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GLOBAL NEWS Daily from the PHILIPPINES Monday, 12 December 2005

Recount Of 2004 Election Votes Begins
A partial recount of votes in the Philippines' presidential election in 2004 kicked off today, but lawyers said the legally granted action could take several years. Romulo Macalintal, the government lawyer in charge said today that the vote recount could take several years and may even go beyond 2010. The recount was officially granted by the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) to former vice-presidential candidate Loren Legarda, who lost the election in 2004, Macalintal said. Macalintal, who represents the elected vice-president Noli de Castro, said the Supreme Court, which acts as the PET, would have to thoroughly check some 9,000 election returns and ballots from 124,000 precincts. "Then we will know if the protest by Loren Legarda will continue," Macalintal said, adding that he will ask for the dismissal of Legarda's protest if the early results of the recount do not show any sign of cheating as alleged. He blamed the long process of election protests despite of the Commission on Elections' modernization program. "If the elections were computerized we would not be facing this problem by now," he said.

Military Dismisses Coup Rumors
The Philippine military has gone on red alert but the move has nothing to do with fresh rumors of coup against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a military spokesman said today. In a press briefing, Tristan Kison, public information office chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said the military traditionally goes on "red," the highest state of alert, every time the president leaves for abroad. "It (red alert) has nothing to do with the coup rumors. Whenever the president leaves the country, it is a standing operating procedure that the Armed Forces of the Philippines declares red alert," said Kison. "We have not received any report about a coup to be staged by certain groups but our counter intelligence unit continues to monitor activities, developments and even the movement of our troops," said Kison on the ongoing coup rumors.

Anti-Terror Bill Faces Deadlock in House
The Philippines' House of Representatives still lacked its quorum to pass the anti-terrorism bill as only three session days left for this year, congressman said today. House majority leader Prospero Nograles said he had urged lawmakers to attend the meeting on remaining session days and pass the anti-terror bill that the government had marked as an urgent task. "We will fast track the anti-terror bill in the last three days of session," Nograles said. "If we have a quorum, we will work overtime to finish by Wednesday." The anti-terror bill, approved by the joint committees on justice and foreign affairs of the house on Oct. 4, has been sponsored at the plenary but a lack of quorum has hampered floor debates. However, fiery debates are expected when deliberations start especially on how the proposed legislation defines terrorism, according to Nograles. The bill defines terrorism as "premeditated, threatened, or actual use of violence, or force" or "other means of destruction" to create or sow "a state of danger, panic, fear or chaos to the general public, group of persons or segments thereof, or of coercing or intimidating the government to do or abstain from doing an act." The bill seeks to penalize terror acts with life imprisonment or even death. Activity of terrorism even incurs a fine of 10 million pesos under the bill. The proposed law also includes provisions allowing suspected terrorists to be held for up to three days without a warrant, and limitation on the media's right to interview known terrorist groups.

Bolante Eludes BI Watchlist, Leaves for HK
Former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante slipped past immigration authorities and has again left the country a day before the Senate hearing on the fertilizer fund scandal, which he was scheduled to attend. "We received today a letter from the lawyer of Joc-Joc Bolante that he will not appear again at 1 p.m. before the Senate committee on agriculture. He has left for Hong Kong yesterday," Senate president Franklin Drilon said. Drilon said Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., head of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, may order Bolante's arrest to compel him to face the inquiry. "He has been subpoenaed, the next step is cite him for contempt and in the next hearing bodily bring him to the Senate through the Sergeant-of-Arms," he said. Drilon said Bolante violated a Bureau of Immigration watch list, which should have prevented the former agriculture official from leaving the country.

Kuala Lumpur Declaration Signed
Leaders of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have signed the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the Establishment of the Asian Charter, described as "a landmark constitutional document embodying fundamental principles, goals and structures" of its member-countries. The ASEAN leaders, including President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, also agreed on Monday to establish an Eminent Persons Group (EGP) comprising of "highly distinguished and well-respected citizens from the 10-member ASEAN countries with a mandate to examine and provide practical recommendations on the directions and nature of the charter." The leaders further tasked their Ministers to establish a High Level Task Force to carry out the drafting of the ASEAN charter based on the declaration and recommendations of the EPG. In a four-page declaration, the leaders said that a new charter would "abide by all ASEAN norms, rules, and values and reaffirm ASEAN agreements signed and adopted before the establishment of this charter."