The Unconstitutionality of the Law Dividing Cagayan de Oro City

February 20, 2010

SCINTILLA: By Rogelio Bagabuyo Read more

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CORPORATE REHABILITATION UNDER PD 902-A

February 20, 2010

CORPORATE REHABILITATION UNDER PD 902-A

The Supreme Court promulgated the Interim Rules on Corporate Rehabilitation in 2000 to govern the procedure in the Regional Trial Court on cases filed under Presidential Decree 902-A which were transferred to regular courts from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The key objective of the Rules was to encourage the rehabilitation of viable enterprises facing the threat of insolvency in the country and to avoid closures because of prolonged litigation.

Corporate Rehabilitation is, of course, only for corporations or partnerships and associations. It is not available to single proprietorships or individuals. Only corporations in distress may apply for rehabilitation. To be considered distressed, it need not be insolvent, but merely illiquid. In other words, it has sufficient assets and properties, but cannot convert them into cash at the maturity of its obligations.

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Solons abuse discretion in dividing Cagayan de Oro

February 20, 2010

2. The House of Representatives gravely abused its discretion in the passage of House Bill No. 5859,

the proposed law entitled: “An Act Providing for the Apportionment of the Lone Legislative District of

the City of Cagayan de Oro”, which eventually became R.A. 93 71;

A cursory reading of the Certified Copy of the HB 5859 – R.A. 9371[1] readily reveals the grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction committed by the House of Representatives.

And, it is not correct to say that petitioner seeks to question the wisdom in the enactment of the questioned R.A. 9371. The truth of the matter is that the proceedings leading to the passage of House Bill No. 5859, the mother of the questioned R.A. 9371, deserved to be checked by the Honorable Court pursuant to its Constitutional mandate to check the abuses of all other departments of government, including but not limited to Congressional acts of grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.

Congress may diminish the merely statutory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court but it may not diminish the jurisdiction granted by the constitution itself in Section 5 thereof

In Kapatiran ng mga Naglilingkod sa Pamahalaan sa Pilipins, Inc. v. Tan[2] reiterated in Basco v. Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation[3] this Court held: “xxx Considering the importance to the public of the cases at bar, and in keeping with the Court’s duty , under the 1987 Constitution, to determine whether or not the other branches of government have kept themselves within the limits of the constitution and the laws and that they have not abused the discretion given to them, this Court has brushed aside technicalities of procedure and and has taken cognizance of these petitions

[1] Certified Copy of the Proceedings in the House of Representatives, the Senate and the Signing of the law by the President, issued by Victoriano C. Caoili, Director II, Bills and Index Service of the House of Representatives., hereto attached as Annex-“A-Memo”

[2] 163 SCRA 371, 378 (1988

[3] 197 SCRA 52,60, 1991

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SULU HAVE TO LEARN FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF BASILAN

February 20, 2010

SULU HAVE TO LEARN FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF BASILAN

Never has there been an effort and firm resolve by any government administration to address the economic problems that had beset Jolo and other conflict areas in Mindanao for centuries than now. The Arroyo government which is economic centered apparently believed that armed confrontation is not a solution to this dilemma but in uplifting the living conditions in the region. It rejected the all-out-war and set up a mechanism in search for the elusive peace and in tandem rev up the economic measures to address poverty and education instead. Military solution is the last option and only used in dealing with the devious terrorist cells which unfortunately find the region as a spawning area.

The problem therefore has become a complicated one. Nevertheless we have seen the efforts of the government to isolate terrorist organizations from the rest of rebel struggles in the region. The Arroyo government, aside from allocating substantial funds to the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao, has in fact persuaded foreign funding agencies to invest their resources for poverty alleviation and resettlement and rehabilitation of internally displaces communities in the conflict areas.

We have seen the dramatic change in the living conditions in the island province of Basilan where inhabitants, Muslims and Christians, joined hands in safeguarding the resources and projects that were established there. The cohesiveness of the community has deterred elements of Abu Sayyaf from reestablishing foothold in the province for they knew the consequence once this vicious terror group set foot in their soil again.

Sulu will never be abandoned and never will this beautiful group of islands be allowed to be ruled by barbaric band of bandits. It has so much resource that can make the islanders productive. But they have to learn from the experience of Basilan. The Joloanos are not lacking in courage but they have to join hands in dealing the enemies within before any sustained socio-economic projects that are earmarked for them can start unimpeded.

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Cagayan de Oro’s Newest Pride

February 20, 2010

Do we have our own product that we can be proud of? Really? What is that? I’ve been residing in Cagayan de Oro since I went to Law school here but, every time I travel to another place I’ve always been asked by what product or landmark Cagayan de Oro is known for. I’ve always been a little disconcerted to say I couldn’t articulate of anything.

I am an uproot from Iligan City, and aside from the waterfalls, Iligan is known for Chedeng peanuts and sukang pinakurat. What about Cagayan de Oro City then? I couldn’t say pineapple because it is Bukidnon’s product, not even pastilles because it is Camiguin’s. Even if I shout to my heart’s content that we have SM mall here but let’s take it, SM is like mushroom, it grows everywhere. Okay, we have the Lim Ket Kai Mall, but most cities in the Philippines have malls, small ones, big ones and extra big like the Mall of Asia.

Okay, so we have white water rafting, but poor me, I never had the chance to experience it because it feels like I’ve been robbed every time I even think about doing it, it is so disgustingly expensive, that with my meager salary as a government employee, I just couldn’t afford it. Short of robbing the bank, it’s really beyond my means.

So, what about the caves? Palawan has lots of them, even Bohol is proud of having several of them that you could just possibly take one home if you could afford the price.

I’m not saying that Cagayan de Oro has nothing to consider as its own – we have the night café, the night market, and being the gateway of business events is not something to be frowned upon. We can be proud to be known as one city which can offer a lot of business opportunities. We have the ports, the bus terminals and the airport that cater to the three major thoroughfares of the universe of commerce. We are the commercial city from the south. Davao City cannot claim this because of the absence of a viable port in which to transport products and passengers to Cebu City and Manila. We are the center of business of the south. Period.

But you know what? Aside from business, I do believe that we have more to offer from outsiders other than business opportunities, even if somewhat we don’t have lots to offer with regards to nature or natural beauty spots or tourism destination. Let’s take Cagayan de Oro City music. What if Davao City has produced the Freestyle and Make Your Mama Proud (MYMP) bands, with the talented people we have in our City of Golden Friendship, we can breed artists; in fact, we have already bred our own kind of artists. No, I’m not talking about Bulua scandal or Xavier scandal, or other scandals we can count our fingers on, they were not art anyway.

Let’s take this new band who is launching its first album entitled “Love Without Logic”, they call themselves the “Drizzle”, but they are not drizzling with talent, they are pouring it in. They are one of the new bands that hit the mainstream music scene that is often if not always ruled by imperial Manila. And all the five members of the band are from Cagayan de Oro City, three of them are even graduates of Xavier University namely: Edith “Vivi” Viduya, Jr., Frederico “Bong” Flores and Wilbert Tan. The other two are Mario “Maya” Reyes and John Gado. With their unified goal of playing edgy pop music together, the group decided to pack their things to try their luck in Manila to share their unique sound to all of the country. And fortunately, inked a three-year contract with Galaxy record.

Launching their first album in Cagayan de Oro City, the band will be performing at the new Pulse Live Music Venue (formerly Excite) on February 3, 2007 at 6:00 in the evening. This will be their first performance back to Cagayan de Oro City after recording their first album. Let us not be stingy with our support to our new pride of Cagayan, nay, let us be there to welcome them and be proud of them as we are proud to be a Cagay-anon. This is not a paid advertisement, this a public notice of what we as Cagay-anons are capable of. (For comments and/or violent reactions e-mail me at coi_416@hotmail.com) (Written January 9, 2007 and published by Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro)

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Champions

February 20, 2010

If only to do my patriotic duty, let me extend my congratulations to
Manny Pacquiao for his smashing victory over the Mexican boxer, David
Diaz, earning for himself his fourth world boxing title.

He has done his country and countrymen proud. In these trying times,
buffeted as we are by natural and man-made disasters on a weekly
basis, and starved as we are for heroes in the flesh, Manny Pacquiao
is a real boost to our sagging national ego.

Actually, I do not like boxing. I did not watch his fight in Las
Vegas. I do not enjoy watching anyone, not even a Mexican boxer, being
beaten to a bloody pulp by another person, even for “sport.”

The first and last boxing match I have ever watched in my entire life
was the title match between Floyd Patterson and Archie Moore – did I
get the names right? – in Chicago half a century ago.

My housemate Jimmy, who is a real boxing aficionado and who now lives
in Australia, convinced the rest of us in our Evanston rooming house
to take the El to Chicago for the fight.

I do not recall any memorable incident that evening, except that I
predicted out loud that the fight would end at 9:30. Sure enough, at
9:30, someone – it must have been Moore – got knocked down or out. I
should have been a boxing bookie.

During the weekend of the Pacquiao-Diaz fight, I was watching replays
of the Euro 2008 UEFA football (soccer to Americans) quarterfinals,
semi-finals and finals in Basel and Vienna.

I had signed up with SkyCable for live broadcasts, but later changed
my mind when I found out that all or most of the live coverage started
at 2:45 in the morning. Never having worked as a call center agent or
as a night watchman, I didn’t think I could stay awake from 2:45 to
5:30 a.m. everyday for several days. So I had to settle for replays
from Solar Sports through Paranaque Cable, to which one of our TV sets
is fortuitously wired.

Of course, watching football replays with full knowledge of who had
won and who had lost, and by how many points, robs one of the
edge-of-your seat suspense and excitement inherent in a well-contested
game.

But there was still the sheer joy of watching well-executed plays and
expert ball-handling by some of the best football players in the
world. This would be almost akin to watching, again and again,
world-class gymnastics – my favorite spectator sport – performed by
champions and would-be champions in previous years.

Anyone who has watched national teams compete in such championships as
the UEFA and the World Cup know the explosions of national pride that
accompany each victory, as the league progressed. Euro 2008 was no
exception..

Sports champions become national icons. And well they should be,
because they personify the self-esteem their victories generate in the
national psyches. Excellence in sports is actually a tool in
nation-building. Which is why the governments in the then socialist
countries (the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Cuba) all invested
heavily in developing world-class athletes

I am surprised that with the world-wide acknowledgement of Manny
Pacquiao, there is no attempt by the Arroyo government to enlist his
endorsement of a nationwide search for new, younger talents through
the medium of nationwide competitions for different age brackets .

Much as I dislike boxing as a sport, I know that it is very popular,
especially among the low income sectors.

And not just in boxing. I am surprised that with several world class
champions that we have in billiards, there is no attempt by the
government to search and develop new and younger talents in this sport
through nationwide competitions for different age brackets.

Even more than boxing, billiards is very popular, especially among the
low income sectors. There are literally thousands of billiard halls
all over the country. An organized competition nationwide, if properly
promoted and marketed, would discover dozens of potential world-class
champions who would help build national pride, as well as earn good
money for their families.

Why stop with boxing and billiards? This country has not produced
world-class tennis players since Felicisimo Ampon in the 1950s. Why
not organize nationwide competitions among ball boys (‘pulot boys’)
and nameless pros who earn their living in the country clubs of the
filthy rich?

So also would nationwide competitions among the caddies in the golf
clubs of the filthy rich. We have not produced a world-class golfer
since the time of Celestino Tugot in the 1960s.

With our low self-esteem because of decades of poor governance by the
trapos and their political dynasties, we need more champions in sports
to remind ourselves that we are as good as anybody else in the world.

Sports are the best training ground for excellence because they teach
the virtues of hard work, self-discipline and fair play. Unlike the
vices of instant yaman, social anarchy and pervasive dishonesty which
our trapo culture has embedded in our national psyche through decades
of misrule. . *****

All reactions to tonyabaya@gmail.com. Other articles in www.tapatt.org
and in acabaya.blogspot.com.

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SOLIDARITY MESSAGE FOR SUMILAO FARMERS

February 20, 2010

“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees,to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people…”(Isaiah 10:1-2; NIV)

Reclaiming human dignity and abject poverty drives the 54 Sumilao farmers to pursue a historic “Walk for Sumilao Land, Walk for Justice”. Unlike the Israelites journey in Moses’ time, a ‘promised land flowing with milk and honey’ awaits them as Yahweh guaranteed. For the Sumilao farmers, however, there is nothing sweet or similar that they can look forward to when they reach Manila. Their long and arduous walk is a leap of faith with no assurance of any possible fulfillment of their claims. Unquestionably, the indomitable spirit they showed to the rest of the Filipino people in pursuing their struggle could only come from their strong faith and complete trust to God our Creator.

The Central Committee of the Second National Rural Congress (NRC-II) is one with you in spirit and in prayers in putting forward your pressing issues, in reclaiming the 144-hectare ancestral land that once belong to your people. As shepherds of God’s flock we extend our hands in in spiritual guidance, until your dignity as a people shall be restored and work with you in overcoming privation.

We urge our government officials at Malacanang and the Department of Agrarian Reform to sincerely listen to the Sumilao farmers’ aspirations. We don’t demand for special favor for our Sumilao brothers and sisters. We only pray that the social justice spirit of the law be given utmost regard. Let this be a positive signal to the government’s call of transforming agrarian reform beneficiaries as agribusiness men and women, of putting agrarian reform at the center of rural development.

The Sumilao farmers’ journey for land and justice is an inspiration to many people worth emulating – to the landless tenants in large haciendas and farmworkers in agribusiness plantations asserting their rights under the agrarian law, to our indigenous brothers and sisters claiming their ancestral lands and to agrarian reform advocates supporting the just cause of farmers, farmworkers and indigenous peoples.

Ang among panalangin sa atong Langitnong Amahan maga-uban kaninyo sa tibuok ninyong paglakaw ug ilayo kamo sa sakit o katalagman ug ampingan hangtud sa inyong malampusong pag-abot sa Maynila. Lakip niini ang among pangamuyo nga malamdagan ang atong mga opisyales sa gobyerno ug ipatuman kaninyo ang hustisya human sa lisud ug hatass nga biyahe ug pakigbisug. Kining tanan atong idangup kang Kristo Hesus lamang nga atong bugtong manluluwas uban sa giya sa Espiritu Santo, Amen!

In solidarity,

Signed:
+ ARCHBISHOP ANTONIO J. LEDESMA, S.J., D.D.
Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro
NRC II Executive Committee Chairperson
Second National Rural Congress

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Stop the hostility

February 20, 2010

Retired AFP Chief now Secretary of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Hermogenes Esperon told peace advocates and Mindanao stakeholders in a forum held in Davao City that while the panels that are negotiating peace have not formally met they have in fact exchange vital documents that tackle the subjects of security, ancestral domain and political issues. Read more

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Findings No.5 COA Annual Audit Report 2006

February 20, 2010

5. The City failed to establish an updated database system for business tax to be able to provide local management and other interested persons accurate and/or right data/information at the right time. As a result, collection efficiency could not be readily determined. Read more

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