Politics

Davao Officials Denounce Malaca?ang for IRA-Cha-cha Scheme

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Law Groups Unmask Cha-Cha’s Public Deception

By Germelina A. Lacorte and Cheryll D. Fiel
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY ? Officials in this city resent the Arroyo administration?s alleged attempts to gain support for the drive to amend the Constitution as a condition for the release of the city?s share of Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) funds.

?It?s unfair,? city councilor Peter Lavi?a said, referring to the planned release of some 17.5 billion pesos of IRA funds that had been retained from local government units in 2000 and 2001.

Lavi?a said these funds would only be released if local government officials would support the administration?s ?people?s initiative? campaign for Charter change that would, in turn, pave the way to a shift to a parliamentary form of government.

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City Council Demands Due Process for ?Batasan 5,? Beltran

By Cheryll D. Fiel
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY ? The City Council approved on Tuesday a resolution supporting the plea by Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla to Malaca?ang requesting due process for the so-called ?Batasan 5.?

Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang, the proponent of the resolution, said it was just right for Capalla to do what he did. ?We would always ask for due process to take its own course, regardless of who the subjects are,? Dayanghirang said.

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In Makilala, Unsolved Deaths Haunt Villagers

Three armed men whose faces were covered with bonnets and shawls entered the house at around one in the morning. ?They awakened us by pointing their flashlights to our faces,? Gabi, an 18-year-old resident, said. The intruders wore what looked like military boots. ?They were searching for somebody,? she said. ?When they saw Jay, they dragged him outside the house.?

contributed photo
Members of the fact-finding team led by Karapatan on their way to the house of Salvador Dante Jr., a murder victim in Makilala, North Cotabato. (Contributed photo)

By Marilou Aguirre
davaotoday.com

MAKILALA, North Cotabato ? The sound of gunshots sent Marcelo Heruela looking for his friend Salvador Dante Jr., who had left his house minutes earlier.

?Some of my neighbors told me that the gunshots sounded like these came from near his house,? Heruela, a 37-year-old ?skylab? (passenger motorcycle) driver said.

Along with some neighbors, Heruela searched the road leading to Dante?s house. About 50 meters from the house, they saw Dante, slumped in the grass, dead.

The Feb. 3 killing of Dante, a 40-year-old peasant and ?skylab? driver from sitio (hamlet) Conception, barangay (village) Kisante, this town, remains a puzzle to both his family and neighbors.

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