JOIN CRUSADE TO CHANGE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN RP
WE seek to establish a jus-
tice system whereby it is
the people themselves
who exercise the power to
say who must be arrested
and brought to trial and
who exercise the power to
judge if those brought to
trial are guilty or not.
The power to say who
should be tried in court is
now exercised by the
prosecutors in the Philip-
pines. So that if the one
being accused of rape,
murder or corruption is
influential, which is most
likely, the prosecutors can
VOL. I NO. 24
‘THE TRUE STORY’
NOVEMBER 23rd is now
etched in the history of the
province as the day of
shameless ignominy.
On that day, a convoy of
women of the Mangudadatu
clan accompanied by media
people and their women law-
yers headed for the provin-
cial capitol in Sharif Aguak
municipality was stopped by
forces of the Philippine Na-
tional Police.
These police forces were
accompanied by hundreds
of armed civilian volunteer
organizations (under the
command of the PNP) along
the national highway in
Ampatuan municipality.
The convoy was in-
structed to take the farm road
leading to a deep hole meant
to be the mass grave of the
entire convoy members, in-
cluding occupants of other
vehicles that happened to
follow the convoy.
I am beginning to piece
the story of the tragic mas-
sacre.
AMWSLAI pockets
‘blood money’ of
Philpost workers
IS Air Materiel Wing Savings
and Loan Association Inc
(AMWSLAI) pocketing the
hard-earned money of the
lowly employees of Philip-
pine Postal Corporation
(Philpost)?
This question gripped the
minds of these employees,
most of them in the lowest
income brackets, because
AMWSLAI has continued to
easily be intimidated or
bought. BUT if we put this
power in the hands of a
Grand Jury, usually com-
posing 23 persons selected
by raffle from a voters’ list
and whose names and
faces are kept secret, we are
foreclosing any opportu-
nity for the influential crime
doer to use his power,
money and influence. The
role of the fiscal shall be lim-
ited to the presentation of
evidence in court. The
Grand Jury is vested with
the power to compel intimi-
dated or bought witnesses
By FATHER ELISEO “JUN” MERCADO, JR., OMI
(Editor’s note: This article was published by Father Jun Mercado as
his blog posted on www.gmanews.tv blog site. This has been read by
thousands but this needs to be told over and over again. Thus,
Dyaryo Magdalo defers to his depth as to the knowledge on the
incident, the people of Maguindanao and the powerful clansmen.)
It all began about three
weeks ago with a Commis-
sion on Elections (Comelec)
Resolution directing the
transfer of the Comelec Sat-
ellite Office from Cotabato
City to the Provincial Capi-
tol in Maguindanao.
Then another resolution
was issued, this time direct-
ing all candidates in the prov-
ince to file their certificates
of candidacy at the provin-
cial ‘capitol.’
These resolutions looked
innocent when read and
seen outside the provincial’s
concrete political context.
Anyone in the place
knows that the said resolu-
tions follow the logic of the
local politics and the control
over the Comelec on the
ground.
Comelec cannot feign ig-
By OMAY E. RENTA
refuse for about three years
now to refund the excess P4
million deducted from their
salaries supposedly for pay-
ment of their loans.
AMWSLAI is the second-
largest savings-and-loan asso-
ciation with at least P14 billion
assets, next to the Armed
Forces of the Philippines SLAI
to speak up or he will be
jailed until they agree to
speak up by the power of
contempt; law enforcers
will be compelled to gather
evidence or they will be
held in jail in contempt un-
til they agree to work as
detectives.
Now, the power to say
whether an accused is guilty
or not is exercised by one
judge in the Philippines;
may be of a regional trial
court or a municipal trial
court. As we know or hear,
the powerful and rich ac-
cused can easily influence
NOVEMBER 23 - 29, 2009
norance of these realities nor
washes its hands in the en-
suing massacre in
Maguindanao.
The concrete experiences
of 2004 and 2007 elections
and the participation of
Comelec in the province are
too gross to ignore.
There is a reason and defi-
nitely politics in the physi-
cal shifting ‘capitol’ sites in
the province. There is a need
to locate the ‘capitol’ in a
place to ensure total control.
For this reason,
Maguindanao can qualify to
put the capitol building on
wheels.
It began in Cotabato
City; then Datu Udtog
moved it to Pagalungan;
post-Datu Udtog, it was
moved back to Cotabato
City; then it was moved to
(AFPSLAI).
Aside from continuously
refusing to return the excess,
most employees complained
that the loans they obtained
were excessively usurious
and in some cases erroneous.
In all cases, the complain-
ing Philpost employees said
that if only their management
failed to notice the excess
To page 2
or buy decisions. BUT if we
place this power in the
hands of a Trial Jury, a group
of 12 ordinary persons cho-
sen at random from the vot-
ers’ list and whose faces and
names are kept secret, we
are also foreclosing any op-
portunity for the decision to
be bought or influenced.
Here, ordinary persons are
tasked only to know what is
true and what is false; the
application of laws shall be
the duty of the judge who is
learned in law.
The fact that we are fore-
closing opportunities for
La Diva
reigns in
Las Vegas
Page 6
Maganoy (Sharif Aguak);
Zacaria Candao moved it
back to Cotabato City; then
he moved it to a new site in
Sultan Kudarat.
The Ampatuan moved
the ‘capitol’ back to
Maganoy where it now
stands.
The total control of the
capitol ensures absolute
control over all government
machineries in the capitol
site, including the Comelec,
the PNP, and the Armed
Forces of the Philippines
(AFP).
Months ago, the buzz in
the province and in
Cotabato City has been the
looming political contest be-
tween the Ampatuan clan,
the present unquestioned
ruler of the province and the
ARMM (Autonomous Re-
gion in Muslim Mindanao),
and the Mangudadatu clan.
Everybody in town is ac-
tually surprised by this chal-
lenge coming from the four
Mangudadatu young, dar-
ing, and dazzling brothers
(two mayors, one vice mayor
and one assemblyman of the
Regional Assembly of the
To page 2
tampering with justice, we
are sure that the abusive
and corrupt shall learn to toe
the line and observe the rule
of law.
The vision here is we
see everybody to be
“PATAS SA BATAS.”
With jury, all laws can
now be implemented. If we
have laws against discrimi-
nation by one tribe against
another, or by Christians
against Muslims, or by the
rich against the poor, we can
say that rebellions (by NPA
and MILF) will die because
the root that is discrimina-
Undefeated
vs
Undisputed
Page 7
WILL RP JUSTICE SYSTEM WORK?
‘BLOOD FOR BLOOD’
JUSTICE?
THE truth is that the culture
of Maguindanao natives as to
what kind of justice should be
meted out to the murderers is
still prevailing among all Mus-
lim Filipinos. The justice prac-
tices are similar among the
tribesmen in Lanao del Sur,
Lanao del Norte, Basilan, Sulu
and Tawi-Tawi.
With this reality, can we
expect that the victims will
never take justice into their
hands?
Everybody in Cotabato
agrees that the Mangudadatus
of Maguindanao and Sultan
Kudarat are among the most
civil, most peace-loving and
most understanding to the
Christian neighbors and con-
stituents.
The proof of this is that Pax
Mangudadatu won three
straight terms as governor of
Sultan Kudarat province de-
spite the fact that he was run-
ning against Christian oppo-
nents in a place where non-
Muslim voters are only 25 per-
cent. He then won the lone con-
tion is being attacked by
the Jury Systems.
With all corruption
laws assured of implemen-
tation, the usually corrupt
officials will be compelled
to stop stealing people’s
money. The swindlers will
stop because they know
the long arm of the law will
surely reach them.
Businessmen will deal
fairly with the consumers
because the assurance of
implementation of the laws
keeps them at bay.
Sign up at http://
philjury.ning.com.
So, so, so
Gooooood
Page 8
gressional seat and his son also
won handily.
It is but natural for the vot-
ers to vote politicians who do
no harm or who do more good
than harm.
With this reputation about
the attitude and character of
the Mangudadatus, can they
withstand the pressure of ex-
treme grief and anger over the
loss of their women who have
been insisted to have been
raped before having been killed
brutally in that unforgettable
November 23, 2009 massacre
in Ampatuan, Maguindanao?
Only time and God or Al-
lah can tell.
Buluan Vice-Mayor Toto
Mangudadatu has been spew-
ing outrage in all television foot-
ages. He always stressed that
Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. of
Datu Unsay town and the
latter’s 100 armed goons must
answer.
Toto has been consistent in
telling the world that his eye-
witnesses now in his custody
To page 5
 2 NOVEMBER 23 - 29, 2009
‘THE TRUE STORY’
From page 1
ARMM).
The leader of the clan and
the main challenger is the
present Vice Mayor of
Buluan, Datu Ismael ‘Toto’
Mangudadatu.
The challenge came as a
big surprise, because the
Ampatuan clan is ‘inti-
mately’ connected to Presi-
dent Gloria Macapagal Ar-
royo and the Lakas-Kampi-
CMD Party both in 2004 and
2007 national elections.
The convergence of the
political and electoral
agenda of President Arroyo
and the Ampatuans is well
known both in the national
and local levels.
The challenge emerged
when talks that the ‘senior’
Ampatuan is no longer
qualified to run as governor
of the province.
The name of the ‘junior’
Ampatuan has begun to
surface as the clan bet for
who they thought would
run for the uncontested
governorship in the prov-
ince come May 2010.
This development
sparked talks and counter-
talks of contesting the gov-
ernorship, which led to shift-
AMWSLAI pockets ‘blood money’...
From page 1
payments, the deductions from
their salaries would have con-
tinued until today.
Almost all the demands for
refund were made in 2006.
Until now AMWSLAI has not
responded, amounting to mis-
appropriating for itself the
money that belongs to lowly-
waged workers of Philpost.
The scheme & refusal to
refund
Among the about hundred
who complained are postal
police officer Erano A.
Manalata, Manila Central Post
Office mail delivery chief
Anatalia R. Talaboc, Francisco
A. Mangurnong, Marita C.
Amores and Adelaida N.
Tagadtad.
On 02 July 1999, Manalata
availed of a P69,432 loan but
actually received only
P50,000.00: the total interest
for one year was taken in ad-
vance in the amount of
P11,109.12 alleged as the 16%
interest and the rest of the
ing political alliances, espe-
cially with the waning of the
star of Malacañang and her
official candidates.
The relations between
President Arroyo and the
Ampatuans hinged on a
symbiosis of political and
electoral interests and as
demonstrated by the clan’s
‘outstanding’ delivery ca-
pacity in all electoral exer-
cises held in the province of
Maguindanao.
When we speak of cap-
tive electorate, I refer to
‘managed’ and ‘owned’
elections.
Political parties and can-
didates also refer to the en-
tire ARMM as ‘captive’ elec-
torate. This is not a simple
perception but the ‘actual
ballot’ counts’ attest to this
‘winner take all’ elections.
This fact is known also
to the Comelec.
No doubt, if electoral
anomalies happen, the
people who manage and se-
cure the elections are equally
controlled.
In most instances, the
teachers and officials of the
Comelec, including the PNP
have little or no choices at all.
Their lives and their fami-
P19,432 were credited as pay-
ment for “finance charges.”
For this, Manalata had to
pay P3,211 a month for 24
months or for a total of
P77,064.
When this monthly deduc-
tions are added to the P19,432
taken at the time of turning over
the loan proceeds, it means that
AMWSLAI earned P96,496
for two years out of a loan of
P50,000.
This is almost 100% dis-
guised by that advanced pay-
ment of interest for one year.
This is fraud!
For his part, Talaboc got a
loan from AMWSLAI also in
1999 for cash 75,000 pesos,
washing machine worth 12,000
pesos and an additional loan
before the end of 1999.
Her contract was to pay for
three years through the
monthly deduction agreed
upon.
But she was deducted from
her salaries for four (4) years.
“It is supposed to be paid
lies, as well, are in jeopardy.
The Comelec resolution
transferring its satellite office
in Sharif Aguak and the re-
quirement to file the certifi-
cates of candidacy in the
‘capitol’ is NOT as innocent
as it looks unless Comelec
were born yesterday!
This Comelec decision has
forced the Mangudadatu to
go into the heartland of the
Ampatuan clan.
The Vice Mayor Toto
Mangudadatu decided to go
and file his certificate of can-
didacy.
But he was prevailed
upon by the mother to let the
women do the filing.
The clan believed that
Toto’s presence in Aguak
may lead to actual blood-
shed.
The mother and the reli-
gious leaders believed that
an all-women delegation ac-
companied by media people
and women lawyers would
be respected.
Islam strongly enjoins
believers to respect women
and children even during
times of war.
As a double insurance for
the delegation, the
Mangudadatu has asked for
up in three (3) years but my
deduction exceeded the time
frame and was stopped by
Philpost’s NCR Accounting
Section only in February 2004.
When I went to AWMSLAI last
March 2006 in order to get my
clearance, I was told that I still
had a balance of 29,000 pesos,
more or less. I was expecting I
would get a refund because my
remittances totaled 180,299.00
pesos. I was told I can have a
condonation in the amount of
19,000 pesos but I have still to
pay a cash of more than 9,000
pesos,” she said.
Talaboc said further:
“I had a bout with cancer in
the year 2001 and was on sick
leave for seven months, but I
never requested for a stoppage
of my remittance with
AWMSLAI as what I did to
my other loans.”
She said her payments of
180,000 exceeded than the
87,000 pesos she should pay.
“AMWSLAI is too much,”
she cried.
police escorts from the PNP
Provincial command. It re-
fused to do so.
Understanding the per-
ceived partisanship of the
Maguindanao PNP, the clan
asked for military escort from
the 601st Brigade that has an
operational responsibility for
area.
They were told that the
AFP does not provide secu-
rity escorts for politicians.
The clan appealed to the
highest military command in
the region for a security es-
cort for the women.
They were assured by the
highest military command
that the ‘road is safe and
there will be no need to
worry.’
With that assurance, the
all-women delegation began
the trek to Sharif Aguak.
Upon crossing Salman
along the national highway
in broad daylight in
Ampatuan municipality, the
convoy was stopped, includ-
ing other vehicles that hap-
pened to passing by at that
time.
Their journey was halted
by hundreds of armed
groups believed to be CVOs
[civilian volunteer organiza-
tions] that included some
provincial PNP officials and
a local mayor positively
identified by the
Mangudadatu.
The entire convoy was
led to an open pit dug by
provincial engineering
equipment.
There the carnage began
with brutality and no mercy
for women, children, and the
members of the media.
The last vehicle in the
convoy, delayed by few
minutes, saw the whole
gang that stopped the con-
voy and made positive iden-
tification.
It turned back with speed
and asked for help. But alas,
the help came too late.
There were no survivors!
For his part, Mangurnong
took in February 1999 a loan
amounting to 35,000 pesos.
“I understand that there was
already a deduction made as
advance payment of interest.
Since October 2000 up to June
2005, the amount of P2,055.15
was automatically deducted
from my monthly salary,” he
said.
This means he must have
already paid a total of
108,922.95 pesos and this did
not include yet the payments
he made from July 2005 up to
the month of March 2006.
“Considering that the total
amount of P108,922.95 was al-
ready made and because I had
only P35,000.00 loan, this
would mean I have an overpay-
ment of more than P73,922.95,”
Mangurnong said.
Amores has her own story
of depression, too.
“Noon pong taong 1998,
ako po ay nangutang sa
AMWSLAI ng halagang
To page 3
The first count was 21 City continue to be in a state
fatalities in the afternoon of of total disbelief whenever
the same day. These were they hear news about the
the bodies left on the massacre as it continues to
ground and in the vehicles unfold.
because of the haste. They are stunned and
The second day, the shocked! The real word is
body count reached 46 as feeling of revulsion for how
investigators began to dig things stand in the province
the mass graves. and the community.
On the third day, the The Comelec has now al-
number has reached more lowed the filing of candi-
than 60. They were all mur- dacy in Cotabato and in Sul-
dered with so much brutal- tan Kudarat without filing
ity that can only be com- for an exception.
pared to victims of savage It has also returned the
animals in the wild. satellite office in the city.
The digging continues Comelec shares the
and the body counts con- blame for this massacre.
tinue to rise. The Ignorance can never be
Mangudadatu can only ac- an excuse! It is a very costly
count for 40 members of political decision!
their convoy. Knowing the close ties
Beyond that number between the President Ar-
were innocent passersby royo and the Ampatuan, the
who happened to be travel- Presidency and the national
ing the same road at that government are directly
particular moment. held accountable!
These innocent pass- People ask, will there be
ersby include children! immediate arrests of the
They buried the whole identified perpetrators of
vehicles with the murdered the massacre?
passengers. Three days have passed
Seemingly, the intent was by and there is not a single
to bury all the vehicles and arrest made yet...! Will there
all the victims in that big be honest and objective in-
hole dug by the provincial vestigation of the massa-
‘backhoe.’ cre?
But there was news that While we debate over
the troops were coming. the massacre, the perpetra-
This made the perpetra- tors and the hundreds of
tors to hurriedly leave the CVOs, bearing high-pow-
scene without completing ered firearms, and identified
their evil intent.
Today, the people of
leaders of the massacre
roam freely and with impu-
Maguindanao and Cotabato nity. Onli in da Pilipins!
G/F Volets Commercial Building, Gen. E. Aguinaldo Highway,
Dasmariñas, Cavite 4115
(046) 416.6521 • dyaryomagdalo@yahoo.com
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Intramuros, Manila • (02) 309.7671
MAGDIWANG
PUBLICATIONS
Publisher:
RONALDO E. RENTA
Editorial:
TOTO CAUSING RONALD B. HERICO
Editor-In-Chief Associate Editor
Disclaimer:
All news articles and opinions expressed by the writers are en-
tirely their own and do not reflect the opinion of the publisher, the
management or the editor of this publication.
All Rights Reserved:
No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced nor trans-
lated in any language or form for commercial purposes without prior
written permission from the publisher and its writers or columnists.
 NOVEMBER 23 - 29, 2009
All staffers of a weekly wiped out
• Latest count shows 27 newsmen confirmed dead;
• Authorities struggle in evidence gathering
By Romel Regalado
Bagares
Executive Director
Center for International
Law
KORONADAL CITY, South
Cotabato – What is now known
here as the Ampatuan massacre
wiped out the staff of the five-
year old pioneering vernacular
newsweekly Periodico Ini (This
Periodical) here and left other
news organizations in five towns
missing a staff or two.
Police and military officials
yesterday said the total casualty
list has already breached the 57th
mark, with the recovery of the
remains of ten more victims,
three of whom were journalists.
A list pieced together by
CenterLaw from interviews with
victims’ families and information
provided by local journalists’ as-
sociations show that among those
confirmed dead or declared miss-
ing were at least 27 journalists.
Ten of the journalists came
from General Santos City; an-
other ten from Koronadal City;
four from Tacurong City; two
from Davao City, and one from
Cotabato City.
Other news reports however
say up to 37 journalists were on
that convoy.
Below is the list compiled by
the Center, which also showed,
with the exception of two cases,
the journalists’ news organiza-
tion:
1. Ian Subang, Socsargen To-
day, General Santos City
2. Lea Dalmacio, Socsargen
News, General Santos City
3. Gina De la Cruz, Saksi News,
General Santos City
4. Maritess Cablitas, News
Focus, General Santos City
5. Rosell Morales, News Fo-
cus, General Santos City
6. Henry Araneta, Radio
DZRH, General Santos City
7. Neneng Montaño, Saksi
News, General Santos City
8. Alejandro “Bong”
Reblando, Manila Bulletin, Gen-
eral Santos City
9. Victor Nuñez, UNTV, Gen-
eral Santos City
10. Mark Gilbert “Mac-Mac”
Arriola, General Santos City
11. Bal Cachuela, Punto
News, Koronadal City
12. Ernesto “Bart”
Maravilla, Bombo Radyo,
Koronadal City
13. Ronie Perante, Gold Star
Daily correspondent, Koronadal
City
14. Joel Parcon, Prontiera
News, Koronadal City
15. Jun Legarte, Prontiera
News, Koronadal City
16. Rey Merisco, Periodico
Ini, Koronadal City
17. John Caniban, Periodico
Ini, Koronadal City
18. Arturo Betia, Periodico
Ini, Koronadal City
AMWSLAI pockets ‘blood money’...
From page 2
P50,000.00. Sapagka’t sa
ahente po kami nag-apply,
meron pong kasamang appli-
ances na ipinautang din sa amin
bilang dagdag na kita ng ahente.
Sa kopya po ng voucher ko,
ang kabuuhang halaga ng utang
ko ay P98,000.00. Simula po
akong nabawasan o salary deductions.
kinakaltasan noong 1999 ng
halagang P2,751 kada buwan.
Mahigit na pong apat na taon
na akong nabawasan at lumaki
na po ang naibayad ko kasama
na ang interes o tubo. Ako po
ay isang single parent at ang
aking nag-iisang anak ay nasa
koleheyo na po. Kailangan ko
19. Noel Decena, Periodico
Ini, Koronadal City
20. Rani Razon, Periodico
Ini, Koronadal City
21. Jhoy Duhay, Gold Star
Daily, Tacurong City
22. Andy Teodoro, Central
Mindanao Inquirer, Tacurong
City
23. Jimmy Cabilo, Midland
Review, Tacurong City
24. Reynaldo “Bebot”
Momay, Midland Review,
Tacurong City
25. Napoleon Salaysay,
Mindanao Gazette, Cotabato City
26. Jun Gatchalian, Davao
City
27. Lindo Lupogan, Davao
City
Of the 27, two men – Momay
and Lupogan – have remained
missing, according to interviews
with members of their families.
So far, CenterLaw has been
able to confer with the families
of 12 of the slain journalists on
legal assistance.
Two local journalists’ associa-
tion pledged to assist CenterLaw
reach out to more families.
A periodical’s entire staff
wiped out
“I did not know my whole
staff had gone to join that fateful
trip,” said Freddie E. Solinap,
the 40-year old editor and pub-
lisher of the newsweekly, which
is published in Hiligaynon, a
Visayan language spoken by a
good majority of this city’s
160,000 residents.
On Monday, some 100 gun-
men linked to Maguindanao Gov-
ernor Andal Ampatuan allegedly
abducted in broad daylight a con-
voy of aides and relatives of a
rival politician, Esmael “Toto”
Mangudadatu, and a group of jour-
nalists, as they were travelling in
a six-vehicle convoy headed for
the local Commission on Elec-
tions office to formally file
Mangudadatu’s certificate of can-
didacy for the post now occupied
by Ampatuan.
Hours later, news broke out
that the convoy had been massa-
cred – said to be the single deadli-
est attack on journalists in mod-
ern history.
Solinap and his wife
Normalita, 38, founded the
Periodico Ini newsweekly after
years of working as a sales man-
ager for another weekly.
The enormity of the situa-
tion was brought home to the
couple after they took stock of
what the carnage cost the
newsweekly and their loyal read-
ers: the newsweekly lost John
Caniban, bureau chief in nearby
Sultan Kudarat town, Arturo
Betia, marketing manager, Noel
Decena, circulation manager who
also doubles as a reporter, Rani
Razon, sales manager and Rey
Merisco, columnist.
po ng pera ngayon. Napakalaki
po nang maitutulong ng perang
maaari kong ma-refund sa
AMWSLAI,” she complained.
On the other hand, Tagadtad
availed of her loan from
AMWSLAI in 1999.
She religiously paid all her
monthly amortizations through
In fact, she was issued by
AMWSLAI with certification
of full payment dated 21 De-
cember 2005 duly signed by
Socorro T. Gustillo, branch
head of AMWSLAI for the
amount of P116,768.00.
Since PhilPost deducted
from her salary a total of
Many of the slain journalists
worked in small community pa-
pers dependent largely on paid
legal notices, with some of them
putting out no more than 50 cop-
ies of their publications week
after week.
According to news reports,
the gunmen fired at the victims
pointblank, with some of them
trussed up, tortured or mutilated.
The suspects later on dumped or
buried their victims in mass
graves scattered all over a small
area in a town named after the
incumbent governor’s family
name.
Mangudadatu was quoted in
news reports as saying that the
body of his murdered wife had
been mutilated; a sister and an
aunt who joined his wife in the
convoy were both pregnant.
“My wife’s private parts were
slashed four times, after which
they fired a bullet into it,” he
told journalists in an interview.
“They speared both of her eyes,
shot both her breasts, cut off her
feet, fired into her mouth. I could
not begin to describe the manner
by which they treated her.”
Haphazard evidence
handling
The chief worry now is the
uphill battle crime investigators
are now fighting against the ele-
ments as the political and secu-
rity crisis entered the third day –
official autopsies on the recov-
ered victims’ remains have been
painstakingly slow and an acute
lack of sophisticated forensic
equipment and facilities, made
worse by the haphazard handling
by investigators of the crime
scene, has made evidence preser-
vation essential to a successful
prosecution of the perpetrators
doubly difficult.
Officials of the National
Union of Journalists of the Phil-
ippines (NUJP) who visited the
crime scene were appalled to wit-
ness police Scene of the Crime
Operatives (SOCO), assisted by
government troops, use a back-
hoe to dig up the remains of vic-
tims allegedly buried by their kill-
ers in a newly-discovered grave
in Barangay Salman, Ampatuan
town. They arrived just in time
to see the backhoe’s claw unearth
a woman’s bloodied and broken
body.
Authorities pulled out from
the same mass grave the remains
of DZRH’s Henry Araneta, and
UNTV’s Victor Nuñez and Mark
Gilbert “Mac-Mac” Arriola, it was
subsequently reported.
Racing against time:
complaints and confusion
Families of the victims, frus-
trated by the patently disorga-
nized response of government
agencies to the tragedy, con-
fronted Jesus Dureza, the special
P227,454.95 which was remit-
ted to AMWSLAI, Tagadtad
was expecting she would be
receiving a refund of
P110,686.95, excluding inter-
est.
Refund the excess, now
Tirso N. Paglicawan, Jr.,
president of the Kapisanan ng
mga Kawani ng Koreo sa
Pilipinas (KKKP), lamented
the fact and has sympathized
with his fellow postal employ-
ees who have become
AMWSLAI “victim - borrow-
ers.”
He said that he himself ex-
envoy sent by Philippine Presi-
dent Arroyo to condole with
them, during a dialogue at the
Casa Romana hotel here.
“Why is it taking them so
long to conduct an autopsy on
the remains of our loved ones?”
said Elliver M. Cablitas, whose
wife Maritess, a reporter con-
nected with the News Focus news-
paper based in General Santos
City, died in the massacre.
Five government doctors –
three from the National Bureau
of Investigation and two from
the Philippine National Police
Crime Laboratory Service – had
been working round-the-clock to
conduct autopsies on the recov-
ered remains of the victims. As
of noon time yesterday, they
have completed work on only ten
of the bodies brought in from the
crime scene 45 kilometers away
in Ampatuan town.
At the rate they’re going, said
Cablitas, the remains of his wife
would have long been decomposed
before the government doctors
get the chance to do an autopsy.
The lack of refrigeration fa-
cilities to keep the remains from
decomposition is complicating
the grim task of identifying the
victims and preserving evidence,
according to Dr. Benito Molino,
a veteran forensics investigator
engaged by CenterLaw to assist
authorities in investigative work.
“We have to move faster,”
said Molino, who has spent many
years in human rights work as a
medical expert for the Medical
Action Group and the Asian Fed-
eration Against Involuntary Dis-
appearance (AFAD). “The gov-
ernment has not fielded enough
medico-legal officers to do the
autopsies.”
Human remains recovered
from the crime scene are taken
to four funeral homes in the city
– Allen Memorial Homes, Zubiri
Funeral Homes, Southern Funeral
Homes and Saint Peter Funeral
Homes.
But Dr. Molino said he vis-
ited the morgues of Allen Me-
morial Homes and Southern Fu-
neral Homes and on the basis of
perienced their predicaments
for he also availed of
AMWSLAI loan of 50,000
pesos for a loan amounting to
seventy thousand pesos
(P70,000).
Paglicawan explained that
AMWSLAI immediately de-
ducted in advance huge amount,
interest, processing fee, etc.
from the loan he availed of then.
There were about a hundred
other Philpost employees who
are in the same predicament.
For this, they are appealing
to Lt. Col. Ricardo L. Nolasco
(ret), chairman and president
of AMWSLAI, to give their
refunds now.
what he saw there, concluded that
they are not adequately equipped
to handle the kind of emergency
presented by the Ampatuan mas-
sacre.
“I pity the government doc-
tors who had to do the gruesome
task,” he said. “They have so
much work with so little.” He said
as it often happens in the Philip-
pines, government investiga-
tive agencies do not have ad-
equate facilities to preserve hu-
man remains recovered in crime
investigations.
The Ampatuan massacre is no
exception. “They could have at
least used lime to slow down the
process of decomposition but I
did not see any indication that
they did that,” said Dr. Molino.
The authorities could have
also run comprehensive X-rays
on the recovered remains to as-
sist investigators in locating bul-
let fragments as well as establish-
ing bullet trajectories, consider-
ing that many of the victims were
noted to have sustained exten-
sive bullet wounds.
But this very simple proce-
dure will certainly have proven
to be prohibitive for often cash-
strapped government investiga-
tive agencies to perform, he said.
Dr. Molino said he found it
incredulous that no one from the
police immediately informed the
families of victims to bring items
that would help them identify
their loved ones’ remains, such
as photographs and dental and
medical records.
In fact, until yesterday, many
of them remained clueless about
the proper procedure to take.
Some had the good luck of being
able to identify loved ones
through the clothes, ring or shoes
they wore to their deaths. Others
looked for well-known physical
identifying marks on their loved
ones’ bodies – such as moles on
their faces – to identify them.
But this would have been diffi-
cult, if not impossible, to do, in
cases where the remains have al-
ready reached an advanced stage
of decomposition.
In many instances, after iden-
tifying the remains of their loved
ones at the crime scene, families
could not trace to which morgue
or funeral home the victims’ re-
mains were taken, thus adding to
the confusion.
It was certainly a common
complaint at the dialogue with
the victims’ families presided by
Dureza, an assistant press secre-
tary, and local social welfare of-
ficials struggled to cope with the
litany of complaints.
Dureza admitted such was the
case, and noted that at the Zubiri
funeral homes for example, four
of the 14 bodies brought there by
recovery teams have yet to be
identified.
Dureza authorized the release
through the local social welfare
office financial assistance to the
victims from the national gov-
ernment in the amount of
P10,000 (P46.9 to USD 1). He
also gave assurances that the na-
3
tional government will shoulder
other funeral costs.
CenterLaw later took up in a
dinner meeting the concerns
about the haphazard way in
which evidence vital to the suc-
cessful prosecution of the case is
being handled with State Pros-
ecutor Leo Dacera and Kidapawan
City Prosecutor Al Calica, both
of whom, according to reports,
had just been tapped by the jus-
tice department to prepare the
case against the suspects.
The government prosecutors
said they welcome assistance from
lawyers’ groups in the investiga-
tion and prosecution of the case.
Too, CenterLaw is now look-
ing to lease a refrigerated van to
store the recovered human re-
mains from Ampatuan town and
a suitable space with a generous
supply of water where autopsies
may be conducted.
Shock, disbelief, anger
Shock, disbelief and anger had
by turns swept over a closely-
knit community of local journal-
ists in the region.
“This is just too much,” said
Joseph Jubelag, Manila Standard
Today correspondent based in
General Santos City. He nar-
rowly-missed the deadly convoy
after a hotel incident gave him
and colleague Aquiles Zoño of the
Philippine Daily Inquirer the
goose bumps and convinced them
to break off it.
Jubelag, whose family runs a
small printing press, had been
tasked by colleagues to oversee
the repatriation of the remains
of General Santos City-based
journalists killed in the
Ampatuan massacre back to their
home city.
“Many of us feel like we have
lost our very own,” he said. “Our
problem is that no autopsy has
been done yet on our colleague’s
remains so that we cannot yet
bring them home.”
Jubelag expressed anger over
the government’s continuing
failure to put a stop to the impu-
nity that has targeted journalists
in the Philippines. “When will
this stop?”
Around 200 people attended
a candlelit indignation rally at the
city rotunda early yesterday
evening , punctuated by messages
of solidarity from local officials,
church leaders, and various jour-
nalists’ organizations.
At the protests, many voiced
out fears of a whitewash in the
investigations, taking special note
that the Ampatuans are a close
political ally of the Arroyos.
But for Freddie E. Solinap,
editor and publisher of the
weekly Periodico Ini, no mas-
sacre can dissuade him from pur-
suing his vision of journalism.
“I remain undaunted,” he said,
adding that he and his wife con-
tinue to encourage their three
children to seriously consider
taking up journalism as a pro-
fession and continuing the fam-
ily heritage.
 4 NOVEMBER 23 - 29, 2009

TRAILBLAZER Common-but-misunderstood
By RONALDO E. RENTA
PSYCHOLOGICAL inca-
pacity is the most used,
abused and confused
words inside and outside
the legal world. People
hear it from radio, read it
on the papers. At times,
it is a topic in your favor-
ite afternoon tele–
novelas.
In fact, it is already a
household word for a lot
Filipinos. You may hear
even uneducated person
and those uninitiated in
the legal world to utter
these two words with
confidence as if he or she
truly and thoroughly un-
derstood the coinage.
Housewives even use
these words in their ordi-
nary conversation to de-
scribe their husbands
who continue to provide
less for the family while
living like a bachelor in
unabated drinking sprees
and unbridle womaniz-
ing.
Psychological inca-
pacity is being abused
mostly by legal practitio-
ners in their search for a
valid ground to declare
one’s marriage null.
It’s deplorable that
many lawyers use these
words like magic wand
when he can no longer
find any loopholes in the
essential and formal requi-
sites of marriage and other
grounds for annulments or
nullity of marriage. Unfor-
tunately, many lawyers do
not understand these
words. And the worst of
many lawyers is that they
also suffer from unresolved
psychological-incapacity
issues with their marriage
or their selves.
What does psychologi-
cal incapacity mean? Does
the law or jurisprudence
have exact and common
definition of psychological
incapacity?
Sadly, the Family Code
had avoided providing
clear and exact definition
of what psychological in-
capacity is. Even the New
Code of Canon Law, par-
ticularly paragraph 3 of
Canon 1095, the source of
Article 36 of the Family
Code, did not attempt to
define what psychological
incapacity means.
The closest we got is
the pronouncements of the
Supreme Court in the case
of Santos versus Court of
Appeals (240 SCRA 20)
where psychological inca-
pacity is defined as “no
less than a mental (not
physical) incapacity that
causes a party to be truly
incognitive of the basic
psychological incapacity
marital covenants that
concomitantly be assumed
and discharged by the par-
ties to the marriage which
as so expressed by Article
68 of the Family Code, in-
clude the mutual obliga-
tions to live together, ob-
serve love, respect and fi-
delity and render help and
support”
For our consumption, I
will attempt to define the
term in the most under-
standable way so that I
will not be guilty of obfus-
cation and add to a grow-
ing confusion.
Psychological incapac-
ity means that it exists in a
person suffering from
psychological problems or
issues that prevent him or
her from complying with or
fulfilling essential marital
obligations, where there is
no cure and the incapacity
was already there even be-
fore the marriage was cel-
ebrated.
This seems rather
vague.
But culled from such
definition we can deduct
that psychological inca-
pacity is not mental illness
of any sort. It is not being
lunatic or crazy. A person
suffering from a psycho-
logical incapacity is not
the same as one suffering
from any mental illness or
malaise. Psychological in-
capacity is not a physical
handicap or disability. A
person suffering from a
psychological incapacity
is not the same as person
suffering from physical ill-
ness or problem.
Another decision of
the Supreme Court in the
case of Molina effectively
provided stricter param-
eters for the concept of
psychological incapacity
to exist.
It was noted that prior
to the Molina case there
was an avalanche of ac-
tions seeking declarations
of nullity of marriages un-
der Article 36 of the Family
Code. This deluge of these
kinds of cases may be due
to somewhat liberalized
construction of the defini-
tion of such terms.
In the Molina case, the
High Tribunal tried to
clarify that psychological
incapacity does not mean
personality conflicts be-
tween husband and wife or
some irreconcilable differ-
ences between spouses.
The landmark decision
in Molina case supplied
three characteristics of
psychological incapacity.
It says that psychological
incapacity must be charac-
terized by gravity, juridical
antecedence and
incurability.
In effect, the Supreme
Court gave strict charac-
terizations of what is psy-
chological incapacity is
and virtually make it diffi-
cult for parties to secure a
declaration of non-exist-
ence of their marriage un-
der Article 36 of the Su-
preme Court.
In other words, psy-
chological incapacity is a
psychological illness that
prevents a person from
fulfilling his or her essen-
tial marital obligations
and such illness is grave,
cannot be cured and
present at the time of the
celebration of marriage
even it manifests only af-
ter the consummation of
marriage.
If your counsel de-
cided to invoke Article 36
of the Family Code to file
an action for the declara-
tion of nullity of marriage
under that ground, more
often than not, your coun-
sel would provide or re-
fer to you a credible and
professional clinical psy-
chologist who would
greatly help you navigate
through the complex maze
of untangling your mari-
tal knot.
Your clinical psy-
chologist would fulfill
three-fold function in
your journey to freedom,
to wit:
1. Examination –
Your clinical psycholo-
gist shall examine you
by administering vari-
ous psychological
tests, such as but not
limited to “Draw a Pic-
ture Test, Complete the
Sentence Tests, Ror-
schach Test and other
projective tests.
2. Evaluation – Your
clinical psychologist
shall also prepare,
evaluate and produce
psychological evalua-
tions or reports that
shall be presented to
the courts in order to
support that such ill-
ness is indeed grave, in-
curable and has juridi-
cal antecedence.
3. Expert Witness –
Your clinical psycholo-
gist shall also stand as
expert witness to prove
your cause of action.
That if you have suc-
ceeded in your date
with the psychologist,
you are nearing to a
feat: you are little by
little and step by step
progressing in your
pursuit of the holy grail.

Jerry’s Blogs Sen. Loren is ‘so loved’

By JERRY S. YAP
VERY RARE is the support displayed by Sen. ED
ANGARA for Sen. LOREN LEGARDA when she declared
she will run for vice-president in 2010 elections.
Like this, the LDP (Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino,
de-facto political party of Sen. Angara) is in full support
of Sen. Loren ‘pan de sal’.
Anyway, it is no longer new to our ears for Senator
Angara to give all-out support to Senator Loren.
We and those in the Senate know that all kinds of
support, morally, emotionally, even financially, and physi-
cally will be given by Senator Angara to his fellow politi-
cian he knows who can compete.
So that you should not wonder why and stop asking
why Senator Angara is in FULL SUPPORT of Senator
Loren, “Ang sinta ng bayan ...”
WILL LIBERAL PARTY SHIP SINK?
IT IS MILDLY NERVE-WRACKING looking at what is
happening now with LIBERAL PARTY.
Oh man, most of those who jumped ship from LAKAS-
KAMPI-CMD went aboard LP?
Is it not that LP’s ship has become “HEAVIER” and
will continue to sink for welcoming aboard those have
“HEAVY” pockets from the public coffers?
Tsk tsk tsk …
With pain inside of ex-Senator Serge Osmeña, he would
rather go out of the party than be lumped together with
those who POCKETED money of the people.
We learned that the party had an agreement not to
accept those coming from the Arroyo administration, par-
ticularly those who deserted LP before.
They agreed that the public already knows the oppor-
tunist politicians who benefited from the administration
but they were surprised that these were even the first to
jump out of LAKAS-KAMPI-CMD.
Talaga naman …
We have a saying in Philippine politics: “there is no
by Sen. Ed Angara
permanent friend or enemy.” According to Erap: “Weder-
weder lang ‘yan!”
BAGMEN a.k.a. ‘KOLEK-TONG’ GALORE AT DILG
The complaints of 1602 operators had it that they are
wondering why every now and then many persons show
up to them to identify as a BAGMAN or “KOLEK-TONG”
of PNP-CIDG, PNP-NCRPO and DILG.
Has this not yet reached the knowledge of Interior and
Local Government (DILG) Secretary RONNIE PUNO?
Like this one, alias “GERRY SALAKOT” who identified
himself as the NATIONAL COLLECTOR for the “PUSH
BUTTON” at the DILG, CIDG, SPD, NCRPO and PNP R-3.
If I were correct, this “Gerry Salakot” was once a do-it-
all man of “BOY TANGKAD.”
Is it not that this man had something to do with the
murder of “BOY TANGKAD” last month at Ping Ping
Lechon?
One PNP general said: Only in these times of Sec. PUNO
that the collection racket from gambling operators is worst
and all 1602 and other illegal gambling operators can oper-
ate with impunity in the entire Philippines.
What can you say, DILG Asec. BRYAN YAMSUAN?
FR. VICTORINO CUETO and FR. FRANK PIGNON
BLIND, DEAF AND DUMB
ON ‘SODOM AND GOMORRAH’
AND WHITEBIRD GAY CLUB?
If Parañaque local government and its police force
headed by Police Supt. Alfredo Valdez are not minding the
“piggery” and lewdness (KABABUYAN at
KALASWAAN) there inside WHITEBIRD CLUB, it is very
clear that they are easily cowed into fear by PRs (read:
PROTECTION RACKETEERs) who are like hungry stray
dogs going around to all those who criticize their “protec-
torates” to ask for ceasefire as a gift.
It would appear that they wanted to settle the prob-
lem. But the truth is that they would seek to add “TONG-
PATS” from the operator.
And because the management of WHITEBIRD knows
that there are “piggery”, immorality and lewdness taking
place inside their establishment, it cannot say no to the
persons who are talking to them as PRs who are
“ASKAL.”
But what is more revolting to conscience is the deaf-
ening silence of (more silent than the church that was
downed) of BACLARAN REDEMPTORIST Church Rec-
tor Fr. VICTORINO CUETO and HOUSE SUPERIOR FR.
FRANK PIGNON.
No less than PARISHIONERS of REDEMPTORIST
Church are wondering why their church has been ex-
traordinarily quiet to “ SODOM AND GOMORAH” events
happening nightly in Baclaran, on Roxas Boulevard.
Here it is, Fathers CUETO and PIGNON. According
to the “askals” of WHITEBIRD, even the two of you
cannot have the closure of WHITEBIRD CLUB because
your people who are “gay” are entering the hell right
there.
According to our blogger boy, the “Young
Magdalenas” in other clubs in Baclaran can be forgiven
but for man-to-man acts to occur inside WHITEBIRD
cannot be stopped by Father CUETO and Father PIGNON
although it is only a few meters away from the
Redemptorist Church.
Even if we concede this should be a job of local and
police authorities, but please do not forget that you as
moral leaders have the OBLIGATION to the society.
It is already extremely immoral, Fr. CUETO and your
acquiescence Fr. PIGNON has already exceeded the lim-
its.
If you will not act on this, we would believe that you
have people who are “gay” who play fire inside
WHITEBIRD.
What do you think?
NOVEMBER 23 - 29, 2009
From page 1
‘BLOOD FOR BLOOD’ JUSTICE
saw how his wife was raped,
speared off of her private
parts, shot on two boobs and
the private part, and fired
point-blank on her face.
He is also consistent in in-
sisting that his two sisters,
both pregnant, also suffered
the fate of his wife.
What is more, Toto’s out-
rage has been fueled further
by his moral obligation to at
least 27 media persons whom
he invited to accompany his
wife and his two lady law-
yers in filing his certificate of
candidacy for the governor-
ship of Maguindanao.
He cannot back out from
this obligation to the people
other than his relatives be-
cause it was his desire to run
for governor, represented by
a piece of paper, that cost
their lives.
Pax, considered as the pa-
triarch of the Mangudadatus,
has strictly ordered his rela-
tives not to start a bloody
revenge and give the justice
system a chance.
The present governor of
Sultan Kudarat, a neighbor
province of Maguindanao, is
Teng Mangudadatu, a son of
Pax and a cousin of Toto.
But the killing is,
Police Posts
By JOEY GALICIA VENANCIO
TODAY, Manny Pacquiao
is the only boxer since the
beginning to have won
seven titles in seven divi-
sions or weight classes. He
cemented his name in his-
tory!
It was after he subdued
in the first 55 seconds of
the 12th round the cham-
pion of World Boxing Or-
ganization (WBO) welter-
weight division, Miguel
Cotto of Puerto Rico.
Before Pacquiao got
the title of Cotto, he be-
came the champion of IBO
and Ring Magazine light
welterweight, World Box-
ing Council (WBC) light-
The Last
Mohican
By TOTO FETALINO
I DON’T really understand
why Gilberto Teodoro
picked actor Edu Manzano
as his running mate in the
2010 elections.
Gibo has been in the
cellar of the presidential
survey and I thought he
would choose a running
mate that could somehow
help in improving his rat-
ing.
No Edu. I’m not under-
estimating you. You have
the skills and the experi-
ence. You served public
office in Makati. But these
are at the local level. Edu
served as the chief of the
Optics Media Board but his
unarguably, too extreme to resist
to take justice in their own hands.
Actually, what has not been
expected and talked about is the
possible revenge of the Ilonggo
families who lost their relatives
in the November 23, 2009 in-
famous massacre in Ampatuan
town.
The Ilonggo victims in that
most-brutal-ever massacre are
reporters and the two lady law-
yers.
Lest, no one should forget
that during the height of Moro
National Liberation Front re-
bellion in the early 1970s, it
was the Ilonggo group known
as “Ilaga” that fought toe-to-
toe against the Moro fighters—
in manner not far less brutal
than the Ampatuan massacre.
‘Rido’ system
Since time immemorial, ev-
erybody in Maguindanao and
in the neighboring provinces
knows how Maguindanaoans
seek justice for the death of a
relative.
You can describe this sys-
tem of justice as: BLOOD FOR
BLOOD.
Maguindanao natives call it
“rido”—a justice whereby a
clan whose relative is murdered
weight, WBC super feath-
erweight, IBF super bantam-
weight and WBC flyweight.
He is also called as the
world’s Pound-for-Pound
King by Ring Magazine,
considered the dictionary in
the world of boxing.
Now, he also holds the
WBC diamond belt.
Is there still anybody
who can defeat Pacquiao?
It was said that the re-
turning former pound-for-
pound king Floyd
Mayweather Jr. will be the
next who will fight against
Pacquiao. It may happen
next year.
Mayweather won
performance has not been
noticed.
I believed Gibo needed
somebody who has the
grasp for national issues.
Somebody who has a deep
understanding of what’s
happening in the country.
Ok fine. Edu is a national
figure. But this is confined
more on what he’s doing on
a TV game show. Come on
man, let’s be serious. Our
national government de-
serves a little respect here.
***
Another surprise is
Manny Villar’s choice of his
vice-presidential tandem.
Surprising because after
Privileged
Spits
By TOTO CAUSING
will take revenge against the
clan of the murderer. Usually,
the victims of revenge are the
innocent relatives.
The original sinners feel
now they have the better right
to kill and they would now plan
to take lives from the other clan.
In many cases, “rido” is a
never-ending story. Not even
time can heal the wounds.
In Tagalogs, they call this,
“Ubusan ng lahi!” In Visayans,
Cebuanos or Ilonggos, they call
this “Baslanay” or “Balusay.”
In other cases, the thought
of “rido” actually discourages
many not to start or it will give
meaning to the saying: “you
reap what you sow.”
The bigger the clans are in-
volved, the deadlier the “rido”
becomes.
A look at any court in
Maguindanao would show no
cases of murder or homicide
involving the natives as the ac-
cused or the victims.
Manny Pacquiao is now a History,
will he get into politics?
against Juan Manuel
Marquez in his comeback
fight. But he cheated by
fighting in a much bigger
weight compared to
Marquez who complied with
the agreed lower weight.
Let us review the fight
against Cotto.
The Puerto Rican cham-
pion was downed twice in
the third and fourth rounds
by the Pinoy greatest
fighter.
Although the Puerto
Rican survived the
knockdowns, he never es-
caped from the continuous
pounding of left and right
punches that came from ev-
Loren will show how man enough is Mar
a long wait, Manny ended
up with Senator Loren
Legarda.
Manny was a victim of
backstabbing and disloyalty
in the Senate. He lost the
Senate presidency because
the people he thought would
support him turned out to be
not for him after all.
so I thought Manny was
taking his time in carefully
choosing his running mate.
He needed a buddy who
would stick with him through
thick and thin. He must run
alongside somebody not af-
ter his untimely ouster if ever
he is elected president next
year.
Is that Loren? Does he
truly trust the lady senator?
I was watching Loren de-
The families of the victim
do not think of coming to court
where justice wheels run for five
years to 15 years in full course
before the judgment can be ex-
ecuted. It becomes a talk of jus-
tice delayed justice denied.
And Maguindanaoans are
not used to wait for justice.
This kind of “rido” is only
about an ordinary killing.
Fact of massacre being
extremely brutal
The story on “blood for
blood” war is expected to be
far different in the case of the
massacre of at least 57 women,
children, lawyers and journal-
ists in that bloody carnage
where Andal Jr. has been posi-
tively identified to be the one
who directly gave orders to kill
anybody in sight.
The degree of shock and the
fact it being unquestionably
revolting to conscience would
erywhere.
In the 11th round, Cotto
was very obvious to be
only trying to stay stand-
ing to finish the round and
hoping to complete the 12th
round in his bid to avoid the
worst shame of failing to last
the distance. Much more
that the shame was in the
mind of Cotto because he
was knew he was facing
clear defeat in the hands of
a smaller fighter in the per-
son of Pacquiao.
Pacquiao used his speed
and strength on both hands
to get the seventh title and
cement his name as the
greatest pound-for-pound
livering her speech after the
Nacionalista Party officially
proclaimed her as its vice-
presidential bet. She spoke
as she was the presidential
bet. She sounded good. In
fact, good enough to unseat
Manny if they both win.
***
It’s still quiet. The silence
may last until the end of De-
cember. But I suspect hell will
break loose early next year.
It can be already war in Janu-
ary.
Of course I’m referring to
politics. Politicians may start
howling at the start of the
year to draw early attention
from the voting public.
The possibilities are they
may promote themselves or
throw mud at their oppo-
drastically change the color of
the game of “rido.”
Here, the brutality or sav-
agery is historic, the number of
victims is unequalled, and the
number of journalists killed in
one incident has made the Phil-
ippines as the world’s most
dangerous place for journalist,
beating Iraq by far margin.
Everybody agrees, even if
Andal Jr. is cut into pieces it is
not enough as a justice to the
57 innocent human beings
whose bodies were mangled,
assuming he is guilty.
Arrest of Ampatuan
scion
The surrender or arrest of
Andal Jr. to the authorities may
have alleviated a bit the out-
rage from both Muslim and
Christian communities in
Mindanao.
Definitely, this does not yet
define what would be expected
in the few more days as the
country runs up to the highly-
anticipated 2010 elections,
particularly the gubernatorial
race in Maguindanao.
However, indications have
shown no simmering down of
hatred.
During the inquest proceed-
ings done by the Department
fighter in the world.
Cotto was downed by
the right fist of Pacquiao
early of the 3rd round. But
the Puerto Rican escaped
and finished the round yet
strong.
In the 4th round, Cotto
was showed varied moves
and he became dumb-
founded that he lost aggres-
siveness.
Even if Cotto finished 12
rounds, he still will loss by
unanimous decision. In all
three judges’ scorecards,
Pacquiao was far ahead that
even if the Filipinos lost the
11 th and 12 th round our
“Pambansang Kamao” will
nents. In fact, they may do
both to advance their politi-
cal ambitions.
I can’t imagine this hap-
pening to Gibo and Noynoy.
Both vowed to refrain from
doing so because they come
from one clan.
Given the two candidates
are gentlemen enough to live
up to their promises, their
supporters are likely not to
follow their convictions.
***
Mar Roxas is an early fa-
vorite in the vice presiden-
tial race. He may not be as
strong as a presidential bet
but he is somebody to beat
in the next lower position.
And Loren knows this
for sure. Just as she knew
how strong Noli De Castro
5
of Justice at the airport in
General Santos City, the ex-
treme outrage nearly broke
out when Toto saw Andal Jr.
face to face.
Thanks to the cooler
heads and the overwhelming
presence of law enforcers and
a possible bloody revenge
was averted.
The face of Andal Jr.
showed a picture of a man
who has not slept for days;
his eye bags were darker and
deep.
The more outrage was fu-
eled when he denied having a
hand in the goriest-ever mas-
sacre and pointed to the
Moro Islamic Liberation
Front (MILF) as the culprits.
MILF spokesman Eid
Kabalu immediately de-
bunked this claim, insisting
that evidences reported
clearly show the Ampatuan
scion as guilty.
Andal Jr. has been unre-
pentant.
Fears of whitewash
or manipulation
Given the kind of justice
system the Philippines has
for over 100 years, it is no
To page 8
still end up the victor.
But I love Cotto
so much for his gentleman
conduct. He exhibited the
best of sportsmanship.
After the referee stopped
the fight, Cotto ap-
proached Pacquiao and
waited for the Filipino to
finish praying. Thereafter,
Cotto embraced the Fili-
pino.
Pacquiao is now here in
the Philippines. He is ex-
pected to launch his con-
gressional bid in
Saranggani.
In his first political at-
tempt, which he did in
To page 7
was when they were pit-
ted against each other in
the 2004 vice-presidential
race.
The camp of Loren
knows the art of war dur-
ing elections. This knowl-
edge almost snatched the
vice presidency from De
Castro. In fact, given a little
more time to exercise that
knowledge before the cast-
ing of ballots in 2004, the
camp of Loren should have
succeeded in catapulting
her as the next highest offi-
cial of the land. And his-
tory would have been dif-
ferent.
So Roxas must be pre-
pared for what’s coming.
Loren will show how man
enough is Mar.
 6 NOVEMBER 23 - 29, 2009
ONE of the much awaited
parts in every fights of Manny
“Pacman” Pacquiao is the ren-
dition of the Philippine national
anthem by Filipino artists cho-
sen to perform in that particu-
lar fight.
Constantly, the artists cho-
sen to sing before any fight of
the “Pambansang Kamao”
were always at the center of
controversy.
And almost always, the
National Historical Institute
(NHI) comes out charging them
with the violation of Section
37 of Republic Act 8491 or the
Flag and Heraldic Code of the
Philippines which is stated that
the rendition of the National
Anthem, whether played or
sung, shall be in accordance
with the musical arrangement
and composition of Julian
Felipe.
It was Martin Nievera who
had been charged by the NHI
after he sang the national an-
them on the Manny-Hatton
fight last year. NHI said that
Mr. Nievera erred in his rendi-
tion of the said hymn charging
him of “desecrating the na-
tional anthem.”
However, Martin Nievera
defended himself on the said
controversy. Now, it was LA
DIVA.
On the fight between the
World’s Pound for Pound King
Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao
against Miguel Cotto of Puerto
Rico, GMA-Kapuso
Network’s singing triumvirate
collectively known as “La
Diva” sang the “Lupang
Hinirang” in the said Pacquao-
Cotto “Firepower” clash.
The crowded MGM Grand
Garden Arena has been wowed
by the trio’s excellent rendition
of the national anthem. La
Diva’s version of “Lupang
Hinirang” left many wonder of
their brilliant voices, beautiful
blending, excellent harmony
and ranges. Another plus fac-
tor for the trio were the dress
they wore in the colors of yel-
low, red and blue which repre-
sents the Philippine national
flag.
Despite praises being re-
ceived from the Filipinos who
had watched the performance
of La Diva, here again the NHI
verbal attacking such singing.
According to NHI, they
violated the law of the correct
singing of the “Lupang
Hinirang.” They added that the
song has been extended in one
and a half minutes as contrary
to what the law prescribes
‘La Diva
reigns in
Las Vegas’
which is 49 to 54 seconds.
In an interview by ABS-
CBN, Ambet Ocampo, head of
the National Historical Insti-
tute said that the trio had failed
to follow the musical arrange-
ment of Julian Felipe. He said
that like Martin Nievera, La
Diva erred in its rendition of
the national anthem for singing
it too slow.
“’Yung ating national an-
them talagang kinanta para isang
martsa, para sa isang
rebolusyon. Kaya ‘yon ang lagi
naming sinasabi sa mga tao,
huwag niyong gawing ‘Ama
Namin’ ang kanta. Huwag
niyong bagalan. Ito’y national
anthem, nagsasagisag ng isang
bansa. It should be given the
respect,” Ocampo said.
It was reported that NHI,
prior to the last fight, had sent
a letter and a demo to Solar
Sports and GMA Artist Cen-
ter.
“Second time na ito. Hindi
pwedeng sabihing hindi nila
alam. Hindi mo alam kung
nakalimutan o nanadya,” he
said.
On the part of La Diva, their
vocal arranger Danny Tan spo-
ken about the controversial and
defended the groups from crit-
ics especially to Mr. Ocampo.
According to the statement
Mr. Tan sent to ABS-CBN
News, he said that the melody
of the national anthem sung by
the trio from the beginning up
to the end is intact and with
the proper march tempo.
Mr. Tan said: “The ‘birit’
part in the end does not violate
any law because the melody
was still intact. The melody of
‘…ang mamatay nang da-‘ was
sang by Jonalyn Viray (soprano
1) at sinalo ni Maricris Garcia
‘…-hil sayo.’ Maricris is usu-
ally soprano 2, but in this last
part, alto sya. Aicelle sang the
soprano 2 part.
“The arrangement was a
very clever way of dealing with
the law without sacrificing
musical integrity, originality
and harmony to fit the inter-
pretation of a female pop trio.”
Danny also noted that “La
Diva” performed the Philippine
National Anthem with so much
fervor and patriotism.”
“As their vocal arranger and
musical director, I must say that
‘La Diva’s’ performance made
each one of us very proud!” he
said.
As to the answer of Mr.
Danny Tan from some techni-
cal points raised by Mr. Ambet
Ocampo, he said that: “NHI
posted in their official site
samples of how the Philippine
National Anthem was to be
sung.”
Mr. Tan questions, “how
come their instrumental version
is different from the vocal ver-
sion? They have been using
their instrumental version as
the accompaniment of the so-
loists. ‘Sa dagat at...’ part has
an extra note on the word ‘sa.’
A grace note or an ornamental
note is played by the instru-
ments but not sung by the vo-
cal soloists.
Second, Danny points out,
“the solo piano version of Mr.
Raul Sunico is not in conso-
nance with the instrumental
version played by the UST
Wind Orchestra because Mr.
Raul Sunico slowed the tempo
in the last measure of his ver-
sion. Nag ‘retard’ or nag ‘slow
down’ siya.”
Thirdly, “Mr. Ambeth
Ocampo says the law states
that ‘Lupang Hinirang’ must be
49 to 54 seconds long. Kyla’s
version was 1 minute and 19
seconds. Mr. Ocampo says La
Diva’s version was slow be-
cause umabot daw ng 1 minute
and 30 seconds. NHI said
Kyla’s version was in accor-
dance with the law and La
Diva’s version violated the law.
How very inconsistent they
are.”
Lastly, Danny Tan lets out
steam by saying that some-
body should take a stand and
do something about that law.
“It has to be repealed very, very
soon because it encroaches our
freedom of expression. We are
not a nation of robots. We are a
very passionate nation espe-
cially when it comes to sing-
ing,” he ended.
Before the expected contro-
versy, it was announced that
the trio were luckily chosen by
itself Manny “Pacman”
Pacquiao to sing the Philippine
national anthem on his “Fire-
power” clash against Cotto.
The La Diva group con-
sisted of two winners and a
runner-up from the GMA-
Kapuso’s Pinoy Pop Superstar.
Jonalyn Viray and Maricris
Garcia were the grand champi-
ons of the first and third sea-
sons of the Pinoy Pop Super-
star respectively, while Aicelle
Santos was the runner up of
the second season.
The group was first estab-
lished in May 2008 only for
By
OMAY E.
RENTA
SOP Rules’ segment known as
“The Three of a Kind” which
was seen every Sunday.
One of the successful per-
formances of the group was
when they serenaded David
Archuleta on the program SIS
last May of 2009.
Jonalyn Roxas Viray first
appeared as the first winner of
Pinoy Pop Superstar.
Born on February 15, 1989
in San Mateo, Rizal, Viray is
the lead vocal of the group and
known for her vocal belting and
the ability to sing in whistle
register.
One of the awards received
by her was the “Overall Cham-
pion Female Solo” in Broad-
way, Pop and Original at the
World Championship of Per-
forming Arts in Hollywood.
She was a graduate of the
Christ the Lord of Harvest
Academy, Inc. in San Mateo,
Rizal.
Maricris Garcia is consid-
ered as the “Divine Princess”
because of her voice distinctly
similar to the Divine Diva
Zsazsa Padilla.
Born on September 26, 1987
in Caloocan City, she first au-
ditioned in Pinoy Pop Super-
star Year 1 but failed to become
a finalist.
Two years later, she won
and cemented as the 3rd Pinoy
Pop Superstar champion.
The mezzo-soprano of the
group, Garcia is taking up BS
Tourism at La Consolacion
College in Manila.
Aicelle Santos is a singer-
songwriter and a pianist. She
first joined the singing contest
of ABS-CBN’s season 1 of
“Star In A Million” in 2003.
The said contest was her first
appearance in television.
Despite future opportuni-
ties on her singing career dur-
ing that time has opened to her,
she chose to study rather than
grabbing said opportunity.
She decided to aim for a solo
singing career in 2005 by join-
ing the second season of
GMA’s Pinoy Pop Superstar.
She got the show’s history af-
ter getting an eight-straight
wins during the preliminaries.
Aicelle won as the 1st run-
ner-up and signed a record deal
and an exclusive management
contract under GMA Artist
Center.
Many artists, particularly
from ABS-CBN and GMA-
Kapuso Network, who had
auditioned to sing the
“Lupang Hinirang” in the fight
between the Pacquiao and
Cotto but only the trio
passed the taste of Manny
believing that these artists
will do justice in singing the
Philippine national anthem.
International singers
Charise Pempengco and Leah
Salonga were among the sing-
ers who had shown interest in
singing the “Lupang Hinirang.”
“Pero hindi ko naman sila
nakausap. Kung nakausap ko,
siguro sila. Pero ‘yong ‘La
Diva’ kasi, na-oo-han ko na.
Mahirap naman at baka masabi
wala akong isang salita,”
Pacquiao explained in an inter-
view by the ABS CBN News.
 NOVEMBER 23 - 29, 2009
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Manny Pacquiao
UNDEFEATED VS
UNDISPUTED
THE recent conquest of
Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico
by the newly-crowned wel-
terweight champion Manny
“Pacman” Pacquiao gave
the Filipinos something to
brag about and something
to be proud of.
Pacquiao not only re-
wrote the record books, but
also re-made boxing folklore
when he ripped the WBO
welterweight title from the
battered and bruised Miguel
Angel Cotto with a perfor-
mance of stunning speed
and offensive ferocity.
Now, there is only one
boxer left blocking his way on
the road to boxing immortal-
ity – Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
The two boxing super-
stars have finally aligned
their paths in the boxing
realm. They are either in or
near their prime and are both
fighting in the same weight
division.
It will truly be a summit
meeting of the sport’s best.
It’s rare that the best two
fighters in the world fight in
the same weight class and
have such polar-opposite
personalities.
In one interview, Floyd
Jr. had this to say: “The
world is much more in-
trigued by the thought of
someone fighting me who
can beat me. That is what
everyone wants to see, and
the boxing world is trying
to find that guy. Manny
Pacquiao’s people have
done a good job of creat-
ing an image of him to be
this unbelievable fighter
and now the so-called guy
Manny Pacquiao is now a History,
will he get into politics?
From page 5
General Santos City, he lost
to incumbent Darlene
Antonino-Custodio.
Let us see if he will win
in 2010.
But if I were Pacquiao, I
prefer not to enter politics.
to beat me. But like all the
rest, he’s not the one.
There is boxing and then
there is me. The rest are
just falling in line behind
me or are trying to get in
line to fight me. And that
includes Manny Pacquiao,
too.
“Tell Manny Pacquiao
to be his own man and stop
letting everyone, including
his loudmouth trainer
(Freddie Roach), talk for
him. I am my own boss,
speak for myself and tell it
like it is. If Manny Pacquiao
wants to fight me, all he has
to do is step up to the plate
and say it himself.”
Mayweather is hilarious.
While Pacquiao humiliates
guys bigger than him with
ferocity — remember,
Pacquiao was a junior light-
weight until last year and
has fought only four times
heavier than 130 pounds —
Mayweather has avoided
the top challenges, for the
most part, in recent years.
That’s why he never fought
Cotto or Antonio Margarito
or Paul Williams or Shane
Mosley.
While Pacquiao has de-
stroyed the bigger Cotto,
Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky
Hatton (with a single punch
in the second round) and
David Diaz in his last four
fights, Mayweather picked
on the much smaller
Marquez, needed 10 rounds
to get rid of the smaller
Hatton and escaped with a
split decision against De La
Hoya.
Floyd Jr. talks about
He has billions of dollars to
relax or enjoy life.
Long live, Manny
Pacquiao!
***
As usual, the crime rate
of PNP on Pacquiao-Cotto
fight was zero. It may be
criminals also watched the
fighting the best, but has yet
to face a prime welterweight
while Pacquiao takes on the
best guys who are bigger
than him and does it in an
exciting fashion.
While all roads lead to
Pacquiao vs Mayweather,
there are some issues that
must be addressed first be-
fore the fight is delivered
to an eagerly anticipating
public. This is boxing after
all. With that said, here’s a
quick look at potential
snags that must be
smoothed over before
Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd
Mayweather arrives on our
television screens.
The public’s demand to
see this fight is massive, the
egos behind the scenes may
be even larger. Negotiations
won’t be easy when you’re
dealing with Floyd
“Money” Mayweather Jr.
and his arch-nemesis and
former promoter, Bob Arum.
Both sides are demanding
the larger split of the pie,
and both have their own
cases.
One potential stumbling
block might be that Floyd
Jr. claimed he would never
do business with Bob Arum
again, and is known to have
avoided Top Rank fighters
such as Miguel Cotto and
Antonio Margarito in the
past. Given his past indis-
cretions, Arum might be
tempted to really hammer
Floyd Jr. over the terms of
the fight, which is some-
thing Mayweather won’t
like at all.
A confidante of Manny
fight. Likewise, the police-
men were focused on the
television.
It was a spectacular. You
can really be amazed by the
excitement and every bit of
action.
We expect it again in the
next fight…
By
RONALD B.
HERICO
Pacquiao said a 55-45 split
in favor of the Filipino sen-
sation is fair enough to make
the much-fantasized bout
with Floyd Jr. a reality.
International promoter
Rex “Wakee” Salud said that
both camps of Pacquiao and
Floyd Jr. have initially
agreed that their latest Pay-
Per-View (PPV) results will
decide who gets the larger
chunk of their potential earn-
ings.
“Matigas din si
Mayweather dahil gusto
niya siya dapat ang
malaking share. Si Manny
naman hindi din papayag.
Pero yung basehan na PPV
ng last fight nila, lamang na
si Manny,” said Salud.
Well-known boxing per-
sonalities, however, are in-
sistent that a 50-50 split
would be fair enough for
both celebrity fighters as
there would definitely be so
much money on the table to
make so much fuss about
small percentages.
“It could hit 3 million
pay-per-view buys. And if
two fighters can do it, it’s
Mayweather and Pacquiao,”
penned Oscar De La Hoya
in his Ring Magazine online
blog.
It really is the fight the
world wants to see.
Meanwhile, the United
States Sports Academy’s
Athlete of the Year ballot-
ing is on.
The Athlete of the Year
ballot is the culmination of
the Academy’s yearlong
program which recognizes
the accomplishments of 12
male and 12 female in sports
around the globe. The can-
didates for the Athlete of the
Year is selected by an inter-
national voting committee
composed of members of
the media, sports organiza-
tions and governing bodies.
The athlete with the most
votes regardless of gender
will be the Overall Athlete
of the Year.
Last year’s winners were
2008 Olympic stars Michael
Phelps and Nastia Liukin.
Voters are asked to select
their top three candidates
for the award in descending
order. First choice is worth
five points, second place is
three points and third place
is one point.
The men’s ballot con-
sists of, in alphabetical or-
der: Craig Alexander,
triathlon, Australia; Usain
Bolt, track and field, Ja-
maica; Drew Brees, football,
United States; Kobe Bryant,
basketball, United States;
7
Pound-4-Pound king
Manny Pacquiao raises his
WBO welterweight belt
after receiving the Order of
Sikatuna from President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The Order of Sikatuna is
the highest award
conferred upon individuals
who have rendered
exceptional and
meritorious services to the
country in terms of
fostering and developing
relations between the
Philippines and other
countries.
Angel Cabrera, golf, Argen-
tina; Roger Federer, tennis,
Switzerland; Santonio
Holmes, football, United
States; LeBron James, bas-
ketball, United States;
Jimmie Johnson, auto rac-
ing, United States; Manny
Pacquiao, boxing, Philip-
pines; Albert Pujols, base-
ball, Dominican Republic;
and Tiger Woods, golf,
United States.
The women’s ballot con-
sists of: Yelena Isinbaeva,
track and field, Russia;
Carmelita Jeter, track and
field, United States;
Courtney Kupets, gymnas-
tics, United States; Linet
Masai, track and field,
Kenya; Lorena Ochoa, golf,
Mexico; Courtney Paris,
basketball, United States;
Sanya Richards, track and
field, United States; Jiyai
Shin, golf, South Korea;
Diana Taurasi, basketball,
United States; Lindsey
Vonn, skiing, United States;
Chrissie Wellington,
triathlon, United Kingdom;
and Serena Williams, tennis,
United States.
 8 NOVEMBER 23 - 29, 2009
SO, SO,SO
GOOOOD
Wesley So beats Ivanchuk, advances to 3rd round
The game where So de-
feated higher-rated
Ivanchuk: V Ivanchuk on
white, W So on black
World Cup, in Khanty-
Mansiysk, Russia, Nov. 24,
2009
Result: So scored 2,
Ivanchuk 1
1. e4 e6; 2. d4 d5; 3. Nc3
Bb4; 4. exd5 exd5; 5. Bd3 Nf6;
6. Nge2 O-O; 7. O-O Bg4; 8.
f3 Bh5; 9. Nf4 Bg6; 10. Nxg6
hxg6; 11. Bg5 c6; 12. f4 Qb6;
13. Na4 Qxd4+; 14. Kh1 Ne4;
15. c3 Nf2+; 16. Rxf2 Qxf2;
17. cxb4 f6; 18. Qg4 fxg5; 19.
Qe6+ Kh8; 20. Nc5 Qxb2; 21.
Qh3+ Kg8; 22. Qe6+ Kh8; 23.
Rf1 Qf6; 24. Qh3+ Kg8; 25.
g3 Re8; 26. Nxb7 gxf4; 27.
Rxf4 Re1+; 28. Kg2 Qe6; 29.
Qxe6+ Rxe6; 30. Nc5 Re7; 31.
b5 Nd7; 32. Nxd7 Rxd7; 33.
bxc6 Rd6; 34. Bb5 Re8; 35.
Rd4 Kf7; 36. Rf4+ Ke6; 37.
Rg4 Ke5; 38. Kf3 Rf6+; 39.
Ke3 0-1 (Ivanchuk resigned)
F
ILIPINO Wonder
Kid Wesley So
scored the biggest
upset in the sec-
ond round of the 2009 World
‘BLOOD FOR BLOOD’ JUSTICE
From page 5
secret that it affords many op-
portunities open for the ac-
cused to play around with.
In the case of Andal Jr., even
if he is guilty which is likely, it
is possible that he would make
up a play to call in some of his
men to own up the massacre in
exchange for money in order to
free him from jail.
In the case of the late
Mayor Honorato Galvez of San
Ildefonso, Bulacan, his body-
guards owned up the crimes and
were the ones who were kept
in jail while the mayor was
freed, in addition to the account
of the police crime laboratory
that the bullets that killed the
victims did not fit the gun of
Galvez.
What happened to Galvez
is not far to happen in the case
of Andal Jr.
It has always been a prac-
tice of lawyers-operators to
make a play conspiring with
the fiscals and the judge with
the purpose of getting a court
order to lessen liability or ac-
quit the accused.
And if there is apparent
Chess Cup, beating former
world championship con-
tender GM Vassily Ivanchuk
of Ukraine to advance to the
third round of the biggest
mind contest at the Khanty-
Mansiysk Festival of Arts in
Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.
The 16-year-old senior of
St. Francis of Assisi in
Bacoor, Cavite forced
Ivanchuk to resign in their
first game in Round 2 of this
biggest chess event.
With this win, the great-
est Filipino chess player
who is now the World’s Top
Player in Under 16-years-
old group needed only a
draw to advance to the next
round, where only 32 chess
players remain to continue
the fight.
He forced Ivanchuk to a
draw in their second game
to formally seal the right to
advance to the third round
of the competition which is
an integral part of the
World Chess Champion-
ship cycle.
And So never faltered.
With an ELO of 2640, he de-
feated Ivanchuk who has an
ELO of 2739.
If this was the result of
whitewash, the “blood for
blood” backlash is inevitable.
With the vivid details of re-
ports, photos and footages so
far that have been bombarded
on the public, the witnesses
mentioned by Father Jun
Mercado as having positively
identified the Ampatuan son as
the leader of the band, and the
fact that the provincial govern-
ment backhoe was there,
coupled with the coming of a
witness who was among those
ordered to rape and brutally kill,
and the fact that there have
been no other persons inter-
ested in killing the wife and sis-
ters of Toto, his lady lawyers
and the 27 journalists, it can-
not be explained to the public
how Andal Jr. can be declared
innocent-and why the gunmen
were not arrested.
Conclusions
Given these considerations,
anybody can just sigh to ask:
(a) Will the present justice sys-
tem work? and (b) Will “blood-
for-blood” justice erupt?
the game, it must be that
Wesley performed his chess
in the level above 2800 ELO.
In the first round, Wesley
defeated Grandmaster Gadir
Guseinov of Azerbaijan while
the only other Filipino en-
tries, GM Rogelio Antonio Jr.
and GM Darwin Laylo, were
eliminated.
The win over Guseinov
moved So to the top group
of 64 players remaining after
the first round.
What was more wonder-
ful, So was playing in the
usually-disadvantageous
black when he defeated
Ivanchuk in a complicated
French game.
When So now holding
the white pieces and need-
ing only a draw to nail the
right to advance to the top-
32 field, Wesley chose to
play the Exchange Variation
against the Slav Defense of
Ivanchuk.
Wesley then played cau-
tiously, making it so difficult
for Ivanchuk to find a way to
complicate things. In the 46th
move, the game turned into
a balanced Queen ending.
The next road for Wesley
is much uphill.
Additionally, the present
justice system cannot work be-
cause no fiscal and judge of
Maguindanao would ever find
probable cause and sentence the
Ampatuans as guilty of the
world’s worst massacre of jour-
nalists.
Recommendation
To avoid the repeat of the
goriest-ever massacre, the only
option is to change the system
of justice.
It is proposed that the coun-
try now adopts Hukuman ng
Mamamayan, or the Filipino-
designed Jury System. This is
to ensure that laws on crimes
are implemented to preclude
the possibility of breeding and
molding again of criminals as
worst as the Ampatuan massa-
cre killers, who were said to
have used to killing ordinary
Maguindanao people that they
developed the habit of fearless
mass killing.
The Ampatuans are ex-
amples of warlords who have
been treated as “babies” by the
Filipino chess wizard GM Wesley So barges into the 3rd round of the 2009 World
Chess Cup, beating former world championship contender GM Vassily Ivanchuk of
Ukraine at the Khanty-Mansiysk Festival of Arts in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.
He is set to face the World
Chess Champion in 2007,
GM Gata Kamsky of the
United States who has ELO
2695.
Kamsky, once a child
prodigy like Wesley, barely
missed the chance last Feb-
ruary to challenge reigning
world chess champion
Viswanathan Anand.
Kamsky lost to Veselin
administration of Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo for deliver-
ing the needed votes where
Fernando Poe Jr. got zero and
where her senatorial candidates
were 12-0 winners.
The Hukuman ng
Mamamayan is composed of
two bodies: the Grand Jury and
the Trial Jury.
The Grand Jury shall be
composed of ordinary folks
whose names and faces shall
be hidden and they will be cho-
sen by raffle from the voters’
list to exercise the power to
decide who shall be arrested,
brought to court for trial, the
power to jail bought or threat-
ened witnesses who refuse to
testify until they agree to talk,
the power to jail arrogant or
threatened policemen and other
law enforcers until they agree
to work as detectives.
The Trial Jury shall be com-
posed of ordinary folks whose
names and faces shall be hid-
den and chosen in the same
manner. It will decide as to
which claims are true and which
are false.
Topalov of Bulgaria to set up
a world championship match
against Anand.
So Filipinos, nothing is
impossible. Please pray for
him.
Kamsky eliminated
China’s GM Zhou Weiqi,
who, in turn, eliminated GM
Emil Sutovsky of Israel 3.5-
1.5 in their own mini-match.
GM Sutovsky succumb in
the tiebreak games 2.5-0.5
against the Chinese grand-
master.
So, who rose to promi-
nence by becoming the
world’s seventh youngest
player to earn a GM title in
December 2007, played flaw-
lessly against the highly-
rated Ivanchuk despite han-
dling the black side of the
board.
The high school student
of St. Francis of Assisi won
a pawn with 13. Qxd4+ and
then forced the Ukrainian
champion to give up a rook
and a bishop for knight and
bishop.
On the 28th move, So
wisely steered the game into
his advantage by forcing an
exchange of the queens and
went into the endgame with
two rooks, a knight and five
pawns against Ivanchuk’s
rook, knight, bishop and four
pawns.
So qualified for the sec-
ond round by defeating
GM Gadir Guseinov (ELO
2625) of Azerbaijan in their
first round match. The two
split their two regular
games and the match went
into a rapid play-off where
So eventually scored a bril-
liant 3-0 victory.
The two other Filipino
participants of the tourna-
ment were not as lucky, los-
ing their first round assign-
ments to their higher-rated
opponents.
GM Antonio (ELO 2574)
was beaten by GM Kamsky
(ELO 2695) of the US and lost
0.5-1.5.
Antonio put up a spirited
fight in their second game
where he was pressing much
of the action but Kamsky
managed to hold the game
for a draw.
GM Laylo (ELO 2552) lost
to GM David Navara (ELO
2707) of Czechoslovakia but
not after extending the
match into the rapid play-off.
Laylo barely missed vic-
tory and Navara eventually
won 3-1 after the two split
their two regular games in the
mini-match where the Fili-
pino won the second game
with a fine effort of attacking
play.
Ironically, Laylo was on
his way to winning the sec-
ond game of the rapid play-
off after the two players drew
the first game.
Unfortunately, he let
Navara off the hook to es-
cape with a draw.
Affected with such result
or not, Laylo proceeded to
lose the next two games to
hand his opponent the vic-
tory.