ABS-CBN: Mrs. Arroyo's lawyer Butch Diaz said the Aquino administration seems to have made it part of its accomplishment to file a plunder case against the former Pres a week before the next SONA. He said Pres Aquino is now turning up the heat against Mrs. Arroyo amid reports that 4 more cases are set to be filed against her. The Arroyo camp urged Catholic bishops to pray for the former President, saying that she should be given a fair shake esp. now she is sick and has difficulty eating. Arch. Emeritus Oscar Cruz said he will pray for the former president and said she should take care of her health. He reminded the Aquino administration that there should be justice instead of vengeance.

ABS-ACB: Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño admitted that he was surprised with the timing of the plunder case, noting that he filed the case with Ombudsman last year. Former Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said Mrs. Arroyo should also be given some consideration because of her failing health.

BUSINESSWOLRD: PROF BEN DIOKNO
The Philippine economy is unwell and sputtering. I will be convinced that the Philippines is on its way to a strong, sustained and inclusive growth only after experiencing 12 quarters of strong and sustained growth, unemployment rates of 6% or less, poverty incidence in the neighborhood of 20%, and Filipino workers abroad trekking back home as decent jobs available here.

BUSINESSWOLRD: Manufacturing output hit by REDUCED demand MANUFACTURING output growth remained sluggish in May, National Statistics Office (NSO) data showed, a development industry players attributed to lower overseas demand for electronic products. The NSO's Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries showed factory output, as measured by the volume of production index, easing to 3.1%, the SLOWEST since March's 8.9% and DOWN from April's revised 3.3%.

TRIBUNE: Pimentel, a staunch critic of Arroyo, said while justice must be served, it should be carried out with compassion. "I am not a supporter of GMA but in the cases filed against her, there must be compassion because that is the right and moral thing to do," he said. He added that part of that compassion is making sure her medical needs are properly addressed, adding that he should be allowed to seek medical treatment abroad if that is the best option of her.

Philstar.com - Breaking News: 6,000 cops around Batasan on SONA day
-- oh bakit ganyan KARAMI? DI BA MATAAS (DAW) ANG POPULARITY and TRUST RATINGs NYA? takot ba sya sa mahirap? sa nagugutom?

GMA7: A lawyer of fomer Pres Gloria M-Arroyo accused the Aquino administration of exhausting every means to keep his client detained. lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said the latest plunder case against Mrs. Arroyo for supposed misuse of PCSO funds during her incumbency was filed not based on merit but for the "sole purpose" of preventing her to gain temporary liberty. "Sadly the Constitution is but selectively applied by the present government: swift exoneration for its allies, while strict and excruciating bending of the rules against its political opponents, is the order of the day. We are no longer in danger of dictatorship; it is now wholly upon us." 

GMA7: Atty Ferdie Topacio claimed the latest plunder case was "hurriedly" set in motion by "self-anointed public guardians" since the electoral sabotage against the former president is about to collapse. "The pattern is now clear: file every flimsy non-bailable charge against Mrs. Arroyo one after the other, so that even if they are later on proven baseless, then at least the damage has already been done by way of detaining her without bail," Topacio said. But Mrs. Arroyo's lawyer said he was keeping his faith in the independence of the judiciary, which he hoped would act as a "final bulwark of the people's civil and political rights."

TRIBUNE: CHARLIE MANALO
With President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino's third State of the Nation Address (SONA) barely a week to go, with his administration's electoral sabotage case against his predecessor slowly crumbling to pieces with no less that 10 of its 11 of their own witnesses clearing the former leader of any wrongdoing in the 2007 elections, and with netizens all over the world voting Noynoy as the world's all-time worst leader, outranking Germany's Adolf Hitler and his own mother, the administration had to embark on a last-minute cosmetic job to rehabilitate its deteriorating face.

Aksyontv: oil prices up again tuesday; consumers warned of higher water and power rates also; lawyer for pampanga rep gloria arroyo dismisses case file against her on pcso; malacanang dismayed over asean failure to come up with united stand against china; manila tells china to keep its ships out of phils exclusive economic zone - china says its ship will be free to go around nansha islands.

Aksyontv: oil prices up again tuesday; consumers warned of higher water and power rates also; lawyer for pampanga rep gloria arroyo dismisses case file against her on pcso; malacanang dismayed over asean failure to come up with united stand against china; manila tells china to keep its ships out of phils exclusive economic zone - china says its ship will be free to go around nansha islands.

GMA News: Palace denies hand in plunder raps against Arroyo.
Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda denied that the Palace had anything to do with the filing of a plunder case against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as the executive branch has no control or influence over the Office of the Ombudsman. BWAHAHAHA!! PWE!!

ABSNEWS 07/17 12:04 PM

Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her son, Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. Diosdado Arroyo, are pushing for a bill that will declare economic espionage as a criminal act. The Arroyos filed House Bill 1471 give adequate protection to proprietary economic information.

Dzmm reporter: Hinarang ng kampo ni dating pangulo at ngayo'y Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ang plunder case na isinampa sa Sandiganbayan na may kaugnayan sa umano'y maanomalyang paggamit ng kliyente sa P365.9 milyong intelligence fund ng PCSO. Naghain na ng mosyon ang mga abogado ni Ginang Arroyo na sina Atty. Christian Diaz at Atty. Ma. Rosario del Rosario sa Sandiganbayan kahit hindi pa naira-raffle ang naturang kaso. Sa mosyon, sinabi ng mga abogado ng dating pangulo na wala silang natatanggap na kopya ng resolusyon ng Office of the Ombudsman para iakyat sa Sandiganbayan ang kaso. Nalaman na lamang aniya nila ito mula sa mga ulat ng media. Balak din anila ni Arroyo na maghain ng motion for reconsideration (MR) sa Ombudsman. Ang raffle sa kaso ni CGMA ay inaasahang maisasagawa sa Biyernes ng umaga sa Sandiganbayan.

Aksyontv: lawyers of pampanga rep gloria arroyo said new charges are politically motivated; times with pres aquino sona. Malacanang denies it is; militant groups said political prisoners now in jail will hold hunger strike leading up to sona; supreme court to rule that only one vote for congress representative in jbc.

DZMM: Pakana ng Malakanyang ang pagpapasampa ng plunder case kay cgma kaugnay ng paggamit ng pcso ng P365.9 na intelligence fund noong 2009. Sinabi ni atty anacleto diaz - abogado ni ginang arroyo na layon ng pagsasampa ng kaso na siraan ang dating pangulo. Iginiit pa nito na pinaghahandaan lang ng administrasyon ang State of the Nation Address (SONA) ni Pangulong Noynoy Aquino. --Report from arnel ozaeta.

INQUIRER: Aquino OK'd bonuses for PCSO execs - Juico - Phil Charity Sweeptakes Office Chairperson Margarita Juico on Monday decried a Philippine Daily Inquirer report that said PCSO directors improperly received millions in benefits in 2010, saying that agency officials has sought and secured the President's APPROVAL of its board member's compensation package.