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The Manila Times BY DARWIN G. AMOJELAR SENIOR REPORTER


news THURSDAY D e cember 9, 2010


SLEX toll rates increased T


The South Luzon Tollway Corp. HE Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) on


Tuesday issued new toll rates for motorists plying at the South Luzon


Expressway (SLEX) after the Supreme Court junked the petition to stop the imple- mentation of a toll hike.


The TRB said that the initial toll rates for the SLEX from Alabang to Calamba in Laguna to Santo Tomas, Batangas section is P3.02 a kilo- meter for light vehicles; P6.04 for class buses; and P9.07 for heavy trucks and trailers.


“The initial rates do not in- clude Expanded-Value Added Tax [VAT] and shall be implemented


■ WEBB FROM A1


SC seen to uphold


deliberations on the Vizconde case, including Webb’s motion for acquit- tal and is expected to come up with a decision soon. Webb and six other individuals were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Regional Trial Court of Parañaque City (Metro Manila) for the murder of Estrellita Vizconde and her daughters Carmela and Anna Marie Jennifer, on June 30, 1991 at their residence in BF Homes, Parañaque City.


The Court of Appeals affirmed the


lower court’s decision and the case was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2007. Another prosecution lawyer in the Vizconde case, Pete Principe, noted that the evidence presented by the prosecution was strong to secure conviction, compared to the alibis presented by the accused. The defense, he said, failed to de-


stroy the testimony of Jessica Alfaro, the star witness for the prosecution. Claims that Alfaro was not a cred- ible witness because she was a drug addict, Principe said, even strength- ened her credibility because she had admitted that she and the accused took drugs before proceeding to the Vizconde residence. PAO chief Acosta said that the evidence and the testimonies of the witnesses during the course of the trial would be enough to convince the High Court to sustain the con- viction of the accused.


Farmers’ fight


upon approval of the TRB in ac- cordance with legal require- ments,” the TRB added. The public consultation for the SLEX toll hike is set on December 10. The High Court on Monday junked the petition of Gov. Joey Salceda of Albay seeking to stop the implementation of an increase in toll rates at SLEX.


(SLTC) had been granted a new toll rate of P2.68 a kilometer for light vehicles from Alabang to Calamaba, which was scheduled for implemen- tation in June.


Based on the matrix, the new toll rates from Alabang to Calamba will be P77 from the present P22 for light vehicles; P155 from P43 for buses; and P232 from P65 for heavy trucks and trailers.


From Alabang to Calamba, the new tolls are: P77 for light vehicles; P155 for buses; P232 for heavy trucks and trailers. The old tolls were P22 for light vehicles; P43 for buses; and P65 for heavy trucks and trailers. The SLTC widened the 1.2- kilometer Alabang viaduct and the 27-km stretch of the SLEX from Alabang to Calamba.


SLTC had estimated a total of


P900-million losses for a period of 150 days because of the delayed toll hike.


The former 29-km four-lane expressway, which starts at the approach to the Alabang viaduct in Muntinlupa City and ends at Barangay Turbina in Calamba, Laguna has been widened to eight lanes from the viaduct to Santa Rosa, Laguna, and to six lanes from Santa Rosa, Laguna to Barangay Turbina.


The company also extended the SLEX by another 8km from Ba- rangay Turbina to Santo Tomas, Batangas, thus linking the high- way to the Southern Tagalog Ar- terial Road, the main thorough- fare leading to the international seaport of Batangas.


■ ‘INVESTOR’ FROM A1 Arroyo astute ‘investor’


High Court declared unconstitutional the creation of a fact-finding body to investigate alleged anomalies during the Arroyo administration. “[P]resent executive actions to cor- rect injustices and abuses of the past administration and to punish the perpetrators are frustrated at every turn because of wise institutional in- vestments of the past regime,” she said, obviously disappointed with the latest setback of the Aquino ad- ministration in its efforts to look into the alleged wrongdoings of the pre- vious administration.


“There is therefore basis for speculation that the investments of the past administration in the Of- fice of the Ombudsman and the High Court are now paying off,” the Justice chief added. She said that Mrs. Arroyo “packed the SC with her appointees who will help get her off the hook.” All but one of the current mem- bers of the High Tribunal are Arroyo appointees.


Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, whose impeachment proceeding be- fore Congress was suspended by the Supreme Court, was also an appointee of the former leader.


Among the bases for the im- peachment complaints against the Ombudsman was her alleged failure to act promptly on cases filed against then President Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo and other public officials involved in the controversial $330-million national broadband network deal with Chi- na’s ZTE Corp. On Tuesday, the High Court de- clared President Benigno Aquino 3rd’s Executive Order (EO) 1 cre- ating the Truth Commission un- constitutional because it violated the equal-protection clause under the Constitution.


The commission was formed to probe alleged acts of graft and cor- ruption of the previous administra- tion such as the broadband deal, fertilizer-fund scandal and the “Hello, Garci” issue.


De Lima said that no such viola- tion was committed.


“The violation in equal protec- tion is when the privileged few are effectively exempted from investiga- tion, prosecution and punishment, while the great majority of the peo- ple continue to wallow in the murk of their crimes,” she added. “Equal protection applies within


PHOTO BY RUY MARTINEZ


Members of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Bondoc Peninsula on Wednesday stage a rally at the Commission on Human Rights office in Quezon City to protest the allegedly unjust treatment they receive from the Department of Agrarian Reform.


PAL welcomes Malacañang’s Palea appeal


PHILIPPINE Airlines on Wednes- day welcomed Malacañang’s ap- peal to the PAL Employees Asso- ciation (Palea) to “exercise re- straint in their planned strike” for the sake of their patrons. In a statement, PAL spokesman Cielo Villaluna thanked President Benigno Aquino 3rd and Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. for re-


sponding to what she called a “po- tential labor crisis.” “We all know that a work stoppage


would not only hurt the company, related industries and the country’s economy, but would also wreak havoc on the travel plans of thousands of local and foreign travelers,” she said. The spokesman emphasized the airline company’s belief that the


Office of the President has primary and official jurisdiction over the labor case and indicated hopes the association holds a similar view. “PAL defers and respects the good judgment of the President. We hope [that] Palea will do the same,” Villaluna said.


Maintaining that Palea’s collec- tion of strike votes on Tuesday was


not legally justified, she added that its “complaints about individual bargaining should have been raised before the Office of the President before they conducted a strike vote.” Villaluna said that although PAL


believes that Palea’s actions have no legal merit, “we leave it to the Presi- dent to [decide] on the legality of the association’s vote-gathering exercise.”


NBI nabs 3 for using Manny’s name for swindling


THE National Bureau of Investiga- tion (NBI) on Wednesday arrested two foreign individuals and a Fili- pino woman inside the congres- sional office of Rep. Manny Pacquaio of Sarangani for alleged swindling. Pacquiao returned to his office to personally look at the suspects who were held by NBI men at about 5 p.m. yesterday.


His chief of staff, lawyer Jeng Gacal, identified the three as as Anthony Musso of Pennsylvania, Edward Gutierrez of Puerto Rico and Nora Llaniges, who claimed that she was Filipino-American. Pacquiao was attending sessions


■ SLAIN FROM A1 Maguindanao massacre suspect killed in clash with govt troops in South


Tuesday’s clash in Maguindanao province in southern Mindanao, ex- cept for one gunman who was shot dead, Asto added. Security forces recovered a ma- chine gun, a mortar tube and a portable generator from the scene of the clash, all believed left be- hind by the gunmen, the military spokesman said.


The Ampatuan clan is accused of orchestrating the murders of 57 peo- ple, 31 of whom were journalists, in Maguindanao on November 23, 2009 in a bid to stop a rival politi- cian’s election challenge. Andal Ampatuan Jr., the son and namesake of the clan patriarch, is


accused of leading members of the family’s private army in carrying out the massacre. He was seeking to succeed his father as Maguindanao governor in the May 10 national elections this year and targeted a convoy car- rying family members of a politi- cian who wanted to run against him for the post.


A total of 196 people have been charged in relation to the crime and the clan leaders have been detained. But only 83 of those charged have been arrested.


The Ampatuan grandson who led the armed group in Tuesday’s clash is among those charged.


Even though the clan members are behind bars, the family still wields strong influence in Maguin- danao, a poor and strife-torn prov- ince home to a decades-long Mus- lim insurgency.


The military has not been able to track down all of those charged over the massacre partly because the Ampatuans still control areas of Maguindanao.


During continuation of the Maguindanao massacre trial at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City (Metro Manila) also on Wednesday, a doctor said that one of the female victims might have been raped. Taking the witness stand, Dr.


Dean Cabrera, a medico-legal officer of the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory, identified the vic- tim as Rahima Palawan.


Cabrera told the court that semen samples were found in the body of Palawan, a cousin of now Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu of Maguin- danao, whose candidacy his wife and other supporters were to file at the time of the mass murder. Mangudadatu’s wife was among those killed in the incident. Cabrera’s testimony contradicted earlier findings made by the Na- tional Bureau of Investigation in its autopsy report, which showed that none of the female victims was


raped or sexually abused. He autopsied the bodies of 12 of the 57 victims at a funeral parlor in Koronadal, South Cota- bato and discovered that most of the bodies had numerous gun- shot wounds.


Also during the trial, one of the accused also testified that he was aware of a plan to stop a convoy of journalists and supporters of Mangudadatu.


Councilor Datu Mohammad Sangki of Abdullah Sangki said that he did not warn Mangudadatu be- cause he feared the Ampatuans. Last week, a witness presented by the prosecution said that the


victims knew that armed men were waiting at checkpoints on their way to file Mangudadatu’s certifi- cate of candidacy. The journalists, however, insisted to go on even with the warning that they had received, confident that they would not be harmed because there were women in the convoy. The Mangudadatu group was stopped at a checkpoint and eventually shot dead by the Ampatuan gunmen.


Members of the Ampatuan clan— with Andal Sr. and Andal Jr. as pri- mary suspects—are charged with the murder of the 57 civilians. AFP AND ROMMEL C. LONTAYAO


at the main building of the House of Representatives in Quezon City when the arrest was made. NBI agents led by lawyer Eric Nuqui said that the three suspects appeared to be involved in swin- dling activities.


During an interview with report-


ers, Pacquiao said that the three had been using his name to get dona- tions for an anti-malaria campaign in the Philippines.


Gacal said that the group had been using the website www.stampout- malaria.com to ask for donations. According to a hard copy given by Pacquiao’s office, the website


claimed that on the eve of the Pacquiao-Margarito fight, the pound-for-pound king “announced that Manny has teamed up with a newly formed not-for-profit founda- tion, Partners Against Malaria, to help announce that a cure has been found to fight the dreaded malaria and dengue fever cases.” “ActRx Limited and Manny


Pacquaio are the founding partners of the Partners Against Malaria Foun- dation and will be helping to pro- duce the incredible new discovery that will change how Malaria and Dengue fever are treated,” it said. During an interview, the three


claimed that it was Gacal who was ask- ing them for P20 million for them to be given a chance to talk with Pacquiao. Pacquiao said that his staff had


investigated the group shortly it ap- proached him during his training in Baguio City and found that the group had been soliciting donations and using his name to attract donors. The website, based on the hard


copy, posted a photograph of Pacquio and Margarito with the ti- tle” Help Manny Pacquiao knock- out Malaria and dengue in the Phil- ippines and the rest of the world,” urging viewers to “donate now.” RUBEN D. MANAHAN 4TH


a class, not between a few who stole and abused, and the many from whom they stole and whom they abused,” the Justice secretary said. De Lima noted that the High Court, which voted 10-5, showed that its ruling smacked of “charac- teristics of a political decision.” Maria Victoria Gleoresty Guerra, the acting chief of the Supreme Court Public Information Office, however, pointed out that four of the five justices who dissented were Arroyo appointees also. Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez said that “in holding EO 1 as unconstitutional, the High Tribu- nal was not ruling in favor of or against any party, but was merely applying the provisions and princi- ples of the Constitution.”


■ SAVE FROM A1 Pacquiao-led SAVE Act


Philippine-made clothing made of fabric sourced from the US, while those made from US yarn would be slapped lower tariff. Once the SAVE Act becomes law, garment exports to the US in two years are expected to bounce back to $3-billion levels and employ- ment in the industry would go up to 600,000. The government is aiming to get the current US Congress’ nod in a lame-duck session. Trade Undersecretary and Board


of Investments Managing Head Cristino Panlilio earlier said that Pacquiao’s huge following among Filipinos and Americans would boost the chances of getting the American legislators’ stamp of ap-


proval on the SAVE Act. “The general response was, 95 per- cent [of US legislators were] very much in favor of SAVE Act, as both the US and Philippine garments in- dustries would grow,” he added. Panlilio was in the US in September, during which he sought support for the bill from about 21 legislators. In November, Reyes and officials of the industry group Confederation of Garment Exporters of the Philip- pines were on a two-week US trip to meet with the American legisla- tors, as well as with leaders of Fili- pino-American communities in the state of Arizona and the cities of Chicago, San Francisco and Wash- ington, D.C., in a bid to gain more support for SAVE Act.


De Lima, despite expressing her disappointment with the High Court decision, hoped that “the considerations [of the High Tribu- nal] were always legal and constitu- tional, as they should be,” when it ruled on cases presented before it. Despite the decision, the objec-


tive of the Truth Commission “re- mains valid,” Vice President Jejomar Binay said also on Wednesday. “It is just a matter of hurdling the legal questions [in connection with the Supreme Court ruling],” Binay said during an interview with radio dzRH. “[I have not read the decision but as a lawyer and a government official], we are duty bound to re- spect the decision of the Supreme Court, even if we may disagree with it,” he added.


Louis Biraogo, a public-interest crusader, earlier questioned the constitutionality of the creation of the commission.


A similar petition against EO 1


was also filed by House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman, a known ally of the Arroyo administration. Binay said that he remained “optimistic” that despite the rul- ing, the Aquino administration would still be able to push its anti- corruption campaign. He added that government agen- cies such as the Sandiganbayan can help “ensure that public officials who commit anomalous practices will be put to justice.” Lagman also on Wednesday said the High Tribunal will still rule against the constitutionality of the Truth Commission even after President Aquino files a motion for reconsideration.


He dismissed claims that the


Arroyo-appointed High Court justices are shielding the former president from charges, saying that these mag- istrates are independent jurists who are not accountable to whoever ap- pointed them, but only to the maj- esty of the law, the ascendency of con- science and the merits of a case. Lagman said that Mrs. Arroyo lost


many cases before the Supreme Court during her administration even if virtually all of the justices were her appointees. Rep. Rafael Mariano of Anak-


pawis party-list said that “if Presi- dent Aquino is really serious in run- ning after corruption during the Arroyo administration, his govern- ment should have immediately filed cases against Mrs. Arroyo.” The former leader is “no untouch-


able. All President Aquino needs is a strong political will and [needs to do is to] direct Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to prosecute and send Mrs. Arroyo behind bars. No need for a toothless Truth Commission,” Mariano added. Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo of Ang Galing Pinoy party-list and the eld- est son of the former president, urged his mother’s critics to abide by the rule of law.


“I just hope they are honorable enough to respect the decision of the court and uphold the rule of law,” he said in a text message. WITH REPORTS FROM


BERNICE CAMILLE V. BAUZON AND LLANESCA T. PANTI


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