I got this report from my TV crew during last Tuesday's 888 Forum that BOPK leader Rep. Tomas Osmeña refused to sit down with the rest of the guests in that forum and they accommodated him. When it was his turn, a reporter from a local newspaper asked him what his plans were for Cebu City and gave him only three minutes to answer the question because she was being fair to the other candidates who joined the Mega Cebu Candidates Forum and therefore subjected Rep. Osmeña to the same rules.
In his usual arrogant way, Rep. Osmeña refused to answer the question saying that he cannot answer in just three minutes all his plans and programs. So in the end, the question was never answered. So let's ask ourselves. How come all the other candidates were able to answer (or at least they tried) in three minutes their plans and programs during the Mega Cebu Forum? This only shows that Tomas Osmeña is just as arrogant as he was before and he will get only worse if he wins the mayoralty race.
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I have to hand it to Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes, who complained all the way to Malacañang, that the Supreme Court (SC) is practically running things in the Comelec having lost two important cases filed before the SC. Brillantes apparently is feeling like the King of the Philippines these days and he obviously doesn't want any interference from anyone, including the Supreme Court (SC). Shades of tyranny? Apparently so!
To show that he is king of the elections, the Comelec issued resolution No. 9688 last Tuesday wherein it immediately imposed a “money ban†starting yesterday. That Comelec resolution declared that cash withdrawals more than P100,000 is not allowed so as to prevent “vote-buying.†Thus, the Comelec Resolution immediately deputized the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to effect this Comelec order. In addition to that “money ban†order, the Comelec's checkpoints would now allow operatives to check not just for banned firearms, but also for money.
So if you are a law abiding citizen, who kept his gun inside his residence and you happen to run into a Comelec checkpoint, the police manning the checkpoints can also search your vehicles for money. In my book this presents a clear and present danger to ordinary citizens who may be subjected to all sorts of harassment, or worse even hold ups!
Thankfully, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BS) issued a statement saying to the effect, “The BSP supports the Comelec's goal to ensure clean and honest elections in the Philippines. However, the BSP believes that limiting cash withdrawals to one hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) and for the monetary authority to enforce this may not be the best way to achieve the goal of ensuring clean and honest elections.
The BSP's position is based on the following grounds;
1. Limiting cash withdrawal and check clearing beyond one hundred thousand pesos may disrupt normal business and commercial transactions in the Philippines. 2. The BSP is also constrained from enforcing the Comelec resolution because this would necessarily entail looking into bank deposit accounts. This is essentially unsound and in violation of Republic Act (RA) No. 1405 as amended (Secrecy on Peso deposits) and R.A. No. 6426 (Secrecy on Foreign Currency Deposits).
What does this tell you? That the BSP believes that the Comelec resolution imposed by Chairman Brillantes would violate Bank Secrecy rules. This only proves to us that aside from being computer illiterate, the Comelec chairman, who is a lawyer, is also ignorant of our laws. Remember the old saying, “Ignorance of the law excuses no one.†This includes the Comelec chairman. What a shame!
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In the election year of 2004, Cebuanos led the nation as the only ethnic group that wasn't “star struck†when we voted overwhelmingly for then Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (PGMA) instead of action star Fernando Poe, Jr. (FPJ). For leading the nation, we were lambasted by FPJ, including Sen. Loren Legarda, his vice presidential candidate, for “cheating†in the 2004 elections. Now that they are asking for your vote, they lie to us?
Call this piece a rejoinder to our TF Editor Jerry Tundag's column yesterday that FPJ could not win in Cebu firstly because he had no local candidates and secondly because Cebuanos are not “star struck.†Apparently, after FPJ died, his daughter Grace Poe Llamanzares repeatedly told those who cared to listen that FPJ was cheated and we Cebuanos cheated for GMA. Now that Grace Llamanzares is running for senator, she has returned to Cebu to say that she never said that we Cebuanos cheated. What a lie! Cebuanos who will vote for Grace Poe are traitors to Cebu!
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