Sound Snipings. BY Jimmy Cabato

Transcription

1 Sound Snipings BY Jimmy Cabato Yesterday s piece was not as preliminarily predicted to be brief and with short commentaries, followed by lifted cores of the story. But today as we have a planned one more night stay in Ipil, from where I am writing out today, or Siocon, I think this just might be a truly hurried piece now. We play it by ear, then. Another inspiring development here. Leaders are living it up to their positions. Try think for size, The Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom) led by its Commander, Lieutenant General Rustico Guerrero, conducted a bloodletting activity in collaboration with the Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC) and the Rotary Club of Zamboanga City West at the WestMinCom Gymnasium.Camp Navarro, Upper Calarian. Now that is a leader leading the way. Earlier reported to have led the way is P/Sr. Superintendent Angelito Casimiro, City Police director in a bloodletting activity in in Labuan. The activity held at the WESTMINCOM camp was held in connection with the 9th anniversary celebration of the Command which is anchored on the theme, Pagkakaisa Tungo sa Kapayapaan, at Pag-Unlad ng Bayan,. The bloodletting activity saw more than a hundred personnel of the Command undergo the screenings conducted by the Camp Navarro General Hospital (CNGH) led by its Chief Nurse, Lieutenant Colonel Mary Grace Patanindagat; and the ZCMC Blood Bank headed by Dr. Mary Ann Torregosa, Medical Specialist III. Around 75 units of blood donated by the personnel of the Command, including the WestMinCom Commander, were collected and turned over to the Blood Bank of the ZCMC. Lieutenant General Guerrero said, This is to emphasize that the Command is willing to help our 1 / 6

2 brothers in arms who are in need of blood, especially our battle casualties. (TZT) Giving this story prominence is a must for it is seldom that leaders do really lead the way.congratlalations to both Lt. Gen.Rustico Guerreo and P?Sr. Sup Angelito Casimiro. Even if time-constrained, Congress is supposedly determined to pass the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law before it adjourns on October 10, This was the assurance given by Senate President Franklin Drilon after reportedly securing the commitment of leaders in both the Senate and the House of Representatives at the Senate-House leadership meeting at Marco Polo Hotel at Ortigas Center in Pasig City. This bears watching for even as the supposed commitment was obtained, both chambers seem to disagree on the date and the manner by which they will comply with the same. On the other hand, Speaker Feliciano Sonny Belmonte Jr. and Deputy Majority Leader and Citizens Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) party-list Rep. Sherwin Tugna said the House of Representatives is willing to hold extra session days to ensure the passage of the BBL this month. Recall that it is noted that the Senate is indeed diligent in its efforts to work on the BBL substitute bill initiated by Sen. Bongbong Marcos, with the Lower House having a tough time simply because of lack of quorum. Disgusting. Drilon further offered, Congress leaders did not discuss whether they should hold special sessions for the bill. (MB) To be or not to be. Thais is the question. Why is it often complained that there is dismal lack of police personnel. Read on and find out for yourselves what the cause is. Senator Francis Escudero said the Philippine National Police 2 / 6

3 (PNP) has enough budget to recruit new personnel and fill up vacancies that has bloated to 23,820. But it is slow in doing so. None, I venture to say, will disigree with Sen. Escudero that if even if a fraction of these vacancies are filled, these would provide enough traffic enforcers to ease the road gridlock not only in Metro Manila but also in other cities reeling from heavy traffic. Man, not only will traffic be eased, more so even, police visibility will largely increase. Justice Sec. Leila de Lima is still at it, though seemingly in a non-intrusive manner now. Meaning probably, the case this time will go by routine and handled by the lower echelons as the case should be. It is reported that The Department of Justice (DOJ) says will summon leaders of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) for a preliminary investigation into criminal charges including serious illegal detention filed against them by expelled members of the religious sect. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima vowed fairness in the conduct of the preliminary investigation, wherein the eight respondents are expected to file counter-affidavits as part of the process. (MB) The charges leveled against top leaders of the INC include serious illegal detention a non-bailable offense, harassment as well as threats and coercion. The eight are members of the 10-man Sanggunian, the INC s highest administrative council. Expelled INC members Isaias Samson Jr. and Lito Fruto are the complainants. 3 / 6

4 This tells of the non-meddling part of what may have clearly sparked the INC furor. De Lima said investigating prosecutors would issue subpoena requiring the respondents to appear in a hearing. The pork barrel scam seems to be only ankle-deep. There are still 74 incumbent and former legislators linked to it, but none is yet charged. This surfaced as 1BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bello III yesterday moved for the creation of a Truth Commission due to noticed difficulty in gathering pieces of evidence against the 74 lawmakers. Under Bello s proposal, authority to issue subpoenas and penalize non-cooperative government official will be given. And suspicious is the act of the president to abolish government agencies linked to the multi-billion peso scam, for according to Bello such act is the cause for the delay and the intricacy in gathering evidence against the lawmakers. The partylist solon mouthed the disclosure made by lawyer Levito Baligod, the former counsel of the pork barrel scam whistleblowers, blaming Malacañang s decision The Aquino administration s move against agencies that were used as conduits for highly anomalous spending of billions of pesos in Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) had slowed down the filing of charges against more solons whose names surfaced for possible involvement in the scams, told reporters during the Usaping Balita News Forum in Quezon City yesterday. (MB) 4 / 6

5 Pardon me, but I think OMBUDSMAN Conchita Carpio Morales is serious in her investigation of the present and the budget secretary anent the spending of the Development Acceleration Fund 9DAF). In her testimony before Congress Wednesday, she complained that President Benigno Aquino III was usurping her constitutionally guaranteed fiscal autonomy by making her seek his permission before spending more than P2 million from her agency s income from clearance collections and savings. At Tuesday s budget hearing, Morales said they could not use their own income from the collection of clearance fees to augment the agency s operations. (MB)O Think I misjudged Morales earlier. Sorry. She does mean business as it appears, when she expressed gloom for claimed the interference of PNoy in the manner they spend their own budget, contending that they are fiscally independent. Iran unleashed the full weight of its might and defeated Gilas Pilipinas, bowing out of contention in the 2015 Jones Cup invitational basketball tournament at the Xinchuang Gymnasium, as it took a beating from Iran, The Filipinos last won against the tall, hefty and cohesive Iran team during their faceoff in the 2012 edition of this invitational tournament in thensame court. But Iran was without Haddadi then. With the Seven-foot-2 center Hamed Haddadi back on court after sitting it out in Irans loss to the USA Select Overtake, the playing field was bumpy. 5 / 6

6 Haddadi, an NBA veteran, top-scored with 22 points and eight rebounds. Better in both angles, offense and defense, Haddadi and the Iran squad got past the Filipinos once again and enhanced their bid to reclaim the Jones Cup crown they last won in Later this month, in Changsha, China late this month, the two will once again meet. 6 / 6