Benigno Aquino III – Page 2 – ellen tordesillas

APEC summit: an opportunity for renewal of PH-China ties

Published by Ellen on November 9, 2014

Pres. Aquino arrives in Beijing. Photo by Xinhua.

President Aquino today is in a lakeside resort in Yanqihu, 50 kilometers from Beijing, for the 22nd summit of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation or APEC.

China's President Xi Jinping — China’s President Xi Jinping

This is the first time that Aquino and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a chance for greetings more than just “hello” and “goodbye”.

Aquino has announced there is no scheduled bilateral meeting between him and Xi during the two-day Beijing summit.

The Department of Foreign Affairs was working on a pull-aside meeting (about 10 to 15 minutes) on the sidelines of the Summit but if even that is not possible they see a chance “to break the ice” in the frosty relations between the two countries during the turnover of the hosting Leaders Meeting towards the end of the meeting on Tuesday.

Aquino’s deafening silence on the killing of Jennifer Laude

Published by Ellen on October 19, 2014

The silence of President Aquino on the murder of a Filipino transgender by a member of the United States Marine Corps more than a week ago in Olongapo City is deafening.

Jennifer Laude, 26, a citizen of this country was killed brutally (severely beaten, strangled, drowned , her head shoved in the toilet bowl) almost midnight of Oct. 11 by Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton, who is here as part of the PH-US military exercises.

More than a week has passed and not a word of concern from the President of the Philippines.
No representative from Malacañang nor from the Department of Foreign Affairs has visited the grieving family of Laude.

Let’s not forget Purisima

Published by Ellen on October 12, 2014

While we are riveted to the splendor of Hacienda Binay’s Kew Gardens and air-conditioned piggery, let us not forget Philippine National Police Chief Alan Purisima and his questionable acts as a public official.

PNP Chief Alan Purisima and President Aquino

The public should be more vigilant of the Purisima case because no less than President Aquino is protecting him, vouching for the Police chief’s integrity despite blatant violation of ethical standards set for government officials.

Talking with reporters in Indonesia, Aquino said, “Natuwa ako noong sinama niya lahat sa bahay niya sa Nueva Ecija. Iyon, gawain ng tao na hindi nagtatago.”

What kind of logic is that? Allowing media to see his vacation villa in a 4.5 hectare property in Nueva Ecija does not answer the questions of how he acquired it at a cheap price and how he was able to build a nice four-bedroom vacation house complete with swimming pool, gazebo and a nipa hut out of his salary as a police officer.

It is PR.

1987 coup: The ties that bind PNoy and Purisima

Published by Ellen on October 2, 2014

President Aquino with PNP Chief Alan Purisima.

President Aquino’s dogged defense of Police Chief Alan Purisima despite revelations of acts of irregularity and the public’s frustration over breakdown of law and order, have led many to ask what’s behind the closeness of the two.

While in New York last week, Aquino described the PNP Chief as ““not capricious.” Back in Manila after information about the luxurious Nueva Ecija vacation house with an attic on a 4.5 hectare property with a separate pavilion, separate four- car garage with quarters, a 7.5m x 15m pool, Aquino maintains the line that criticisms against his administration are really meant to block reforms that he is instituting.

It should be recalled that in order to install Purisima as PNP chief before the 2013 elections, then PNP Chief Nicanor Bartolome was forced to retire three months before his retirement age of 56.

Run, PNoy, Run

Published by Ellen on September 14, 2014

I have lost track counting the number of somersaults that President Aquino and his spokesmen have performed on the issue of whether he wants to stay in Malacañang after his term ends on June 30, 2016.

To save myself further aggravation, I decided to “like” President Aquino’s Facebook Page which was brought to my attention by singer Leah Navarro.

Navarro, a certified PNoy loyalist, said: “ Have any of you visited the President’s Facebook page? It’s Noynoy Aquino P-Noy . It has over four million likes. You’ll see a clamor for the President to stay on for another term. It’s pretty awesome – thousands of people have posted, commented on, or just ‘liked’ this suggestion that he stay on for another six years.”

5 possible reasons why PNoy floated Chacha and term extension

Published by Ellen on August 17, 2014

Faced with overwhelming opposition to a Charter Change to allow President Aquino to extend his term beyond 2016, Malacañang has backtracked and assured the public that he is not supporting changes in the Constitution in the last two years of his presidency.

Press Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr and Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte can resort to all kinds of spins but it is on record (TV5’s interview Aug. 13 interview) that Aquino said he was open to charter change to clip the powers of the Supreme Court and to another term.
But why did Aquino float it in the first place?

We can think of five possible reasons:

Listen to your mother

Published by Ellen on August 14, 2014

The outpouring of grief that catapulted Noynoy Aquino to the presidency.

Had former President Cory Aquino not died on Aug. 1, 2009, her son, Benigno Aquino III would not be in Malacañang today.

At the time of Cory’s death, nine months before the May 2010 presidential elections, Noynoy Aquino, who had an unremarkable record as legislator (9 years as representative of the 2nd district of Tarlac and three years as senator), was not in anybody’s mind for the highest position in the land.

He was catapulted to the presidency by the people’s sympathy for his mother.

He owes his presidency to his mother.

Aquino satisfaction rating plunge: The calm before the storm

Published by Ellen on August 13, 2014

Take note that the Social Weather Stations survey showing a 16- point plunge in net satisfaction for the Aquino administration was conducted on June 27 – 30, 2014.

From 45 percent last March, satisfaction for general performance of the Aquino administration dropped to 29 percent in the June survey.

This was before the July 1 Supreme Court unanimous decision declaring the Disbursement Acceleration Program or DAP unconstitutional.

This was before Aquino went ballistic against the Supreme Court insisting on his own interpretation of the Constitution deliberately ignoring that under our system of government the final arbiter when it comes to legal issues is the Supreme Court.

Aquino accepts SC decision on DAP, submits supplemental budget

Published by Ellen on July 29, 2014

By Ellen T.Tordesillas, VERA Files

President Aquino asked Congress approval of a supplemental budget Malacanang is submitting in what many see as compliance to the Supreme Court ruling of the Disbursement Acceleration Program as unconstitutional, a departure from his earlier combative stance.

Related story:

People’s SONA: Boss ‘fires’ PNoy

In his 5th State of the Nation Address Monday, President Aquino said they had had to suspend a number of projects “to make certain that we remain in accordance with the Supreme Court’s decision on the Disbursement Acceleration Program, or DAP.”

“This is why: We are proposing the passage of a supplemental budget for 2014, so that the implementation of our programs and projects need not be compromised,” he said.

Aquino pays tribute to Abad’s creative genius

Published by Ellen on July 27, 2014

The speech of President Aquino during 75th anniversary of the Department of Budget and Management on April 25, 2011 has become relevant amid the controversy generated by the Disbursement Accelerated Program or DAP, the brainchild of Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad that got unqualified support from President Aquino.

This is what Aquino said:

Category: Benigno Aquino III