Women's tennis album - May 2012

Guilty as hell! #CJonTrial

The Constitution states it simply:

Section 17. A public officer or employee shall, upon assumption of office and as often thereafter as may be required by law, submit a declaration under oath of his assets, liabilities, and net worth. In the case of the President, the Vice-President, the Members of the Cabinet, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Commissions and other constitutional offices, and officers of the armed forces with general or flag rank, the declaration shall be disclosed to the public in the manner provided by law.

The SALN is required by law. It shall be disclosed to the public.

The SC's insistence not to disclose the justices SALN can be challenged as unconstitutional.

When Corona argued that his non-disclosure of his dollars assets is in consonance with RA 6426, he is twisting the interpretation of the law to suit his defense. Palusot na lang yan.

RA 6426 says:

Section 8. Secrecy of foreign currency deposits. – All foreign currency deposits authorized under this Act, as amended by PD No. 1035, as well as foreign currency deposits authorized under PD No. 1034, are hereby declared as and considered of an absolutely confidential nature and, except upon the written permission of the depositor, in no instance shall foreign currency deposits be examined, inquired or looked into by any person, government official, bureau or office whether judicial or administrative or legislative, or any other entity whether public or private; Provided, however, That said foreign currency deposits shall be exempt from attachment, garnishment, or any other order or process of any court, legislative body, government agency or any administrative body whatsoever.

This is a Marcos law, perhaps intended to protect Marcos himself. Anyway, this law says the deposits are confidential. This means the specifics of the account, what bank, the account number, etc. But the aggregate amount of the deposit should be reflected in the SALN, just like what he did with his peso deposits. Corona's SALNs for 2004-2010 did not specify his peso accounts, they just indicated 'Cash and Investments'. Now had this entry included his dollars (or its equivalent in pesos), then he is off the hook. But as he himself admitted, he did not include this.

Thus he is guilty as hell.

Another miscalculation #CJonTrial

Youtube video published on May 22, 2012 by timmy Mive

It really seemed that CJ was gaining momentum. Public sympathy started to sway in his favor. At one time he was nakakaawa. He claimed he lived a simple life. They had no luxuries, not even an aircon, nor a katulong. Then he became accusing, threatening, maligning others even. JPE allowed this, wala ngang bastusan eh.

It looked he was on the way to acquittal in the public's eye. He dramatically signed a waiver. But curiously, as he read it, he apparently did not include a waiver of RA 6426. It did not escape the ever sharp JPE. The CJ had to say he's adding it in his own handwriting. Though he later said it's already there, one wonders why he did not read it.

When the defense later said that they did not know the contents of CJ's presentation, why did they have blank copies of the waiver to distribute to the congressmen after the CJ mentioned his conditions? Like his school medals, the waiver was fake.

If the CJ lives simply, why did he check in at a suite in Medical City? Mahal dun ah?

The walk out was premeditated, it was not hypoglycemia. The video above shows his wife has stood up and was waiting for him after he said 'the Chief Justice of the Republic of the Philippines wishes to be excused.' Was he sick? He did not look like it. In fact he was arrogant.

Did the defense know about the walk out? Cuevas was starting to make the manifestation that the CJ has testified for so long and maybe a continuance is in order. But the CJ was too afraid to be cross-examined that he immediately walked out. It was another miscalculation. Cuevas can be heard saying 'akala na discharge na. tawagin mo'.

The daughter, however, did not appear to know the script. She was still on her seat when her parents walked out. The CJ and his wife was already in the basement, not in the lounge, when JPE ordered all exits closed.

What if CJ feigned fainting right there on the witness stand? That would have been most dramatic worthy of an acquittal. Pero matalino ang Diyos. The hypoglycemia excuse was an after thought.

It would have been better had the Senate doors were closed too late. The CJ would have escaped, nabastos ang Senate and the game is over.

House is falling

House, MD, is my favorite TV show. In fact I think it is the best show ever. That's why many are sad that this season will be its last. And like me, many of the fans are even sadder now with the way the last few episodes are turning out bad. At this rate no one will be clamoring for its return.

The departure of Cuddy and 13, the limited exposure of Wilson and Foreman, the uninteresting character Park - there are many to blame. The biggest blame though should go to the uninspired writing.

They have shown 17 episodes of season 8 so far. The only good ones were episode 1, the Nobody's Fault episode (11), and the Chase episode (12). The rest are a letdown. The writers can't even get their story right. Park is supposed to have a Filipina mother but when they showed her mother, she looked Korean.

I hope they step up in the remaining episodes. This is not the way for a great show to go. Come on writers, make us miss the show.

Women's tennis album - April 2012