Anyway, all eyes will be on the Supreme Court today, as Fight for 12th Senate seat shifts to Manila, with the Chief Justice making broad hints: Puno reiterates wish for freeze of canvass….  While there’s this naughty story, Palace in-fighting worsens; Ronnie Puno tipped to replace Ermita, I still believe the real story is one of plain insubordination: the president made a wish, which might as well have been a command -and people didn’t obey.JDV allies say he is GMA’s anointed, although Jose de Venecia, supposedly, followed the President around Singapore like a lonely puppy….  Broadband network deal not yet final, says Palace.The Lonely Vampire Chronicles presents two contrasting tales of bravura and machismo.My Not So Secret Garden points to the inspiring story of Judge Lee of Cebu:Judge Lee of Cebu rose to the occasion.

However, this does not preclude the authority of the appropriate canvassing body motu propio or upon written complaint of an interested person to correct manifest errors in the certificate of canvass or election returns before it.Questions affecting the composition or proceedings of the board of canvassers may be initiated in the board or directly with the Commission in accordance with Section 19 hereof.Any objection on the election returns before the city or municipal board of canvassers, or on the municipal certificates of canvass before the provincial board of canvassers or district boards of canvassers in Metro Manila Area, shall be specifically noticed in the minutes of their respective proceedings.The section (19) referred to by the above section (15) is as follows:Section 19….  The Commission shall summarily decided the case within five (5) days from the filing thereof.Which means, a candidate who questions the election results in a province, can question those results and the documents on which results are based, at two levels: the provincial board of canvassers, and the national board of canvassers, within certain limits.But the Supreme Court, at this point, can only intervene so long as no final proclamation has been made by the Comelec; once the Comelec proclaims a senator -and only one proclamation is left, that for No….  The stolen documents included the provincial canvass results, and the municipal canvass results -and the copies of these figures, that should have gone to interested parties, including the dominant opposition and administration parties, and electoral watchdog groups.But the Comelec claims that, thank God, duplicates were found for municipal results, and while it’s sad the official provincial results remain missing, the results can be reconstituted based on the found documents -even though the political parties and watchdogs never got their copies, and so have no basis for proving, or disproving, the numbers that the special board’s counting in Maguindanao.And as for the incredible Bedol, well, he’ll show up before the Comelec -in his own good time.Finance Sec.

Philippine Economy: A Cautionary Tale Manuel L. Quezon III   On June 22, William Pesek wrote in Bloomberg, that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo seems frustrated with the skepticism expressed by foreign groups over her ability to keep control over the fiscal situation of the Philippine government. The skepticism began with Standard & Poor’s postelection announcement that [...]

Great opening lines:Michael Bloomberg, who was never really a Republican, became one because it was the easiest way for him to become mayor of New York.Now Bloomberg has become an independent, because it is the easiest way for him to become president of the United States.In politics, this is what we call principle.History Unfolding says President Bush is a kind of decorative monarch, and that his sinister prime minister is Vice President Dick Cheney:…the Bush Administration has led us to disaster essentially by gutting, and ignoring, the whole federal structure as it has evolved, literally, since the beginning of the Republic….  And indeed, some of his own most deeply held beliefs–such as the need to promote democracy–have not really been reflected in policy because the Vice President does not share them.and check this out: Facebook v MySpace – a class divide:Ms Boyd also conjectures that the US military’s recent decision to ban personnel from using sites including MySpace is evidence of social fissures in the armed forces….  Patsada Karajaw dissects various political doctrines that have been proposed as a result of the May elections.Philippine Commentary further dissects the Anti-Terrorism law.My Inquirer Current entry would have benefited from reading the views and questions of Reyna Elena regarding Koreans in the Philippines:But as hundreds of us pile up at POEA, line up the intenet cafe to browse for jobs overseas, fly out daily to places as far as Azerbajian and Honduras where we think we can find our Philippine Dream (*saglit lang.

Should the Comelec en banc choose to count the Maguindanao CoC, it can mean that electoral fraud can and will prevail not only in the province but in our country’s electoral experience.Unless the people say enough is enough.Philippine Commentary says one thing to consider, is that whoever ends up the 12th senator will determine who becomes senate president….  My source fearlessly predicts the following scenario:(1) The Supreme Court will throw out Koko Pimentel’s ill-advised petition for being “premature” and in the nature of “pre-proclamation controversy” over which the Comelec has “exclusive jurisdiction” (according to the Omnibus Election Code).(2) Weakened by such a setback, the Comelec will brazenly proclaim Migs Zubiri the twelfth winning senator and let Koko file an election protest.Based on what is known, Koko will probably win that protest…eventually…and serve one day in the Senate sometime in 2013.Overseas, a weird story: Spain hit by plague of blood-sucking black flies….  Check out the column of William Pesek in Bloomberg which enumerates the reasons for some skepticism on the part of investors concerning our government, but the reasons others are salivating, too.On the question of “window-dressing,” see Philippine Politics 04, and on the topic of economic growth figures, there’s an interesting look at them over at Placeholder: he wonders why, after government ends up adjusting reported figures, government spokesmen don’t revise the figures they quote, too.Yesterday, the Inquirer editorial renewed the paper’s call to decriminalize libel.

THE LONG VIEW Lost By Manuel L. Quezon III In the province of Papa-oom-maw-maw, a demonstration of the New Math™ (and other adventures in learning). “This meeting will come to order. Commissioner Dagdag?” “Present!” “Commissioner Bawas?” “Ready for duty, Chairman Ayos!” “Commissioner Gapang?” “Here, ready and willing!” “Very good. So, we are all present and [...]

proclaims Maguindanao CoCs authentic.The Department of Justice drops charges versus senator-elect Honasan (surprise, surprise!).President finally gives her nod (daw): Arroyo committed to De Venecia, says Ilocos Sur solon.  As Ferdinand Marcos used to say, “Aw, c’mon.”The Inquirer editorial and Amando Doronila comment on the bungled cabinet revamp.In the blogosphere, in On My Way Home, Martin Bautista says the long count is the whole point -and the whole problem- with elections.  Commentary on Miguel Zubiri and Maguindanao comes from The Philippine Experience, from Islander in the City, from Unsent, and On Trillanes, reflections from Philippine Commentary on the quandary the AFP chief finds himself in; Patsada Karajaw on the perils of making the wrong comparisons; Eush Tayco ponders on who’s been elected, and says while the public will should be respected, one doesn’t have to like it.

Contrary to what some people think, I don’t blame everything on the President.  In the case of the ongoing cabinet imbroglio, it seems to me a big part of the problem is that the President’s being ill-served by her own team.

My Arab News column for this week is Philippine Cabinet’s Catch-22.Manuel Buencamino advises Miguel Zubiri to cut, and cut cleanly.In the blogosphere, His globalized nationalism entry reminds of an experience I had during a forum at Miriam College in which Atom Araullo and I spoke.  Atom pointed out Charter Change would open not just the economy to foreign investors, but also open up the educational system, too: something apparently horrible to him, but when he said it, the students’ eyes all glazed over….  I myself attended an International School for the last two years of my high school studies, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma gained me a whole bunch of academic credits at UP.

Former LA Consul-General Edwin Bael says Quezon was Right.