12.07.2005
Newsbriefs 07 December Afternoon
Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan
Garcillano confirms talking to Arroyo in 2004 election (news.inq7.net)
FORMER Commission on Elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano confirmed on Wednesday that he had spoken with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the 2004 election but that he was not the election official she had referred to when she apologized to the nation for making the controversial call.
At the same time, Garcillano said that he had talked to the President only once and that there was nothing irregular about it.
"I'm not accepting that I was the one she [President] was referring to [in her speech], " Garcillano said Wednesday, responding to a question by Minority Floor Leader Francis Escudero if he was the official the President had referred to when she made her apology.
"I'm not agreeable that she was sorry for calling me. [It is okay] to call as long as you'll not demand something that is irregular," he stressed.
Garci: I'm the poll official in GMA apology (www.abs-cbnnews.com)
Former poll commissioner Virgilio Garcillano said Wednesday he was the election official President Arroyo was referring to in her "I'm sorry" speech to the nation on June 27 when she apologized for a "lapse in judgment" for phoning a poll official after the May 10, 2004 elections.
"There 's only one instance that she called me up, and I'm accepting that I was the one she (Mrs. Arroyo) was referring to [in her speech], " Garcillano told members of the House joint inquiry on the "Hello Garci" audiotapes when Minority Floor Leader Francis Escudero asked him to comment on the President's apology to the nation.
Garcillano said he saw nothing wrong talking to the President or any candidate on matters regarding the conduct of the elections.
Ong reveals more wiretap tapes (www.abs-cbnnews.com)
Former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy director Samuel Ong said he has three more tapes of alleged wiretapped conversations between former poll commissioner Virgilio Garcillano and public officials, ABS-CBN reporter Aladin Bacolodan reported Wednesday.
Bacolodan said Ong talked to a few members of the media at an undisclosed location. He said he is ready to face congressional inquiries into the wiretapping controversy if criminal charges against him are dropped.
Ong said he has three other master tapes of other wiretapped conversations allegedly taped by operatives of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).
Ong appealed to Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales to withdraw sedition charges against him and vowed to turn in the tapes to any investigating body.
SC asked to drop petition vs people's court (news.inq7.net)
MEMBERS of the Citizens' Congress for Truth and Accountability (CCTA) have urged the Supreme Court to dismiss a petition seeking to stop them from trying President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo allegedly for various offenses via a people's court.
In a 45-page comment filed Wednesday, the CCTA through its head, former vice president Teofisto Guingona Jr., told the high court that they were allowed to conduct proceedings under the 1987 Constitution.
"The framers of our 1987 Constitution created the entirely new Article 13 on Social Justice and Human Rights, and saw fit to invigorate and empower people's organizations as a method of direct democracy, as a way for the sovereign citizenry to participate in their government's decision-making," Guingona said in the CCTA petition.
He also pointed that they were not pretending to be a court or a legislative body. Guingona said their aim was to search for truth.
Dike collapses, triggers state of calamity in Calapan (www.abs-cbnnews.com)
The Calapan local government on Wednesday declared the city in a state of calamity following floods triggered by the overflow of a dike.
Mayor Carlos Bokal of Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro province told DZMM that 48 of the 62 barangays in the city have been flooded after a dike collapsed due to heavy rains.
Bokal said that as of Tuesday night, dozens of houses in the city were without electricity. He said utilities were cut off after floods damaged power lines.
He also said that the highway connecting Calapan, Roxas and Caticlan has also been flooded and rendered unpassable to light vehicles.
Bokal also appealed for help from the national government for the evacuees. The Mayor said that though he has already ordered the city's disaster council to release funds for the procurement of food and medicines, the national government assistance is still much needed.
Shares close firmer led by PLDT, Petron (money.inq7.net)
(UPDATE) Share prices closed slightly higher helped by gains in blue chips such as PLDT and Petron, dealers said.
Analysts said the market managed to gain despite renewed political worries as some investors hope that Wednesday's appearance of a former election official at a congressional inquiry would finally put an end to the poll fraud scandal that has hounded President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo since early this year.
The composite index closed up 4.27 points or 0.20 percent at 2,103.42 after trading between 2,097.28 and 2,105.80. Volume traded reached 462.4 million shares worth 1.06 billion pesos.
The broader all-shares index advanced 2.70 points to 1,273.02.
Gainers outnumbered losers 44 to 25 and 64 stocks ended flat. ¶ 4:46 PM
Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan
Garcillano confirms talking to Arroyo in 2004 election (news.inq7.net)
FORMER Commission on Elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano confirmed on Wednesday that he had spoken with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the 2004 election but that he was not the election official she had referred to when she apologized to the nation for making the controversial call.
At the same time, Garcillano said that he had talked to the President only once and that there was nothing irregular about it.
"I'm not accepting that I was the one she [President] was referring to [in her speech], " Garcillano said Wednesday, responding to a question by Minority Floor Leader Francis Escudero if he was the official the President had referred to when she made her apology.
"I'm not agreeable that she was sorry for calling me. [It is okay] to call as long as you'll not demand something that is irregular," he stressed.
Garci: I'm the poll official in GMA apology (www.abs-cbnnews.com)
Former poll commissioner Virgilio Garcillano said Wednesday he was the election official President Arroyo was referring to in her "I'm sorry" speech to the nation on June 27 when she apologized for a "lapse in judgment" for phoning a poll official after the May 10, 2004 elections.
"There 's only one instance that she called me up, and I'm accepting that I was the one she (Mrs. Arroyo) was referring to [in her speech], " Garcillano told members of the House joint inquiry on the "Hello Garci" audiotapes when Minority Floor Leader Francis Escudero asked him to comment on the President's apology to the nation.
Garcillano said he saw nothing wrong talking to the President or any candidate on matters regarding the conduct of the elections.
Ong reveals more wiretap tapes (www.abs-cbnnews.com)
Former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy director Samuel Ong said he has three more tapes of alleged wiretapped conversations between former poll commissioner Virgilio Garcillano and public officials, ABS-CBN reporter Aladin Bacolodan reported Wednesday.
Bacolodan said Ong talked to a few members of the media at an undisclosed location. He said he is ready to face congressional inquiries into the wiretapping controversy if criminal charges against him are dropped.
Ong said he has three other master tapes of other wiretapped conversations allegedly taped by operatives of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).
Ong appealed to Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales to withdraw sedition charges against him and vowed to turn in the tapes to any investigating body.
SC asked to drop petition vs people's court (news.inq7.net)
MEMBERS of the Citizens' Congress for Truth and Accountability (CCTA) have urged the Supreme Court to dismiss a petition seeking to stop them from trying President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo allegedly for various offenses via a people's court.
In a 45-page comment filed Wednesday, the CCTA through its head, former vice president Teofisto Guingona Jr., told the high court that they were allowed to conduct proceedings under the 1987 Constitution.
"The framers of our 1987 Constitution created the entirely new Article 13 on Social Justice and Human Rights, and saw fit to invigorate and empower people's organizations as a method of direct democracy, as a way for the sovereign citizenry to participate in their government's decision-making," Guingona said in the CCTA petition.
He also pointed that they were not pretending to be a court or a legislative body. Guingona said their aim was to search for truth.
Dike collapses, triggers state of calamity in Calapan (www.abs-cbnnews.com)
The Calapan local government on Wednesday declared the city in a state of calamity following floods triggered by the overflow of a dike.
Mayor Carlos Bokal of Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro province told DZMM that 48 of the 62 barangays in the city have been flooded after a dike collapsed due to heavy rains.
Bokal said that as of Tuesday night, dozens of houses in the city were without electricity. He said utilities were cut off after floods damaged power lines.
He also said that the highway connecting Calapan, Roxas and Caticlan has also been flooded and rendered unpassable to light vehicles.
Bokal also appealed for help from the national government for the evacuees. The Mayor said that though he has already ordered the city's disaster council to release funds for the procurement of food and medicines, the national government assistance is still much needed.
Shares close firmer led by PLDT, Petron (money.inq7.net)
(UPDATE) Share prices closed slightly higher helped by gains in blue chips such as PLDT and Petron, dealers said.
Analysts said the market managed to gain despite renewed political worries as some investors hope that Wednesday's appearance of a former election official at a congressional inquiry would finally put an end to the poll fraud scandal that has hounded President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo since early this year.
The composite index closed up 4.27 points or 0.20 percent at 2,103.42 after trading between 2,097.28 and 2,105.80. Volume traded reached 462.4 million shares worth 1.06 billion pesos.
The broader all-shares index advanced 2.70 points to 1,273.02.
Gainers outnumbered losers 44 to 25 and 64 stocks ended flat. ¶ 4:46 PM
