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Supreme
Court Appointment Watch Takes-off
Last September
marked two major events for the Supreme Court Appointments Watch
(SCAW) Project. This project, with the ultimate goal of working
for greater transparency and accountability of the selection and
appointment process of the next Supreme Court Chief Justice and
Associate Justice, was launched on September 1, 2005 at the Angelo
King International Center in Manila. The event, attended by various
non-government organizations, media, and government institutions
signified the start of a series of public information campaign that
aims to enhance venues for citizen's participation and raise awareness
in the Supreme Court appointments process. This public information
drive will include nationwide fora, media campaign, website development,
publications and dissemination of public information materials.
The first among the series of
nationwide fora was held last September 29 at the Dela Salle University
Campus with Fr. Joaquin Bernas as Resource Speaker. This successful
activity was participated by civil society organizations and students
from different universities and law schools in the National Capital
Region. The next public fora are scheduled in November and December
in the cities of Baguio, Cebu, and Cagayan de Oro.
The Supreme
Court Appointments Watch Project is an initiative of a consortium
of civil society organizations that includes Alternative Law Groups
(ALG), Inc., Association of Law Students of the Philippines (ALSP),
Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), Lawyers' League for Liberty
(Libertas), Philippine Association of Law Schools (PALS), and Transparency
and Accountability Network (TAN). This project is made possible
through the support of The Asia Foundation (TAF) and the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID).
GOVERNANCE:
TAG cities strengthen ties with business and civil society
MindaNews
/ 10 October 2005
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- Local Government Units of 16 cities in Mindanao
will meet with their business and civil society counterparts here
on October 11 - 13 to express genuine openness to private sector
involvement in the quest for improved transparency and accountability
in local governance.
The three-day event, said the League of Cities of the Philippines'
( LCP ) TAG Focal Mayor Alfonso Casurra of Surigao City, is a good
opportunity for the three sectors, not only to cement ties, but
also to plan out how they can help Mindanao cities increase their
revenue generation capacities, improve management systems and structures
and deter corruption, which is what the TAG Project is all about.
On the first day, participants will be guided to a review of the
Transparent Accountable Governance objectives, strategies, approaches
and target results. An update on the progress of reform agenda of
cities will be provided by the League of Cities of the Philippines
will follow.
The Mindanao Business Council and the Mindanao Coalition of Development
NGOs will also share their experiences in implementing the City
Coalition for Transparent Accountable Governance (CCTAG) and the
City Transparency and Accountability Network (CCTAN) activities
respectively. The first day will end with an introductory session
on the Public Service Excellence, Ethics and Accountability Program
( PSEEAP), a capacity building activities designed to make city
government processes and employees more customer-focused, transparent
and accountable.
The second day will open with testimonies on city-specific CCTAG
and CCTAN experiences. Ms. Pilar Afuang, the Executive Director
of the General Santos City Chamber of Commerce and Industry will
talk about the CCTAG activities and partnerships in the City of
General Santos and Arceli Napalan of Surigao City's Reach Foundation
will articulate the civil society experience in advocating transparency
and accountability in governance in the city of Surigao. After the
testimonials, a city-level specific discussion will follow where
the city focal person, the civil society representative and representative
from the business community will present the progress of their respective
activities in the cities, discuss areas for support and complementation
and identify other activities necessary to the successful implementation
of the city reform agenda, including additional areas for partnership.
Towards afternoon, in a plenary session, participants will be grouped
by sectors: city governments, civil society and business sector.
For the civil society and business, participants will agree on sectoral
activities and advocacy agenda to pursue that will support and complement
the activities of the city government and of the other sector. At
the same time, participants from the sixteen cities will discuss
their expectations from both sectors and the necessary support they
can give and they would need form these two sectors. Plenary reporting
of the outputs for these sessions will follow.
On the third day, the conference will end up with the three sectors'
presentation of their statements of commitments and short program
which will be honoured with the presence of Mr. Bob Wuertz, Chief
of the Office of Economic Development and Governance of the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Dr. Steven
Rood, Country Representative of The Asia Foundation.
The Transparent Accountable Governance Project is implemented by
The Asia Foundation in partnership with the League of Cities of
the Philippines, the Mindanao Coalition of Development NGOs and
the Mindanao Business Council, with funding from the United States
Agency for International Development (Eric N. Aseo/TAG Project Coordinator/League
of Cities of the Philippines/Tel. No.: (02) 521 6461, Mobile Phone
: 09276943051/Email: e_aseo@yahoo.com)
PCIJ:
Government spends millions on multiple lobby contracts
Read
more
Bro.
Eddie: Foul 'yan!
Nina Ellen Fernando At Gemma Amargo-Garcia
Ang Pilipino STAR Ngayon 10/05/2005
http://www.philstar.com
"Political
harassment!"
Ito
ang sigaw kahapon ni dating presidential candidate Bro. Eddie Villanueva
kaugnay ng warrant of arrest sa kanya dahil sa kasong estafa.
Sa
isang panayam, sinabi ni Villanueva na ang naghabla sa kanya ay
ang negosyanteng si Benito Araneta na malapit na kaanak ni First
Gentleman Mike Arroyo. Nilinaw ni Villanueva na ang kaso ay kaugnay
ng pagkansela ng kanyang pinamumunuang ZOE Television sa multi-milyong
kontratang pinasok kay Araneta.
Ginamit
umano ng grupo ni Araneta sa loob ng isang taon ang ZOE Television
pero napilitan ang himpilan na kanselahin ang kontrata dahil sa
milyun-milyong pisong 'di nababayaran ni Araneta.
Dahil
sa pangyayari, si Araneta pa ang nagdemanda kay Villanueva.
Sa
reklamo ni Araneta, binayaran nito si Villanueva ng halagang P15
milyon na nilagdaan noong Marso 2001 at Hunyo 15, 2001 para sa paglilipat
ng operasyo at pamamahala ng Channel 11 sa kumpanya ng una. Si Villanueva
ang tumatayong chairman at president ng ZOE Brodcasting Network
Inc. na ino-operate ng Channel 11. Tumakbo ito sa ilalim ng Bangon
Pilipinas Movement noong 2004 elections at siya ring founding member
ng Jesus Is Lord (JIL).
Itinuro
ni Villanueva ang Malacanang na may "pakana" sa pagbuhay
sa kanyang kaso matapos ang hayagang pagbatikos nito sa Arroyo administration
at pagsuporta sa Hyatt 10 na dumalo sa anibersaryo ng JIL sa Quirino
Grandstand nitong nakaraang Linggo.
Samantala,
nagpalabas na ng direktiba si Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales sa
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) na kaagad arestuhin si Villanueva.
Inihain ang warrant of arrest sa tanggapan nito sa Pasig City.
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