Author: Ellen

The power of conscience

Published by Ellen on February 22, 2017

SP03 Arthur Lascañas relates the murders he committed in a press conference at the Senate. With him are Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, human rights lawyers Alex Padilla, ArnoSanidad, and Cel Diokno.

“The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul.”

John Calvin -French theologian and reformer

The turnaround of SP03 Arthur Lascañas on the murders he committed as a member of the Davao Death Squad must have stunned Malacanang, all that it can come up with was Press Secretary Martin Andanar’s preposterous allegation that Senate reporters were given $1,000 each to attend the press conference morning of Wednesday at the Senate.

Senate reporters and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines slammed Andanar for the irresponsible allegation.

Andanar immediately backtracked finding himself trapped in quicksand of dubious press statements with his destabilization angle. The more he tried to wiggle out of his “destab” story, the more that his credibility sank.

Transcript of the press conference of former policeman,SPO4 Arthur Lascañas at the Senate

Published by Ellen on February 21, 2017

SP03 Arthur Lascañas at his press conference at the Senate, Feb. 20. Photo by Voltaire Domingo,NPPA from ABS-CBN online.

February 20, 2017

Ako po si Arturo Barikit Lascañas, 56 years old, isa pong retiradong pulis na miyembro ng Davao City Police Office. Ako po ay pinanganak at tubong Davao City. Dito sa gagawin kong isang public confession, ito po ay pagsunod ko po sa kagustuhan ng Diyos, at labis na takot sa Diyos, pagmamahal sa bansa natin at sa sarili ko pong konsensiya. Dahil po dito, dito po nagwakas ang blind obedience and loyalty ko sa isang tao – kay Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte, na ngayon po ay Presidente ng bansa natin.

Dito po, una ko pong tatalakayin ang mga sinasabi ni Edgar Matobato. Totoo po ang existence ng Davao Death Squad o DDS. Si Edgar po ay isa sa miyembro namin, at isa po ako sa pasimuno nito. Ang pag-umpisa po ng Davao Death Squad, before po ito nag-umpisa, sa una pong pag-upo ni Mayor Duterte bilang Mayor ng Davao City ay nag-umpisa na po kami na tinatawag ng ‘salvaging’ ng mga tao. Ito po ay mga suspect na gumagawa ng krimen sa Davao about illegal drugs. Naimplementa na po namin ang personal po na utos ni Mayor Rody Duterte sa amin.

Trillanes to Duterte: sign waiver of bank secrecy law addressed to BPI

Published by Ellen on February 19, 2017

Pres. Duterte and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV

The public should be more discerning this time with President Duterte’s bluster when confronted with the issue of his BPI bank accounts which have been recipients of deposits amounting to over P2 billion from 2006 to 2015 from several sources.

News reports Friday quoted President Duterte as ordering the Anti-Money Laundering Council to give information about his “net worth.”

The news item was based on what he said at the dinner with Philippine Military Academy class of 1967, where he is an honorary member, at Baguio City Country Club. This is what he exactly said:

“Kaya ang gusto ko lang sabihin sa inyo, because it’s politics again. It’s a rehash of what they… it is pure garbage. But you know I’m President, I’ve ordered AMLC and everybody to give information sa ano ang… what’s my worth in this… in terms of pesos in this planet. So hindi ko kayo hiyain. Walang anak ko o ako mismo, sa totoo lang. I have not signed any voucher even for myself. I only receive a salary and that’s it. I do not accept my allowances – wala po ako. I avoided it. And it will be so until the end of my term.”

Duterte can’t decide kung siya ay anak mahirap o anak mayaman

Published by Ellen on February 18, 2017

VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Duterte flip-flops on family’s wealth

Bernard Ong’s update from “Bansang Fentanilia”

Published by Ellen on February 16, 2017

Satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

Satire is a survival tool in an environment when one’s sense of right and wrong is being assaulted from all directions.

Don’t cry. Read Bernard Ong’s Facebook post, “Ganito kami sa bansang Fentanilia” and laugh:

Lethal mix: small mind and great power

Published by Ellen on February 8, 2017

President Duterte shows a book about anomalies in the Catholic church as he slams CBCP pastoral letter at convention in Davao city, Feb. 2. Malacanang photo by Rene Lumawag.

President Duterte’s reaction to the Pastoral Letter of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines on the killings related to his campaign against prohibited drugs read in all Catholic churches last Sunday shows the danger when small minds are given so much power.

“Kayong mg Katoliko, kung naniniwala kayo sa mga pari pati obispo doon kayo. Kung gusto nyo mapunta ng langit, doon kayo. Ngayon, kung gusto nang matapos ang droga pero magpunta ako sa impyerno, sumabay kayo sa akin (You Catholics, if you believe in priests and bishops, go with them. If you want to go to heaven, go there. Now, if you want to end illegal drugs join me in hell),” he ranted in a press briefing in Cagayan de Oro Sunday evening.

It’s doubtful if he even read and tried to understand the full letter. The bishops acknowledge the problem of the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country and that’s in the first paragraph: “This traffic in illegal drugs needs to be stopped and overcome. But the solution does not lie in the killing of suspected drug users and pushers.”

Do you want to learn Mandarin in Taiwan?

Published by Ellen on February 2, 2017

The best way to learn a foreign language is to be in place where it is spoken. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines has announced various scholarship programs open to qualified Filipino students.

One of them is Huayu (Mandarin) Enrichment Scholarship which allows applicants to choose to pursue either 2 months or 3 months intensive Mandarin courses subject. A monthly stipend of 25, 000 NTD will be provided to cover all the expenses. Application is from February 1-March 31, 2017.

For more of this scholarship, please visit: https://taiwanscholarship.moe.gov.tw

Tourism and peace and order

Published by Ellen on February 1, 2017

Congratulations to the people who made the staging of the 65th Miss Universe in the Philippines a rousing success.
The publicity that the Philippines got from the pageant and the goodwill generated from the 86 beauties were a bonanza to Philippine tourism.

Miss Universe candidates in Boracay. DOT photo.

Last Monday’s pageant financier former Ilocos Sur Chavit Singson said the $14 million he shelled out will return in terms of more visitors to the country that are expected to fill up hotels, resorts airline seats, restaurant and other tourism-related businesses.

The more visitors, the Filipinos would be employed for a more vibrant Philippine economy.

Now, when visitors come, will they feel safe and leave the Philippines with beautiful memories of the country to share with others?

Road Safety fellowship for journalists

Published by Ellen on January 30, 2017

The 2015 World Health Organization’s Global Status Report on Road Safety estimates 10,379 fatalities in the country a year, half of them motorcycle riders, followed by pedestrians.

That’s more than 10,000 families deprived of a father, a mother, a brother, a sister or a member of the family, many of them were breadwinners caused by something that is preventable.

The country’s health system also share considerable burden in the treatment of injuries caused road crashes.
Just think: If the public are more road- safety- conscious, so much misery and pain could have been prevented and government resources could have been spent in other urgent needs. It could free up beds for other patients in crowded public hospitals.

When protectors become tormentors

Published by Ellen on January 28, 2017

Update: SC issues writ of amparo in favor of kin of slain drug suspects
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/597757/news/nation/sc-issues-writ-of-amparo-in-favor-of-kin-of-slain-drug-suspects

Centerlaw's Romel Bagares files the first suit against Oplan Tokhang before the Supreme Court. — Centerlaw’s Romel Bagares files the first suit against Oplan Tokhang before the Supreme Court.

There’s a part in the narration by the surviving victims of Oplan Tokhang in Payatas in Quezon City last August 21 that sends chills down one’s spine.

In the petition for Writ of Amparo filed by Centerlaw before the Supreme Court last Thursday, it related that a few days after the killings, a television reporter and his crew came to Area B, Group 9, Bgy. Payatas to interview witnesses. “However, no one agreed to speak with him or even come near him because unbeknownst to him, the police escort he took with him to the area is PO3 Allan Formilleza, one of the policemen involved in the killings.All the members of the community were terror-stricken at the sudden appearance of Formilleza that day.”

That was frightening.