It will be another long weekend holiday for Filipinos next week.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has declared Friday, August 22, as a special non-working day throughout the country in deference to the 20^th anniversary of the assassination of Sen. Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. on Aug. 21.

In Proclamation No. 420 which she signed last month, the President said August 21 will be a regular working day and all activities and celebrations for the commemoration of Aquino’s assassination and the restoration of a representative democracy in the country shall be observed on that day, a Thursday.

The President said it is necessary for the country to celebrate the 20^th death anniversary of Aquino "to inculcate the values of self-sacrifice and patriotism that his life and death exemplified and to appreciate the gifts of democracy and freedom."

In the proclamation, the President said heads of government departments, offices and agencies, and government-owned or controlled corporations may direct employees to observe regular working hours and provide regular services on August 22 if required by the exigencies of public service.

Employees of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs and other government agencies and instrumentalities imposing deadlines on the transacting public for payment of taxes, fees or fines and for compliance with reportorial and other requirements will also be required by the head of the department, office, agency or instrumentality to observe regular working hours and provide regular services to the public.

SIBUYAN ISLAND, Romblon—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today branded as "a disgrace to their uniform" the Oakwood mutineers who have continued to testify about "brazen lies" before the Feliciano Commission and Senate.

"Never have I seen men sworn to loyalty, integrity and courage brazenly lying through their teeth and arrogantly taking the Filipino people for fools," the President told the 800 residents who turned out to meet her at Barangay Cajidlocan here.

She added that "this band of arrogant rogues is a disgrace to the uniform."

The President pointed out that the mutineers should even be greatfull that they have a democratic system in which to ventilate their views.

"This is the same democratic system they sought to tear down," she added.

The President braved driving rain and proceeded with her scheduled visit to this poorest town of the province to lay the time capsule for the construction of a grain center.

She warned about the junta and the dictatorship that the Oakwood mutineers would have established had the July 27 mutiny not been foiled.

"One can only imagine a government under men like these and their patrons who would play the role of prosecutor, judge and executioner at the same time," the President said.

As such, she called on the Armed Forces of the Philippines to immediately "remove this virus of adventurism, dictatorship and totalitarianism that is creeping into the rank."

"I am also calling upon our people to condemn and resist these attempts to destroy our democratic way of life," the Chief Executive said.

First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo today noted the arrogance of mutineer Navy Lt. Sr. Grade Antonio Trillanes IV when the latter threw disrespectful statements during questioning in Thursday’s Senate inquiry on the July 27 Oakwood coup.

"Kitang-kita ninyo na maliwanag na lumabas ang pagiging arogante nila (You can clearly see their gross arrogance)," Arroyo told reporters during a pledging session for Filipino athletes bound for the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

He lamented that Trillanes called President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo arrogant when he testified before the Feliciano Commission and the Senate.

He said he knew the President well enough and arrogant was a description that would never accurately fit her.

Arroyo said the refusal of Trillanes and his group to further appear before the Feliciano Commission was understandable.

BOAC, Marinduque—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today asked the Filipino people to condemn and resist any kind of attempt to destroy our democratic way of life.

"Hindi dapat natin hayaang ang kagustuhan ng iilan ang mangibabaw sa ating mga institusyon konstitusyonal (We should not allow the will of the few people to destroy our duly-constituted institutions"), the President said.

In her remarks during a brief visit here, the President also instructed Major Gen. Gabriel Ledesma, newly-installed commander of the 2^nd Division of the Philippine Army based in Marinduque, to prevent the spread of adventurism, dictatorship, and proletarianism within the military organization.

She said this kind of disease is like a poison that can influence the minds of the few military personnel to fight the government.

The President also admitted that when she watched the proceedings in the Senate last Thursday, she noticed how those junior officers who led the Makati mutiny tell lies and insult the intellectual capacity of the Filipino people.

"Isipin na lang natin kung paano ang isang gobyerno na pamumunuan nila at ng kanilang mga padrino kung saan sila ang tatayong tag-usig, taga-hatol, taga-pagpapatupad ng sabay-sabay (We can just imagine what kind of government we will have if these kind of people would play the role of prosecutor, judge and executioner at the same time)," the President said.

The President’s helicopter landed at the Marinduque State College here, from her successful visit to Romblon, to inaugurate the P17.8-million Candahon Bridge under the President’s Bridge Project at Barangay Candahon in Mogpog town.

First Gentleman Jose Miguel T. Arroyo today led a pledging session that generated some P22 million for the training of Filipino athletes bound for the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Vietnam next December.

At the Heroes Hall in Malacaņang, the First Gentleman said at least 15 top corporations have vowed to contribute an aggregate P22.25 million for the Filipino athletes.

He said the corporate donations would go directly to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

Branding the session as a "call for patriotism," Arroyo thanked those who responded generously in support of the athletes.

Among those who made substantial pledges were San Miguel, the Ayala Group, PLDT, Aboitiz, Smart, Globe, Fortune, Petron, Samsung and PNB.

Arroyo expressed optimism that the First Gentleman Foundation, Inc. (FGFI) would hit its P24-million target to be used for the last three training months of the athletes.

The FGFI organized the event.

Arroyo is the honorary head of the Philippine Delegation to the 2003 SEA Games.

He challenged the athletes to do their best to get the targeted 60 to 80 gold medals in the Vietnam SEA Games.

Meanwhile, PSC Chairman Eric Buhain thanked the First Gentleman for his efforts that boosted the spirit and morale of the Filipino athletes.

Buhain said this was the first time in the PSC’s history that such massive support was given to Filipino athletes.

He called the First Gentleman "Ninong."

He said gold medals are expected in athletics, wushu, wrestling, chess, boxing, taekwando, karate and swimming.

"If you’re living in a glasshouse, do not throw stones."

This, in a nutshell was how National Bureau of Investigation Director Reynaldo Wycoco described the situation of Navy Lt. Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV as he presented new pieces of evidence that, he said, should question the moral grounds of the designated spokesman of the Magdalo group, which staged the July 27 mutiny over alleged corruption in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

In a press briefing today, Wycoco revealed that Trillanes placed a P1- million investment in the Glasgow Investment Group June 14 last year and presented to the media five checks issued by the same firm from August to December of the same year in the amount of P150,000 each.

He said this could represent the interest payments by the same company that was earlier involved in an illegal pyramiding scheme.

Although he did not categorically say it, Wycoco said the investment could have been part of the payoff money for the aborted coup, considering that intelligence reports have confirmed that certain members of the AFP have been recruited and paid certain amounts to join the mutiny as early as May last year.

"It’s perfectly alright for anybody to make an investment but it would do him well to explain as a member of the AFP, how he got the amount," Wycoco said.

Wycoco made several other revelations, including a chronology of events to counter claims by the Magdalo mutineers that the Oakwood incident was a spontaneous event.

He said that as early as June 4, there was a meeting between Capt. Gary Alejano, Senator Gregorio Honasan and Chief Inspector Perfecto Ragil to discuss important issues and when the so-called blood compact occurred.

Ragil was the same officer who executed an affidavit that there was indeed a blood compact that occurred on that day led by Senator Honasan.

Earlier the same day, Wycoco said a certain Arman Pontejos, later identified as a Navy Ensign officer belonging to PMA Class 2001, placed an order for 15 Philippine and Magdalo flags used by the junior officers in the mutiny.

Wycoco said that one of these could have been the one used in the blood compact and displayed in the Cardenas house used as a staging ground for the coup attempt.

Last June 30, Lt. Senior Grade Manuel Gabalan purchased 49 sets of Army uniforms while on July 23, five buses were purchased from Car Options valued at P2.2 million.

A day before the Oakwood incident, Wycoco revealed another Navy Ensign Jon Arugay brought medical kits from Zamboanga aboard a Cebu Pacific flight.

"So you see, such a thing is not spontaneous. There were some preparations along the way, some overt acts along the way. That’s is why allegations that these people received money could be true," Wycoco said.

The NBI said he doesn’t know the probative value of the checks he presented "but this could be used later on by the Feliciano commission should Trillanes fail to explain where he got the P1 million he invested."

National Security Adviser Roilo Golez today raised five moral issues against Lt. Sr. Grade Antonio Trillanes of the Philippine Navy, saying the testimonies of the mutiny leaders in the Senate inquiry as well as the Feliciano Commission have only unmasked them as "false messiahs."

Foremost of the issues, he said, is Trillianes’ non-filing of his statement of assets and liabilities (SAL) in the last two years, which Golez said carries a penalty of five-year imprisonment and could result in permanent disqualification from holding public office.

"Republic Act 6713, otherwise known as the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Government Employes, is our first line of defense against graft and corruption," said Golez during a press briefing in Malacanang. "It is quite ironic that it is this law which Trillianes, per his own admission, has violated."

Golez also mentioned about the seven vehicles which were registered in Trillanes’ name, his quibbling about the spontaneity of the Oakwood incident, his involvement as a stockholder of the FYI research group which solicited business from the Department of National Defense and using the fake Oplan Greenbase as basis for staging the failed coup attempt.

The National Security Adviser claimed the Oakwood mutiny can never be a spontaneous event since the soldiers who participated came from all over the country.

He also said the Oplan Greenbase has been time and again tagged as a fake document by the government.

"It is becoming apparent that since this has been repeatedly used by the junior officers as basis for their act, it could be possible that they were the ones who produced it for their own selfish ends," Golez stressed.

He said he had ordered studying the possibility of this angle so that sedition raps could also be filed against the mutineers.

We are not sure that is exactly what Mr. Oscar Lopez meant or whether he was quoted out of context.

Be that as it may, we appreciate and understand how he feels about some of his business not doing well.

It will not be fair, however, to blame it on the President.

For instance, the decision ordering Meralco to refund thousands of consumers was made by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court is a separate and independent body whose decision on legal matters must be respected by everyone, including the President.

Is fighting poverty in our country where the great majority are poor the kind of populism that Mr. Lopez said would discourage investors?

NAUJAN, Oriental Mindoro -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today reiterated her challenge for Senator Gregorio Honasan to surface and clear himself of charges filed against him.

The President aired her challenge following her arrival at the 204th Infantry Brigade headquarters at Barangay Pinagsabangan here.

She said Honasan should consider it a matter of honor to face his own peers in the Senate.

"To say his personal safety is at stake is a flimsy excuse for one who has such a high elective position," she added.

"A true statesman must never use his personal welfare as an excuse to escape his responsibility in the pursuit of truth and justice," she stressed.

"The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) must act to remove the virus of adventurism, dictatorship, and totalitarianism that is sinking into the ranks," the President pointed out.

She also thanked the policemen and soldiers in the Southern Tagalog region for upholding the Constitution by not supporting the Oakwood mutiny.

"Nagpapasalamat ako sa inyo dahil buong-buo sa pagpapanatiling matatag and ating Republika, ang ating Konstitusyon noong pagsubok sa Oakwood," she said.

She said she has provided P100 million for the purchase of boots, uniforms and other equipment to the soldiers in the field.

She added that policemen who received medals of valor, as well as their counterparts in the military, would also be prioritized in the provision of housing, scholarship, and other benefits.

She also praised the policemen and soldiers assigned in the province for the peace and their good rapport with the community. She recalled that in 2001, the province was once dubbed the "center of gravity" of the New People's Army (NPA).

The President arrived here with Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo, Sec. Marita Jimenez, and Press Undersecretary Rocky Nazareno.

She was welcomed by Governor Bartolome Marasigan, First District Rep. Charity Leviste, Mayor Norberto Mendoza, Calapan City Mayor Arnan Panaligan, the mayors of 12 other towns, and military and police officials.

She awarded checks representing a P14-million loan for Calapan City's infrastructure projects, P12,500 each for the 33 rebel returnees, P1 million for the DSWD livelihood development program for the wives of Civilian Auxiliary Force Geographical Units (CAFGUs).

She also handed certificates of award for various planting materials and fruit-bearing tree seedlings worth P75,000 to Roxas town Mayor Jesus Dimapilis, and five units of open-source tube wells worth P240,000 to Mansalay Mayor Teresita Maliwanag.