The Wutz Up in the Philippines!

Brownouts in Mindanao worsening

MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo plans to declare a power crisis in Mindanao in the next few days to give the government more leeway in dealing with the worsening supply shortage on the island, Malacañang announced Thursday.

The announcement came as the power supply in the Luzon and Mindanao grids further worsened on Thursday. Since Monday, Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon have been suffering from rotating brownouts.

Ms Arroyo said she concurred with Energy Secretary Angelo T. Reyes on his proposal to declare a crisis and allow the government to contract for generation sets for Mindanao.

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Manila, Philippines- The Supreme Court has ruled that appointed officials seeking elective posts should quit government posts.

lawyer Romulo Macalintal said he will appeal the new decision. Far from leveling the playing field, Macalintal insist the new ruling is discriminatory against appointed officials since it assumes that elected ones are not using aby positions to promote their personal interests.

“I was looking for new arguments, and they failed to show one,” he said in a separate interview.

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QUEZON City - Jason Ivler, suspect for killing a son of a Malacanang Official, was brought to the Quezon City regional trial court to plea of not guilty of accusations charged to him.

Ivler was in handcuffed in a stretcher when he was brought there yesterday. Under heavy guard of NBI agents and Quezon City policemen. He was also with his mother Marlene Aguilar-Pollar, stepfather Stephen Pollard, two lawyers and a medical team from Quirino Memorial Medical.

Jason Ivler is accused of killing both Renato Ebarle Jr., son of presidential chief of staff undersecretary Renato Ebarle Sr., and Nestor Ponce Jr., the underseretary for resettlement.

Judge Alexander Balut set for February 25 the preliminary conference  and for March 2 the pre-trial.

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Estrada gets Comelec nod: Watch my rating soar

MANILA, Philippines—Why just be a “kingmaker” when you can be the “king” yourself?

Fresh from getting the nod of a division of the Commission on Elections for him to take another shot at Malacañang, deposed President Joseph Estrada Wednesday said he would not withdraw from the presidential race.

Estrada said he would slug it out “to the end” because he wanted to be “king again.”

Estrada said the Comelec decision would have a “big impact” on his campaign” because his detractors were spreading “disinformation” that he would withdraw from the race or be disqualified.

Now that the poll body has ruled in his favor, he expects his ratings in surveys to rise.

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The government has filled the gubernatorial post in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) that was left by Zaldy Ampatuan after he was suspended and later slapped with rebellion charges in connection with the November 23 massacre in Maguindanao.

On Thursday, ARMM vice governor Ansaruddin Alonto-Adiong was sworn in as acting governor of the region by Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, who was authorized to exercise administrative control over the region including the power to suspend local officials suspected having a hand in the killings.

The appointment came a day after Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, principal author of the ARMM Organic Act, urged Alonto-Adiong to immediately take over Ampatuan’s post even without a go-signal from Malacañang to prevent disruptions in the region’s operations.

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A senior Malacañang official urged lawmakers on Thursday to do away with “boring” questions on Proclamation 1959 and proceed instead to vote on the imposition of martial law in most parts of Maguindanao province.

“Dapat pagbotohan na ‘yan. Ang tinatanong pare-pareho naman, eh. Nakatulog na ako kagabi (They should go directly to the voting. Their questions are all the same. I was so bored I fell asleep),” chief presidential legal counsel Raul Gonzalez said in an interview on dzXL radio.

Besides, Gonzalez said, the majority of those in the joint session will vote in favor of martial rule in Maguindanao, with opposition coming mainly from the Senate.

The House of Representatives is dominated by political allies of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

With this reality, civil society groups are not placing much hope in the joint session, saying they would rather put their faith in the Supreme Court.

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MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Thursday rejected the appeal of oil companies for a dialogue with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the possible recall of an executive order freezing fuel prices in Luzon, which remains in a state of calamity.

But Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera indicated that the order may soon be lifted in specific areas as the government and oil firms try to reach an agreement on a mutually acceptable response to the devastation wrought by successive storms.

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MANILA, Philippines—Oil companies said they would follow a Malacañang order to bring down fuel prices to their levels 12 days ago, but warned of a possible supply shortage.

“We will comply. We have no choice, but [the executive order] has serious implications not only to the supply of products in the country, but also to investments,” Edgar Chua, country chair of Shell companies in the Philippines, said at Monday’s meeting with officials of the Department of Energy (DoE).

Fer Martinez, president of Eastern Petroleum, said the industry’s fuel supply would be threatened because of the order.

“Already, Flying V Philippines and Total Philippines said they are canceling their importation [of petroleum products]. That’s dangerous, when people stop selling,” he said.

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After Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno announced on Friday he is no longer running for vice president in 2010, a Malacañang official said Saturday that the administration party is still looking for someone to fill the position.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said there are efforts by the administration Lakas-Kampi-CMD to look for a running mate for Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.

“There is an effort to look for a vice presidential candidate for Sec. Teodoro. That’s as much I can tell you,” Ermita said on government-run dzRB radio, when asked if the administration is in talks with Senator Loren Legarda, who reportedly shut her doors to teaming up with Secretary Teodoro.

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In the thick of the controversy on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s supposed lavish dinners in her recent United States trip, an official from the Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday said there are no standards on what constitutes a lavish lifestyle for a public official.

“Sa batas, di sinabi ang amount o value, so contextual po yun in terms of society…Walang standard po, pero titignan natin ‘yong sweldo po kung kaya,” said Assistant Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni in an interview on GMA News’ Unang Hirit.

(There is no mention in the law of the amount or value, so it’s contextual in terms of society … There is no standard, but we will look into whether a public official’s salary can afford such lifestyle.)

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