April 2009 – Page 3 – ellen tordesillas

Suicide

Published by Ellen on April 18, 2009

After watching the way the police have been handling the investigation of the death of Trinidad Arteche Etong, ABS-CBN news anchor Ted Failon’s wife, Filipinos have reason to be afraid — very afraid — of their so-called protectors.

From the time the Quezon City police began working on the case, it was clear they wanted to pin down Failon in a murder charge.

With little to go on but a fertile imagination, Superintendent Frank Mabanag, chief of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, theorized that Etong could have been killed in their Pajero and brought up to the bathroom where Failon claimed to have found her lying in a pool of blood.

Maaring ipilit ni Arroyo ang sarili

Published by Ellen on April 15, 2009

Sa tatlong taong tinanong ng Social Weather Station kung gusto pa nila na si Gloria Arroyo pa rin ang nasa Malacañang paglampas ng June 30, 2010, dalawa ang nagsabing “ayaw ko.”

Ngunit ang tanong: may epekto ba ito kay Arroyo, sa kanyang pamilya at sa kanyang mga alagad? Kung meron man, yun ay lalong maghahanap ng iba pang paraan na tuloy ang kailang ligaya lampas ng 2010 at kung hindi talaga mapalawig ang pagpanatili sa kapangyarihan, paano nila mapruteksyunan ang kanilang sarili.

Nilabas ng SWS noong Martes ang survey na kanilang isinagawa noong Pebrero 20-23 sa tanong na, “Kayo po ba ay sang-ayon o hindi sang-ayon sa Charter Change na papayagan si Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo na manatili bilang PINUNONG OPISYAL NG PILIPINAS nang lampas sa Hunyo 30, 2010?”

‘What lures Arroyo to Dubai?’

Published by Ellen on April 15, 2009

Opposition says reasons for frequent visits ‘flimsy’
Malaya

WHY the frequent trips to Dubai?

Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay yesterday said Dubai should be one of the last countries in President Arroyo’s Middle East travels if her aim, as Malacañang claims, is to secure jobs for Filipinos.

“Recruitment agencies are saying that there are no jobs available in Dubai, which has been one of the hardest hit by the financial crisis. But why insist on flying to Dubai at every opportunity?” said Binay, president of the United Opposition (UNO).

San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito, chairman of UNO-National Capital Region, said Malacañang should come clean on reports of Arroyo’s “personal side trips” to attend to her personal finances.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde dismissed the reports.

The other war in Mindanao

Published by Ellen on April 14, 2009

Related story in the Inquirer: From Oakwood rebel to anti-drug hero

Since last Monday, the flag at the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency office has been flying at half-staff in honor of Intelligence Officer Pablo June Jala and a confidential agent known only as “Tho”, who were killed in an ambush in Maguindanao earlier that day.

Two of the victims’ companions, Intelligence Officers Brian Babang and Mark Anthony Viray were seriously wounded.

The PDEA team was on its way to serve a warrant of arrest on a certain Piad Buaya Abdula Piad in Simuay, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao when they were attacked by heavily armed men.

Roque nominated for UK’s Freedom of Expression award

Published by Ellen on April 14, 2009

harry-roque Congratulations to lawyer Harry Roque who is short-listed for an Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards.

Index on Censorship is Britain’s leading organization promoting freedom of expression. The awards are co-sponsored by the Economist, the Guardian, The Robert Gavron Trust and Bindman’s, a leading law firm in London.

Roque is a nominee for the Bindmans Law and Campaigning Award. The Award aims to recognise lawyers and campaigners who have fought repression or who have struggled to change political climates and perceptions, especially those who have used or established legal means to fight injustice in the field of freedom of expression. Special attention is given to people using or establishing legal precedents to fight injustice.

Index on Censorship’s website specifically cites Roque’s efforts in a class action suit on behalf of several dozen journalists against First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo whose “attacks on journalists seemed a blatant attempt to intimidate the press into silence.”

Botika ng Barangay drug prices can still be lower

Published by Ellen on April 14, 2009

by Jan Marcel Ragaza and Alliage Morales VERA Files One of the most common drugs sold over the counter is the headache and fever tablet…

Botika ng Barangay not in poorest places

Published by Ellen on April 13, 2009

by Jan Marcel and Alliage Morales VERA Files IF a minimum wage earner were to be stricken with diarrhea, relief can come cheap from the…

Pagwawaldas ng pera sa Dubai

Published by Ellen on April 13, 2009

Kunwari sa mga press release ng Malacanang ay inaasikaso ni Arroyo ang paghihirap ng mamayang Pilipino sa gitna ng krisis pang-ekonomiya kung saan libo-libong OFW ang nawawalan ng trabaho.

Pero sa totoo lang patuloy ang pagwaldas ng pera ng taumbayan sa sariling luho kasama na ng kanyang mga alagad.

Sumulat sa aking blog si Ares Gutierrez, isang Pilipinong manunulat na nagtatrabaho sa XPRESS sa Dubai, tungkol sa bisita ni Arroyo. Sabi ni Ares, inis na inis raw siya nang pinakilala ni Arroyo ang sangkaterba niyang kasama.

RP files claim over Benham Rise with UN

Published by Ellen on April 12, 2009

by Tessa Jamandre
VERA Files

THE Philippines has filed before the United Nations a claim over Benham Rise, an extinct volcanic ridge off the east coast of Luzon, beating the May 13 deadline for states to submit claims over their extended continental shelves.

The Philippine delegation deposited the claim with the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) in New York on April 8, making clear it was only a “partial submission.”

This means that other submissions, including those over disputed territories, would be made later. The disputed Kalayaan Island Group (KIG), also known as the Spratly Islands, and Scarborough Shoal are also said to be part of the country’s extended continental shelf and are believed to contain oil, natural gas, minerals and polymetals.

By filing the claim over Benham Rise, which is undisputed territory, the government has stopped the clock on the UN deadline and buys time to sort out border issues with its neighbors over the KIG and Scarborough.

Why Arroyo frequents Dubai

Published by Ellen on April 12, 2009

Gloria Arroyo is becoming a frequent visitor of Dubai in recent months, especially since the financial crisis in the United States that hit hard her family’s favorite investment firms, Lehman Brothers and Merryl Lynch.

Serge Remonde’s spin is that Arroyo is on a two-day visit to Dubai to “ seek more job employment for the country’s expatriate workers.” What has become of her labor officials that taxpayers are subsidizing with billion of pesos in salaries and allowances?

After fleeing Thailand’s protesters, Malacañang said Arroyo went to Dubai accompanied by “ Press Secretary Serge Remonde, Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, among other Cabinet members, and some congressmen.”

Month: April 2009