I had been away for five days. I went for a much-needed vacation in our remote place in Antique where there is no internet connection. I don’t have a TV in the house. No newspapers reach our place. I don’t turn on the radio.
But there’s no running away from cell phones.
Malaya informed me yesterday that I have another warrant of arrest in connection with a libel suit filed by former PNP Chief Gualberto against Malaya columnist Romeo Lim. Since my name apperas in the Malaya staff box as “chief of reporters”, I was included in the suit.
Today, upon arriving in Manila I had to rush to the Manila Regional Trial Court branch 7 to post bail. Arraignment will be on Dec. 17.
Thanks for keeping the fires burning while I was away.
Ellen,
Something has got to be done about de-criminalizing libel.
Glad to know you are safe. Just what I thought-you went home to Guisian..a place where one can really be away from the maddening crowd. A haven indeed. But I guess being in the media and knowing you, you can not simply avoid being sued for libel..andam kaw gid.
“The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.” Thanksgiving Proclamation by Abraham Proclamation.
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a traditional North American holiday to give thanks to God at the conclusion of the harvest season. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the second Monday of October in Canada.
Ironically, Marcos proclaimed September 21 as the national thanksgiving day to conceal the repressive character of the New Society.
For obvious reasons, I prefer to celebrate Thanksgiving day today rather than on Sept.21.
Here are my five graces for Thanksgiving Day, 2007:
* I am grateful and give thanks for being alive and in good health this year and for the wonderful recovery of my son from a major health crisis. Thank you God.
* I am grateful and give thanks for the Filipino people being mature in their Faith in spite of the natural disasters and man-made litany of crisis that regularly afflict our nation. Thank you God.
* I am grateful for the strong survival instincts of our people in relying on their own skills and depending less on the government. Thank you God.
* I am grateful for all the country’s heroes who unselfishly gave up their lives for our country and continue to serve as our inspiration in this dark moment of our history. Thank you God.
* I am grateful and give thanks for the honor and privilege of having all of you to write and share this message with on Thanksgiving, 2007. Thank you God.
I wish you all a happy and grateful day.
ellen,
ang gawang walang layunin kundi ang isiwalat ang katotohanan at pangalagaan ang kapakanan ng mas nangangailangan at naapi ay isang bagay na hindi dapat talikuran.
magkakasama kayo nina col romeo lim sa isang adhikain at alam namin na wala sa inyong bokabularyo ang iwanan sa ere, MAGKANO MAN ANG ITAPAT NA HALAGA!
ang nakakaasar sa mga alipores ni gloria gilagid ay ang pagtatago sa likod ng blanket of immunity kapag sila ang binibigyan ng summon to appear sa alinmang pagdinig sa kasong sila rin mismo ang may kagagawan at ang pag-abuso nila sa probisyon ng paghahanay sa libelo bilang isang kasong kriminal.
maga ‘ayup na walang kahihiyan!
MGA ‘ayup na walang kahihiyan!
galit na naman ako.
kung bakit kasi hindi nila gustong lumaban ng parehas!
kapanipaniwala ba ito?
RP to entice OFWs back with work offers–De Castro
By Cynthia Balana
Inquirer
Last updated 04:03pm (Mla time) 11/22/2007
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Noli de Castro said Wednesday that the government will lure back overseas Filipino workers to the country by offering them work and business opportunities that could match those in their workplaces abroad.(……)
“We hope to bring back our overseas Filipinos, and offer them opportunities that would be at par or even better than what they see abroad,” he said.
http://www.globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=102505
lintek! dami na ngang nagugutom sa pilipinas na hindi mabigyan ng pagkakakitaan, uutuin pa kaming mga nagpapakahirap dito sa malayo para sa aming mga mahal sa buhay?
ibaba muna ninyo ang presyo ng mga pangunahing bilihin, ang matrikula, ibigay ninyo ang tamang nararapat na serbisyo publiko, tigilan ang pangungurakot, ayusin ang pagpapatupad ng batas at ibalik ang katahimikan, baka maingganyo pa kami.
at higit sa lahat, UMALIS NA KAYO diyan sa poder na sinasamantala ninyo. mga INUTIL na GANID!
Those people are nut cases! Good lord, if they can’t silenced the media by death threats or worst, they secretly found this libel gig to indirectly make the media go bankrupt by making media personnel pay all this stupid bails. Sneaky bastards!
nakalimutan ko.
ellen, welkam bak!
mi, tu!
mrivera:cool lang.baka ikaw pa and mauna kaysa sa mga tarantado sa gobyerno.God bless .
My sympathy to all Filipinos for being saddled with these idiots and crooks now running their government like hell.
Ellen, ingat! At least, libel suit pa lang iyan. At least, they have not tried the same tactics they have applied to those they have conveniently liquidated with a lot many of them missing and their whereabouts unknown. Take care when you see a motorcyle or a white van passing you by. Takbo ka agad! Will do pray for you!
BTW, we invite all Filipinos in Japan to join us in our protest against the extrajudicial killings and other acts of inhumanity by the present Philippine government on December 9th in connection with similar protests around the world between Dec. 8 to 10. We need to tell the world the situation there now sans a formal declaration of Martial Rule. I’ll post the time and venue later.
My friends in the media here in fact have been asking if indeed the incompetent little idiot still has the full rein of power and not the crooks in the AFP there. Mukhang tau-tauhan na lang daw, but the creep cannot care less as long as she is propped up like a queen!
Laking toyo talaga sa ulo ng ungas!
Dear Ate Ellen,
Thanks for giving this space to Pinoys who want to freely voice out their objective opinion about what’s happening to our country. I’ve been following your great discussions and learned about good insights from our friends here. I’m just a small shepherd boy here in Central Asia.
I and my family will be praying for YHWH, the Lord of hosts to protect you as you stand for righteousness, truth and justice.
God bless and shalom.
ang galing sa kawalanghiyaan ng mga iyan. pati ba spirit of xmas ay wala na? my hope is that ellen’s health and spirit will not fail.
Welcome back Ellen! I hope you are envigored to face the madenning world of journalism in the Philippines!
I just read that the nuns are asking the tiyanak to step down! Sus, they might as well just repeat the 1986 over one million people on the streets and maybe this tiyanak will go. If it is only words and only words, tatawanan lang ni tiyanak!
Imagine projecting an image abroad that she is peace loving by dipping her fingers into Myanmar’s problems! She has to see if her tail is longer before she can laugh at a monkey with a tail. Makapal talaga ang mukha!
How can the senate ever solve any of these corruption and crime issues when all the witnesses and main people involved are hiding under “immunity”. Now the son of the tengang daga is not even going to attend the senate hearings anymore because of “legal” issues or is it because the dad just wants to hang on to his speakership. The senior has a pending impeachment case. Tengang daga’s impeachment case is with form and substance while that of the tiyanak did not! Or maybe the tongressmen want to replace tengang daga so they can have more money in their pockets once the charter change will be pushed through again under a new speaker!
11/22/07
Pandak and her alipores might as well libel all the Filipinos that are against her. I can not think of any body that are in favor of her unless they are bought.
“Since my name appears in the Malaya staff box as “chief of reporters”, I was included in the suit”.
These people are witch hunting and harassing the media people. Bakit? Ang kasalanan ba ni Pedro ay kasalanan din ni Juan? I hope the Manila Regional Trial Court judge will drop the libel case against Ms. Ellen.
Ellen, check out last week’s news where it says media people covering the Tanay & Makati hearings will be put under surveillance.
I agree with Diego that this libel suit is witch hunting and harassing the media people. The burden of proof is on the plaintiff, the primary defenses to a libel claim are that the statements are true, are not statements of fact, or are privileged. Some defamatory statements may be protected by privilege, meaning that in certain circumstances the interest in communicating a statement outweighs the interest in protecting reputation.
For example, most, if not all, jurisdictions recognize a privilege for fair reports of what is said, done, or published out of government and judicial proceedings, and for reports of misconduct to the proper authorities or to those who share a common interest.Privileges do vary somewhat from state to state in their scope and requirements. They generally apply to non-media defendants to the same degree as to media defendants. The court will just drop the charges because prosecutions of libel are rare, especially against the media. And as a result of the application of Freedom of Speech requirements to the claims, the specific elements as well as the burdens of proof with respect to those elements may be different depending upon whether the plaintiff is a public or private figure, whether the defendant is media or non-media, and the character of the statements at issue.
Sana nanalo ang Japan. Nalahian na sana tayo nila. Ubos siguro lahat na may makapangyarihan ngayon sa harakiri at kanilang ‘mahal’ sa buhay sa suicide.
Valdemar;
You remind me this;
I would rather have a Philippines run like hell by Filipinos than a Philippines run like heaven by the Americans” — Manuel L. Quezon
His draft of Philippine Commonwealth, the status of which as an independent country was ambiguous. President Quezon spent 1941 tearing his hair out about Roosevelt’s provoking the Japanese with embargoes, etc. He was terrified – with good reason, seeing the disasters that war brought. The cost of US strategy (which was eminently justified in the big picture) was paid partly by a ruined Philippines with a million dead.
I understand that the motive why President Quezon said so, was his deepest intention where Filipinos be a master among themselves, a sovereign state, free from colonial control. Needless to say, but as we go along with our journey as a nation, Filipinos are trap in a social and political turmoil. It seems that the government is so slow in addressing problems so to change the status of our countrymen. But, look what is the fruit he wished for, Filipino politicians are not the same as the Filipino people. Churchill was right about classifying some people as appeasers who feed the crocodiles hoping they will be eaten last. For almost 60 years Philippines is still run worst than hell by Filipinos.
Maybe,kailangan na ni Quezon na magsisi sa kanyang sumpa.May kasabihan ang matatanda na huwag isumpa ang anak kahit na gaano ito kasama.Diba?Kaya ayan tuloy ang napala ni Quezon.
Malalaman mo na ngayon kung sino ang mga makapili at kung sino sino ang mga kolaboreytor noong may government in exile si Quezon.
Makikita din natin ngayon sa kasalukuyan kung sino ang mga TRAYDOR sa sambayanang Pilipino!
At kung sino sino ang nagbebenta ng Pilipinas!
“A Cabu cinema owner has made a political stand by hanging a nativity mural using the faces of the current and former presidents in place of Mary and Joseph.
The giant tarpaulin features President Gloria Arroyo and former president Joseph Estrada as Joseph.”
Completely in poor taste.An insult to religion.
ellen, on thanksgiving day all we can say here in sf, ca. “we’re glad to know you are safe”.
tata ellen, ingat ka palagi, meron ka na naman palang nuisance suit in the guise of Libel.. sa susunod nyan idedemanda ka na ng drug addiction which is the propensity of this dispensation hahahah!!!!.. ingat pa rin dahil under surveillance daw yung mga vocal sa nag co cover ng mga kapatid na sundalong nakakulong. Mahirap na, dahil Yung human security act naman ang gagamitin sa mga Journalist. dios mabalos and Mabuhay!! Let us all be blessed!!
toyen;
If these is true Amigo!Freedom of speech is worst than Macoy.
The law provides for freedom of speech and of the press; however, Gloria’s government severely restricted these rights in practice, monitored journalists, the media will remain firmly under Gloria’s control, and journalists practiced self-censorship.If her military has made it perfectly clear that it will target journalist for propagating information harmful to the interests of Gloria’s government and classify them as enemy combatants, meaning any journalist who exposes government corruption and its lies about major scandals in her government, as “terrorists recruiters,” and vows to eliminate their influence in society, journalist radical ideologies and potentially violent skills.
How dare this gaggle of criminals control the media while equating anyone who even mildly criticizes their bloodlust with being a legal terrorist? They are the liars, they are the crooks, they are the propagandists and it is the alternative media that should mobilize like never before to counter their spurious deception.
Hi Miss Ellen!
Halong pirme baskin damo naugot sa imo. Talawit na ang mga ga akusar sa imo.
Maayo nga adlaw! 🙂
Ellen,
Welcome back from your charming Fortress of Solitude. But you have the ability to withstand and fight back against the forces of evil. A true journalist, you are.
Hey, guys. Listen to Ermita in his weekly press briefing…
————————————————————
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita explained it is necessary for GLORIA to face the IMPEACHMENT problems head on because the issue against HER would also negatively hurt the OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT’s credibility as an institution.
At the end of the day, he said THE PUBLIC hopes GLORIA would be able to hurdle all issues being hurled against HER and if found innocent of all charges, it would not only strengthen HER relationship with THE PUBLIC but also improve the credibility of the OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT.
“If all these probes are done and are proved later on that SHE is innocent of all charges that are being raised against HER, it would further strengthen HER leadership,” he said.
————————————————————
Unbelievable? Ermita saying that? Well, no. But that’s what he said about the charges against JDV in the House. I merely changed names, titles and offices…. and voila… a ridiculously funny piece of Palace doublespeak.
Invictus;
Cualquier usted ha dicho en su idioma, yo presumi que es bueno. Pero, yo no lo entiyendo mi amigo.puede usted lo traduce en chino-pilipino.
Whatever you have said in your dialect,I presumed it’s good.But,I don’t understand it my friend.Can you translate it in instik-tagalog.Hehehehe!
Nelbar:
Contrary to common belief, the Makapilis did not collaborate with the Japanese for Japan to stay in the Philippines and enslave the Filipinos. They were actually a group of people who thought of conniving with the Japanese for the Philippines to be free from the Americans, who bought the Philippines from Spain to be its colony.
The group had its origin from the Sakdal organization in prewar Philippines made up mostly of oppressed farmers who had been fighting for land reform and recoveries of lands grabbed from them and their ancestors.
They never actually got anything from Japan unlike the guerrillas who fought the Japanese not really for the Philippines but for America. The Makapilis in fact fought side by side with the Japanese for “kalayaan” whereas the guerrillas fought the Japanese because General MacArthur told them to continue the fight until his return.
This is actually a part of Philippine history that needs to be explored as honestly as Filipinos can accept the fact that there were Filipinos who wanted complete and total independence from America.
The Filipinos would probably have developed differently if they had not been made to think that without the US they could do nothing even when in fact they fought the Japanese on their own with crude weapons, and did not capitulate to them.
Whether or not they were doing it for the US, the fact was that Filipinos resisted Japanese invasion, resulting in the weakening of Japanese position so that by the time the US recovered from the shock of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan was in fact on the brink of defeat. It was just that the Japanese were a proud people, and would rather die than surrender to the enemies.
Time for Filipino historians to do their country’s history without depending too much on some hocus-pocus western propaganda. They should be more factual. No to fictionalized Philippine history!
“If all these probes are done and are proved later on that she is innocent of all charges that are being raised against her, it would further strengthen her leadership,”—Ermita
The majority of Filipino wanted these creeps impeached long before Trillanes was elected senator. For the sake of its own credibility, Ermita need not uttering another word. He simply doesn’t know what he’s talking about, he demonstrably talk false statements.”Well beyond stupid” is a good description for him. The mantra for the neo-cons is to have total control of all of government, and to change all the rules to their thinking. They want permanent control of power. Gloria and this entire regime of liars will go down in history as the most corrupt with absolutely no morals. They ought to be worried for the rest of their lives. That’s why they will need a thousand PSG till they all dies. Gloria and her gang of thieves should resign for the good of the country, but I’m afraid that will never happen. They are much too corrupt and evil to ever do anything so noble. Our government system is indeed broken. We are being manipulated, the judiciary is being manipulated, and neither Congress and Senate speaks to the problem. This administration must be held accountable for the alternative is reprehensible. Impeachment, yes! Any and all who have participated in the onslaught. Then imprisonment. Then change, real change to insure such a junta of militaristic,corporatist, fascists and their lickspittle can never be so empowered again.Then, we can prove Manuel L Quezon’s speech was wrong!
Come on guys, Ermita is not only old but he’s senile already isn’t he?
Ms. Ellen welcome back and glad to know you are safe, we miss your blog, parang part of our life na din to. Continue the fight for justice, we are behing you. God bless.
Personally, I find “a country run like hell” by Quezon very inspiring as it shows pride, pride in ourselves to be chart our own destiny as a people. These so called developed countries have had their share of ups and downs, we must also take our share of mistakes and learn from them. To give up our sovereignty to a foreign ruler and becoming second class citizens ourselves is unacceptable.
Now we are faced with a different enemy – “ourselves”, this is going to test whether our nation, our freedom, conceived by the blood of martyrs can endure. We actually put these people in power, we voted for them. The congressmen are there because they were voted into office. The question is are we just a drop in the bucket? How about the majority? Can we convince others to use their vote wisely? We have to fight fair first, use the democratic processes we have on hand, use our numbers to win. The question is dowe have the numbers? If we don’t, we need to talk to people, enlighten them. Or are we just content in whimpering and whining? What are we prepared to do?
Regarding this surveillance of the press, its true, there is an ongoing “crackdown” on everything subversive or anti-government, even in the military circles they don’t know who to trust anymore. Esperon has succeeded in sowing distrust by his legions of “chuchus.” Even this blog is not beyond the reach of their radar, so its in a sad note that I will have to disappear for a while. But I’ll be back, sampot will know if its me…
juggernaut: just said “Or are we just content in whimpering and whining? What are we prepared to do?” then states that he’s leaving the blog, I can’t believe that.
Good thing we all don’t run away from this blog – smile.
The Equalizer Says: “The giant tarpaulin features President Gloria Arroyo and former president Joseph Estrada as Joseph.””
tuwang tuwa sana si gloria garapal kung hindi tinanggal ang naturang belen. sasabihin niyang ginusto ng langit na siya ang gawing makabagong larawan ng mahal na birheng maria.
kinikilabutan ako!
juggernaut,
adios!
enjoy your journey and come back safe.
juggernaut:just wonder if you will come back as juggernaut or astronaut.in whatever name you are needed here.thanks for your honest and logical inputs to this blog.
JUGG:never, never give up!
Buenas Dias senor Cocoy! I said that Miss Ellen has to be very careful for those people who are accusing her are simply cowards. 🙂 Yo no hablo espanol perfectamente, senor! I am no caray-a myself but I just happened to be born and raised in Cotabato and learned several languages along the way. Donde vivien usted senor? Hasta luego!
I am making a list( checking it twice) called “Qualities We Don’t Want in the Next President”, based on lessons learned from the Marcos and Gloria administrations.
The first undesirable attribute is to have a meddling spouse like Imelda or Mike. We do not elect a co-president in the person of a presidential spouse. The beauty of Cory’s presidency is that she did not have a meddling First Gentleman( although some would argue there was the “Kamaganak Inc.” during Cory‘s time). Ideally, we need to elect someone who would push his spouse under a bus if she screwed up the unelected “First Lady” position.
The 2nd quality to avoid is :Extreme Reliance on Image Makeover/Personality Projection rather than on a Platform of Government. The classic case is Gloria. Her political operators have been repackaging Gloria so many times since her campaign for the Vice Presidency to appeal to the masa (Gloria Labandera, Nora Aunor look-alike, Mother of Strong Republic, etc). All form, no substance.100% showbiz.
The third undesirable attribute is to have a personal record of dishonesty. Norman Mailer aptly said, “Democracy, more than any other political system, depends on a modicum of honesty.” Who can forget Gloria’s “I will not run” promise or the infamous “Hello Garci” conversations? How about Marcos’ fake war medals?
The 4th quality to avoid is to have a president who relies on master political operators cum spin doctors to manipulate electoral campaigns. What do Marcos, Ramos, Erap and Gloria have in common? Ronnie Puno.
The 5th and probably most undesirable attribute is to have a President who will not hesitate to expand the powers of the Presidency beyond the constitutional limits. History may ultimately hold Gloria in the greatest contempt for expanding the powers of the presidency (like a Marcos’ cheap copycat). Her EO No.464 is a deliberate derogation of the legislative power to investigate. The extra-judicial killings remain unabated under her administration.
Just sharing:
—–Original Message—–
Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 2:36 PM
Subject: Photos/Text: Writ of amparo hearing, candlelighting, UN dialogue re abductions
Fellow students of abducted UP students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan held a candle-lighting at the steps of Palma Hall in UP Diliman, Nov. 22, 2007.
At the Court of Appeals, families attended the hearing on writ of amparo for the abducted students.
In Geneva, human rights workers from Karapatan and other oganizations held a dialogue with the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearance, Nov. 21
Please visit:
http://www.arkibongbayan.org
for photos and text.
Arkibong Bayan Web Team
Beat me how majority of Filipinos can still be indifferent and do nothing about these abuses, etc. perpetrated by the criminal with her friends in the AFP.
The Erap movie with the creep congratulating and thanking her boyfriends in that movie will make good evidence of the crime she, her husband and their cahoots have committed in 2001, and in the years after that.
Kawawang bansa! Frankly, I wish I could say, “I couldn’t care less!”
I’m glad that the reporters covering the court martial hearings in Tanay have written about the surveillance of media by intel oepratives of the AFP. We know them. Oftentimes, they would ask to copy the statements that the accused slip to us. Sometimes, we give it to them so that they can report it immediately to Esperon and we get a response right away.
We have accepted it as part of the job but it’s good that the officers exposed them.
What I’m more concerned about are the unreasonable restrictions on the coverage that prevents us from doing our job of bringing the truth to the public especially TV.
We are thinking of bringing this issue to court.
Ellen,
No wonder we haven’t seen these courageous band on TV. Restrictions pala. Yes, I agree that this should be brought to court.
Queen Malifiscent and her ogres will push the envelope right up to the edge until they too are challenged to the very edge.
Yes, you can recognize them moles in the rallies and other protest activities:
– They take pictures/videos of the individuals, not the crowd;
– They take pictures/videos of your cars’ license plates;
– Their Press IDs are always fresh;
– They don’t take shots of the Police;
– They’d ask you profiling questions like “Saan pa kayo nanggaling niyan?” or “Ilan ang grupo mo?”
Yuko:
Maybe the reason that the
“majority of Filipinos can still be indifferent and do nothing about these abuses, etc. perpetrated by the criminal with her friends in the AFP.”
are because of what I read recently is that OFW’s going abroad already had jobs here in the Phil, so could be that majority of thinking voters are not here to complain.
But your right, everyone seems to be suffering in silence.
Tongue, you know, one of the agents asked me that (They’d ask you profiling questions like “Saan pa kayo nanggaling niyan?”).
Invictus mi Amigo!;
Soy de zambaleno, yo vivo aqui en California para el tiempo.yo largo ya soy jubilado.Yo le soy impresionado habla espanyol bueno mi amigo.
I enjoyed talking to you.
Ellen,
sana balikan ng “gaba” or karma ang mga taong walang ginawa kongdi mag pahirap sa mga taong mahirap, magparusa sa mga walang kasalanan. Ellen, hindi ka pababayaan ng dios sa katutuhanan. halong lang ka mayad sa mga naga kontra kanimo.
Imagine,if the presidential polls were held today,who would you vote for?(vote in the NEW poll on my blog)
Ellen,
I remember that was the question asked me in PGH by a man who borrowed my lighter. We intentionally parked our cars in the College of Med. so they didn’t see our plates. What I did notice was that while everyone’s attention was in the shouting and shoving there was one crewcut-haired cameraman taking pics of individuals who were not even involved in the ruckus.
Thank you very much for your concern and prayers.
Ellen, may I know if ever Antique has progressed economically, spicifically the town of Anini-ey, or is it Tobias Fornier now? I was there in 1988 as a part of the Special Operati0ns Team of the AFP and I see how poor the people were, who rely soley in fishing. At ang natatandaan ko, nagkakaroon lang ng perang “bago”, crisp, I mean whenever I return from Manila. The people though are so friendly and seem happy with what they have. I really pity most of the people to think most of the politicians from that part of Panay Island are so rich.