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s at u r D aY : f e b r u a r Y 6 , 2 0 1 6
NEWS
editorial@thestandard.com.ph
Binay faces graft raps anew By Rio N. Araja and Vito Bercelo OMBUDSMAN Conchita Carpio Morales ordered on Friday the filing of corruption charges against Vice President Jejomar Binay and his son former Makati City Mayor Junjun Binay, but the Binay camp dismissed the raps as part of the campaign tactics of the Liberal Party.
Sharing concerns. Vice President Jejomar C. Binay shares a meal with senior citizens of Tagkawayan, Quezon during a consultation sortie in the province.
Electioneering rule clarified By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan COMMISSION on Elections chairman Andres Bautista maintained on Friday there is nothing unconstitutional in the agency’s implementing rules and regulation and insisted that civil servants are prohibited from engaging in partisan politics. “As a student of our Constitution, I can recall that if you are a civil service employee, you are part of the democracy but you are not allowed to engage in a partisan political activity,” Bautista said in reaction to the complaint of deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte. Valte griped on Thursday against the agency’s rules which, she said, was a prior restraint and an infringement of the right
to free speech. But Bautista assured Valte that she can freely express her political views for or against any candidate because jurisprudence on the matter has already established that she is not covered by the prohibition. “If your are a political appointee, you are not prohibited [from engaging in partisan politics],” Bautista said, adding that elected officials are also not covered by the prohibition. “The President himself is not prohibited. Cabinet members are not barred because they are appointed officials,” Bautista said. Based on Comelec Resolution No. 10049, “personal opinions, views, and preferences for candidates, contained in blogs and micro-blogs, shall not be con-
sidered as acts of election campaigning or partisan political activity unless expressed by government officials in the Executive Department, the Legislative Department, the Judiciary, the Constitutional Commissions, and members of the Civil Service.” Violation of the said provision will constitute an election offense, which carries a penalty of one to six years imprisonment, removal of right to vote, and disqualification from holding public office. But Bautista said they are looking at the possibility of issuing a clarification on the said provision of their Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Fair Elections Act for the May 2016 polls. “We want to clarify this provision in the resolution,” said Bautista.
The elder Binay, who is running for president in the May election, was also indicted, but Morales said the charges will only be filed after his term in June 2016. At least 22 other officials and employees were implicated in the charges after the Office of the Ombudsman dismissed all of the accused’s motions for reconsideration. “We never expected any fairness and impartiality from the Ombudsman. So what else is new?” said Joey Salgado, the vice president’s spokesperson. The Ombudsman said it has jurisdiction to conduct its preliminary investigation that led it to find probable cause to file criminal charges against the Binays and their co-respondents. But Salgado insisted that the Ombudsman resolutions are plainly political tools against the vice president, saying it was the same accusations the Ombudsman released its resolution against the vice president on the day he filed his Certificate of Candidacy. “Now it released another resolution on the motion for reconsideration just a few days before the start of the campaign period and after Vice President Binay regained his lead in the presidential surveys,” Salgado said. “Simply put, the move of the Ombudsman fits into the orchestrated effort of Mar Roxas, the LP and its allies including Roxas’ mouthpieces masquerading as Palace spokesmen, to attack the vice president,” Salgado said. “We have never expected fairness and impartiality from the Ombudsman. We look forward to disproving all their allegations in an impartial court,” he said. In three separate joint orders, Morales affirmed the finding of probable cause against the older and Binay Jr. for four counts of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019, six counts of falsification of public documents and one count each for malversation for their involvement in the various phases of the construction of the carpark project.
Solon: Act vs media slays
By Maricel V. Cruz
HOUSE Independent Bloc leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez on Friday voiced concern at the rising number of killings of journalists in the country even as he urged the Aquino administration to address the issue. Romualdez, a lawyer and president of the Philippine Constitution Association, said various government agencies led by the Philippine National Police and the Department of Justice should work double time to end the impunity against journalists as the International Federation of Journalists announced the country is the second most dangerous place for journalist with 146 killings over the past 25 years. “The poor handling of cases regarding killings of journalists is very evident and we should do something to solve the problem,” lamented Romualdez, head of the House Independent Bloc and a three-term congressman who is running for the Senate under a
platform anchored on compassionate governance. “The killings of journalists are very lamentable and I condemn these in the strongest possible terms and authorities should run after perpetrators and unmask the masterminds to stop these continued violence against media persons,” Romualdez, a shared senatorial candidate of Vice President Jejomar Binay and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte who are both running for president, said IFJ general secretary Anthony Bellanger said 2006 was the worst year of all with 155 journalists killed. Over the past 25 years, Iraq has topped the list of most dangerous countries for journalists with 309 killings, the overwhelming majority of them since the 2003 US led invasion and war. In second place is the Philippines, with 146 killings, while Mexico and its drugsrelated violence is third with 120. Romualdez said the government should be at the forefront in upholding the rights and safety of media practitioners.
By my count, men. A female coast guard oversees a swimming drill for her Philippine Coast Guard colleagues at the Manila Bay in Pasay City on Friday. DANNY PATA