CIVIL-society and faith-based groups are considering Chief Justice Reynato Puno as a replacement for former President Corazon Aquino in their campaign to push for President Arroyo’s resignation.

This was disclosed by Archbishop Oscar Cruz of Lingayen-Dagupan, who said that anti-Arroyo groups are looking for someone to act as leader after Aquino started missing rallies and Masses because of her health condition.

The 75-year-old former President was diagnosed with colon cancer during the Holy Week and stopped attending anti-Arroyo rallies.

“We will try to see how the public can rise to the occasion to face Cory’s disappearance from the public on account of her health. We are already seeing in the horizon [somebody] like Chief Justice Reynato Puno,” Cruz told CBCPNews, the online news service of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Saying that anyone can “assume” Aquino’s post “except the Malacañang occupant,” Cruz added anti-Arroyo groups are also considering other individuals to take the place of the former leader.

Others being considered are Vice President Noli de Castro, Senate President Manuel Villar and House Speaker Prospero Nograles.

“To me, if Cory becomes unavailable, we will be pitching in individuals and other prominent figures that have moral prowess to support our cause,” Cruz, a former CBCP president, said.

He noted that Puno’s name emerged as a possible replacement for Aquino because of his integrity and because he is “well respected in society.” Cruz also took into account the Chief Justice’s charisma as an important aspect to convince people to demand Arroyo’s resignation.

Cruz, however, refused to say if anti-Arroyo groups have already talked to Puno and if he is willing to take the role left by Aquino.

P1.1B ‘missing’ in government swine program

WHILE the crisis spawned by the $329-million national broadband network (NBN) scandal remains a threat to the survival of the Arroyo administration, another can of worms was opened that allegedly robbed marginalized farmers once more of at least P1.1 billion of public funds.

CIVIL-society and faith-based groups are considering Chief Justice Reynato Puno as a replacement for former President Corazon Aquino in their campaign to push for President Arroyo’s resignation.

LEADERS and representatives of various civil society, farmers, urban poor, labor and fishermen’s groups held the People’s Food Summit at the UP Diliman’s School of Labor and Industrial Relations (Solair) on Wednesday to tackle the issue of food security and come up with an alternative solution to the looming food crisis haunting the Philippines.

THE Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) elected Muslimin Sema as its new chairman on Tuesday in a move aimed at strengthening the fragile peace in Mindanao.

CHAIRMAN Jose Melo of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) hinted on Wednesday that poll automation in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) may not push through, as the commission is way behind its schedule to modernize the region’s August elections.

CHIEF Justice Reynato Puno has directed the Office of the Court Administrator to take action on the request of Steel Corp.  of the Philippines (SCP) to have its rehabilitation case transferred from Branch 2 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Batangas City to any court in Metro Manila.

THE head of the antifraud and commercial crime division (AFCCD) of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) on Wednesday warned businessmen to obey intellectual property laws or else the government would run after them and even seize their goods.

A LEGISLATOR urged President Arroyo on Wednesday to appoint a deputy Ombudsman in the Department of Agriculture (DA) who will serve as a tripwire against misdeeds as billions of pesos are heading the agency’s way.