Th latest victim of Mike Arroyo’s crusade against those who tell the truth is Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano whom he has brought to court with a P32 million libel suit, three weeks ago.
Before that Arroyo has filed libel charges against 43 journalists. Here’s the list:
Newsbreak (“More Properties”, Dec. 8, 2005 issue)
1. Marites Vitug (editor-in-chief)
2. Glenda Gloria (associate editor)
3. Ricky Carandang (business editor)
4. R. E. Otico (editorial consultant)
5. Jose Dalisay Jr. (editorial consultant)
6. Booma Cruz (contributing editor)
Newsbreak (“Will she now change?”, June 7, 2004 issue)
7. Concepcion Paez (contributing writer)
Malaya (“Poe’s Camp says Mike is Chief Cheating Operator”, May 19, 2004)
8. JP Lopez (reporter)
9. Regina Bengco (reporter)
10. Amado Macasaet (publisher)
11. Enrique Romualdez (executive editor)
12. Joy de los Reyes (editor-in-chief)
13. Ma. Teresa Molina (editor)
14. Minnie Advincula (editor)
15. Ellen Tordesillas (chief of reporters)
Malaya (“First Couple’s idea of charity,” July 9, 2004, Business Insight column by Macasaet)
16. Rosario Galang (business editor)
+ Amado Macasaet (publisher)
Inquirer (14 counts, Tulfo’s column “On Target” that appeared on Jan. 14, 17 and 26; March 9 and 23; May 23, June 17 and August 3, 2006)
17. Ramon Tulfo (columnist)
18. Isagani Yambot (publisher)
19. Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc (editor-in-chief)
20. Jose Ma. Nolasco (editor)
21. Abelardo Ulanday (editor)
22. Rosario Gargellano (editor)
23. Artemio Engracia Jr. (editor)
24. Jorge Aruta (editor)
25. Pergentino Bandayrel Jr. (editor)
26. Juan Sarmiento (editor)
Bandera (six counts, Tulfo’s column “On Target” that appeared on Jan. 26, May 23 and 27, June 6,8 and 17)
27. Eileen Mangubat (publisher)
28. Beting Laygo Dolor (editor-in-chief)
29. Jimmy Alcantara (associate editor)
30. Raymond Rivera (circulation manager)
Tribune (stories where Tatad was quoted as saying Arroyo was his wife’s “chief cheater”, May 14, 16, 17 and 18, 2004)
31. Ninez Cacho-Olivares (editor-in-chief)
32. Romulo Mariñas (editor)
33. Gina Capili-Inciong (editor)
34. Jake Martin (editor)
35. Marvin Estigoy (editor)
36. Gerry Baldo (reporter)
37. Sherwin Olaes (reporter)
38. Lito Tugadi circulation manager
39. Jing Santos (subscription manager)
(For accusing Mike Arroyo of influencing RPN-9 network to axe “Isumbong Mo , Tulfo Brothers during a press conference in QC on August 2)
40. Erwin Tulfo
41. Raffy Tulfo
+ Ramon Tulfo
INQ7 (“How do you solve a problem like Mike Arroyo” , July 5, 2004 High Ground column)
42. William M. Esposo
TRIBUNE (El Esposo Gordo, July 21, 25, 28; Aug. 11, 13, 15 2004 So I see column)
43. Lito Banayo, now a Malaya columnist
Invitation to a round-table discussion on libel:
Text message from Billy Esposo:
Why not counter sue the “big poppa” with harassment? Maybe, when altogether sue him at once, just returning the favour, the court will be sorting out the cases long before he passed into history.
Ellen, Why are you afraid of being sued? If your story is true then why troubled? The problem kasi wala kayong pruweba puro kasinungalingan lahat. Kayo ang gumagawa ng sarili ninyong multo. Wala bang karapatan ang taong idepensa ang kanyang sarili sa inyong witch hunting? Moreso, ang dinedepensa nya dito ay ang bansa dahil patuloy na nadudungisan sa mga kasinungalingan ninyo. One sided ang mga kukote ninyo.
Decriminilization of libel is a bit extreme, don’t you think? Afteral, we must be protected from false accusations.
The issues surrounding the arroyo’s bank account seems to favor Rep. Cayetano’s claim. However, its veracity has to be proven. Of course, the arroyo’s will do everything in its power to prevent the truth from coming out, if the charge is indeed true. Besides they are charged of more serious crimes compared to this hidden loot that they persistently refuse to face.
Funny thing though, have all these journalists sued for libel by miguel, conspired to defame his honor? It seems unlikely.
The way that it stands today, you can ask any common man in the streets, and not be surprised to hear what he thinks of the arroyos. Miguel may have to sue the whole citizenry of libel to protect his/their “good name.”
Who’s afraid of the big fat guy? I have a suspicion in fact this guy, who may be a lawyer (Hindi ba iyan isa sa nandaya sa bar?) but apparently presently jobless, is trying to make filing litigations against those who are likely to expose his and the missy’s looting of the treasury, etc. his present occupation.
In fact, he is definitely creating a new job for wannabe First Lady and First Gentleman regardless of whether or not the president is bogus like his wife. It is “Libel Suiter”!
Sabi ng secretary ko, may trabaho daw si Fatso—Taga-kolekta ng tong sa jueteng!!!
Time for Senator Drilon, et al to sit down and draft a law barring people abusing power that they are not even supposed to have from filing such silly law suits especially when there are evidences of truths that are being openly whitewashed and when the lawsuits are against journalists and lawmakers who should be encouraged to dig into the holes, etc. to find the truths hidden there!
And there should be a law barring the executive from appointing people in the Justice Department except for the Minister whose power should be limited and checked and balanced by bureaucrats who should not be under the control of the elected officials of the government.
SOBRA NA, PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA!
Yup, Ellen, why doesn’t the association of journalists or this group of journalist bind together and file a counter lawsuit against this yabang Fatso, and have foreign media witness the filing of the suit for them to see how the idiot there with hands greased with public and jueteng funds tries to trash the petition in the waste can like what the idiot at Malacanang does, and if the litigation is granted to be heard in the court, let the international media take notes and blast them in the media overseas with evidences that the media people can now freely expose in court regardless of whether or not the paid lackey tagged as judge accept those proofs as evidences of malfeasance against the Fatso that will make his lawsuits groundless, illogical, null and void.
Vic is right. There should be a law in the Philippines regarding harrassment. Over here in fact, it is a crime especially when done by someone connected with an elected official or even a bureaucrat, and not taken simply as something like a misdemeanor and/or a civil suit.
Jun said, “Ellen, Why are you afraid of being sued?”
Who said I’m afraid?
Mike Arroyo has sent feelers to Jake Macasaet that he is willing to drop the case if Jake aplogizes and stops coming out with stories critical to him.
Jake said something like “Go to hell”.
Somebody asks questions and answers it himself. Must be losing his marbles.
Got from another e-group
The political killings in the Philippines have become a big issue — and appropriately so because of the more than 750 xtrajudical killings and more than 150 abductions under the GMA regime — that issue haunted GMA during her Euro trip.
The Euro leaders expressed “serious concern over the killings” and all that GMA could say is that she has formed the Melo Commission to investigate the matter.
Now, even the Amnesty International had written her a memo on the subject before its head met with GMA in London.
This is a very unusual trip where the de facto president has to explain to the Euro heads the political killings in the country.
Filer files libel suits and goes around asking filee to apologize. That is prostituting the legal system.Soon he will prostitute himself by …. guess!
A United States court has ordered the extradition to the Philippines of Charlie “Atong” Ang to face plunder charges against him.
Ging Reyes, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau chief, reported that the US District Court in Nevada ruled last Monday that Ang should be extradited to the Philippines.
Ang, a Filipino Chinese businessman, is a coaccused in the plunder and perjury trial of former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada in the Sandiganbayan. Ang is Estrada’s close associate.
Judge Lawrence Leavitt ruled that plunder is an extraditable offense and that there was probable cause that Ang was guilty of it.
Leavitt ordered that Ang be committed to the custody of the US marshal until his extradition. He said Ang’s surrender should not be later than September 13.
********************************************************
First, rape victim Nicole’s mother claims that the RP prosecutor tried to neogiate with the victim and indicated the case to be tied with that of Bolante. Now, Atong Ang is being extradited to the Philippines at this time when Erap’s trial is soon to wrap up with no hard evidences that could convict him. Clearly, we see Malacanang and the US cooking something…
Ellen:
Did he do that? That is definitely intimidation and harrassment. Over here, when such thing is reported to the Federation of Japanese Bar Association and in turn reported to the court, such cases will be automatically dropped and the filer will be properly investigated for what he has done asking for those people he has charged with libel to apologize directly to him when there are already the volume of libel suits in the court that should not have accepted them in the first place.
These libel suits in fact will definitely make the morning, afternoon and evening shows. Talk of the press here being really that strong, and definitely united against abuses especially of people who owe them a lot even for free publicity. Unity here in fact is more like “I protect myself, you protect yourself, so how about protecting ourselves together?”
Frankly, the National Press Club there should be the one in fact to lead the fight against these abuses on the freedom of the press.
Gloria and her Cohorts may think their present strategy of hounding and threatening each and every opposition and critic may weaken the opposition forces. They’re dead wrong. The critics are increasing and getting more cohesive by the day.
The opposition and critics (vocal or silent) will be there always. They will never disappear. The more Gloria and her cohorts stoke the bees, the more the bees will harass her. There are just too many bees. A horde of bees can send even a lioness nuts, a drinking binge and to a 2-day rest in a hospital.
This Administration has tried to silence critics with rebellion charges, libel suits, tax fraud investigations, EO’s and MC’s, and even taking away past Presidents’legally-assigned security personnel (ang petty naman), etc… The administration is so cornered, so up to its neck with trying to plug each and every hole in its leaking and cracking dike that it is running out of fingers and toes. Just too many leaks to plug and cover-up. It is getting so desperate that it is committing one blunder after another. It is more and more looking like a bunch of uncoordinated clowns.
Malacanang should learn by now. You can’t forever hide the truth nor cover-up lies upon lies. You can’t forever intimidate and harass. Nature has a way of getting back at you. Even now the international community is beginning to take notice of the goings on in the country. They are focusing on the human rights and the political killings. They’re asking why Southeast Asia and its neighbors’ economies are booming and asking why the Philippines is still worming around the bottom. They’re now beginning to act on what they see. Some countries have made sure Gloria feels it. It is Nature’s way of balancing things.
Frankly, Ellen, it is the injustice there that makes me hasten to give up my Japanese citizenship to have Philippine citizenship because Japan does not recognize dual citizenship. At least, over here, I know I am very well protected, not that I have worked for the police and court, for there is no such thing as “palakasan” in Japan, and even if there is, I have no intention to corrupt the system that works for everyone regardless of creed, religion, political affiliation and status in the society.
In my humble way, I try to help through the various advocacies that I am in especially with our government into encouraging its citizens to get involved especially when it comes to people to people relationship. You’ll be surprised that our government in fact would rather give funding to NGOs and NPOs to do some people to people incentives than give ODAs to corrupt governments like that of the Philippines.
In fact, I am actually looking into some rumor that the Ale Boba and her countless thieves are having difficulty getting the 80M yen grants from the Japanese ODAs, and are using bogus NGOs to try to get these grants. I’ll give you the fillers, Ellen, when I find out the whole scam on this. I have talked this matter in fact with my friends in the Japanese police because I think it should be stopped especially when it is our Japanese taxpayers’ money that are being squandered in this scam.
Ganyan na kawalanghiya ang garapalan na ginagawa ng mga hayop na mga nakaupo na iyan. It should be stopped and should end. Maski mga Amerikano naiinis na rin diyan, I am pretty sure. So, there is no deal with this government that is not now in the open. Even our government is making sure of that especially not with a nosey Japanese press!!!
Ellen, just holler when you need our help! I know Macasaet will not leave you guys to the wolves. Sayang na lang ang lakas nila sa IPI.
RE: R.I.P. Free Press in the Philippines
The Philippines First Gentleman Miguel Arroyo a.k.a. Jose Pidal’s series of multiple libel suits filed against crusading journalists and newspaper publishers is a deliberate attempt to silence critical media and direct assault to press freedom. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. Slapping libel suits and arrogance use of power and influence have no place in a democratic society. There’s a possibility that INTERNET LIBEL suits shall be filed against bloggers and discussion groups and forum. Public figures should not be onion-skinned in regards to public criticism and scrutiny. Technically, Miguel Arroyo is a private citizen. On the other hand, he is married to the president of the republic. He should be a role model. Everybody knows he is very influential in the government affairs and used his power to the benefit of himself and his cronies. Arroyo cronies have been appointed to key government posts. Miguel Arroyo will be “hundreds million” richer if all multi-million civil damages are settled in his favor. In fact, the Don Jose Pidal crime family is no saint. There’s no doubt that allegations in the press are based on testimonies from whistleblowers, insiders and individuals and parties directly involved in corrupt practices, fraud, deceit, scams and cover-ups in the government service. There’s no smoke without fire or nothing happens without a reason like the Vicky Itoh illicit escapades. The Hello Garci political scandal, Jose Pidal money laundering activities and jueteng payola have direct links to Malacanang’s illegal occupants. There’s no defamation of character if accusations or allegations are based on truth and public interests. The people have the right to know what’s happening in our national affairs. Mister Jose Pidal, HUWAG KANG PIKON, please stop bullying your critics. Baka “double jeopardy” ang labas ang mga kaso ni Jose Pikon Pidal.
Ellen, If you are not afraid then why are you highlighting the issue here? What is your point? Why did you enumerated the case filed by FG to these useless journalists? Isn’t it, it is the right of every person to protect his image especially he being the FG? Wala ba syang karapatan kayo lang ba ang puedeng manira ng manira ng tao kahit wala kayong pruweba? Kung panahon lang ni Marcos ngayon di sana na salvaged na kayong lahat mabuti nga at dinadala nya in proper forum eh.
glue, dayunyor said:
“Ellen, Why are you afraid of being sued?”
Teka, teka…..
sino ba ang takot kanino? Who is afraid of whom? :roll:
KUNG takot si Ms. ellen, palagay mo ba, nandito pa siya at magpo-post pa ng laban sa lover mo?
Lekat dn naman ang pananaw ng mga malabo na ang mata, malabo pa ang isip, malabo pa ang ugali at malabo ang ina-idol!
Ang mga kaso, dyan kumikita ang mga abogado:
“And whether you’re an honest man, or whether you’re a thief, Depends on whose solicitor has given me my brief.”
——-Benjamin Franklin
Peace to you! I hope and pray that the Lord above grant you discernment so you will know what is right and what is wrong.
Pag wala ka pa ring magawa, go home and plant camote!
🙂
SOBRANG dami na pala ang mga biktima ni FG[first Gag!]
He wants to put a GAG on all journalists.
Ang daming BAWAL sa kanila!
Wala bang freedom of expression sa Bayang Magiliw?
NABILI na ba ni FG [first Gag!] ang Bayan? 🙄
Ito ring si madam batarpulay, isa pa….
sabi ng Lolo ko, mukha raw tabatsoy, sa sobrang kain.
I replied, “she’s dining on the blood, sweat and tears of her countrymen.”
He nodded and agreed heartily. He even went further to comment: Ano raw ba ang ginagawa ng mga mambabatas at iba pang Pinoy?
Gusto kong sabihin, “nabili na!” kaya lang I just shrugged my shoulders and let the issue rest on that. Even if I argue, he is a foreigner and thus, unaware of all the “kababalaghan” of glue in her Enchanted Kingdom.
Anyways, have a look at these lines…..Purong-puro ang tama kay aling glue at mga gawain nya:
======================================>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side.”
———–Aristotle
========================>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
ALIS D’YAN!
Vic,
I agree with you: “Why not counter sue the “big poppa” with harassment?…”
Jun,
I agree with Ellen’s comments. Most especially the part when the Malaya Publisher “said something like “Go to hell”.”
Ms. Ellen,
The Philippines comes second only to Iraq in terms of safety for journalists. Those who run the risk are those who tell the truth. If you survive from being killed physically, you run naman the risk of being sued by El Gordo.
We should also include the names of those who have been killed under this pathetic administration.
I just received a message from a reliable source that an official from the Makati City Hall, Mr. Lito Glean, was GUNNED DOWN shortly before 8am today by four (4) unidentified men while he was having coffee at Shell’s Starbuck station at the Fort. Mr. Glean is a long-time friend of Makati City Mayor, Jejomar Binay, as well as Mayor Binay’s de facto chief of security.
because big mike’s been using the issue to silence journalists. We know that the courts tend to favor this administration, right or wrong, so pidal has nothing to be afraid of.
at yung mga libel cases na ito ay magastos para sa mga journalists, even if in the end they were proven right and the libel case is dismissed, unlike pidal and this administration who have almost unlimited resources.
take for example the case against jake macasaet, which i think wasn’t much of a big deal, but mike arroyo pursued it anyway:
jake wrote this article back in july 9,2004:
On july 13, 2004, jake wrote a followup:
Chabeli:
Don’t compare the gagging of the press in the Philippines as the same as the kidnapping of western pressmen in Iraq.
I have one or two friends in the Japanese who were taken hostage by the resistance there. After explaining their position and pleas coursed through some resistance connected groups, they were released. One was on his way to Abu Ghraib to get first hand info on the abuses there when he was taken. Fortunately, he was not harmed. He actually wrote about how he was treated fairly and humanly by his captors, more than what the Americans do to civilians in Iraq that they try to frame up and murder!!!
What the Fatso does is to gag the Filipino journalists. I am also told of the strict screening of members of foreign press covering Malacanang. Impromptu interviews apparently are not granted because the Boba reportedly has the habit of blabbing the most ridiculous nonsense!
This should read: I have one or two friends in the Japanese PRESS who were taken hostage by the resistance there. They are actually supporters of the International Criminal Tribunal for Iraq/Afghanistan that concerned lawyers in Japan, UK, USA, India, Pakistan, Philippines, etc. have established to determine the war crimes committed by Bush, et al on the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bansot is included in the lawsuits to be presented in the International Court of Justice for her role in encouraging and providing the logistics in this war even when the Philippines in fact cannot afford it.
The permissive culture of targetting journalists and militant critics always starts at the top, whether it’s palparan, Rey Wycoco or mike arroyo talking:
Ducky paredes reports on what Mike Arroyo said last year re the murdered journalists:
oops, hindi pa lumalabas ang comment ko na
September 16th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
September 16th, 2006 at 3:57 pm
Siempre kakampihan nyo si Ellen. Ano bang tawag sa inyo? Kasi si Ellen tuta ng opposisyon. Kayo naman tuta ng tuta ng opposisyon. In my point of view si FG ang biktima dito dahil hinuhusgahan na agad sya kahit di pa dumaan sa husgado. Ang report naman puro “Di umano”, “Ayon sa isang ayaw magpabanggit ng pangalan”, “Maaring”, pweee, puro intriga. Kung wala kayong gawang magaling mag-isip na lang kayo ng isang magandang negosyo para pagka kitaaan pa.
…and jun and the other pro-Arroyos like him can always go read the manila standard today or philippine star instead.
they have lots of great arroyo defenders/columnists like gov’t tv host jarius bondoc, director alex magno, CONCOM member Carmen pedrosa, Sassy Lawyer, Emil Jurado, Fel Marangay and Bong austero.
John,
Question is how much do these palakpak journalists get from their free ads for the crooks in the government? One good payer I know is JdV. When my friend in Manila realized that I am no crook, in fact, he decided not to introduce me to JdV even when he knew that I could get into his favor if I mentioned my father or my cousin, the poet, coming from the same province as his.
It’s one thing that we actually do not allow over here in Japan. We have a very powerful National Press Club here that is not beholden to any politicians. Members are kicked out when they are tempted to make similar deals that media people in the Philippines do because the organization is well funded and members cannot be corrupted. At least, this is my observation in one or two of the press clubs that I have become members in. Presently, I am an honorary member of one because I was one of its original members. It is more difficult to get into the Nippon Press Club, however, because of the exorbitant fees, and necessary referrals. Foreigners are not allowed there, and reason for the organization of the Foreign Correspondent Club of Japan that the one in Manila apparently has copied. Iyong press club sa Pilipinas, medyo questionable! Ang daming sabit! Kawawa iyong mga matitino. Ellen can vouch for what I say. Disappointed nga ako when I went there for a visit!!!
Who is afraid of who? Gago!!! Tangna kaya lang naman hindi mahuli-huli ang mga walanghiya kasi nilagay nila ang mga kamag-anak at kasosyo nila sa pagnanakaw sa puwesto, at saka iyong mga pulis at sundalo ginawang mga inutil! Tignan natin kung hanggang saan makakapagtiis ang mga pilipino!
Tanggalin mo lahat ang mga alalay na iyan, pihadong kulong lahat ang mga walanghiya. Kaya nga masigasig itong mga bayaran na manglito at manakot ng mga pati nasa Internet na lumalaban.
I feel sorry for the Philippines and the Filipino people really. On the other hand, I cannot help appreciate the wisdom I got when I decided to become a citizen of Japan even when I did not want to cut off my ties with the land of my birth. I had the option to become a US citizen, too, by virtue of the citizenship of my father, but I did not feel at home in America. I’m glad I did. At least, over here, I can be a Communist or a Socialist and still be a good and law-abiding citizen. In the Philippines, they strip you of your human dignity the way Satur Ocampo, Crispin Beltran, Liza Masa, et al are experiencing now!!! And all because of a lunatic imagining herself as queen and rightful owner of the 7,100 islands that make up the Philippines!
Manigas siya! PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA!
Would you believe,that Mike Arroyo found those July 9 and 13, 2004 articles posted by John as libelous?
Those were the articles cited in his second libel suit against Jake and our business editor, Rosario Galang.
Ellen,
Ang linaw-linaw na ang purpose lang ni Fatso is to control the media, and he does it by harrassment and intimidation even with the cooperation of a corrupted court. Sino ba ngayon ang nakakahiya? Frankly, matapang lang talaga ang mga foreign investors na mag-invest sa Pilipinas. Remember Sony? It was supposed to open a big factory there and was about to ink an agreement with the Philippine government under FVR, but it backed out after realizing that it would be a great risk especially with a corrupted justice department.
Dito kasi ang court namin is free from interference by politicians and even bureaucrats. Medyo left leaning pa nga ang marami sa aming judges that is definitely more advantageous and useful to everyone. In short, hindi puedeng diktahan!!!
Iyong mga matiyaga nga ay iyong mga talagang suicidal na lang! A member of our church had to actually stop his business in the Philippines dahil talaga daw salbahe, and now they cannot even get back the money they have invested there. Buti na lang hindi ko siya tinulungan kundi ako pa ang masisisi. Akala kasi lahat ng mga pilipino kapareho kong matino!!! 😛
Anyway, Ellen, just holler. Marami kaming magpro-protesta dito. Pati mass media dito kakalampagin ko kung kailangan!!!
EDITORYAL — Patuloy ang red tape kaya iniiwasan ang RP
Ang Pilipino STAR Ngayon 09/16/2006
SA annual report na inilabas ng World Bank at ng International Finance Corp. bumagsak sa ika-126th ang Pilipinas sa mga bansang iniiwasan ng mga dayuhang negosyante. Noong nakaraang taon, ika-121st ang Pilipinas. Ang report ng World Bank ay base sa 10 indicators ng “Doing Business” report na may kinalaman sa pagsisimula ng negosyo at takbo ng ekonomiya sa may 175 bansa. At nakita ang mahinang performance ng Pilipinas na pinakain ng alikabok ng mga katabing bansa sa Asia na kinabibilangan ng Singapore, Thailand at Malaysia. Ang Singapore ay nangunguna bilang pinaka-paboritong destinasyon ng mga dayuhang negosyante. Ang Thailand na nakopo ang ika-18 puwesto samantalang ang Malaysia ay ika-25.
Dapat ay gayahin ng Pilipinas ang Singapore para marating ang kinaluluklukang popularidad at bango sa mga negosyante. Ang Singapore ay pinaka-transparent at napaka-business friendly. Walang red tape roon na isang dahilan kung bakit wiling-wili ang mga negosyante.
Pababa nang pababa ang ranggo ng Pilipinas at maaaring bumaba pa sa mga susunod kung hindi mababago ang sistema at magkakaroon ng economic reform. Laganap ang corruption sa bansang ito kaya iniiwasan ng mga negosyante. At ang sabi ng World Bank, walang gaanong ginagawang hakbang ang pamahalaan ng Pilipinas para maputol ang red tape. Palala pa nang palala ang sitwasyon.
Ang grabeng red tape ang iniangal ng mga American businessmen noon at nagbantang aalisin ang negosyo nila sa Pilipinas kung hindi aaksiyon si President Arroyo. Umaksiyon si Arroyo subalit hanggang ngayon ay walang nangyayari. Patuloy ang corruption sa Customs, BIR, DPWH, DOH, Immigration at maging sa Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Nang magtungo si Arroyo sa Spain noong Hulyo, bantulot ang mga Kastila na magtayo ng kanilang negosyo rito dahil sa red tape. Napakarami raw papeles na dapat ayusin para makakuha ng permit. At bawat lakad ng papeles ay kailangang may padulas na pera. Hindi raw business friendly ang RP.
Hindi kailanman magiging kaakit-akit at mabango ang Pilipinas hangga’t ang red tape ay laging nakakapit. Hindi uunlad ang bansang ito na kagaya ng Singapore, Thailand at Malaysia. Maiiwanan sa kangkungan ang Pilipinas at mahihirapang makabangon hangga’t hindi dinudurog ang mga kurakot. Unahin silang harapin.
ito ba hindi pa sapat upang maging batayan kung ano ang tingin ng ibang bansa sa pilipinas dahil laganap na kabulukan ng pamilya maligno? naman, naman, naman!!!!!
Ystakei,
Thanks for your comments. I was only stressing the dangers of being a truthful journalist here in the Philippines, as well as the spade of killings under this administration. I was not comparing “the gagging of the press in the Philippines as the same as the kidnapping of western pressmen in Iraq.”
I agree with you that “What the Fatso does is to gag the Filipino journalists…”
Thanks Yuko and everybody.
Off topic…It is interesting to read the recent PCIJ article on Bolante’s case: http://www.pcij.org/blog/?p=1185#comments
Arroyo is using the Filipino people’s money (tax money or money that he stole from the coffers of the state)to harass decent, harworking people who are exposing the truth against his fat ugliness.
Defence against libel suits in the Philippines cost money and he knows this so in effect he’s harassing them and he’s smirking while he does it.
Let him smirk all the way because one day, when the people are sick and tired of his lies, his stealing and his harrassment, they will skewer him, turn him into a lechon baboy while he oinks and oinks – his libel suits will not be able to save him.
I join Yuko. If these hooligans in Malacanang so much as touch you Ellen, Brussels will be in uproar!
My friend who is a Star correspondent here may be working for the Philippine Star but is not an Arroyo crony – we will rouse Brussels, together with the internatinal fedration of journalists based in Brussels to defend your rights to expose the truth agains this malevolent couple.
Not only in Brussels, in Paris too!
Nobody is afraid of these humbugs! That’s what the flies feasting on the Arroyo couple don’t realize…
If you look at things closely, the fight is not even waged on an even keel because the Arroyos are using the State and the resources of the State to shoot down the State’s own citizens, yet this thieving couple have not managed to gag people.
Is that being scared? Hah! That’s COURAGE!
James Madison), the 4th President of the United States, who in August of 1793 wrote:
“Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.”
Phil Cruz’s analysis is spot on!
OK lang Chabeli. I just thought I should correct wrong impression that your comment might give the ignoramuses, not that I have the intention to portray myself as all knowing that I am not but getting involved in movements like the International Criminal Tribunal for Iraq, I feel that I know enough to be able to share non-bias, uncorrupted information direct from the source.
The gagging of news in fact is being done by the US with committed journalists even being taken out of the list of journalists given ample protection even from abusive US soldiers. Pressure is even put on TV networks or publications to remove journalists not conforming with the rules set by the mad man at the White House on pretext of security.
In the Philippines, it is worse because the one trying to gag the media is not even a government official but a sabit who is in fact revealing himself as the man behind the throne, and the missy is simply a decoration!!! Hindi dapat palusutin ang tabatsoy na iyan. Nawiwili iyan sa totoo lang!!! Tanggalin lahat ang mga appointee at amigo niya sa korte para hindi mawili! Tangna, ang bobo naman!
Thumbs up for Phil Cruz!
Shouldn’t the question “Who’s afraid of Mike Arroyo?” be reversed to “Is Mike Arroyo afraid of the Jounalists?” Siyempre, masakit nga naman na ipamukha sa ‘yong MALI ang mga ginagawa mo at sobrang nakakahiya pa, di ba? Eh, Pers Gentleman ka nga naman (kuno)! Sino ba sila…mga journalists lang. Ang iba ngang mga kapareho nila nasusuhulan lang niya ng kakarampot bow na, o bi ba, tama siya? I’ve read pa nga that Mr. Conrado de Quiros (Inquirer columnist) is protesting why he’s not sued when he’s one of the fiercest critic of this couple! O, alam ko kasi I’m one of his avid readers! Ay matapang talaga mga journalists natin…Kaya, takot ating Ginoo!
Ellen,
It doesn’t take a lawyer to see that Ducky’s article aint libelous at all. What does this fatso want Ducky to write, that he is handsome and honest and saintly and not baboy?
Sige na nga! Let’s suggest to Ducky to write those things about the fatso: “that he is handsome and honest and saintly and not baboy”.
Arroyo fatso’s libel suit against Ducky over that article would have been booted out of court here immediately and what’s more is that if the judge feels that the plaintiff has abused the time of the court by filing a case that cannot and will not stand on the face of it all out of pure harassment against the journalist, the judge here might even throw the book at the plaintiff for the plaintiff’s abuse of the court or for his contempt of the law!
I’ve read about many similar cases here!
Princesses Caroline and Stephanie have been filing libel cases left, right, center and have won many (there is a maximum fine for libel here of something like 1,ooo euros which is chicken feed really!) but they have lost many as well!
Wait a minute, why is Ducky Paredes’ name not in the list? Is it because this guy has family members working for the court and he is considered untouchable? Shinjirarenai. Hontoni bakabakashii!
Since I remember, like more than 30 years now, libel and slander in Canada is not under the criminal code but tort law, which is the case between the Plaintiff and the Defendant. Usually, unless there is a very strong evidence of libel or slander, which could command a lot of money damages award, a plaintiff is very carefull of filing such a case, because when proven wrong, he could be countersued or pay the defendant’s legal fees plus his/her own and maybe a court cost. In the case of Mike Arroyo’s cases when lost or dismissed since it is a criminal case, then the defendants are saddled with the legal fees and lost of income due to interruption of his/her case and it is not just fair. And The FG can afford since the prosecutions is handled by government prosecutors and he has a lot of “sources for funds”, if you know what I meant.
Vic, law on libel falls under the Torts Law here too and not under criminal law.
Anna,
The Gordo Grande article was by Lito Banayo. You bet, even in Japan, it will not even get first base. Sa pintuan pa lang ng record keeper ng korte, isasara na ang pinto sa gunggong na iyan, especially considering the fact that he is abnormally fat and not slim! Kahit nga retokihin niya ang graphics niya with the use of a computer, batsoy pa rin siya.
Wala naman sigurong loko-loko ang magsasabing payat siya! E kung babayaran niya ng milyon baka sabihin payat siya pero sino ang niloloko niya? Pera pa ng bayan ang nilustay niya!
Gosh, mabalutan sana ng pagkakapalkapal na taba ang puso ng mayabang na iyan para matepok na! Tangna ang laki ng sapak sa ulong sabihing hindi siya Gordo Grande! Para siyang kapareho noong isang sira ang ulo sa Mandaluyong na nagsabing hindi siya patik!
Tama si Elvira:
“Shouldn’t the question “Who’s afraid of Mike Arroyo?” be reversed to “Is Mike Arroyo afraid of the Jounalists?” “
“Sa pintuan pa lang ng record keeper ng korte, isasara na ang pinto sa gunggong na iyan, especially considering the fact that he is abnormally fat and not slim! Kahit nga retokihin niya ang graphics niya with the use of a computer, batsoy pa rin siya.”
Hahahahahah!
Chabeli, may guerra sa Iraq kaya delikado ang mga journalists. Iyong mismong hotel nga na tinitirahan nila binomba noon ng mga mismong gunggong na sundalong Amerikano, at ang tinatarget ay mismong mga peryodista na kino-consider ni Dubya na unfriendly sa kaniya. Nakuhanan ng mga Japanese media iyon kasi tumulong sila sa pagliligtas ng mga binobomba ng mga kanong journalists. Pinakita sa TV dito. Isa nga doon kakilala ko at tinanong ko siya ng nangyari when she came back home. Galit na galit siya sa mga sundalong kano sa totoo lang.
Pero sa Pilipinas, naturingang peace time, pero tignan mo naman, parang Germany noong panahon ni Hitler ang labas! Ganyan ang ginawa ni Hitler noon sa totoo lang. Lahat nang susulat laban sa kaniya pinapapatay niya. Kahit bata gaya noong member ng church namin na 17 years old na nagtayo ng sarili niyang resistance sa Hamburg, Germany. Ang nangyari nang mahuli siya at mga kaibigan niya na member din ng church namin, hinatulan siya ng bitay. Considered hero naman siya ngayon sa totoo lang.
Gaya ng sinabi ni Mrivera at iba pa, dapat magising na ang mga pilipino sa mga katarantaduhang ginagawa ng makapal na mag-asawang Pidal na ito.
This breaking news by the Inquirer is SHOCKING!
“Makati mayor’s security chief killed
Binay says he is also targeted for assassination
By Thea Alberto, Jocelyn Uy
INQ7.net, GMA7, Inquirer
Last updated 08:50pm (Mla time) 09/16/2006
(6TH UPDATE) A MAKATI City official whom Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay described as his chief security officer and friend of 15 years was shot and killed at a gasoline station in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, early Saturday morning.
Binay claimed that the killing, which also took the life of a security guard and injured three others, was part of a plot to assassinate him.”
Is this the Philippine environment that Gloria boasted of in Europe when she says that she has put up measures to address the spate of killings in the Philippines?
If Gloria’s hoodlums really want an all out war against Gloria’s detractors, I believe, the battle should be waged on an even keel! This means civil war.
Is that what Gloria really wants to hold on to power?
Iyan Anna ang tinatawag na hibang. Ini-imagine niyang payat siya kahit na fatso siya, at saka born mayaman siya kahit na alam natin kung saan niya kinukuha ang pera niya o saan kinuha ng nuno nila ang kita nila like the jueteng operation before WWII na siya palang alitan nila sa mga Lopezes, etc. para magkapera sila, etc. Batikan lawyer daw pero siya mismo mukhang hindi niya alam ang batas at ang batas na gusto niyang ipairal ay iyong nasa utak niya na sa matitinong bansa ay ituturing na batas ng mga gangsters tulad ng Mafia at Yakuza.
In short, candidate sa mental hospital!!! Ang sakit—illusion of grandeur!!! 😛
Civil society objected vehemently to Lacson’s presidential candidacy on the grounds that he did not respect the rights of the members of the Kuratong Baleleng gang.
I think it’s high time they put their fight against killers in public office a notch or two higher and lead their fight en masse against the Malacanang killer gang.
They should go out in hordes today to stop the spate of killings under the tutelage of the Malacanang couple and their brigades of killers!
Anna:
Magtataka ka pa ba? Malaki na ang sira ng mga unggoy na iyan. They will kill for the sake of ambition—to own the whole Philippines. Tangna 7,100 islands iyan. Ang laki ng kikitahin nila kapag nabenta nila ang mga lupa diyan! Tangna, iyon ngang anak ang sabi kanila raw ang buong Marikina e. And she said that way back in 2000 pa nga during the peak of the Oust Erap movement. Baka ngayon sinasabi na nilang kanila ang Pilipinas!
It comes with the territory! Miguel’s libels are nothing but an abused of power, an obvious harrasment. NO Gentle-man Miguel Arroyo is a public figure attached to illegitimate Gloria through illegal takeover and must also be accountable like illegitimate wife, Gloria Arroyo. Both Bonnie and Clyde should be the one setting examples, instead both are creating diviseness among the populace. Miguel and the Arroyos are suffering from deep paranoia, guilty conscience which is the reason for the many libel charges, scare tactic if you will. Miguel worthless libel charges filed against the 43 will not buy back the Arroyo’s honor, trust nor integrity, they have none, it was gone forever when Miguel and Gloria raped the constitution. And it will be their legacy that they will take to their grave. No amount of tax payers money that they stole, Jose Pidal accounts and plunderd will ever cleared their family name. The Arroyos will always be known as the liars, cheaters, stealers attached to their name. It’s an incureable plague.
jun, the paid bug of the corrupt fake administration, who do you say is the tuta of the tuta of the opposition? talagang okey ka’pre!!! hunghang!! palibhasa wala kang alam kundi gaguhin ang sarili mo sa paniniwalang hulog ng langit ang pekeng presidente mo!! yang salot na ‘yan? ilang kalamidad na ba ang sunod sunod na dumating sa pilipinas mula’ng mang-agaw ng kapangyarihan ang lelang mong huthot? ilang buhay na ang nabuwis dahil sa malapesteng kamalasang dumapo sa pilipinas magmula nang sumulpot ang ina ng lagim na ‘yan? hindi ka lang bulag, utuuto, manhid at mapagkunwaring nagmamalasakit sa bayan – kundi ginagawa mong tanga ang sarili mo!!!
Jun:
You just don’t get it! Ellen is not afraid, she’s just being a professional journalist true to her profession. Unlike your NO Gentle-Man Miguel doesn’t even know the requirements of the position itself. There is a distinctive difference between afraid and providing honest reporting for your info. I believe, if you haven’t notice, all the talking point being provided by Ms Ellen are not just unsubstantiated rumors, yet all provided as facts. Moreover, to help yourself see the light, why don’t you examine the real meaning and the role of First Gentleman? It would help you understand that the libel charges filed by your Miguel were nothing but an obvious misused of illegal power only to torment persistently those 43.
Anna:
One thing wrong with the police in the Philippines is that they do not want the criminals they catch to pay for their sins the legal normal way. All they want to do is liquidate them without due process. Thus, the OK Corral style of eliminating these criminals.
I surely hate the process of showing off their catch on TV. It is so barbaric, and you wonder who among them have been framed. It should be stopped.
Over here, lagot ang pulis if they do that, but then, maybe the style over here is not applicable in Philippine condition especially with a people not used to discipline. It’s actually a matter of training and discipline I guess that one should always try to conform with he norm. No one can afford to be different or he is hammered in.
I liked the publicity stunt for Lacson when he was the police chief. At least, he tried to inculcate discipline in the PNP, but I could not understand why he had to pay that Pelaez woman for a transaction done during his tenure as PNP Chief that was supposed to be official and not his own personal deal. It actually destroyed my image of him. More so, with the way he sulked against the Opposition during the election instead of tying up with them.
Di sana hindi nahati ang boto, and the Pandak could not claim victory with FPJ surely getting the majority of the votes. He could have settled for the VP. Di sana president na siya ngayon because FPJ, with or without the election woes he suffered, was destined to die in 2004!
Mrivera is right when he says that soldiers are not supposed to do civilian duties as those of the police. They are trained to kill, while the police are trained to keep peace and order and protect the civilians. It’s actually what a US soldier doing MP in Iraq said. He was complaining about doing police work on the civilians there that he thought he was not fit to do because as he said, “A soldier’s duty is to kill, while the policeman’s duty is to preserve life!”
You bet, I don’t believe that what is happening in the Philippines is Divine Providence, for surely God would not want so many to suffer! It is more like God is staying in the background watching the Filipinos to suffer for their own folly, and then help them only when they learn to really pray from the heart, be sorry and make true amends!
Anyway, dear friend, tuloy ang laban! PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA!
Wow, 32M pesos from Cayetano! I wonder if the Fatso just wants to get back the amount of money they “invested” on the Cayetanos in the last election. Thank God there are still Filipinos like Alan Cayetano who can stand by principle, and fight for what is right especially after finding out maybe that the money offered to him and his sister for their candidacy came from government funds that should not be used for such activity. Dapat lang na humirit si Cayetano. His loyalty is to his people not to the crooks who are trying to put a noose around his neck.
Mabuhay ka Alan! May your tribe increase! Kaya who says that the Ale Boba is not indispensible? Dapat nga diyan sipain papuntang impiyerno! 🙁
That Pelaez case against Lacson was a lie only to destroy Lacson. Remember the case was brought up at the height of Lacson’s revelation against Jose Pidal or after this Pidal expose at the Senate. It was Big Mike’s getting back at Lacson. Then, the same Pelaez who later included her daughter were used as witnesses against Erap. Erap sued the elder Pelaez but she never appeared and even jumped bails. Both mother and daughter are US citizens and refuse to return. The elder Pelaez is wanted with warrant. She recently came to testify against Erap. It was Singson who paid for her plane, hotel and other needs while in Manila. Nothing came out of her trip so she’s now back to US. About the handcuff deal, Lacson didn’t benefited from it. He thought it was done properly. It could be Lacson’s men who benefited. But, it was a very small case compared to millions and billions of kickbacks Mike and his Mafia group have made. Next time, try to be more accurate in sharing information. Just like saying that US Permanent Residents could be jurors in US courts while it’s not. Only US citizens!
who’s afraid of pidal, he’s not the rock but darak or magnum p.i.g, puno ng mantika at hangin ang katawan, kaya mga journalist huwag ninyong tigilan at lalo nyong asarin si tabaching, walang ng dangal yan kapareho ng darleng niyang si liit.
Bago ka lang yata dito Valentin. O baka isa lang sa mga alias dito? Okay lang basta huwag ka lang lalaban sa amin ha? Kampi tayo. Walang atake sa Chinese na may tumawag na Tsekwa. Sakang na Hapon at dugong asong cabalen puwede. Nanaginip ako kagabi na inatake sa puso si tabang Mike at namatay.
yung nangyari sa chief security ni binay ay hindi maganda kailangan ng tapatan ngipin sa ngipin mata sa mata, hindi puro na lang tayo hanggang media, sampolan din sila para hindi mawili.masyado na silang pikon at tila nagiging pamartyr tayong lahat.Kailangan na rin ang enforcer o equalizer laban sa tribung pidal.
I for one would suggest strongly that libel and slander should be dicriminalized and be considered as civil case, where both parties to the dispute can elevate their arguments to the courts of who was screaming the ‘truth’ or ‘lying’ as the case maybe. That is our situation over here and so far for a little while the only person I read in the paper suing several persons for Libel was Sir Conrad Black (he is also on the heavyweight side) for exposing his shenanigans (milking his own businesses), but now he can forget all his lawsuits, because he himself was charged by the U.S. federal court for serious crimes of Frauds. And also anyone who sue is also subject to countersue. Whereas, as a criminal offence, anyone connected or has connection to the Public prosecutors can file the complaints all the time, since it will be the public that will be prosecuting the case at the taxpayers’ expense. Maybe that is the reasoning behind why it is a private affair.
I’m almost sure that if one of the boys of Gloria got shot and died, Gloria will almost instantly denounce the killing and God only knows how many investigative bodies will be created to look into the killings. One can only imagine the likes of Mike Defensor, Bunye, Ermita, Gabby Claudio, etc. coming out on TV making it a big spectacle!
It’s no wonder then why this administration either comments too late, or when they have to (i.e., international pressure), on the recent spate of killings. Hindi nila tao kasi eh.
Hi artsee friends tayo, narito ako sa british columbia nagmigrate, alamo chinese rin greatgrandpa ko, at marami nananalaytay na dugong pinoy sakin.
Vic,
Sen. Pimentel is sponsoring a bill which will dicriminalize libel.
And to Jun, Tuta ako ni Ellen!!!! And I’m damn proud!!!
npongco, Let me straighten out some facts. Nobody “benefitted from the handcuff deal”. It was the import duties that Blanquita Pelaez had wanted the PNP to shoulder. Erap’s DILG Sec. Ronnie Puno revised the contract to favor Pelaez but upon advice of PNP lawyers, Lacson would be committing graft the moment he approves Pelaez’ request. No government entity pays duties and taxes for its purchases or shoulders those that should have been paid for by its supplier. Moreso, revising a contract that would be grossly disadvantageous to gov’t would deem it illegal. Lacson canceled the deal even if the handcuffs were already at Customs. Sensing futility in suinng Lacson here, Blanquita filed the case in the US in 2001 and the judge ordered in 2003 that Lacson pay her $31,263. Instead of pursuing an appeal that could have cost Lacson more than double that amount, Lacson made the wiser choice and decided to pay, with his Chinese pals eagerly picking up the tab.
“The elder Pelaez is wanted with warrant”. In fact she has a 2003 conviction for frustrated estafa over a bungled deal involving night-vision goggles that she failed to deliver despite receiving a P540,000 down payment.
I hope I have shared sufficiently accurate information.
Slip of the Tongue:
Sensing futility in suinng Lacson here…
should have been:
Sensing futility in suing Lacson here…
(Can’t help but correct my misspells, lest risk be scolded by Prof. Behn Cervantes.)
You know Ellen and friends, what is galling is that this hampas lupa who is in fact a midget of the ugliest variety and who goes by the name of Gloria had the nerve to say to the Eruopeans, without blinking an eyelash, that her government (ok, hers not ours!) “respects” human rights because the death penalty had been abolished.
As Marie Ernriquez of Karapatan said at the Brussels protest rally, “Gloria says that she denounces the killings in the Philippines but in the same breath she praises Palparan to high heavens and not content with praising him, she glorified Palparan the butcher in her State of the Nation address…”
Gloria is lying and trying to hoodwink leaders in Europe that because she’s abolished the death penalty, she respects human rights – what she forgot so conveniently to stress to the leaders abroad is that the abolition of the death penalty is replaced by open season of killings!
Extraordinary kapal this woman! I realize that kapal genes run in her blood but THAT kapal? No wonder, God in His infinite grace had decided to make her ugly – she’s bowlegged, her feet are oversized, her buckteeth are so prominent, she’s built like a sack of potatoes and when she doesn’t smile, she looks like a cat on heat or a constipated dog. No wonder, she resents her beautiful, kind and goodhearted half-sister, Cielo! Brilliant, humble, beautiful Cielo Macapagal-Salagado.
No stretch of the imagination will make evil Gloria pretty or lovely – she will stay UGLY, inside and out! And 2 or 3 years from today, she will start to look like her mother, one of the ugliest, scariest-looking women the Philippines has ever known.
Tongue,
I believe your info reflects the truth!
Tongue,
I might disappoint many people who do not like Lacson but I have never wavered, I believe that he would have made a better president than this lying, thieving constipated bitch called Gloria.
Tongue, that’s what I’m saying. People are so quick to post information here in this blog without first verifying. Too much talks and never set foot in RP for so many years; yet these people could post misleading reports such as the above saying Lacson benefited from the handcuff deal.
Anyway, off topic…this time about this Noli de Castro. Herewith is a portion of the news item about his demand for pork barrel:
WHAT FOR?: Regarding Vice President Noli de Castro, he claims that he needs pork barrel for his constituents, an average of 28,000 of whom he said he helps each year.
But like other officials elected nationally, the Vice President should not talk of a constituency in the same sense that congressmen and local executives can.
What national officials address is a market. These officials are actually products being packaged and peddled like soap and instant noodles. The selling and selection process is not an election as a political process, but a popularity contest in the marketplace.
The Vice President claims that the P29.4 million pork barrel that he wants next year will pay for “subsidies and donations… to address the requests for assistance on basic social needs” of his constituents.
His constituents’ needs, he says, include “medical (hospitalization, medicine, and other medical and surgical procedure), economic (food and shelter), employment, education, transportation, burial, housing, and other family problems.”
But attending to those social and family requirements of chosen households is not part of the job of the Vice President.
“His constituents’ needs,…”
Noel,
You’re right!
A VP has constituents as a congressman has? But he’s the VP supposedly and there’s no such thing as constituents as far as the VP office is concerned! In other words, if the VP indeed said this, he is more stupid than I think he is.
Out with his head!
Once again, can these guys stop posting derogatory remarks? Why keep calling Capampangan as “dugong aso”? This is what Ellen lacks…control over people’s comments here. I don’t know why and how she allows this practice to continue. In the past, one even made fun of Bisayan and Ilonggo. Now that this regular poster knows Ellen is herself an Ilongga, this person is mum. This person was attacking the Pidals province and hometown in Iloilo. At that time, this person might have not realized that Ellen came from that place too. What does this person who’s all over this blog everyday has to say this time?
Noel,
Why not be crystal clear?
Who is saying those things? “Capampangan as “dugong aso”?” or “one even made fun of Bisayan and Ilonggo.”
I do believe that it isn’t proper to denigrate a person, known or unknown for belonging to a province or culture different from ours and it would be helpful if you could pinpoint the person or persons saying those disparaging remarks.
(I mean, it would help me personally because then, I would simply ignore that commenter and never read his/her comments if the comments strike me as derogatory to someone because of the latter’s cultural or provincial heritage!)
To be absolutely frank with you, I don’t read everyone’s comments here, for example, after I’ve made up my mind that a commenter is no longer worth my reading time; I read those commenters whom I’ve felt from the beginning as having something worthwhile to say. I guess many here do the same thing with my comments but such is life!
kahit saan panglugar o probinsiya ka, talagang may mga masamang tao o hudas, nagkataon lang na taga pampanga si glorialiit, kaya nadadamay bayan niya pati buong pilipinas hinihila niya pababa, kung ano porma nya ganon ang sitwasyon ng pilipinas ngayon, mababa na economiya, puro make-up sa mukha, puro pagtatakip ng katotohanan.
Npongco, blogging carries with it some degree of responsibility but there are no rigid rules. I don’t even believe blogs should be moderated or censored. I’d be the first one to leave a blog especially if my comments have been blocked.
If you dislike someone in particular then I guess it’s proper that you just ignore him. Unlike chatrooms that may have user-controlled filters for profanity and flooding/spam, blogs may only be edited by the owner. I won’t mind Ellen beeping letters out of some words, but I wouldn’t want her to take out full comments just because someone finds blogarrhea offensive.
Like me, I join several blogs to speak my mind, and hope to be heard by a wide audience, the tenor and language dictated by mood and temper. I sometimes also get tempted to dominate and lecture on an issue especially if I’m loaded in a particular subject. As for Ellen’s blog, this one is political so one should expect strong biases, propaganda, even false info, as well as heated debates and intellectual discourse.
Any mode of communication is always ideally 2-way. Dominating one does have its drawbacks, however well meaning one is, someone else might get offended. The more you offend, the more you are ignored.
See, I told you how easily I get tempted to lecture!
Mrivera:
Tama ka, hindi puedeng maging tuta ng kahit na sino ang mga responsableng botante dahil in principle, sila ang mga boss ng mga pinauupo nila. Sila ang dapat na maging amo ng mga tutang pinauupo nila. Masama nga lang ang tunog kapag sinabing “Dugong Aso,” a word coined more than a century ago because of the betrayal by the Macabebens led by the grandfather of the Pandak that gave their provincemates a VERY BAD reputation of the members of the KKK by assassinating their leaders!
Lahat ng tao alam iyan, bakit ba nagmamaang-maangan pa ang mga Internet Brigaders ni Ale Boba na nanggugulo dito. Gusto pang manglito. Buti na lang hindi mabubuwag ang marami dito. Maghihintay silang pumuti ang uwak bago nila mahikayat ang marami dito na maniwala pa kay Ale Boba and her countless pigs!
Anna, do you want me to answer you in French? Okay, let me go straight to the point and give out names. The one attacking Capampangan is this artsee while the other who’s all over this blog who happens also to be your close friend is ystakei who often feeds us with inaccurate information. Check out how this person sarcastically attacks other members who disagree with his opinions. Or were his posts too many to review?
Anna, same here. Lacson is probably the only politician today who has no record, even chismis, linking him to corruption.
The only things they’ve got on him is Kuratong Baleleng, which for me is not a human rights issue. These people were recidivists who needed to be stopped. Permanently. The Dacer case is nothing but a wild accusation with perjured witnesses to corroborate. We also modestly campaigned for him without him knowing that we did.
BTW, this ambush on Binay’s aides reminds me of John Campos’ murder. Is this the Black Army at work?
Tongue, of course we can always ignore others’ nasty comments but not “dugong aso” just because one happens to be from Pampanga. This guy who appears from nowhere and makes those racial remarks should even be banned from this group. As for the other one, well he used to make fun of Bisayan and Ilonggo. When he was attacking the Pidals of Negros, he made derogatory remarks about people from that province as if only the Ilocanos are the best. Check out his previous postings and I will be proven right. Furthermore, his display of arrogance is something I find hard to swallow. If you disagree with him, he brands you as member of GMA or Pidal’s Internet Brigade. Now tell me Tongue, is that right?
Tongue,
It could very well be. There are no safe areas in the country now. All forms of dissent are quickly dealt with. Eradication is the name of the game. Better for them to silence detractors with whatever means at their disposal. This arrogant administration can get away with anything with impunity as they continue to lord over every institution we have.
To Anna and Tongue, kung nakaboto lang ako noong 2004, kay Lacson ako, after FPJ! In fact, my relatives in Mindanao, voted for him because they believed that it’s only Lacson who could bring back peace and order in the country. Sana, wala tayo sa ganitong situation ngayon.
On Gloria and her being Kapampangan, am sure majority of the Kapampangans are sobrang hiya na sa mga pinaggagawa niya. They just can’t voice out their hatred because of fear…! Pero ako, isinusuka ko si DOJ Gonzalez. ” Kon puwede lang bugnuton ko ang dila niya kag asalon kag ipakaon sa kuring namon, ginhimo ko na,” everytime he opens his mouth! As an Ilongga, abaw kahuluya gid iya, ah!
Noel,
No need to answer me in French because I do understand English. Allow me to replicate Tongue’s suggestion: ignore those whom you feel offend your cultural sensibilities just as I have chosen to ignore those commenters whom I feel (after reading and reacting to their comments, once or twice) no longer warrant my attention.
Really, there’s not much one can do when one finds another commenter irritating. Life is much too short to have to dwell further into personal feuds when the majority of us here, you and me included, seem to have the same target: the immoral bansot in Malacanang.
I think what we say about immoral bansot and what we can do against her are what should matter in Ellen’s blog.
I assure you, this will be the last time I will dwell into the topic lest I too might completely offend you.
Atta girl, Elvira!
My Dad was born in Bacolod but grew up in Manila but I reckon had been alive today, he too would haven’t have minced his words about DOJ Gonzales!
Elvira,
Whatever that means, I hope you can do it. I too would love to pull his tongue out and stick it somewhere that will discomfort him.
“I too would love to pull his tongue out and stick it somewhere that will discomfort him.”
Hahahahahahhh! The guy will need Uniffors’ bar soaps to take away the discomfort!
Eh bien mes amis de chez Ellen, I bid one and all bonne nuit et à demain si vous le voulez bien! Il est maintenant 00h57 ici heure bruxelloise!
I gotta hit the sack; will be whacking tiny white balls on the green early tomorrow morning (hope I remember to whack ’em balls thinking they’re Gloria’s and Jose Pidal’s useless, ugly heads!)
Take care one and all!
Gnyt, anna… and may you win your Play tomorrow, while imagining it is gloria’s head you hit. Fore!
A blog is a blog is a blog!
Anyone can freely say what they want in blogs.
At least, dito, hindi kayang i-libel ni fatman bagman dorobo!
IF we find some entries obnoxious, and……….after repeated reminders, that blogger continue saying what they feel, then it is time to ignore.
I, too, find some comments offending to my taste, but I just skip them and go to the next sane comment.
THAT is the way to be happy! Cheers! 😛
Given gloria and Lacson running in an election for presidency, maybe…Lacson would be the runaway winner!
With gloria’s record of mass killings now, Lacson would look a saint, really!
Noel,
I have edited a number of entries that I find offensive. But as much as possible, I would like the discussion to be free-wheeling.
That’s why I discourage personal comments about certain bloggers because that is not the issue. We are discussing issues and I’d like the discussion to be on that so that we can learn something from each other.
As a number of bloggers have advised you, ignore comments that displease you. It’s not worth any body’s while.
I could not vote in 2004, but I mobilized my group from Hokkaido down to Okinawa to encourage those with Philippine passports to register. I also organized a group of poll watchers for Akbayan that I helped advertise in Japan so their partylist members could win, and they did.
We also stayed sleepless at the polls on counting day and took note of the discrepancies and evidences of rigging of votes in Japan. One that I found ridiculous was the reasoning that votes were sent by mistake to the Comelec that I thought should not have been counted! Buti na lang magaling sa bilangan ang mga asawang hapon ng mga members namin. Nabisto tuloy ang ginawang rigging dito. Madaling makita kasi kaunti ang nakaboto!
Now, I am not doing anything to encourage Filipinos to re-register. Apparently, very few people have registered in Japan. And so do the results in other places show after overseas Filipino voters have proved that there is no quarantee of a clean election under the Ale Boba.
Katwiran ng marami, “Bakit ako boboto? Ganoon din naman. Dadayain lang ang boto ko!” Kawawang bansa!
PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA!
Ellen,
The word is “provocateur” that amply describe these people (or is it just one lunatic blogging in various aliases?) blogging here to deviate the attention from the issues you have posted for every concerned Filipinos to be aware of and discuss intelligently among themselves, and worse, to make the bloggers here look stupid and no different from those uneducated fishmarket wives. Very typical of the overstaying tenants of the palace by the murky river.
A friend or two of other blogs and forums have actually complained about these intruders, and wondered about how much do these crooks received for trying to cause a commotion in this and other blogs.
I suggest that we just ignore them. Tuloy ang ligaya. I recognize them easily because they actually say the same thing, and I have my way of exposing them as a matter. Sayang na lang ang 20 years ko working for the Japanese police as an interpreter!
BTW, Ellen, I blog in my true name here. I don’t hide under a pseudonym. I have used other ID’s in other forums that I feel susceptible to spammers and hackers not that I don’t know how to protect my PCs at home and the office, but cleaning up the system can be tiring and a waste of time really. So, to minimize, I use a different addy with a different ID in other forums especially where one’s addy can be distributed when one posts.
Over here in your blog, there is no such problem except when it is attacked and we cannot access, especially when there is order perhaps from top to data base the contributions here and the crooks study the possibility of having some people here slapped with libel suits if they are in the Philippines.
Be careful of a newcomer here that has pretended to have a URL. Don’t click his name for the page where you are led to because it can be viral! Ganito katindi ang sakit ng mga bloggers na ito with or without order from the top!!!
Kaya ingat! BTW, I miss Spartan and Soleil. They surely make my day!
Ellen, who says that this person above has no feud with anyone here? He never mentioned by name even though some of his comments were directed at me. He says he only talks about issues but the contents of his letters are mostly personal. I hope you don’t just listen to just one person or a few even if you’ve had a relationship with them for quite sometime in other blogs. I’ve never seen such a suspicious and arrogant person! Let another read this post before you delete this, Ellen.
Correction: “He never mentioned my (not by) name…” “Let others (not another) read this post…”
Sue the fat guy for harassment? Kidding ourselves? Maybe we just dream on. Baka hindi niyo kilala si Siraulo Goon-zales.May tiwala pa ba kayo sa mga court of justice? Para sa akin hawak lahat ng mag-asawang yan sa leeg. Nagpakita na ng sample sa Banayo case and that of Jinggoy. Nataranta yong mga judge at sunod lahat sa gusto niya. So what do you expect? Sinong matapang na judge ang mag-iisue ng warrant sa kaniya? What he is doing is just pure harassment and to instill fear in his victims. Well, fear doesn’t kill, but surely cripple the spirit. Alam niyang magastos ang may kaso, that’s why he hits where you are most vulnerable and where you hurt most, your pocketbook. Alam din niya na perhuwesiyo at aksaya sa oras ang kaso, no problem sa kaniya kasi unemployed siyang pensiyonado pero may dumadating na malaking “sweldo” sa kaniya, in green bucks pa, kaya kung medyo mahina kang klase and you can’t withstand a boiler-like pressure, just say “I’m sorry and I apologize”, case closed and he won.
Jun whoever you are, I know Ellen to be a journalist who has a clean record. Her honesty and credibility are known to her colleagues. That’s why she’s looked up to with respect until this day. I may not agree with her supervision of this blog ’cause there are some especially one who always gets away with this person’s antics (due to favoritism?), but so far Ellen’s postings in this blog are above par. If you’re on the other side, Jun, you’re free to say your piece. But if you doubt the owner of this blog’s credibility and intention, I suggest that you go away!
npongco: Buti na lang at suggestion lang ang ginawa mo at hindi utos. Kung si Ellen nga ay hindi sini-censor ang posts na kontra sa kanya. Ang approach na palagay ko’y mas mabisa ay hindi na lang pansinin ang isa dito na salungat sa daloy. Just like yung mga anti-GMA ay hindi mababago ang pananaw, ito ring mga pro-GMA ay hindi mo makukumbinsi na bumaligtad. Palagay ko nagsasayang ka lang ng effort. Just my humble opinion.
Hi Taipan,
Naku nagdilang anghel ka! I didn’t win the tournament but I believe I played alright (heheh!). Almost had a hole in one and it made my day.
Thanks very much.
Tom, I prefer that there should be a balance in this blog. I mean balance of opinions. Let those who are on the other side make their point as long as they don’t violate the basic rules (do we have these?). In fact, this blog has become a monopoly of some as if their opinions and ideas are the ones that count most. Two are even scratching each other’s back…how sweet. Back to this Jun, he can say all he wants but to question Ellen’s credibility and sincerity in her posts, that’s something I resent. If he doubts the credibility of this blog, then he should not be here. That’s as simple as that, isn’t it Tom?
I agree with you Npongco regarding Jun: “he can say all he wants but to question Ellen’s credibility and sincerity in her posts, that’s something I resent. If he doubts the credibility of this blog, then he should not be here…”
Maybe this Jun doesn’t get it: He’s in the wrong blog!
Chabeli: He’s not in the wrong blog. He will be redundant kung nasa pro-GMA blog siya. Gusto lang talaga niyang manggulo at mang-inis kaya nandito siya. Pag nainis ka, ikaw ang talo. Ang approach ko ay “ignore.”
npongco: Tungkol naman sa dalawang posters, yan ang mga heavy hitters dito. Nagsasayang ka lang din ng keystrokes kung kakalabanin mo. Kung may mga untouchables sa administration, meron din dito sa blog (sa palagay ko lang). Pero, just as hindi nase-censor yung asungot na kontra kay Ellen, yun pa kayang kakampi niya? I’m not complaining in any way, just making an observation and accepting reality.
It’s good someone like you finally mentioned there are untouchables here in this blog, Tom. I wanted to hear that from another member too. They might think I’m the only jerk here. Indeed, there are and there’s one who is truly untouchable. I wonder what this person possesses to gain the highest respect from Ellen. And you compared it to the untouchables in GMA administration? So, what differs us in this blog from Malacanang then? Heavy hitter or hitters? They hit in the air and it often bounces back at them.
freedom of speech and expression are hallmarks of a democratic society. in a society where the government allows free flow of ideas, citizens are well informed and they can respond better, wisely and correctly to governmental policies directly affecting their lives. while freedom of speech and expression are constitutionally guaranteed under the bill of rights (section 4, article III), libel and obscenity are not protected rights. freedom to say something is not a license to defame another. the right of one ends when the right of another begins.
for those interested, here’s a crash course on libel law. libel in the philippines is a criminal act punishable under the revised penal code (act no. 3815, as amended) which became effective January 1, 1932. article 353 of the same law define libel as “a public and malicious imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending to cause dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a natural, or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead.”
why libel is punishable? in worcester vs. ocampo, 22 phil 42, the SC said: “the enjoyment of a private reputation is as much a constitutional right as the possession of life, liberty or property. it is one of those right necessary to human society that underlie the whole scheme of civilization. the law recognizes the value of such reputation and imposes upon him who attack it, by slanderous words or libelous publication, the liability to make full compensation for the damage done.”
jurisprudence has laid down the test to determine the defamatory character of the words in a libelous article? in u.s. vs. o’connell, 37 phil 767, cited in the most recent case lacsa vs. iac, 161 SCRA 427, the SC said: “words calculated to induce suspicion are sometimes more effective to destroy reputation than false charges directly made. ironical and metaphorical language is a favored vehicle for slander. a charge [of libel] is sufficient if the words are calculated to induce the hearers to suppose and understand that the person against whom they were uttered was guilty of certain offenses, or are sufficient to impeach his honesty, virtue or reputation, or to hold him up to public ridicule.”
article 354 of the same law provides: “every defamatory imputation is presumed to be malicious, even if it be true, if no good intention and justifiable motive for making it is shown, except in the following cases: (1) a private communication made by any person to another in the performance of any legal, moral, or social duty; and (2) a fair and true report, made in good faith, without any comment or remarks, of any judicial, legislative, or other official proceedings which are not of confidential nature, or of any statement, report, or speech delivered in said proceedings, or any other act performed by public officers in the exercise of their functions.”
the law presumes malice from every defamatory imputation (this is called malice in law). if the imputation is defamatory, the complainant or the prosecution need not prove malice on the part of the defendant the burden is shifted to the latter and he should be the one to prove the absence of malice. some disagree on this because of another provision in the constitution regarding the presumption of innocence of the accused until proven guilty. of course until now, no one ever dared or challenged to strike out a portion of that law as unconstitutional.
even if the defamatory imputation is true, the presumption of malice is not removed if no good intention and justifiable motive for making it is shown. Example: juan tells pedro that luis is a thief because of his previous conviction in court. Is the imputation made by juan can be presumed malicious? yes, because the law says that every defamatory imputation is presumed malicious even if true. truth in this case cannot be utilized as proper defense.
but if luis is an applicant for a job in an establishment owned by pedro who happens to be a close friend of juan, and the purpose of the latter is to warn pedro of the possibility of hiring an ex-convict, good intention and justifiable motive are present, hence malice cannot be presumed. what if juan is totally a stranger to pedro? good intention and justifiable motive may be present in the act of juan only if it could not be shown that his revelation is not because of ill-will or grudge against luis.
if the communication is privileged as those falling under cases (1) and (2), malice is not presumed from the defamatory words. the complainant or the prosecution is required to prove malice in fact. malice in fact may be shown by proof of ill-will, hatred or that the defendant bore a grudge against the complainant. take note that even if defamatory imputation falls under these cases, one can still be convicted of libel if malice in fact can be established with proofs.
fair comments maybe legally made on public acts of public men, and if made in good faith, may be considered privileged. criticism is not actionable, libel is. the former deals only with such things as shall invite public attention or call for public comment for the good of all. that is what we call constructive criticism. criticism should not follow a public man into his private life nor pry into his domestic concerns, the court so rules.
the statesmanship of a public officer maybe attacked and destroyed by another, by any means fair or foul, but the law does not allow anybody to attack personally the public officer himself. rabid critics of a public officer may falsely charge that his policies are bad, but they may not falsely charge that the person is bad. (u.s. vs. contreras, 23 Phil 513).
the decision of the SC in u.s. vs. bustos, 37 phil 731, is even more enlightening. “the policy of a public official may be attacked, rightly or wrongly, with every argument which ability can find or ingenuity invent. on the other hand, a public officer must not be too thin-skinned with reference to comment upon his official acts. only thus can the intelligence and dignity of the individual be exalted.
how is libel committed? under article 355 it is “committed by means of writing, printing, lithography, engraving, radio, phonograph, painting, theatrical, exhibition, cinematographic exhibition, or any similar means.
who can be held responsible for libel? article 357 thus enumerates the following may be held liable: “any reporter, editor, or manager of a newspaper, daily or magazine who shall publish libelous materials.
Thanks, fencesitter for libel 101.
Anna,
Good to hear you enjoyed the Game. I bet you enjoyed hitting the balls thinking it was glue’s and fatso’s heads!
LOL! It’s not the winning which makes our day. It’s in HOW you play and what you gained from it. I can feel the adrenalin when one realeases her anger in one great endeavour like Golf.
naku, giyera na naman ang nabasa ko dito..but for whatever its worth..we are all battling the same war..the war againtst the Dorobo gang by the murky river in the EK w no less bebing led by the pandak bruha and the abugagong laway(este lawyer!) in the guise of fatguy…buti nalang tuta ako ng oposisyojn kasi i will never be a tuta of THIS administration!! and buti nalang din i voted for lacson khit he was being linked for the KBB cz i knw the real deal with that, as well as this mother-daoter pimp team of pelaez..the older one is a real swindler, mahilig maki deal ngt big bucks then bubweltahan ka ng lawsuit na hindi mo alam kung saang planeta galing kc u trusted her to be “clean and a business” person kuno..so very like the character of this mary ong (who has been also prostiing herself eversince)..kilala yan sa mga casino circuit noon at puro mga DOM ang nilalapitan nyan..pamilya bouncing check yan…kahit pa mag-deny to death sya, alam ko pa kung sino ginoyo nilang mag-ina!!!…may sibling yan na nasa usa kc di masikmura ang ma-associate sa kanya kaya umalis dito sa pinas!…kaya galit sya kay lacson kc di siya pinapatulan! PWE!!! ano akala nya sa sarili nya…believe u me, one of these days, lalabas na naman yan kc wala na silang ibang ipapasabog na ‘baho kuno’ para sa oposisyon…si atong ang ang pang-kalimot nila against joke-koke bolate..lets see folks..abangan ang susunod na kabanata…where is the axxa ramirez and the sandra cam news?..buried in the murky river?….si gonggongzales, kailan ba mauutas yan..aba e parang babagsak sa upuan pagka nagsasalita!..parang laging nakaka-take ng ilang grams pagka na-iinterview!!!!
am surprise to see my favorite reporter Ricky Carandang in the list of libel case…this guy is very percective and articulate…fight the good fight Ricky..u knw the truth and dont be afraid…
“They are trained to kill, while the police are trained to keep peace and order and protect the civilians.”
ystakei, teka muna! i beg your attention! soldiers are trained to protect the sovereignty of the republic and not trained only to kill. para mo nang sinabing walang damdamin ang mga sundalo. sa palagay ba ninyong lahat dito, madali ang pumatay kahit na kalabang walang kalaban laban? kung meron mang ganun, hindi damdaming tao yun.
agree with mrivera here. most often i think, issues are never black and white. soldiers are supposed to follow the orders of those higher ups but sometimes their conscience could not follow those orders with a great risk for their own future.. some think there are untouchables and some think there are internet brigades, some agree, some donot agree. most are against what jun says but hopefully not jun the person.jun critisize even the owner or owners of the blog. in a way jun makes this blog colorful, he may or may not belong here but it is up to him.. if others think npongco is a jerk, i for one does not and hope he himself think he is not. in fact i often find myself in his side and really understand him specially with the regionalism that one encounter here.
Soldiers of modern times are trained to be all-around. Canadian Forces are trained to be peacekeepers and they are all over the world as we argue in this forum keeping the peace in former Yoguslasvia, Haiti, and where the U.N. asked them too. They are also trained for Emergency such as frontmen and women in natural disaster, where civilians agencies are not capable of doing. They are trained engineers building schools, constructing safe water supplies like our DART team and they are also trained to do Police work in countries where police protection collapsed like the situation in Haiti. Yes, their main purpose for being is to train to defend the sovereign nation and to stand on guard and sail accross the ocean (now-a-days fly) if necessary to defend an ally in distress. That is our Canadian Forces.
Fencesitter,
Thanks for the libel suit inputs; great reference.
Taipan,
I must confess I forgot all about Gloria and her swapang husband while I was on the green… the course was so pretty, lovely, peaceful, one tends to forget the ugliness of Gloria and consort; buti na lang, otherwise, I would’ve played bad – well, to me I played “well”, to those with better handicaps (coz I’ve got a real handicap – my swing, heheh!), I played like an ass, but never mind, I enjoyed the game and that’s what mattered to me because like you, I’m an optimist! Heheh!
Mrivera:
I quoted the US soldier in Iraq in an interview with BCC at the 1st anniversary of the preemptive attack on Iraq, and they were thinking of training the Iraqis to do police work rather than the soldiers doing them.
One thing I am sure of as a matter of fact is that when a first kills a fellow human being whether or not he has valid reason to do so, he becomes numbed and becomes something like a zombie, and killing becomes a habit and just one of the ordinary things. I think this is why God has prohibited it, and put it as the first of the important rules he has set for men’s relationship with one another!
I suppose the US soldier knew what he was talking about when he said “They are trained to kill, while the police are trained to keep peace and order and protect the civilians.”
ystakei,
i will disagree with this US soldier who said those foolish things. but if he thinks he is in the level of insensitive beast so be it. maybe the advancement of their military technology have also eaten their hearts and reasoning much more their respect to mankind as what bush, the evil wants to portray of america.
It is sad that there are ground troops from the West who limit their mission to the idea that they are trained to kill.
Western troops today, in reality, are defence oriented and not aggression oriented. EU troops’ main mission is to protect the aggressed and the weak and not just to kill.
Europeans grew out of a series of bloody wars. Their doctrine of defence was born of those bloody wars. This is the backbone of the European Union. Hence, their troops are not just technically trained to kill but rather to defend themselves.
Moreover, European officers are trained NOT JUST TO MAKE WAR but first and foremost to prevent war! These officers are also trained TO LEAD – it is the essence of their training.
US troops, particularly those in Iraq, unfortunately, have caved in to the more primal instinct of armed soldiers which is to shoot and shoot… This is probably the reason why they have this difficulty to identify friends from foes, witness the early days of the invasion of Iraq. They shot down British troops thinking they were foes.
Vic, I beg to disagree you say Canadian troops are trained to be peacekeepers. Look at what they’re doing in Afghanistan. They used to be peacekeepers but now are the aggressive ones causing violence. With your Harper now leading the country, Canada may one day be hated just like the Americans.
i donot know about canadian soldiers but if they are as vic said trained in different professions they may be different from the american soldiers with almost no training but combat and sometimes not even that.norwegian soldiers are professionals and when they are sent out on peace missions they are also told of the possibilities of engagement and its rules. but what shall one do when one is being attacked.war has not changed, it is still the same as before, it is definitely not a picnic.soldiers will shoot if they are ordered to do so, otherwise they are risking not only theirs but also their comrades lives.
npongco,
The canadian troops in Afganistan was sent into the war thas was sanctioned by the United Nation, and supported by NATO TROOPS. It was there to keep the Taliban from returning back to power, after making the country the haven of Terrorists that attacked the U.S. and in that attacked scores of Canadians also were victims. If you look at their mission originally is reconstruction after the initial attacked that drove the Taliban out of Government. Yes, their mission is still to keep the peace in that part of the world, but they are soldiers and they can fight and defend themselves. And that troops was sent to Afghanistan during the Government of Paul Martin, and the Country committed itself and whether It is the other government or the other, we live in continuity of policy, not a rubber stamp governance who one Government will cancel or discontinue the other committment even to international body, because it happens to belong to another party of different philosophy. If this issue become an election issue in the upcoming Election which I foresee forthcoming, because as of now the parties are already preparing for one (remember the current govt. is a minority and can lose the confidence of the parliament anytime)then the Canadian People will decide through the polls. Meantime the public is split on this issue and the debate is going on. We don’t depend our futrure here on personality of our leader. And Canadian maybe hated by some, as some people will always do hate somebody, but our policy is never tied to that of the U.S.A as some people may suspect. This country will pursue a policy that is for the interest of Canada and Canadian foremost, with the philosophies and ideals that make us different from any other. I may not promise you, but this country and its leaders will never destroy its reputations, its people will never let it happen. that maybe make us Canadians.
And have you heard any of our troops abusing civilians or non-combatants in the battlefieds? We are taking casualties in that mission, and the families of those Forces men and women still support the mission and so the is Parliament. Today we lost another four members of our troops. And we expect to take more losses. But do you think is it time Abandon the people of Afghanistan and return them to the rule of Taliban and again become the training ground of AlQaeda and other terrorists that are not just targetting the Western Countries but now just about everyone? We had learned our lesson in the past, to be scared of evil, will be inviting evil to your door.
Vic,
May I interject: The NATO troops comprising troops from member countries have the official backing of their national governments.
When Bush bombed the Talibans out of power, he could not put things together and therefore asked NATO to take over. Because all of Europe believed that Taliban was aligned to Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda, and this with reason and justified by proofs, the NATO countries accepted to take over the tasks from the US. The French are included in NATO.
I do believe that Afghanistan is totally a different kettle of fish from Iraq – Taliban’s links to Al Qaeda were proven beyond any doubt but the Americans, sadly did not buy the proofs early enough which could have prevented the 9/11 scenario.
So on that score, I support the NATO troops – a vast number of Afghans loathed the Talibans, they were cruel, they were the ultimate Islamofascists and they allowed the Al-Qaeda to use Afghanistan as their launching pad for terrorist attacks on the West.
Our problem today or the problem of NATO troops today is that they are not getting enough logistics and manpower support from NATO countries. The war in Afghanistan has taken a toll on the purses of the contributing nations.
Our troops are fighting a war under very difficult conditions, lack of troops and proper war gear.
Unless they are supported, these troops cannot do the task or mission which they have been tasked to perform. NATO countries must either support our troops full blast or call them back, pull them out of Afghanistan altogether and let the Afghans have their own democracy with their own blood and guts.
I agree with Vic, the NATO troops are not of the same mould as the US troops in Iraq! NOT AT ALL! TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS!
The Canadian troops are probably the ONLY North American troops in the world whom the rest of the world respect for their respect of locals or natives on whose grounds they are fighting today.
Anna, that’s is the issue that is hotly debated here. We are taking the bulk of responsiblities, when our troops are scattered all over the world doing the peacekeeping duties for the U.N. A few member NATO countries are not willing to do commit the necessary personnel and logistic. Our military is not prepared for this mission, we are more oriented for peacekeeping, but now we are engaged in different kind of military operations and we are taking quite a lot a casualties. But we are not naive. We go to Afganistan knowing well the consequence and the pain it will bring home.
The Taliban link had been proven, but the problem with American policy at the time, their intelegenge concentrated too much on personalities, like getting Bin Laden, instead od dealing with the total ideology of the enemy. They attempted too many time of attacking Bin laden personally, thinking that he is the beggining and the end of Al Qaeda. And it was wrong. Al qaeda is a mission, just happened to be lead by an extra-ordinary man of Bin Laden. That’s is why I believe in helping the Afghanistan people at their feet. maybe they’ll be able to help themselves after.
Vic,
Same here! I support the NATO troops in Afghanistan. I’d rather NATO troops were doing the task – because they’re more efficient – than the US which cannot and even if they tried, they would simply botch the job.
The Nato troops which include British troops (where my brother in law serves and in the not too distant future, perhaps my own son) must receive the support they deserve.
Like many people here, I have been bombarding blogs that the UK MOD reads to pressure them to augment troop support in Afghanistan.
I believe the NATO troops need them and we, NATO countries, either support them to the fullest or if we cannot, we must pull out our boys – British troops are coming home in boxes by the dozen.
This ain’t right! The UK MoD must wake up lest they be called to task by the parents of the troops and the people of UK for being so damn idiots about their handling of our fighting troops there!
Anna,
I second the motion on the removal of ALL foreign troops from Afghanistan after they have cleaned up the landmines, which were actually the main cause for the limbless and legless Afghans that I met during a trip or two to the refugee camps in Pakistan and Iran.
Let the Afghans determine their own fate on their own. If they are worth preserving, I bet God will do just that!
Let me share with you guys an honest to goodness assessment of conditions in Afghanistan by an Afghan, a member of RAWA, “the oldest political/social organization of Afghan women struggling for peace, freedom, democracy and women’s rights in fundamentalism-blighted Afghanistan since 1977,” in response to The Afghanistan Miracle”published in The Seattle Times (October 4, 2005) by Diane Tebelius:
The “Miracle” or a Mockery of Afghanistan?
Ms. Diane Tebelius, Republican congressional candidate and observer in the Afghan elections sponsored by the International Republican Institute, is perhaps the first election observer in Afghanistan who wasted no time to communicate her impression in The Seattle Times of October 4, 2005.
A few days ago Ms. Tebelius returned to the United States from Kabul, I am writing these notes as a response to her dreadful article from inside my trampled country. As a member of RAWA, I had to be in several provinces to meet as many people as possible regarding the elections. Tebelius can enjoy the luxury of sitting in her house and so easily call the disgusting mockery of an election “the miracle of Afghanistan”, while I am crying from among the people in the hell of the Taliban and Northern Alliance (NA) terrorists and their “westernized” accomplices. Tebelius and other election observers with their bullet-proofs and body guards were in the hands of the American soldiers and Afghan agents. She might have been told about “swift spreading democracy”, “prosperity”, “complete security” and other “miracles” in our land of warlords and payees of foreign powers. On the other hand since she was selected by the U.S. government that brought Karzai and the Northern Alliance to the scene, it comes as no surprise she is not calling a spade a spade.
One of her miraculous statements is: “The Afghan people see Americans as liberators.”
A distorted proclamation! As we have repeatedly asserted and shown, all of the fundamentalist bands including Taliban were created, funded, and trained by the CIA turning a blind eye to the higher interest of the Afghan people and to the consequence of such sinister support to the fate of freedom and democracy in our country. Thus, the US war on the Taliban is nothing but a family fracas between the father and his rogue children. The US started the fracas by not replacing religious tyranny with democracy, by not relying on the people, but rather by siding with the NA, the very worst enemies of our people. It goes without saying that Afghans will not see as their “liberators” those who drove the Taliban wolves through one door and unchained the rabid dogs of the NA through another. How a nation “sees as liberators” those who have blown to shred not the terrorists but thousands of innocents? How can simple Afghans “see Americans as liberators” while the “liberators” are going to woo their men in the government and in the parliament to approve the establishment of the US bases on our soil for decades, which obviously goes contrary to the independence of the country? Our people say that if Americans were their liberators, they should have not allowed about 200 criminals and arch enemies of democracy to pave their way to the parliament and provincial council. After four years the people see that the “liberators’” promises for them were all lies. And bear it in mind, Ms. Tebelius, that our ruined people have no doubt that those with the disgraceful stories of Abu Ghraib cannot be their “liberators”. Do we need to recite abuses of the “liberators” in Afghanistan?
Even high-salaried government spokespersons do not have the courage to utter such nonsense openly before the people of Afghanistan. But Ms. Tebelius as a U.S. agent and good friend of one of the two most corrupt governments in Asia can and has to throw dust in the eyes of Americans.
Now let’s see more of her “miraculous” words: “I am convinced, now more than ever, that spreading of democracy is the only long-term strategy to defeat global terrorism.”
Nice maxim! But were Americans or Karzai & Co. “spreading democracy” since 2001? After 9/11 when the U.S. resorted to bomb our wounded country and take the lives of several thousands innocent civilians it helped the bloodthirsty NA seize power. The NA is comprised of those millionaire rapists busy in the opium trade under the very nose of the US troops. They are the people behind the insecurity, kidnappings, embezzlement of billions of dollars of foreign aids, injustices, anti-women constraints, covering up of the day light murders, and so on and so forth.
They include the likes of Dr Abdullah, Younis Qanooni, Zia Massud, Karim Khalili, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Mohaqiq, Sarwar Danish, Ms. Mosouda Jalal, Nematullah Shahrani, Ismail Khan, Ms. Sediqa Balkhi, Rasul Sayyaf, Ikram Masoomi, Rashid Dostum, Mullah Fazil Hadi Shinwari, Ms. Amena Afzali and others are stained with the blood of tens of thousands of Kabul residents. All of these ladies and gentlemen have the disgraceful scar of inhuman brutalities against our people in the blackest years of 1992-1996. They are “our” ministers, vice presidents and advisors to the president. Most of the Afghan ambassadors, governors, secretaries and other high ranking officials are also affiliated with NA mafia.
Don’t you know them, Ms. Tebelius? Just months ago The New York Times and The Los Angles Times named some of them including one of Karzai’s brothers. Of course Human Right Watch (HRW) and other organizations have disclosed many more names. However, you Ms. Tebelius are making painstaking efforts to portray these criminals and spies as honorable persons under whose rule “democracy” will “spread” and an electoral “miracle” has already been performed! In any case, as one living in Afghanistan I shall mention the following parts of the “miracle” which obviously show only the tip of the iceberg:
– For the presidential election about 70 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. The real figure of the turnout at the “miraculous” elections however is less the 40 percent and in some areas even lower than 30 percent.
– A report by the HRW stated: “In addition to fear of Taliban and other insurgent forces, found primarily in the south and southeast, many voters and candidates voiced concerns to Human Right Watch about their sense of vulnerability at the hands of warlords forces, de facto or official militia forces ostensibly allied with the government:
“Across the country, candidates and political organizers complained to Human Right Watch of cases in which local commanders or strongmen, or local government officials linked with them have held meeting in which they have told voters and community leaders for whom to vote. In some cases, candidates and their supporters allege that direct threats have been communicated.” [1]
– Filthy figures of the Taliban including their foreign minister and the head of their dreaded religious secret police, notorious for executing and abusing thousands of men and women, criminals figures of the infamous terrorist band of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, high level members of the Soviet backed puppet regime were allowed to stand as candidates, a major factor of disappointment of people to go to the polls.
A conservative EU observer mission said shortcomings during the campaign included intimidation, intervention by officials, inadequate voter lists and “deplorable” killing of candidates and election workers.
– The so-called Electoral Complaints Commission received hundreds of notes about crimes of the fundamentalist leaders, but except some scapegoats, none of them were disqualified. And you know Ms. Tebelius who is the head of the Commission? Bismullah Bismil, an infamous fundamentalist and close relative of Ismail Khan!
– Different kinds of rigging were so blatant that even pro-government and pro-fundamentalist papers couldn’t help but to hint at them.
– In many districts no women could participate in the elections due to security problems. Nevertheless thousands of votes of the women were somehow managed to be cast into the ballot boxes.
– Anti-fundamentalist and anti-government candidates of the parliament and provincial councils of Kapisa Province issued a joint statement condemning irregularities in the elections, desisted from campaign.
– In all areas under the warlords, tens of thousands of ballots have been marked in favor of certain candidates and youth under the age of 18 were brought to vote.
– Ballot boxes were kept for 48 hours or more before being transferred to the polling stations.
– Ms. Shokria Barekzai a participant from Kabul alleged that just in front of her own eyes, ten votes for her were cast for another candidate.
– In Kunduz province, 260,000 votes were cast, but 6,000 of them were excluded in favor of a pro-fundamentalist candidate.
– In some ballots, voters had written words like “he is a murderer”, “he is a bandit”, “he is a foreign agent”, “He is a Talib”, etc. against some candidates, but they were all counted as valid votes.
– Thousands of votes for independent candidates were burnt and thousands of fake votes were cast for the pro-fundamentalists/ pro-Karzai candidates.
– Supervisors and vote counters were forbidden to carry pens. But during a check in a polling center in Nangarhar province, more than 200 pens were found from the mentioned workers. When I asked a middle-aged teacher which candidates is her favorite, she replied: “How can I vote for Engineer Ghaffar, or Hazarat Ali and the like who have blood on their hands?”
– In a constituency in Paktia province, the number of voters was ten thousand, but at least twenty thousands ballots were cast there.. A 30- year-old man from Paktia who was not willing to vote told me: “When I see a traitor like General Shahnawaz Tanai that is so openly is active in election campaign, I can understand how anti-democratic and ridiculous the present election is.”
– In Farah province, Naim Khan Farahi, the biggest landlord of the province, directly backed by the government, by the United Nations’ UNAMA and his gunmen became the “first winner” by committing every kind of irregularity. A nephew of this person is the head of UNAMA in Farah. In Farahrod district another nephew of his (Zabet Jalil) was forcing people by use of his armed henchmen to vote for his uncle.
– Most of the people in Farah are of the opinion that if there were not so much fraud in the elections; Malaali Joya would have garnered at least fifty percent of all votes.
– As in Herat and Nimroz provinces, the regime of Iran had also a hand in Farah. Its intelligence agencies gave 100 millions Toman (about $117,000) to Haji Taimor Shah. His huge color posters were unmatched by others.
– nmatched nt, UNAMA and his gun The stink of the elections spread so wide that even the terrorist Al-Zawahiri talked about them in his statement of 20 September: “The election have been conducted under the terror of [Afghan] warlords. The elections were a masquerade more than anything else, as various regions of the country are under the control of highway men and warlords, and international observers …even the ballot boxes remained in the hands of warlords, bandits and the US agents before they were deposited at the polling centers.”
To get another idea about the scale of corruption and the Karzai regime, we draw your attention to a confidential document recently disclosed by Dr. Ramazan Bashardost. As soon as Dr Bashardost was assigned as the minister of planning he tried to stop activities of 2,000 suspicious and money-maker NGOs, but was soon forced to resign. According to the document, presidents’ spokesperson, ministers and high ranking officials, in addition of other allowances get up to $36,000 annually from a British company. Whereas the disabled get $6 and ordinary government employees get $60 per month only.
The overwhelming corruption has risen to the highest organs. “The President had asked me to assume the responsibility of the Administration of Fight against Corruption,” says Bashardost, “I however told him that I would undertake it provided to start from the Presidential Palace.”
In an interview with Reuters on Aug.30, 2005, he says:
“Government members, the NGOs, the big embassy staff, the United Nations staff … they made a mafia system and you can see the result.” [2]
“We received about $12 billion since three years, where is the money?” he said, referring to international aid since the overthrow of the Taliban in late 2001.”
“The Afghan people are against warlords, why does the international community, why does the Afghan government supports warlords?”
“In the provinces, all governors are former warlords, all chiefs of police, and the Afghan people don’t accept this situation.”
– And so on.
It is not difficult to predict what will be the result of the “miracle” election about which you take comfort. A parliament filled with the most cruel, misogynist, anti-democracy, and reactionary fundamentalists headed by such disgusting drug traders as Sayyaf, Qanoni, Rabbani, Mohaqqiq, Pairam Qul, Hazrat Ali, and their likes. These U.S. backed religious fascists will never “spread democracy”, but rather try to “legitimate” and perpetuate their bloody domination on our people by sitting in the legislature as “lawmakers”.
Ms. Tebelius, anybody who wants to be regarded as a friend of the people of Afghanistan and not of the present regime, she/he has to expose the fundamentalists and their dangerous agenda and avoid to dance to the tune of the US government or its blue-eyed boys in Afghanistan. As Aldous Huxley wrote, “The propagandist’s purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human”. Please don’t play the role of a propagandist.
Moreover by naming the most scandalous elections in the world “the miracle of Afghanistan”, you have insulted millions of Afghans who didn’t vote for the murderers of their beloved ones. Can’t you feel how painful and disgusting it is to propagate such nonsense?
We hope to recognize you in the future as a sincere friend of our people.
Mehmooda Shekiba, RAWA
Kabul
October 25, 2005
This and other articles are available at the Rawa website at
http://www.rawa.org
Vic, you said Canadians would never destroy their reputation…but they already did. Canadians troops in Afghanistan are no longer the peacekeepers. They are the ones attacking and killing civilians emulating their brothers in America. Yes, Canada is a member of NATO and out there to perform their mission. But, do you know that other NATO members and many European countries are reluctant to get involved in Afghanistan. They don’t want to risk their soldiers’ lives like the Canadians. Today, Canadians are 4 times more likely to be killed there compared to Americans and British. Back home, public and political pressures are so strong to bring back these Canadian troops. Harper’s immediate reaction and position defending Israel at the outset of the Lebanon crisis has a very great impact on Canada’s current image abroad.
Vic,
Ano ang ideya mo sa “Canadian Corporations Involved in Trans-Afghan Pipeline”?
Nasilaw na rin ba ang mga Canadians sa Oil at Natural Gas ng Afghanistan na matatagpuan sa Afghan-Tajik basin at Amu Darya basin?
Sana mabanggit mo rin dito ang mga defense contractor at Canadian interest sa Afghanistan.
For more details: Google “Canada in Afghanistan: Top Ten Under-reported Facts”
“The Truth about Canada in Afghanistan”
no matter how they were sanctioned to participate in any peacekeeping mission or whatever outside their own territories, protecting the innocent and helpless should be on top of their priorities.
Ellen,
“That’s why I discourage personal comments about certain bloggers because that is not the issue.”
Honored in the breach. NOBODY HERE CAN MAKE COMMENTS WITHOUT MAKING PERSONAL COMMENTS (AD HOMINEMS) TO THE POSTER.
To everybody:
Ellen said “We are discussing issues and I’d like the discussion to be on that so that we can learn something from each other.”
You are denying yourselves of the free market of ideas if you only read posts you agree with. Its even worse if you shut off a person, regardless of his later comments, just because the latter disagreed with you in an earlier discussion.
KIKITID TALAGA ANG MGA UTAK NINYO KUNG PURO ISANG PUNTO DE VISTA LANG ANG BABASAHIN NIYO AT ISUSULAT NIYO. IT SHOWS.
How can you learn something from each other kung puro pagtatatalak lang ang nababasa dito?
To npongco:
Please get rid of ad hominems. I miss having a discussion with you. You are one of the handful here who could discuss INTELLIGENTLY without RESORTING TO AD HOMINEMS.
Some stupid questions from me. Who the hell is Mike Arroyo? Is he a justice minister or something? Is he a part of the Government that can just charge anybody with a criminal libel suit? Because if he is not a part of the government, the libel suit should be a civil case and not a criminal one. So he should personally pay for his on suit and can’t use government resources. Pilipinos don’t mind nepotism, I won’t be surprise if he is the jueteng minister.
calling names is much tamer than using upper case in a what should be in a very simple answer in a very simple question. a discussion is a discussion and everyone must not resort to expecting others to be at their level.
Here’s the latest report from NY Times:
“Canadians Fault U.S. for Its Role in Torture Case
By IAN AUSTEN
A government panel exonerated a Canadian man of any ties to terrorism, four years after he was deported to Syria, where he was tortured.”
To continue, pls click on this link: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/world/americas/19canada.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
Latest story in NY Times:
Canadians Fault U.S. for Its Role in Torture Case
By IAN AUSTEN
A government panel exonerated a Canadian man of any ties to terrorism, four years after he was deported to Syria, where he was tortured.
Yuko,
What you reported was absolutely true: “A distorted proclamation! As we have repeatedly asserted and shown, all of the fundamentalist bands including Taliban were created, funded, and trained by the CIA turning a blind eye to the higher interest of the Afghan people and to the consequence of such sinister support to the fate of freedom and democracy in our country. Thus, the US war on the Taliban is nothing but a family fracas between the father and his rogue children.”
Actually, the US CIA funded the Taliban (at the beginning) to support Afghan warfare against Soviet occupation but the Talibans got it in their head that they didn’t need the US anymore when the Soviets pulled out. Instead they restored a very harsh regime of oppression and colluded with Osama bin Laden by allowing Afghanistan to be training ground for Osama’s terrorists.
The US was rightly informed of the ongoing threats then but Bush wouldn’t listen – he wanted to fight a big fish, IRAQ’s Saddam whom he felt had humiliated Daddy Bush! Afghanistan wasn’t big enough a fight so he did not put much importance on the Lion of Peshwar’s intel reports that Osama was already planning to bomb NY (9/11). The Lion of Peshwar was assasinated the day before NY was bombed by Osama’s terrorists.
That was the only time that Bush started to look closely at the picture. But the harm was done.
French secret service had been telling the US too.
To go back into the story, while US CIA were funding the Talibans during and after their war with the Soviets, France was supporting the Afghan Northern Alliance, financially, logistically and with some manpower in their fight against the Soviets.
Northern Alliance which became the fiercest enemy of the Talibans was receiving very little support from the US. The Lion of Peshwar, the Northern Alliance leader got most of the help he had when he was fighting both the Soviets and the Talibans only from France. Yet, when the Soviets and the Talibans thereafter were duly ousted, the US CLAIMED all the glory as their own.
France didn’t mind. Theirs was a low profile operation and it was better that way.
There was a TIME comprehensive report on the failed appreciation by the US, Bush, CIA, FBI of the Northern Alliance intel reports (by way of the Lion of Peshwar) sometime last year but I can’t retrieve it.
Overall, America’s Bush and his friends bungled the handling of the whole Afghan crisis which miserably led to 9/11.
anna,
Bush, neo cons, and the war industrial complex meant to bungle up and cause 9/11. It was heaven sent for them, where they are the only ones whos benifiting out of the whole mess. Neo Con manifesto which includes Rummy, Chaney and Paul Wolfowitz, way way before 9/11, wanted a new pearl harbor which they got in 9/11 to conquer the islamic world. Now, they are experimenting in Iraq. I am so convinced of it now that they were involved with 9/11, themselves. That is my consipiracy theory. So far they have protected Bin Laden so not to have closure to 9/11, and the fear of anxiety remain in the American People. With that fear that faces Americans, they have done whatever they wanted and even get Bush his second term in office.
Isn’t funny that about $100M was spent on Clinton blow job, while only $3M was budgeted on the 9/11 Commision.
Josephs,
I would not go as far as that “the neocon conspiracy theory”.
To me they simply bungled up the intel reports that had been coming their way before 9/11 because they were focused on an entirely different plate of problem – Bush’s perception that his Daddy was humiliated by Saddam and so wanted, by all means, to prove that Saddam was stockpiling WMDs, etc, instead of focusing on the real problem at hand then, eg, Osama was about to bomb NY.
The real cloak and dagger story, had the CIA been able to convince Bush and the trio, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, could have prevented 9/11;
But 9/11 was heaven sent for Bush and the neocons. Even if the terror attack on NY had nothing to do with Saddam Hussein, it provided Bush and his neocon cohorts the BEST excuse for their launching pad: CRUSADE against ISLAM.
Since most Americans wanted blood for the NY bombing, Bush was able to rig the truth. And because a European leader was prepared to endorse Bush’s crusade – Blair – the opportunity was not lost on Bush.
On the Clinton “blow job”: that was proof of how warped, American leadership could be when they want to! Completely idiotic in the extreme; spending 100 million dollars to prove that their president had a blowjob is just mind boggling; the treatment of Clinton in the hands of neocons, one of the best presidents the US had in decades, is analogous to the mindset and the warped moral values of a lot of Americans! Incredibly backward sense of priorities!
We were simply staggered in Europe!
Anna:
The article was written by an Afghan woman who is a member of the group, RAWA, that we are supporting in Japan. They are the sufferers and they know better. I’d rather listen to them than to Bush’s propaganda.
One of my good friends in Japan in fact is an Afghan lady, who has lost her family in the war in Afghanistan. She has lost her husband, a Japanese, too from cancer caused by DUD, a victim of the pollution in Afghanistan. Tapos sasabihin ni Ale Boba that the US may use the Philippines as experimental ground for testing terrorism in the Philippines? Anong gusto ng gagang ito, doon paputukin ng mga kano ang mga DUD nila sa Mindanao laban sa mga moro doon? Baka hindi niya alam ang side effect ng DUD and other nuclear weapons. A million years ang lifespan ng radio-active particles ng mga nukes na iyan baka hindi niya alam! Sa Clark nga ang daming nagsa-suffer sa side-effect ng mga nuclear weapons na nag-leak noon sa mga bomba ng mga kano na ginamit noong Vietnam War.
Unfortunately, Philippine media will not even dare expose this kind of anomaly. Kawawang Pilipinas!
And Joseph,
I don’t know if there is such a thing as a “just war”!
What I do know is that there’s been an UNJST war when Bush launched his invasion of Iraq on the pretext, no, on BLATANT LIEs, that Iraq was stockpiling WMDS and that Saddam was linked to Al Qaeda.
Recent findings, no less than by the US Senate, which included a prior CIA report (that the US Senate released) that Bush’s lies were absolute lies, confirmed that.
Britain about to oust Blair for lying to the people; when will Americans realize that their neocon president LIED to them? This is the ultimate test of American sense of moral values…
Josephs asked, “Who the hell is Mike Arroyo?”
Teka, teka, Josephs, Mike Arroyo? Di ba siya yata ang boyfriend ni Vicky Toh?
At saka, Mike Arroyo daw ang tunay na pangalan ni Jose Pidal.
I-Google na lang natin ang Mike Arroyo para talaga malaman kung sino iyang impakto na yan.
nelbar, i heard about that pipeline deal long before the war, and franfly forgot all about it until you mentioned it. that is a business deal that make sense to develop the resources of that republic and the pipeline will shortcut afghanistan and pakistan to the port for transport. PM chrietien is a lawyer by profession and upon retiring from politics, he can practice his profession just like anyone else. i don’t do much rerseach like some commenters, but do most of my comments based on my observation of the events as they unfold, and also on my experience on day to day living. There are many things unknown to me, but i do not deny that we are not without shortcomings. like any sovereign, Canada has its own interest to protect, businesses to promote, and there are times that business concern run by human the same as you and me, could also be subject to all kinds of sins and fallacies. But overall compare our records with anyone, that’s all i ask of you.
ystakei,
alam na nating lahat na walang malasakit ang pinakamagaling na presidente ng mga nagmamagaling na tao kaya ganyan na lahat ng kalokohan iko-compromise niya ang kapakanan ng mga pilipino to the extent na i-expose n’ya sa walang pangalawang lagim na panganib. tutal kapag nagkapeste peste nga naman ang mga taong maapektuhan, mas mabilis pa supersonic makakalabas sila ng bansa. kelan ba nagkaroon ng magandang hakbang ‘yan?
npongo, Canadian troops didn’t go to Afghanistan just to keep the peace. There is no peace to keep in Afghanistan. Their mission is to support the Afghan government along with other NATO troops to establish until they can stand on their own. Other NATO member are reluctant to support the mission and just like Charberlaine “appeasement” approach might work. Just like the Second world war, Canadians were already dying in Europe before the American get off their collective butts. This issue is to be decided by the people of Canada sooner and I myself hope whatever the consensus, we will be in this together or if divided, is what the enemy hope..
“Just like the Second world war, Canadians were already dying in Europe before the American get off their collective butts.”
In the same breath that US neocons are trying so hard to propagate: Americans were responsible for defeating the German Nazis in Europe and that Europeans should be grateful.
I agree to a certain point. What most Americans don’t perhaps know is that Soviet Russia contributed the most number of troops to defeat Nazi Germany, that millions and millions of Soviets died to achieve that and that lots of Europeans had already died fighting Nazi Germany before the Republicans acquiesced to send troops to help Europe fight the Nazis which Vic rightly catalogued in “Canadians were already dying in Europe before the American get off their collective butts.”
FDR took great pains to convince the Republicans to allow him to help the Europeans.
When current neocons go around trumpeting their great contribution to Europe in WWII, they could do it and I accept it, but they should not do so at the expense of those Europeans, Canadians and America’s erstrwhile hated Soviets who had given so many lives even before the Americans jumped into the WWII bandwagon.
Revising history or trumping up WWII facts to make Americans the “sole” heroes of the free world should be a no no!
Here’s related news appearing in UK’s The Times:
British soldier is first to admit war crime
By Devika Bhat, Jenny Booth and agencies
“…A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence said: “This is the first time that a British member of the armed forces has been charged with a war crime.
“The definition of a war crime as it stands has only been in existence since the International Criminal Courts Act of 2001, and it is under that legislation that Corporal Payne has been charged.””
But since the US refused to sign up with ICC, their troops who had committed war crimes in Iraq will never be prosecuted for WAR CRIMES!
Anna: “Revising history or trumping up WWII facts to make Americans the “sole” heroes of the free world should be a no no!”
But Anna, this is exactly the kind of impression that the Americans gave the world after WWII. When I was a little girl, and with textbooks from the US, I had the impression that it was the US that saved the world from Hitler and General Yamashita. I did not even know that the Brits fought hard to keep the Germans from the British Isles.
I realized that we were fed a lot of propaganda in fact when I entered UP, and when I came to Japan, and started attending sit-ins against the Vietnam War, and more so now!
anna de brux:”But since the US refused to sign up with ICC, their troops who had committed war crimes in Iraq will never be prosecuted for WAR CRIMES!”
But the Iraqi resistance can cut off the heads of US and British soldiers, and civilians deemed supporting the US in this war on Iraq even when they cannot be charged at the ICC for war crimes! I got a video clip of the beheading of the two US soldiers in May. Nakakaawa!
Nevertheless, regardless of whether or not the ICC cannot prosecute Bush, et al., the US and UK are members of the UN and the UN can initiate an International Criminal Tribunal similar to the one initiated for Rwanda or Yugoslavia.
It will be bad for the US image if Bush will ignore this initiative as a matter of fact. He definitely cannot be indifferent or be charged with contempt of court!
But Yuko,
I ain’t for arbitraily cutting off heads of troops!
They should cut off the heads of Bush and Blair instead.
their heads must roll!!!!
soleil,ystakei,anna-so much talk of violence here.about the 2.ww and the years after:yamashita was captured and killed by the americans in the phil and hitler committed suicide not able to accept defeat from the allies and the russians.the americans came to help the europeans when everything seems hopeless.the americans dropped atomic bombs in japan and was under mcarthur for some time after the war. japan became an economic power. the americans thru the marshall plan helped the europeans in putting them on their feet again.the russians have their sphere of influence and europe was divided.there was peace but came the cold war.communism in europe did not survive.today europe is trying to be united in order to be more of a counter weight to the americans who became the only superpower after that the soviet union was dismantled.this is the history that i know.bush and blair will soon be history too and they will be judged accordingly by historians.
:-)norpil..i have to humor my boiling blood…i am so impatient na and i am jealous of what is happening in Thailand…we need to do a drastic move. but as Anna said in anther loop, i dnt knw if there are credible entities who will be brave enough to risk everything and i mean everything – family, name and credibility, dignity and principle…these mentioned can never be bought unless u do a joke-joke or an abcede or a chavit!…remmber that the family of piatco were hounded with death threats by el gordo hence they have to fky the family away frm the clutches of the legion of doom….
as some bloggers say we are all talk here…i feel its better to ‘talk’ rather than be mum and kissing-ass with these bogus admin…atlst i feel i have my principyo and dignity nt to stoop to these low-life entities!!!!
Anna,
Conspiracy theories? I’ll give you guys some. It came from the Movie “Loose Change Second Edition,” a questionable movie at the least). But you also have to see two credible movies: “9/11: Press For Thruth” and “Why We Fight,” where it shows the dirty and corrupted American Administration. (You guys have to get them all for free on BitTorrent technology)
Just think of a the same planes hanging by a thread as high as where the planes crashed into the WTC. Then, cut the thread. And because of the gravitational pull of the earth that plane is predicted to drop at about 9-10 seconds. Guess what? You and everyone witnessed that the plane crushed the WTC buildings at about the same time of 10 seconds. So the WTC buildings did not offer any resistance what so ever and just like it dissapeared at that moment. No matter how hot the plane was or how melted wtc was, WTC should have offered some fight. Call me gullible, but I believed the conspiracy theory that the buildings must have been detonated.
And because white wash 9/11 commision was only budgetted for $3M and is now over, they can’t hire a highschool physics teacher, and nobody in the government could investigate it anymore.
Funny thing, in the afternoon of 9/11-01, for some wierd reason World Trade Centre Building no. 7 dropped/crushed the same way as 1 & 2. Sorry, we will never officially find out why. I guess Bin Laden forgot to coordinate with Bush.
Oh yeah, btw the second hit WTC building was the one that crushed to the ground first before the first hit WTC building. Bin Laden and Bush needed some coordination on that one too. I think, 9/11 was the biggest illusion or magic of all time.
People got killed and alot more are getting killed, but look at how much money it generates for the few rich people.
Anna,
Me, too, lalo pa nang sabihin ng girlfriend kong Thai kailan daw susugod ang mga sundalong pilipino sa Malacanang. Sabi ko na lang, pagputi ng uwak! 😡
Hanggang himutok na lang ba tayo? Gusto pa raw ipalabas ng mga tuta niBansot na mabini silang tao at maraming pilipino ang mahal si Bansot.
Mabini? Bakla ang dating sa akin niyan! Kung sabagay tanong nga ng isang kaibigan kong DEA na nagtrain sa WHO sa Maynila for 6 months, bakit daw maraming binabae sa Pilipinas. Sagot ko na lang, siguro kasi nasa abroad na iyong mga he-man. Tapos biglang sabi ba naman, e bakit dito maraming pilipinong okama (bakla) nagtratrabaho sa mga bar at club bilang hostess! Patay! 😛
ystakei,
di ba pilay si mabini? o kaya sabi ganun sila dahil laging tambay sa mabini, ermita?
Hhahahahah!
“o kaya sabi ganun sila dahil laging tambay sa mabini, ermita?”
One legged crane!
ay, ang ale! tambay sila ermita, mabini dahil kung tunay na kelot nanghahabol ng kikay, at kung kelot na kinikay nanghahala ng machong kelot.
mali! mabini, ermita.. teka, di ba si eduardo ermita lagi sa mabini? sa mabini, batangas. he he he eh. ang kababayan kong bulol! sayang na dating heneral. noong panahon ni macoy hindi siya umaangal, pero ngayong mas masahol pa ang kalakaran, pikit mata na lamang. bakit kaya? dahil malaki rin ang kanyang pakinabang? ewan. hindi na siguro makauwi sa batangas yan dahil pinaaabangan ng mga taong labas.
Taga saan ka sa Batangas?
Ako sa Calatagan, doon sa barrio bagong silang (malapit sa lighthouse!)
si Apolinario Mabini ang nagsabi ng :
FIGHT TO THE END!
anna, tutuo gang batanggenya ka? ay ako, halata ga? ay taga tanauan city ako ey? sa malaking pulo. kung kilala mo ang magkapatid na colonels david jr & edgardo quimio ng pinilit na pulis (PNP) ay mga klasmeyts at kabarkada ko sila ey. halata baga talagang ako’y batanggenyow? ay ako’y sa zamboanga city na nakatira ngay-on dahil baga yung aming lupa ey kinamkam kaya wala na akong uuwian. hindi sinabi sa akin ni nasirang tatay kahit noon pa man. naipagbili na pala ng sumuwapang bago namatay ang matanda namin. ayaw ko nang maghabol dahil malaking gulo lamang. ay siya, kabayan ay hanggang sa ule. kumusta baga?
Thai-Singapore axis set to unravel
By John Burton in Singapore
Published: September 21 2006 02:17 | Last updated: September 21 2006 02:17
Singapore could suffer the most among countries in the region from the military coup against Thaksin Shinawatra, the Thai prime minister, who forged close ties with the city-state and sold his telecommunications group to Singapore’s state-investment company.
It was the $1.9bn sale of a 49 per cent in Shin Corp by Mr Thaksin’s family to Temasek Holdings in January that triggered the political crisis that led to the coup after it was revealed the family paid no taxes on profits from the deal.
Mr Thaksin was seen by Singapore as its strongest supporter for closer economic integration of the Association of South-east Nations, which provoked talk of a Singapore-Bangkok axis within the group.
The ousted leader also expressed admiration for Singapore’s political system, telling Singapore officials he wanted to model his Thai Rak Thai party on the long-ruling People’s Action party.
Mr Thaksin decided to sell Shin Corp to Temasek to dispel allegations of conflicts of interest between his family’s corporate holdings and his government duties as he prepared to stand for a third term as prime minister.
The deal became the most controversial conducted by Temasek since Ho Ching, the wife of Singapore’s prime minister, became the group’s chief executive in 2002 and launched an ambitious global acquisition strategy.
Public protests in Thailand over the deal have led to a nearly 40 per cent fall in Shin Corp’s share price since then. In April, Lee Hsien Loong, Ms Ho’s husband, told parliament that “Temasek invested in Shin Corp because it saw value in the investment”.
A former senior Singapore official, however, criticised Temasek’s handling of the deal in light of Mr Thaksin’s growing unpopularity. “Temasek did financial due diligence, but not political due diligence,” he told the Financial Times. Temasek said it considered all aspects in concluding the deal.
A Temasek-led consortium increased its stake to 96 per cent in Shin Corp under a mandatory offer, but the takeover has been investigated by Thai regulators over whether Temasek used proxy companies to avoid a 49 per cent ceiling on foreign ownership in strategic industries. Temasek said it fully complied with Thai law.
Most regional governments expressed concerns about the coup and called for a restoration of democracy in Thailand.
Indonesia’s defence minister, Juwono Sudarsono, said the Thai coup illustrated the pressures facing south-east Asia’s civilian democratic governments. “If there’s a lesson it is this: politicians and parliamentarians must get their act together and consolidate party building and deliver on performance,” he said. “Otherwise people turn to the military for decisiveness and stability.”
In the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the president who declared a state of emergency to crush an alleged coup early this year, was keen to quell talk the Thai coup might encourage a similar takeover in Manila.
Additional reporting by Shawn Donnan in Jakarta and Roel Landingin in Manila
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Taga Tanauan ka pala Mr. Rivera. Kilala mo ba ang mga Bautista?