-release of their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

P70 million ransom demanded for the release of kidnapped Ex-mayor Vicente Tan of Carrascal, Surigao del Sur who was kidnapped last Monday in Lanuza, Surigao del Sur. He has been released. Ransom was paid.

Several other kidnapping cases in the area remained unsolved.

The residence of an ADB official Richard Edward Coralee was robbed in Makati. Last week the residence of the Iranian Ambassador at Forbes Park was also robbed.

Good move. President Aquino joined the Brigada Eskwela to clean up A. Mabini Elementary School in Quiapo, Manila.

Reps. Angelo Pulmones, Abigail Ferriol, Kimi Cojuangco and Bernadette Herrera Dy have agreed to sign a waiver on the confidentiality of their dollar accounts.

Greetings to avid reader Dr. Rex Navarro, director of marketing and communication of ICRISAT in Hyderabad, India. He suggests that the Philippine government should enact a Food Security Bill to institutionalize its gains in food production.