For those who would want to watch the replay of the episode, tune in at ANC today, March 12, 1:00PM and on Sunday, March 14, 4:00PM.

Failon Ngayon 30-second question: Ayon ka ba sa karagdagang buwis?

(At 0:58) Atty. JV Bautista: Ako hindi. Kasi sa ngayon, marami sa mga batas na ipinapataw, lalo na itong E-VAT, pampahirap sa bayan, kasi hindi nagdidistinguish ng mahirap at saka mayaman e. Ako naniniwala sa progressive taxation. Dapat ang ipinapataw na buwis, yung kung sino kumikita ng malaki at yung malalaki ang kayamanan nila, dapat yun ang buwisan ng gobyerno. After all sila naman ang pino-proteksyunan ng gobyerno, yung mga mahihirap nga pinababayaan.

Crisis powers will lead to onerous contracts with power firms – JV Bautista

Dark Power Rising: The Philippine Power Industry 9 Years After EPIRA by the Freedom from Debt Coalition

SENATORIAL candidate and human rights lawyer JV Bautista expressed concern today as Malacanang is mulling over a special session of Congress to resolve the power crisis in Luzon and Mindanao.

Bautista said, “Granting special powers to Arroyo like the same blanket authority given to (former president) Ramos at the height of the 1990s electricity crisis would usher in new versions of the onerous contracts with independent power producers”.

The lawyer recalled the controversial power purchase adjustment, commonly referred to as PPA, where “electricity bills blatantly revealed that consumers were being charged for unconsumed electricity”.

Bautista explained, “The PPA is part of the contract provisions between government and the independent power producers, who charged consumers not for the actual electricity they used. The rates were based on the capacity of the power plants, whether or not they actually produced such wattage of electricity.”

“It may be understandable, but not forgivable, for private power firms, driven by profit motive to use the current power crisis as an opportunity for unrepentant exploitation. But never would we condone the government if it would again act as accomplice to such dastardly act,” he stressed.

“I appeal to our lawmakers to think independently of the interest of the Arroyos. Do not grant special powers to the petty tyrant of Malacanang. We do not want another ZTE deal.  If we have to enter into contracts with power firms, the people demand not only transparency in their provisions. More so, we need a Congress that would act as a mechanism for check and balance to the president, a legislature that truly defends the welfare and future of the Filipino people,” he concluded.-30-

Inquirer Opinion / Editorial

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/editorial/view/20100305-256904/Patterns

EDITORIAL

Patterns

Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: March 05, 2010

SEN. MANUEL VILLAR sees a pattern in the recent attacks mounted by some of his political foes and believes they have hatched a conspiracy to portray him as a “transactional leader.” In an interview Thursday with GMA-7’s Mike Enriquez, the standard-bearer of the Nacionalista Party said his Senate foes wanted to paint him as somebody who was buying off his political rivals as well as the media. Their strategy is “to create an impression that I am in the habit of bribing people,” Villar said. “But all of my money came from hard work and patience, from my sweat and blood. I don’t just give it away to anyone.”

Villar was reacting to accusations made by Sen. Richard Gordon, one of his rivals for the presidency, that he had offered to reimburse Gordon’s campaign expenses as well as a Cabinet post of his choice, if the latter would withdraw his signature from the Senate committee report recommending censure for Villar in connection with the C-5 road extension controversy and support the move to oust Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile from the Senate presidency. Gordon said the offer was made by a businessman they both knew, but he turned it down immediately. “The objective was not my withdrawal from the campaign,” he said. “The objective was to protect himself [from the committee report].”

Sen. Dick Gordon

Gordon was the second senator to speak of a bribe attempt made by Villar in connection with the C-5 controversy. In January, Enrile said Villar invited him to a luncheon meeting in August last year because he was “concerned about the Senate investigation.” It was during the meeting that Villar offered to “help” Enrile in case he needed anything. Enrile said he had the impression that Villar was “trying to buy me off.”

Villar dismissed Enrile’s allegation as a “false story … conceived in malice.”

Former President Joseph Estrada, who is also running for president, had a similar story. He said another presidential candidate had offered to reimburse all his campaign expenses if he withdrew from the race. But while Estrada refused to say who had made the offer, one of the senatorial candidates in his ticket, JV Bautista, said Villar was “the most likely person to do that … because the other political contenders do not have that kind of money to offer.” Villar denied ever talking to anyone regarding the matter.

“If you look at the characters, the personalities involved—the players don’t change,” Villar said of his detractors. “The issues are repeated, recycled.” In other words, it is Goebbels’ “big lie” which Villar’s detractors plan to keep repeating until people ultimately accept it as truth.

But is it? If Villar sees a pattern in the line of attack of his political foes, there are others who see their charges fitting neatly into a pattern of throwing money at any problem that stands in the way of his ambition to become the next president. People who have noticed how Villar has been splurging hundreds of millions of pesos on political ads and throwing several millions more in the form of prizes, scholarships and other giveaways do not need a lot of convincing to believe he tried to buy exoneration in the C-5 case or buy off some of his presidential rivals. Even those who cannot take the word of politicians, particularly his rivals, will find it hard to ignore what they can see with their own eyes: Villar is trying to buy his way to the presidency.

Naging Mahirap

On political ads alone, Villar was reported to have spent about P1 billion as of the middle of February, outspending by a ratio of 2.5:1 the next biggest ad spender, Gilbert Teodoro. And the trend continues, with Villar spending P120.4 million between Feb. 9 and March 2, with Estrada coming in second with P88 million in ad spending.

Villar has tried to justify his extravagant campaign by saying he is only trying to level the playing field because he is not a celebrity and has no famous parents. Besides he is spending his own money, he adds. But his unprecedented campaign spending only makes Villar more equal than most of the other candidates. And no matter his repeated assurance that he would not try to recover the billions he will spend to get himself elected, there will always be the irrepressible suspicion that as president he will act like the businessman that he has been all of his life. Didn’t he say he doesn’t just give money away to anyone?

©Copyright 2001-2010 INQUIRER.net, An Inquirer Company

Watch Atty. JV Bautista at Failon Ngayon, ABS-CBN (Channel 2 for NCR), this Saturday, March 6, 2010, 5:30pm!

Failon Ngayon at ABS-CBN 2

Click here for more info: http://www.abs-cbn.com/Weekends/article/5338/failonngayon/Failon-Ngayon.aspx

Estrada says rival trying to buy him out

Erap and Villar

A 30-second video from a friend of JV Bautista depicting what he has done for the country.

Violate the Party-List law, we will sue you in court, Arroyo, Angie Reyes told

SENATORIAL CANDIDATE and lawyer JV Bautista dared the President’s son Mikey Arroyo and Energy Department head Angelo Reyes to run as party-list nominees in the coming May elections.

Party-list groups 1-UTAK and Ang Galing Pilipino (AGP) are reportedly eyeing Reyes and Arroyo as nominees. They have until March 31 to file their list of nominees before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Bautista, a former party-list representative of Sanlakas said, “The 1987 Constitution provided for party-list representation in Congress to ensure the voice of the poor and marginalized sectors in the drafting of laws. Sadly, the enabling law for this Constitutional provision – Republic Act 7941, the Party-list Law – did not guard against its misuse as backdoor entry for ‘trapos’ (traditional politicians) and government officials, who seek congressional positions but not through election in their respective congressional districts.”

“How can Reyes and Arroyo claim to be representatives of the marginalized sectors of society? Mikey Arroyo is a son of the incumbent president – the highest official in the land. Angie Reyes, in his stint as Energy Chief, has patently revealed that he represents the interests of the big oil firms. Reyes resisted government regulation of oil prices even when Malacanang ordered its control during the height of the Ondoy and Pepeng typhoons,” he averred.

“Let them try and violate the spirit of the Party-list law. We will sue them court. They would suffer the same fate as that of MAD (Mamamayan Ayaw sa Droga with actor Richard Gomez as nominee) who ran in 1998 but was disqualified after the elections,” he concluded. -30-

Magdalo lawyer advises next president on the prevention of “kudeta” and military uprisings

Lawyer and senatorial candidate JV Bautista offered an unsolicited advice today to the country’s next president regarding the prevention of coup d’ etats and military uprisings.
Bautista stood as counsel to Magdalo soldiers. The group has endorsed his candidacy for senator.

Steps to prevent coup d’ etat

The lawyer explained, “Stamp out corruption in the military. This is the first decisive step for the prevention of military uprisings. Instead of appeasing a few rotten tomatoes – especially those in the top brass – the next commander-in-chief must instead divert the funds to improve the lives of our rank-and-file soldiers and their families”.

“Next is to exercise utmost judiciousness in the promotion of military officials. While promotion is a sole prerogative of the president as Chief Commander, it must be based on merit, good character and performance; not on mere loyalty to chief executive,” he added.

Arroyo and military discontent

“The Arroyo regime fanned the embers of discontent in the military rank and file not only because it favored a cabal of officials who switched loyalties at the height of Edsa Dos. More so, it was beholden to those who masterminded the electoral fraud in the 2004 elections. The ‘Hello Garci’ scandal incriminated several generals who rigged the elections in Mindanao,” he clarified.

Workers and Peasants in uniform

“Lastly, the new regime should address the poverty of the people. Military discontent is not only a part of the general discontent of the public. More so, it is an extension of the restlessness of toiling masses since soldiers are workers and peasants in uniform,” he concluded. -30-

Bongbong may use “reclaimed” ill-gotten wealth in campaign

PMP Senate bet JV Bautista warns that a Marcos family comeback will erase EDSA gains

The Marcos Family

A day shy of the 24th anniversary of the EDSA People Power I Revolution which toppled the Marcos dictatorship, a Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) Senate bet warns that Nacionalista Senatoriable Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is “in a position” to use “reclaimed ill-gotten wealth” for his senatorial campaign.

“His unrepentant stance on the sins of his father may be indicative of his willingness to use ill-gotten wealth, gradually reclaimed, for his and his family’s electoral bids,” said former Rep. JV Bautista, a member of the PMP senatorial slate.

JV Bautista explained that a “successful Marcos family comeback” will “erase the gains of the EDSA I revolution.”

“We cannot let this happen. We cannot let the crimes of the Marcos dictatorship be forgotten, as much as we cannot let the corruption of Arroyo be erased by the next administration,” JV Bautista insisted.

Reclaiming Ill-gotten Wealth

JV Bautista cites the recent victory of the Marcos family over the 25-hectare property in Cabuyao, Laguna that the government had confiscated in 1988 and turned over to the Department of Tourism for “administration and maintenance”.

The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division ruled that the government has no valid claim over the Canlubang Mansion after it failed to include it in the list of assets that it is seeking to recover from the Marcoses.

“We cannot let the Marcoses reclaim everything, the entire $10 billion worth of ill-gotten wealth, due to government incompetence and collusion of some Marcos Trojan horses,” JV Bautista said.

Like Mikey

The PMP Senatoriable likened Marcos Jr. to controversial Presidential son and current Pampanga 2nd district Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, saying that “Bongbong benefitted from his father’s kleptocratic excesses as much as Mikey is benefitting from her mother’s.”

“If this is to happen, then we might as well imagine Mikey, as early as 2016 or 2019, becoming a senator of the republic,” JV Bautista said.

Rep. Mikey Arroyo is hounded by several controversies and allegations of corruptions, most recent of which is his ballooning net-worth and P63.7-million beachfront property in the United States.

JV Bautista earlier defended colleague Sen. Jinggoy Estrada who was being compared to Rep. Arroyo.

“He (Jinggoy) is far better between the two of them (he and Mikey). The other guy (Mikey) merely won in Pampanga while Jinggoy won all over the country,” JV earlier said.

“Compromised position”

JV Bautista added that he is continuing on the “historical task of reminding the people of the crimes of the dictatorship” even if two of his leftist comrades, Reps. Satur Ocampo and Lisa Maza, are in the Nacionalista slate together with Marcos.

“I understand that some of my anti-dictatorship peers, Satur and Lisa, are in a compromised position and may have difficulty attacking their senatorial teammate, but still, I’m going to go after Bongbong for the millions of Filipinos asking for justice,” JV stated.

The UNO senatoriable says that the best way to celebrate EDSA I People Power Revolution is to be vigilant this election and to “close the all doors of governments for all forms of dictatorship, from the Marcos-type to the Arroyo-type.” -30-