This article by Raissa Robles, is in today’s (Saturday, November 18, 2006 ) issue of Hongkong-based South China Morning Post.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo insists her government is “committed to freedom of media as the bailiwick of Philippine democracy”.
But her claims have failed to convince critics, one of whom received a death threat the day before Mrs Arroyo replied to concerns raised by the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce.
On Wednesday her government was also condemned for its “abject failure” to investigate extra-judicial killings and prosecute those involved, in a report prepared by the Hong Kong Mission for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines.
The report said the government “is at best grossly failing to protect its citizens, and at worst may be complicit in an orchestrated campaign of targeted assassination”.“Many witnesses or victims’ family members believe the state is engaged in a campaign to eliminate politically `leftist’ groups and individuals in the Philippines,” said the report, released through the Asian Human Rights Commission.
On Sunday, one of the most vocal critics of the Arroyo administration received an e-mail asking her how she wanted to die. The e-mail told journalist Ellen Tordesillas that “your days are numbered” for continuing to attack Mrs Arroyo.
It asked the cancer-stricken journalist if she preferred to die of cancer, an accident, ambush or heart attack due to a libel suit filed by Mrs Arroyo’s husband, José Miguel, against her.
The following day, about the time Tordesillas was reporting the threat to the justice ministry, five policemen in plainclothes were allowed inside the Malacanang Palace complex to arrest reporter Mia Gonzales, vice-president of the palace press corps.
It was for an 11 million peso (HK$1.71 million) libel suit that the presidential spouse had slapped on her two years ago for writing in Newsbreak magazine that Mrs Arroyo was hounded by “her husband’s perceived crookedness and perceived influence in governance despite three years of exasperated denials from the president herself”.
Although the police failed to find her, the attempted arrest sent a chill throughout journalists. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines condemned “the attempt to arrest and detain journalists who have written unfavourably about the Arroyo administration [as] a brazen violation of the freedom of the press”.
“We are on the edge,” Newsbreak editor-in-chief Maritess Vitug said. She and five staffers face a separate 11 million peso suit from Mr Arroyo for alleging the first couple owned properties in the US.
Mr Arroyo has spent 1.2 million pesos to sue 43 journalists who have reportedly damaged his reputation. He is seeking 141 million pesos.
Through his lawyer, Mr Arroyo told media this week: “Stop lying. Be fair and responsible and we will stop suing.”
Mrs Arroyo’s aides have distanced themselves from the suits. Her secretary, Ricardo Saludo, said: “He is a private citizen. We have nothing to do with that. There’s total press freedom in the country.”
Vitug is convinced that getting too close to the truth is at the root of the “very subtle pressure” being exerted on her magazine.
The pressure began increasing last year after the magazine’s managing editor, Glenda Gloria, wrote an article claiming military spies were the “number one suspect” in wire-tapping an election commissioner’s alleged phone conversations with Mrs Arroyo.
In one conversation, Mrs Arroyo had allegedly asked if she would lead the 2004 polls by over a million votes and the official said he would try to produce that outcome.
Soon after her report was published, Gloria received a funeral wreath, the editors’ office and phones were bugged, two writers were shadowed and the state gaming agency withdrew its advertisements from Newsbreak.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
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Published in the South China Morning Post. Copyright (C) 2006. All rights reserved.
Problem, Ellen, is Mrs. Pidal continues to lie about it. Nevertheless, we have the moral responsibility to expose her lies to the best of our ability regardless of the threats on our lives, etc.
They are definitely very good likewise in smearing muds on the people they wish to destroy. Fortunately, there are many people like you they are having difficulty to destroy.
Ingat, Ellen!
ang problema sa administrasyong ito, sobrang pikon pero lantaran naman ang pagwawalanghiya, pangungurakot, paglabag sa batas, panloloko sa taong bayan, pananakot sa mga kritiko at pagmamanipula sa katotohanang dapat malaman ng balana.
kawan kasi ng mga hudas!!!
Even internationally, Gloria’s administration, including her infamous husband, is preceived to be repressive and abusive. Gloria CANNOT sell herself nor the country. The best option she really has left is to pack her bags and get the h*ll out of the Philippines!
************
Ms. Ellen,
Thank you for being one of the FEW bastions of hope for the truth in the country. More power!
Ms. Ellen, I saw you on Dong Puno’s show yesterday. You expressed yourself very well. I just have to say, though, that Atty. Rondain (?), the lawyer of FG is something else! Antipatiko ang dating. What did he mean by “just for tonight, let us assume that FG is a public official????” Tama po kayo Ms. Ellen, if FG’s Chief of Staff is a Usec., how can the FG be a private person? Simply put, FG is out to bully! Keep up the fight, Ms. Ellen. You have your bloggers behind you!
Sinong tinatakot nitong Lawyer na “everything that is being said on this show can be taken against them”?
The problem with Ms. Arroyo and her First Dog is that they have been the country’s problem from “the beginning, is now, and ever shall be” without end…unless they leave or kick out of Malakanyang then we can all say: AMEN!!!
Mabuhay ka Ellen! We are proud of what you’ve been doing for the country! Mabuhay kayong lahat who fight for Truth!
The fact is, gloria remains in that state of denial….
Look at drug addicts/alcoholics: they cannot be reformed, or start the “healing stage” UNLESS they admit that they ARE addicts/alcoholics. Same is true with glue.
One unsolicited advise from a taxpaye, though:
[b] Be part of the solution.[/b]
As it is, both of YOU [you know who U are!] ARE the country’s problems, first and foremost. Kung wala kayo dyan, eh di walang ‘Hello Garci’ o kaya’y walang EDSA2.
Mahirap bang i-memorize yan?
Heard from friends how Ellen made her stand known vis-a-vis da abogado of jose pidal. Kung kagaya lang sana ni Ellen ang lahat ng nasa oposisyon, aba’y may knock-out ang kalaban!
Amidst the bullying tactics of these dorobos,
I am reminded of the song used by Ninoy as his theme for his search for Camelot: The Impossible Dream.
Imposible man din daw at magaling,
nananaig pa rin ang katotohanan.
Thanks Chabeli and Taipan.
I was worried because TV is not my medium. I could get too emotional. In Strictly Politics, I’m behind the camera. But we need TV for our advocacy for truth and justice.
Many has been written and here’s another quite convincing article written in futility! Illegitimate Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is a well know liar, thief and cheat, that at least we know. Bogus Gloria could no longer distinguish between right and wrong, and she governed the country with one only thing in mind to remain in power. So many pieces and articles has been written about bogus Gloria and her corrupt adminitration, yet, most obvious, bogus Gloria is just like a teflon, nothing seem to stick.
We got at least give bogus Gloria a credit. In the midst of years of chaos, turmoil and people’s discontent, somehow bogus Gloria managed to survived. Bogus Gloria has the will to adjust in the middle of the battle while the opposition are still engaged in a losing battle, and there is that difference. It’s just the oppositions are disarrayed and incoherent, most impotantly lacking the resources, so it seem, to combat bogus Gloria in which the main reason why bogus Gloria still stinking the House Of The People by the murky river.
There is nothing anyone can tell me or write that can convince me of Gloria’s crimes, and not even the article above. Since, I already convinced and heard of them hundreths of time that bogus Gloria is guilty of the crimes against the constitution and the people of the Philippines. It’s already have been established and proven outside the judicial court that bogus is most guilty of subverting the government and commtting heinous crimes against the people, and plundered the people’s monies without remorse. Bogus Gloria has corrupted those people around her, including her own immediate family, and this how far she will go keep the power. Bogus Gloria is a person without a shame, so writing an article is just another exercise in futility if the intent is to rid of Bogus Gloria. It ain’t working. The battle plans must somehow adjusted and changed to adapt to Gloria’s battle plans.
One Million Pinoys, is a must, in front of Malacanang, it will send a clear message of awe and shock to bogus Gloria’s forehead. Atonement with Gloria is out of the question.
Among the Fat Guy’s lawyers, I hate this Atty. Jesus Santos most. A very talkative and good liar; he sure is making good use of his legal background to defend the Number One Crook of the nation. Everytime this Bulakeno opens his mouth, all we hear are inconsistencies and lies. This guy not only receives a fat retainer fee, but also occupies a position in a government agency. As for journalist, I hate this Alex Magno the most. He’s among the richest journalists in the country. How he got his wealth and power, Ellen can answer this.
Toney Cuevas:
Your right, only One Million warm bodies will do it, forget the military, more and more military get arrested on trumpt up charges; thrown in jail will no visitors and the juniour officers who everyone is praying will come to the people’s resque and save the country are doing nothing!
One Million warm bodies.
Toney, Npongco,
If you look around closely, political survival is the only thing that preoccupies the mind of despotic and power-obsessed rulers. Since they know at heart that the people don’t trust them (except those who have bartered their souls for silver), they have realized that the best strategy to prove to the world their “authority” is to fight every inch of their way to survive attacks, demolishing everyone or everything that stands in opposition. Sadly, this technique sometimes works even in democratic states (kuno), or at least in the Philippine case being a weak state. Once power is corrupted, those who live by it will use it by all means possible to keep themselves entrenched in power. They will seek to destroy all democratic institutions (press, judiciary, military, even sectors of civil society like the church) by bribing people, instilling fear in them, preying on their human frailties – in the hope to align or put them in tow, divide them, and eventually weaken their resolve to resist.
What is happening now to concerned (or even so-called “envelopmental”)journalists is part of that grand pattern of destruction, intimidation and even cooptation – drawn up by those whose obsession is to survive politically and keep their hold to power till kingdom come.
Okay, “One Million Warm Pinoy Bodies” and forget the military. Surely, it’s not the military’s function as an institution to save the country from corrupt bogus Gloria. It’s the civilians must be the sole resource to deliver the country from corrupt evil regime of bogus Gloria. The military has given more amunition to bogus Gloria and to find reasons to subdue those has spoken against her. Furthermore, Military has exacerbated the country’s problem even more as the Banana Republic. Time for just the ordinary citizens to come forward, the silent majority, to speak up loudly in front of Malacanang that the Pinoys has enough of bogus Gloria.
It’s now the moment to cut our losses! One Million Warm Pinoy Bodies is now desperatedly needed when bogus Gloria woke up and find herself being stripped of her nightgown of embarrasment.
Surely, articles, writing, columns, et al are effective tools, but the country need more thna just articles and just talking while bogus Gloria is destroying our country at in your face and the future of the next generation to come.
Illegitimate Gloria has stolen the citizens sovereign rights, she has humiliated us, she has embarrassed us globally and destroyed the Philippines credibility as a nation. Bogus Gloria Must Go Now!
Sabi nga, basa na ang papel ni Glueria, ayaw pa rin bumaba kasi makapal ang mukha.
Why do Filipinos for instance shoulder the transportation, etc. expenses of the Fatso when he goes globetrotting with the Pandak tagged as official visit even when we all know that it is only merely a personal trip? Why are the Filipinos not demanding a full accounting of every trip this crook and her family make that are even said to be given a government junket. Abuso iyan!
To seek for the truth for these doubts/suspicions should not be considered libel, and therefore, the judges asked to entertain the libel suits of the Fatso that has caused him 1.2M pesos na daw (bayad ng mga jueteng lord for sure) so no one will lose the courage to expose him and his cohorts.
In fact, I’ve just been told of the bigger bets of Fatso and Sabit in this next fight of Pacquiao, bigger than their bets in the Jan. Las Vegas fight of Pacquiao. Maliit daw iyong tig-isang bet nila ni Sabit of 275,000 dollars each.
Iyon ngang isang boxing promoter 1,000 dollars lang daw ang na-bet niya kasi nga pinakyaw na noong dalawa. Maraming pera ang ungas. Lalos nagiging ganid. Kakwartahan pa iyong mga walang perang mga journalists. E di ilabas ang mga prueba laban sa ungas na ito. Walang doktoran ng mga ninakaw puede ba?
PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA!
Ellen,
I’m glad that this stupid libel case filed against courageous journalists like yourself is now being followed up by the international press. At least there will be some pressures on Mike Pidal’s part to make a bit of a detour or apply a little break on harassments of brave pinoy journalists. International news against the Kleps make a lot of difference, alam naman natin iyan.
Congratulations on your TV debut though I didn’t see it (no Pinoy channel here). With your caliber, no doubt kayang-kaya mong pataubin sa harap ng TV kung sino man iyang lawyer ni Pidal! Without being aware, Mike Pidal is actually bringing your cause to forefront.
Mabuhay ka Ellen sa iyong ipinaglalaban. Nasa likod mo kami kahit na ang ilan sa amin ay hanggang dito sa blog mo lang kayang mag-ingay. I believe that the neccessary loud noise coming from your blog is tearing the eardrums of the unsatiable Pidals and their minions.
Mabuhay kayong lahat na matatapang na manunulat!
This should read: To seek for the truth for these doubts/suspicions should not be considered libel, and therefore, the judges asked to entertain the libel suits of the Fatso that has caused him 1.2M pesos na daw (bayad ng mga jueteng lord for sure) MAY JUST AS WELL CONSIDER THESE LAWSUITS AS NULL AND VOID AND AN ATTEMPT AT BULLYING THE OPPRRESSED MEMBERS OF THE PRESS SO THAT THEY MAY CONTINUE TO SEARCH FOR EVIDENCES OF SCAMS COMMITTED, AND no one will lose the courage to expose him, HIS WIFE and THEIR cohorts.
You bet, Chi, what you do in this blog helps somehow especially when we all know that this blog is being monitored by the officials concerned and their Internet Brigaders. Evidence is the letter sent to Ellen to frighten her.
I’m glad to know that Ellen is not easy to get intimidated.
The truth, Chi, is there are a lot other things that we can do. I don’t know the population of Filipinos in NC but in NYC and SFO, I understand that there are now groups of Filipinos there coordinating with international and Filipino groups worldwide in bringing to the attention of the UNCHR, etc. for instance about these abuses.
I am being approached in fact by a major media outfit in Tokyo re the rumor of some real estate transactions being entered into by people in the Philippine government with some shady Japanese organizations in Japan. Bago ito as a matter of fact. I am not sure though the connection of the Ambassador and his Japanese wife although it looks familiar with what happened to them in Geneva when he was UNIDO chief.
ystakei,
There’s a small pinoy population in the the south, except FL, compare with those in SF and LA or NJ. Iyong mga majority na nasa florida ay mukhang hanggang pang disney lang ang tuktok! So, diyan talaga sa California DC, and NYC/NJ districts ang centro ng pinoy political activities. Basically, majority of pinoys in the south are those who can make it anywhere, with special skills and education to back them up. Hindi mabubuhay dito ang mga TNTs, huli sila kaagad.
Yuko, Chi,
Daniellaperez80 hasn’t replied to my e-mail but never mind – Bansot Jr is smart, cunning enough to allow the threat issue to subside.
The person who sent that e-mail message threatening Ellen’s life, is a coward of the lousiest category who in reality, is a worm in human form of the worst variety, a man or woman or both of the rabid rat species, they are Filipinos of the most despicable type;
On second thought, we don’t know if the sender/s of the abominable letter is indeed Bansot Jr in person – doesn’t quite add up.
Could be someone who secretly knows Bansot, her offsprings and her Pidal family, is also a latent supporter of the Malacanang thieves; he/she could have just patterned the daniel11perez80@yahoo ID after Bansot Jr’s known ID (daniellaperez80@yahoo.com), someone as despicable as the Bansot-Fatso tandem, if not more despicable because the guy/gal or both used blunt threat by e-mail. What a wh*re!
“It’s only words, and words are all I have… ” – beautiful lyrics from a famous group, The Bee Gees.
But when words are coming from the the mouth of the Tiyanak most often than not you will doubt the sincerity. Walang dating! Hindi maramdaman ng mga nakikinig. Babasahin na nga lang nagkakabulul-bulol pa, eh.
Papaano ba naman, ang ginagawa ay pagagawin siguro ng speech ang kanyang mga writers ngunit English kapag ibinigay sa kanya. Kinakailangan bigkasin niya ito sa Pilipino upang maintindihan daw ng nakararami. Pero ang kanyang ginawa ay direct translation ng English to Tagalog kaya nawawala ang saysay at gustong ipahiwatig ng talumpati.
Sa totoo lang ang sagwang pakinggan!
BTW – Ms. Ellen, muli – saludo ako sa ipinakita mo kahapon at kung papaano mo napatulala si Rondain sa show ni Dong Puno ng sabihin mo na mayroon chief-of-staff si FG na mayroon rank na Usec kaya papaano siya magiging private citizen! Mabuhay ka!
Emilio,
Do you have a download of the interview? Would be so happy to watch it! Kung meron lang sana, send me naman. Thanks.
What you describe of Ellen’s answer is proof she’s got great, sharp intelligence and incredible presence of mind and without a shadow of doubt huge courage.
as long as this evil couple GMA and FG is there illegally in malacanang..expect more worst to come,this evil couple will use every dirty tricks just to stay in power.they are using not professionals in all agency of the goverment,but they are employing criminals and murderer in disguised as lawyers,military,police and even politicians.this evil dou GMA and FG will not stop from every evil they will throw on us,unless they be ousted..they know it and also they know that what will happen to them once they are out of power.. but what they do not know that evilness doesn`t last long..they will be ousted sooner or later..this evil people GMA and FG and their cabals of evil never learned the lesson of history..they will be ousted am sure of that its either the hard way or easier way..and they must pay!!
Anna, ystakei:
I guess after Ellen’s tv interview, whoever sent that stupid threat is now in hiding, frightened to the bones, to come out!
huh! Duwag!!!
Anna,
I am sorry I don’t have the download of the Dong Puno show yesterday. Even the ABS-CBN website is not updated yet. I’ll let you know.
I agree, Ms. Ellen is of different breed – a real fighter and seeker of truth.
Anna, ANC does not transcribe interviews. manpower shortage. I just disputed Rondain’s claim that Mike Arroyo is a private person that should not be sujected to media scrutiny by pointing out that he has a chief of staff with the rank of undersecretary in the person of Juris Soliman.
Soliman’s letterhead says she holds office in Malacañang.
Rondain said Soliman is really under the Office of the President. Soliman is part raw of the services provided to the first family like PSG.
Our stand is that Mike Arroyo is both a public figure and public official. As such he is subject to media scrutiny because his actions affect national interest.
Gago pala si Rondain. His duty is to defend his client but he has no right to tell journalists who they should or should not write about.
As a lawyer supposedly working in a democratic system, Rondain should be aware of the Bill of rights, and the international convention that journalists cannot even divulge their sources for the things they write about a person regardless of whether he is a private person or a crooked politician. What he should do in fact is counsel his client to tone down and not show off and act like a bully just because he has made sure to make her president as a lot many people says he did orchestrate. He should tell him not to waste anymore money and time of those judges who should do well to ignore this bully. Buti sana kung talaga namang may puri at dangal sila na dapat na pangalagaan e bulgar na bulgar na ang kakapalan ng mga mukha nila! Pwe!
The public has the right to know the truth. Journalists have the duty to expose the anomalies these crooks in the government do.
It is in fact a matter of duty and right! Ellen, definitely knows what she is doing.
Mabuhay ka, Ellen! Ingat!
Emilio:
Imelda used to meddle in politics, too, when Marcos became president. She was, however, more productive than the Fatso, and to give her more authority, in fact, Marcos officially conferred to him some positions as governor of Metro Manila, etc. At least, there is no hypocrisy there unlike what this Rondain says that he is not an official of the Philippine government that he implies are right for frying by the journalists regardless of whether or not they do it just to destroy the reputation of the politicians they hate and want removed. In short, anybody has the right and privilege to write libelous articles on any politician but not a private citizen like the Fatso on whom they cannot and should not write any article regardless of whether they are libelous or not.
Iyan, Emilio, ang gago! What I see in fact is that the Fatso wants to make this libel suits his moneymaking business likewise aside from the betting in Pacman’s fights, etc. that his wife’s position guarantees! Golly, 23M from Cayetano, 11M from Mia Gonzales, etc., aba, buhay na siya kahit hindi siya magtrabaho until he dies! Ang tawag diyan, “ganid at sakim!”
This should read: …in fact, Marcos officially conferred to HER some positions as governor of Metro Manila, etc.
Ellen,
By jurisprudence, public or private, a person should be subject to all kinds of scrutiny if he is doing hanky-panky.
Valid pa rin to expose this Fatso even as a private citizen, especially with talks of how he squeezed many a gambling lord during the election for funds for her candidacy. Kundi niya ginamit sa candidacy ni Bansot, where did he use the money collected from a gambling lord in Cebu who told me he gave him 5M pesos or his business operations would be closed.
This gambling lord is even tagged as a powerful gangster when I googled his name on cyberspace. And I see him travel with big names in the police and military in Cebu, something that I don’t witness in fact when it comes to politicians in Japan who are more careful, nor the Yakuzas I have come across. Tanggal kasi sila agad sa trabaho if any of our men in uniform (police or military) are seen in the company of these shady characters, private or public.
The last time I saw the guy in Japan, he was travelling in fact with a former police chief in Cebu.
GMA flashes anti-terror card anew
The Daily Tribune
11/19/2006
President Arroyo has again played her anti-terrorism card during a meeting with US President George W. Bush on the sidelines of Bush’s dialogues with heads of state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) ahead of the opening of the two-day 14th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders forum in Hanoi.
Manila had been expelled from the Washington-led “coalition of the willing” in Iraq as a result of the Philippine Chief Executive’s pullout of a Filipino contingent in the war-torn country in exchange for the life of a Filipino truck driver kidnapped by Iraqi militants.
The withdrawal was seen as a quid pro quo, although the Philippine government maintains that it does not negotiate with terrorists, and also the reason for the ensuing frosty relations between Manila and Washington.
Mrs. Arroyo, during the meeting held last Friday (Hanoi time), stressed that the US-Philippine alliance against terror will benefit not only the two countries but Asia and the world as well.
She cited thecooperation among Asean member-countries in addressing cross-border crossings of Islamic terrorists belonging to the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf group of extremists operating mainly in the Philippines’ conflict-racked southern Mindanao region.
Mrs. Arroyo said her administration is pursuing a “broad agenda of self-determination” for Mindanao through inter-faith dialogues and development, efforts that she believes “will provide a second wind for US involvement in Southeast Asia for advancing freedom and prosperity.”
She noted that the US is already involved in fighting terrorism in Mindanao, helping Filipino soldiers bring permanent peace and prosperity to the region and in livelihood and training programs that have “transformed rebels into farmers and fishermen.”
All these efforts, Mrs. Arroyo told Bush, are “happening as we forge ahead with our peace talks with the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front.”
She said the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia have an existing border patrol agreement to interdict terrorists movement through the Sulawesi and the Sulu Sea in Mindanao to any of the three countries.
Mrs. Arroyo sought deeper and broader involvement by the United States in the Mindanao peace process.
Bush said the US will remain engaged in the Far East and Southeast Asia as he noted Mrs. Arroyo’s call on North Korea to heed the global urgings for Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions for the sake of peace and security in the region and the world.
The Philippine Chief Executive said Manila is already “on board” Bush’s non-proliferation initiative to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction and for quick response to credible terrorist threats.
The Philippines as chairman of Asean, she added, will push forward the US initiative which she described as a “good way to keep peace and security in our part of the world.”
Mrs. Arroyo and 20 other Apec leaders are attending the meeting.
It is expected that they will discuss the resumption of talks on the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations that were stalled last July after developed and developing member economies could not agree on tariffs and duties to further enhance trade in the region.
This year’s summit theme is “Toward a Dynamic Community for Sustainable Development and Prosperity.”
Apec, composed of 21 economies, has emerged as the premier forum facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region.
The member economies are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
Apec is considered important because it represents 40 percent of the world’s population, 47 percent of its trade and 60 percent of global gross domestic product.
The two-day meeting of the leaders will culminate tomorrow with the adoption of the 2006 Apec Declaration.
In her meeting also last Friday with the Filipino community in Vietnam gathered at the Hotel Nikko in the nation’s capital, Mrs. Arroyo called on them to emulate the discipline displayed by the Vietnamese in the fast rehabilitation of their war-torn nation to emerge as the second-fastest growing economy in Asia today.
“More than 30 years after the Vietnam War that lasted for more than 30 years, the Vietnamese managed to rebuild their country. This is solid proof of the important role discipline in Vietnam, and also in China, played,” the President said.
She also noted that Vietnamese economy could offer many opportunities to Filipinos, referring to the establishment of Filipino-owned corporations in Vietnam.
“It would make any Filipino proud to find such familiar names as San Miguel, Jollibee, Robina and Oishi in Vietnam,” Mrs. Arroyo said.
According to her, trade relations between the Philippines and Vietnam could improve further with the establishment of the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation signed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and his Vietnamese counterpart.
The Chief Executive said one of the landmark agreements calls on the two countries to strive to raise their total two-way trade to $2 billion by 2007 from a little more than $1 billion in 2005.
She added the Filipinos in Vietnam, numbering around 900 — mostly professionals such as bankers, accountants and engineers — could contribute to an enhanced trade relations with Hanoi.
The President told her audience that she is working hard to improve further the Philippine economy and create more jobs so that in the near future, working abroad for the Filipinos would be an option, not a choice to make a living.
She also thanked the Filipinos in Vietnam for their remittances that contribute to the strong peso and the increase in the country’s dollar reserves.
Mrs. Arroyo arrived at the Noi Bai International Airport at 8:30 p.m. Friday on board a chartered Philippine Airlines plane from Manila to attend the Apec leaders meeting.
heto na naman ang bolerang sinungaling!!!!
MRivera, in what newspaper did the above news item appear. Please don’t forget to always cite source of news item. Thanks.
mike arroyo’s attitude on the media killings: Kasalanan ng media kaya sila pinapatay. from ducky paredes:
http://www.duckyparedes.com/archives/Malaya_Archive/2005/2005.05.10.Malaya.txt
Thanks for resurrecting this article, John. This kind of statements from someone who holds stolen power adds to the culture of impunity that the Arroyo administration has developed. It also contributes to the climate of fear that they are trying to instill in the media community.
Stolen Power, indeed!
Aptly said, Ellen.
You hit the nail right into its head!
I am always at awe at how you always find the right word to describe it. Sabi nga sa lingo ngayon: ‘SAKTO!’
****
By just looking at his “title” as First Gentleman, miguel pidal arroyo may not want to admit it, but he IS a public figure.
Why deny it when they even use all the privileges[?] intended for supposed-to-be public servants. Tangay silang mag-anak, hanggang apo sa mga pribilehiyong nakukuha bilang kamag-anak ng presidente. And those are the taxpayers’ money!
napagalitan ako ng ninang ko! sa tribune. headline 19 nov 06.
taipan88 Says: “By just looking at his “title” as First Gentleman, miguel pidal arroyo may not want to admit it, but he IS a public figure.”
sabi nga ng mga abogago ni pidal, private person daw ang client nila at walang authority upang diktahan ang mga pulis na arestuhin ang mga inihabla niya ng libel. private person? ano ginagawa niya sa malakanyang? dapat sa labas siya nakatira, hindi sa palasyo ng kanilang pangarap! mga buking na sinungaling!!!
Thanks, MRivera.
Mrivera:
Asawa lang si Fatso ni Pandak, who is a bogus president, which does not make him eligible in fact to have his trip with the Pandak paid with taxpayers’ money since when he goes on such trip it is more personal than official unless of course Filipinos now follow the Pandak’s personal laws that have not gone through the usual procedure of bein deliberated and approved by both the Senate and Congress of the Philippines.
Fatso is a public figure alright, but not a public servant nor a dignitary since he is not connected with any public office. His being the husband of the bogus president does not give him any right and privilege to be a law by himself either.
Di bale naman kundi mga baho lang naman nila ang binabatikos ng mga journalists na gusto niyang takutin lang sa mga lawsuits niya komo he can afford to do so more than them being able to defend themselves from any attempt at abuse of power by this private citizen who is a public figure.
BTW, a public figure does not have to be an official of the Philippine government. Iyong mga artista, for instance, mga public figures din.
TAKE NOTE OF THE CAPS PORTION BELOW. WHO WERE THE 4 BIGGIES?
GLU DEFINITELY NOT INCLUDED.
Bush seeks help on North Korea, trade
By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 1 minute ago
HANOI, Vietnam –
President Bush sought Chinese President
Hu Jintao’s help on dual fronts Sunday, aiming to rein in
North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and encourage the Chinese people to buy more U.S. goods.
Capping a three-day stay in Vietnam’s capital, Bush also asked for help from Moscow in the North Korea nuclear dispute and celebrated a deal allowing Russia to join the
World Trade Organization.
Here for an economic summit of 21 Pacific Rim nations, BUSH COORDINATED STRATEGY ON NORTH KOREA IN ONE-ON-ONE SESSSIONS WITH ALL FOUR OF AMERICA’S PARTNERS IN THE EFFORT TO RID PYONGYANG OF ITS NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAMS.
Mrivera,
Aba! Gusto na namang paglaruan ng Pandakekang na ito ang Mindanao kong minamahal para lang maka-pogi points kay Dubya!
Kahit na anong sabihin ng mga Pidals at abogados niya, si Mike Pidal ay public figure. Di ba ang mga guardias niya ay swelduhan ng mga pinoys? Tanggalan siya ng mga bodyguars/securities na PNP’s, o kung sino mang staff niya na kumukuha ng sweldo buhat sa taxes ng mga pinoy kung talagang siya ay hindi public Pigyur!
ang katulad ni pidal ay isang bangaw na ang paniwala sa pagkakatuntong niya sa baboy, mas malaki pa siya sa elepante! kasalanan din ng asawa niyang barbie doll (ng mangkukulam) dahil kinukunsinti nito ang mga kababuyan (o pambababoy) niya sa media at taong bayan.
Chi,
OK na OK ang pabalik pigyur!!! 🙂
Mrivera, nagiging mapanglikha ako kapag nabubwisit :).
Tribune editorial
******
A non-entity
EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
11/20/2006
From a loudly Malacañang-heralded 45-minute one-on-one talk between Gloria Arroyo and US President George W. Bush during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, what turned up instead was a 10-minute (probably shorter) “pull aside” talk between the two erstwhile “soul mates” in the preemptive strike on Iraq.
More to the point, even when one reads through the Palace-released version of the brief pull-aside talk which obviously didn’t mean much to the US President, since there was no real privacy to speak of, nothing much came out of the Manila-hyped up talk.
It was evident that the very few statements (two at most) quoting Bush in local newspaper reports were second-hand, and came from the Philippine officials, who are known to spin virtually everything to the benefit of Gloria Arroyo.
Evidently, even the call for more US assistance to Mindanao didn’t quite get the desired reply. Neither, for that matter, did the push of Mrs. Arroyo for a free trade agreement with the US, where Bush was quoted by Philippine officials as having said he and future presidents are for free trade agreements, which means nothing, really.
It appears morever that talks of negotiating free trade agreements with the US started as early as 2001, yet six years after, Philippine and American officialdoms are still talking about starting “negotiations?”
Even the Trade Secretary, Peter Favila, downplayed the talks, perhaps because he was aware of the fact that it was a meaningless spiel of starting free trade negotiations between the two countries, with the RP-Japan accord, known as Jpepa, being a disadvantageous accord for the Philippines, a willing recipient of foreign waste.
So what can really be discussed with seriousness in a claimed 10-minute pull-aside talk between Gloria and Dubya, especially when there was even introduced in the talks of Bush’s Filipino-American chef who has fattened him up, evidently intended as an ice-breaker.
What it really was, was a photo-op for Gloria, to generate the impression locally that the Bush government continues to give her full support — even when it is clear that the military equipment promised her in 2001 hasn’t arrived at all, and this amid claims then of the Philippines being a major non-Nato ally which was translated to mean that the country would have first crack at getting the promised military equipment and aid.
Once upon a time, when the Philippines under Gloria was the darling of Iraq war-crazed Bush administration in Asia, Bush would clearly give Gloria his time and day, with his body language clearly showing his approval of Gloria. But this time around, the body language, as well as the actions of Dubya, is pretty different, hardly giving Gloria any great importance. Even he realizes she has become a liability.
It is no secret that Gloria and her aides in Washington have been pleading with the Bush government for a meeting between Gloria and Dubya, and even wangle an official visit of sorts. But this never came about and the pull-aside talk would not have occurred if there had been no Apec summit scheduled at that time.
Few of the Asia Pacific leaders — if at all — paid her any heed, especially on her call on the North Korea issue. Not surprisingly, because Gloria’s spiel was intended to get her into the good graces of the Bush administration, which is now on a lame-duck status.
Besides, even if he were not on a lame-duck status, it is the Republicans, through their think tank, that have already pointed out, early on, for Bush to dissociate himself from Gloria, who was already seen by the American conservatives as a political liability for the Bush administration, after she crumbled before the Iraqi terrorists by giving in to their demands in exchange for the Filipino truck driver, to the detriment of Bush’s “coalition of the willing” which she so embraced.
Yet today, she continues with the anti-terror talk, claiming to be making great inroads, even when too many suspected and wanted terrorists already detained at the Immigration cells, are spirited away and given their escape routes — though “deportation.”
Who is to buy her global anti-terror spiel when she has been marked a long time ago to be an extremely flaky anti-terror partner? Who is to take anything she says for international and local consumption seriously?
It has been made evident that she has become a political liability to many world leaders, not just because of her flakiness in the war against terror, but also because of her many abuses of human and civil rights, her curbs on freedoms and her dictatorial tendencies.
She is a non-entity in the world of international politics.
Email from Sophia Santiago:
that is really terrible receiving a threat like that, must be one of the as…..l….rs…of you know who.
how rude.
Mike Arroyo is one example of a so-called person from a “good family” but in reality is one who is simply a disgusting creature. The way he talks, the way he swaggers, his appearance and now the way he thinks all lead to one thing: he is a bandit!
What good family, Anna? Have you read the article about the Pidal family’s feud with the Lopezes. This family in fact had gotten their wealth through the number games, and I’m told about the rampant landgrabbing during the US occupation of the Philippines from 1898 to 1946, and I am of the belief that this family must have gotten their wealth through such devious means.
For me, Anna, I am not impressed. As the Bible says, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and dlose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16: 26)
This Pidal couple really makes me puke! Kababoy!
Anna, the Pidal guy is indeed a pablik pigyur!!!
chi Says: “Mrivera, Aba! Gusto na namang paglaruan ng Pandakekang na ito ang Mindanao kong minamahal para lang maka-pogi points kay Dubya!”
chi, kahit ako, mahal ko rin ang mindanao dahil ito ang itinuturing kong pangalawang pananahanan kaya halos puputok din ang pantog ko sa inis sa mga panloloko ni glutonia at pagde-deploy ng US forces na walang kinalaman sa internal conflict ng pilipinas kahit pa sabihing part ng kanilang anti terror campaign kuno. pinatutunayan lamang ng walang kahihiyan na pekeng presidente na wala siyang kakayahang solusyunan ang alinmang problema sa bansa. lahat ng kanyang ginagawa ay pulos short cuts – legal, economic and peace and order solutions na punong puno naman ng manipulasyon. lahat walang concrete basis and facts upang mahila paitaas ang ating kalagayan at katayuan bilang bansa.
dalawang bagay lamang ang totoong ayaw niyang tanggapin at aminin – NILOLOKO NILA NG KANYANG MGA ALIPORES (KASAMA NA ANG KANILANG PAMILYA) ANG TAONG BAYAN AT HINUHUTHOT ANG KABAN at PINIPILIT NILANG GAWIN ANG LAHAT UPANG HABANGBUHAY NA MANATILI SILA SA MALAKANYANG SAPAGKAT NATATAKOT SILANG PAPANAGUTIN SA KANILANG MGA KASALANAN!
Mrivera,
Talaga naman. Pero sabi nga, merong katapusan ang lahat at iyan ang hindi nila maiiwasan!
The husband of Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister of UK was what you could say her First Gentleman. Denis Thatcher was quiet and kept in the background, therefore people didn;t realize that he was a successful businessman having served during WW2 as a Major in the British Army. He was well liked and couldn’t imagine him filing libel against any journalist although he was perceived as being a drinker by journalist. He arrived at a reception with his minder (bodyguard) and was heard to say “I don’t know what reception I’m at but for god’s sake give me a gin and tonic”‘ This was widely reported, but he never objected. They produced a stage play being the public perception of Denis Thatcher, playing golf & drinking gin and tonic, called Anyone For Denis (also shown on TV) it was a huge success, Denis Thatcher thought it was a giggle, never ever complained.
WWNL:
Thatcher’s position was legitimate. That of the bogus president of the Philippines is questionable.
The quacking of the Fatso is more like an expression of guilt. In Japanese, we call it “higaimoso” (persecution complex). He knows he’s guilty as when he eats too much and so the overweight that he would not like other people to notice and tell it to his face even when it is true as when he sued Lito Banayo for saying in Spanish he’s a great Tabatsoy! E anong gusto niyang itawag sa kaniya? Payatot? Ano siya baliw? 😡
Abe’s wife is also a lawyer, but she does not meddle in politics or the works of her husband, because she does not have a position in present government, and she is not allowed to have one for that will be conceived as nepotism. In short, she is not on government payroll. It’s taboo over here.
Too bad, Filipinos have not learned their lessons. Palit ng palit ng batas pero pareho pa rin, pangkurakot lang! Kawawang bansa!
At the height of the scandals and anomalies involving the fake First Family, Fat Guy Mike and even his son Mikey was asked to leave the country. They were kinda in exile. Not long after this much publicized exile abroad to keep this Fat Guy from meddling in the Philippines, he returned with a vengeance. This time, targeting media and journalists. Now that he’s still in US rejoicing the recent Pacquiao victory, we ask him to stay there and not return home.
much better, this fatso and his colleagues bangungutin sana sa pagpapakabusog at pagpapakalasing sa kanilang napanalunang ang puhunan ay galing sa dugo at pawis ng mga pobreng mamamayan!
kung mangyayari nga, sumabog ang kanilang tiyan sa pagkabundat at kasibaan!