Pagtalaga ng chief justice minamadali na
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DELEKADO para sa bansa kung sakaling mabigo si Pangulong Gloria Arroyo na makapagtalaga ng
panibagong Chief Justice ng Supreme Court bago sumapit ang ika-30 ng Hunyo, ayon kay House Committee
on good government Chairman at Camiguin Rep. Pedro Romualdo.
Sinabi pa ng Kongresista, kailangan umanong magkaroon ng Chief Justice ang bansa, na siyang mamuno
din sa Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) bago bumaba sa puwesto ang Pangulong Arroyo sa
kapangyarihan.
“Remember that the head of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) handling the presidential electoral
cases is the Chief Justice. This is very crucial and critical moment for us. I believe we should have a new SC
Chief Justice before President Arroyo steps down,” ani Romualdo, na isa ring abogado.
Sinuportahan naman ni Romualdo ang panawagan ni Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor na bilisan na ang
nominasyon sa kung sino ang ipapalit kay Chief Justice Reynato Puno na magreretiro sa darating na Mayo 17
o bago ng ika-45 araw bago lisanin ng Pangulong Arroyo ang Malakanyang.
“I support the call of (Quezon City Rep. Mat) Defensor who is a member of JBC to expedite the nomination
process for Puno’s successor,” ani Romualdo.
Pero para kay Makati City Rep. Teodoro “Teddyboy” Locsin Jr., na isa ring abogado at chairman ng House
committee on suffrage and electoral reforms, wala pa umanong gagawing listahan ng kapalit ni Puno, dahil
wala pamang bakanteng puwesto. maliban na lamang umano “there is an actual vacancy (in Supreme
Court). Anticipatory lists are in bad taste.”
Habang ipinag-uutos ng Kontitusyon na pinagbabawal na magtalaga ang Pangulong Arroyo 60 araw bago
ang eleksyon, pero pinaliwanag ni Romualdo na nasasaad din sa Salinggang batas ang karapatan ni
Pangulong Arroyo na punan ang bakante sa SC sa loob ng 90 araw simula na magbitiw ang isang
mahistrado.
“While the Constitution bars the President from making any appointments 60 days before a presidential
election, the Constitution also says that any vacancy in the Supreme Court should be filled within 90 days of
the occurrence. If there is conflict in the Constitution, why not amend it?” ani Romualdo.
Malinaw aniya na ginamit lamang ng mga kritiko ng Pangulong Arroyo ang nasabing usapin. Ganun paman
sinusuportahan umano nito ang pangulo na magtalaga ng panibagong Chief Justice, dahil “the post if
remains vacant until elections would be very dangerous.”
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Parusa sa Hacker, habang buhay na kulong pinanukala
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PAGKAKULONG ng habang buhay ang minungkahing parusa ni Buhay Partylist Rep. Irwin Tieng sa mga
mapapatunayang nag-hack ng website ng pamahalaan, maging sa mga pribadong sector na nagdulot ng
malaking pinsala sa komersyo.
Maliban sa panghabang buhay na pagkakakulong sa mga hacker, pinatataas din ng Kongresista ng P500,
000 hanggang isang milyong piso ang multa sa mapapatunayang hacker.
Sa ngayon umiiral lamang ang parusa na pagkakakulong ng 3 taon at pagmumulta ng P100,000 sa
sinomang mapapatunayang naghack ng isang pribadong website.
“Dapat siguro pag malaki ang pinsala sa ating komersyo, dapat life(sentence) na at dapat mas malaki ng
penalty mga P500k pataas, para matakot na itong mga hackers,” reaksyon ni Tieng matapos muli na ma-
hack ng limang beses ang website ng pamahalaang panghuli na dito ang Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA).
Nababahala naman si Anakpawis Rep. Joel Maglunsod na kung napapasok ang website ng pamahalaan,
malaki din umano ang posibilidad na mapakialaman ang software ng makinang gagamitin para sa
automated elections.
“These online attacks put in question the information security and technology capabilities of the Commission
on Elections (Comelec) and Smartmatic-TIM,” ani Maglunsod.
Maliban sa TESDA, ang website ng Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), Department of Social
Welfare (DSWD), National Disaster and Coordinating Council (NDCC) ay na una ng napasok ng mga hacker.
“It is highly possible that the hackers are also targeting Comelec's website,” pangamba ni Maglunsod.
Naniniwala si Maglunsod, na organisado ng mga cybercriminal o ng DIY hacking hobbyists ang nais
sumabutahe sa website ng pamahalaan. Upang subukan ang kakayanan ng pamahalaan pagdating sa
“capacity to run a secured and hack-proof automated elections.”
Nanawagan naman ang Kongresista sa Commission on Information and Communication Technology
(CICT) at iba pang ahensya ng pamahalaan na agarang kumilos, upang masawata ang nasabing problema.
“The government must present effective contingency measures and response to these attacks,” dagdag pa
niya.
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Looming Rice Crisis calls for immediate Gov't intervention
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As Filipino households struggle with the rising price of rice and as top analysts forecast higher increases in
the price of the staple grain in the coming months Akbayan Party-List Representative Walden Bello
recommended immediate government intervention. "Kailangang umaksyon agad ang gobyerno para
maiwasan natin ang napipintong krisis sa bigas," Bello said. "We must adopt short term as well as long term
solutions in addressing the Philippines' recurring rice problem."
Traders forecast rice prices to increase by as much as 60 per cent, or to reach up to as much as Php 39.00
per kilo within the year.
Bello recommended the following short-term measures: "The National Food Authority must help stabilize rice
prices by releasing rice stocks in the market. At the same time, government must intensify local rice
procurement in order to ensure that it has the means to influence rice prices in the coming months."
"Government must not wait until the election period before it intervenes in the market, it might be too late,"
Bello added, cautioning against using the rice problem as means for electioneering.
Turning the issue towards the plight of local rice producers, Bello emphasized that the price increases cannot
be attributed to rising farm gate prices, and that this actually put farmers at a grave disadvantage. "Ayon sa
mga field reports, Oktubre pa lang, nabenta na ng karamihan ng mga magsasaka ang kanilang stocks sa
halagang Php7 hanggang Php 13 kada kilo," Bello explained. "Mali ang mga balitang nagsasabing ang
pagtaas ng presyo ng bigas ay dahil sa pagtaas ng farm gate price."
He also warned against relying on importation to build up NFA stocks, saying that this will hurt local farmers,
and "will do more harm than good to the country's rural economy, which is largely dominated by small rice
producers."
Bello also criticized Department of Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap's statement that the current increase in the
price of rice is "reasonable and logical". "Clearly, there is nothing reasonable in the current rise in retail rice
prices. This will hurt a lot of Filipino families, many of whom are already living below the poverty line and could
hardly afford to buy enough rice for their families."
For long-term rice self-sufficiency, Bello proposed greater public spending for agricultural implements. "We in
Akbayan have consistently lobbied for increased public spending to improve agricultural productivity, such as
irrigation and technology support among others, and to build farmers' resilience against climate change
induced weather disturbances," said Bello. "It's all a matter of rearranging government's spending priorities."
During the deliberations for the 2010 budget, Congressman Walden Bello strongly criticized cuts in economic
spending and advocated budget reforms that will benefit important economic sectors such as agriculture
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