Mar

Comelec Computerization Weakness

Joey de Venecia III (ZTE-NBN whistle blower) notes Comelec

computerization weakness

IT-based businessman Joey de Venecia III (ZTE-NBN whistle blower) says the Commission on Elections’ choice of software for its P11-billion computerization program is far from ideal.

In particular, Joey said the Comelec’s choice of the Open Election System optical scan software does not provide adequate safeguards against hacking, and therefore cheating.

“Massive cheating can still occur in the 2010 elections,” Joey says in his blog, Joey3live.com.

While granting that today’s Comelec commissioners and Congress may have the best of intentions in computerizing its outdated manual count system, superior software should still be considered, he said.

In a statement to media, Joey said awarding the contract to the lowest bidder was “faulty economics.”

“It’s like buying a car when what you really need is a van or a truck,” Joey said.

The Comelec should choose a program which offers total transparency, preferably the same kind used in working democracies such as the US, UK or Japan. Any additional expense would be justified by the greater safety features of more expensive software.

“Computerizing the voting process is long overdue as it is supposed to eradicate cheating,” Joey states in his blog, “Too much is at stake in the 2010 polls.

Joey joined other IT experts in calling for the Comelec to reconsider its choice of software. “Only the best possible hardware and software should be used to guard the sanctity of the ballot,” he said.

Joey is founder and chairman of Castle Rock Holdings Limited, a Hongkong registered company that provides managerial, financial and engineering services for infrastructure projects worldwide.

He is also connected with Business Corporate Services, Inc. a company that provides IT consulting, telecom infrastructure and engineering services. He is the founder and president of Lake West Resources, a company that explores the viability of hydro-electric power in the country with a partnership with Fromm Energies of Barcelona, Spain. He sits on the Board and is an investor in Agri Fisheries World Corp., an aqua culture joint venture among Chinese, Taiwanese and Filipinos that engages in fisheries technology in several parts of the country.

Although known to the public as the whistleblower behind the ZTE-national broadband network scandal, as well as for filing an impeachment case against President Arroyo last year, Joey is also a pioneer in the information technology field.

He is considered the father of the Philippine call center industry after setting up the first real business process outsourcing company in the country. He also owned a paging company in the ‘90s.

Posted in Computerization Weakness, News, features |

Mar

On the Endorsement of the Impeachment Complaint By Former House Speaker Jose de Venecia

On the Endorsement of the Impeachment Complaint By Former House Speaker Jose de Venecia

Today, my father, former House Speaker Jose de Venecia, has chosen to “endorse without reservation” the impeachment complaint that myself and others filed against Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last October 13, 2008.”

I am elated, I am grateful, I am proud of his decision. I know it is not an easy one for him to make.
He has put aside party affiliation for the sake of national interest. Before today, I myself also did not know his real sentiments just like the rest of you. As I have repeatedly said before, I cannot talk in my father’s behalf nor can I second guess him.

With his endorsement, I call on other leaders of government to follow their conscience and be one with civil society and the rest of our countrymen in finding the truth.

As my father has said in his statement, this fight is no longer mine alone.

I pray that Congress will leave out partisanship and do what is right for the country.

I now believe that the time has come for the government of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to take responsibility for its actions and answer the allegations against it.

The Filipino people has been made to wait too long for truth and justice.

Posted in Impeach Endorsement, News |

Mar

On the Motion for Intervention Memorandum Agreement on Bangsamoro Juridicial Entity (MOA-Ancestral Domain)

On the Motion for Intervention Memorandum Agreement on Bangsamoro Juridicial Entity (MOA-Ancestral Domain)

Last October 14, 2008 the Supreme Court ruled that the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain is unconstitutional.  This decision clearly underscores the fact that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has indeed committed an impeachable offense, the culpable violation of the Constitution.  I, therefore, support this group of ordinary Filipino citizens who filed this Motion for Intervention that calls the President to task for the willful and intentional:

1. Violation of the constitutional mandate of full public disclosure on matters affecting the public interest; 

2. Violation of the territorial integrity of the Republic of the Philippines; and  

3. Violation of the principle of separation of powers, including the executive’s infringement upon legislative prerogatives, duties and functions.

The President has misled the Filipino people by pushing for the signing of the MOA on Ancestral Domain in the guise of promoting peace with our Muslim brothers. The sad truth, however, is that the President is using the agreement to shore up her plummeting popularity.  I applaud the people of the Province of North Cotabato and their leaders who took it upon themselves to stop this clear transgression of the Constitution.  I thank the intervenors who have invoked their Constitutional right to hold the President accountable for her deeds.  It is my hope that the Honorable Members of the House of Representatives admit this Complaint-in-Intervention as part of the impeachment proceeding and that both complaints be included in the House of Representative’s Order of Business and be given due course.  It is my belief that now, more than in any other time, the allegiance of our lawmakers should not be to a single party nor to a single person. Their allegiance should be to the Constitution, their sacrifice not for themselves but for the people they represent.  We should not let anyone make a mockery of the Philippine Constitution. It is sacred. More importantly, the Filipino people deserve a President who will uphold their rights and a government that will defend them.

Posted in Motion MOA, News |

Mar

Impeachment Complaint Sufficient in Form

It was a small victory but a victory nonetheless. We were confident that the impeachment complaint we filed was sufficient in form and we were proven right by the decision of the House Justice Committee.
Tomorrow the Committee will discuss substance and this will be a bigger challenge than what we faced today.

It has always been said that any impeachment case is a numbers game. We definitely do not have the numbers on our side. What gives me comfort is the fact that this whole process has, at least, given us the chance to let the Filipino people know what is going on and who should be held accountable.

I again give thanks to the people who tirelessly work with me towards this end. We may not prevail tomorrow. We may not win at all.

We, however, pray and believe that history will prove us right.

Posted in Impeachment Sufficient, News |

Mar

Dismissal of Motion of Intervention

The House Committee on Justice dismissed today for lack of jurisdiction the Motion of Intervention we supported last November 12, 2008. The Motion calls to task President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the willful and intentional violation of the constitutional mandate of full public disclosure on matters affecting the public interest; violation of the territorial integrity of the Republic of the Philippines; and violation of the principle of separation of powers, including the executive’s infringement upon legislative prerogatives, duties and functions.

The dismissal is not only a major disappointment for us but is a grave disservice to the nation.

We were hoping that our esteemed lawmakers would have been guided by the Supreme Court ruling finding the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain as unconstitutional. We have hoped in vain.

The House Committee on Justice is now set to rule on the substance of the impeachment case. We look forward to a seamless process.

The recital of facts which we trust will support our assertion that the impeachment case we filed is sufficient in substance; the presentation of evidence and testimonies from concerned lawmakers; and in the end the call for the President to respond and answer the allegations against her.

It was brought up today that a panel of minority and majority congressmen that is equal in number will be called upon to speak their minds on the impeachment complaint. This will be finalized tomorrow. If this happens, the vote will obviously remain with the Committee on Justice.

We still expect the unexpected though most have already written us off on the very day we filled the impeachment case.

We still aspire to see lawmakers following their conscience and voting for what is true and just.

It will be a tragedy for all of us if this impeachment case will be killed‚ just like the many others before it.

It is even sadder to admit that what has been unfolding is all part of a script wherein we are all forced to say the lines and act the parts that those in power had written.

Joey de Venecia III talks to the media after the House Committee on Justice hearing that dismissed the Motion for Intervention on the Memorandum on Agreement on Ancestral Domain.

Posted in Dismissal Motion, News |

Mar

Dismissal of Impeachment Case Due to Insufficiency of Substance

This is a sad day not only for us the complainants and the minority lawmakers, but more so for the Filipino people. Our right to take President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to task has again been taken away from us.

As our minority lawmakers have said repeatedly, this process is a way to let government show the transparency that the Constitution mandates.

The impeachment process is the proper and legal forum to let the people know what is happening and to allow the government and its officials to explain themselves.
It appears that the government would rather that the people take its grievances to the street than offer them a decent and legal forum.

The House Justice Committee might have stopped the impeachment complaint but I assure everyone that the Committee cannot stop us from airing our grievances and allegations in any and all other forums available to us.

We will bring this case straight to the people. We will go to them and talk to them. We will put out into the open what the government would rather keep under the cloak of darkness.

I give my utmost appreciation to all those who supported us in any way. I thank the Filipino people for their sentiments and their prayers.

We will not keep quiet. The fight in the halls of Congress may be over but the real fight for truth and justice goes on.

Posted in Dismissal Impeachment, News |

Mar

Quashing of Impeachment Complaint

A tidal wave of anger will follow

When 183 members of the House of Representatives yesterday voted in favor of the House justice committee report recommending the rejection of the impeachment complaint that I and some interested parties filed, they acted true to form.

The plenary session was nothing more than an extension of the justice committee hearings, where the rule of the majority rather than the rule of law prevailed.

In clearing Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of wrongdoing despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the congressmen not only voted along party lines, proving that their loyalty is to the president rather than the people, they also lowered the standards for a person to hold on to the Philippine presidency.

There is good reason why Mrs. Arroyo’s popularity has sunk to all-time lows. She has lost the trust of the Filipino people, not only because of her actions, but also because of her inaction and outright tolerance of the crimes and misdemeanors committed by her family.

There is basis for the public perception that the Arroyo administration is the most corrupt regime the country has ever had.

As a result, no less than the Integrated Bar of the Philippines warned that the rule of law in our country is under siege.

To quote the IBP, “They have made corruption so open and pervasive, influence-peddling so rampant, and lack of transparency and accountability so common that we now genuinely fear for the future of the country and its people.”

Can the ladies and gentlemen of the House majority afford to ignore the warnings of the largest and most respected group of legal minds in the country? If they choose to do so, they do at their own risk. Never forget that the Filipino people taught the world how people power works. Look into the horizon and you will see a tidal wave of people angered by the abuses of an administration that refuses to learn the lessons of its past mistakes. Beware, lest that tidal wave turn into a tsumani that will swamp you all.

For now, I wish to thank the 21 congressmen who followed the dictates of their conscience, or who simply followed logical and legal thought. They saw the probable guilt of Mrs. Arroyo and voted to impeach her. To them I say, the Filipino people will not forget. You proved yourselves deserving of their trust and worthy of their votes.

To the congressmen who voted to quash the impeachment complaint based on their judgment that there was insufficiency in substance to the submitted document, may I advise them to study the complaint again.

And to those who argued that the person who occupies Malacanang must be allowed to finish her term, consider the damage that she and her cohorts can still do in the next year and a half. Consider too that she has been given the opportunity to do everything possible to stay in power beyond 2010.

To the congressmen who chose to grant Gloria Macapagal Arroyo the means of escaping her guilt rather than the opportunity to prove her innocence, one final word: You may have won this battle, but the war is far from over.

Quashing of Impeachment Complaint

[Reference: Malyn Limoanco 0918-9174674]

Posted in News, Quashing Impeachment |

Mar

United Nations Human Rights Committee Finding The Philippine Government Guilty of Rights Violations

United Nations Human Rights Committee Finding The Philippine Government Guilty of Rights Violations

Last October 30, 2008, the United Nations Human Rights Committee during its 94th Session in Geneva, Switzerland has found the Philippine Government guilty of violating the right to life of Eden Marcellana, former Secretary General of Karapatan-Southern Tagalog and Eddie Gumanoy, former Chairperson of Kasama Tk. Karapatan is a human Rights association while Kasama Tk is an organization of farmers.

These two people were kidnapped and murdered on April 21, 2003 in Mindoro Oriental while on a fact-finding mission. The victims’ relatives filed their complaints with the United Nations on March 9, 2006 after exhausting all means to get justice within the Philippine legal system.

A ruling by no less than the United Nations clearly shows that the government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been remiss in its duty to protect the lives and the rights of its citizens.

The affected parties were ordinary people striving to contribute to the lives of their fellowmen in far flung provinces. Instead of protecting them and ensuring that these people are able to successfully undertake their missions, the government did nothing.

Is the government so ineffective? Is the government turning a blind eye by letting those responsible get away, or worse, is the government the one behind these gruesome killings.

What kind of government can lay claim to moral ascendancy if it cannot guarantee the basic right to life and justice of its citizens?

Graft and corruption are reprehensible. Human rights abuses are downright unacceptable.

Posted in News, UN HR |

Mar

GMA’s Cabinet

GMA’s Cabinet

A recent incident involving a Cabinet secretary serves as a microcosm of the kind of administration that Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangadaman and his son and namesake, along with several bodyguards, beat up a middle-aged balikbayan and his 14-year-old son, whose only crime was not letting the government official play ahead of them in a golf course.

This act was not just shameful, but criminal. Yet as of today, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has done nothing against her Cabinet man and his son, a town mayor. As for the elder Pangadaman, he had the gall to issue a half-hearted apology which sought to pin part of the blame on the victims.

Pardon the golf analogy, but this is about par for the course where Mrs. Arroyo and her administration is concerned. This incumbent president has been unbelievably tolerant of wrongdoing among her official family. It almost tells us that she may be equally tolerant of any crime or misdemeanor that members of her own family might do. Or have done in the past.

Her silence tells us that there is a strong possibility that a whitewash is in the offing. If not, a backroom “settlement” might be resorted to wherein the two victims will be compensated for the injuries they suffered. Even if they agree to an arrangement, the damage has been done.

I am not saying that the DAR secretary and his son are guilty, but the inaction of the administration tells us that there is no serious interest on the part of the president to get to the root of the matter. Maybe she would, like Pontius Pilate, prefer to wash her hands of the matter.

Another wrong move by the Malacanang occupant.

In all countries, the Cabinet secretaries take their cue from the president (or prime minister as the case may be). A chief executive who makes it perfectly clear that he or she will not tolerate any wrongdoing from any member of his or her Cabinet will likely have a disciplined official family. By the same token, a chief executive who indicates by her action or inaction that Cabinet secretaries can do as they please will see her executives run loose and forget that they are public servants.

So we have either of two possibilities. One, the president knows that some of her Cabinet secretaries are engaged in hanky panky and she opts to do nothing. Or two, she does not know what her executives are doing, in which case her competence comes under question.

Then there is the third possibility that she does not care, as long as she and her family – husband, children and in-laws – are insulated.

So which is it where Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is concerned? She may claim that she cannot know what her Cabinet secretaries, undersecretaries, assistant secretaries and Palace officials and staff are doing at any given time. This is true. But she is answerable for the effects of their actions. Anywhere else, her course of action should be clear. Suspension or outright termination, without prejudice to cases being filed for any criminal offenses committed.

Or are all members of the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo family – official or otherwise – considered untouchable?

Posted in GMA's Cabinet, News |

Mar

Can She Handle It?

There is something seriously wrong — with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appointing herself as the country’s anti-drug czar, even if it is on a temporary basis. So wrong that she has rightfully received flak for it.

A respected Roman Catholic archbishop compared the appointment to a teleserye or telenovela. A congressman accused her of grandstanding. Worst of all, the self appointment may be nothing more than cheap politicking, perhaps even electioneering, as she continues to set the stage for her continued stay in Malacanang beyond 2010.

“A country awash with illegal drugs is a country compromised, its law-and-order institutions tainted and corrupted,” Mrs Arroyo said of her appointment. She is correct. Unfortunately for the Filipino people, she herself is the reason the country’s institutions have been tainted and corrupted. At best, her statement only indicates that Mrs. Arroyo still has good speechwriters in her Palace staff. Good for her.

There are many valid reasons why Mrs. Arroyo should not have appointed herself anti-druz czar. As president of the Philippines, she is expected to oversee the entire Cabinet, and not act as a Cabinet secretary. The Office of the President has too many concerns for Mrs. Arroyo to be bogged down by the singular but deadly-important task of defeating the scourge of illegal drugs.

It is a fulltime job that requires a fulltime chief. As president, Mrs. Arroyo is expected to handle not just one of the country’s problems, but all of them. Is she now saying that the other equally serious problems take lower priority?

There is a global economic crisis that puts at risk hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of jobs held by overseas Filipino workers. Is this a lesser priority than the spread of dangerous drugs?

More than half of the 90 million Filipinos live below the poverty line. This means millions of Filipinos are deprived of decent housing, nutritious food, clothing, education and the means to escape their poverty. Is this a lesser priority, too?

Lawlessness is rampant and the Philippine judicial system is decaying, slowly being destroyed by the cancer that is corruption. Our penitentiaries are filled to overflowing. Meanwhile, the Philippines’ reputation as one of the most corrupt nations on earth worsens. Is this another lesser priority for Mrs. Arroyo?

The probability is that Mrs. Arroyo appointed herself anti-drug czar as a result of the headline-hogging case involving the so-called Alabang Boys, scions of rich families suspected of being bigtime pushers connected to international drug cartels. Is she using the high profile case just to score popularity points with the public?

In fact, the government already has a seemingly very qualified head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency as well as the Dangerous Drugs Board. They and their officers and staff can do the job of minimizing the spread of illegal drugs, informing the public and going after the syndicates. All they need is the full support of the president.

There are enough laws to punish the guilty. All that’s needed is the political will to enforce those laws, without fear or favor.

This country does not need a president acting as anti-drug czar. This country needs a president who is competent, incorruptible and dedicated to the job.

Mrs. Arroyo is clearly not that president.

Posted in Can She Handle It, News |