The Unlawyer

I haven’t read WaiWai for my daily dose of Japanese sleaze for some time now, and I’m glad to know it is still as entertaining as ever, like this gem: Sex scandals leave playboy politicians with election dysfunction, which states that once upon a time, Japanese politicians weren’t coy about admitting to keeping mistresses:

“The late Bukichi Miki, the man who engineered the 1955 formation of the Liberal Democratic Party by merging the Diet’s conservative forces, was extremely candid about his active extramarital activities. When an opposing candidate accused Miki of campaigning with six mistresses by his side, the politician quickly countered the claim with undeniable panache.

“”It’s true I have mistresses, but not the six the candidate claims. There are, in fact, seven,” Shukan Asahi quotes the politician saying at the time.”

Try doing that today.

Supporters of Jose Maria Sison will be undoubtedly elated at this piece of news: Sison to be released from jail–NDF, in contrast to this earlier report: Dutch court orders Joma detained another 90 days, which was claimed by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Wednesday night.

Mr. Sison’s sympathizers had this to say:

“Rafael Mariano, chairman of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, informed abs-cbnNEWS.com on Thursday through a text message that Sison is being released.

“”Joma is now being released. Joma is vindicated. This proves that he is innocent and the case against him is weak,” Mariano said in the message.”

It goes without saying that the Palace is not pleased at this development.

Since Mr. Sison’s arrest and detention, his supporters have uniformly described the Dutch government in the vilest terms possible. It would be interesting to see how they will change their tune at this turn of events.

Meanwhile, probably still feeling flush with victory against her recently-convicted political enemy, the President is going for broke with the underground Left: Arroyo to communist rebels: Amnesty or military solution.

“Arroyo has repeatedly said she wanted to end the communist rebellion — Asia’s longest — by 2010, when her term ends.

“”If we are to become a modernized country, we have to put a stop to their ideological nonsense and their criminal acts once and for all. It is either amnesty or military solution. Whichever way, communist rebellion must be stopped,” Arroyo said.

“”I guarantee the leftist insurgents willing to turn their guns into plowshares and respect the rule of law another opportunity to regain normal life under Proclamation 1377 issued last week,” she said.

“”But I must emphasize that amnesty shall not apply to terrorist groups, whose violence and treacherous deeds can never be countenanced as arising from legitimate political struggle,” Arroyo said.”

Speaking of yesterday’s court proceedings, critics immediately lashed against the special treatment extended to the former president during the course of his trial and even as he was sentenced to reclusion perpetua – that’s 40 years in prison for those of you not familiar with the Philippines’ penal lexicon: Special concessions for Estrada show flawed judicial system.

“The Estrada case, thus, puts in the spotlight once again how the justice system can become so helpless in the face of a powerful accused. Indeed, the proceedings that were highly politicized became mournfully drawn out, clogged up as it was in part with numerous court-granted perks for Mr. Estrada that would make ordinary inmates weep.

“Veteran criminal lawyer Mario Ongkiko even said all the special considerations, even for a former president, set a bad precedent in the justice system. “Nagkaroon ng [There was] special treatment,” he said. “Now you can expect other accused of prominent stature to ask for some privileges. It’s tailoring the penal system to suit the needs of the accused.”

Crude oil prices briefly went up to a record high of USD 80 a barrel yesterday, and it may have been the result of old-fashioned speculation instead of any substantive change in this commodity’s fundamentals, like a sudden spike in demand: Forget about fundamentals, this is the oil market after all.

“Part of crude’s strength is good old-fashioned momentum. When an asset class starts moving higher, the lure of making a quick buck attracts more buyers, who push prices even higher, thus luring even more buyers.

“And commodities such as crude oil make an attractive target for speculators, particularly now that the U.S. dollar is weakening and investors are looking to park their money in hard assets, which they can easily gain exposure to by buying commodity index funds.”

The Business Mirror lays the heavy artillery against what it thinks is another hare-brained incentive scheme that, if implemented, may be environmentally risky and discriminate against local businesses from enjoying lower electricity rates to boot.

“Davao City Councilor Peter Laviña doubted that the declaration of geothermal sites as “special economic zones” would attract power-intensive industries, such as electronics, in southern Mindanao.

“For one thing, he finds it unthinkable for electronics companies to locate in Mt. Apo, for instance, because it is far from any airport or seaport. Note that electronics processing in the country caters mostly to the exports market; hence the vital role of location.

“Laviña is not engaging in idle talk. The chairman of the city council committee on trade, commerce and industry suggested that instead of making available cheap power to foreign investors, “the government should instead provide this to local businesses and consumers.””

In the blogosphere, more comments about yesterday’s guilty verdict on Mr. Estrada: Uniffors says it was all about justice. A Simple Life reiterates a common thought, that its time to move on. Read Touched By An Angel’s poignant remarks, as she remembered all those Erap jokes her late son used to adore.