Just in: Sandiganbayan found ousted president Joseph "Erap" Estrada guilty of plunder. He was, however, declared not guilty in the case of perjury. The decision of the Sandiganbayan sentences Erap to Reclusion Perpetua (life imprisonment, I think). His son Jinggoy is declared not guilty.

As I see it, the decision of the Sandiganbayan was a safe choice. Erap can always file for a motion for reconsideration or petition for an appeal. IANAL, that's just how I understand court procedure so forgive me if I'm wrong. Anyway, what I'm saying is: this is not the end of it. There will be more to come for the media (and blogs?) to hype.

I believe it's the 2007 midterm election results are already official. I agree with what Iloilo City Boy said about the election being "dull". In the last election, you can actually predict the outcome way before the campaign period started. They're all winners, alright. But the question is: who's the biggest winner?

Among the winners, it's Jed Mabilog who won it bigtime. This is only the second time he ran and he's already the vice mayor of the city. He even appears more mayor-like than Mayor Jerry Treñas on his thank-you posters scattered around the city.

Now Vice Mayor Mabilog's timing is impeccable. We could be already looking at our future city mayor. It's Mayor Treñas' last term as a mayor and, as far as I know, there's no one in the current roll of politician in Iloilo city who's got Mabilog's momentum. Of course, I could be wrong. It's still very early and Jed Mabilog still has 3 years to prove he's fit to our king.

Once again, we are given a chance to change the direction this country is going. A chance to change the future. These doesn't come very often which makes it too precious. More precious than what we'll receive pretending to be imbeciles.

DO NOT SELL YOUR VOTE. Selling your vote can be likened to getting a loan from the bombays. You'll get your money now and pay a huge interest over a long period of time. But with politicians, we're paying ten folds. If you're not selling your soul, err, vote, encourage others to do the same.

We've put people in positions over the years and it seems we're still stuck in the rut. If, like me, you think we hardly move forward, then there's something wrong with how we choose our leaders. Unscrupulous people will always be around. It's upon us to determine which one will serve us better and honestly. Maybe it's time we reevaluate our criteria.

Nowadays, it's not enough that one has the desire to serve their countrymen. I have a desire to serve other people. But I'm not running in order to do so. That'll be silly. My point is: if you want to serve others you can do it anytime and you don't need public office to do that. And if you're not cut to become a leader you'll serve us better by not becoming one.

Election time is getting nearer by the day. Do you know who will you vote? Who you're voting?

I don't know who I will vote because I don't have sufficient information about the candidates, local and national. I know their names, their faces. I know, from their infomercials, why they're running. I know, more or less, how much money their spending for their campaign and I know, more or less, how much they will, legitimately, earn from the positions they aspire. But I know very little who they are or what they did.

Do they still give out flyers/pamphlets with the candidates' list of achivements? All I see now is "beauty contests". Every candidates tries to outdo each other based on looks alone.

ILOILO CITY, Jan. 26 (PNA) - Members of the Metro Iloilo Guimaras Economic and Development Council (MIGEDC) are hoping for positive results out of the two-day donors' forum that will culminate here today.

MIGEDC, which is composed of Iloilo City, Pavia, Leganes, San Miguel, Oton, Sta. Barbara and Guimaras, is hosting the two-day gathering hoping to solicit funding support from the various international funding communities for its proposed plans and programs.

Initially, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, MIGEDC chairman, said the representatives of the more than 16 funding communities showed a positive response to the programs and plans that they presented during the first day of the forum.

He cited that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank (WB) have already offered funding support to their group. Treñas said they are looking for long-term funding source.

The first support the MIGEDC received was from the Australian Aid, which Treñas hoped would just be the beginning.

He said they really need to source out additional funding support so they would not rely solely on the national government.

Treñas said this would be the first time that MIGEDC has sought support for its plans and projects through the Official Development Assistance (ODA).

MIGEDC was created voluntarily by the local chief executives of each member local government unit for the purpose of pooling their resources to respond to problems and issues relative to urbanization.

The close to 40 participants also took time out Thursday afternoon to visit the various projects already implemented in Metro Iloilo and Guimaras. (PNA)

Source: www.pna.gov.ph

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said government has earmarked a historic high of P3 billion for irrigation projects covering about 98.000 hectares of croplands to increase farm yields and boost agricultural growth for about four to five percent.

He also said that with such amount the national Irrigation Administration (NIA) will be able to repair and rehabilitate irrigation facilities serving almost a hundred thousand hectares this year.

He added the P3-billion rehabilitation work is by far the biggest reform program for Philippine irrigation undertaken in the last 30 years.

The Department of Agriculture is also increasing public spending on seed technology and on infrastructure like irrigation systems and post-harvest facilities this year.

Yap said the government is pouring more money into the farm sector in 2007, where its sights are trained on making Philippine agriculture pull away in 2008.

This is based on what he said as a flood of agri-business investments from China that would cover1.2 million hectares in the next 12 to 18 months.

Yap said the P3-billion allocation for irrigation this year is anchored on the approval of the proposed 2007 General Appropriations Act, which includes a DA outlay that is roughly P5 billion more than its allotment last year.

Source: www.pia.gov.ph

If you're looking for better quality photos from the recent assault of Iloilo Provincial Capitol, Leo Solinap of Blue Screen Digital has them upclose. This is real life drama. I missed the video footage, though. I hope somebody uploads one to Youtube.

Gov. Niel Tupas remains as governor of Province of Iloilo after surviving the siege of Iloilo Provincial Capitol. The last minute arrival of the TRO good for 60 days maintains the status quo. With that, Gov. Tupas' political rivals just gave him more votes he didn't have to buy next election. Everybody who were there thought it was way overkill.

Mayors from different municipalities of Iloilo Province pledging support for Gov. Niel Tupas I can understand. But support coming from a group known for their idealism is another. Gov. Tupas must doing something right to gain their support.

Bayan Muna today expressed its steadfast support to beleaguered Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas Sr. after he was ‘perpetually dismissed from holding public office’ by the Office of the Ombudsman on trumped-up corruption charges.

I can't believe Vice Gov. Armada's arrogance when interviewed by a local radio network. His remarks bordering on accusatory of the radio network's allegiance to Gov. Niel Tupas' camp was uncalled for. He appears irritated and full of emotional distress over recent developments in his political status. But that's not a good reason to lose his cool over the media people. I was interested on what's his current take on the matter and not what the Tupas' group said earlier. So the question was only proper.