General – Page 16 – ellen tordesillas

Kaban ng bayan, bantayan

Published by Ellen on September 15, 2008

by Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson

Distinguished colleagues, members of the Senate of the 14th Congress of this once proud and great Republic, ladies and gentlemen:

I stand on a matter of personal and collective privilege.

In a press conference called by the Senate President inside his office last Tuesday, he virtually declared war against some of his colleagues, this representation included.

Mr. Senate President, if you are telling us to bring it on, just like a confident poker player with winning cards would say – and I now say to you – All in.

There is an Indian proverb that goes like this:

Tell me a fact and I will learn.
Tell me the truth and I will believe.
Tell me a story and it will live forever in my heart

Ladies and gentlemen of this august chamber, These are the facts:

Book finds

Published by Ellen on September 14, 2008

It’s a sumptuous book buffet at the SMX Convention Center at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City where the 29th Manila International Book Fair is being held.

Writer Nelson Navarro and I were happy to get “good buys.” With 20 to 30 percent discounts, it made for a satisfying afternoon.

Nelson was able to find a rare copy of Eusebius Julius Halsema’s biography published by New Day Publishing. Yes, he is the Halsema of the highway going to Baguio City. An engineer, Halsema was the pre-war mayor of Baguio City.

I got several items from Anvil that covered the whole political spectrum from “Right” to “Left”. One is a slim (155 pages) book that tackles a heavy topic: “Before Gringo: History of the Philippine Military (1830 to 1972)” by Honolulu-based Donald Berlin, who worked for many years at the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington D.C.

‘Take advantage of the corrupt system’

Published by Ellen on September 13, 2008

The image is that of Winston Garcia, GSIS General manager. I’m not so sure about the voice. The talk is that it was said in a Meralco board meeting last year. Take time to view it. Interesting.

Some of the sentences are disjointed but this is what I have put together:

The Maldanas incident

Published by Ellen on September 13, 2008

Under the topic, “Ermita’s Sabah memo”, one of our regulars here, Sulbatz, recalled the story of the Maldanas incident which happened on Sept 26, 1985. I tried to google the Maldanas incident but I only found one line in http://www.usssatyr.com/now.htm

I found two items in yahoo.com. One was a 1994 Inquirer article after the Abu Sayyaf first made its existence public in the Ipil massacre. The article stressed the sensitivity of the Maldanas incident. “Ramos warned against issuing statements blaming the Lahad Datu- Maldanas (Siluag) incident on the Malaysian Armed Forces. Without high-level diplomatic talks on the incident, it could have become a full-blown conflict.” (http://www.nisat.org/blackmarket/asia/Southeast_Asia/Philippines/94.07.31-Abu%20Sayyaf%20Weapons%20Capabilities-%20Foreign%20Supporters%20Listed.html)

The other item is a comment in http://timawa.net/forum/index.php?topic=9598.0. It said “On Sept 26, 1985, 4 foreign gunboats and 3 helicopters attacked the Maldanas islet in Sibutu islands. Initially, Malaysia was blamed it being suggested the attack was in retaliation for a Moro pirate raid on Lahad Datu in Sabah. The Malaysians protested their innocence and subsequently it was felt that the raid came from Vietnam or China in an attempt to spoil relations between the 2 countries.” ( source : Air Wars and Aircraft, 1990)”

I’m glad that Sulbatz shared with us this inside story from an officer’s first hand account:

SC panel finds five CA justices violated ethics in Meralco-GSIS case

Published by Ellen on September 9, 2008

From:abs-cbnNEWS.com

The Supreme Court is set to tackle in its en banc session Tuesday the findings of the panel tasked to investigate the controversy at the Court of Appeals (CA) on the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) – Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) case.

The panel’s findings reportedly showed irregularities and improprieties committed by five CA justices involved in the controversy.

In a 59-page report submitted by the panel to the SC, details of irregularities and improprieties by CA Justices Jose Sabio, Presiding Justice Conrado Vasquez, Vicente Roxas, Bienvenido Reyes and Myrna Vidal were all detailed.

4 Marines killed, 10 hurt in Sulu firefight

Published by Ellen on August 30, 2008

Breaking News:

By Joel Guinto
Inquirer.net

Four soldiers were killed while 10 others wounded when they were ambushed by suspected Muslim extremists in the southern island province of Sulu Saturday morning, the commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps said.

At 6:45 a.m., a convoy from the 11th Marine Battalion Landing Team was in the vicinity of Bonbon village in Patikul town when they were attacked by the gunmen, believed to be members of the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, Major General Ben Dolorfino said.

Why Palawan and Mindanao are very much coveted

Published by Ellen on August 23, 2008

The Magdalo website (www.magdaloparasapagbabago.blogspot.com) has a Philippine Energy Contracting Rounds (PECR) TECHNICAL REPORT on the petroleum potential of Offshore Palawan and Sulu Sea. It says,…

Walang pusong kaunlaran

Published by Ellen on August 16, 2008

Bilib na sana ako sa China. Ngunit ng lumabas ang kwento tungkol sa pagtanggal nila sa pitong taong batang si Yang Peiyi sa opening ceremony ng beijing Olympics, nawala na ang bilib ko.

Ang isang bansa, kahit gaano kayaman o kagaling, kung hindi marunong magrespesto sa pakiramdam ng kanyang mga tao, lalo pa bata, wala yun.

Sinabi sa report na napabilib ni Lin Miaoke, siyam na taong gulang batang Intsik, ang milyon-milyon na nanood nang siya kay kumanta ng “Ode to Motherland” habang siya ay itinaas sa mga alambre. Ngayon nanuking na lip-sync lang pala ang ginawa at ang talagang kumant ay ang pitong taong gulang na si Yang Peiyi.

Thank you all for your patience

Published by Ellen on August 14, 2008

I think I’m back to normal operation. Thank you all very much for your patience.

Harry Roque elected to Council of the International Criminal Bar

Published by Ellen on July 23, 2008

University of the Philippines College of Law Professor Herminio Harry L. Roque Jr. has been elected to the Council of the International Criminal Bar, which acts as representative of counsel to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Prof. Roque is the first Asian to have been elected to as an individual counsel to the governing body of the The Hague-based six-year old international lawyersʼ organization.

Category: General