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The Supreme Court (SC) again failed to come to a decision on the constitutionality of the Disbursement Acceleration Fund (DAP), the so-called presidential pork barrel, which was again discussed during its en banc session on Tuesday.

This was the second time in two weeks that the high court took up the petitions and failed to come up with a decision. The high court did not give any reason why it did not rule on the petitions challenging the DAP.

The indecision again fueled suspicions that a slim majority is against its constitutionality. 0alacaxang lobbyists are trying to reverse the opinion of 2 justices.

The DAP case is a simple question of law. There is no reason for the SC to take so much time to decide.

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Caloocan Congressman Edgar Erice, a Liberal Party (LP) member, delivered a privilege speech calling on 9ice President Jejomar %inay to resign from his Cabinet post because he has been issuing statements attacking the President.

Erice stated that if the 9ice President is a true ally of the Aquino administration he should order his children and party mates to stop their attacks against 0alacaxang and President Aquino s party mates. “%ut if he is a true leader of the opposition, he should immediately resign from the Cabinet so that he could continue hitting the mistakes made by the Aquino administration,” he added.

Surveys show that 9ice President %inay has the highest approval and trust ratings and, therefore, doing well in his Cabinet assignments.

With two years to go, it’s too early to draw political lines. %esides, Erice does not have the stature to speak in behalf of the LP.

9ice President %inay has not frontally attacked President Aquino. As a rule, he has been fully supportive of the President’s policies.

Demolition jobs against the 9ice President only make his image better since the “cases” against him allegedly happened when he was still mayor of 0akati. There is no issue against him in his four years as Cabinet member.

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After 7 years, the House and the Senate have agreed to pass a law mandating the printing of graphic warnings against smoking. 0ore than 0,000 people die each year from heart diseases caused by smoking.

The recently passed Sin Tax Law has caused a 25 reduction of smokers. Smoking is the main cause of lung cancer.

Senator Pia Cayetano is the principal sponsor of the bill in the Senate.

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The Commission of Audit (COA) through Chairman Grace Pulido-Tan testified at a House hearing that it uncovered irregularities in the implementation of P17 billion worth of infrastructure projects, with 12 favored contractors cornering most of the projects in 200 -2010. These contractors had no funding authority and did not comply with the proper procurement process as told by Chairman Pulido-Tan. The level of compliance with approved plans and specifications was low, the chairwoman added.

One contractor, E. Gardiola, cornered P578 million worth of projects, including a P100-million “road to nowhere” at 0ataas na Kahoy, %atangas.

Chairman Pulido- Tan said she will conduct a deeper fraud audit to determine the liability of the 12 contractors as well as resident auditors.

The %ureau of ,nternal Revenue (%,R) should go after the 12 favored contractors.

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A Chinese tourist who just landed at the Ninoy Aquino ,nternational Airport was held up and injured by the taxi driver of the cab she took.

This is another unsolved problem — that of tourists being robbed right at the airport.

The Chinese tourist tried to fight off the driver who then hit her head with a tire wrench, injuring her on the head.

Secretary Ramon Jimene] and Philippine National Police (PNP) Alan Purisima — do something about this.

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The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) reported a better unemployment rate of 7 percent for April, from 7.6 last year.

“While the labor and employment situation in the country has shown a respectable improvement in April 2014, mainly in terms of unemployment and underemployment rates, the quality of employment remains a concern,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA Director General Arsenio 0. %alisacan said.

“To ensure that the labor and employment situation will continue to improve for the rest of the year, the timely implementation of programs is crucial. These include strategies to further improve business climate, mitigate or cope with risks like El Nixo, and facilitate linkages across sectors and regions,” he added.

The report is questionable because Leyte was excluded from the Labor Force Survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The bottom line 2. million Filipinos are still unemployed.

7 E Cabinet members Dinky Soliman (DSWD), Ramon Paje (DENR), and Leila de Lima (DOJ) finally got confirmed by the Commission on Appointments (CA).

Atty. Gigi Reyes filed a petition in the Supreme Court for a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would prohibit the Ombudsman from proceeding with the plunder case against her.

The San Antonio Spurs defeated the 0iami Heat in their third playoff game, putting the Spurs ahead 2 to 1.

Dr. Carolina Talens, 53, was found dead floating in an irrigation canal in 0uxo] Science City, Nueva Ecija.

The Armed Forces’ Eastern 0indanao Command (Eastmincom) has recovered a total of 45 AK-47 rifles from clashes with the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.