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VOL. 8 NO. 76
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AUGUST 9, 2013
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Palace dreams? Try Senate first, Pacquiao told
Relocation of estero families on
Filipino-Canadian in Focus: Rosemer Enverga
PCI looks at Living Spaces
A reflection on unpaid internships
Bill aims to stop ‘padrino’ setup BY CATHY YAMSUAN Philippine Daily Inquirer IN AN ATTEMPT to curb the “padrino (patron) system” that she says is not exclusive to the customs bureau, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has filed a bill barring politicians from recommending individuals to any position in any government office. Calling her measure the “Anti-Political Recommendations Bill,” Santiago hopes it will put a stop to the padrino system, a hushed but oft-practiced habit in which appointive or elective officials use influence to force those with hiring and firing powers in the government to employ, if not promote, their protégés and supporters. The senator said padrinos usually get their minions to occupy “lucrative” posts, hence worsening corruption, as these underlings scrounge for ways to pay back their enablers. President Aquino lashed out at Bureau of Customs (BOC) personnel in his State of the Nation Address on July 22 for not collecting about P200 billion a year from goods smuggled into the country.
SHAPE UP OR SHIP OUT. In a closed-door meeting, Customs Chief Ruffy Biazon urged 47 customs collectors from all over the country, whom he called “little commissioners,” to reform their turf to lift the bureau from its crisis mode. (Inset, from left) The so-called Three Kings, Carlos So, reportedly backed by the Iglesia ni Cristo, Regal Gatchalian, reportedly backed by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, and Ricardo Belmonte, reportedly backed by his brother, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. PHOTOS BY RAFFY LERMA
Santiago sees plunder in 44 letters BY CATHY YAMSUAN Philippine Daily Inquirer FORTY-FOUR LETTERS from mayors asking for the same multimillion-peso amount from the same funding source, with the money never coming, show a crime pattern that is reason enough to bring plunder charges, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said. “In the case of plunder, one is not re-
quired to submit evidence for each act or separate crime. If [a] person is charged with several counts of plunder, all one has to do is prove the pattern of criminal acts,” Santiago said in English and Filipino in a radio interview. Santiago was reacting to the INQUIRER report that businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles allegedly facilitated requests from 44 mayors through letters
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