Little Notes

Below is a joke contained in a book authored by a Cabinet Secretary. Tell me if the joke made you laugh or cry, and I’ll tell you who the author is. Trust me, you’ll find this interesting.

Ang Pagmamahal ng Isang Nurse

Registered nurse si Maria sa States. Kasama nya ang kanyang ina na nagpagamot din doon. Namatay ang ina nito. Dahil sa kamahalan ng pamasahe pabalik sa Pilipinas, nagtipid si Maria. Pinauwi na lang niya ang kabaong ng kanyang ina na mag-isa.

Pagdating ng kabaong, napansin ng mga kapamilya niya na dikit na dikit ang mukha ng bangkay sa salamin ng ataul. Nagkomento tuloy and (sic) ang isang anak, “Ay, naku! Tingnan mo ‘yan…hindi sila marunong mag-ayos ng bangkay sa Amerika!” Upang ayusin ang itsura ng bangkay, binuksan ang kabaong.

Aha! May sulat sa dibdib ng ina. Kinuha nila ito at binasa. Ang nilalaman ng liham na mula kay Maria ay …

Mahal kong Tatay at mga Kapatid,

Pasensya na kayo at hindi ko nasamahan ang Nanay sa pag-uwi riyan sa Pilipinas dahil napakamahal ng pamasahe. Ang gastos ko pa lang sa kanya ay mahigit $10,000 na. Ayoko nang isipin pa ang eksaktong halaga.

Anyway, ipinadala ko kasama ni Nanay ang mga sumusunod…

Nasa likod ni Nanay ang dalawampu’t apat na karnenorte. Ang Adidas na suot ni Nanay ay para kay Tatay. Ang limang pares ng de-goma ay nasa loob ng dalawang asul na Jansport na backpack na inuunan ni Nanay. Tig-iisa kayo.

Ang iba’t-ibang klase ng tsokolate at candy ay nasa puwetan ni Nanay. Para sa mga bata ito. Bahala na kayong magparte-parte. Sana’y hindi matunaw ang mga ito.

Ang Pokemon stuffed toy na yapos-yapos ni Nanay ay para sa bunso ni Ate. Gift ko sa first birthday ng bata. Ang itim na Esprit bag ay para kay Nene. Ate, nasa loob ng bag ang pictures ni iinay, mga Japanese version ng Pokemon trading cards at stickers.

Suot ni Nanay ang tatlong Ralph Lauren, apat na Gap at dalawang Old Navy t-shirts. Ang isa ay para kay Kuya at tig-iisa ang mga pamangkin ko. Maisusuot ninyo ang mga iyan sa fiesta.

Suot din ni Inay ang anim na panty hose at tatlong warmer para sa mga dalaga kong pamangkin. Isuot nyo ang mga ito sa party.

…Tigadadalawang ream ng Marlboro Green at Winston Lights ang nasa pagitan ng mga hita ni Nanay.

Apat na jar ng Skippy Peanut Butter, dalawang dishwashing liquid, isang Kiwi glass cleaner at tig-aanim na Colgate at Aqua Fresh ang nakasiksik sa kilikili ni Nanay. Hati-hati na kayo, huwag sana kayong mag-aagawan.

….Mga pampers, panty liners, cotton buds, cotton balls, table napkins at mga scotch brite na may foam ay natatakpan ng mga puting bath towels .. yon bale ang pinagkutson ko sa kabaong ni Nanay. Marami-rami rin iyon. Parte-parte kayo.

Marami pa akong ipinag-sisiksik kung saan-saang parte gaa ng cafe, coffee creamer, ilang vienna sausage na de lata at Barbie dolls.

….Marami pa sana akong ipaglalalagay kaya lang, baka mag-excess at si Nanay pa ang maiwan. Basta parte-parte kayo, Tatay, Kuya, Ate, Dikong, Ditse. Para sa inyo lahat na ito.

Bahala na kayo kay Nanay. Pamimisahan ko na lang siya rito. Balitaan ninyo na lang ako pagkatapos ng libing.

Paki-double check ang lista kung walang nawala sas mga ipinadala ko.

Nagmamahal,

Maria

P.S. Tatay, bago pala ang lahat ay ihanda nyo ang bihisan ni Nanay. Pag naparte-parte nyo na kasi ang mga ipinadala ko, tiyak na mahuhubarang ang Nanay. Yung paborito nyang damit pangsimba, yung pink na bulaklakin ang ipasuot nyo ha, Itay. Nakatago yun sa baul niya.

Blogger’s Note: Did you enjoy the joke? Let me know what you think and I’ll share with you the real punchline. Cheers!

Interviewed at the Global Forum on Liberty and Prosperity, Supreme Court Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban admitted to receiving “some pressure” from some groups highly interested in the deliberations of the high tribunal on the Sigaw ng Bayan’s ‘people’s’ initiative.

PDI reporter Armand Nocum wrote about this interview in today’s Inquirer:

“Yes, there’s pressure from people who are interested..but the court is used to pressure,” Panganiban had told justice reporters. [..] Panganiban did not say whether the pressure was coming from groups asking the high court to reverse the ruling of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) against changing the Constitution through a signature campaign.”

“Panganiban said the pressure ‘will not impede the court in deciding the case.’ Ten of the 15 members of the high court are appointees of Mrs. Arroyo.”

Based on the front page news item, it appears that the Chief Justice is determined to have a ruling on the initiative by next week.

“We’ll discuss this on the 25th, and then Thursday, and then Friday, and then Saturday, Sunday until we can come out with a decision,” Panganiban said. The Supreme Court is going on recess from Oct. 30 to Nov. 10.

Blogger’s Note: I am glad that these rumors of immense pressures being made to bear on our Supreme Court justices were confirmed by no less than the Chief Justice himself. His assurance of impartiality on the part of the tribunal inspite of such pressures is a great source of relief among those of us who continue to fight against a fabricated people’s initiative. However, we must remain vigilant. No less than the constitutional stability of our country is at stake here.

They who wish to use their power and resources to weaken our constitutional democracy through political abuse can inflict permanent and widescale damage to all institutions via the Cha-cha Express. Remember Sherlyn and Karen? Remember Bishop Ramento? Remember all the journalists, lawyers, labor leaders, and activists slain in cold blood? Obliterating the opposition through preventive suspension is now the newest fad. Pasay City fell first. And now, Makati City Mayor Binay is under seige for defending his mandate and fashion sense!

Allegations of ghost employees are toothpicks compared to the number of trees that have fallen just so fake signatures can be affixed on hundreds and thousands of signature sheets! Ghost employees are nothing compared to the paranormal act of having dead people sign on the petition to change the Constitution!

In fact, the DILG has its own share of explaining to do. In some of the documents we found at the Comelec submitted by Sigaw ng Bayan, election officers attested that the verification of signatures was being done upon the request of DILG representatives. Now, who in this government will investigate and sanction the DILG for that?

Pressure being exerted on the high tribunal tells us that the gods must be desperate. Well, I have news for them. So are the people!

(Blogger’s Note: This appears today in my Panorama column.)

I like my coffee, three-in-one, warm, and toasty while I sit across my father, alive in my mind and heart, with his freshly brewed coffee filling the air with its aroma. He gazed around his old office and chuckled softly at the numerous ashtrays still in our office, awaiting his ashes to fall.

So let’s begin, he said, knowing that the full import of what he would say had already been recorded in history’s notepad; which is why the conversation seemed doubly sad.

You authored the People’s Initiative provision when you were in the Constitutional Commission, I said. It was all I had to say to prep him, and thereafter my conversation with my father began.

BFO: Yes, I did. In the Constitutional Commission of 1986, I introduced a resolution recognizing the right of the people to revolt and overthrow a tyrannical government. This legal innovation inspired by the American Declaration of Independence, however, found little support although an overwhelming majority of my colleagues figured in the EDSA Revolution. This idea soon evolved into a more acceptable alternative. I introduced another resolution, which built into the Constitution the people’s reserve power to amend the basic law outside the framework of Congress when they become so disillusioned that they could no longer trust their elected officials to represent faithfully their interests. It is a sword in the scabbard for the people to use as they see fit in the future, which can be exercised however only once every five years to deter the merely frivolous and to protect constitutional stability.

The resolution this time commanded unanimous support. Father Joaquin Bernas, then president of Ateneo de Manila University, sponsored the amendment provisions on the floor together with Commissioner Jose “Sensing” Suarez, chairman of the committee on constitutional amendments. The ConCom never intended that a ruling set of leaders should cause a people’s initiative to keep them in power.

Me: Can a people’s initiative be used to change the form and structure of government?

BFO: Article XVII of the Constitution, entitled “Amendments or Revisions,” speaks of the first two modes, by constituent assembly and by the calling of a national constitutional convention, in Section 1. The third mode of initiative and referendum appears separately in Section 2 and is explicit that it may cover only specific amendments, not a revision of the Constitution. Obviously, a major revision of the Constitution, by changing the structure of government, may require a constituent assembly or a constitutional convention.

Me: I know I don’t even have to ask you this, but for the sake of our readers, are the country’s problems really caused by this Constitution? Why do our leaders continue to blame this document as the biggest obstacle to national progress?

BFO: Clearly, one advantage of this approach is that the nation’s chronic failures, from the power brownouts to the breakdowns in peace and order, to the stagnation of the economy, can be charged to a system, not to our elected leaders.

For example, I do not see the logic of blaming a presidential system of government for the failure to settle the power crisis, for example. Every one knew that after the Bataan nuclear plant had to be mothballed, something should have been done to replace the output of 620 megawatts withdrawn from the Luzon grid. It was that simple. And yet not only the President, but the Congress at that time, failed to provide.

Me: The administration party in Congress headed by your good friend, Speaker Jose de Venecia, is stridently pushing for a Con-Ass. Given the current times, is this a more acceptable mode?

BFO: I don’t think so, and let me explain why. Once Congress transforms itself into a constituent assembly, under the Constitution, it becomes a supreme organ empowered to propose any constitutional change. It will frame its own agenda. This can mean a huge Pandora’s box. It can reopen the historic wounds of conflict between Filipinos. This Constitution has a strong commitment against political dynasties, against an unjust land tenure system and against conflicts of interests involving public officers and members of Congress themselves. It has declared Filipino as the national language. It has bolstered human rights. There will be attempts to water down these provisions.

Me: So it is right for citizens to demand for a more transparent and participative process for constitutional reforms?

BFO: Certainly, because we must draw lessons from history. In 1940 President Manuel Luis Quezon successfully maneuvered to extend his term through a constitutional amendment and in 1971 to 1973, President Marcos contrived to have the national constitutional convention effect a shift from the presidential to the parliamentary system, to permit him to stay in power as Prime Minister. These episodes in our history, each occurring within fifty years of the other, are too recent to be forgotten.

Over a cup of coffee, we went on to discuss other matters before he finally had to go. Stay connected, though we are worlds apart, I asked quietly in my heart, of him who taught me that constitutional stability and integrity must be preserved at all times.

Writer’s Note: BFO’s answers are based on his previous columns and speeches, several of which appeared in this publication.

(Below is the press release issued by One Voice yesterday to the media.)

One Voice, a multisectoral group that is opposed to a fake people’s initiative, formally asked the Supreme Court to rule in favor of the Commission on Elections and thus dismiss the people’s initiative petition filed by Sigaw ng Bayan because of serious questions of law and discoveries of fabricated signatures and other irregularities in the certificates and signature sheets submitted by the pro-charter change group to the Comelec.

“We believe that the signature gathering process of Sigaw ng Bayan was marked by fraud and deception, and fatally flawed for lack of a legally authorized process. Our legal team also raised serious questions of law in our memorandum to the Supreme Court. One Voice is confident that the high tribunal will study carefully all of these legal arguments in light of its institutional role as the defender of the Constitution,” One Voice chairman Christian Monsod stressed.

In the memorandum submitted to the Supreme Court by One Voice lead counsel Atty. Carlos Medina, the anti-chacha group said that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) did not commit grave abuse of discretion in dismissing the people’s initiative petition of Sigaw ng Bayan because it merely complied with the previous ruling of the Supreme Court.

One Voice pointed out that there is no sufficient law on people’s initiative to change the Constitution. “Instead of re-examining Santiago V. Comelec, the Supreme Court should let Congress pass the needed implementing law.” The Senate committee on constitutional amendments chaired by Senator Dick Gordon recently conducted hearings on bills that seek to enact the said constitutional provision.

Also included in the One Voice memorandum containing over 200 pages, are its findings on the discrepancies, flaws, and fraudulent signatures found in the certificates and signature sheets submitted by Sigaw ng Bayan to the Comelec.

“The initiative petition has failed to comply with the constitutional requirement that 3% of the voters in each legislative district must sign the petition. The law requires that for a signature to be counted as part of the 3%, the signature must be verified by Comelec to be genuine. An examination of the certifications of Comelec officials and signature sheets submitted by petitioners to the Comelec show that:

• In many legislative districts, Comelec officials did not verify whether the signatures in the initiative petition were genuine.
• In many districts where a verification was conducted, Comelec officials only verified the names of signatories, not their signatures.
• In many legislative districts, the verification was conducted not by Comelec officials but by barangay officials;
• In one certification, the Comelec official said most of the signatures were fabricated.
• Many signatures found in the signature sheets are fake.
• The number of signatures verified to be genuine (by barangay officials, not Comelec officers) does not tally with the number of signatures in the certification of some Comelec officials.

In questioning the form and substance of the petition filed by Sigaw ng Bayan, One Voice chairman Christian Monsod said that his group is not engaged in mudslinging but in a well-meaning advocacy to ensure that the Constitution is followed by those who wish to amend or revise the Charter.

“One Voice stands by its findings and legal arguments and would be happy to show and explain these to our people in any public forum. We also see the need to ask the government: Given the overwhelming problems of the country, why even contemplate or suggest that we spend P2 Billion in taxpayers’ money on a plebiscite based on a fake people’s initiative?”, One Voice officials said.

The group averred that petitioners Lambino and Aumentado have no legal capacity to file the people’s initiative petition as they do not represent the 6.3 M registered voters who allegedly signed the proposal to change the Constitution.

“There is no proof that they have been authorized by the people to file the petition in their behalf. On the contrary, they have admitted they are acting in behalf of certain interest groups that include top government officials,” One Voice said in its memorandum to the Supreme Court.

Moreover, One Voice pointed out:

“The changes proposed by the petitioners (i.e. from a bicameral-presidential to unicameral-parliamentary system) are not mere amendments, but constitute a revision of the Constitution, and are therefore not the proper subject of an initiative. If the changes are allowed, the new constitution would be a mishmash of incomplete, senseless, conflicting, unintelligible, absurd and hidden provisions. And the Filipino people will have a document which will give rise to great political and economic turmoil because it is unintelligible.”

In the absence of clear guidelines and an enabling law on how to carry out a people’s initiative and perhaps also in accordance with the permanent injunction contained in an earlier decision of the Supreme Court, some election officers came up with different styles of signature verification, as can be gleaned from the following certificates obtained by One Voice from the Commission on Elections (all underscorings are mine):

Signed by MARIANO M. SARSABA, JR., Municipal Election Registrar of Liloy, Zamboanga del Norte:

This is to certify that based on the verifications made by the Barangay Officials in the Municipality, as attested to by two (2) witnesses from the same Barangays, which is part of the 3rd Legislative District of teh Province of Zamboanga del Norte, the names appearing on the attached signature sheets relative to the proposed Initiative on Amendments to the 1987 Constitution, are those of bona fide residents of the said
Barangay and correspond to the names found in the official list of registered voters of the Commission on Elections, and/or the voters’ affidavits and/or voters identification cards.

Note: Only election officers are authorized to verify signatures under a people’s initiative.

Excert from a certificate issued by ARNOLD D. PANUNCIALMAN, election officer, Midsalip, Zamboanga del Sur:

This is to certify that this office has conducted a matching on all the names appearing in the signature sheets of this municipality, which is part of the First Congressional District of the province of Zamboanga del Sur, relative to the initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution, to ascertain if they are bonafide residents and registered voters in the barangay where their names appeared in conformity with our List of Registered Voters. {..}

This is to certify likewise that the matching conducted by this office was exclusively limited to the name and demographic data and shall not in anyway be construed as signature verification.

This certification is issued upon request of Mrs. Leonida Angcap, Municipal Mayor, this municipality, and shall not prejudice to a signature verification that may later be conducted thereto.

Note: The election officer made it clear that what he undertook was mere “matching” of names, not verification of signatures.

Blogger’s Comment:

I believe that some, if not most, election officers realize that Comelec is permanently enjoined to entertain any petition for a people’s initiative unless a sufficient enabling law is passed and proper guidelines spring from it.

Perhaps due to pressures from local executives, some election officers decided to issue certificates on the number of names on the signature sheet that also appear on the voters’ registration list- without actually verifying the authenticity of these signatures.

What we saw in a pile of boxes kept at the Comelec’s law department were signature sheets verified by barangay officials, not election officers; certificates done upon the request of municipal and city mayors, not the people themselves and, double as well as triple entries of signature sheets passed off as distinct from each other, when in truth they were just Xeroxed copies of the original document.

Given more time, I am sure our legal counsels and student volunteers would have found more discrepancies and fraud done, sadly and unfairly, in the name of the Filipino people.

SUMMERTIME
by E.B. White

Summertime this year is a ripe girl who finds herself forsaken by the boys, the ordinarily attentive and desirous boys. They are nowhere to be found; they have disappeared, the way males do, seized by some sudden mechanical flirtation, some new interest of a passing sort. Summertime is a girl who knows they will be back and who is conscious that she herself is irresistible over the long term, that her beauty and her accommodating ways have lost no fraction of their power. We had summertime practically to ourself the other afternoon, and in our guilt we lay with her in the name of all who were temporarily denied that privilege, admiring her incredible poise. The scent of her clothes was unmistakable; her sea, her sand, her sky wore the same look as ever; the insects which are her private minstrels sang the same seductive measure. We have never seen a discarded female more sure of where she stood than summertime. (8/12/44, SUMMERTIME, Writings from THE NEW YORKER, 1927-1976)

VERMIN
by E.B. White

The mouse of Thought infests my head.
He knows my cupboard and the crumb.
Vermin! I despise Vermin.
I have no trap, no skill with traps,
No bait, no hope, no cheese, no bread–
I fumble with the task to no avail.
I’ve seen him several times lately.
He is too quick for me,
I see only his tail.

(10/7/44), “VERMIN”, Writings from THE NEW YORKER 1927-1976)

THE COST OF HYPHENS
by E.B. White

The pain which attends all literary composition is increased, in some cases, by the writer’s knowing how much per word he will receive for his effort. We came upon a writer at his work recently, and were allowed to sit quietly by while he finished his stint. Quite casually he mentioned that he was getting fifty cents a word. A moment or two later his face became contorted with signs of an internal distress. With his hand poised above the machine, he seemed to be fighting something out with himself. Finally, he turned to us. “Listen,” he said grimly, “do you hyphenate ‘willy-nilly’?” We nodded, and saw him wince as he inserted the little mark, at a cost of half a dollar. (12/15/28, “THE COST OF HYPHENS”, Writings from THE NEW YORKER, 1927-1976)

Blogger’s Note: Aspiring young writers often ask me who my favorite writer is. I like several writers, but for warm, effortless, beautiful, simple writing — the kind that you would reach out for on a Sunday afternoon — I have but one name: E.B. White. Read his little essays and discover that the art of writing lies not in the bigness of words, but in the currents of life told simply.

The striptease started yesterday. Today, we have seen enough to say that truly, the emperor has no clothes!

Below is an excerpt from the press statement issued by One Voice today, our second day at the Comelec:

“The One Voice legal team and other oppositors to the Sigaw ng Bayan petition are now on the second day of their examination of the SnB’s documents now on file at the Commission on Elections.”

“Our examination today revealed the following:

1. In the province of Romblon, we have found out in one municipality, Sta. Fe, that a casual clerk of the town, who was just newly-appointed as such, signed the local election registrar’s certification of the registered voters who allegedly signed the petition.

2. The casual clerk, Rowena H. Castro, signed the certification on behalf of Mrs. Lilia Cawaling, the election registrar, who was on sick leave at the same time the SnB submitted its signature sheets on the petition.

Here is the text of the Romblon certificate signed by a casual clerk and duly notarized prior to submission to the Comelec; (certified true copy is with our lawyers):

LOCAL ELECTION REGISTRAR’S CERTlFICATION

I, MS. ROWENA H. CASTRO, of legal age, Filipino, with address at Poblacion,
Looc, Romblon under oath, state:

1. I am the newly appointed Casual Clerk of the Municipality of Santa Fe,
province of Romblon;

2. In behalf of MRS. LILIA CAWALING the Election Registrar of the
municipality of Santa Fe, who is on sick leave I hereby certify that the
signatures of the registered voters for the municipality which is part of the
Legislative District of Romblon as appearing in the signature sheets relative to
the proposed Initiative on Amendments to the 1987 Constitution, have been
submitted to and received by me and that I have personally exalnined, verified
and confirmed the same to be the signatures of the voters appearing in the
official list of registered voters of the Commission on Elections.

3. The total number of signatures of the registered voters for the municipality of Santa Fe appearing in the signature sheets are one thousand eight hundred sixty one (1,861):

Republic of the Philippines
COMMISION ON ELECTIONS
Office of the Election Registrar
For the Municipality of Santa Fe :

MS. ROWENA H. CASTRO (orig document signed)
CASUAL CLERK

(Note: Ms. Castro works as a casual clerk in the office of the town mayor, not the Comelec.)

As our lawyers went through so many documents and boxes, here is one other certificate that stood out because of all the clumsy thumbprints of the mayor concerned. It also stood out because clearly, there were election officers whose certificates alluded to the real authors of this initiative: not the people, but the LGUs. What inspired our LGUs to work so hard for the gathering and verification of “signatures”? I’m pretty sure you can figure that one out.

Here is a text copy of one such certificate (sorry, I don’t own a scanner, and even if I do, I wouldn’t know how to use one!):

THIS IS TO CERTIFY that HON. ARMANDO T. RAMOS, Municipal Mayor, Bagac, Bataan submitted before this Office for appropriate action, 14 folders containing FOUR THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY SIX (4,286) signatures of individuals who are purportedly registered voters of Bagac, Bataan in connection with the intended filing of a petition for an initiative on the amendment of the 1987 Constitution.

FURTHER, pursuant to Section 7 of Republic Act 6735, otherwise known as The Initiative and Referendum Act, the undersigned hereby certifies that this Office conducted a painstaking verification of the subject signatures and on the basis of the registry list of voters, voters’ affidavits and voters’ identification card used in the immediate preceding election, i.e., May 2004 Elections.

FURTHERMORE, as a result of the verification, this is to certify that the office of teh undersigned was able to verify the signatures of THREE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE SIGNATORIES (3,431) as the same signatures corresponding to the very signatures appearing in the registry list of voters on file with this Office.

FINALLY, at the instance and request of MAYOR RAMOS, this certification is issued at Bagac, Bataan, this 10th day of April 2006 and to be submitted forthwith to the Provincial Election Supervisor of Bataan.

Signed:

MARITESS V. BONDOC
Election Officer

(Note: Similar formats used by the election officers of Orion and Pilar, municipalities of Bataan.)

Other findings:

1. Yesterday, the opposing legal counsels discovered double entry of names; today, they uncovered double entries of filled-up verification reports. Attached to the verification reports were carbon copies of filled up sheets, all similar down to the names and signatures of voters, but passed off as separate, distinct annexes.

2. More certificates from different localities wherein the election officers verified names, or numbers of entries, but not the signatures.

3. Certificates that do not state that the number of verified signatures meet the 3% requirement vital to the success of a people’s initiative.

4. Signature sheets that were filled up by one person, judging from the distinct qualities of his or her penmanship.

5. Signature sheets that included the names and signatures of non-registered voters, as well as signatures that turned out to be fabricated as noted by the election officer concerned.

The last paragraph of One Voice’s press statement reads:

“We will submit these findings to the Supreme Court, in addition to those which we would still unearth in the next two days. We are confident that the highest tribunal will seriously consider these as proofs of the cavalier, hasty, and surreptitious manner by which the SnB illegally exercised the reserve power of people’s initiative to amend the Constitution.”

Yesterday, at a little past 9 am, fellow blogger Ricci del Rosario and I went to the Palacio del Gobernador Building a few steps away from Manila Cathedral in Intramuros. This is where boxes upon boxes of signatures gathered for the fake people’s initiative of Sigaw ng Bayan are being kept. Specifically, the boxes are in a corner room of the law department on the 8th floor of Comelec.

When we arrived, Atty. Neri Colmenares was already there. Ditto with my good friend, Atty. Blas Viterbo. They were already looking at some documents in the presence of Kapamilya and Kapuso reporters and crewmembers. The lawyers of those that call themselves The Legion were also present, including Atty. Raul Lambino.

There was no tension at all as our lawyers went about their work, jotting down notes and having copies of documents xeroxed. Now this was not as fast and easy as it sounds. One has to go down to ground level and walk to the next comelec building to pay the cashier then go up to the 8th floor to hand over the receipt to comelec personnel who would then reproduce the documents. Ricci lent his youthful vigor to this task.

What did I personally see at the Comelec?

1. Certificates signed by election officers that verify the number of registered voters who signed the signature sheets, not the authenticity of the signatures themselves.
2. In Makati, there were sheets that were obviously signed and filled up by just one person; double entry of names; a long line of X marks which meant the signatures did not come from the registered voters concerned; names and signatures of people who do not belong to the voters’ registration list of Makati.
3. A certificate issued by an election officer in Jose Abad Santos, in Davao del Sur, included this phrase: “most signatures are fabricated”.
4. In Romblon, one of the certificates was signed by a casual clerk (not even a regular clerk!) instead of the election officer.
5. On one certificate, the election officer included a qualifier stating that he was not competent to verify the signatures because he was not a handwriting expert.

One Voice legal counsel Atty. Carlos Medina, also the executive director of Ateneo School of Law’s Human Rights Center, told me he wished the opposing counsels had enough time to examine all signature sheets and certificates. Per arrangement with the Comelec and because they must submit their memorandum to the Supreme Court on or before October 11, they would have to do what they can until Saturday morning.

Atty. Lambino teased me that what our lawyers have done was to expedite the process of verification. I told him that what we have set out to do is to show the non-existence of a process. How can this be a genuine people’s initiative when, as one election officer said, most signatures were fabricated?

Just like in that storybook tale of “The Emperor had no clothes”, what I saw at the Comelec yesterday was a striptease with Sigaw ng Bayan getting more naked with every box and each folder that we opened. Certainly, parental guidance is needed for our children to understand how this country is being duped by those peddling “change” while invoking the name of the Filipino people.

Ang paghuhubad sa Sigaw ng Bayan. Abangan!

In a press conference held yesterday, One Voice chairman Christian Monsod said the opposing legal team against the Sigaw ng Bayan petition before the Supreme Court will examine certain documents submitted to the Commission on Elections by said petitioners starting today, Wednesday to Friday of this week.

“We wish to underscore that the work of the panel will be to examine the documents submitted, not to verify the authenticity of the signatures. We welcome this opportunity to get a first-hand look at all these documents since hardly anyone was able to witness how election registrars all over the country carried out the verification process at the local levels,” Monsod said.

The legal team composed of lawyers from different groups opposed to a fake people’s initiative, said the Supreme Court gave both sides 15 days to submit their respective memorandums.

“Within the 15 day-period, we were given the chance by the Supreme Court to look at documents submitted by Sigaw ng Bayan. From Wednesday to Friday, the legal team will be at the Comelec premises to examine some of these documents and question the procedures behind this entire process,” Monsod explained.

One Voice said the legal panel, composed of lawyers representing the different groups opposing the Sigaw ng Bayan petition, would give special attention to certain documents submitted by Sigaw ng Bayan, particularly those covering some 6 districts where the signature drive failed to meet the 3% requirement.

The legal counsels opposing the petition pointed out that the Comelec did not notify the public and all interested parties about the verification process undertaken by election registrars at the local levels.

“Genuine verification of all these signatures requires that the Comelec invite all interested parties and the public at large to be present during the actual verification and authentication of signatures undertaken by more than two hundred district election registrars all over the country,” the opposing counsels stated.

The legal panel explained that such procedures were non-existent because based on previous Supreme Court rulings, there was no law in place to prescribe such standards.

Chairman Monsod, formerly of the constitutional commission and the Commission on Elections, noted that their opposition to SnB’s petition tackled the specific issues described by the Supreme Court as subjects of the oral arguments.

The opposing counsels that participated in the oral arguments before the Supreme Court were:

Oralist per issue:

1. Whether petitioners Lambino and Aumentado are proper parties to file the present Petition in behalf of the more than six million voters who allegedly signed the proposal to amend the Constitution. − Justice Manuel Lazaro
2. Whether the Petitions for Initiative Filed before the Commission on Elections complied with Section 2, Article XVII of the Constitution − former Sen. Rene Saguisag
3. Whether the Courts decision in Santiago v. COMELEC (G.R. No. 127325, March 19, 1997) bars the present petition.− Atty. Marlon Manuel
4. Whether the Court should re-examine the ruling Santiago v. COMELEC that there is no sufficient law implementing or authorizing the execise of people’s initiative to amend the Constitution.− Sen. Joker Arroyo
5. Assuming R.A. No. 6735 is sufficient, whether the Petitions for Initiative filed wit h the COMELEC have complied with its provisions.
5.1 Whether the said Petitions are sufficient in form and substance.
5.2 Whether the proposed changes embrace more than one subject matter.
− Gov. Pablo Garcia; Atty. Aquilino Pimentel III; Atty. Marvic Leonen
6. Whether the proposed changes constitute an amendment or revision of the Constitution.
5.3 Whether the proposed changes are the proper subject of an initiative. − Atty. Carlos P. Medina
7. Whether the exercise of an initiative to propose amendments to the Constitution is a political question to be determined solely by the sovereign people.− Dean Pacifico Agabin
8. Whether the Commission on Elections committed grave abuse of discretion in dismissing the Petition for Initiative filed before it. −Atty. Anselmo Cadiz

One Voice legal counsel Atty. Carlos Medina of the Ateneo School of Law’s Human Rights Center pointed out that because there was no enabling law, the gathering of signatures were not carried out with full transparency and under a uniform set of procedures. “The people were just bystanders in this entire process as local government officials used their clout and respective machineries to collect signatures without full public disclosure and discussion as to the specific constitutional changes being proposed,” Atty. Medina said.

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN C/O www.ombudsman.gov.ph

02 October 2006

The Office of the Ombudsman today absolved all respondents involved in the Mega Pacific controversy of all administrative and criminal liabilities.

In a 52-page Supplemental Resolution, it also reversed and set aside its June 28 Resolution which contained factual findings that can be used by the House of Representatives to initiate impeachment proceedings against Comelec Commissioner Resureccion Borra.

The previous resolution also meted the penalty of dismissal from the service with cancellation of eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits and perpetual disqualification fro re-employment in the government service against Eduardo Mejos, Director IV,Finance Service Dept., Comelec Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Chairman; and BAC members, Atty. Jose P. Balbuena Jr., Director IV, Law Dept.;Atty. Lamberto P. Llamas, Director IV, Planning Department; Atty. Bartolome J. Sinocruz, Director IV, Election and Brgy. Affairs Dept.; and Gideon G. de Guzman, Director III, Finance Services Dept. for Grave Misconduct and Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service.

It also recommended the filing of Information for Violation of Sec. 3 (e) of RA 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) against the said Comelec officials in conspiracy with private respondents Willy U. Yu, Bonnie Yu, Enrique Tansipek, Rosita Y. Tansipek, Pedro O. Tan, Johnson W. Fong, Bernard L. Fong and Lauriano Barrios all of the MPEI.

The Resolution also recommended that further fact-finding investigation be conducted against other individuals who may have been involved in the said transaction. Read more »