Malacañang is resorting to another diversionary scheme to distract public attention from the increasing list of uncovered administration anomalies with President Arroyo herself insisting on Wednesday that “Senate investigations would not bring rice to the table” of hungry Filipinos.

This was the reaction of former President Joseph Estrada, who asserted that congressional inquiries such as the ongoing investigations into the ZTE-broadband bribery scandal are not just in aid of legislation but also part of the check-and-balance mechanism that make government officials accountable to the people at all times.

“Without these Senate investigations, every irregularity committed would be hidden from the public,” Estrada told reporters, adding this was why all government officials, from top to bottom, are required to be accountable to the people they are supposed to serve.

The former President’s wife, Loi Estrada, a former senator like her husband, added that ensuring availability and affordability of food supply for every Filipino is not the task of members of the Legislative branch but the Executive branch.”

It is not the job of the Senate to bring rice to the table, that is the duty of the officials of the Executive branch headed by the President,” Mrs. Estrada said.

The former President explained that Filipino taxpayers are entitled to know what the government is doing with their money. “That is why it [government accountability] is enshrined in the Constitution; it is called the public’s right to know and it is the duty of all public officials to account for their actions.”

He added that Malacañang must learn to live with Senate inquiries as this is part of the check-and-balance mechanism to prevent abuses and wrongdoings by people in power.

Vietnamese vessels ‘monitored in Spratlys but no violation committed’

THE Philippine Air Force (PAF) on Wednesday disclosed that it had monitored two cargo and eight naval vessels with Vietnamese markings in the Spratlys in January and March, but admitted that the foreign ships did not violate the Code of Conduct prevailing in the area.

IN an effort to resolve the impasse on the country’s baselines issue, Speaker Prospero Nograles will meet with members of the House foreign affairs committee and the heads of the parties composing the majority coalition hoping to come out with a formula on how to best resolve conflicting positions among the three branches of government.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—A military official disclosed that the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines has changed its strategy to boost the number of its fighters and mass-based supporters.

THE Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) condemned on Wednesday the arrest of 13 farmers and advocacy- group leaders in Jakarta, Indonesia, while they were observing protest actions both at the presidential palace and at the Ministry of Agriculture.

THE World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday urged governments to prioritize the effects of global warming in their health agenda as it warned that climate change may reverse whatever gains were achieved in fighting diseases due to poverty.

THE possibility of a presidential pardon for the nine military officers who were convicted on a coup case by the Regional Trial Court in Makati Tuesday is not remote especially if Malacañang considers the admission of their wrongdoing, the Armed Forces chief of staff said Wednesday.

HAD President Arroyo followed the propoor programs of former President Joseph Estrada, the country would not experience a rice crisis, San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor Ejercito said Wednesday.

Malacañang is resorting to another diversionary scheme to distract public attention from the increasing list of uncovered administration anomalies with President Arroyo herself insisting on Wednesday that “Senate investigations would not bring rice to the table” of hungry Filipinos.