On day 27, defense panel making everyone look like fools?

What happened in the hearing today?

1. Senate will not accept any presentation of future witnesses on articles 1,4,5,6, and 8 and will not make a judgment on the articles. Call it perseverance for Cuevas, he is trying to drag the trial to a long long unbearable hearing.

2. Cuevas wanted to resurrect a preliminary hearing which was already decided by the Senate a loooong looong time ago!

3. Cuevas asserts that the impeachment hearing is invalid since the complaint was not properly presented or filed.


4. A voluntary witness, Congressman Tiangco was encouraged to testify about the impeachment hearing of, hold your hats, not of the Chief Justice, but of Merceditas Gutierez, the former personal Ombudsman of GMA :). The Defense claim that politics and intimidation (like non-release of public pork barrel funds) played a part in the approval of the impeachment proceedings. Oh, of course, impeachments are political proceedings! Also Cong. Tiangco DID not sign approval of the impeachment of the Chief Justice. This is a dilatory tactic of the defense. It looks like Tiangco does not act like a politician, but acted childish!

5. Now every one knows the phone number of the DBM secretary, which is a lapse of judgement on the part of the Congressman.

6. Prosecution should learn to object quickly to witnesses statements. Being a first timer is not a good reason, they should have learned already on the first 26 days of the trial.


7. Defense is showing hesitancy in presenting evidence about undeclared peso and dollar accounts.

8. Cong. Tiangco talks about Congressional proceedings, and we know that Congress is NOT the one on trial. The effect of Tiangco is to put Congress to unnecessary scrutiny. Call it political entertainment, but this just lengthens the hearing.


Well everyone does not feel good day today, but it is the defense panel that looks the most foolish of all today!

USS Enterprise, a symbol of US power, soon to retire!

The first nuclear powered and longest and oldest(50 years old!) active aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise (CVN 65) of the US Navy will soon retire and is to make its last voyage.See USA Today.


Further information from the free and open online encyclopaedia:

Wikipedia on USS Enterprise which gave the following condensed information:

Class and type:	Enterprise-class aircraft carrier
Displacement:	93,284 long tons (94,781 t) Full Load
Length:	1,123 ft (342 m)
Beam:	132.8 ft (40.5 m) (waterline), 257.2 ft (78.4 m) (extreme)
Draft:	39 ft (12 m)
Propulsion:	8 × Westinghouse A2W nuclear reactors
Speed:	33.6 kn (38.7 mph; 62.2 km/h)
Range:	Unlimited distance; 20-25 years

It was first commissioned on 25 November 1961!

For photos, visit http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/aircraft_carriers/enterprise_cvn_65/uss_enterprise_cvn_65_page_1.htm

We cannot post them here since the images may be copyrighted.


We would be happy if all weapons will be retired someday, but this is a chaotic world. We are glad the USA did not use its power to dominate by military force. That shows it si a really great country.

We are not suggesting that the Philippines will get a hand-me-down aircraft carrier. There are no qualified sailors to handle such soon to be retired beast.And the current atmosphere in the military is how to make money fast while still in active service.

The presence of Aircraft carriers and nuclear powered submarines is just one reason why the US Navy may not need to basing in the Philippines. It is not subject anymore to the vagaries of "nationalists" politicians. We know that the Americans have bases in Diego Garcia, Japan, Korea. Playing the world policeman is taxing and the US may fin itself too tired to play the role.

Incredible testament of the reliability of its nuclear propulsion plant: there was no publicly published "accidents " in its active lifetime!

Corona opens his mouth and talks with forked tongue

Did not Corona promise that the he would open and explain his dollar accounts in due time? Now he is telling the Filipino people that the opening of his CONFIRMEDdollar deposits will depend on the advice of his LAWYERS!

Did not Corona, NOT declare a huge amount of cash in his 2010 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN)? In point of fact, he reported only "cash nd investments” amounting only to P3.5 million, in stark contrast to the more than 30 million pesos stashed in 5 peso and 5 dollar bank accounts discovered during the impeachment trial.

Did not Corona (and he still does!) claim and harped on that the impeachment charge was in retaliation for the Hacienda Luisita ruling? Yet this reasoning is not at all related to the impeachment hearing. In other words, he wants to distract those who wants to listen to his pronouncements.


NOTE: Now and then someone will point out to me privately about some grammatical errors. I do appreciate them pointed out. Thanks.

The dark things Corona did: Poke a gun at the caretaker of BGEI.

Who says Corona does not know how to bully? Read the shocking post of the good investigative reporting girl who never fails to amaze this blogger and which adds spice to my blog.

Her March 6 post raissarobles.com: Even the dead blame Corona! adds to her list of astounding scoops! In this post by Raissa, we repeat since we respect her, and believe the accident really happened sometime in 1997 was that Corona who was already a POWERFUL figure in Malacanang, poked a gun at Mang Indoy(Pedro Aguilon).

Raissa even posted a photocopy of the affidavit of Mang Indoy, the old caretaker of Basa Guidote Enterprises Building, now gone (since the lot was sold to the City of Manila.

What a bad character is this guy Corona if this is really TRUE. (In my mind this is TRUE!). Write your opinions in the comments if you believe it or not. Corona as a frightening bully really should NOT be Chief Justice!

Let the impeachment court rule to kick him out of the Supreme Court!

Who says Corona does not know how to play a trial by publicity?

philstar: CJ bares term-share offer

Who says Chief Justice Corona does not know how to play a trial by publicity?
Sometime last year, Senator Teofisto “TG” Guingona III and Corona met at the latter's father's house for lunch. In it, the senator proposed to Corona a term sharing scheme with associate Justice Antonio Carpio, a proposal which Corona declined.


ADDED March 9, 2012 10:19AM

Corona: I rebuffed Aquino bid for truth body

Excerpt:

Chief Justice Renato Corona on Thursday said President Benigno Aquino III discussed with him shortly after his inaugural a plan to set up the Philippine Truth Commission, but that he told the latter if he had evidence against wrongdoing this should be pursued by the judiciary in accordance with the law and the Constitution.

There you have it. He does not acknowledge that the president Noy was in the best position to stamp out corruption. Instead, Corona proposes that it should be the judiciary who should be pursuing???! any leads. First of all the judiciary is not a prosecuting organization. It can only hold trials, not initiate investigations or probes into corrution. Score a -10 for Corona on this one. Further the judiciary itself is not so clean when it comes to bribery and corruption (the sentiment of poor people who cannot afford legal services). Corona badly missed on this opportunity!


What is the meaning of this sudden volubility of CJ Corona? and the purpose of divulging publicly to radio stations a supposedly private meeting and that he rebuffed the president about setting up a truth commision? Now, who says CJ Corona does not know how to play the game of trial by publicity, a charge he and his defense panel leveled at the prosecution pan


We would be happy if Corona will appear next week in the impeachment trial. But we remind the prosecution panel to be ready with probing questions for Corona.

We will update this post with more public pronouncements from CJ Corona. We hope he does not act like a cornered rat to be pounced on by a CAT.

Why only now? Corona wonders??

Click on Why only now? These are old issues.

Indeed why only now? On those times, Corona was powerful, a Malacanang insider and now the Chief Justice of teh Supreme Court!

Futher, a defense lawyer, Tranquil Salvador claims:

Esguerra insisted that Corona’s wife, Cristina, was “virtually the owner” of BGEI when a transaction between the company and the city government of Manila was made.
“Who was the controlling (party) during that time? You better check it out. The way I look at it, (Cristina) was the virtual owner of BGEI(Basa Guidote Enterprises,” he said.

Really? Corona defense' people are so cute. They only focus on the best picture for their client (Corona couple).

How did Corona's wife got to control a family controlled corporation? And how come it was she (as news imply) that the corporation building and lot was sold to the city of Manila to the tune of 30 plus million ?

Why only now? The Basas have stopped fearing the Coronas that's why! Hoefully, the impeachment trial is showing what the Court Justice is made of.

Congressman Iggy's body finally in Bacolod City for wake

It is good that the women in the late Congressman Jose Arroyo, for the third district of Negros Occidental finally banded together at least for this event to finally bring home the body for viewing in Bacolod City.

Per wishes of the Congressman, the burial will be at the North Cemetery where his and his former FG (still alive) brother's parents were buried.

It put to an end a sad short chapter to the life of a politician whose claim to fame is to bail out his brother from scandals.

Contrast this with the plasticised body of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos which lie still in Batac town for morbid viewing by curiosity visitors. Marcos who could have lead the country to greater glories, thought more of satiating his and his family wants over the needs of the Filipino people, in start contrast to South Korea's Park Chung Hee, Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew and Taiwan's Chang Kai-Shek.
Unfortunately FM descendants wants a state-hero burial for FM, which does not bring cheer to the victims and their heirs of the martial law era.

Futher reading:

Sunstar, March 6: Iggy Arroyo's remaind now in Neg. Occidental



Visayan Daily Star, March 7: Widow and long-time partner met at Iggy's wake

Philtar, march 7: Iggy's remains arrrive in Negros Occidental.