NTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION SAYS : Rebellion, crime raps vs solons, harassment (tags)
PESANTE NEWS reported from news sources from MANILA today that Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) said that the Rebellion charges and other criminal cases filed against four progressive party-list lawmakers were all meant to impair their capacity to perform their tasks as members of the House of Representatives. The four lawmakers raised the concern before the IPU in 2007 after the government filed rebellion charges against them for their alleged involvement in the foiled plot to overthrow the Arroyo administration in February 2006. The the international body then urged the Arroyo administration to act on the cases with dispatch or right away clear Representatives Satur Ocampo and Teodoro Casino of Bayan Muna, Liza Maza of Gabriela, and Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis.
SC junks rebellion raps vs Beltran, ‘Batasan 5’ (tags)
Rebellion charges against six legislators identified with leftist groups were thrown out by the Supreme Court yesterday in what the opposition described as a defeat for President Arroyo’s administration. The court ruled that state prosecutors did not have probable cause to file charges against Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran and the group dubbed as the “Batasan 5,” who were accused of plotting a coup against Mrs. Arroyo last year along with military rebels and opposition politicians.