Category: General

Please click on each picture to see it enlarged. Scout rangers arrive at the Sierra Madre Hall for the hearing. 1. Army Capt. Ruben Guinolbay,…

By Reinir Padua and Jocelyn Montemayor
Malaya

THE United States has denied the petition for political asylum of former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc Joc” Bolante, a UP law professor who has been monitoring the case said yesterday.

“My sources have said that was denied three or four days ago… Maybe on Wednesday,” Harry Roque said in a phone interview.

“It was denied because of insufficiency (of evidence his life was in danger)… He doesn’t qualify for an asylum… The judge (handling his case) is very strict,” he said.

Victor Reyes’ report in Malaya:

Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. yesterday assailed the credibility of separate investigations conducted by a United Nations special rapporteur and the Melo Commission that blamed the military for the rash of extrajudicial killings.

Esperon sought to turn the tables on UN special rapporteur Philip Alston who said Wednesday the military “remains in a state of almost total denial” over the killings which have been “convincingly attributed to them.”

“I believe that Mr. Alston might be in a state of denial himself. He probably refuses to believe that the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army could perpetrate such killings,” said Esperon.

INDEPENDENT COMMISSION TO

ADDRESS MEDIA AND ACTIVIST KILLINGS

Created under Administrative Order No. 157 (s. 2006)

INTRODUCTION

There is no shirking the fact that people, almost all of them activists or militants, have been killed. There is no denying the reality that militant citizens have been liquidated. The numbers vary. Task Force Usig of the Philippine National Police listed down one hundred eleven (111) killings, which has since increased to one hundred thirty six (136). Amnesty International, in its official website, mentions 244 victims. The group Karapatan is said to have counted at least 724 killings. Unfortunately, none of the so-called activist/militant groups, be they outright communist or satellite groups, came forward if only to inform the Commission of the numbers of their members who have become victims of extrajudicial killings. Be this as it may, the number, whether at a low of 111 according to Task Force Usig, or a high of 724 of Karapatan, is one too many.

Report of Professor Phillip Alston, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. Manila, 21 February 2007

I have spent the past ten days in the Philippines at the invitation of the Government in order to inquire into the phenomenon of extrajudicial executions. I am very grateful to the Government for the unqualified cooperation extended to me.

During my stay here I have met with virtually all of the relevant senior officials of Government. They include the President, the Executive Secretary, the National Security Adviser, the Secretaries for Defense, Justice, DILG and the Peace Process. I have also met with a significant number of members of Congress on different sides of the political spectrum, the Chief Justice, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Chair of the Human Rights Commission, the Ombudsman, the members of both sides of the Joint Monitoring Committee, and representatives of the MNLF and MILF.

I met for the first time Leyte Gov. Jericho Petilla last Tuesday at ABS-CBN when he and other Team GMA senatorial candidates guested at Pia…

While the United Opposition is looking for a name that will truly describe the grand coalition that they are now, San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito has accepted the role of campaign manager for the senatorial slate.

Opposition sources said, former Senate President Enesto Maceda will take the tougher job of assembling the local line-up for the opposition.

The opposition senatorial ticket is “a grand coalition of people from all sectors— women, the youth, the political sector and civil society,” grand coalition spokesman Adel Tamano said.

Lito Banayo, who had been speaking for UNO, will be running for representative of Manila (Ermita distict).

Last Wednesday, the Senate approved the Anti-Terror Bill which will be known as Human Security Act of 2007. It is now sent to the bicameral conference committee.

CODAL (Counsels for the Defense of Liberties) is concerned about the Senate version. Codal said, the Senate version is more draconian than that of the House.

By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s infamous temper flared up once more when she abruptly ended an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer in front of a stunned audience which included three Cabinet Secretaries and an official of the International Monetary Fund.

Click here for GMATV’s video report.

President Arroyo was nettled by repeated questions on why the benefits of a spectacular economic growth had not trickled down to the grassroots. She blew her top even before the Inquirer could finish what turned out to be the brief interview’s final question: “Isn’t it a concern for you ma’am that the billionaires during the time of Marcos and Ramos are also the same billionaires now?”

Thanks for keeping the fires burning while I was savoring the peace and serenity of barrio life.

In our place in Guisijan, a barrio in the town of Laua-an in Antique, we have no TV, internet, newspaper. I don’t turn on the radio.

This is the scene that I wake up to every morning:

Beyond the ricefield is the sea. From my bedroom, I can hear the lapping of the waves.

My garden is abloom. Take a look: