TRIBUNE: CoA chief bares P30-B anomalies in DSWD, BOC - The slip is now showing in Noynoy's straight path hype as the COA yesterday bared illegal transactions amounting to around P30 BILLION in the Bureau of Customs and the Department of DSWD which supervises the 39 billion CCT doleouts of the govt.

MLA STANDARD: LP to make Sereno toe Palace transparent line

The LP and the House leadership will STRIP the SC and CJ Maria Lourdes Sereno of the prerogative to invoke fiscal autonomy by imposing on her the same stringent budgetary requirements that they did during her predecessor's term. "Deep inside their heart of hearts, the justices know fiscal autonomy can also be abused," said Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya, chairman of the powerful House comm on appropriations, and sec-gen of President Benigno Aquino III's Liberal Party.

STANDARD EDITORIAL: We are sure that Mrs. Robredo has impeccable qualifications but the entire suggestion of capitalizing on the popular support for her husband seems ill-advised at best and opportunistic at worst. Then again, did we not begin to elect the president we now have after the outpouring of sympathy upon the death of his mother, former Pres Corazon Aquino? Prior to her death, Mr. Aquino did not exhibit any desire or tendency to seek the highest political office. All of a sudden, however, people wanted to milk the goodwill that came with the loss. They concluded that by reason of their relationship, Mr. Aquino would be a strong candidate for President. These days it appears that the country is reaping the effects of the sympathy vote. Compassion is always a good trait, but public service must be built on something more solid. 

GMA7: Balitanghali and News To Go: Farmers' protest greet Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

TRIBUNE EDITORIAL: Sereno treads path of opaqueness - Said she: "If the SC court is to return to its golden days, then the CJ must respectfully decline all these well-meaning request for interviews." That is a lot of MANURE. The more probable reason Sereno has declined media interviews is the fact that she does not want to be in a situation where she is asked to comment on her having FLUNKED the psychological-psychiatric TEST, along with questions regarding her believed failure to disclose in her statement of assets, liabilities and networth (SALn) some $25 million she had earned as the govt lawyer-researcher in at least two international arbitration cases.

PEOPLE'S JOURNAL: RALLYISTS belonging to the militant KMP yesterday greeted newly appointed CJ Ma. Lourdes Sereno on her first day in office at the SC court with the warning that a reversal of the Hacienda Luisita verdict will be met with resistance. "This protest is the peasantry's baptism of fire for newly installed Chief Justice Sereno and the Aquino court," says KMP deputy secgen Randall Echanis.

MANILA TIMES: Lunch boycott, farmers' protest greet Chief Justice INSTEAD of having their first regular lunch with their new chief, some senior justices of the Sc reportedly left immediately after the tribunal's en banc session on Tues, something which court insiders viewed as a subtle expression of DISPLEASURE or protest. Gleo Guerra, High Court spokesman, said that Sereno also visited all offices prior to the en banc. Many justices were conspicuously ABSENT. A Manila Times' source said that Sereno decided to conduct a room to room visit instead of waiting for court employees to pay her a visit in her office.

GMA NEWS: Members of the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) claimed that Sereno's "concurring and dissenting" opinion could allow the Cojuangco family to claim billions of pesos in just compensation for the distribution of the almost 5,000-hectare Hacienda Luisita sugar plantation in Tarlac.