Month: October 2013

Bel canto live from Ayala Museum

Published by Ellen on October 29, 2013

By Pablo A. Tariman, VERA Files

Tenor Arthur Espiritu with pianist Najib Ismael

Like it or not, bel canto (the art of beautiful singing) is the most-quoted word in the opera circle.

Teachers brandish it as though it were a vocal talisman and some students think it is the key to instant vocal stardom.

If you are active in the conservatory circuit, you realize very few singers live up to it. A few sing to impress, not to communicate. Still many relish the bravura moments in Puccini and Verdi arias and end up doing the opposite of bel canto.

For lack of solid technique compounded by bad teachers, some students — who wanted to absorb the angelic resonance of bel canto — end up as pedestrian singers who think acting can cover up for a singing style way below the standard of how it should sound.

The truth is bel canto is better heard than lectured.

“An Evening of Bel Canto” — the closing season concert of the MCO Foundation, Inc. heard at the Ayala Museum last Saturday — gave that special audience the essential, if, substantial qualities of the art of beautiful singing.

Embarrassing findings on concrete blocks in Bajo de Masinloc

Published by Ellen on October 29, 2013

A closer look at the concrete blocks from the air.

Retired Philippine Navy Commodore Rex Robles had very serious doubts about the concrete blocks in Bajo de Masinloc as foundations for structures similar to what the Chinese did in Mischief Reef when he first saw the photos presented by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin during a budget congressional hearing last Sept. 3.

“Those blocks did not look like the beginnings of underwater build up,” said Robles, who had taken up advanced engineering courses.

Robles’ doubts have been proven correct because further investigation by the military showed that those concrete blocks, numbering 75 scattered within the 120-square-kilometer strategically important shoal, were not put by the Chinese, but by the Americans, who were in nearby Subic naval Base for more than 80 years until 1991, when the Philippine Senate junked the RP-US Military Bases Agreement.

AFP probers say US, not China, put concrete blocks in Bajo de Masinloc

Published by Ellen on October 24, 2013

One of the photos shown by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin during a congressional hearing.

By Ellen Tordesillas,VERA Files

The concrete blocks in Bajo de Masinloc, which Philippine defense and military officials last month accused China of putting there, may have actually been placed by the United States Navy decades ago, military sources said.

A military investigation found that the concrete slabs were covered by algae, an indication that they had been in the area for many years. The probe also found that the blocks had been used by the U.S. Navy as “sinkers” to preserve the wreckage of old ships they used for target practice.

The information contradicts Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin’s statement at the congressional budget hearing in September in which he accused China of laying the foundation for structures similar to what it did in Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands in 1995.

Empowering barangays

Published by Ellen on October 23, 2013

Candidates for barangay council campaign at BF Resort in las Piñas.

I have seen some campaigners for candidates running for positions in the barangay elections on Monday but in Metro Manila, the Oct. 28 elections does not have the hoopla of the congressional, senatorial and presidential elections.

But it’s a different matter in the provinces, especially in the barrios, where the environment is much more intimate and emotions are much more intense.

Philippine Star reported that a total of 6,195 barangays or 14.74 percent of the 42,028 barangays nationwide were declared by the Philippine National Police as election watchlist areas .

Using calamity an excuse for another calamity

Published by Ellen on October 20, 2013

Aquino inspecting damage in Bohol. Photo by Malacañang. — Aquino inspecting damage in Bohol. Malacañang photo.

One week after the 7.2 magnitude tremblor that shook Bohol, Cebu and other parts of Central Visayas, many are still unaccounted for.

Heart rending is the report about the missing five children playing by the waterfall, which has also been obliterated by landslides that followed the quake.

There may still be areas, isolated by the destruction of roads and bridges that are still to be reached by rescuers and people who are bringing assistance.

Aquino still in deep slumber despite wake up call

Published by Ellen on October 17, 2013

Mahar Mangahas commented on this column in my FB wall:

“Ellen, the SWS report about the 2013Q2 rating of the ADMINISTRATION was NOT a recycled piece; it was simply the final release from the 2013Q2 SWS survey. It is different from the SWS report on the 2013Q2 rating of the PERSONAL PERFORMANCE OF PNoy, which was released much earlier. Our report last week on the 2013Q3 personal rating of Pnoy was the first of a series from the third quarter survey; more will follow in due course, including the rating of the Administration (not the person) again. http://www.sws.org.ph/pr20130923.htm

“Ellen, here is the earlier SWS report about the 2nd quarter rating of PNoy, that you claimed was “recycled.” SWS does not do recycling; publicity is not our occupation.
http://www.sws.org.ph/pr20130729.htm”

Now we know why the three-month old survey of the Social Weather Station showing a high public satisfaction for the Aquino administration was recycled last Sept. 19.

At the height of the pork barrel/Janet Napoles scandal and the bungling of the Zamboanga conflict involving the Nur Misuari’s Moro National Liberation Front, the SWS survey conducted June 28-30 and was reported about in July was released again and was carried by major media outlets.

What to do during an earthquake

Published by Ellen on October 15, 2013

Before and after earthquake photos of centuries-old Loboc church in Bohol. Yahoo photo.

Let’s pray for those who were affected by the earthquake that shook the Visayas and Mindanao yesterday.

Renato Solidum, the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said more aftershocks could happen in the coming weeks.

I’m reprinting here guidelines from the “Disaster Preparedness and First Aid” handbook prepared by the Senate Committee on Climate Change chaired by Sen. Loren Legarda. The guidelines were provided by the Phivolcs.

Azerbaijan oil fuels Nobel Peace prize; Filipino part of winning group

Published by Ellen on October 13, 2013

OPCW Director-Gneral Ahmet Uzumcu in a presscon oct 9 in The Hague on their winning the Nobel Prize.

A Filipino is a member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons which won the highly prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for this year.

His name is Franz Ontal, head of the inspector training of the United Nations-backed chemical weapons international watchdog, which oversaw the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons.

Ontal is from Negros Occidental. An article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer said studied in La Salle Bacolod where he completed his undergraduate course in biology. He immigrated to the United States in the 1980s and worked in New York where he held jobs related to medical services. In 2005, he joined the OPWC in The Hague. Netherlands first as a medic for the chemical weapons inspector and disposal teams. He now holds the position of head of inspector training.

Human rights violations by CHR officials

Published by Ellen on October 9, 2013

The human rights protector is the human rights violator.

This is deplorable. Officials of an agency tasked to protect the Filipino citizens’ human rights are being accused of human rights violations.

VERA Files’ Jonathan De Santos reported last week that two former employees of the Commission on Human Rights filed a complaint with the Ombudsman against Commissioners Cecilia Rachel “Coco” Quisumbing and Norberto Dela Cruz for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

Quisumbing is also accused of bribery.

Estrada’s ‘dud’explodes

Published by Ellen on October 3, 2013

Aquino's dare: 'Impeach me' — Aquino’s dare: ‘Impeach me’

Aquino haters can try impeaching him for going with his Budget Secretary’s concoction of the Disbursement Acceleration Program but as Sen. Miriam Santiago correctly predicts, it will not prosper.

Not because it was legal as Abad and his spokesmen aver but simply because he controls both chambers of Congress. And for the very reason that he makes everybody happy with the releases that he finds himself now in hot waters.

The DAP was “discovered” by the public after a few days of twisting by Malacacañang and its allies on the P50 million releases to each senator (it turned out others got more like Senators Franklin Drilon, P100 million, Chiz Escudero P99 million, and Juan Ponce Enrile, P92 million) after the impeachment of Supreme Court Renato Corona in May 2012 that Estrada revealed in his speech, “Untold story of PDAF”