news The Manila Times


AFP challenges Jalandoni’s claim NPA still powerful


THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has disputed the claim of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF) chairman, Luis Jalandoni, that its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), is still a force to reckon with. The Armed Forces spokesman, Brig.


Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr., on Monday maintained that the number of rebel forces has significantly dwindled to less down 5,000 during the first quarter of the year. “If you call the strength from as high as 25,000 to as low as 4,700 significant then its really up to you to come up with your assessment but that number considering where the number they came from is certainly miniscule,” Mabanta, in a press briefing, said. Asked why the government is pursuing the peace talk with the Communist Party of the Philippines- NPA-NDF if they are not significant, Mabanta explained that it has been the policy of every administration to settle all internal armed conflicts through negotiations, including with the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front.


DOTC sets up complaints hotline


He stressed that in peace talks the number of rebel combatants is immaterial because what is impor- tant is to achieve peace and order and “no matter what we say these are Filipinos we have sworn to protect and help out.” Mabanta, however, said that the Abu


Sayyaf group is not included in the peace process, as government does not deal with groups that are considered terrorists and high-profile criminals. Mabanta said the military is


confident that by next year or before President Benigno Aquino 3rd vows out of office in 2016, the communist struggle in the Philippine would come to an end. According to Mabanta, the whole campaign plan, which would replace “Bantay Laya,” would be unveiled during the anniversary of the Armed Forces on December 21 and would be implemented staring January 1, 2011. Mabanta added that all


stakeholders, including local govern- ments and leftist representatives have been consulted during the conceptualization of the plan to ensure its success. WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL


TUESDAY


A 3


D e cember 7, 2010


House mulls P800-M family health, contraceptive funds


BY LLANESCA T. PANTI REPORTER


contraceptives, in the bicameral conference committee (BCC), House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Monday.


T


Belmonte made the statement af- ter the Senate announced that it would massively reduce the P880- million family health fund to a mea- sly P8 million for contraceptives. “To reduce it is virtually to eliminate the item already. There is a way by which it can be aug- mented. I hope the House contin- gent will manage to get it [into a substantial amount], if not up to the original figure,” Belmonte told reporters at the sidelines of the Lights for Rights, A Global Cam- paign against the deadly HIV and the deadly AIDS.


Safety signs


WITH more and more commuters expe- riencing major traffic and abusive taxi drivers, the Department of Transporta- tion and Communications (DOTC) made public, the phone numbers to which can file complaints. According to the DOTC, if people ex- perience harassing, abusive and choosy taxi drivers, they can call 7890 or text 0918-8848484. This was the message of DOTC as it acti-


vated its hotline and text number to receive such complaints from commuters. DOTC spokesman Undersecretary


Dante Velasco said they have been receiv- ing such complaints every year. Velasco said many of the complaints


involve taxi drivers who refuse to accom- modate passengers whose destinations are out of the drivers’ preferred routes. The other complaints involved taxi


drivers who force their passengers to agree to a pre-arranged fare. Velasco stressed that the DOTC will en- force strict measures against taxi drivers who engage in such practices, the report said. Public utility vehicles such as taxis, jeeps and buses are in high demand dur- ing the Christmas shopping season. FRANCIS EARL A. CUETO


PHOTO BY RUY MARTINEZ


Land Transportation Office Assistant Secretary Virginia Torres (center) hands over a poster containing road safety traffic signs to Ramon Magsaysay High School principal, Dr. Josefina Perlado during the launching of “Effective Measures in the Prevention and Reduction of Road Accidents and Clean Air” held on Monday.


Sec. Luistro confident of getting CA’s confirmation


EDUCATION Secretary Armin Luistro said he is confident of win- ning the nod from Commission on Appointments (CA) despite the ini- tial objection of Sen. Miriam De- fensor-Santiago. “Of course, I am very hopeful I will get the CA confirmation. I’m not nervous, since I have nothing to hide,” Luistro said, adding that the education budget, even it faced a lot of criticism got approved. Luistro is scheduled to meet the body on Wednesday. Earlier, Santiago has formally ob-


jected to Luistro’s nomination to head the government’s largest bu- reaucracy—citing “conflict of inter- est, gross ignorance of the law, and political deafness.”


The senator furthered that as a member of the Catholic religious sector, Luistro is duty-bound to sup- port the Church and therefore should not be appointed as head of the basic education department. Santiago also said Luistro, former president of De La Salle University, publicly objected to her teaching political science at the said univer-


DOE to complete tests on petroleum pipeline


THE Department of Energy (DOE) is hopeful that First Philippine Indus- trial Corp. (FPIC) would be able to reopen its shuttered petroleum pipe- line during the holiday season. Jay Layug of Energy department undersecretary, said that the depart- ment has so far not found any leak in FPIC’s pipeline, following repairs conducted by the latter.


“So far there are only three re- maining areas, which we have not tested—Calamba, Magallanes, and Parañaque. The other areas . . . we have finished the testing. [It was] negative. So there’s no leak,” he said. The department is keen on having the pipeline up and running again in order to secure the fuel supply of the capital region. The facility was shutdown in Oc- tober after leaks were found in Makati City. Since then, the supply of fuel products to Pilipinas Shell Pe- troleum Corp. and Chevron Philip- pines Inc.’s Metro Manila outlets have been disrupted as the pipeline deliv- ers an equivalent of more than 400 trucks of pump products daily. The two oil firms use FPIC’s pipe- lines to deliver their fuel products


from depots in Poro, La Union and Tabangao, Batangas to Metro Manila. Besides the fuel scare, the depart-


ment is wary of the traffic congestion is the pipeline is not opened soon espe- cially during the holidays because of the volume of transport vehicles needed to deliver the two oil firm’s fuel supply. “We do not want a situation that rush hours especially during the holi- day season that regular cars would be side by side with oil tankers. Traffic congestion is getting worse especially during rush hours,” Layug said. However, once the department completes its tests on the pipeline this week, the department would have to forward its findings to the Supreme Court, who has the final say on when the facility could be reopened. The High Court earlier issued a writ of kalikasan, a legal remedy against entities involved in environment-re- lated cases, which temporarily prohib- its FPIC from running its pipeline. FPIC earlier tapped CH2M Hill Philippines Inc., a US-based environ- mental remediation company, to help in the clean up of leaked petro- leum products from the pipeline. EUAN PAULO C. AÑONUEVO


sity based on “partisan political grounds” because of her being per- ceived as an ally of former President Joseph Estrada. The feisty lawmaker said she


would invoke Section 20 of the commission rules, which provides for the suspension of consideration of a nomination on motion of a commission member.


The commission is composed of the Senate president as its head and 12 senators and 12 congress- men as its members.


The commission’s duty is man-


dated by the Constitution to con- firm all appointments made by the President of the Philippines, except those of the Ombudsman and Su- preme Court justices. However, the Education chief is still hoping to explain his side to Santiago. If bypassed, Luistro said he would


leave his fate to President Benigno Aquino 3rd.


“I respect the process. If I don’t get the CA nod I will leave my fate to the President,” he added. MARIA NIKKA GARRIGA


The House of Representatives and the Senate is scheduled to hold the BCC on the proposed P1.645- trillion budget for 2011 on Tuesday. The bicameral committee will rec- oncile the conflicting proposed budget amendments of the House and the Senate.


“The House will fight for the funding in the Bicam,” Belmonte, who is representing the Fourth Dis- trict of Quezon City, added. The issue of using and govern- ment funding of contraceptives have been in the limelight for the past month with the six pending


HE House of Representatives will push for an P800-million budget for family health, including


Reproductive Health (RH) bills, which provides contraceptives, al- ready being hotly debated in the House Committee on Population and Family Relations.


The pro-RH bill advocates have repeatedly argued that the RH meas- ure will help the country’s efforts in reducing maternal death and the spread of the HIV and AIDS. “Our number of AIDS cases is


low, but we should be concerned that it is increasing. When you com- pare it in Thailand, there’s a lot of AIDS cases, but it is decreasing,” Belmonte said.


In a related development, Rep.


Raymond Palatino of Kabataan party-list has pitched for the pub- lic’s access to BCC, which is tradi- tionally a closed-door meeting. Palatino lamented that having the BCC in a closed-door meeting further distances the decision- making process of crucial policies from the people. Palatino cited the contentious provisions in the proposed bud-


get, particularly the huge budget cut of state universities and col- leges (SUCs).


Thousands of youth and other sectors have staged education strikes in the past weeks to protest the cut, prompting the Senate last week to allocate a P146-million increase in the operating expenses of the SUCs. But such addition was not enough


for Palatino, likening the Senate move as loose change and breadcrumbs. “I appeal to the conscience of my


fellow lawmakers to heed the clarion call of the youth and the people to raise the measly budget of the SUCs. Doing so would prove that we really care for the future of our youth,” Palatino said. “It is worthwhile to recall Presi- dent [Benigno] Aquino [3rd]’s oath to the people: ‘Hindi ako magnanakaw’ [I shall not steal]. But is not the reduction of government support to public tertiary educa- tion a form of stealing? Does it not rob the youth of their future?” Palatino added.


SC denies hand in judges’ mass protest over budget cut


THE planned mass protest of lower court judges and employees over the judiciary’s budget cut was of their own initiative and was not sanc- tioned by the Supreme Court, the High Court said on Monday. Supreme Court Acting Public In- formation Office (PIO) chief Maria Victoria Gleoresty Guerra said that the High Tribunal did not order a “judicial revolt” and that Chief Jus- tice Renato Corona was only in- formed about the mass action through text messages this morning. On Monday, some court judges re- portedly wore black T-shirts while some wore black ribbon on their arms. According to reports, members of the Philippine Judges Associa- tion and the Metropolitan and City Judges Association of the Philippines joined in the protest. Judges and court employees have


been warning of a judicial revolt ever since it was disclosed that the pro- posed 2011 budget for the judiciary is about P13 billion less than the amount it is asking for. According to High Court spokes- man Jose Midas Marquez, the judi-


ciary is asking for a P27.1-billion budget for 2011 but the Department of Budget and Management recom- mended only P14.3 billion in its budget proposal to Congress. But presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said there was no budget cut because the judiciary budget for 2011 amounting to P17.9 billion was actually higher than the 2010 allocation by P1.9 billion. Marquez said that the allocated budget was smaller next year because the judiciary stands to receive only 0.78 percent of the national budget. “In 2007, the judiciary got only 0.76 percent of the national budget; in 2008, 0.88 percent, in 2009; 0.94 percent; and in 2010, .87 percent,” he said.


“The judiciary has not been given


even one percent of the national budget in the last four years and worse, there is a high probability in 2011 of a decreased budget,” Marquez added.


In a previous report by The Manila


Times, judges and clerks of courts voiced out their opposition to the budget cut.


ROMMEL C. LONTAYAO


Lawmaker seeks tax shield for public school teachers


A MEASURE granting tax exemp- tions to public school teachers that would accept teaching jobs in re- mote areas was filed in the House of Representatives on Monday. Rep. Rodolfo Biazon of Muntin- lupa—who authored House Bill 3584—said the tax exemption privilege might help address the public school teacher shortage in rural areas brought by their exodus for overseas employment. “The difficulties of life in the rural


areas, such as in transportation, lodg- ing or insurgency problem, to mention


only a few, have discouraged teachers to be employed there,” Biazon said. “It is my sincere belief that with the privilege of tax exemption on salary, more new teachers will be encouraged to accept teaching jobs in remote ar- eas where usually vacancy of tempo- rary nature exists,” he added. House Committee on National Defense and Security chairman, Biazon, also said that such proposal would lure teachers to stay in the public school system “where the brightest of teachers is needed.” RUBEN D. MANAHAN 4TH


Battered husband wants marriage nullified


Dear PAO, I have been married for 10


years now. My wife and I used to have an almost perfect rela- tionship until I was illegally dis- missed in the latter part of 2009. She became irritable since then. Our arguments are getting


worse and have even come to a point when I have been hurt physically and sustained physi- cal injuries from it. I try to un- derstand her but I can no longer stand being subjected to physical harm. I know that there is a law called RA 9262. Can I file a case for violation of RA 9262 against my wife? Can our marriage be declared null and void because of this? I hope you can help me. Troubled Husband


Dear Troubled Husband, We can only imagine the diffi- cult situation that you are cur- rently in. As it is not very com- mon for men to be subjected to physical harm by women, we ad- mire your guts in acknowledging the situation and seeking help for it. By doing so, the public, par-


ticularly other husbands who are also experiencing the same but are too shy to admit it, will know how to deal with their situation. Republic Act (RA) 9262 is en- acted to afford protection to women and their children from physical, sexual, psychological, economical and other forms of violence inflicted by persons with whom the women have or had dating relationships. Section 3 thereof defines dating relationship as a situation wherein the parties live as husband and wife without the benefit of marriage or are ro-


mantically involved over time and on a continuing basis during the course of the relationship. As the said law specifically ap- plies to women and their chil- dren, you cannot file a case for violation of RA 9262 against your wife for the injuries that she inflicted to you. To seek redress from the wrong committed by your wife against your person, you may file a criminal case for Physical Injuries against her in accordance with the Revised Pe- nal Code. The crime that you may file against your wife will depend upon the gravity of the injury that you sustained from her. It may be Serious Physical Injuries (Art. 263, Revised Penal Code), Less Serious Physical In- juries (Art. 265, ibid.) and Slight Physical Injuries (Art. 266, ibid.) As to your question whether the act of your wife in inflicting physical harm against you will annul your marriage with her, we regret to inform you that repeated physical violence is not among the grounds for the declaration of nullity of marriage. It is just a ground for legal separation (Art.


55, Family Code of the Philip- pines). To be able to declare your marriage null and void, your marriage must be considered void under our law. Articles 35, 36, 37, 38 and 41 of the Family Code of the Philippines enumer- ate the different instances of null and void marriages. If your mar- riage is included in the said arti- cles, you may file a Petition for Declaration of Nullity of Mar- riage before the Family Court, if there is one, or Regional Trial Court of the place where you or your wife currently resides. Finally, we wish to remind you that this opinion is solely based on your narration of facts and our appreciation of the same. The opinion may vary if other facts are added or elaborated. We hope that we were able to address your concern.


Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Of- fice. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net or via text message (key in: Times dearpao <YOUR QUESTIONS> and send to 2299).


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