Remonde dies after heart attack

MANILA, Philippines (4th UPDATE) - Press Secretary Cerge Remonde died Tuesday morning after suffering a major heart attack.

Doctors at the Makati Medical Center declared him dead at 11:51 a.m..

Remonde was found unconscious in his home Tuesday morning and was brought to the Makati Medical Center (MMC).

In an statement issued at around 1 p.m., Dr. Eric Nubla of the MMC said "Remonde was brought to the emergency department at Makati Medical Center at about 11:20 a.m. He was unconscious, not breathing, there was no heart beat."

"Attempts were made to resuscitate him. Despite heroic measures, he expired at 11:51 a.m. He was 51 years old," Nubla said.

Asked what the cause of death was, he said: "We cannot say that because no autopsy was made."

Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar earlier told dzMM that Remonde, suffered a "major heart incident" in his house in Bel-Air, Makati City.

He was found slumped and unconscious inside the bathroom.

Prayer in Facebook profile

Strangely, Remonde's last post on his Facebook profile was a prayer to be "released from fear and worry." The shoutout, which was posted at 6:51 p.m., reads as follows:

"Lord, thank You for the infinite love that meets our every need and provides all the beautiful and wonderful things we experience in life. Release our hearts and minds from fear and worry. Fill us with Your peace as we learn to fully trust in your providence. Help us to do all that we are capable of and the rest we entrust unto You. Amen."

Read the whole story at ABS-CBN News.

Will Arroyo retain Ibrado as AFP chief?

MANILA, Philippines - Will there be a new face at the helm of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) by March or will President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo stick it out with current military chief Gen. Victor Ibrado?

Ibrado is due to retire on March 10, the day before the election appointments ban takes effect. The president is barred from making new appointments two months before the elections and until the end of her term.

But pivotal to the 2010 elections is the president’s next move with regard to the leadership of the military. Ensuring security during elections, which includes monitoring the gun ban, falls partly on the shoulders of the AFP.

The AFP and the Philippine National Police will also play key roles in choosing the next president if there will be failure of elections in May 2010, according to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

The 2010 polls will also show if the AFP has learned its lessons following the "Hello Garci" election fraud scandal in the 2004 presidential race.

Extension?

Former military chief Sen. Rodolfo Biazon says he would prefer that Ibrado stay in his post just to erase any doubt of partisanship of the military.

“I’m pushing for the extension of his term,” he said in a telephone interview with abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. has said that under the Arroyo administration, term extension has been a common practice.

Out of the 10 military chiefs she has appointed in 9 years, Arroyo has extended the term of four – Esperon, Roy Cimatu, Efren Abu and Benjamin Defensor.

Rumors cropped up last year, however, that Ibrado would be dislodged from his post by elite members of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1978, which includes Army commander Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit. The ouster was called "Oplan August Moon."

If the alleged operation succeeds, Bangit will purportedly be installed as AFP chief. The AFP has repeatedly denied that such a plan exists.

Interim appointment

With or without such an "operation," however, reports of Bangit as Arroyo’s prime pick to replace Ibrado have persisted. His name was floated as the next AFP chief as early as May 2009 when Gen. Alexander Yano retired.

Bangit was Arroyo’s senior military aide when she was vice president. He later served as chief of the Presidential Security Group.

If Arroyo lets go of Ibrado and opts to appoint somebody in an acting capacity, observers say that Bangit is a shoo-in, although Brawner says that there are other contenders, such as AFP deputy chief of staff Lt. Gen Rodrigo Maclang and Vice Admiral Leonardo Calderon Jr.

Ibrado’s replacement will stay only until after the elections. The next president can renew his appointment and make it permanent, or he may choose a new AFP chief of staff.

As of now, the public is waiting for Arroyo’s decision. She may make an announcement on changes in the AFP leadership on March 1 during the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) graduation.

AFP and Ampatuans

All eyes are now on the military after the Commission on Elections said it plans to resurrect the former’s expanded role in elections. Upon the candidates’ requests, soldiers may be allowed to serve as their security escorts, just like in 2004.

The suggestion came just as security forces were reeling from allegations that policemen and Civilian Volunteer Organizations (CVOs) were used by the Ampatuan warlords to execute the election-related massacre last November 23.

No less than Ibrado admitted that some of the firearms seized from the Ampatuans belonged to the AFP, though he put the initial number of guns at a miniscule 32.

The killings were allegedly carried out to stop the Ampatuans' rival for the Maguindanao gubernatorial post, Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, from filing his certificate of candidacy.

Ghosts of 2004

In 2005, some military generals were implicated in the alleged cheating in Mindanao after they were mentioned in the taped conversations between election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano and a woman believed to be President Arroyo. The conversations took place during the 2004 polls.

Then deputy chief of staff for operations Brig. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon was one of those mentioned. But he was absolved by the military board and was later promoted as chief of staff.

One of the generals who testified in a Senate hearing that the military had a hand in the election fraud in Maguindanao, Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani, was removed from his post.

Source: ABS-CBN News

Palace officials call Noynoy 'arrogant, ignorant'

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang officials lashed back at Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, calling him arrogant and ignorant for saying that he will not recognize a Supreme Court chief justice appointed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

"A combination of arrogance and ignorance. As presidential candidate, you have to respect the current dispensation. A Constitution has three branches, you do not threaten a co-equal branch," Prospero Pichay, President Arroyo's political affairs adviser, said in a press conference in Malacañang.

Pichay was reacting to Aquino's statement on Thursday that he will not recognize the next chief justice who may be appointed by President Arroyo.

Aquino also warned Supreme Court justices from accepting an appointment by Mrs. Arroyo as the next chief justice. He said the justices would be risking his or her presence in the Court as an associate member.

Aquino made the statement on the assumption that he will be elected as the next president.

The senator's statement was a reaction to debates on whether Mrs. Arroyo is allowed by law to appoint a replacement for retiring Chief Justice Reynato Puno while there is a ban on midnight appointments.

Puno will retire on May 17, which is within the constitutional midnight appointments ban of an outgoing President.

Pichay said Aquino's threat against SC justices was a "big blunder" and a sign that "he will become a dangerous president."

"Even Marcos didn't threaten the judiciary," the presidential adviser said, referring to the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Pichay also insisted that appointment of a new chief justice does not have to go through the Judicial Bar Council, which vets nominees to the judiciary.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, meanwhile, said that there could be a "failure of assumption" to the presidency if there is still no appointed new chief justice who will swear in the next elected president.

"Baka magka-failure of assumption imbes na failure of elections," Remonde said.

He also defended Mrs. Arroyo's appointments of all the incumbent justices in the high court, insisting that it was President Arroyo's job to fill up the posts.

He said the political opposition is just trying to twist the issue and use it as a campaign tool in the elections.


Source: ABS-CBN News

Estrada on Palace comeback: That’s destiny

MANILA, Philippines - “I’m coming back. That’s destiny.”

Joseph Estrada, who is running for president again in the May election, made this vow in a phone interview with the Inquirer on Tuesday after returning to Malacañang almost nine years after his ouster to attend a National Security Council meeting.

The former President admitted he missed the Palace, especially the “everyday course of the presidency.”

“It’s almost nine years today since I left Malacañang. That was Jan. 21,” said the actor-turned-politician.

Estrada, 71, was forced to step down in 2001 after only two and a half years in office by a people power uprising dubbed Edsa II. He was replaced by then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

He was later convicted of plunder but was promptly pardoned by Ms Arroyo in 2007.

Estrada said he felt a bit awkward while sitting in Heroes Hall during the meeting that tackled private armies and other security concerns in preparation for the elections.

“It’s something new to me because before it was GMA who used to be seated to my right. Now I was the one seated to her right,” he said in Filipino, referring to the seating protocol when he was president and Ms Arroyo was vice president.

Seated to Ms Arroyo’s left was Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and across from them were Vice President Noli De Castro and Senators Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Rodolfo Biazon.

Read the whole story at Inquirer.net.