The News Tonight 09/02/05

Rep. Ace Barbers presents evidence that the President was involved in the alleged kidnapping of a Comelec official in ARMM. According to Barbers, Comelec official Rashma Hali, was targetted by the President and former Comelec Commisioner Virgilio Garcilliano. They allegedly, wanted to kidnap Hali and his family to ensure that no word about the supposed elections fraud in ARMM during the 2003 Presidential Elections would leak out.

Congressman Edcel Lagman of the first district of Albay has resigned from the Aksyon Demokratiko Party allegedly over disagreements regarding his stand on the impeachment of President Arroyo.

In an interview by 24 Oras of GMA7, Rep. Francis Escudero said:

“Ang impeachment marahil patay na pero ang panawagan upang magbitiw and Presidente ay buhay pa rin.”

Sec. Margarito Teves reiterates that the implementation of RA 9337 aka the reformed EVAT Law will only do good for the country.

Atty. Romulo Macalintal, the president’s spokesman for the impeachment, defends the President against Barbers’s allegations:

“Kung galing kay Rep. Ace Barbers yan, chismis lang yan.”
He then points out that the “Hello Garci” tapes are inadmissible as evidence since these were illegally obtained. He reiterates that “Walang kinalaman and Pangulong Arroyo sa kidnapping.” He ends his tirades by posing a challenge to the opposition to present evidence other than the wiretapped conversations.

Nicanor Perlas, the spokersperson of PAG-ASA says that the people are only waiting for the House of Representatives’s Justice Committee to officially hand in their report on the impeachment complaints. He said that, if the Lower House accepts the report, the people will probably go to the streets again and conduct a “different kind of People Power.”

Accusations and defenses abound. Opinions on the reformed EVAT are endless.

Meanwhile, millions of Filipinos continue to live in poverty, instability and uncertainty.