The columns of Connie Veneracion and Alex Magno are delightfully congruent today.

My column for today isNews of divisions within the President’s cabinet, and outright hostility toward Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, Jr.  (a former law partner of Justice Carpio) may just be sour graping and an attempt to find a scapegoat on the part of Palace lieutenants.Still, the Inquirer editorial reacts to criticisms of the Supreme Court and says three dangerous ideas are being floated: first, second, third.  Amando Doronila takes up the cudgels for the justices, too.More views on the Supreme Court’s decision from Atty-at-work and Red’s Herring, who delves into the hybrid nature of the Philippine legal system.

Now that the court’s decided, the Inquirer and Newsbreak focus on the inside story on the goings-on among the Supremes leading up to their vote.  The Inquirer claims the chief justice kept his cards close to his chest; Newsbreak asserts the Palace knew how he’d vote weeks in advance.

Newsbreak has the skinny on It’s interesting how this passage from the Chief Justice’s statement was echoed by the Inquirer editorial of the day of the decision itself (yesterday):Ten years, fifty years, a hundred years – or even a thousand years — from now, what the Court did here, and how each justice opined and voted, will still be talked about, either in shame or in pride.  Indeed, the hand-washing of Pontius Pilate, the abomination of Dred Scott, and the loathing of Javellana still linger and haunt to this day.Let not this case fall into the same damnation.

ANC scooped everyone by reporting the Supreme Court’s reached a decision, 8-7 against the so-called “people’s initiative.”…  As news was swirling, the President arrived at the Manila Hotel to talk to the League of Municipalities of the Philippines’ convention.  I wonder if they’re feeling droopy or not -perhaps girding for round 2.

See Riots in Hungary for the latest in Buda -and how the people are being pests concerning their Prime Minister….  Not.Over in David’s space, he differentiates between the two types of tear gas used by the Hungarian police.  Between the Hammer and the Anvil and ns_kumiho are quite taken by the irony of the 1956 protests being marked with a Soviet t-34 tank and how protesters liberated it for the 2006 protests.

Coconuter made it to a TV show.  He also penned a fragmentary essay full of astute observations.

Asingianan Journal looks at the Colorum revolt of the early 1930s.

In the punditocracy, Dr. Rene Azurin of One Voice pens a warning to those who’d willfully ignore history.Max Soliven declares war on Mark Jimenez.In the blogosphere, people weigh in pro and con regarding Binay….  says they didn’t notice much (and explains why they like their mayor):well, bilang isang mamamayan ng dakilang lungsod *ehem* ng Makati, masasabi kong maganda naman ang pamumuno ni Binay……  kasi hanggang sa pagsilang, unang picture ng baby saka ng nanay pagkapanganak, health service tulad ng Yellow Card at diskwento sa gamot sa mga Senior Citizen at iba pa, hanggang sa mga cakes para sa matatanda, pati sa kabaong ng namatay at bulaklak, sagot ng pamahalaan ng Makati…

While it was Binay who is accused of retaining ghost employees, it was also Binay who was throwing accusations that his suspension is politically motivated—part of the so-called concerted moves of the administration to get rid of elements of the opposition.There is a saying to describe such a passage -refusing to see the forest from the trees.  Or take the passage that follows the one just quoted:In that particular segment of the Binay-Andanar phone patches, Andanar was not even a direct party to the issue; he was merely assigned to enforce the order of suspension….  Throwing the term at Andanar, live on national TV, knowing fully well that Andanar could not legitimately grant nor deny the demand for a Bill of Particulars, was clearly nothing but grandstanding on the part of Binay.