Call it Plan B v.2.0: House readies constituent assembly signed by 194 lawmakers. the beauty of it is, it also absorbs Plan C (having to push through with elections). The Pichay B v. 2.0+C v. 1.5 would accomplish the following: achieve the proposal of amendments, submit it to a plebiscite timed to coincide with local elections (after, possibly, a brief postponement of the polls from May to November), permit the local elections to distract the plebiscite vote, and, nullify the way the local-national elections would be fought (to elect an impeachment Congress).
After all, after the election-plebiscite, the 14th Congress would then become the new National Parliament, making impeachment not only more difficult, but isolating both impeachment-minded congressmen (focused on the 1/3 vote presently required) and impeachment-minded senators (focused on the 2/3 majority required to convict) since under parliament, impeachment would require 3/4 which could be prevented either by winning enough House seats or simply bribing the new parliament into maintaining more than 1/4 opposed to impeachment.
It’s brilliant and possibly, foolproof.
But in case that’s too clever, plan D (electing an administration-controlled constitutional convention) gets a fresh twist, too: Law calling for Charter Convention proposed. An appointed, not elected, Constitutional Convention (call it Plan D v. 1.5). The law could be easily passed. And then the Palace could argue: what, One Voice, etc., you’re against even a convention? Why? You want to run for delegate? And it just might work with the public.
News even from the official propaganda organs that seemingly portray dissent within the ranks of the faithful –like this one– are causing them to be going great guns over at Malaya: and I must say, I tend to agree with what they say they’ve pieced together. Love-hate relationship of GMA, JDV unfolds, one story says, with the flipside being Mike’s boys sharpen knives against Joe. Stories such as Malaya’s Palace: There was no flip-flop on initiative or the Inquirer’s Cabinet men in row over Charter change loss agree to truce are merely reports on clumsy damage-control, then.
The political momentum within the administration seems to be shifting from where it’s been since July last year -with Lakas-CMD and its Ramos vs. de Venecia factions- to the President’s pet party, Kampi, headed by the Secretary of the Interior Ronaldo Puno, and composed of others like Defensor. The fighting over Defense Secretary Nonong Cruz is not about “the firm”, to my mind, as it is about how everyone will need the Armed Forces sooner or later, and the general impression that Cruz is intent on not using the AFP for cheating (at least that’s the impression I get both from his public statements, and what those who claim to be in the know on DND affairs tell me). The question of whether the law firm of Cruz has also outmaneuvered the Lakas-CMD camp and sabotaged Singaw, which was aspiring to be a new power center is secondary.
In the punditocracy, the columns of Connie Veneracion and Alex Magno are delightfully congruent today. the antidote to their columns is Tony Abaya’s.
John Mangun is bullish on the stock market. But Newsbreak reports on gin packed in sachets. This reminds me again: is the economy really doing well? Again, last night, a friend from the motorcycle industry says sales are down 30% this year, and no one can figure out why.This is an efficient and potentially, grow-grow-grow industry, and yet it’s best minds are stumped as to why they seem to have hit a brick wall. Is there a dangerous disjoint in our economy no one wants to, or can, see?
Vanity Fair has a probing feature on Carl Rove, enduring political genius or dinosaur?
Technorati Tags: constitution, impeachment, Marcos, media, military, people’s initiative, philippines, politics, president
“Constitutional Convention to draft a new Constitution and said a new law could authorize delegates who were appointed rather than elected…The different political parties could nominate delegates in proportion to their seats in Congress under such a system, ”
Hindi ba pag convention kailangan election?
Also, this is another transparent attempt to pack a charter change body
Pichay’s plan is possibly foolproof but first it has to win in the Supreme Court against a Senate challenge.
Pichay’s plan is a frontal challenge to JDV. Let’s see what JDV will do to save his vision of a parliament and his political future.
I wonder if Magno included Gloria Arroyo, his employer, in his list. Whenever he talks about vested interests and all that, he should always preface his remarks with “I was appointed to the DBP and the Concom by Mrs. Arroyo. Nevertheless….”
I don’t think Sassy’s and Magno’s article are congruent at all beyond a superficial level. Magno’s analysis is plainly stupid, Sassy’s approach (as shown in the passage below) is more circumspect:
“You know, the Supreme Court did not miss these hidden agenda. The question is, is it any of its business? Shouldn’t it have limited itself to a strict observance of the law? In which case, shouldn’t it have simply passed upon the issue of whether or not the Comelec committed grave abuse of discretion in sticking with the Defensor-Santiago ruling? Put another way, shouldn’t the Supreme Court have passed upon the Defensor-Santiago ruling squarely?”
Her answer:
“Oh, I don’t know… all these gray areas and we don’t know where legal arguments end and ethical issues begin.”
That’s a very honest question, as well as an old one that goes as far back as the New Testament, and one that should continuously be asked by those who love the law.
Let Pichay continue with his cluelessness. The Constitution created a bicameral Congress and requires votes, three-fourths of each House, and not signatures. Pichay’s signed resolution is unicameral, and signatures are not enough, the Constitution requires that members of Congress vote, that means that the three-fourths of each house should be present in plenary and cast votes in “yea’s†and “nay’s†(this is not to mention the more fundamental violation here of Pichay’s and JDV’s formula, that of voting unicameral when the Constitution created and designed a bicameral legislature). But if Pichay wants to go ahead with his plan of convening a constituent assembly unicamerally and based merely on signatures: go ahead . Intensify the strife in this country. Continue GMA’s losing streak in the Supreme Court. Go ahead, land in the Guinness Book of World Records as being an administration with the most number of losses in court and the most number of downfall-wishes. Do it.
He also said they have “all the time in the world†to hold a plebiscite and can conduct it on the day of the elections: that should be a spectacle: In Pichay’s resolution, the members of Congress will continue on as an interim parliament. It means therefore that he thinks he can cancel, or annul, or postpone the scheduled elections just by passing a resolution, then hold a plebiscite and an election in November, 2007. Go ahead and make a fool of yourself. The date of the elections and the terms of office of the legislators are all written in the Constitution. They’re expressed repeatedly. If you think you can delete all of those provisions in the Constitution with just one resolution passed in Congress: Go ahead. Make a spectacle. Land in Guinness. Be clowns. Escalate the conflict between GMA and the nation. Do it.
somebody should check kung accurate yung mga stats na nakukuha natin sa administration na ito. o baka naman nag-iba na ang definition o calculation na ginagamit ng gobierno para pagandahin ang stats nila.
hindi ba yung unemployment rate natin ay bumaba to single digits dahil sa bagong paraan ng pag-calculate nito?
http://www.politicaljunkie.blogspot.com/2006/03/manipulating-unemployment-numbers.html
hindi ba “bumaba” rin raw ang population rate natin based on projection instead of actual data? LOL.
http://www.philippinecommentary.blogspot.com/2006/05/nscb-intellectually-and-graphically.html
wala raw classroom shortage dahil, per 100 students na raw ang bawat classroom.
And the admin has managed to reduce the number poor families ng bansa by simply lowering the poverty line.
opinion.inq7.net/inquireropinion/columns/view_article.php?article_id=11357
and after redifining unemployment, this admin want to redefine work too.
http://www.pcij.org/blog/?p=997
The correct term for Pichay and his substitute resolution is Trojan Whore.
One of the signs of a crumbling/decaying society is when you see the Supreme Court deciding on everything. That’s what’s happening now, isn’t it?
Mcalintal joins the Trojan whore derby. He is calling a Constitutional Convention to draft a new Constitution and passing a new law that would authorize delegates who were appointed rather than elected.
Macalintal explained, “the different political parties could nominate delegates in proportion to their seats in Congress” He said appointing delegates would be cheaper and less divisive than electing them.
Cheaper and less divisive for whom?
John maezan, I agree with you.
The spins on economic data is reminiscent of the desperation of Marcos’ administration towards the latter part of his despotic reign .Remember how it glossed over non-achievements: high gross international reserves only because of larger than programmed foreign borrowings of the National Government causing the peso to strengthen when the proceeds are sold to a market with little absorptive capacity.
The same guys who were there to serve the despot are still there, helping the woman with a speech defect fudge or support her so-called economic numbers. They have all honed their deceitful skills. Unfortunately for them, we also have not forgotten. We have also learned to read through their unspeak , spins and distinguish their paid hacks in media .
Magno is wrong in saying that the SC “did not address the issue at bar”. On the contrary, the SC resolved one of the primary issues – that the petition violates the Constitution (which allows people’s initiative only for amendments, not revisions). The SC could have stopped there and the decision would still be enough.
It need not decide on Santiago, because there are other grounds to deny the petition.
Just my 2 cents…
On the Karl Rove article in Vanity Fair, one line confirms the genius of the man:
“. . . it was Rove who made a once implausible governor of Texas into the president of the United States.”
The latest U.S. midterm elections may add or diminish Rove’s stature, but he already made history by making Alfred E. Neuman a two-term president.
mlq3,
Sorry to be off topic but would greatly appreciate it if you could tell me your opinion re the anti-terrorism law being proposed in the 13th Congress. Would appreciate inputs greatly by your commenters too.
Thank you.
Anna, I recall DJB has an article on that…
Thanks, Fred.
Fred, what’s your take on the proposed anti-terrorism bill?
Fred, Is there a Tagalog-version of the RA6735:AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A SYSTEM OF INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM. Unless a Tagalog-version gave Lambino the idea that he could be so sloppy, then the Lambino petition documents, plain and simply, violated the specification of the law, e.g.:
Section 1-(c) The petition shall state the following:
c.1. contents or text of the proposed law sought to be enacted, approved or rejected, amended or repealed, as the case may be;
c.2. the proposition;
c.3. the reason or reasons therefor;
c.4. that it is not one of the exceptions provided herein;
c.5. signatures of the petitioners or registered voters; and
c.6. an abstract or summary in not more than one hundred (100) words which shall be legibly written or printed at the top of every page of the petition.
GMA or JDV can initiate — Sec. 4. Who may exercise.  The power of initiative and referendum may be exercised by all registered voters of the country, autonomous regions, provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays.
And if you don’t know if the law requires the signatories to have read the petition, read here for full content of the law.
http://www.chanrobles.com/republicactno6735.htm
Anna (or DJB or Fred)… is the anti-terrorism bill being proposed available on the web for downloading?
One of the signs of a crumbling/decaying society is when you see the Supreme Court deciding on everything. That’s what’s happening now, isn’t it? – Jon M
—————————————————————
Ey Jon, di ba ganon na talaga ang sitwasyon ng bansa at matagal na eto….Kat kailangang kailangan talaga ang pagdulog lagi sa Supreme Court.
Ako kasi, paminsan minsan tiningnan ko rin sa positibong angulo etong ang mga kalokohan ni Gloria. Minsan naisip ko, etong patuloy pagbabangayan ng administaryon at opposistion ay isang magandang paraan din para mapataas ang antas ng kaalaman ng mga mamamayan.
Naisip ko na tama lang na wag talagang madaliin ang pagpatalsik kay Gloria. Kasi An daming issue na matatabunan kong napatalsik si Gloria kaagad. Na mauuwi lang sa katakot takot na katanungan na walang kasagutan. Katulad na rin ng madaliang pagpatalsik kay Erap. Sa aking palagay, dapat matuloy muna and May 2007 eleksyon bago mapatalsik si Gloria. Sang ayon ako sa mungkahi ng One Voice na gawing referendum ang 2007.
Motorcycle sales maybe down 30% because of
1) Too many motorcycle driving restrictions
2) Too few registered drivers. There are about 3,548,041 registered drivers and
5,059,753 registered vehicles (2.2M are motorcycles) nationwide. We need more drivers.
Don’t worry guys.
Proponents of the present Chacha are trying to remove the 2nd paragraph of the 1st provision in the Judicial Department article of the Charter.
If they succeed; the SC will be deciding on less issues since its power to settle controversies of government action will be gone. We won’t be able to present the same kind of cases the people have been able to question before the SC.
UP Student,
Come to think of it, I don’t know if it’s available for downloading but I received a copy of the text by e-mail. Just assumed DJB, Fred and perhaps, mlq3 had read or seen it.
by “it”, I meant the proposed law…
Macalintal’s idea is D.O.A. for being patently unconstitutional.
The plethora of alternate plans from the lurking wanna-be’s is part of the thing that happens also to lizards when their tails are cut off: the severed portion twitches violently, bizarrely, and we watch fascinated at its death dance.
But GMA will return, knock heads together and tell them all to shut up. It’s time to cut their losses on chacha because the Reactor is uncovered with p.i. dead and a Chernobyl-like meltdown imminent if they don’t keep their cool challenging the Supreme Court.
They’re gonna have their hands full with the Senate as it is, on the 2007 Budget and a whole string of investigations that are about to start up on the crest of five pertinent Supreme Court Decisions this year (CPR, EO464, PP1017, PCGG and Chacha) which clarify, reaffirm and strengthen Congress’ Power of Inquiry. This power of the Congress is equal to the Executive Power and the Judicial Power in the sense that it comes “with process to enforce.” In other words, with all the coercive power of the State, as necessary.
I predict we shall see in person in the august halls of the Senate, the properly chastened visages and persons of Virgilio Garcillano, JocJoc Bolante, Norberto Gonzales, Camilo Sabio, Rick Abcede. Indeed, I predict every single Department Head of GMA, EVERY single one of them, will appear before one or more committees of the Right Honorable Senate. And they will behave like Boys examining their consciences before the Sacrament of Penance.
Of all it’s decisions this year, the most powerful is Sabio vs. Gordon, where the Court clarified this thing: if the Senate subpoenas you to a hearing in aid of legislation, you MUST appear, even if just to file your excuse letter (executive privilege, military exemption, Fifth Amendment, whatever). But you MUST appear. Otherwise it is heinous contempt of Congress and the Supreme Court has reaffirmed Congress’ power of inquiry “with process to enforce.”
Maybe they will build a lil jail in the Senate Building. Or a big one…
I kind of see where the sassy lawyer is coming from. An activist Supreme Court is fine as long as they keep deciding in our favor, but what if one they they don’t? I suspect we’ll see the petitions for certiorari fly.
The P.I. shouldve been dismissed on the question of compliance to constitutional requirements alone. But the SC didnt want the P.I. merely defeated. It wanted it utterly crushed. Perhaps they did see the evil lurking behind it, but the evil ones were not on trial in that petition. It is quite possible that the SC overstepped its bounds in delivering the decision in the way they did.
You know, the Supreme Court did not miss these hidden agenda. The question is, is it any of its business?
We won. The P.I. is crushed. But there’s a cautionary tale in the means by which we won.
Anyone interested in the anti-terrorism bill may go here:
http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd%5B347%5D=x-347-224693
SECTION 1.Short Title.- This Act shall be known as the “Anti-Terrorism Act of 2005:’
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. It is hereby declared the policy of the State to safeguard and protect the lives/properties and environment, promote the dignity of the people, and to strongly condemn terrorism as a crime against the law of nations and humanity. The State shall take all the necessary measures to prevent, suppress, and penalize terrorism in all its forms. It shall continue to respect and promote the values, rights and freedom enshrined in the Philippine Constitution. Consistent with its foreign policy, the State shall extend cooperation and undertake mutual assistance with oilier States and international organizations in the investigation, apprehension and prosecution of persons involved in terrorism.
SEC. 3. Terrorism. – Terrorism is the premeditated, threatened, actual Use of violence, force, or by any other means of destruction perpetrated against person/s, property/ies, or the environment, with the intention of creating or sowing a slate of danger, panic, fear, or chaos to the general public, group of persons or particular person, or of coercing or intimidating the government to do or abstain from doing an act.
SEC. 4. Terrorism; How Committed. -Terrorism is committed by any person or group of persons, whether natural or juridical, who, with intent to create or sow danger, panic, fear or chaos to the general public or a group of persons or particular person, or to coerce or intimidate the government to do or to abstain from doing an act through the premeditated, threatened, or actual use of force, violence or oilier means of destruction, commits any of the following acts:
(1) Threatening or causing death or serious bodily harm (on person or persons),
(2) Threatening or causing serious risk to health or safely of (the public or any segment of the public;
(3) Threatening or causing substantial damage or wanton destruction or resorting to arson on critical infrastructure or property, public or private;
(4) Threatening or causing serious interference with or serious disruption of an essential service, facility or system, whether public or private, other than a result of lawful advocacy, protest, dissent or stoppage of work;
(5) Hijacking or threatening to hijack any kind of aircraft, electric or railroad train, locomotive, passenger bus or oilier means of mass transportation, or public conveyance, or piracy of ship or sea vessel;
(6) Taking or threatening to kidnap or deprive any person of his/her liberty;
(7) Assassinating or threatening to assassinate, or kidnapping or threatening to kidnap the President or the Vice President of (lie Philippines, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the Mouse of Representatives or the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court}
(8) Killing or violently attacking an internationally protected person or depriving the liberty of such person in violation of the Convention on the Protection and Punishment of Crimes Against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents, and oilier international agreements;
(9) Attacking or threatening to attack the cyberspace, by destroying the actual machinery of the information and communication infrastructure, disrupting the information technology underlying the internet, government or private networks or systems, or committing any unlawful act against networks, servers, computers or other information and communication systems;
(10) Willfully destroying the natural resources in land, water and air, such as forests or marine and mineral resources, or intentionally causing oil or toxic spillages, or other similar acts of destruction against the environment that threatens ecological security;
(11) Unlawfully manufacturing, processing, selling, acquiring, possessing, using, diverting, supplying or transporting chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear agents, or equipment and instruments used in their production, distribution, release or spread that would endanger directly or indirectly the safety of one or more individuals, or to cause mass destruction or great damage to property; or
(12) Unlawfully manufacturing, selling, acquiring, supplying, disposing, using or possessing explosives, bombs, grenades, projectiles, devices or other lethal weapons, or substances or machinery used or intended to be used for the manufacture of explosives in furtherance of, or incident to, or in – connection with, an act of terrorism defined herein.
..
Any person who commits any act of terrorism shall suffer the penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of Ten Million Pesos (Flip 10,000,000.00): Provided, That, if an act of terrorism should result in the death of a person, or if committed with the use of uniform, paraphernalia, communication equipment, or other implements peculiar to the armed-forces or other-law enforcement agencies, or if the offender is a government official or-employee or has retired, resigned, dismissed or otherwise separated from the government service, the penalty of death shall be imposed.
Pinoys in Canada or Europe who attend seminars or talks conducted by Joma, and especially folks who maintain websites that contain the Philosophy, Rants-and-Raves and Calls-to-Action from Joma…… the proposed anti-terror bill may affect you. Among the prohibited (with threat of jail time and fines) listed in SEC. 7. Acts that Facilitate, Contribute to or Promote Terrorism:
1) Establishing, maintaining or serving as contact or link with any person or group of persons or organization/s who have pursued or are pursuing terrorism;
Is that so?
Then many members of the Pinoy legislature, even JdV would be bashed with the law if it becomes law. JdV, if he so much as said hello to Joma (or FVR who goes often to the Netherlands and makes it a point to meet up with either JoMa or his friends) would be breaking the law… Heh!
I think that provision only applies if you did it in the Philippines.
supremo said: “Motorcycle sales maybe down 30% because of
1) Too many motorcycle driving restrictions
2) Too few registered drivers. There are about 3,548,041 registered drivers and
5,059,753 registered vehicles (2.2M are motorcycles) nationwide. We need more drivers.”
I certainly hope not drivers of the kind that proliferate among tricycles, jeepneys, buses and cargo trucks. They are mostly rude and ignorant of basic rules and regulations. Most “drivers” drive by the seat of their pants because it is so easy to acquire a driving license.
Nevertheless, the point about a saturation point where a shortage of drivers can occur may be valid. The same about stricter regulations. Several cities have been cracking down on the proliferation of unlicensed tricycles. There could really be many other factors besides the economy that can cause the drop in motorcycle sales. For example, it has only been during the past month or so that we have seen some respite from the relentless increases in fuel prices. At some point, extremely high fuel prices could take their toll, even on two-wheeled vehicles.
I also wonder whether motorcycle smuggling could be rampant enough to be a factor. If it is rampant enought to affect the tire and spare parts markets, it may be something to consider.
MLQ3,
Excellent point you’ve made about Nonong Cruz. Now if only Jesli Lapus would do the same for the teachers, Comelec’s indentured servants at election time, and the faces of trusthworthiness snd fairness to the common tao, that masks the wholesale cheating in the multistage canvass. Then they would be forced to automate. It’s like old-fashioned fuddy duddies who still rely on their secretaries to do things like faxing. All their appliances are human beings.
Oh but guess who agrees that Chacha is dead til 2010? Thus does Justice’s realgerechtigkeit affect realpolitik. Sassy and Magno have nothing to add or subtract that hasn’t been picked clean by the bloggers and blawgers. Now it’s all about the boring thing called elections.
What’s the scuttlebutt on Panganiban’s replacement?
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c107:4:./temp/~c107Crgv3A::
I srongly suggest that the Philippine Senate version of the so called anti-terrorism bill also be read and compared to the U.S.A. Patriot Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001. Please note there are two layers of checks and limitations on the executive in the U.S.
Try to imagine this present government who is attempting to establish a unitary bicameral parliament with powers to weaken judicial oversight. Right now the cause celebre is abolishing what is left of legislative oversight in the Senate. The three Constitutional bodies, Comelec, Office of the Ombudsman, COA under the proposed changes to the Constitution will be placed under the direct line authority of the chief excutive.
The Anti-Terrorism Council will be under the Chief Executive in the new law being proposed.
It would be wise to read the history of the man many Vulcan/Romullan thinking people ( we have them in the Phils.) believe is the model of the perfect leader, Der Fuerher and how he became Fuerher “democratically.†Just look around GMA and be prepared for the emergence of Der Fuerher. The one who is primarily responsible for causing the elimination of the enemies of the State. GMA makes deals with the Devil. He is bidding his time to take control. Choamsky properly defined the war on terror as anticipatory self defense with unstated bounds. The devils playground –absolute power.
http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-hitlerdemo.htm
GDP data in the Phils from the supply side is taken from surveys of economic agents involved in the supply side.
However the date from the expenditure side or counsumption is more difficult to track . It takes years for government to get actual data. In point of fact the statistical discrepancies when GDP is measured from the expenditure or consumption side is between 1-2%. So if government says that GDP grew by 5% the expenditure side only shows actually 3% with the rest recorded as statistical discrepancy. Just og to the NSCB website and look up the tables and check out the consumption or expenditure side in measuring GDP.
Now on the stock market. Peter Drucker prior to the crash of 1929 was a practicing econometrician. Econometrics is the discipline of using mathematical models to used to sustain economic theories. Drucker then theorized that the stock market would boom in 1929. After the crash he swore never to give predictions again.
Stock market investing is not actually economic investing. The value added in stock markets – capital gain is not recorded in the GDP. Only the service offered by the broker (commissions) or the services used to maintain the markets are recorded in the GDP. The capital gain or loss is not.
The Philippine Stock Exchange since finaical liberalization if a fund driven exchange. More funds chasing limited stocks. As soon as foreign funds leave the market sort of settles down. Now getting into the carry trade and the emrgence agian of surplus funds in the world is another matter. The U.S. already has an invertied yield curve and the Philippines is moving to an inverted yield curve. Sure sign of recession. When short term interest rates rise above long term rates you have danger signals. That means businesses are holding off on investing long term and that means capital investments. The curse of the savings glut. Recession which could turn into a deflation spiral.
http://finance.yahoo.com/columnist/article/richricher/11429
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/ContrarianChronicles/BehindDow12000AnEconomyAtRisk.aspx
Japan has been trying to get out of one for over 10 years. The U.S. is in danger of moving into one.
(On anti-terror bill)
Amadeo… on whether or not the anti-terror bill covers actions overseas (e.g. giving $$$ to to Joma in the Hague), see Sec 28 — Extra-Territorial Application of this Act.
On “habeas corpus” issue — the anti-terror bill makes mention (SEC. 14. Arrest and Detention) that a person arrested under this Section …may be detained for a period of not more than fifteen (15) days following his arrest. [In contrast, Filipino citizens who are green-card holders (as well as European or Asian businessmen, tourists, ‘green-card holders’) can be held indefinitely by US Homeland Security under provisions of the latest “patriot act”.. “Habeas corpus” rights are retained by Filipinos now US citizens.]
The Philippine anti-terror bill has a lot of detail, e.g. kidnapping/threaten to kidnap IS included as terrorism. Also mentioned explicitly as terrorism: actions or threats against the safety of the chief justice of supreme court, speaker of house and (of course) the president and vice-president.
The reader can decide if MLQ3 can be prosecuted under “SEC. 7. Acts that Facilitate, Contribute to or Promote Terrorism” if Q3-the-blogger lets remain in his blogsite the rantings of person-ABC for bullets into the head of official-so-and-so.
Read it again — the anti-terror bill (if it becomes law) is a better vehicle to quiet down people than a libel lawsuit.
(Re Anti-terror policies/procedures) Three instances where the US-of-A has “better oversight” than, say, the EU are:
(1) Appeal mechanism :
(1-a) EU: No mechanism provided for appeal against inclusion on the list of “persons, groups and entities involved in terrorist acts”under the Common Position. Moreover, the validity of EU Common Positions cannot be challenged before the Court of Justice, and national courts cannot ask the European Court questions about their validity or interpretation.
(1-b) US :An organization designated as an FTO(foreign terrorist organization) may seek judicial review of the designation in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit not later than 30 days after the designation is published in the Federal Register.
(2) EXPIRY :
(2-a) EU: no expiration.
(2-b) US: FTO designations expire automatically after two years, but the Secretary of State may redesignate an organization for additional two-year period(s), upon a finding that the statutory criteria continue to be met.
*** US: an FTO automatically ‘becomes innocent after 2 years’, unless a finding is made that the organization still meets “terrorism”-criteria.
*** EU : guilty-then-means-guilty-now, unless the organization makes appeal and convinces EU of being reformed.
(3) OVERSIGHT :
(3-a) EU: none
(3-b) US : Congress is notified of the Secretary’s intent to designate the organization and given seven days to review the designation. After the seven days notice of the designation is published in the Federal Register, at which point the designation takes effect.
[ Reference : http://www.statewatch.org/terrorlists/listsbground.html ]
But, of course, UP student. That (the Terror Bill) is “a better vehicle” for restoring personal responsibility as a complement of “personal freedom” or “human rights”. Have you heard about that grisly murder that was solved through retained data from Google that was thought to have already been “deleted” by the suspect? How about that Filipino-American in Jersey who was among those busted for internet child pornography? Big brother is watching!
Fred or Bystander… has the Philippines a signatory to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment?
.
Or maybe DJB knows… are confessions obtained under torture inadmissible in the Philippine courts?
UP student… you may want to stop asking folks to give you facts. Facts get in the way of one’s ability to form strong opinions. … but then again, passion is more fun than knowledge.