Today’s Inquirer headline reads “Court Acquits GMA ally”. Former Occidental Mindoro Congressman Jose Villarosa, husband of current Occidental Mindoro Congresswoman Amelita “Girlie” Villarosa, a key ally of President Arroyo, was acquitted yesterday of the cold-blooded murder of brothers Michael and Paul Quintos. The Quintos boys were the sons of Villarosa’s political rival, ex-representative Ricardo Quintos. They were killed during the height of a land and political dispute between the two families in 1997. In March 2006, Villarosa, along with his co-accused, was sentenced to death for the murders.

The conviction was issued by Judge Ma. Theresa Yadao of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, based on the testimony of a single witness, gunman Eduardo Hermoso. Villarosa was the alleged mastermind of the murders. As reported by the Inquirer:

Saying the mere confession of the gunman implicating Villarosa as one of those who planned the killing of brothers Paul and Michael Quintos was not enough, the Court of Appeals overturned his and three others’ murder conviction handed down by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court in 2006.
Estelito Mendoza, Villarosa’s counsel, said the acquittal of the four men was immediately executory.

In acquitting Villarosa, the appellate court said circumstances failed to show “an unbroken chain which leads one to fairly and reasonably conclude that accused-appellant Villarosa planned or authored the crimes.”

“If a person is acquitted after trial, his presumption of innocence becomes conclusive because of the principle of double jeopardy … Those who are acquitted are completely free,” Mendoza told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a phone interview.

The appellate court’s fifth division, in a decision penned by Justice Noel Tijam and dated March 18, ordered the release of Villarosa and “Mamburao 6” farmers Ruben Balaguer, Gelito Bautista and Mario Tobias.

The other members of the fifth division are Martin Villarama and Sesinando Villon.

Prison authorities officially released Villarosa from custody Wednesday afternoon, said Supt. Ramon Reyes, the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) officer in charge.
The appellate court upheld the conviction of three other farmers, including that of Eduardo Hermoso whose confession had implicated the ex-lawmaker in the planning of the killings.

Villarosa’s acquittal raises a number of questions. Did politics play a part in the reversal of Villarosa’s conviction ? The Inquirer take on the case seems to say it does. Villarosa’s wife, the House Deputy Speaker and Secretary of President Arroyo’s political party KAMPI, was instrumental in shielding Arroyo from the many allegations of corruption in recent months. She even admitted that party funds were given out in cash, from P50,000.00 to P500,000.00, to local government officials about the time that Arroyo was fighting moves to impeach her from office. That Villarosa is an Arroyo loyalist is admitted and speculation is rife that she had been lobbying, successfully it now seems, to have her husband acquitted. Read the rest of this entry »

Newsweek did a cover story two weeks ago on the resurgence of Buddhism in Asia and elsewhere and its rise as a potent –even militant- political force. This is a revolutionary development for a religion known for its pacifism and contemplative character. Buddhism espouses detachment from the material world, and thus eschews all but the most rudimentary political institutions. It does not have a formally organized central political authority, like the Vatican. Yet it has morphed into a political movement, the “armies of the enlightened” as Newsweek terms it, as events in Burma and lately, in Tibet, have shown.

Last week, protests in Tibet turned violent as Chinese security forces clashed with hundreds of Buddhist monks and other ethnic Tibetans protesting continued Chinese rule. According to the Tibetan protestors, at least 80, and perhaps many more, people were killed; Chinese authorities placed the official death toll at 10. Rioting has spread to neighboring provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan, and has mobilized sympathizers internationally.

The protests began March 10, the anniversary of a failed 1959 Tibetan uprising. The People’s Republic of China took Tibet by force in 1951, and has implemented a policy of resettlement of Han Chinese from the east, who now far outnumber ethnic Tibetans.

At the center of the conflict: Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. China called for an international investigation of the Dalai Lama, accusing him of masterminding the violent Tibetan protests spreading across China. Beijing’s position was summarized as “Tibet has long been part of China, that Tibet has benefited from modernization, and that the Dalai Lama should not be allowed to return because he aims to split Tibet from China.” Read the rest of this entry »

Bear Stearns agreed Sunday evening to be bought by JPMorgan Chase for a bargain-basement price of less than $250 million, or about $2 a share.

Shares of Bear Stearns closed at $30 on Friday. The buyout price represents an astonishing 97.5% discount to the $80 per share book value that the firm has reported. The purchase price is worth only a quarter of the value of the firm’s Midtown Manhattan skyscraper, which is probably worth at least $1 billion, per the New York Times. At Friday’s close, Bear Stearns’s stock-market value was still in excess $3.5 billion. That has all changed now. Read the rest of this entry »

This bear never hibernates – is how Bear Stearns once proudly described itself. One of the largest global investment banks, Bear Stearns was hit by a savage but not totally unexpected bank run which led to a loss of more than 50% of its share value in just a few days. At its closing price of $30 a share on Friday, Bear Stearns was trading at a gaping discount to its reported book value of $80 a share. JPMorgan Chase and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (Fed) had to step in on Friday with a financial rescue package intended to keep the firm afloat. The size and terms of the bailout package were not disclosed. JPMorgan will borrow the money from the Fed and lend it to Bear Stearns, and the Fed will ultimately bear the risk of the loan.

Bear Stearns, which boasts that it has never had a losing year in its 85 years, was plagued by rumors that it had developed liquidity problems which would keep it from meeting its obligations. Its core mortgage business flourished during the housing boom from 2003 to 2006. Then two of its hedge funds which were heavily hit by the subprime mortgage crisis collapsed and it was all downhill from there. Read the rest of this entry »

The rally organized by the progressive (read left) anti-GMA forces in Liwasang Bonifacio drew a crowd of mostly students, urban poor and labor groups from Metro Manila communities. Bannered by Bayan, the League of Filipino Students, Gabriela, labor and farmers’ groups and sundry organizations identified with the organized Left, the rally was notably smaller than the Makati “inter-faith” rally of two weeks back. The Catholic church and other religious organizations were represented by various personages, although their institutional participation was not readily apparent.

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