According
to a report published in the Bohol Chronicle, a majority of 88 percent of the
Boholanos strongly favors the holding of midterm elections in May next year.
This
was the result of a random survey conducted by Station DyRD's top rated program
"Inyong Alagad."
Those
who favor the holding of the May polls said that incumbent officials are elected
to serve only until 2007 and should not go beyond their prescribed term of office.
However,
those who oppose the holding of the midterm elections disclosed that they trust
the present leadership and the election would only entail additional expenditures
for the government.
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The
political pot is now boiling. After the rejection by the Supreme Court of the
petition for people's initiative by a slim majority, prospective candidates have
begun testing the political waters.
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The
United Opposition (UNO) is readying its lineup for the sensational slate. Opposition
stalwart Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano indicated that the opposition might field two
to three slates considering the number of prospective candidates for senators,
reaching about 40 aspirants.
The
ruling Lakas CMD would be happy about this development. A divided opposition will
be favorable to the administration candidates. Political Adviser Gabriel Claudio
said that the Administration is ready to face and rout their political opponents
from the opposition.
Anyway,
there is no limit on the number of candidates running for the political positions,
save those who are nuisance candidates.
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The
results of the recent polls in the United States of America showed that the Americans
are dissatisfied with the Administration of President George Bush.
Reports
showed that the administration Republican Party lost in the midterm elections,
paving the way for the control of the opposition, Democratic Party of both the
Senate and the House of Representatives.
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The
victory of the Democratic Party in the US polls would mean a change of the policy
of the American government in the war in Iraq.
Here
are some priorities set by the Democrats in Congress:
1.
Immediate drawdown of troops in Iraq and conduct oversight hearings on missteps
on the war;
2.
Increase attention given to emerging terrorist threats in Africa and Southeast
Asia and devote more resources to North Korea and Iran. Ore oversight of terrorism
and government surveillance;
3.
Boost security for rail and transit system;
4.
Conduct oversight hearings on treatment of terrorism detainees, and domestic surveillance
programs;
5.
Pass legislation to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25. Repeal
incentives to companies to send jobs overseas;
6.
Increase education-based tax breaks; and
7.
Increase incentives to biodiesel, ethanol and other alternative fuels such as
wind, solar, geothermal and other sources of alternative energy.
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The
blunder of President Bush started when he ordered the invasion of Iraq without
waiting for the results of the inspection team dispatched by the United Nations
to look into the allegations that the Saddam Hussein government had stockpiled
weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Until now, US forces could not locate these
weapons of mass destruction.
The
US forces had eliminated Saddam and his forces, but Iraqi rebels have still continued
to harass American and Iraqi government forces.
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The
unabated killings of latest leaders in the Philippines have been pointed out to
be similar to the implementation of the Operation Phoenix which was implemented
in Vietnam by the Americans.
According
to Joel Garduce in his article, "Focus on the Extrajudicial Killings in RP:
Operation Phoenix's Long Shadow" published in Education for Development,
Sept. 2006 issue, Operation Phoenix was an infamous US covert action plan unleashed
on the Vietnamese people at the height of their revolution against US imperliasm
in the 1960s.
The
intent of Operation Phoenix was to make the overall counterrevolutionary effort
in Vietnam more efficient. All intelligence activities and covert operations in
the South Vietnamese countryside were coordinated to enable provincial security
committees - which include paramilitary Provincial Reconnaissance Units (PTUs)
helmed by CIA province officers - to identify and arrest what the US labeled as
agents of the Vietnamese communists or Viet Cong.
In
concrete terms, Phoenix was a terror and assassination program that was as ugly
as it could get. Phoenix instituted a macabre monthly quota system that rewarded
human kills as the covert program's prime success indicators, Garduce continued.
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For
comments and reactions, send mail to Atty. Jorge D. Cabalit, Cabalit Law Office,
74 Belderol Street, Tagbilaran City or send e-mail to: viewpoints@boholchronicle.com | 
