August 2006 – Page 4 – ellen tordesillas

Bolante’s nightmare

Published by Ellen on August 13, 2006

What more indignities would Joc Joc Bolante, former agriculture undersecretary, be willing to suffer to protect his friends and patrons, Gloria and Mike Arroyo?

Bolante, who has been under detention since July 7 at the San Pedro Detention Center in Los Angeles, has been granted his request to be transferred to the Chicago federal detention center because his family is based in Evanston, just outside Chicago. The Rotary International, where Bolante served as treasurer, is also in Evanston.

Bolante probably thought that Chicago would be friendlier to him than Los Angeles.

He is in for a big disappointment.

Brad Pitt sleeps here

Published by Ellen on August 13, 2006

Brad Pitt, and presumably Angelina Jolie, sleep in this bed made in Cebu by multi-awarded Filipino designer Kenneth Cobonpue.

ADVISORY:linking articles from other publications

Published by Ellen on August 13, 2006

I thank all those who share relevant articles from other publications. For better presentation, I’d like to put just a few paragraphs, then link it.…

Para sa ligtas na biyahe

Published by Ellen on August 12, 2006

Sana sa panibagong security measures na ginagawa sa mga airport, hindi nila papayagan mag-handcarry ng cellphone. Dapat naka check-in.

Kasi maraminng matigas na ulo na Pilipinong pasahero. Kahit sinasabi ng nakaka-gulo ng communication lines ng eroplano ang paggamit ng cellphone habang nasa loob ng eroplano, gamit pa rin ng gamit ng cellphone kahit ang pinag-uusapan naman ay hindi importante.

Dahil sa nadiskubre ng mga British authorities ng panibagong plano ng mga terorista ng pagpapasabog ng sampung eroplano noong Huwebes, mas istrikto ngayon ang biyahe lalo na sa eroplano.

Formal statement of Josie Lichauco

Published by Ellen on August 12, 2006

Formal statement of Josie Lichauco, former secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communication, on the order of the Supreme Court to re-instate a case against her filed by Michael de Guzman of Philippine Agila Satellite Inc. which was dismissed by a lower court eight years ago.

At the beginning of the Arroyo administration in 2001, Lichauco, who was the teacher of Gloria Arroyo at the Assumption College in Makati, was offered the position of ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.

Before her nomination was confirmed by the Commission on Appointments, she learned of the shenanigans of the unelected Arroyo presidency. She wrote GMA a stinging letter withdrawing from the Geneva job.”I’ve lost faith and respect in this presidency,”she said.

The Burden of Cervical Cancer in the Philippines and Efforts to Combat the Disease

Published by Ellen on August 12, 2006

by Dr. Cecilia A. Ladines-Llave,chair of the UP-PGH Cancer Institute

(This paper was presented at the John Hopkins-JHPIEGO Global Conference on Low-Resource Setting Cervical Cancer Prevention, held in Bangkok, Thailand on Dec. 4, 2005)

Incidence

Worldwide, one woman dies of cervical cancer every 2 minutes, and some 500 thousand new cases of this disease are seen every year.

About 80% or 400 thousand of these new cases are in developing countries. Of these 400 thousand, 50% or 200 thousand are in Asia.

In the Philippines, conservative estimates in 2000 placed the number of cervical cancer cases at between 35 thousand and 70 thousand, to which almost 7 thousand new cases are added every year.

UK – Travel advice for passengers

Published by Ellen on August 11, 2006

The British Department for Transport has issued advice to air passengers after a suspected plot to blow up planes was prevented:

Following this morning’s police action, security at all UK airports has been increased and additional security measures have been put in place for all flights.

With immediate effect, the following arrangements apply to all passengers starting their journey at a UK airport and to those transferring between flights at a UK airport.

Deciding with their feet

Published by Ellen on August 11, 2006

There is one area where Gloria can claim success and nobody would dispute it. And that’s in the export of Filipinos.

Today, more than eight million Filipinos are scattered all over the world, even as far as Equatorial Guinea in Africa, with the numbers increasing every day. The Commission on Overseas Filipinos said since January this year, at least 6,000 Filipinos have left as immigrants for an increase of 23.4 percent in the number of departing Filipinos. I don’t have the figures of contract workers but I can imagine the number is much more.

Many more want to leave. The latest survey by Pulse Asia conducted from June 24 to July 8 showed that Filipinos who spurn migration dropped by 15 percent from last year’s 52 per cent to 37 percent now.

Defying Supreme Court again

Published by Ellen on August 9, 2006

In junking of the seven impeachment complaints against Gloria Arroyo, her allies in Congress have once again defied the Supreme Court by clearly misinterpreting the Court’s ruling in Francisco vs. House of Representatives, the Counsel for the Defense of Liberties (CODAL) said.

Codal’s statement:

Wasak na demokrasya

Published by Ellen on August 9, 2006

Hindi naman nakapagtataka ang nangyari sa House of Representatives noong Martes kung saan binasura na kaagad ng Committee on Justice ang pitong impeachment complaints laban kay Gloria Arroyo.

Sabi ng mga nakakaraming kampon ni Arroyo, hindi pa raw isang taon nang sinampa ang pitong binasurang impeachment complaint. Isa na lang ang natira, yung isinampa ng Black and White Movement noong July 27.

Mabuti na lang at naniguro ang mga complainants kaya marami silang isinampa, iba-ibang date. Pare-parehong complaint naman yan kaya wala naman masyadong epekto ang pagbasura ng pito.

Month: August 2006