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Malaysia, Libya agree to broker RP-MILF peace talks Bicol priests to ask brides: Are you ... ? LEGAZPI CITY—“Are you pregnant?” From now on in this Bicol diocese, “I am” or, “I am not” will carry more weight than “I do” as a bridal disclosure in helping the

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GMA order gives Bobi broad, sweeping powers By Carlito Pablo RIGOBERTO Tiglao, once the President’s spokesperson, may have faded into the background. But, if a new administrative order is any gauge, Tiglao’s political star is at its brightest. President Macapagal-Arroyo issued GMA/ A4

BICOL/ A4

GMA to Saddam: Go for ‘win-win’ email: feedback@inquirer.com.ph

Tuesday, February 25, 2003

44 pages / 4 sections /

vol. 18

/ no. 79

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Gloria turns from hawk to dove on Iraq crisis By TJ Burgonio

KUALA LUMPUR—From a hawk to a dove. Speaking before a gathering of non-aligned countries, President Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday backed away from her unqualified support for the US policy on Iraq and instead called on Saddam Hussein to act like a statesman.

Ms Macapagal urged the Iraqi president to strike “a win-win settlement” with the United Nations in order to spare his people from the “agonies of a devastating war.” She appealed to Saddam to step up cooperation with UN arms inspectors by showing them around suspected sites of weapons of mass destruction. Iraq’s transparency, Ms Macapagal said, would be recognized the world over as an “act of highest statesmanship” that would stave off war and save thousands of lives. “I believe this will be recognized as a judicious act by the Iraqi people and by the non-aligned nations, and cheered by peoples of all faiths and persuasions,” she said. The President, speaking at the 13th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) here, also appealed to North Korea to return to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to avoid another crisis. A “great future” awaits both Iraq and

Iglesia mad at GMA for turning rally into ‘circus’ EXPRESSING disappointment with Sunday’s prayer rally for world peace at the Rizal Park in Manila, the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) yesterday lashed out at President Macapagal-Arroyo for using the event to justify the impending United States invasion of Iraq. “What was supposed to be an occasion of prayer turned out to be a political circus,” said INC Executive Minister Eraño G. Manalo. “The unwelcome participation of politicians and their uncalled for speeches made a parody of prayer,’’ the INC head said in a statement. Manalo noted that while most of the delegates from different sectors prayed for peace and eschewed war as the only option for the resolution of the US-Iraq conflict, President Macapagal-Arroyo “delivered her own political speech written in the guise of prayer expressing support for the US military action on Iraq.” In her “prayer,” the President focused on President Saddam Hussein and his alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction. Manalo said the President also justified a preventive strike by the US military on Iraq in case Saddam failed to fully cooperate with UN arms inspectors. “The Iglesia ni Cristo expresses its disappointment on the politicizing of the Prayer for World Peace held at the Luneta Grandstand,’’ he said. “Upon the invitation of El Shaddai leader Mike Velarde, the INC agreed to IGLESIA/ A4

Sick mama Mahathir calls for worldwide ban on war sues for time for ailing son voice heard in the US confrontations with Iraq and North Korea—two member countries accused of having weapons of mass destruction. The group wants Iraq to meet UN demands to disarm, but opposes any unilateral US invasion to force Baghdad to comply. Mahathir, an influential Muslim statesman, warned that war was “the most important threat” facing the nonaligned bloc of mostly developing na-

tions, which represents 55 percent of the world’s population and holds nearly twothirds of the UN General Assembly seats. “War must be outlawed—that will have to be our struggle for now,” Mahathir, the group’s incoming chair, said at the summit’s opening. Following the Sept. 11 terror attacks, powerful countries were spearheading “a revival of the old European trait of wanting to dominate the world,” which Mahathir

Even as Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Dionisio Santiago said he wasn’t taking the warning lightly, opposition to the deployment hardened in both chambers of Congress. Sen. Ralph Recto said sending American soldiers to Sulu was no different from allowing Japanese troops to go on

patrol in Bataan. “Those who can’t fathom why the people of Sulu are opposing US troops should ask the people of Bataan how they would feel if Japanese soldiers will be permitted to run after bandits hiding in Mount Samat,” Recto said. Police Deputy Director General Edgar

By Raul C. Dancel

Aglipay told Camp Crame reporters that he had ordered police forces in Mindanao to raise their alert level. In Camp Aguinaldo, AFP public information chief Lt. Col. Michael Manquiquis said that the military has gone on red alert in Mindanao, amid intelligence

FLOR de Jasmin Valencia, 43, was diagnosed with cancer of the kidney three months ago. She has learned to accept her fate. What she is suing for now is time—maybe a few more years so she could continue looking after her 10-yearold son, Justine, who is suffering from Down Syndrome, and be with her husband, daughter and two other sons. But time costs money. For dialysis (she needs to have her blood cleansed twice a week) and medication, Jasmin must spend at least P48,000 a month. And her debts are piling up. She is becoming desperate because she is having a hard time getting her hands on the small sum that her husband sends from Saudi Arabia. The remittance of her husband Ricar-

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Soldiers, cops in Mindanao placed on full alert THE MILITARY and police in Mindanao were ordered to raise their alert status yesterday, after Muslim leaders warned that the deployment of US troops in Sulu may lead to an outbreak of violence.

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PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stops to chat with Cuban President Fidel Castro and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad during a photo session at the start of the 13th Non-Aligned Movement summit in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. AFP

KUALA LUMPUR—Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad yesterday urged presidents, ministers, kings and sheiks representing more than half the globe to strive for a worldwide ban on war, saying the US-led drive against terrorism and Iraq was a campaign to dominate non-white nations. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad welcomed national leaders to a two-day summit of the 116-nation GMA/ A15 Non-Aligned Movement, which wants its

By Gerald G. Lacuarta and Martin Marfil

Story on PAGE A2

Justice still eludes victims of Marcos abuse after 17 years By Christine O. Avendaño TRINING Herrera and Bonifacio Ilagan were tortured during the Marcos dictatorship, but the government has yet to acknowledge the wrong done to them 17 years after the regime was ousted. The two activists, along with other human rights victims, are demanding that the government indemnify them. This time their battlefield is the House of Representatives, and their foes are “Marcos forces” blocking a bill seeking to give them compensation. Yesterday, Herrera and Ilagan joined several House members in remembering the “turbulent Marcos years” through a photo exhib-

it titled “17 years after People Power I, Marcos victims still cry for justice.” The activists used the occasion to push for the passage of the measure. Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo said he and fellow Bayan Muna party-list Representatives Crispin Beltran and Liza Maza will file a resolution “strongly urging President Macapagal-Arroyo . . . to redeem the memory and heed the cry for justice for all the victims of gross human rights violators in the Marcos era...by certifying as urgent House Bill No. 4535 and Senate Bill No. 877.” The House version, “An Act JUSTICE/ A4

A MOMENT IN TIME

The embrace of a priest and a loyalist soldier said it all then: 17 years ago Edsa was a sea of people, suddenly, dramatically free of the Marcos tyranny. R. CARPIO/JOHNNY VILLENA

MILF chief: All with firearms must fight to the death Militants avoid clash with cops, boycott Edsa By Agnes E. Donato

IF members of the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan were conspicuous by their absence at yesterday’s anniversary of People Power I, it was because they were fed up with clashing with police and being forcibly dispersed. “We decided to boycott today’s Edsa rites to protest the repeated mockery MILITANTS/ A18

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WHEREVER people as in People Power have gone, they are not at the Edsa Shrine on Tuesday to celebrate the 17th anniversary of their unprecedented, stunning triumph over the despotic Marcos regime that inspired oppressed people around the world to unshackle the chains of tyranny. DENNIS SABANGAN

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Tiglao has upper hand in Malacanang turf war

By Carlito Pablo

PRESIDENTIAL Chief of Staff Rigoberto Tiglao is putting up his own team in Malacañang amid questions regarding the extent of his new powers.

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THE WARM bodies of the militant Sanlakas group marching from Cubao in Quezon City might have filled up the spaces and filled in the blanks at the Edsa Shrine but were they blocked by antiriot police in front of Camp Crame on Edsa. Blocking forces were also deployed at White Plains and Corinthian Gardens. JOAN BONDOC

Where are the people? FVR hits leaders for forgetting Edsa revolt

Aquino, Diokno cells now a shrine to heroism

IMAGINE a celebration of People Power I without people. The sparse attendance at yesterday’s 17th anniversary of the 1986 civilianbacked revolt that toppled the strongman Ferdinand Marcos was so obvious that reporters covering the activities rightly observed there were more police, street vendors and members of the media around.

FORT MAGSAYSAY, Nueva Ecija—“Let this shrine be a memorial to life, not death; peace, not war; and faith in the Filipino, not in the United States.” Thus spoke Carmen Diokno, widow of Sen. Jose W. Diokno, in her response after the inauguration on Tuesday afternoon of the Aquino-Diokno National Shrine here. The shrine was the reconstructed detention cell of Diokno and murdered Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. at the Army camp here. The building used to be the Philippine Army’s intelligence service office, and is located

By Anselmo Roque

PDI Central Luzon Desk

By Alcuin Papa and Armand N. Nocum

An annoyed Fidel Ramos was moved to criticize the Macapagal administration’s “so disappointing” preparations for the anniversary of the event that saw hundreds of thousands of people blocking Marcos’ tanks. “Halos walang tao (There was hardly anyone),” Ramos, a key player of the uprising, told reporters at the Club Filipino after attending the morning flag-raising at the People Power monument on Edsa. “Sayang (Too bad),” he said, pointing out that “compared to other celebrations in previous years,” yesterday’s attendance was “minimal, almost zero.” “Maybe next year it might be really zero,” warned the former WHERE/ A18

THE GANG’S all here, but where’s everyone else, the people who made the Edsa bloodless revolt possible? From right, President Macapagal, former President Aquino, Vice President Guingona, former President Ramos and Senate President Drilon. JOAN BONDOC

AQUINO/ A18

Reyes for putting GIs on hold Saddam refuses to destroy missiles By Norman Bordadora

UNLESS the exact role of US forces can be determined, Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes would rather put their deployment to Sulu on hold. Americans cannot engage in “offensive combat operations” on Philippine soil, Reyes told a news conference in Honolulu yesterday after meeting with Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander of US forces in the Pacific. “We say that we would rather

hold deployment in connection with Balikatan 03-1 until after the final agreement on exactly the size and shape is reached,” Reyes said. In Manila, US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone said the United States had no intention of violating the Philippine Constitution while its forces were in the country. “The US respects the Constitution of the Philippines. You are our ally, for heaven’s sake,” Ricciardone said in a radio interview.

“We would not violate your laws or your Constitution. If we come, we come as invited allies working under your law, your rules and your commanders’ lead. We will not come in as alien invaders,” he said. Before leaving for Washington to meet with US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Reyes told reporters the Philippines needs more US military help to quell Muslim ex- tremists in parts of Mindanao, but said any operation REYES/ A19

‘All with firearms must fight till death’ By Edwin O. Fernandez PDI Mindanao Bureau

COTABATO CITY—Two weeks after a military offensive drove him out of the Buliok complex in Central Mindanao, Salamat Hashim surfaced on Monday night with a radio message to his followers: “Fight till death.” Salamat followed up his call to arms with a reminder: “I would like to tell you my people that there is no ceasefire right now, there are no peace talks,” he said. The chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front said lives were lost, thousands were displaced, and property was destroyed when the government attacked MILF-held villages in Pikit, North Cotabato and nearby areas “despite an existing ceasefire agreement.” “We are pushed to the wall, we have to fight back,” the 61-year-old leader said. “All who have firearms must fight till death.” The

MILF, the largest Moro separatist group in the country, has an estimated 12,500 regular members. Thirteen people have died in new clashes between the government and the MILF in the last two days. Salamat aired a 30-minute recorded message in the vernacular over “Swara Mindanao” (Voice of Mindanao), a nightly program of the University of Mindanao radio station dxCM in this city. “We have to die in order to attain independence for the Bangsamoro people,” he said. The Egyptian-educated Moro leader began his message to WE/ A19

SALAMAT Hashim: There’s no ceasefire, there are no peace talks right now.

PDI PHOTO FILE

BUOYED by the anti-war sentiment worldwide, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on Monday indicated he did not intend to follow UN orders to destroy his AlSamoud 2 missiles. In a threehour interview with CBS television, Saddam also challenged US President George W. Bush to an internationally televised debate via satellite linkup. At the United Nations, a new US-backed resolution declaring that Iraq missed its chance to disarm has set the stage for a showdown in the polarized UN Security Council on whether to give the green light for war or allow more

time for inspections. The one-page draft resolution, submitted Monday by the United States and Britain, did not set any deadlines. But officials made clear they wanted the Security Council to decide by the second week of March “that Iraq has failed to take the final opportunity afforded to it in Resolution 1441,” which was adopted unanimously by the council last Nov. 8. France and Germany, however, came out strongly against the draft and circulated a counterproposal seeking to extend UN inspections for at least four months.

By Ronnel W. Domingo

proven correct. Mahathir, who opposes a US attack on Iraq, warned on Feb. 20 that crude oil could shoot up to $50 per barrel in case a shooting war erupted in the Middle East. Virginia Ruivivar, Petron’s corporate communications manager, said pump prices for diesel could go up to P22 from the current P16 per liter.

SADDAM/ A19

Gas to cost P26 per liter once US-Iraq war erupts GASOLINE may cost at least P26 per liter and will likely be rationed if the United States invades Iraq, energy and oil officials said yesterday. An executive of Petron Corp. said the price of gasoline would go up by at least P6 per liter if Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s prediction on crude prices was

GAS/ A19

Entertainment / A32 Nora Aunor fights aging

22 manta rays butchered By Delfin T. Mallari Jr.

PDI Southern Luzon Bureau

LUCENA CITY—At least 22 endangered manta rays were seized Monday at a checkpoint set up on Maharlika Highway in Barangay Talipan, Pagbilao, by authorities and environmentalists. Task Force Matatag confiscated the manta rays (Manta birostris) from the driver of a fish 22 MANTA/ A9

News /A6

It’s Ash Wednesday today

Northern Luzon/ A20

Kapampangans who changed history

Lifestyle/ D1

anong

INQUIRER readers raise the roof

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‘Da King’ snubs debate

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By Martin P. Marfil and Blanche S. Rivera

ORGANIZERS should make it easier for Fernando Poe Jr. to participate in a presidential debate by providing him a script and assuring him of a director, multiple takes and, if nec-

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GMA catches up with FPJ Wednesday, February 25, 2004

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vol. 19

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Pulse Asia survey: Gloria got 31.9 %, Poe, 31.7 % By Juliet Labog-Javellana Christine O. Avendaño and Michael Lim Ubac PRESIDENT Macapagal-Arroyo has caught up with actor Fernando Poe Jr. in the latest nationwide survey of voters’ first choice for president. Ms Macapagal and Poe are

PDI PHOTO/FOUNDATION FOR WORLDWIDE PEOPLE POWER

Edsa I is 18; spark gone but meaning endures

now neck-and-neck in the presidential race, according to the survey that Pulse Asia Inc. conducted in January and February. The US-trained economist and daughter of former President Diosdado Macapagal got 31.9 percent of the votes while the multiawarded actor and high school dropout received 31.7 percent in the survey of 1,800 respondents, aged 18 years and over.

The survey, conducted in two batches from Jan. 23 to Feb. 8 and from Feb. 16 to Feb. 20, had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points at the 95percent confidence level. A total of 8.1 percent of the respondents were either undecided or had no choice at all, while 23 percent said the possibility that they would change their preference between now and May 10

was big/very big. Pulse Asia said the results meant that if the presidential election were held today, it would be a very close fight between Ms Macapagal and Poe. “While the January and February 2004 surveys continue to indicate a close fight for the presidency, this time around the contest is between the incumbent GMA/ A21

White House contender backed fight vs Marcos By Miner Generalao

Head, Research Department A STRONG contender for the US Democratic presidential nomination played a low-key but important role in the fight of the Philippines and its allies to oust Ferdinand Marcos. During the twilight years of the Marcos dictatorship, Sen. John Kerry, then a first-term legislator

from Massachusetts and a member of the US Senate foreign relations committee, stood on the wintry morning of Feb. 24, 1986 (evening of Feb. 24 in Manila) before members of the Ninoy Aquino Movement (NAM) who had gathered in front of the White House in Washington to pressure the strongman to give up without a fight. WHITE/ A22

EDSA I/ A22

GENERATIONS will long remember the sacrifices of Ninoy Aquino and Evelio Javier to consummate the Filipinos’ yearning for freedom that saw its flowering in the non-violent People Power Revolt during Edsa I.

‘Pipay embodied American dream’

NEW YORK—A Filipino-American financial analyst whose decomposing body was found last week at the home of a phony doctor who had treated her was remembered as an accomplished but selfless businesswoman pursuing the American dream. Grieving relatives, friends and co-workers from Barclays Bank, where Maria Pilar Cruz was a rising star, gathered at a Greenwich Village church for her funeral Mass. Her ashes were to be sent back to the Philippines where she grew up. The Rev. Erno Diaz, who officiated the Mass, said Cruz embodied the American dream, even in her short life. “She came from the Philippines to make it in New York,” Diaz said. “And of course, with her brains, with her determination, and also with her courage ... she made it.” “You were a very big dreamer,” Cruz’s older sister, Teresa Lara, said in a eulogy. “You were not afraid to move out of your comfort zone, away from your THE FACES of sorrow: The family of Maria Pilar Cruz leaves Our Lady of Pompeii Church in New family, away from the life you York’s Greenwich Village after a funeral Mass. Front row, Cruz’s father, Rodolfo Cruz (left) PIPAY/ A21 comforted by Jose Navarro and her mother, Irena (right) and aunt Rebecca de los Angeles (center). AP

PDI PHOTO

A FRONT-RUNNER even then, Sen. John Kerry in his 1st year as a senator in 1986 spoke before a rally held by Filipinos in Washington in support of the 4-day revolt going on in Manila. Behind is Cecille Alvarez.

“THINNING crowd” notwithstanding, President Macapagal-Arroyo takes a break from the campaign trail to lead today’s 18th-anniversary celebration of the Edsa people power revolt that restored democracy to the country. Ms Macapagal will lead a 7 a.m. flag-raising at the People Power Monument on the historic highway, along with former Presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos, two key figures in the civilian-backed uprising. The three Presidents appeared unfazed by the fact that fewer and fewer people have been showing up yearly at the government-led anniversary rites. Aquino’s spokesperson Lourdes Siytangco yesterday told the INQUIRER that the celebration was “not actually about the thinning crowd but about the need for people to work together amid all these problems the country is facing.” Siytangco compared the celebration to a debutante: “When a person turns 18 and is confronted by problems, you don’t regret that the person was ever born.

ERIK ARAZAS

By Christian V. Esguerra and Volt Contreras

As debate rages, Mel Gibson’s ‘Passion’ opens today in US By Ruben V. Nepales

Los Angeles Correspondent LOS ANGELES—The two lead actors of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” defended the highly controversial movie that had sparked debate it might fuel antiSemitism feelings and that its director was anti-Semite, as it opens in the United States on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. But what has not been questioned by those who have seen the film is that it is a powerful depiction of Jesus’ last 12 hours based on the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. There are only brief flashbacks showing such episodes as the Sermon on the Mount and the Last Supper. This INQUIRER correspondent was among a handful of members of the international press selected to watch the movie and interview its lead actors, Jim Caviezel, who plays Jesus, and Maia Morgenstern, in the role of Mary. AS DEBATE/ A11

EDSA I TIMELINE Day Four, Feb. 25, 1986 By PDI Research

MIDNIGHT: Marcos loyalist soldiers

fire through barbed wire, injuring a number of people on Nagtahan Street. Some of Marcoses’ belongings are taken out of Malacañang. 3:30 a.m.: Marines rejoice as orders to attack Camp Crame are canceled. 3:45 a.m.: Reinforcements on board planes ordered by Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Fabian Ver head for Clark Air Base, where they stay for the duration of the revolt. 5 a.m.: On phone to Washington, President Ferdinand Marcos asks US Sen. Paul Laxalt if he should resign. Laxalt’s reply: “I think you should cut, and cut cleanly. The time has come.” Marcos tells Labor Minister Blas Ople who’s lobbying in Washington for the Marcos regime, he is not stepping down because First Lady Imelda Marcos does not want him to. 5:30 a.m.: Marcos himself gives go-signal for his family to prepare to leave. 6 a.m.: Rebel soldiers storm Channel 9’s transmitter tower, which is being held by loyalist troops. Sounds of gun battle are heard at Aquino residence on Times Street, Quezon City, where Corazon Aquino and her children are. DAY FOUR/ A22

World/ A9

Nearly 600 killed in Morocco quake

Sports/ A19

Miñoza abandons RP Open

Fire guts PNP armory

Opinion/ A14

FPJ vows food for all

News/ A3

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FPJ to skip presidential debate

IN JUST two hours, an arms depot of the Philippine National Police was reduced to ashes. A series of blasts ripped through the armory of the PNP headquarters in Quezon City yesterday after an electric spark touched off a fire and sent a thick, black smoke billowing over Camp Crame. The fire, which began at around 3 p.m.,

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‘RP has not learned from Edsa I’ FIRE GUTS/ A8

Thursday, February 26, 2004

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(Following is an unpublished poem by the man whose death roused the power of the people from the tarmac where he fell all the way to Edsa.)

By Benigno Aquino Jr.

God is everywhere But is He really? Is He in Olivas, Crame

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God is everywhere but is He really?

P H I L I P P I N E D A I L Y

By Christian V. Esguerra

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NO MATTER the thinning crowds, Edsa I 18 years ago is remembered as the Philippines’ greatest contribution to democracy as it “sparked the light of freedom all over the world.” Edsa’s leading lights, former Presidents Cory Aquino and Fidel Ramos, flank President Macapagal who led the flag-raising rites at the People Power Monument along Edsa, Quezon City.

Manila archbishop says we made it only a fiesta By Blanche S. Rivera and Michael Lim Ubac

IT WILL take more than 18 years for Filipinos to free themselves from the evils of the Marcos dictatorship because they have not learned the discipline and responsibility that come with freedom. This was the message of Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales in his homily at the noon Mass celebrated yesterday at the Edsa Shrine, where millions of people gathered 18 years ago to topple Ferdinand Marcos’ rule. Citing the current “style of politics, manner of governance and mode of presenting leadership

models” in the country, Rosales said Filipinos were far from learning and living the lessons of Edsa I. “Edsa was a call for change and repentance. Unfortunately, like most things we do, we have made Edsa only a fiesta,” he said. Rosales pointed out that Philippine politics, governance,

DESPITE the presence of three Presidents, low-key was the order of the day at yesterday’s 18th-anniversary celebration of the Edsa people power revolt that ousted the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. President Macapagal-Arroyo, along with two key figures in the 1986 uprising, ex-Presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos, led a small crowd in reciting a pledge for “honest and

peaceful elections.” The brief program was held at the People Power Monument on Edsa. Ms Macapagal later signed a law declaring Aug. 21 of every year a national non-working holiday. It was on Aug. 21, 1983, when Aquino’s husband, ex-Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., was assassinated, triggering relentless and

RP HAS NOT/ A8

Low-key celebration; all militants’ rallies blocked

LOW-KEY/ A8

Business agenda: Legalize ‘jueteng,’ GMA rivals cut pork barrel, tax text messages... say survey amazing, twisted

ERIK ARAZAS

By Clarissa S. Batino

SEVERAL business groups have come up with a platform of government for the next president that includes recommendations to legalize jueteng, lift the moratorium on public executions, cut by half the pork barrel of lawmakers, and tax text messages and

the windfall profits of oil companies. The platform, called the 2004 Presidential Business Agenda, identifies six main concerns—the swollen budget deficit, burgeoning foreign debt, deteriorating competitiveness of the country, waning investor confidence, widespread poverty and preva-

NPAs hold, disarm Isabela congressman

A PINAY COULD BE ‘AMERICAN IDOL’

Fil-Am Camile Velasco makes it to the Top 12 of the wildly popular TV show “American Idol.” From Maui, Hawaii, Velasco, performing on Tuesday, was one of the top two voted by an estimated 25 million American viewers.

ECHAGUE, Isabela—Communist guerrillas disarmed a congressman, two mayors and their security escorts after holding them for three hours at a remote village in this town, police reported yesterday. Rep. Giorgini B. Aggabao, Mayor Virgilio Padilla of San Agustin, Mayor Leoncio Kiat of Echague and 20 aides were on a medical mission in Barangay Nilumisu on Monday afternoon when their convoy was stopped by 80 New People’s Army guerrillas at an isolated road. Chief Supt. Jefferson Soriano, the police director of Cagayan Valley, said the NPA rebels ordered the officials and their escorts to kneel on the road and

turn over their high-powered firearms. Seized from Aggabao’s group were three M-16 Armalite rifles, two carbine rifles, an Uzi automatic pistol and four .45 cal. pistols. “Aggabao and his companions were unhurt, but we will exert all efforts to track down the communist rebels,” Soriano said. According to reports gathered by the INQUIRER, Aggabao and the two mayors were also made to pay the “permit-to-campaign” (PTC) fee, which the NPA has been extorting from candidates in the May 10 elections before they are allowed into rebel areas. The rebels reportedly freed two men from Aggabao’s group to get NPAS/ A7

lent public cynicism—and how the government can prevent the country from going under with the help of the private sector. The agenda was put together by Jose T. Pardo, finance secretary of deposed President Joseph Estrada; Washington Sycip, founder of SGV & Co., and BUSINESS/ A4

No Edsa day in Marcos country

By Cristina Arzadon

PDI Northern Luzon Bureau MARCOS country’s provincial capitol was in no mood to commemorate Edsa I yesterday.

NO EDSA/ A4

By Norman Bordadora TJ Burgonio and Gil Cabacungan Jr.

THE SURVEY results were “twisted” and “influenced,” Bro. Eddie Villanueva of Bangon Pilipinas said yesterday. Sen. Panfilo Lacson called them “katakataka (amazing).” The two presidential candidates were referring to the results of the nationwide survey conducted this month by Pulse Asia that showed that President Macapagal-Arroyo and actor Fernando Poe Jr. were neck-and-neck in the presidential race. Pulse Asia said Ms Macapagal received 31.7 percent of the votes of 1,800 respondents and Poe got 31.9 percent—a tie because the survey had a margin of error of 2.3 percentage points. Former Sen. Raul Roco was third with 16.2 percent of the votes, while Lacson was fourth with 10.7 percent. Villanueva was fifth with 1.2 percent and Eddie Gil last with 0.2 percent. Poe’s personal campaign manager, Sen. Vicente Sotto II, deGMA FOES/ A4

Lifestyle / D2

Perfect prom dress with a corsage to last beyond the night

ARMM ‘Abu’ law strikes fear among Muslim fathers By Nash B. Maulana

PDI Mindanao Bureau COTABATO CITY—A new regional law on name-calling is striking terror among male parents in the Autonomous ARMM/ A6

News / A2

NBI finds 9 cops liable for Luisita dispersal deaths

Across / A17

American execs tagged undesirable aliens for not paying taxes

World / A11

US scientists discover key element that may lead to vaccine vs AIDS

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Full list of 1,084 new doctors

Portrait of Filipino courage gone from US Army museum

P H I L I P P I N E D A I L Y

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By Marlon Ramos

PDI Southern Luzon Bureau

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna—A hero of the historic Los Baños raid of 1945 raised his concern over the removal of a painting depicting the heroism of Filipino guerrillas during World War II from a US Army museum in San Fran-

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‘They are not recycled’ HH

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PNP says 4 terrorist suspects planned, funded V-Day blast By Christian V. Esguerra

PRESIDENT Macapagal-Arroyo has commended the military and police for their “string of successes” against terrorism, but the four men whom the Philippine National Police yesterday paraded in Camp Crame have been in PNP custody since last December. “Definitely, they’re not recycled,” Chief Supt. Ismael Rafanan, director of the PNP Intelligence Group, said of the four men. “We purposely intended to withhold their presentation.” The four—Indonesians Mohammad Nasir Hamid and Mohammed Yusop Karim Faiz and Malaysian Ted Yolanda, all alleged members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) regional terrorist network, and Filipino Muhajir de la Merced, allegedly of the Abu Sayyaf—were presented to the media under heavy security. De la Merced, supposedly a convert to Islam, shouted “Allahu akbar (God is great)!” while being ushered into the conference room. The four have been in police custody since last Dec. 14, when they were arrested at the Zamboanga City port. Shortly before the announced press conference, Rafanan told reporters that the four men “did the planning and brought the fund” for the Valentine’s Day bombings. He said the PNP announced their arrest only yesterday “because we had a lot of follow-ups to do, like the identification of the local components of the JI and Abu Sayyaf cells.” Among the cells identified is one based in Metro Manila, Rafanan said. But he did not elaborate, saying intelligence operatives were still working on the case. When asked at the press conference about the four men’s actual participation in the Feb. 14 bombings, Rafanan said police were still “in the process of checking or verifying their possible involvement.” “For now, we cannot officially link them

THEY/ A6

ARRESTED last December in Zamboanga City but presented only yesterday by Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes at Camp Crame are three terrorist suspects allegedly belonging to the Jemaah Islamiyah and a member of the Abu Sayyaf. From left, Mohammad Yusop Karim Faiz, Mohammad Ted Yolanda, Mohammad Nasir Hamid and MITCH MAURICIO Muhajir de la Merced. The last, a member of the Abu Sayyaf special operations group, shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) during the press conference.

Suzette Huang out of hospital; cops guarding her By Luige A. del Puerto and Christian V. Esguerra

SUZETTE See Huang (not Wang as earlier reported), the woman who, together with former Rep. Dennis Roldan, allegedly masterminded the kidnapping of a 3-year-old Chinese-Filipino boy was discharged from the San Juan Medical Center at 4:30 p.m. yesterday. The police did not arrest her. “She was discharged 10 minutes ago,”

Dr. Lorenzo Hocson, the medical center’s director, told the INQUIRER yesterday. Huang had tried to jump off the 9th floor of a condominium in San Juan, Metro Manila, the other day. She later slashed her left wrist. “The official report of the San Juan Police is attempted suicide,” a police officer said. The fact that she was discharged meant the injury she suffered was minor. “She is OK already,” Hocson said. Supt. Rodel Jocson, San Juan police

chief, said that as far as he knew, the police had no arrest warrant against Huang. “The (hospital) called earlier to say she was to be discharged,” the police chief said. Media people were barred from checking on the woman whom police have accused of luring Roldan into the kidnapping business. Police learned from relatives who came to visit the woman that her English name was “Suzette Huang.” Jocson said his men rescued Huang at

THE ORIGINAL EDSA

ARMY Col. Ricardo Morales was given the task of assassinating Imelda Marcos in 1986. Nineteen years later, Morales still refuses to talk about it. “Maybe next year, maybe never,” Morales said, in response to an INQUIRER request for an interview on his role in the military plot to oust the strongman Ferdinand Marcos that triggered the People Power uprising on Feb. 22-25, 1986. On the night of Feb. 22, 1986, Marcos announced on television

that his security group had discovered a plot to kill him and his wife, Imelda. Marcos said the plotters had been identified, with four of them already in custody. Among those who were arrested was Morales, the chief security escort of the First Lady and apparently one of her favorites. She had made sure that he earned his master’s degree at the Asian Institute of Management as a presidential scholar. Imelda was also known to bring along Morales in her foreign trips,

By Eugenia Duran-Apostol

(The author is the INQUIRER founding chair. She now chairs the Foundation for Worldwide People Power.) (Last of two parts)

COLONEL/ A22

volving the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). “It’s a slap on the face of the people that we continue to pay for those odious Marcos debts. It’s been 19 years and we’re still suffering for the sins of the dictator,” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said, adding: “This year we have to pay P2 billion for the BNPP. That is patently immoral.” Earlier, President Macapagal-Arroyo warned that the Philippines’ economic gains would be for naught MILITANT/ A22

THE PICTURE THAT stunned the world: Nuns, housewives, vendors, the most ordinary of Filipinos confront guns and tanks; prayer power stops military might during a people’s revolt. And not a single shot was fired.

FROM THE PEOPLE POWER BOOK

Militant group unhappy; Loi says forget ‘Uno, Dos’ NOT EVERYONE is enthused about the 19th anniversary of Edsa I. The militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan yesterday lamented that almost two decades after the first People Power uprising drove the strongman Ferdinand Marcos out of Malacañang, Filipinos continued to suffer for his “sins.” Bayan urged the government to take radical steps in addressing the problem of Marcos’ fraudulent foreign debts, and called for the repudiation of the debts that had failed to benefit the country, such as those in-

SUZETTE/ A13

‘The real Revolution is yet to be’

Colonel still not talking on plot to kill Imelda

By Fe Zamora

around 1 p.m. from a condominium in Barangay Pasadena. “Our men had to rappel from the 10th floor to get to the 9th floor. She locked the door,” he said. The policemen then rushed her to the San Juan Medical Center, where she initially gave the name “Ah-Dian Shir,” Jocson said. Police have virtually thrown a security blanket around Huang. But Philippine National Police Direc-

“THE UNSTATED goal of the People Power Revolution was not a mere change of regimes, but rather a systemic change, a real social transformation.” So did the late Ambassador Narciso G. Reyes describe the impact of Edsa I in an article he wrote in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Nov. 2, 1986. He continued: “This will entail not only a change of leaders but also—and more important—a change of heart on the part of the new leadership. In this sense, the People Power Revolution was a prelude, rather than a complete fulfillment. The real Revolution is yet to be.” Fifteen years later, on Jan. 16, 2001, Filipinos felt called upon to remove another President, this time the corrupt Joseph Estrada—by what is now known as Edsa II. A repeat of 1986. So we asked ourselves: How do we achieve a real social transformation? By holding seminar after seminar on the topic, the Foundation for Worldwide People Power found what we think is the answer: Bring People Power to bear on education improvement at the community level. In 1998, Congress enacted Republic Act No. 8525. This statute THE REAL/ A22

Saturday Special / A3-1 Jamie Foxx leads race for Best Actor Oscar on Monday

Dinky’s warning: Too much TV makes Junior a dull boy By Volt Contreras

WHAT’S wrong with Junior? He’s shy and withdrawn especially in big crowds. He “looks past you” and can’t seem to focus when spoken to, often replying in monoDINKY’S A7

News / A2

anong ng ayan T B Jennifer Rosales leads Dagdag sa VAT:

Elan / 2

Ex-Sandigan Justice Mandarin heeds call Francis Garchitorena for meatless meals, vegetarian feasts passes away at 67

Sports / A23

season-opening LPGA Kailanga nga ba? CELLCARD KADA ARAW, event by 2 shots

INQUIRER

CELLPHONE KADA LINGGO! Text 2910 now!

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Pope breathing unaided after night of rest ROME—Pope John Paul II was breathing unaided in hospital on Friday after emergency surgery to open up his airway, the Italian news agency Ansa reported. As Catholics the world over prayed for the recovery of their spiritual leader, Ansa said the 84-year-old Pope’s ability to breath without the aid of any respira-

/ A20

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Saturday, February 26, 2005

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tory support systems gave rise to “greater optimism” about his health. The Pope was rushed to a Rome hospital for the second time this month on Thursday following a relapse of influenza and renewed respiratory problems. In the evening, doctors performed a tracheotomy—cutting a hole in his

windpipe—to stop him from choking and to let air flow directly to his lungs. Doctors at Gemelli hospital said on Thursday night that the tracheotomy had been a success, but there has been no official word since then on the Pope. Medical experts said the operation to open the Pope’s throat showed he had

been in danger and warned there was a “significant likelihood” he could develop pneumonia. “A severe pneumonia can easily be life-threatening in someone of his age and condition,” said Dr. Paul Larson, assistant professor of neurosurgery at

THE SPIRITUAL leader of the world’s one billion Catholics well-known as a great communicator now faces the prospect of being unable to speak AFP for months, maybe for years.

Video gave Roldan away Remembering songs, psalms, sleepless nights and a miracle

POPE/ A20

Surveillance tape shows ex-solon with kidnapped boy

THE ORIGINAL EDSA

By Christian V. Esguerra POLICE said yesterday they had a surveillance tape showing former Congressman Dennis Roldan with the 3-year-old Chinese-Filipino boy he and his group are accused of kidnapping.

By Fe Zamora and Tarra V. Quismundo

REMEMBERING/ A8

Philippine National Police Director General Edgar Aglipay said police took the video after getting a tip from an unnamed informant. “There was an information given by a citizen who wanted us to solve the case,” Aglipay said in a press conference. “We had a surveillance conducted and Dennis Roldan was seen with the child.” “We have ample evidence to nail down Roldan and Huang,” he said, referring to the ex-lawmaker’s former girl friend, Suzette See Huang, whom the police had also linked to the kidnapping. Aglipay did not show the video to reporters. Roldan’s lawyer Salvador Panelo dismissed Aglipay’s claim. “Thats not true. My client is innocent,” Panelo said. Aglipay said the video was taken at a safe house in Pasay City, where the kidnappers allegedly had initially brought the boy after abducting him. Sought out for details, Aglipay told the INQUIRER: “Neighbors reported to the police the presence of a Chinese-looking kid crying while in the company of two other kids who did not look like him.” He said that after getting the report, the PNP sent a surveillance team “which later caught on video Dennis and Suzette going in and out of the safe house.”

VIDEO/ A6

EDWIN BACASMAS

NO ONE slept that night. Not the journalists camped at the office of then Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos in Camp Crame. Not Ramos, and not then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile who, that afternoon, moved from Camp Aguinaldo to the smaller, and therefore easier to secure, police camp across the highway. At dawn of Feb. 24, Ramos, chomping on a cigar, started urging the journalists to vacate the building. “They are going to hit us. Better leave now,” he said. But no one left the room. Someone said: If we have to become fertilizer here, so be it. A suggestion was raised that everyone start praying the rosary. Still another suggestion—was it from Ramos?—came up: that we read passages from the Book of Psalms, such as “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge ....” Reading passages from Psalm 91 at yesterday’s commemoration of the 19th anniversary of Edsa I, Ramos evoked these memories of the longest three days and four nights of the Philippines’ recent history. “This is the soldiers’ favorite,” the former President said, perhaps to stress the point that Edsa I was as much a defining moment for the military as it was for ordinary Filipinos. Even the songs sung yesterday served to remind everyone of that shining moment in 1986. “The Impossible Dream” was Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.’s favorite song. Performed by Nolyn Cabahug, it rippled through the air just as Corazon Aquino unveiled her husband’s bronze statue. Or if not the song, then the songwriter. “Faith in the Filipino” was composed by the late Raul Manglapus, an opposition leader like Ninoy who also fought Ferdinand Marcos’ strongman rule. Manglapus’ composition was interpreted by Von Arroyo. Of course, “Bayan Ko,” the anthem of the parliament of the streets, had to be sung—this time by Cocoy Laurel, son of the

EDSA I ICONS Cory Aquino and Fidel Ramos, both former presidents of the republic, flank President Arroyo at the ceremonies marking the 19th anniversary of Edsa I. With Bishop Deogracias Iniquez, they release a giant flag made of balloons. Ms Aquino also unveiled a statue of Ninoy Aquino before delivering her speech. But Ms Arroyo limits her participation to the early morning flag-raising rites and the signing of the UN Convention Against Corruption.

Cory: No one can take Edsa away from us INSTEAD of saying that Edsa I was a “bogus revolution” that merely worsened political, economic and social conditions, cynics should ask themselves: “Have we delivered?” This was the rebuke aired yesterday by former President Corazon Aquino in a speech marking the 19th-

anniversary celebration of the 1986 People Power uprising that toppled Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship. “While I consider such comments as unfounded and unfair, I cannot do anything to change the minds of those armchair analysts who have made it their calling to sow despair and hope-

lessness as professional purveyors of gloom and doom,” said the leading light of the bloodless revolt that served as inspiration to other countries struggling against oppression. “Imagine what life could have been today had we not reclaimed our democracy 19 years ago. Maybe many

By Julie S. Alipala

PDI Mindanao Bureau

of us would still be in jail,” she said. Clad in her trademark yellow, Ms Aquino spoke in defense of Edsa twice yesterday—in her speech after the unveiling of the Ninoy Aquino statue at the People Power Monument at 7:30 a.m., and CORY/ A8

Cops find explosives in Taguig billiard hall By Christian V. Esguerra and Nancy Carvajal

POLICE found before dawn yesterday a cache of bomb-making explosives, powerful enough to level two five-story buildings, after jittery residents re-

ported finding an abandoned backpack in a billiard hall in Taguig. Authorities were checking if the explosives, which had not yet been assembled into a bomb, were meant for use during the Valentine’s Day bombing in Makati or to disrupt yesterday’s 19th-

anniversary celebration of the Edsa People Power Revolution. Six hours before the start of the celebrations at Edsa, police found 10 to 15 kilograms of pyrotechnic powder stuffed in a metal can, 2 kilograms of TNT and 90 blasting caps in a black

Troops seize Abu Sayyaf stronghold

backpack in a billiard hall located at Block 9, Lot 5, Phase 1 Enlisted Personnel Housing, in Western Bicutan at about 1 a.m. yesterday. Supt. Ramon Reyes, the Taguig police chief, said the police acted on a tipCOPS/ A7

KARAWAN COMPLEX, Indanan, Sulu—Government forces captured a major Abu Sayyaf camp in Jolo after killing or wounding 25 members of the group in more than a week of fighting, the military said yesterday. Troops launched the operation against the Abu Sayyaf as fighting on a separate front between soldiers and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) forces loyal to jailed leader Nur Misuari waned. Soldiers occupied the Abu Sayyaf’s heavily fortified Camp Karawan here around 10 a.m. Thursday, Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza said. He said troops, backed by heavy artillery, drove out the Abu Sayyaf gunmen but it was not clear exactly how many bandits had died because no cadaver was recovered. Soldiers involved in the operation reported they saw the retreating bandits dragging TROOPS/ A6

SUPER / C2

We’ve all heard from Edsa heroes, here’s someone who wasn’t there

EMERGENCY/ A4

NEWS / A2

Rebellion charges filed against Gringo

Erap barricades self in San Juan hospital room

INQUIRER

Kris, boyfriend James steal show in Ayala rites

P H I L I P P I N E D A I L Y

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BUSINESS / B1

Gov’t sees 25% jump in income taxes; P401-B collection expected

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By TJ Burgonio, Cynthia D. Balana, Philip Tubeza and Michael Lim Ubac

ALL IT TOOK WAS ABOUT FIVE MINUTES FOR President Macapagal-Arroyo to shake up the country’s financial markets, the Roman Catholic Church and both Houses of Congress. That was the time it took her to read her announcement that she had declared emergency rule.

By Tarra V. Quismundo

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PEOPLE WHO WERE watching out for developments on Ayala Avenue yesterday were rewarded with a star-struck moment at 3:10 p.m. As opposition leaders trickled in for the com-

KRIS/ A8

ROGER MARGALLO

Emergency rule spooks peso, stocks, friends, foes

NEWS / A2

JUST LIKE 20 YEARS AGO, yellow confetti rains on Ayala Avenue as ex-President Cory Aquino marches toward the Ninoy Aquino Monument to remind the nation that the journey to Edsa I began on the tarmac where her husband was martyred for democracy.

Rallies defy GMA order

‘Conspiracy’ triggers state of emergency

Protests dispersed, 22 nabbed, charged

By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr., Christine O. Avendaño and Armand N. Nocum

CLAIMING AN ALLIANCE OF SOLDIERS, OPPOsition politicians and communist rebels were plotting to overthrow her, President Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday proclaimed a state of emergency and demanded obedience to all decrees and orders “promulgated by me personally.” provision which empowers her to FOILED/ A4

1017: Veiled warning to some segments of media?

By Joaquin G. Bernas, S.J.

tematic conspiracy to bring down the duly constituted government PROCLAMATION NO. 1017 EM- elected in May 2004.” bodies two topics. First, it repreShe sees this conspiracy as sents the President’s recklessly aided and assessment of the naNALYSIS abetted “by certain tional situation. segments of the naBriefly, she sees Left, Right and tional media.” Center “in tactical alliance and Second, she puts down her reengaged in a concerted and sys1017/ A6

Last-ditch effort to mobilize

By Gerry Lirio and Fe Zamora

“SIR, THEY ARE ALL WAITING for you. Time to act.” That was Brig Gen. Danilo Lim talking to Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Generoso Senga late

Thursday night inside Camp Aguinaldo—on the eve of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s disclosure about an alleged plot to unseat her involving soldiers. Lim, head of the Scout Rangers Regiment based in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, was

OR THE MOST PART OF THE ’70S AND THE first half of the ’80s, the Left was at the forefront of the struggle to oust the Marcos regime.

FEB. 25, 1986 issue, the last day of the People Power Revolt.

PUBLIC DEFIANCE MARKED THE state of emergency declared by President Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday, with street protesters scuffling with antiriot police and at least 22 of them arrested. “We have so many ironies today, not least of which is the fact that in January 2001, we were on

PROTESTS/ A8

Inside story: Senga refused to join coup

By Juan V. Sarmiento Jr.

By Raymond Burgos

LAST-DITCH/ A18

PRESIDENT ARROYO EXPLAINS THE WHY OF Proclamation No. 1017: “Systematic conspiracy” of the opposition in concert with leftists and rightists possibly with the aid of the national media.

referring to at least three opposition groups gathered in three different areas in Metro Manila waiting for Senga to withdraw support from the President. Stationed in Greenhills in San Juan, Quezon City, and in a

Why Left left behind: Red leaders surprised, stuck to Maoist strategy

THE PEOPLE

T WAS ON THE fourth day of the Edsa revolution that the national democrats (NatDem) led by the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and Bagong Al-

By DJ Yap, Tarra V. Quismundo and Edson C. Tandoc Jr.

MALACAÑANG PHOTO

In declaring the emergency, Ms Arroyo invoked a constitutional

JOAN BONDOC

At a cost of so many lives to its cadres and supporters, the Left organized various sectors for protests such as rallies, welgang bayan (general strike) and Lakbayan (long march) across the country while most of Marcos’s political opponents from

the padlocked Congress lay low or were in exile in the United States. By early 1986, it is estimated that some 10 million people could be directly influenced, organized or mobilized by the Left through its legal and under-

ground organizations, making it one of the most formidable foes of the Marcos regime. But when the final push for the ouster of Marcos came, the Left is generally perceived as not the decisive force it was supposed to be. Edsa I—the coup attempt that turned into an uprising—caught the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) flatfooted, its leadership unable to issue instructions to its forces. WHY LEFT/ A19

southern Metro town, the antiArroyo leaders had waited for hours. By 2 a.m. yesterday, they received word that Senga had rejected Lim’s overtures, according to opposition leaders privy to the meeting of the two generals. INSIDE/ A6

Media fear censorship, intimidation By Norman Bordadora and Daxim L. Lucas

MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS AND commentators warned yesterday that President Macapagal-Arroyo’s proclamation of a state of emergency could usher in a new era of press censorship and intimidation as a regulatory body warned it would recommend closure of radio and television stations that broadcast reports which allegedly incite to sedition or rebellion. “We’re entering a period of censorship and intimidation never before seen since the 1970s and the 1980s,” said Manuel L. Quezon III, a columnist of the INMEDIA/ A8

SUNDAY COMICS 4 pages of comics inside!

ENTERTAINMENT / A4-4

By Luige A. del Puerto and Norman Bordadora

USING A 21-YEAR-OLD WARRANT AND INVOKING President Macapagal-Arroyo’s emergency edict, police yesterday arrested a retired police general on a golf course and an opposition lawmaker about to go on a picnic with his family. The twin arrests, coming hours after police raided the offices of the Daily Tribune newspaper,

Loyal troops still surround Ranger base

Tripping down memory lane on Edsa I with celebs who were there

Solon, retired general arrested for conspiracy

NEWS / A2

APO who wrote Edsa anthem disappointed, migrating to Australia

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1081 or 1017? AFP chief fumbles not once but twice

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By Dona Pazzibugan

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CONFUSED ABOUT whether the country is in a state of emergency under Proclamation 1081 or Proclamation 1017? You are not alone. Even President Macapagal-Arroyo’s main en-

PNP chief warns media SOLON/ A6

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1081/ A19

Organizations face takeover if they don’t follow ‘gov’t standards’ By Luige A. del Puerto, Tina G. Santos and Fe Zamora

HOPES come crumbling down like the boulders across the bleak landscape of the village of Guinsaugon, St. Bernard, as the search for survivors is called off for the buried residents. Benguet miners get ready to leave the landslide site. Southern Leyte Gov. Rosette Lerias says 139 bodies have been retrieved since Feb. 17.

Rescuers give up on Leyte landslide survivors By Joey A. Gabieta and Jani Arnaiz

PDI Visayas Bureau ST. BERNARD, SOUTHERN Leyte—The search for survivors in Guinsaugon officially ended Friday night, a week after a killer

mudslide reduced the barangay to mud and rubble. Civilian and military authorities here decided to abort search and rescue operations and to have Filipino soldiers and volunteers focus on retrieving bodies. Foreign volunteers were

TOGETHER AGAIN at the Edsa Shrine, ex-Presidents Aquino and Ramos hear Mass marking the last of the four-day triumph of the Edsa I People Power revolt 20 years ago on Saturday. RAFFY LERMA

REM ZAMORA

IN A BALD WARNING, the Philippine National Police yesterday said it would take over any media organization that would not follow “standards set by the government” during the state of national emergency.

preparing to pull out, according to Southern Leyte Gov. Rosette Lerias. The first to go were the Spanish and Taiwanese teams. “The Spanish started to leave even before [Friday]...” Lerias told Reuters. “The conditions are not good for their dogs because it

has been raining hard.” The governor said it was a very sad and difficult decision to make because 915 people were still missing. She said the decision was based on the recommendation of experts. As of 9 p.m. Friday, only 139

bodies had been retrieved. “The search and rescue phase is over. The decision was reached upon the recommendation of the experts. They feel it will take a miracle to find survivors; the chances are almost zero,” Lerias

By Cynthia D. Balana and Christian V. Esguerra

martial law?” she said, when asked by reporters for her reaction to Ms Arroyo’s proclamation. Speaking at a press conference, Ramos said Ms Arroyo should have assessed the situation very carefully before making such a move. “Before, my support for her was waning. Now it is waning and waning. It’s like before it was X, now it’s double X. So what is next?” he said. Ramos had been credited with helping save Ms Arroyo’s administration from collapse when he rallied the Lakas party to the

President’s side in July last year at the height of the “Hello Garci” wiretap scandal. Asked what would finally drive him to abandon Ms Arroyo, Ramos said enigmatically: “Just wait.” He also said that the crackdown on media entities and prominent personalities critical of the Arroyo administration under questionable conditions was alarming. He said Malacañang should have made a proper assessment of the situation after uncovering

RESCUERS/ A19

FVR slams GMA: My support waning, waning, 1017 ‘overkill’ SAYING HIS SUPPORT FOR PRESident Macapagal-Arroyo was “waning and waning,” former President Fidel Ramos yesterday slammed the state of emergency she proclaimed as not only “precooked” but an “overkill.” Former President Corazon Aquino, for her part, stressed the need for Filipinos to keep the democracy which they fought to restore in 1986. “What is this emergency act all about? Is it another name for

THE CHURCH

FVR SLAMS/ A6

A government team will examine the editorial contents of newspapers and the news or views aired by broadcast stations to see if these conform to the standards, according to PNP Director General Arturo Lomibao. “We will recommend [action] based on our evaluation,” Lomibao said in a press conference, adding that the PNP would work in cooperation with other government agencies which he did not name. He appointed the PNP spokesperson, Sr. Supt. Samuel Pagdilao, to serve as “liaison officer” between the media and the police. “If they (the news groups) do not follow the standards—and the standards are if they would contribute to instability in the government, [or] if they do not subscribe to what is in General Order No. 5 and Presidential Proclamation No. 1017—we will recommend [a takeover),” Lomibao said. The proclamation, which President Macapagal-Arroyo signed on Friday, declared a state of emergency all over the country. GO No. 5 gives the police and military powers to carry out “necessary and appropriate actions and measures to suppress and prevent acts of terrorism and lawless violence.” Violations of the standards will be “left to the judgment of the [PNP] and other agencies that are empowered to implement the [GO],” Lomibao said. They include “actions which are hurting the Philippine state by obstructing governance, including hindering the growth of PNP/ A19

THE MEDIA

Reflections on Sin across the tables

For a shining moment, Filipinos were invincible By Richard Reeves

By Bishop Socrates B. Villegas

(The following is reprinted from a United Press Syndicate article in February 1986)

Y FAVORITE TABLE IS THE WORKING desk of Cardinal Sin. The second table that I love the most is the big round table in the bar room.

On these two tables, Cardinal Sin undertook his mission of justice and peace. These two tables know more about the inside story of historical events in the country than any other person. SIN/ A24

FINALLY, Palace gates swing wide open for the people after 14 years.

WAS IN TWO CITIES, LONDON AND THEN PARIS, LAST TUESDAY, when Corazon Aquino became president of the Philippines. In London, people walking by on Brompton Road cheered when a vendor

put up a new headline of the streets: “Did you hear the news?” “Her story is at once the most surprising Evening Standard, “Marcos Flees.” succession of miracles and the most succesIn Paris, Frenchmen and women ful of political actions,” wrote a Frenchman. called to each other across noisy CORY/ A24

A note from the Editor in Chief

WORLD / A21

Starting today and every Sunday thereafter, Page 1 will focus on what the PDI chair calls “radical optimism,” a term she picked up from a book that attempts to explain why people aren’t reading newspapers as much as they used to. It is no coincidence that we start serving optimism on the 21st anniversary of the Edsa People Power revolt, which really started out as a coup but, thanks to the people, it turned into a full-blown uprising that ousted the Marcos dictatorship. We were a people yearning to be free and doing something about it. Without firing a single shot. Without blood running in the streets. Edsa truly celebrates the best that the Filipino can be. And that’s the good news any day of the week.

GENUINE OPPOSITION

Candidates for Senate in alphabetical order

Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III

Born Feb. 8, 1960, Manila; single Education: Ateneo de Manila, Economics, 1981. Occupation: Rep., Tarlac 2nd dist. 1998-2007 Deputy Speaker, 13th Congress. Advocacy: Democracy

Alan Peter “Compañero” Cayetano

Born Oct. 28, 1970, Mandaluyong; married Education: Ateneo Law School, 1997 Occupation: Rep., TaguigPateros, 1998-2007 Advocacy: Health, education

Anna Dominique “Nikki” Coseteng

Born Dec. 18, 1952, Manila; 2 children. Education: St. Louis U & UP. Occupation: Senator 1992-2001; Rep., Quezon City 3rd dist. 1987-1992. Advocacy: Women’s rights

Francis Joseph “Chiz” Escudero

Born Oct. 10, 1969; married. Education: Georgetown, Master’s Int’l Law. Occupation: Rep. Sorsogon 1st dist.1998-2007. Advocacy: Human rights, environment

Panfilo “Ping” Lacson

Born June 1, 1948, Cavite; married. Education: Philippine Military Academy, 1971 Occupation: Senator, 2001-2007. Advocacy: Health, peace & order

Loren Legarda

Born Jan. 28, 1960, Manila; 2 children. Education: UP, Broadcast Communication. Occupation: Journalist; Senator, 1998-2004. Advocacy: Women, children, environment

John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña

Born Jan. 17, 1935, Cebu City; 1 child Education: UP, Public Administration. Occupation: Senator, 1987-2004. Advocacy: Good government, energy

Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III

Born Jan. 20, 1964, Cagayan de Oro; married. Education: UP Law. Occupation: Lawyer. Advocacy: Mindanao, youth, local government

Sonia “Inang Guro” Roco

Born July 20, 1944; widow, 6 children Education: Ateneo de Manila University, Master’s Communication Arts, Social Psychology. Occupation: Educator. Advocacy: Education

Antonio “Magdalo” Trillanes IV

Born Aug. 6, 1971, Manila; married. Education: Philippine Military Academy, Naval Systems Engineering, 1995 Occupation: Soldier. Advocacy: Corruption, poverty

Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan

Born Aug. 24, 1963, Manila; married Education: Harvard, Master’s Public Administration Occupation: Senator, 2001-2007 Advocacy: Human rights, good government

Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr.

Born Dec. 13, 1949, Manila; married. Education: UP MBA Occupation: Senator, 2001-2007. Advocacy: Entrepreneurship, livelihood

Anna Nicole Smith’s

Check out

ma, boyfriend prepare to fight it out in court over custody of her 5-month old daughter, now living in the Bahamas.

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What makes it a hot spot?

One of the world’s richest biodiversity spots in the world is in our own backyard in Panglao, Bohol. A total of 150 to 250 new crustacean species and between 1,500 and 2,500 new mollusk species were found in 2004-05.

INQUIRER 10,000 jobs today

TALK OF THE TOWN / A14

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Anna Nicole judge: Drama king or weepy wacko

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA—CALL HIM THE COURTROOM DRAMA KING. Some members of the legal profession and other court-watchers are cringing over the way Judge Larry Seidlin wept—no, sobbed—on live, national TV as he

ENTERTAINMENT / H1

Who’s Who going to the Oscars on Feb. 26. PDI’s man in Hollywood makes a list, including a forecast of winners by experts.

Gawad Kalinga goes worldwide ANNA / A6

Bishop says GK new kind of People Power

By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo, in Manila and Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas

HOPE AND A BETTER life are the latest Filipino exports. Poor as it is, the Philippines would not be left behind in the sharing department. Gawad Kalinga (GK), the highly successful housing and development project for the poor, is going global to improve the lives of the countless poor in other countries. This major step means familiar GK key people will have to be moved and new faces will emerge. That is all there is to it. “Walang iwanan.” (Nobody leaves, nobody gets left behind.) This was what Gawad Kalinga’s charismatic, outgoing executive director Antonio Meloto said to counter a nasty newspaper rumor that he was leaving GK, the flagship housing and development project of Couples for Christ (CFC), along with CFC founder and GK chair Frank GAWAD/ A8

RETURN TO PLAZA MIRANDA: The Genuine Opposition holds the proclamation rally of its 11 candidates for the Senate in an historic square in the heart of Old Manila—Plaza Miranda in Quiapo. From left, Sonny Osmeña, Koko Pimentel, Sonia Roco, Makati Mayor Jojo Binay, United Opposition president; Nikki Coseteng, Loren Legarda, Alan Peter Cayetano, Sonny Rivera, representative of Navy Lt. Antonio Trillanes IV, Ping Lacson, Noynoy Aquino and Chiz Escudero. RYAN LIM

GO gets going as fighters at Plaza Miranda

INSIDE PCGG 21 YEARS LATER

P61B in ill-gotten wealth recovered, P57B to CARP By Jerry E. Esplanada and Daxim L. Lucas

(Last of a series)

MANDATED TO GO AFTER THE stolen assets of the Marcoses and their associates, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) has so far turned over a total of P61,878,943,474.23 to the National Treasury.

SPECIAL REPORT

Of this amount, about P35.8 billion was turned over by the Arroyo administration, P20.9 billion by the Ramos administration, P4.03 billion by the Aquino administration, and P1.08 billion by the Estrada administration. The P61 billion “does not yet include the proceeds and escrowed dividends from Philippine P61B/ A8

Hope steals show in real-life soap By Bayani San Diego Jr. Entertainment

IF HOLLYWOOD HAS ANNA NICOLE Smith and Britney Spears, the local media are going to town with the latest scandal in popular television host Kris Aquino’s very public life—the alleged

illicit affair of her husband, basketball star James Yap, and a beauty clinic receptionist identified as Hope. According to TV host Lolit Solis, Hope also claims that Yap courted another girl named Anna in the same beauty clinic. “Anna was the cause of James and Hope’s first big fight.”

This new wrinkle in Kris’ long running reality TV show-cum-telenovela life threatens to upstage this week’s 21st anniversary of the People Power Revolution, which was ironically led by her mother, former President Cory Aquino.

HOPE/ A8

By Volt Contreras and Dona Pazzibugan

AFTER A CONVOLUTED PROCESS OF putting together former political foes under one banner, the Genuine Opposition (GO) presented its senatorial ticket last night in an inaugural show of force that had the candidates calling themselves a pack of “watchdogs” and “fighters.” GO held its proclamation rally at Plaza Miranda, the historic square in the heart of Old Manila. It tried to project a complete, unified front, putting up posters for 12 candidates despite the absence on stage of two and the late arrival of another. It was expected early on that detained Navy Lt. Antonio Trillanes and “guest candidate” Sen. Francisco “Kiko” Pangilinan would not be coming. Senate President Manuel Villar—another “guest candidate”—did not arrive until around 7:45 p.m., nearly three GO/ A8

Electoral battleground shifts from Plaza Miranda to TV screen REVIEW

By Nestor U. Torre, Editor, Saturday Special

N THE UNITED STATES, ELECTIONS HAVE BEEN WON AND lost on the TV screens for decades now. This helps explain the rise, from John F. Kennedy onward, of very personable presidential, senatorial or gubernatorial candidates, some exuding the charisma of movie stars—and some being movie stars themselves (Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger).

American candidates still go to the hustings and hold town hall meetings with voters, particularly during primaries. But much of their efforts to convince the public to vote for them are done by way of TV spots extolling their virtues and rebutting accusations of venality. Expectedly, the practice is now being

imitated or emulated on Philippine TV screens. There’s been some delay, due to the huge expense involved and, let’s face it, the fact that many candidates used to be old-style or just plain old politicians, whose wizened features and old-fashioned speech and campaign styles resisted effective showcasing on television.

One thing about Plaza Miranda: it affords a measure of aesthetic distance that blurs some imperfections; television doesn’t. However, now that some younger and more personable candidates are breaking into the ranks of “senatoriables,” TV has finally become the mediELECTORAL/ A6

ENTERTAINMENT / F1

WORLD / A28

Tight security at Oscar award rites in Hollywood

Iran ready for US move in nuke dispute

TV grab of Hope

Hope shows face, tells Kris sorry but ... By Bayani San Diego Jr.

IS A BATTLE OF THE BULGE IN THE OFFING? Yesterday, Hope Centeno, the beauty clinic receptionist who alleged that she had a 10-month affair with married basketball player

SPORTS / A29

We can beat China, says RP coach Reyes

INQUIRER

LIFESTYLE / D1

‘Word of Mouth’ closes landmark CCP exhibit Mayor Vi gives way in Batangas gov race

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LIPA CITY MAYOR VILMA SANTOS-RECTO SAID in a text message to the INQUIRER that she was not running for Batangas governor to give way to her brother-in-law, Vice Gov. Ricky Recto, in a contest against reelectionist Gov. Armando Sanchez.

GMA: No more Edsas HOPE/ A22

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MAYOR VI/ A22

Urges use of people power to unite RP

Education revolution as new people power

were even more pessimistic, prophesying inevitable—and potentially bloody—upheavals. A series of failed coup attempts, OVER A MILLION PEOPLE GATH- some comedic and others truly ered at Edsa 21 years ago to final- frightening, seemed to lend crely put an end to the Marcos dicta- dence to their dark forebodings. Still, there retorship. During mained those historic four OMMENTARY among us many who days, nothing was certain. Yet, people from all walks harbored an unflinching belief of life set aside their collective that our collective will—our Peofear and gathered in peace and in ple Power—would see us through prayer, armed only with the fer- what is called “interesting times” vent hope that the future would in a Chinese epithet. In 1998, the sybaritic Joseph be what they made of it. The ensuing months brought Estrada—oozing charisma from bitter disappointment to those every fiber of his action star perwho felt that Edsa 1986 failed to sona—rose to the presidency. He achieve its noble ends. Others EDUCATION/ A20

By Eugenia Duran Apostol Founding Chair Philippine Daily Inquirer

By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. and Edson C. Tandoc Jr.

THE WORLD WELcomed Edsa People Power I in 1986 and tolerated Edsa People Power II in 2001, but it will reject a third one, President Macapagal-Arroyo said yesterday on the 21st anniversary of the first people power revolt that toppled the Marcos regime.

At last, a museum for rare courage By Ceres Doyo DEDICATED AND BLESSED ON Feb. 23 during the 21st People Power anniversary commemorations was the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation’s new P16million Jovito R. Salonga building that houses a museum, archives and library, as well as a well-equipped Ambassador Alfonso T. Yuchengco auditorium and administration office. Enshrined and resting here is the undying spirit of those who lived and died for the motherland; kept here are stories and

images of uncommon courage that would serve to inspire generations of Filipinos to come. The 1,000-square meter edifice in newly landscaped surroundings is an addition to the memorial center’s soaring 45foot bronze monument by sculptor Ed Castrillo, and the Wall of Remembrance on which more than a hundred names of martyrs and heroes who fought the 21year Marcos dictatorship are etched. The memorial center is beside the government-owned National AT LAST/ A20

BALLOONS arranged in the form of the Philippine flag are released during the rites Sunday commemorating the 21st anniversary of the Edsa People Power revolt.

RYAN LIM

Genuine Opposition’s return to Plaza Miranda a big letdown

By Amando Doronila

IN AN ATTEMPT TO DRAW INspiration from a hallowed tradition in Philippine politics, Plaza Miranda, the Genuine Opposition (GO) presented on Saturday its candidates for the Senate in a proclamation rally in what was once the heart of the legal opposition movement in rambunctious Philippine democracy. Launching their campaign for the May 2007 election, opposi-

tion candidates pictured them- 1971, grenade bombing of the selves as “watchdogs” and “fight- Liberal Party senatorial proclaers.” The rally was more than a mation rally, was “Can it be denostalgia trip. Prior to the decla- fended in Plaza Miranda?” It was ration of martial the ultimate test law in Septemof accountabiliNALYSIS ber 1972, Plaza ty—directly beMiranda was the premier arena fore the sovereign people. for public accountability of electPlaza Miranda is the opposied officials and governments. tion’s natural platform. On it, the The democratic test of worthi- opposition pilloried the sitting ness for public office, before the government and put it on the deplaza became the killing field of fensive—to account for its conopposition leaders in the Aug. 21 troversial policies and its failures,

of which there are many. This is what the opposition tried to do when it revisited Plaza Miranda, but the rally was somewhat of a big letdown. It lacked the fireworks of the pre-martial law rallies. The opposition launched its campaign with no fire in its belly. This should be of public concern, given that there’s so much at stake in the May election which will decide whether the administration of President Gloria Maca-

New ruling gives small mining firms big boost By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.

CLANGING FOR VOTES

pagal-Arroyo will retain its majority in the House of Representatives, whether it will regain its legitimacy to govern, eroded by the scandal of the Garcillano tapes in the 2004 election, and whether a change in the balance of power in Congress would lead to policy changes that would stop the unabated killings of several hundred political activists over the past six years. The opposition candidates

EV ESPIRITU/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

Reelectionist Senators Ralph Recto and Joker Arroyo (right) join Kalinga “braves” during the parade of floats at Baguio’s flower festival Sunday. Team Unity used the occasion to campaign for the May 14 polls. (Story on Page A 9.)

SMALL MINING FIRMS CAN NOW EXtract minerals in the country without production limits following a Malacañang ruling overturning a decision by the environment department to stop the operations of a Palawan mining firm for over-extraction. In an order from the Office of the President, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Presidential Decree No. 1899 (signed in 1984), which limits smallscale mining to 50,000 metric tons a year, had been amended by Republic Act No. 7076. RA 7076, or the “People’s Small Scale Mining Act of 1991,” limits the exploration area to no more than 20 hectares. Ermita cited this provision in his order

GENUINE/ A21

to Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes to allow Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC), whose lawyer is Romela Bengzon, a close associate of Ermita, to resume its mining operations in Palawan. Reyes suspended PGMC’s environment compliance certificate on Sept. 25, 2006, because the firm had extracted 308,318 metric tons of nickel ore from June 2005 to June 2006, or more than six times the annual cap. Ermita described Reyes’ act as a “grave abuse of discretion.” An official of the Chamber of Mines, who requested anonymity, said Ermita’s decision would encourage firms that applied for big mining projects at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to just go into small-scale minNEW RULING/ A22

On both occasions, the military had sided with the protesters. “The world will not, however, forgive another Edsa but would instead condemn the Philippines as a country whose political system is hopelessly unstable and the Filipinos as among the finest people in the world but who always shoot themselves in the foot,” Ms Arroyo said in her speech at the Edsa I anniversary celebration. In contrast, she said that “when President [Fidel] Ramos came to Edsa on the first day of Edsa in 1986, and throughout those four days, especially when Cardinal Sin called upon the people to come and the people responded, the world embraced Edsa.” Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos, including priests and nuns, massed on Edsa in the heart of Metro Manila to protect mutinous soldiers from a convoy of tanks and troops loyal to Marcos. Nuns and unarmed civilians holding rosaries and flowers knelt before the tanks to halt their advance in iconic images beamed by TV networks around the world. Marcos, who ruled with an iron fist for 20 years, was forced to flee into exile in Hawaii, where GMA: NO/ A20

Palparan eyes seat in Congress

By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.

THE CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE Armed Forces of the Philippines is rooting for retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan in his bid for a seat in Congress so that the retired officer denounced by leftists as a “berdugo” (butcher) could continue his fight against the communists on

PALPARAN/ A22

BUSINESS / B1

Psychotherapist tells why some celebrities revel in controversy

2% increase in oil tariff may raise diesel price by P0.50/liter

TWENTY-TWO YEARS AFTER UNITING to oust Ferdinand Marcos, a deeply divided Filipino people go their separate ways today to mark the anniversary of the dictator’s downfall. Groups demanding that President Macapagal-Arroyo tell the truth about the scandal-tainted National Broadband Network (NBN) deal will converge on a Baclaran church, while those calling for Ms Arroyo’s resignation will march on Don Chino Roces (Mendiola) Bridge and hold protests in more than a dozen cities across the country. Top military and police officials will show their support for the beleaguered Arroyo administration by holding a “unity walk” from the People Power Monument on Edsa to Camp Aguinaldo. The Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police have heightened their alert status and threatened to arrest any of their men who would join the protests. Ms Arroyo will stay away from the government commemoration and instead visit schools in the Manila suburbs to promote the Ahon Pamilyang Pinoy program involving cash grants for the health and education needs of poor families. The weather bureau has welcome news for the ralliers: Today is a good day

WORLD / A26

Diarrhea downs 178 in flooded towns of Eastern Samar

INQUIRER

Edsa I rites today split people power By Jocelyn R. Uy, DJ Yap and Nikko Dizon

ACROSS / A20

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Clinton slams Obama on health care plan: Shame on you Another Edsa revolt? Business is divided By Inquirer Business Staff

LIKE MANY SECTORS OF PHILIPPINE society, the business community is divided over the prospect of another people power revolt unseating President Macapagal-Arroyo. It is also divided over the ability of the country to weather another mass uprising. Surprisingly, however, anecdotal evi-

ANOTHER/ A6

Villar sees impeachment EDSA I/ A18

PEOPLE POWER RECALLED Yellow ribbons decorate MMDA’s pink fences in front of the Edsa Shrine as part of preparations for today’s celebration of the 1986 Edsa I uprising.

New rap based on GMA admission of NBN flaw

GMA tells foes: I will finish my term in 2010

By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr., Christine O. Avendaño and TJ Burgonio

PRESIDENT MACAPAGAL-ARROYO’S ADMISSION SHE ALLOWED the signing of the $329-million broadband deal with a Chinese firm despite knowing it was attended by corruption is a basis for filing another impeachment complaint against her, Senate President Manuel Villar said yesterday.

By Christine O. Avendaño

CONFRONTED WITH ONE scandal after another, President Macapagal-Arroyo dug in yesterday, spurning calls for her to resign and declaring: “I am the President and no one else.” On the eve of planned massive protests against her, Ms Arroyo said after hearing Mass at Malacañang that she intended to finish her term in 2010. In front of family, friends and some government officials, she gave a fiery speech in defense of her administration following allegations of corruption in the now scuttled National Broadband Network (NBN) project. Her children, Representatives Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo and Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo and their families, were present. Absent were her daughter Luli and her husband, Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, who is in Hong Kong. (See photo on Page A2.) “Susunod ako sa Saligang Batas at sa sarili kong nais na bumaba sa puwesto pagwakas ng aking termino (I will follow the Constitution GMA/ A10

RYAN LIM

ENTERTAINMENT / G1

FRIEND SUPPORT President Macapagal-Arroyo is greeted by family friends and former classmates after the eucharistic celebration in Malacañang. LYN RILLON

“If she signed it, then it’s a ground for impeachment. That is wrong. Graft is an impeachable crime,” said Villar, who was the Speaker who transmitted to the Senate the articles of impeachment against then President Joseph Estrada on Nov. 13, 2000, for trial.

A soldier’s last testament lives on By Rene N. Jarque

(Editor’s note: The author in this last of a series of articles was a former Army captain who delivered this speech before the Philippine Constitution Association shortly before he died on Aug. 19, 2005. It was edited slightly for brevity.) THE COUNTRY IS IN POLITICAL TURmoil once more. The legitimacy and moral authority of the Arroyo government are being questioned, echoing Jaime Cardinal Sin’s proclamation before the 1986 Edsa People Power [revolt] that a government that wins an election by

EDSA 1: OUT OF THE BARRACKS

SPECIAL Report Fernando del Mundo Chief, I-Team

fraudulent means does not have the moral authority to govern. Our fragile democracy is in peril again. The presidency is severely damaged and we hear discordant voices on how it should be fixed—impeachment, people power, resignation, military takeover. Her stubbornness belies a desperation to

Ms Arroyo has survived three impeachment bids and at least three attempted coups in her seven years in power. Villar said the earliest that an impeachment complaint could be filed against the President would be in July, or 12 months af-

hold on to power. She has to because she knows she is guilty, along with the unscrupulous politicians, bureaucrats and generals around her. This is an administration that neither cares for decency nor respects the truth. It is painfully clear that the ship of state needs a new captain and the ship needs to alter course. The country needs to get out of the storm not just with new leaders but with a new rule set for governance and politics. The history of many developing nations and our own people power history have shown that when civilian instituA SOLDIER’S/ A17

VILLAR/ A8

Stalemate benefits generals

By Amando Doronila

THE 22ND ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1986 People Power revolution today finds the Philippines ANALYSIS locked in yet another political impasse, lending credence to the perception that it is one of the most ungovernable modern STALEMATE/ A7

Inquirer Read Along session special treat for 40 orphans

By Eliza Victoria

RODEL ROTONI

Inquirer Research

STORYTELLER Charlyn Chua reads to young orphans during the INQUIRER’s Read Along session at the Reception and Study Center for Children in Quezon City.

THE 25TH SESSION OF THE PHILIPpine Daily Inquirer’s Read Along program held yesterday at the Reception and Study Center for Children (RSCC) in Quezon City was a special treat for 40 orphans aged 2-5 years. They were accompanied by 300 school volunteers from God’s Special Children Inc. The RSCC is an orphanage which looks after abandoned, abused and neglected children 6 years and under. The

43-year-old institution has a temporary shelter where parents in crisis can leave their children for a maximum of six months. Children surrendered by their parents or declared abandoned by the court are put up for adoption. The room where the session was held looked festive. It was decorated with brightly colored balloons and buntings. Returning Alitaptap storyteller Charlyn Chua, who was pleasantly surprised by the large number of attendees, read two stories: “Og Uhog” by Christine INQUIRER/ A19

Noah’s Ark of food built in North Pole

LONGYEARBYEN, NORWAY—AIMED at providing mankind with a Noah’s Ark of food in the event of a global catastrophe, an Arctic “doomsday vault” filled with samples of the world’s most important seeds will be inaugurated here on Tuesday. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Nobel Peace

NOAH’S ARK/ A19

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‘People power is alive’ FORMER President Corazon Aquino flashes her trademark Laban sign during the “Mass for Truth” commemorating the 22nd anniversary of Edsa I at the Redemptorist Church in Baclaran Monday.

Cory: Let’s continue our search for truth

GMA goes on attack, doles out goodies

By Christine O. Avendaño PRESIDENT MACAPAGAL-ARroyo yesterday dug into her arsenal to fight her enemies. Her weapons: Cash cards, grocery bags, promises of a mass transport system, schools, among other things. As her political foes called on Filipinos to mount yet another popular uprising against her on the 22nd anniversary of Edsa I, Ms Arroyo urged her supporters to use people power in fighting for the rule of law and democratic principles. “Political stability is in your hands,” the President said at a peace rally organized by her supporters in Trece Martires City in Cavite, one of three places she visited during the day. Before flying by helicopter to Trece Martires, she stopped at GMA GOES/ A17

NBN hearing to focus on GMA remark

By Beverly T. Natividad TJ Burgonio and Tarra Quismundo

ARMED Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and Philippine National Police Director General Avelino Razon Jr. (5th and 6th from left, front row) link arms with police and military commanders during their “unity walk” to mark the 22nd anniversary celebration of Edsa I Monday. RAFFY LERMA

AFP, PNP commanders stage unity walk By Nikko Dizon and Alcuin Papa

THE ARMED FORCES OF the Philippines will defend President Macapagal-Arroyo against mutineers and coup plotters but will stay away from moves to oust her

through peaceful and constitutional means, Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, AFP chief of staff, said yesterday. Philippine National Police Director General Avelino Razon also announced a weeklong ban on the carrying of firearms by civilians as part of

NBN HEARING/ A8

security measures amid coup rumors circulating in mobile text messages. “We are here to say that these reports and text messages are untrue, that they are completely false, since we in the police and the military are solid, united behind the gov-

ernment,” Razon said during a joint news conference with Esperon and other top AFP generals. Esperon was asked about the calls for Ms Arroyo to step down. He replied: “As long as these are done in a constituAFP, PNP/ A17

Now, JDV is calling on GMA to resign By Norman Bordadora and Jocelyn R. Uy

By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.

THE SENATE WILL RESUME TOday its investigation of the scrapped $329-million National Broadband Network (NBN) deal as senators move to flesh out the “flaws” that President Macapagal-Arroyo said had marred the contract granted to ZTE Corp. of China. The probe has taken a new

PROTESTERS burn an effigy of President Macapagal-Arroyo during an antiadministration rally on Mendiola Monday. RYAN LIM

OUSTED SPEAKER JOSE DE Venecia yesterday burned the last of his bridges with Malacañang by openly calling on President Macapagal-Arroyo to resign, and former President Joseph Estrada warned he would join “another people power” if she blocked moves to impeach her.

In separate interviews, De Venecia said Ms Arroyo should also be expelled from the ruling Lakas-CMD party, while Estrada said he would support calls for her to step down “if that is the people’s will.” “We should cleanse the party of the forces of evil,” De Venecia, Ms Arroyo’s former staunch ally, told the INQUIRER.

‘No Country for Old Men’ biggest Oscar winner LOS ANGELES—THE COEN brothers completed their journey from the fringes to Hollywood’s mainstream, their crime saga “No Country for Old Men” winning four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, in a ceremony that fea-

EDWIN BACASMAS

tured a strong international flavor. Europeans swept the acting categories yesterday. British actor Daniel Day-Lewis and France’s Marion Cotillard were named Best Actor and Actress. The Supporting Actor and Ac-

tress prizes went to Spain’s Javier Bardem and British actress Tilda Swinton. The only other time in the Oscars’ 80-year history that all four acting winners were foreign-born was 1964, when the recipients were Britons Rex

Harrison, Julie Andrews and Peter Ustinov and Russian Lila Kedrova. “No Country,” a bleak and bloody drama about a drug deal that goes wrong and its aftermath, earned for Joel and Ethan ‘NO COUNTRY/ A11

NOW, JDV/ A16

PEOPLE POWER IS ALIVE IN the country despite the absence of huge rallies calling for President Macapagal-Arroyo to step down, said a Catholic priest who likened the allegations of corruption against the Arroyo administration to a bad tooth that should be extracted. “People power is not dead,” Fr. Joey Echano said yesterday in a homily during a Mass for truth at the historic Baclaran church in Parañaque City to mark the anniversary of People Power I that toppled a dictator 22 years ago. If people are looking for expressions PEOPLE/ A8

Bishops hold emergency meeting today By Beverly T. Natividad and Tonette Orejas Inquirer Central Luzon

AN EMERGENCY MEETING TODAY OF the country’s Roman Catholic bishops is expected to wrestle with the question of what the Church hierarchy should do in the face of a brewing political crisis caused by fresh allegations of corruption in the Arroyo administration. BISHOPS/ A8

Snafus mar gov’t celebrations at Edsa By Kristine L. Alave and Michael Lim Ubac

THE PHILIPPINE FLAG REFUSED TO be raised, the microphone went silent and people had to duck to avoid being hit on the head by bricks of paper con-

SNAFUS/ A16

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

23 YEARS AGO

‘A people crucified, risen and empowered’

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By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

“WE ARE A PEOPLE WHO KNOW HOW to turn suffering into the gold of the Spirit, into the gold of our character.” This, to Sr. Teresa of Jesus and Mary, OCD, (well-known former professor and writer Josefina Constantino), a contemplative Carmelite nun in Quezon City, is what Filipinos showed the world during the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution. We have lived up to Every Filipino’s name, which is Juan de la Cruz, which is also the name of the Spanish Carmelite mystic St. John of the Cross, Sr. Teresa says. “Yes, Juan de la Cruz whose doctrine we have interiorized, that the Cross is the royal road to perfection.” Sr. Teresa recalls that when the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin called on the people to go to Edsa, the contemplatives could not be there physically, “so we prostrated ourselves SHRINE TO PEOPLE POWER There now stands at the crossroads of Edsa and Ortigas Avenue the Our Lady of Peace Shrine, where once menacing military tanks were in prayer.” parked during the 4-day People Power Revolt. As a stunned world watched, the critical mass of people looked a lot less like revolutionaries and more like churchgoers. They A PEOPLE/ A8 came ready to take on tank and armor armed only with rosaries, prayers, hymns and anthem (“Bayan Ko”) holding aloft images of the Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus. RAFFY LERMA

SC pins leak on ex-justice Found guilty of passing on confidential ruling on citizenship, fined P.5M

15 hours to stuff 20 years of misrule

By Norman Bordadora

THE SUPREME COURT YESTERDAY FOUND REtired Associate Justice Ruben Reyes liable for leaking an unpromulgated and confidential decision of the en banc on the citizenship of Negros Oriental Rep. Jocelyn Limkaichong.

By Volt Contreras

THE FALL OF MALACAÑANG to jubilant, rampaging mobs on the night of Feb. 25, 1986, unleashed a mass fury that its next occupant, Cory Aquino, would later muse in a book: “I hope it will never happen again, this business of no transition.” Less than three hours after US helicopters airlifted the family and remaining aides of deposed strongman Ferdinand Marcos, an estimated 10,000 people stormed the Palace in a surge of vandalism, looting, souvenir-hunting and picturetaking. Everybody wanted a tangible

15 HOURS/ A8

Edsa II President skips Edsa I rites By Christian V. Esguerra

CLARK FIELD, PAMPANGA— President Macapagal-Arroyo is skipping the grand celebration culminating the four-day commemoration of the 23rd Edsa People Power I anniversary today. A confetti shower and locking

EDSA II/ A21

BLOWING IN THE WIND Though the summer winds toss and turn their hair, 24 Filipino beauties vying for the title of Bb. Pilipinas 2009 keep their cool and poise as they are presented to the media on Tuesday at Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City. The winners will be proclaimed on March 7. LYN RILLON

In a unanimous decision, the en banc (full court) found its former member liable for grave misconduct and fined him P500,000 to be charged to his retirement benefits. The Supreme Court disqualified Reyes from holding office in any government agency, includ-

ing government corporations. It also required Reyes to explain in 10 days upon his receipt of the decision why he shouldn’t be disciplined as a member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. Reacting to the decision, Reyes, who retired on Jan. 2,

By Christine O. Avendaño

gal-Arroyo of liability. “Why was the hearing stopped, why is there now a committee report, and why was the President prematurely absolved?” Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano told reporters in reference to the release of a report by

SC PINS LEAK/ A10

4 senators say GMA WB: Reports strictly confidential cleared prematurely By Michael Lim Ubac

THE WORLD BANK YESTERDAY refused to authenticate the “notice of sanction proceedings,” one of the bank documents that figured in the Senate inquiry into the bank’s blacklisting of three Filipino contractors accused of

bid rigging and other corrupt practices in a World Bank-funded road project. The World Bank in effect distanced itself from allegations that Jose Miguel Arroyo, the husband of President Macapagal-Arroyo, had links with Eduardo de Luna, the contractor permanent-

ly banned by the World Bank from participating in any of its projects in the country. The notice of sanction proceedings is a “strictly confidential” document produced by the bank’s Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) and issued by

WORLD BANK/ A10

FOUR MINORITY SENATORS yesterday said the Senate blue ribbon committee had not only rushed its investigation of the P728-million fertilizer fund scam but had also “prematurely absolved” President Macapa-

Whatever happened to ‘euro generals’ case? By Schatzi Quodala and Lawrence de Guzman Inquirer Research

(Editor’s Note: The following feature starts off the INQUIRER’S updates of former Page 1 stories that barely or no longer appear in the news even while they are still pending in the courts or are unresolved cases.) FOUR MONTHS AFTER HE was held at the Moscow interna-

tional airport for carrying cash in excess of the allowed limit, the money confiscated from Eliseo de la Paz, then director and comptroller of the Philippine National Police, has yet to be received in full by the PNP. And on Feb. 22, despite his involvement in the illegal withdrawal of the money from the PNP intelligence fund, Chief WHATEVER/ A21

De la Paz has until Feb. 28 to return 105,000 euros in full, says PNP chief By Tarra Quismundo in Manila and Desiree Caluza in Baguio City

RETIRED POLICE DIRECTOR Eliseo de la Paz has until Feb. 28 to return in full the 105,000 euros (P6.9 million) he illegally

withdrew from Philippine National Police coffers. If De la Paz, a former national police comptroller, fails to do so, he will be slapped with a civil suit, PNP Director General Jesus Verzosa said yesterday.

4 SENATORS/ A10

Media groups denounce right of reply bills By Philip Tubeza

LEADING ORGANIZATIONS OF the print and broadcast media yesterday condemned the right of reply bill as a threat to press freedom. The measure—actually two DE LA PAZ/ A21 bills, one in the Senate and one in the House—would compel media companies, under threat of being fined, to provide equal space and air time to persons who are subjects of their negaA man had engaged her in tive reports. small talk as soon as she The National Union of Jouralighted from a bus on Ortinalists of the Philippines (NUJP) gas Avenue in Mandaluyong joined the Philippine Press InstiCity, recalled Marie. tute, the Kapisanan ng mga She does not remember Brodkasters ng Pilipinas, SamaCULTURE/ A6

Culture of chance, enchantment and Ash Wednesday worked as a seaman abroad for two years to the notorious BudolFOUR YEARS AGO, MY COUSIN’S budol Gang. Marie gave in wife, Marie (not her the real name), lost all COMMENTARY without slightest resisthe dollars and euros her husband earned when he tance to the gang members. She

By Fr. Sid T. Marinay

said they had “hypnotized” her into parting with her valuables. When she came to, the men had gone and the “fortune” promised her turned out to be useless sheets of paper stashed inside a big bag.

MEDIA/ A8

CORY AT DE LA SALLE “I could have done more if I didn’t have to tackle seven coup attempts ... Our economic gains went to waste due to the ambitions of some people, ” ex-President Cory Aquino says at the launch of the Ninoy and Cory Aquino scholarship program at De La Salle University on Taft Avenue.

ENTERTAINMENT / D1

NEWS/ A3

Boy Abunda’s media allies crucify Belo

STIMULUS IN MAKATI CITY “Now is not the time to be laid back,” President Arroyo tells the private sector during an economic briefing in Makati City. Contrary to claims, she also says, her stimulus package is working.

Tessie Oreta named child welfare chair

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REUTERS

FVR hits GMA no-show Thursday, February 26, 2009

website: www.inquirer.net

President counters job fair is using Edsa spirit

23 YEARS AGO

By Thea Alberto, Inquirer.net and Christian V. Esguerra

Cory among macho pols and how she survived them

IT WAS UNCHARACTERISTIC OF FORMER PRESident Fidel Ramos to take President Macapagal-Arroyo to task. And on a day of national pride and celebration.

By Fe Zamora TWENTY-THREE YEARS AFTER SHE was sworn in as President, Corazon Aquino yesterday showed a glimpse of how it was like going against the machos in Philippine politics—not only from dictator Ferdinand Marcos but from the male-dominated opposition as well. “I did not realize that all these men who were meeting with me had already laid claim on what I can do and what I can’t do,” Aquino said. “I got very angry with myself.” She referred to the anti-Marcos opposition that her husband, former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., had led until he was shot and killed on Aug. 21, 1983. His death unwittingly pushed his widow into the political

CHIZ/ A7

By TJ Burgonio and Michelle V. Remo

amid a deepening global recession. Speaking at the governmentsponsored Philippine Economic Briefing in Makati, Ms Arroyo scoffed at criticisms that her P330-billion stimulus package was doomed to fail. She said her administration

FVR HITS GMA/ A6

RAFFY LERMA

FVR JUMPY AT EDSA Former President Fidel Ramos, who, with then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile headed the military that broke with Marcos, makes his annual ceremonial jump (well, almost) at the People Power Monument on Wednesday to mark the 23rd anniversary of that event that stunned the world. Butz Aquino (left), was the first to call people to come to Edsa and protect the Enrile-Ramos breakaway group in Camp Crame, which only numbered 300 at that point. The rest, of course, is history.

APPARENTLY DISMAYED BY the slow response of the business community, President Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday aired an urgent appeal to the private sector to help government pump-prime the economy

Vets sell cows, take ‘5-6’ loans By Nestor P. Burgos Jr. and Jhunnex Napallacan Inquirer Visayas

ILOILO CITY—GONZALO Batislaon could no longer recall the last time he traveled on a boat, but the dizzying trip he made on Tuesday was one

he could not afford to miss. The 85-year-old Batislaon first took an hourlong bus ride from his hometown Manapla, Negros Occidental, to Bacolod City, and from there hobbled onto a ferry that finally brought him to this city. “I felt seasick but they said

I have to go here,” Batislaon said, leaning on his cane at the lobby of the provincial capitol, where some 1,500 other World War II veterans from around Iloilo have turned up to file claims for the recently approved lump-

VETS SELL/ A7

Fertilizer scam report sparks Senate word war By Christine O. Avendaño

THE TERMINATION OF THE Senate’s inquiry into the P728million fertilizer fund scam has sparked a row in the chamber, further straining ties between the majority and minority blocs.

Heated exchanges occurred yesterday between Sen. Richard Gordon and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who has accused the blue ribbon committee chaired by Gordon of prematurely absolving President Macapagal-Arroyo of liability in the fund scam.

An incensed Gordon chided Cayetano for criticizing his committee’s handling of the inquiry and assailed him for not regularly attending the hearings. Gordon told reporters he would not pay attention to a child or a barking mongrel:

“Yung isang bata-batuta diyan, hindi ko masyado papatulan yan… Kapag lumalakad at tumatahol ang askal, hindi ko papatulan.” The blue ribbon committee re- THE LONG WAIT He’s one of the 1,500 veterans interviewed at the cently ended an investigation of Iloilo provincial capitol, the designated site for claimants. Another FERTILIZER/ A6 800 applicants are being processed in Camp Lapu-lapu, Cebu.

‘STATE OF THE UNION’

AFP

Obama: Day of reckoning here

FIRSTS The first US black president, Barack Obama, makes his first address to joint session of Congress.

GMA URGES/ A6

WASHINGTON—IN HIS FIRST address to Congress, President Barack Obama said the United States had reached a dire “day of reckoning” after years of shortsighted economic decisions, but he promised worried Americans that better days lay ahead. “The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation,” Obama assured

lawmakers of both chambers of Congress, justices of the Supreme Court, members of the Cabinet and a nationwide television audience of millions on Tuesday night. “Tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before,” he said.

To deal with the current crisis that is deepening each day, Obama said more money would be needed to rescue troubled banks beyond the $700 billion already committed last year. He acknowledged that bailing out banks with billions of dollars was unpopular, but he insisted it was the only way to get credit moving again to OBAMA/ A4

ARNOLD ALMACEN/INQUIRER VISAYAS

SENATORS FRANCIS “CHIZ” ESCUDero and Mar Roxas yesterday withdrew their support for the right of reply bill even as two major media organizations announced plans to challenge the measure all the way to the Supreme Court. The Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP), the largest organization of broadcast operators and stations in the country, and the Philippine Press Institute, the national association of newspapers, said they would go to the high tribunal if

He also twitted Ms Arroyo, herself a beneficiary of a popular uprising in January 2001, known as Edsa II, that ousted then President Joseph Estrada, for her statement that the world would not forgive another people power. “We must see Edsa no longer as a people power revolution to force out a nonperforming, abusive, or corrupt head of government or regime, but what must be remembered and honored and given respect by every Filipino is the spirit of Edsa,” Ramos said. He was also disappointed with Vice President Noli de Castro, who attended yesterday’s

GMA urges business to match gov’t action

CORY AMONG/ A6

Chiz, Mar pull out support for right of reply bill

But yesterday, at the Edsa People Power Monument, Ramos criticized Ms Arroyo, his longtime ally, for skipping the culmination rites of the 23rd anniversary of the popular uprising that toppled the Marcos dictatorship. “I don’t understand why the President is not here. Everyone should be here and give respect,” Ramos, one of the key figures in the uprising, told reporters after the ceremonies in Quezon City. He said if Ms Arroyo was able to go to other engagements, he could not see the point why she could not go to the People Power ceremonies.

‘Euro general’ may need P6.9-M loan if deadline not extended for 2 weeks By Tarra Quismundo IF ALL ELSE FAILS, THERE’S THE neighborhood loan shark. Retired Philippine National Police comptroller Eliseo de la Paz may have to resort to borrowing if his ex-bosses at the PNP refuse to extend the Feb. 28 deadline for the full remittance of the “contingency fund” he illegally withdrew from Camp Crame coffers in Oc-

EURO GENERAL/ A4

BUSINESS / B1

WORLD / A21

METRO / A19

NEWS / A2

Philip Morris, Fortune Tobacco agree to merge

Toyota chief faces crucial US test

Ex-barangay chair shot dead in QC

Atienza cries foul over posters

Magdalo soldiers decide to back Villar, Roxas

GMA gives 4 Cabinet execs cold shoulder By Christine O. Avendaño

That’s my line! Noynoy tells Manny

INQUIRER P H I L I P P I N E D A I L Y

By Philip C. Tubeza “HINDI AKO MAGnanakaw.” Translated into English, it could mean either of two things: I will not steal or I’m not a thief. THAT’S/ A8

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PRESIDENT MACAPAGAL-ARROYO looked at the four secretaries seated at her regular Cabinet meeting. “All those who were mentioned in the Supreme Court decision, all of you guys are just guests here today,” the President told them, according to an account of Tuesday’s meeting by Tourism Secretary Ace Durano. Durano said that Ms Arroyo wasn’t laughing and that she was serious when she made the statement in Puerto PrinceGMA GIVES/ A15

Pulse: GMA backing fatal Villar leads Aquino in trust rating

INQUIRER PHOTO

AN ENDORSEMENT FROM President Macapagal-Arroyo amounts to a kiss of death, results of a nationwide survey conducted last month showed.

nand] Marcos’ tanks, made the Philippines a leader in the global wave of democratic movements that climaxed in the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union.” The Burmese junta brutally suppressed the democratic upsurge in Rangoon. On Tiananmen Square, sol-

Three in every four adult Filipinos (74 percent) said they would not vote for a candidate endorsed by President Macapagal-Arroyo, according to the latest survey by Pulse Asia Inc. By contrast, the majority of Filipinos trust the presidential and vice presidential candidates of the Liberal Party (LP) and the Nacionalista Party (NP). Twenty-two percent said they would “probably not vote for,” and 52 percent said they would “surely not vote for” a presidential candidate endorsed by the President. The camp of Gilbert Teodoro, the administration presidential candidate, downplayed the results of the survey. “This is of course a reflection of the sentiments of the people. As far as the campaign is concerned, it is not President Arroyo who is running but Gilbert Teodoro,” Mike Toledo, spokesperson for Teodoro, said by phone. “As Secretary Teodoro has said ‘he is running as Gilbert Teodoro.’ You accept him for what he is, what he be-

EDSA/ A6

PULSE/ A15

4 DAYS OF EDSA I THE DAY FILIPINOS LIBERATED THEMSELVES On Feb. 25, 1986 at Edsa on a makeshift stage, revolt leaders Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile and Gen. Fidel Ramos face the multitudes that had protected them and their followers in Camp Crame for 4 days. Heeding the call of Jaime Cardinal Sin and inspired by Cory Aquino, the widow of the martyr Ninoy, the people stayed till victory was at hand.

‘Edsa I made RP leader in global democratic movements’ (Editor’s Note: The following are excerpts from a lecture delivered at the Conference on Asian Renaissance: Capacity Building for Future Leaders in Southeast Asia on Jan. 28 at the AIM in Makati, sponsored by the Institut Kajian Dasar of Malaysia with the Sasakawa Peace Foundation. The author is a retired general, ex-national security adviser to President Ramos.)

in Southeast Asia to Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania in Eastern Europe, from OUR PEOPLE POWER REVOLUTION Caucasus clear to Chile in South AmerIN 1986 had a ripple effect in the ica, and to Africa. To quote the Los Anworld. It inspired a chain of COMMENTARY geles Times: “The civilian-backed military updramatic upheavals in the captive nations: from China in rising, with its stirring scenes of nuns Northeast Asia to Burma (Myanmar) kneeling to stop [the strongman Ferdi-

By Jose T. Almonte, Contributor

Noynoy: Titans can help but can’t order me around By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.

REMEMBER WHEN Joseph Estrada, who is seeking the presidency again, says he misses his buddy, the late “king of action movies” Fernando Poe Jr., during his campaign sorties. Poe (left) waves to the crowd in this photo taken at the Quirino Grandstand on July 7, 1999, when Estrada was still President. That’s then Speaker Manuel Villar applauding, and then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo smiling behind Estrada. INQUIRER PHOTO

SEN. BENIGNO “NOYNOY” AQUINO III IS open to getting contributions for his presidential campaign from big businessmen like the Lopezes, Lucio Tan and his uncle Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, but only if they agree to play by his rules. “We don’t refuse [their donations] but we have leveling off; the only thing we can promise you is a level playing field,” the Liberal Party standard-bearer said in an interview with the INQUIRER editorial staff on Tuesday night. “If the system abuses you, we will fix it but if you intend to take advantage through the system, let’s just say sorry to each other,” Aquino said, speaking in English and Filipino. The senator said that his party had a basic requirement in accepting donations—that they are not connected in any way with illegal gambling and drugs. “We refuse outright especially if we are not sure about the source. When in doubt, refuse,” he said. Aquino said that being choosy on accepting campaign contributions had its risks beNOYNOY/ A8

THAT’S ALL Sen. Benigno Aquino III is open to accepting donations from big businessmen in exchange for an assurance of a level playing field. Nothing more. The Liberal Party standard-bearer visited the INQUIRER on Tuesday night and engaged in a free-wheeling NIÑO JESUS ORBETA conversation with editors and reporters.

Pichay: Gibo’s low ratings not due to GMA Erap missing ‘Da King’ in ‘Star Wars’ campaign ties but his message’s disconnect to poor By Christian V. Esguerra BIÑAN, LAGUNA—DEPOSED President Joseph Estrada doesn’t exactly mind losing in the so-called “Star Wars” against the front-runners in the presidential race, Senators

Manuel Villar and Benigno Aquino III. All but abandoned by his celebrity comrades, Estrada is taking their absence lightly in his campaign sorties around the country.

www.inquirer.net

ERAP/ A8

By TJ Burgonio in Manila

and Nestor P. Burgos Jr. Inquirer Visayas THE MEDIUM IS THE MESsage. An administration party offi-

cial is blaming Lakas-KampiCMD standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro’s P400-million infomercials for his poor showing in surveys. The infomercials, which show Teodoro switching on the controls of a plane to prepare

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for takeoff, have failed to connect with the poor, LakasKampi-CMD vice president Prospero Pichay said yesterday. “We’re not satisfied with the ratings. That is a signal that you have to double-time as far as campaign is concerned so the

ratings will improve by the end of March,” Pichay said by phone. But in Pichay’s view, Teodoro’s poor ratings have more to do with the message that he’s trying to get across to

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PICHAY/ A8

5 GMA execs finally resign

NEWS / A8

WORLD / A27

ACROSS / A20

FEU graduate tops physicians Dubai seeking GMA stops licensure exam. For full list of 15 more suspects orders of passers go to www.inquirer.net in Hamas hit Marina chief

By Christian V. Esguerra IT AIN’T OVER TILL THE FAT LADY sings. Five members of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s Cabinet have tendered their courtesy resignations to prepare for the May 10 local elections. Leading the way was Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, who said he filed his resignation on Tuesday, a day after the Supreme Court ruled that appointed officials running in the elections were deemed resigned. Joining Ermita were Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera, Presidential Man-

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Whatever happened to some key Edsa I players? By Minerva Generalao, Eliza Victoria and Lawrence de Guzman, Inquirer Research

4 DAYS OF EDSA I all sectors and thousands of Filipinos. Here’s a brief update on some of the less publicized but key military, religious and civilian players of that upheaval that helped restore the freedom of the Filipinos.

THE EDSA I PEOPLE POWER REVOlution from Feb. 22 to 25, 1986, started as a coup attempt by the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) that turned into an uprising involving

JOSE ALMONTE • It was Col. Jose Almonte who told Cory Aquino, her brother Jose Cojuangco and Jaime Cardinal Sin that something was going to happen in the third week of February 1986. In a book he commissioned, Cojuangco said that Almonte told him that he and the RAM officers were

By Kristine L. Alave BURN THE BALLOTS! The Commission on Elections (Comelec) should destroy the 1.8 million ballots that did not have the National Printing Office (NPO) security markings on them to erase lingering doubts that there is a sinister plan to undermine the May 10 polls, Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. said yesterday. BURN / A8

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‘Burn all ballots without seals’

Aquino, Villar rock to People Power politics By Philip C. Tubeza and Michael Lim Ubac

about to move and suggested that Aquino should not leave Manila. He offered to provide Aquino with security. Aquino had called for civil disobedience in a massive rally at Rizal Park after President Ferdinand Marcos was proclaimed the winner of the fraudmarred Feb. 7 snap election by the

THE TOP TWO RIVALS IN THE MAY presidential race hosted star-powered gatherings that ostensibly marked the anniversary of Edsa I but were suspiciously political. One showered a packed coliseum with yellow confetti, the other drew orange-shirted followers to a mall for a rock concert.

WHATEVER/ A21

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GMA: Glory of Edsa gone On her last People Power rites, she says it’s now partisan By TJ Burgonio Monumento, Caloocan

FAST FACTS

15 km Length of the route from Monumento station to Baclaran

18 Number of stations

CLAIMING THAT THE “GLOrious Revolution” had deteriorated into partisanship over the years, President Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday made her final appearance as the nation’s leader at ceremonies commemorating the 1986 People Power Revolution.

LRT North Extension Project (Orange Line) 5th Avenue

5.7 km - Length of the route Roosevelt P7.6 billion - Project cost March 15 - Partial opening (only Balintawak station) 3rd quarter - Roosevelt and North Avenue stations start operations

R. Papa North Avenue, Quezon City Abad Santos Quezon Avenue

Blumentritt

Kamuning

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

LRT Line 1 (Yellow Line)

Balintawak

1984 Year inaugurated by then First Lady Imelda Marcos

136 million

Tayuman

METRO LOOP Finally, a mass transit system has become reality for Metro Manila commuters as President Arroyo and Vice President Noli de Castro inaugurate the new rail line from North Avenue in Quezon City to Monumento in Caloocan City on Thursday. EDWIN BACASMAS

Bambang

Belmonte

Gilmore Doroteo Jose

Total ridership in 2009

Recto

Pureza

Legarda

V. Mapa

P1.96 billion Gross revenue in 2009

P12 to P15

Central

UN Avenue

Fare

Santolan

13.8 km - Length of the route from Santolan station in Pasig City to Recto in Manila 11 - Number of stations 2003 - Year the first phase of the line (covering the stations of Santolan, Katipunan, Anonas and Araneta Center-Cubao) began operations 2004 - Year the rest of the stations opened to the public 62 million - Total ridership in 2009 P838 million - Gross revenue in 2009 P12 to P15 - Fare P69 - Amount subsidized by the government for every passenger 232 - Seating capacity of one four-car train 1,396 - Number of standing passengers that can be accommodated by one train

Pedro Gil

37.6 km Total length of the loop (LRT 1, MRT 3 and North Extension Project)

Quirino Ave.

Vito Cruz

Gil Puyat

Libertad

16.9 km - Length of the route from from North Avenue station to Taft Avenue station in Pasay City 13 - Number of stations 1999 - Year inaugurated by then President Joseph Estrada 150 million - Total ridership in 2008 413, 219 - Average daily ridership in 2008 P10 to P15 - Fare P62 - Amount subsidized by the government for every passenger 60 - Maximum number of three-car trains operating daily 65 kph - Maximum train speed 30 minutes - Time it usually takes to cover the 13 stations Buendia Three to five minutes - Intervals between train arrivals

Edsa, Pasay Magallanes

Baclaran, Parañaque

Ortigas

Shaw

Metro Rail Transit 3 or the MetroStar Express (Red Line)

P69 Amount subsidized by the government for every passenger

Anonas, Quezon City

Metro rail loop finally finished By TJ Burgonio and Paolo G. Montecillo

Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong

Guadalupe

LEGEND: LRT 1 LRT 2 MRT 3

Ayala Avenue, Makati

Inaugurated portion

IMAGINE TAKING A COMMUTER TRAIN around Metro Manila without having to leave the line except at your final destination. President Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday had that exhilarating experience when she took the media on a train ride from Quezon City through Caloocan and Manila to Pasay City and back. Ms Arroyo marked the 24th anniversary of the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution by taking the inaugural ride of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 North Extension project from North Avenue, Quezon City, to Monumento, in Caloocan City. METRO / A19

INQFOGRAPHICS: Editor Juan V. Sarmiento Jr. / Research Cyril L. Bonabente / Art Ernie Sambo SOURCES: Tina Cassion, media relations officer of the Light Rail Transit Authority, www.lrta.gov.ph, www.dotcmrt3.gov.ph, Inquirer Archives

DEVIATING FROM THE NONPARTISAN stand of the Catholic Church hierarchy, two bishops have thrown their support behind a presidential candidate. Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles and Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra ignored

the front-runners in the presidential race and instead backed Olongapo City Councilor JC de los Reyes of the Ang Kapatiran Party (AKP), who has been faring dismally in surveys. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is not endorsing any candidate or party. Their decision to support De los Reyes

www.inquirer.net

GMA: WHAT/ A22

Querubin backs Loren a day after Mar got Magdalo By Michael Lim Ubac WHERE WAS SEN. MAR ROXAS DURing the standoff at Marine headquarters at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City in 2006? Detained Col. Ariel Querubin, a senatorial candidate of the Nacionalista Party (NP), raised this question yesterday as he declared his support for the vice presidential candidacy of Sen. Loren Legarda. QUERUBIN/ A22

2 bishops back JC’s bid, ignore Church stand By Leila B. Salaverria and Jerome Aning

Katipunan

Santolan, Pasig

J. Ruiz, San Juan

LRT Line 2 or the Megatren (Green Line) Carriedo, Manila

Cubao

Ms Arroyo led officials in raising the flag at the People Power Monument on Edsa, which kicked off the day’s activities to mark the 24th anniversary of the uprising that ousted the dictator Ferdinand Marcos and installed Corazon “Cory” Aquino as the President. “The Philippines has come a long way since 1986. We regained our freedom and our national pride, but somewhere along the way we became complacent. People Power gained a partisan meaning that started to divide the nation once more,” Ms Arroyo said in her speech. Yesterday was Ms Arroyo’s last appearance at the Edsa I anniversary because her term ends on June 30. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Christopher Carreon of the Edsa People Power Commission, Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Victor Ibrado, Philippine National Police Director General Jesus Verzosa and Metro Manila Development Authority Chair Oscar Inocentes joined Ms Arroyo at

has prompted Arguelles and Navarra to resign from the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), the citizens’ arm of the Commission on Elections, according to CBCP News, the hierarchy’s official publication. Navarra quit the PPCRV chairmanship in his diocese over the weekend after he openly endorsed the AKP following a meeting 2 BISHOPS/ A10

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The ‘original’ Jun Lozada mistaken for real McCoy By Christian V. Esguerra BIÑAN, LAGUNA—BEING MISTAKEN FOR whistle-blower Jun Lozada has its pros and cons, according to a senatorial candidate who claims to be the “original.” During a recent election forum held at a private school in Cavite, students were abuzz THE ‘ORIGINAL’/A10

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14 Filipinos missing in NZ But hopes for more survivors are fading

Singson gets 18 months, to quit House; family in tears By Cynthia D. Balana and Inquirer Northern Luzon

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand—Rolando Cabunilas agonized each time rescuers pulled bodies from the tangled concrete and steel ruins of the Canterbury Television (CTV) building where his wife Ivy Jane, 33, was on the second day of a language class.

HONG KONG—His days as a member of the Philippine House of Representatives are numbered. Sentenced yesterday to 18 months in jail in Hong Kong for drug trafficking, Rep. Ronald Singson is preparing to resign his House seat, his father, Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson, said hours after a Hong Kong judge court pronounced the sentence. Interviewed by the INQUIRER by telephone from Hong Kong, the elder Singson said his son would quit his post as Ilocos Sur’s first district representative. “He had long thought of resigning,” the governor said. “We are just readying the documents needed.” The elder Singson said he would personally talk with Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on his son’s return to the House of Representatives, in which he would make arrangements be-

She hasn’t been heard from since a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch just after noon on Tuesday. “The longer I don’t know what happened, the longer my agony becomes,” said the 34year-old steel worker from the Philippines. “I can’t describe it—it’s pain, anger, all emotions,” Cabunilas said. In Manila, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that at least 14 Filipinos were missing in Christchurch, most of them at the CTV. The number was based on reports from Filipino community leaders, said DFA spokesperson Eduardo Malaya. No names were released.

SINGSON/ A8

Prosecutors told: You’re out to lose Garcia case

14 FILIPINOS/ A12

Missing Cebuanos’ kin: We can’t rely on DFA / A12

By Christian V. Esguerra, TJ Burgonio and Marlon Ramos

Loyal Gadhafi troops mass in Tripoli for last stand

FORMER Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo yesterday accused government prosecutors of deliberately bungling the P303-million plunder case against former military comptroller Carlos Garcia. An emotional Marcelo told senators of a purported pattern indicating “how the Office of the Ombudsman under a new leader will treat this case.” “Bluntly, sasabihin ko, inihuhulog nyo yung kaso (I’m telling you, you’re deliberately losing the case)!” he told the group of Special Prosecutor Wendell Sulit during the continuation of the Senate blue ribbon committee’s inquiry into the plea bargain with Garcia. “I just understood now.”

BAIDA, Libya—As rebellion crept closer to the capital and defections of military officers multiplied, Col. Moammar Gadhafi has called on thousands of mercenaries and irregular security forces to defend his bastion in Tripoli, in what residents said was a desperate and dangerous turn in the week-old uprising. Distrustful of even his own generals, Gadhafi has for years quietly built up this ruthless and loyal force. It is made up of special brigades headed by his sons, segments of the military loyal to his native tribe and its allies, and legions of African mercenaries he has helped train and equip. Many are believed to

PROSECUTORS/ A10

Ligot in-law has no job but earned P300M in 5 yrs / A10

LOYAL/ A13

P-Noy refutes criticisms over Libya evacuation / A13 OVER AND OUT The INQUIRER banner story on the first day of freedom leads the heady cocktail of stories on Page 1 that reflects the tumult and triumph of a people unshackling their chains and the urgency of rebuilding a nation. There was this, too, the need to pause and offer a prayer of thanks.

Seniors’ prom rudely interrupted by Marcos goons By Carmela Reyes-Estrope Inquirer Central Luzon

and Elmer Kristian Dauigoy Inquirer Northern Luzon CITY OF MALOLOS—She’ll take freedom anytime. Rosemarie Regalado Coralde was dressed in her best at the annual seniors’ ball 25 years ago when the lights went out at the school gym. The 1986 high school class of Bulacan College of Arts and Trades (now Bulacan State University, or BSU) was told that soldiers had attacked a radio tower a kilometer away. It turned out that the transmisSENIORS’/ A10

JPE: We never expected people at Edsa Marcos’ defense minister and martial law administrator. In the plot to overthrow Marcos, Enrile said some conspirators had suggested that “we disperse to the provinces and conduct guerrilla warfare.” But Enrile said he was adamant about taking the fight

By Christian V. Esguerra SENATE President Juan Ponce Enrile was considered one of Ferdinand Marcos’ most loyal lieutenants. He was once accused of faking an ambush as part of a government conspiracy to help justify the declaration of martial rule in 1972. He was

JPE: WE/ A23

How revolt was won: Turning points By Alexander P. Aguirre (Editor’s Note: Below are excerpts from the author’s book “A People’s Revolution of our Time Philippines: February 22-25, 1986.” He was the chief of operations of the Philippine Constabulary/Integrated National Police during the Edsa revolt.)

WHILE people power was the crucial factor in toppling the Marcos regime, its full exercise was made possible and was reinforced by various military actions that turned the tide in favor of the reformist camp. The following events significantly changed the course of history:

1. A flight of helicopters led by then Col. Antonio E. Sotelo PAF, 15th Strike Wing CommanHOW REVOLT/ A23

Radio didn’t only make a difference, it was the whole thing / A22

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People Power lives on Longings of soldiers, civilians unite at Edsa By Norman Bordadora

THE DEBATE on who sparked the Edsa People Power Revolution has lasted since it happened in 1986. But in a speech yesterday marking the 25th anniversary of the toppling of Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship, President Aquino indicated that there should be no argument: “When the mailed fist became too much, the soldiers, the police, the nuns, the students and the whole nation had only one question: Will I allow this system to prevail? They also had one answer: No.” Speaking after a flag-raising ceremony at the People Power Monument on Edsa near Camp Aguinaldo, Mr. Aquino said People Power was the answer of millions of Filipinos to the corruption and abuses of the dictatorship, with the soldiers standing on the principle that “the PEOPLE/ A15

How we kept faith with Edsa in US / A13 Civilians, soldiers reenact Edsa I / A15

Pinay nurse texted, called home while under rubble

‘COME HOLY SPIRIT’ President Aquino ducks as Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales tries to shoo a dove away from the startled President during the unveiling of the late Jaime Cardinal Sin’s statue in Manila, part of the 25th anniversary celebratory activities of Edsa I.

‘We vied for honor to lead attack on Palace’ By Jose T. Almonte (The author is a retired general and one of the lead theoreticians of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement [RAM].)

By Boboi Costas Inquirer Correspondent CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand—“Hindi ko na kaya (I can no longer take it).” That was the last phone call to friends made by Maria Louise Amantillo, one of the missing Filipino nurses feared trapped under the rubble of the Canterbury Television (CTV) building, which collapsed Tuesday after a 6.3-magnitude quake battered the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. Amelodin Disalongan, 24, and Joan Bunda, 24, said Louise made more than 10 mobile PINAY/ A6

Chronology: Text messages from the rubble / A6

WHAT’S INSIDE

NEWS / A4 Vizconde: ‘I’m

willing to face Supreme Court’

NEWS/ A5 FEU bet tops

doctor exams; 655 out of 1,230 make it

WORLD / A22 Thousands

of Iraqis protest on ‘Day of Rage’

SUPER / C1 Super plays

with the Chippendales

THERE SHE GOES Sister Aida Velazquez, OSB, revisits Edsa with the world-famous picture of herself confronting power and might in the background at the People Power Monument in Quezon City. RAFFY LERMA

Pinoys to leave Libya by land, sea, air By DJ Yap ACTING FOREIGN Secretary Albert del Rosario said shipping arrangements had been made and alternative land routes established to get most of the Filipinos out of Libya, as tensions continued to escalate. The Department of Foreign

Affairs said it was arranging for ferry ships to take the Filipinos from Tripoli to Malta as well as those from Benghazi to Crete in Greece, and setting up an outpost on the border of Tunisia. The government also said yesterday that about 13,000 overseas Filipino workers caught in the Libyan conflict

would be brought out of that country through the efforts of their employers, though it gave no timetable. A six-member team sent by the DFA to oversee the repatriation of the Filipinos arrived yesterday in Tripoli. The team, led by Executive PINOYS/ A13

Best defense money can buy for Singson By Cynthia D. Balana HONG KONG—The 18-month prison sentence meted out by a Hong Kong court to Ilocos Sur Rep. Ronald Singson for drug trafficking is considered light in this Chinese territory that regularly hands out stiff sentences to traffickers, according to a legal

expert here. The expert, who agreed to talk about the sentence imposed by Wanchai Judge Joseph Yau on condition of anonymity, said drug trafficking falls under “more serious crimes” that are handled by district courts. Unlike minor infractions that are handled by magistrates’

courts and where a suspended sentence (expulsion and subsequent blacklisting) could be invoked, the defense cannot ask for this kind of punishment for a drug trafficking case in a disBEST/ A6

Singson to be expelled if... / A6

Deadly ‘My Way’ out from karaoke playlists HONG KONG—It’s been a way to unwind and get a deal done in Asia for over 40 years; crooning like Sinatra, camping it up like Abba or rocking like Elvis, often to a room full of stone-faced men in suits. Often shy and retiring, people

across Asia can be seen suddenly throwing off their chains and belting out a number in front of a room full of people, all waiting their turn. And they’re often completely sober. But the public sing-along can, DEADLY/ A6

TO KILL the snake, you must aim for its head.’ Of the three senior leaders of the RAM, Lt. Col. Victor Batac, who was then chief of the Research and Analysis Office of the intelligence division of the Philippine Constabulary/Integrated National Police, was the strategist, the planner-intellectual. Lt. Col. Eduardo “Red” Kapunan was the organization man, with wide-ranging contacts among the field commands. Lt. Col. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, baron of his class, the charismatic fighting man, was the movement’s leader. Eventually, the three told me what they planned. They would ambush Gen. Roland Pattugalan, commander of the Presidential Guards, whom the dictator Ferdinand Marcos was touting as his next Chief of WE VIED/ A15

‘Sin statue looks more like Ninoy’ By Jeannette I. Andrade and Jocelyn R. Uy SQUINTING against the midmorning sun, the woman in a yellow shirt looked up at the 15foot bronze statue and said, “It doesn’t look like him.” “It looks more like Ninoy [Aquino],” Virginia Dayao, 63, a former Church worker under Bishop Emeritus Julio Labayen of Cubao, Quezon City, told the INQUIRER with a laugh. The statue made by sculptor Ed Castrillo unveiled recently was meant to be a depiction of the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin—bespectaSIN STATUE/ A14

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PARALLEL LIVES The late President Cory Aquino with daughter Kris raises her hands in triumph during a campaign stop in Bicol for the 1986 snap presidential election. At right, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ last hurrah with wife Imelda at the Malacañang balcony shortly before the Marcoses had to flee the Palace on Feb. 25, 1986, to escape the angry mobs at the Palace gates, and were flown to Hawaii.

‘Edsa unfinished revolution’ P-Noy says he needs all Filipinos to finish fight

Revenge behind 2 massacres; 10 killed

By Norman Bordadora and Jerome Aning

AS A DIVIDED nation today marks the 26th anniversary of the 1986 “people power” uprising, President Aquino and human rights groups yesterday appeared agreed on one thing—the historic Edsa upheaval that chased away a dic- P200 house rent tator remains an unfin- for cops, soldiers ished revolution. By Norman Bordadora

By Julie Alipala Inquirer Mindanao ZAMBOANGA CITY—Twelveyear-old Henrito Bayambang was walking home after classes at Tininghalang Elementary School in Lapuyan, Zamboanga del Sur, on Thursday when he crossed the path of a group of armed men. Suddenly, without a word, the men started shooting at the boy, killing him instantly. Not content, the attackers drew their machetes and took turns hacking at the lifeless body of Bayambang, said Senior Supt. Jose Bayani Gucela, Zamboanga del Sur police director, recounting witnesses’ ac-

TRECE MARTIRES CITY—Police officer Rey Sarcon’s eyes lit up when he revealed how much he paid every month for his own piece of paradise in this city just outside Metro Manila. “Two hundred pesos a month for the first five years!” Sarcon proudly announced, his wife

P-NOY/ A9

P200 HOUSE/ A8

Naguiat hits report on PH gambling’s ‘ingrained graft’

REVENGE/ A6

‘Father was real target’ / A6 HOUSE PROUD President Aquino turns over the house keys to a policeman and his family during Friday’s symbolic turnover of 1,500 houses for soldiers and policemen at Ciudad Adelina 2, Barangay Luciano, Trece Martires City, Cavite. At right is Vice President Jejomar Binay. The President is committed to build 31,000 more houses for the government’s uniformed personnel. EDWIN BACASMAS

Prosecution to invite Sereno By TJ Burgonio, Gil C. Cabacungan and Mike Ubac

People power One Day, One Bay in Metro cleanup

EVEN if dissenting Associate Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno volunteers herself as a witness in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, she would still have to deal with the issue of whether she can testify on matters covered by confidentiality and judicial privilege,

and has to get the consent of the Supreme Court. These are the limitations facing the prosecution in its plan to get Sereno to testify that Corona had been allegedly partial to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the Supreme Court decision to grant Arroyo’s petition for a temporary lifting of a travel ban against her last November, defense lawyers said

yesterday. The prosecution panel will ask the impeachment court next week to issue an “invitation” to Sereno to appear at the Senate on Wednesday, Feb. 29. The invitation is being sought as an alternative to the compulsory process of a subpoena, which the high court has ruled out in a Feb. 14 resolution and PROSECUTION/ A9

By DJ Yap BRACE UP for yet another People Power Revolution today. This time, the aim of its organizers is to clean up Manila Bay. This morning, officials of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) are channeling the spirit of “people power” into a Metro-wide cleanup of the bay to coincide with the 26th an-

Speaking before soldiers and police officers at a homesite being built for their benefit under the administration’s housing program, Mr. Aquino said he needed the cooperation of Filipinos to finish the fight. “With the things happening around us, it’s clear that the fight that started in Edsa in

Return of Iggy remains indefinite

PEOPLE/ A8

By Nancy C. Carvajal and Tina G. Santos THE ARRIVAL from London of the body of Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo remains indefinite, according to lawyer Leonard de Vera.

Arroyo’s body was scheduled to arrive on Friday night from London via Dubai, accompanied by longtime partner Grace Ibuna. The congressman died in London on Jan. 26. De Vera, Ibuna’s counsel, said paperwork needed for the repa-

triation caused the delay. He explained that the repatriation involved the Philippine consulate, the mortuary, airline and the court, among others. He said there was no new schedule so far but the delay RETURN/ A8

NEWS

METRO

BUSINESS

SAT. SPECIAL

Rebuilding in CDO

Cops trace frat

SMC

Cab drivers talk

with apl.de.ap / A4 Protests rage; Obama apologizes / A22

cars, checking 25 names in hazing victim case / A19

acquisition of PAL ‘imminent’ / B1

about their favorite radio programs / F3

By Daxim L. Lucas THE HEAD of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) yesterday strongly denied “reckless allegations” by a US-based gaming giant that he was bribed by a Japanese tycoon seeking to build a rival casino in Metro Manila and that the local gaming industry was tainted with corruption.

Pagcor chair and CEO Cristino Naguiat Jr. issued the denial after casino operator Wynn Resorts sued its former partner, Kazuo Okada, in a Las Vegas court, accusing Okada of bribNAGUIAT/ A6

Okada ousted from Wynn Macau board by former pal / A6

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‘Let’s go, let’s make it right’ P-Noy says judiciary one wrong committed in the past By Norman Bordadora

Take 2 for Sin’s statue; they got it right this time

TWENTY-SIX years after millions flocked to Edsa to overthrow a dictator, President Aquino yesterday rallied Filipinos to take action against the judiciary that, he said, like martial law was one of the “wrongs committed in the past” that needed to be corrected.

TAKE two for the monument to Sin. For the second time in a year, coinciding with the celebrations to mark the 26th anniversary of the first Edsa People Power Revolution, a statue of the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, one of the icons of that historic event, was unveiled yesterday

decades ago chose to keep silent until they could no longer bear the sufferings it P-NOY/ A11

Lighting up lives earns 2 teeners Edsa honors / A11

TAKE 2/ A6

COMPOSITE PHOTO BY EDWIN BACASMAS AND RAFFY LERMA

Apparently continuing on a recent favorite theme, the condemnation of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona, Mr. Aquino urged “immediate action,” saying martial law happened because people

By Jeannette I. Andrade

WE REMEMBER YELLOW Confetti rains on the Edsa parade at the People Power Monument to mark the 26th anniversary of the uprising that ousted dictator Marcos and returned democracy to the people. Some of Edsa’s major players, including Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile who has snubbed most previous commemorations, are joined by political and civil society leaders who lock arms to renew their pledge to keep alive the Edsa spirit. Up front from left are Rep. Roilo Golez, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, presidential adviser Ronald Llamas, Sen. Gringo Honasan, Sen. Tito Sotto, Speaker Sonny Belmonte, ex-President Fidel Ramos, Vice President Jejomar Binay, President Aquino, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., ex-President Joseph Estrada, Enrile, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Butz Aquino and Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. At right is Freddie Aguilar.

Jose W. Diokno: Fleshing out a legend A life in the Bad week for prosecution day of Juan ends with music to its ears (Editor’s Note: As the nation remembers the 1986 People Power Revolution, one family also celebrates the memories of one of Philippine democracy’s towering defenders, Jose W. Diokno—senator, human rights advocate, martial law prisoner, bar topnotcher, man of faith, devoted husband and loving father. “Ka Pepe” passed away 25 years ago, on Feb. 27, 1987. He would have turned 90 today. The following are stories of Diokno written by 7 of his 10 children.) ***

Love affair with the law By Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno DAD’S love affair with the law started early in his life. As a boy of 12 he would go with his father, Ramon Diokno, to trials in

Ponce Enrile By Bibeth Orteza Contributor

ROMANCE IN ‘SLOW DRAG’ Diokno on wife Carmen: The Lord has never been so good as the day my wife married me. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO the provinces. He would carry his father’s bag, even had a small chair reserved for him behind the counsel’s table. The same thing happened to me when I was 13. It was 1974,

the height of the Marcos dictatorship, when I first started going to court with Dad. The first time I saw him in action, I was hooked. I knew then, without a JOSE/ A10

St. Clare is here, don’t bring eggs By Jocelyn R. Uy THE MOMENT the monastery’s chapel closed for the night, a group of nuns in brown habits quietly emerged from their cloistered choir loft and

swarmed around their “special guest,” ready with their handkerchiefs and digital cameras. Near the altar, inside an ornate, gleaming monstrance, was the relic of their monastic order’s founder, St. Clare of Assisi.

(Editor’s Note: The author set out to observe a day in the life of her husband’s uncle, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, as he presides over what is one of the most important trials in the country’s history—the impeachment of the Supreme Court Chief Justice. Graciously welcomed by her subject into his home and allowed to tag along to the trial, she came away with much more than just the details of a daily routine. The star of the moment obliged her with a sometimes tearful recollection of his life, enough material perhaps for a scriptwriter like the author and a director like her husband Carlitos Siguion-Reyna to turn into a riveting movie.)

For the first time in 800 years, the relic—a fragment of the saint’s cranium—left its home at Basilica di Santa Chiara in Assisi, Italy, in line with the octocentennial celebration of the

8:15 a. m. THE MAN of the house is still in his bedroom. Sally Moneda, his cook and personal assistant of 26 years, reminds his close-in aide, Julius Gumban, not to

ST. CLARE/ A6

A LIFE / A21

WHAT’S INSIDE

LIFESTYLE •Ortigas-Madrigal case breaks silence on concubinage •Retelling story of country’s most prominent twins ENTERTAINMENT •Suspense surrounds Academy Awards •10 facts about the Oscars • Hunk eyes macho guy from another studio NEWS •Prosecution says written questions to Sereno complicated •Palace not siding with political ally vs Quezon gov son of GMA’s ally • US spies see no evidence Iran building nuke bomb

He held that the hearsay evidence rule does not apply fully because the impeachment trial THE PAST week didn’t augur is not a criminal case. He had well for the prosecution in the earlier said, to the prosecuimpeachment trition’s dismay, that al of Chief Justice COMMENTARY it was “akin to a Renato Corona. criminal case.” But it wasn’t all gloom for the Courtroom trials usually deBAD WEEK/ A20 prosecution after Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile made FVR: Impeachment won’t one ruling that was music to its ears. solve poverty / A11

By Raul C. Pangalangan Columnist

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FLYING HIGH With Mount Arayat in the background, the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s balloon flies over Pampanga during the 18th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Clark Field in Angeles City. JOHN K. CHUA

PDI keeps big lead in newspaper readership THE PHILIPPINE Daily Inquirer remains the country’s No. 1 newspaper, according to the latest readership survey by The Nielsen Co. The Nielsen Consumer and Media View survey covering the fourth quarter of 2012 found that the INQUIRER is the newspaper of choice of 46.54 percent of respondents nationwide who had read a newspaper the day before. The survey put the INQUIRER way ahead of Manila Bulletin (33.79-percent readership) and Philippine Star (30.34 percent). PDI KEEPS/ A23

PH sends ship to Sabah US set 5 conditions to save Marcos

But Sulu sultan says followers staying put

By Fernando del Mundo

By Nikko Dizon and TJ Burgonio

EDSA ’86: MOTHER OF ALL PEOPLE POWER REVOLTS

EDSA 27

Chief, i-Team AS THE NATION hung on a knife-edge on Feb. 22, 1986, President Ferdinand Marcos signed a deal with an emissary of US President Ronald Reagan to keep him in power that included reSPECIAL moving his REPORT wife Imelda and loyal security chief Gen. Fabian Ver, former Trade Minister Roberto V. Ongpin said in an interview with the INQUIRER last week. Ongpin said he was with Reagan’s troubleshooter, Philip Habib, and US Ambassador Stephen Bosworth US SET / A16

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY C. FERNANDEZ

(Last of two parts)

FINAL MOMENTS President Ferdinand Marcos speaks from the Malacañang balcony after the dictator’s inauguration in this Feb. 25, 1986, photo. With him are his wife Imelda and his son Bongbong in combat attire.

June Keithley: ‘Sosyal’ turns radical Transition By Constantino C. Tejero

KEITHLEY

PHOTO TAKEN FROM BOOK

“PEOPLE POWER: AN EYEWITNESS HISTORY”

IN THE TWILIGHT of the Marcos regime, a voice was heard across the land. It was a shrill voice of a girl over the radio, telling the people a catalogue of anomalies occurring during the February 1986 snap election called by President Ferdinand Marcos to validate his 19-year rule. “It was perhaps because of my voice—that shrill voice that

from old to new oligarchy

people thought was that of a little girl’s—that people took notice,” media personality June Keithley says in an interview with Gabriel Mercado for the book “Heroes,” recalling her two-week stint as radio broadcaster during the Edsa revolt. “They might have been wondering, ‘Who is that little girl who is actually telling the truth?’” She was actually afraid her

By Amando Doronila

JUNE / A16

‘Argo,’ ‘Lincoln’ Oscar favorites influence the outcome of Hollywood’s most important awards, Sunday night’s Oscars. Such gifts are strictly forbidden by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. But ‘ARGO’/ A23

Who should win, who were snubbed / E4

LOS ANGELES—Giant coffee table books, iPod Shuffles, signed letters from directors, even “Lincoln” turkey roasting pans. That’s just some of the largesse doled out by the studios to voters for awards presented earlier this season—each with the potential to

STATUETTES in the likeness of the Oscar award are displayed across the street from the Hollywood and Highland complex in Los Angeles.

TWENTY-SEVEN years after the Edsa People Power Revolution toppled the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship, the government of the restored Philippine democracy is in the hands of the son of the late President Cory Aquino, whose family is descended from the ANALYSIS country’s wealthiest political dynasty. That dynasty, the CojuangcoAquino family, owns Hacienda Luisita, one of the largest landed estates in the Philippines. Cory Aquino was elevated to the presidency on the back of people power, a mass movement driven by a triumvirate of TRANSITION/ A14

P-Noy leads Edsa rites / A4

NEWS

NATION

WORLD

BUSINESS

PCSO employees

Palawan coal

Shadows fall

Stress, privacy issues

received P303M in bonuses–COA / A2

plant OKd amid opposition / A9

over conclave define consumer to pick Pope / A27 trends in ’13 / B4-4

THE FOLLOWERS of the sultan of Sulu holed up in a village in Sabah, eastern Malaysia, could be flushed out today after the expiration yesterday of a 48-hour extension of the Malaysian deadline for them to leave and the failure of Malacañang’s backchannel efforts to solve the standoff peacefully. The Philippine government sent a humanitarian ship to Sabah last night to bring home the women and children among the sultan’s armed followers holed up in Tanduao village in Lahad Datu town and encircled by Malaysian security forces, but the sultanate said no one would go with the mercy mission. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement that the ship would sail from Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, and

stand by off Lahad Datu as Malaysian authorities talked with the sultan’ followers. The DFA said it informed the Malaysian Embassy last Saturday that the Philippine government was sending a ship to Sabah. The vessel will sail for 11 to 12 hours and is expected to arrive in Lahud Datu at noon today. An INQUIRER source said Philippine officials hoped the PH SENDS / A17

‘Jose Velarde’ eyes site for Edsa memory museum By Gil C. Cabacungan “JOSE VELARDE,” not the one who was ousted in Edsa II, is back, making backroom deals with Malacañang executives who are pushing for the construction of a memory museum for Edsa I, or the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution. Businessman Jaime Dichaves, a member of then President Joseph Estrada’s “midnight JOSE / A15

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EDSA 27 YEARS AFTER A man flashes the Laban sign, symbol of the fight against the Marcos dictatorship, as confetti rains on the Edsa People Power Monument during the commemoration of the 27th anniversary of the civilian-backed military revolt that toppled the Marcos regime. RICHARD A. REYES

P-Noy to PH: Never again Signs law paying Marcos victims

Hopes run high Sabah drama over in 48 hours

By TJ Burgonio

AMID THE HOOPLA of the People Power I celebration, President Aquino yesterday signed a law compensating close to 10,000 victims of human rights violations during martial law as he exhorted Filipinos to “celebrate a race that will never again be oppressed.”

THE STANDOFF between Malaysian security forces and an armed group of followers of the sultan of Sulu entered a third week yesterday with hopes running high that the drama would end within the next 48 hours. The Malaysian government extended the deadline for the armed group to leave the village of Tanduao in Lahad Datu town by another 48 hours to allow time for talks between emissaries of the Philippine governHOPES / A6

RICHARD A. REYES

By Tarra Quismundo

RIGHTING A WRONG President Aquino signs the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act, which provides compensation to thousands of victims of martial law, at the Edsa People Power Monument in Quezon City on Monday. Witnessing the signing are (from left) Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II, Quezon Rep. Erin Tañada, Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares and Speaker Sonny Belmonte.

Edsa ’86: A military perspective

De Lima has no clue on PH stand on sultan’s move / A6 By Reynaldo V. Silvestre (First of two parts)

(Editor’s Note: The author was an army major during the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution. A bemedalled officer, he retired in 2005 as a colonel.) IN THE AFTERNOON of Feb. 22, 1986, Defense Minister

Two more claim to be real sultan of Sulu

COMMENTARY Juan Ponce Enrile and Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos, under threat of imminent arrest, sought refuge in their military headquarters. In the morning of Feb. 25 both were sworn into the government of Corazon Aquino. That same evening Ferdinand Mar-

Palace opens doors to 1,000 kids / A11

LOS ANGELES—Ben Affleck’s “Argo,” a film about a phony movie used in the rescue of American hostages in Iran, has earned a very real prize: best picture at the Academy Awards. In share-the-wealth mode, Oscar voters spread Sunday’s honors among a range of films, with “Argo” winning three trophies but “Life of Pi” leading with four. Daniel Day-Lewis became the first person to win three bestactor Oscars, the latest coming for “Lincoln,” while “Hunger

Inquirer Mindanao

TWO MORE / A6

EDSA ’86 / A11

‘Argo’ wins Oscar best picture

By Allan Afdal Nawal DIGOS CITY—The diplomatic and security crisis created by Jamalul Kiram III’s sending a group of armed followers to Sabah to claim the land has revived an age-old question here: Who is the real sultan of Sulu? Since the crisis started nearly three weeks ago, two more

cos flew into exile. In just about 80 hours, a military organization strong enough to prop Marcos up during 14 years of martial law simply abandoned him. What happened?

OSCAR VICTORS Daniel Day-Lewis, best actor for “Lincoln,” Jennifer Lawrence, best actress for “Silver Linings Playbook,” Anne Hathaway, best supporting actress for “Les Miserables” and Christoph Waltz, best supporting actor for “Django Unchained,” share a joke backstage. REUTERS

‘ARGO’/ A13

Tears, laughter backstage with the Oscar winners / A13

WORLD

BUSINESS

LEARNING

Pope speaks from his

MVP, Gokongwei firm

PBEd summit: Borderless

window for last time / A20

up joint venture / B1

education coming / E1

The colorful commemoration at the Edsa People Power Monument of the 27th anniversary of the People Power I that toppled strongman Ferdinand Marcos in February 1986 served as a backdrop for the signing of the Hu-

man Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013. “It’s clear: Our quest for justice doesn’t end with today’s commemoration. That’s why today, we have signed the Human Rights P-NOY / A11

Lawmakers slam Ongpin for historical revisionism By Gil C. Cabacungan LAWMAKERS yesterday slammed former Trade Minister Roberto V. Ongpin for his purported attempt to rewrite Philippine history and paint the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, his family and his cronies in a better light. “Good Lord! More revision-

ism?” said Sen. Serge Osmeña, who instigated a Senate blue ribbon committee probe on Ongpin for alleged insider trading of Philex Mining Corp. shares, profiting from a behest loan granted by Development Bank of the Philippines in 2009 and acting as a front for former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. LAWMAKERS/ A13

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

7 SECTIONS / VOL. 29 / NO. 79

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A MYTH THIS IS NOT The Philippines had two presidents for about nine hours exactly 28 years ago today. Corazon Aquino (left) is sworn in at 10:46 a.m. as the country’s 11th President by then Justice Claudio Teehankee at Club Filipino in San Juan, a short distance from Edsa. About two hours later, Ferdinand Marcos addresses his supporters from a balcony in Malacañang after taking his oath of office, claiming that he won the snap presidential election. But at 9:05 p.m., Marcos leaves the Palace on a helicopter. The rest is history. COMPOSITE PHOTO BY JOHNNY VILLENA AND MR & MS PHOTO

Sino ships fire water cannon at PH fishers Military suggests probe before lodging protest By Nikko Dizon

ARMED FORCES Chief of Staff Gen. Emmanuel Bautista yesterday accused China’s Coast Guard of firing water cannon at Filipino fishermen last month to drive them away from a disputed shoal in the West Philippine Sea.

Day 4: Dictator’s day of humiliation By Miguel C. Suarez Chief, Inquirer News Service THERE was something surreal about the last day of Ferdinand E. Marcos’ 20-year rule. The economy in a shambles, his government in total collapse, much of the Armed Forces in mutiny, his palace in disarray and abandoned by most of his Cabinet, Marcos cut a pathetic figure that Tues-

Bautista said Chinese vessels fired water cannon on Jan. 27 near Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal), a rich fishing ground off Zambales province in the West Philippine Sea, part of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone. “The Chinese Coast Guard tried to drive away Filipino fishing vessels to the extent of using water cannon,” Bautista told a forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines. He did not say if anyone was

By Michelle V. Remo STATE-RUN Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) is being asked to remit to the Bureau of the Treasury P5.8 billion in dividends that it didn’t pay during the time of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The amount covered the period 2005 to 2010. Pagcor chair Cristino Naguiat Jr. said in a press briefing on Monday that the gaming firm was amenable to paying any liabilities. But Pagcor will have to first determine whether the PAGCOR / A4

DAY 4/ A6

Edsa as party, history, memory of a people By Jia Aquino-Dee (Editor’s Note: The writer is 17, daughter of Viel Aquino-Dee, fourth child of former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino. She’s a fourth year student at the Philippine Science High School.)

MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

SINO / A4

Pagcor asked to remit P6B in missing dividends

day 28 years ago today. One moment he was pleading to be allowed to stay on as a figurehead and in the next he was threatening to wipe out his enemies. In between, he was still promising to lead the Philippines “to the heaven of progress.” Barely an hour after Cory Aquino—derided by the dictator as a plain housewife who

FVR VICTORY JUMP Former President Fidel V. Ramos reenacts his trademark jump at the People Power Monument on Edsa in Quezon City on the eve of the 28th anniversary of the Edsa Revolution. INQSnap this page (not just the logo) to view more photos.

P-Noy rallies Filipinos to face nature challenge By Christian V. Esguerra and Nico Alconaba Inquirer Mindanao PRESIDENT Aquino yesterday rallied Filipinos behind what he called a new kind of solidarity, not unlike the one they exhibited in toppling the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship 28 years ago. “Today, the challenge is dif-

EDSA. A name familiar to Filipinos of every age, yet vastly different in each mind’s eye. My generation, having been approximately negative-10 years old at the time of its incidence, knows of its events only through textbooks, lectures, EDSA/ A9

Visit www.inquirer.net/edsa28 to view INQBack: EDSA28 Special site • Edsa Feb. 25 timeline /A6 • FVR: Keep Edsa spirit alive by caring, sharing and daring / A9

Thieves steal 10-m, 7-ton Aussie mango

ferent. It’s the challenge coming from nature, not men,” the President told a crowd of about 1,000 in Cateel, a town in Davao Oriental province that was hit by Typhoon “Pablo” 14 months ago in a destructive sweep that left 1,000 people dead in Northern Mindanao. Cateel was the first stop in the President’s tour of areas

SYDNEY—Thieves armed with heavy machinery and cranes made a daring midnight heist in northern Australia, stealing a 10-meter, 7-ton mango monument, officials said on Monday. The Big Mango, a towering likeness of the fruit that is abundant in the statue’s hometown of Bowen, Queensland, is one of more than 150 “Big Things” erected as kitschy tourist

P-NOY/ A9

THIEVES/ A9

Solons dared to tell all on DAP By Gil C. Cabacungan KABATAAN Rep. Terry Ridon yesterday urged his peers to come clean and declare whether they received extra funds from President Aquino’s pork barrel, called the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), before, during and after the impeachment of then Chief Justice Renato Corona. Ridon said Budget Secretary Florencio Abad was attempting to salvage the DAP, whose constitutionality has been questioned in the Supreme Court, by stressing that legislators would not admit they were bribed using the spending program to impeach Corona. “We therefore challenge those in the know to come out and speak, for the public truly deserves to know the truth,” said the youth leader who is serving his first year as representative. “The best defense for the DAP is full disclosure so that the public and the members of Congress will know for themselves who got DAP funds. This will answer once and for all who got more, who got less and who got none SOLONS / A4

WHAT’S INSIDE

SPORTS Martinez seeks

podium finish in 2018 Games / A14

WORLD Thai PM flees

Bangkok as unrest escalates/ A18

METRO/BUSINESS Truck groups

divided / A15 Industry group slams truck ban policies / B1

LEARNING What the kids say

about Edsa I / F1

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

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BEVY OF BEAUTIES AT INQUIRER Candidates of Binibining Pilipinas 2014 visit the Philippine Daily Inquirer office in Makati City on Tuesday. The Philippine candidates for Miss Universe, Miss International, Miss Tourism Queen International and Miss Supranational will be chosen from among these beauty title aspirants. INQSnap this page (not just the logo) to view more photos. KIMBERLY DE LA CRUZ

PH protests China water cannon attack Truck ban Manila says regional peace is threatened paralyzes THE PHILIPPINES yesterday strongly protestBOC, port ed China’s water cannon attack on Filipino fishermen in a disputed operations shoal nearly a month By Tarra Quismundo

ago, citing how such acts “escalate tensions” and “threaten the peace” in the region.

By Michelle V. Remo THE BUREAU of Customs (BOC) said private businesses as well as the government’s revenue collections had been hurt by the extension of the truck ban in Manila. In a statement, the BOC said that on the first day of the ban on Monday, the release of container vans from the Manila International Container Port (MICP) dropped from an average of 2,150 per day to just four. Also, the release of container vans from the Port of Manila (POM) fell from an average of 1,200 per day to zero. Under the new policy, trucks and other vehicles with gross weight of at least 4,500 kilograms, except those carrying petroleum and perishable TRUCK/ A6

FIRST TIME Waving from the stage, President Aquino leads the celebration of the 28th anniversary of the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution in Cebu City. Mr. Aquino was joined in the festivities by Cebu officials. TONEE DESPOJO/CEBU DAILY NEWS

From Edsa to Fuente Osmeña By Christian V. Esguerra CEBU CITY—President Aquino yesterday preached the gospel of “love for others” as he led the commemoration of the Edsa People Power Revolution before yellow-clad supporters. The President said this ex-

pression of selfless giving—shown when about a million Filipinos massed on Edsa in 1986 until Ferdinand Marcos stepped down—was evident in efforts to assist natural calamity victims more than two decades later. “What drove us in Edsa was

the same one that drives us to help one another each time there’s a calamity, not because we want to take advantage of others or to get something in re-

SYDNEY—The “theft” of a three-story, 10-ton mango statue in northern Australia was revealed on Tuesday to be an elaborate publicity stunt by a fast-food chain. The disappearance on Monday of the Big Mango, a towering

fiberglass likeness of the fruit, which is abundant in its hometown of Bowen, made international headlines and a Facebook page was set up to help find it. But a chicken restaurant chain admitted yesterday it was respon-

P-Noy refuses Edsa ‘babies’ are now to budge on senators rights board appointment Big Mango ‘theft’ just a publicity stunt By Christian V. Esguerra CEBU CITY—President Aquino yesterday rejected demands that he withdraw the appointment of Lina Sarmiento, insisting that the former police director was the right person to “fend off” a supposed effort to “sabotage” the compensation of victims of human rights violations during martial law. “I am sure that there are at least two camps that don’t want this board to succeed,” he told reporters in Filipino, referring to the Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board now headed by Sarmiento. P-NOY / A18

FROM EDSA / A8

/ A8

BIG MANGO / A18

WHAT’S INSIDE

WORLD

BUSINESS

NEWS

LIFESTYLE

Fugitive

PH to miss

Jinggoy,

When my

Ukraine leader 2015 poverty- Gringo in teenager wanted for ‘mass reduction goal separate P220-M son fell murder’ / A26 probe / A2 in love/ D1 / B1

Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, told reporters that while the Chinese action was “alarming,” it did not warrant an immediate military response. “I don’t think it would be appropriate if we send the Philippine Navy at this time. It will just escalate the situation,” ZaPH PROTESTS / A8

Kerry ups ante in struggle to crack South China Sea rules / A6 •Wescom assigned to protect Bajo de Masinloc / A8

SC stops TRO on rice shipment from Davao By Christine O. Avendaño AS JUSTICE Secretary Leila de Lima pushed for a Cabinetcrafted policy on rice importation, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has won a temporary victory over one of four court injunctions it is facing in connection with the entry into the country of rice shipments without import permits. The Supreme Court yesterday stopped a Davao City Regional Trial Court order that restrained the BOC from seizing 91,800 bags of imported rice that a businessman had bought from a firm linked to David Bangayan aka David Tan. The shipment arrived two months ago without an import permit. The high court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the enforcement of the Dec. 12, 2013, order of Judge Emmanuel Carpio of Davao City RTC Branch 16 that prevented the BOC from seizing the shipment of Joseph Ngo. Ngo bought the rice from Starcraft International Trading Corp., which is linked to Bangayan, who is suspected to be rice smuggler David Tan. “The TRO is effective immediately and until further orders SC STOPS/ A6