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Month: August 2007

A cookbook by Magdalos

Published by Ellen on August 30, 2007

pulutan-cover.JPGThe Magdalo is cooking something.

But not a coup that preoccupies the paranoid minds of Gloria Arroyo and her henchmen.

At the ongoing International Book Fair going at the World Trade Center on Roxas Boulevard, you will find at the booth of Anvil Publishing, “Pulutan: From the Soldiers’ Kitchen”.

The book is written by two of the detained Magdalo officers, Ensigns Elmer Cruz and Emerson Rosales. My friend, Yvonne Chua, and I edited the book.

Please get a copy. You will find the book delightful not only for its recipes but also for the anecdotes behind many of the items there.

Continue readingA cookbook by Magdalos

SC eyes ‘right to truth’ writ

Published by Ellen on August 30, 2007

To further address the “chilling” rise in the incidents of extrajudicial killings and involuntary disappearances, the Supreme Court yesterday said it is studying the issuances of the writ of habeas data to uphold the people’s “right to truth.”

Chief Justice Reynato Puno said the writ of habeas data will be effective alongside the enforcement of the still to be implemented writ of amparo, which will deny authorities the defense of simple denial when they are sued to produce before the courts the bodies of victims of involuntary disappearances (writ of habeas corpus).

The use of the writ of habeas data, he said, has been proven effective in solving problems of enforced disappearances in Latin American countries like Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Argentina and Ecuador.

Continue readingSC eyes ‘right to truth’ writ

‘Garci’ probe is a go;

Published by Ellen on August 29, 2007

by Dennis Gadil

Senators voted in a closed-door caucus last night to proceed with a fresh inquiry into the “Hello Garci” wiretapping scandal and assigned the committee on national defense as lead investigating panel instead of constituting a Committee of the Whole.

Following the caucus, majority leader Francis Pangilinan announced on the session floor that a secondary committee, the Blue Ribbon panel, was also chosen to join the inquiry.

The committee on electoral reforms will also join the probe as the third committee.

Continue reading‘Garci’ probe is a go;

Regime of insecurity

Published by Ellen on August 28, 2007

I just got this text: “Malacañang is building scenario of violence in Metro Manila but sends troops to Mindanao. What is their end game?”

Strange indeed.

Could it be that Gloria Arroyo and her military advisers feel the outrage of the soldiers, especially the Marines, over how, in the words of Sen. Antonio Trillanes, they “were fed to the enemies of the State”? And to pacify them, she gave them a war?

Continue readingRegime of insecurity

Lalong na-praning

Published by Ellen on August 27, 2007

Tanggap na yata ng Malacañang na mahirap nila maharang ang pagbubukas ng imbestigasyon ng Hello Garci sa Senado.

Anim na senador na na sumama sa mga bata ni Gloria Arroyo para maluluko si Manny Villar bilagn Senate president ay boboto para itutuloy ang pagbubukas ulit ng Hello Garci. Kasama pa si Villar.

Sa botohan mamayang hapon, inaasahan na magkakasama sina Ping Lacson, Nene Pimentel, Mar Roxas, Pong Biazon, Loren Legarda, Jamby Madrigal, Noynoy Aquino, Villar, Chiz Escudero, Allan Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Jinggoy Estrada, Kiko Pangilinan.

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Making sense of the Basilan debacle (Part 2)

Published by Ellen on August 27, 2007

Gonzalez and Dolorfino direct behind the scene

AT the height of the firefight between the soldiers of the 1st Marine Brigade and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the village of Guinanta in Al-Barka, Basilan, Gloria Arroyo was at the Pryce Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City talking about “Muslim brothers and sisters working in good faith with our government” and being “on the cusp of a permanent peace” in Mindanao.

She was addressing the Mindanao Peace and Security Summit. With her were national security adviser Norberto Gonzales, at that time acting defense secretary; Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, head of the Western Mindanao Command; and Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, commander of the National Capital Region Command and co-chair of the government Ad Hoc Joint Action Group negotiating with the MILF. Dolorfino is also the incoming commander of the Philippine Marines.

Continue readingMaking sense of the Basilan debacle (Part 2)

Making sense of the Basilan debacle (Part 1)

Published by Ellen on August 26, 2007

The double agent

As the military gears for the major offensive that AFP chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. announced in Basilan last week, the people recoil over how many lives will be lost further in a war that they do not understand.

In less than two months, the hostilities, which started with the July 10 ambush by elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the town of Al-Barka (formerly Tipo-Tipo) in Basilan, have claimed more than a hundred lives. Fifty-seven soldiers have died, 10 of them in a most gruesome manner, and 30,000 persons have been displaced.

An undetermined number have been killed on the side of the “enemy” that the public is not so clear about.

Continue readingMaking sense of the Basilan debacle (Part 1)

Harry Roque’s notes on R.A. 4200

Published by Ellen on August 26, 2007

Related stories:

Enrile backs wiretap probe but on one condition

Lito Banayo’s column:Pssst Dick

Republic Act 4200 is what is known as the Anti-Wire-tapping law.

It states that “It shall be unlawful for any person, not being authorized by all the parties to any private communication or spoken word, to tap any wire or cable, or by using any other device or arrangement, to secretly overhear, intercept, or record such communication or spoken word by using a device commonly known as dictaphone or dictagraph or detectaphone or walkie-talkie or tape recorder, or however otherwise described.”

Continue readingHarry Roque’s notes on R.A. 4200

Mana sa magulang

Published by Ellen on August 25, 2007

Like father, like son talaga itong mag-amang Mike at Mikey Arroyo.

Sabi ni Mikey Arroyo, congressman ng Pampanga, “Who, me? A smuggler?”

Sinabi ito ni Mikey noong isang araw dahil sa usap-usapan na kaya laganap ang smuggling ngayon dahil siya ang padrino ng mga smuggler. Kaya tuloy hirap na hirap ang Bureau of Customs makapag –meet ng kanilang target collection. Paano sagan ang smuggled goods.

Continue readingMana sa magulang