‘Plot’ seen as ploy
to extend Esperon Biazon: It’s part of a ‘moro
moro’
BY DENNIS GADIL
SEN. Rodolfo Biazon yesterday shot down
reports of a new destabilization plot against President Arroyo,
saying these were intended to justify an extension of the term
of AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr.
"Is this a drama that is being foisted upon
us because of the possibility of an extension of the AFP chief
of staff?" said Biazon, chairman of the Senate defense committee
and a former AFP chief.
Esperon is reaching the mandatory retirement
age of 56 on February 9. He has been publicly making a pitch for
an extension of his term, citing the anti-insurgency campaign
whose momentum he said should be sustained.
JUSTICE Secretary Raul Gonzalez yesterday
said only President Arroyo could make him withdraw an advisory
he issued last week in which he told media practitioners not to
interfere in legitimate police and military operations on the
pain of sanctions.
He dismissed the call of a New York-based
media group Committee to Protect Journalists to withdraw his
advisory on the ground that it poses a threat to press freedom
and democracy.
He said he takes orders only from the
President, and the foreign media group can "go jump in the
lake."
THE Supreme Court has affirmed its decision
in lifting the absolute ban on the promotion and advertisement
of breast milk substitutes specified under the Department of
Health’s Milk Code.
The SC agreed with the position of the
Pharmaceutical and Health Care Association of the Philippines (PHAP),
a broad-based organization of companies which produce or
distribute pharmaceutical, medical and nutritional products,
that the prohibitions under the RIRR are not found in the Milk
Code.
The decision said the rules went beyond the
scope of the DOH’s authority.
SEN. Rodolfo Biazon yesterday shot down
reports of a new destabilization plot against President Arroyo,
saying these were intended to justify an extension of the term
of AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. 
