Category: Malaya

How serious is this latest jueteng noise?

Published by Ellen on December 16, 2012

The P10 million a month Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino, Jr.

Jueteng investigations come and go but the illegal numbers game is flourishing as ever.

News reports about Pangasinan Governor Amado Espino, Jr. as a jueteng lord is nothing new. On Sept. 20, 2010, retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz gave the Senate committee investigating the illegal numbers game a list containing 12 names of jueteng lords, operators and recipients of payola which he said his group, Krusada ng Bayan Laban sa Jueteng, had cross-checked with several sources including those with the Philippine National Police and the Department of Interior and Local Government.

Espino’s name was there together with that of two people close to President Aquino: former Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Rico E. Puno and former Philippine National Police chief Jesus Verzosa, touted to be the next DILG secretary but had to retire early due his negligence in the Aug 23, 2010 Rizal park hostage-taking fiasco.

What’s Pacquaio take on his men’s boorish actions?

Published by Ellen on December 13, 2012

Michael Koncz grabs photographer's shirt — Michael Koncz grabs photographer’s shirt

Manny Pacquiao should be asked what he should do with his confidante and assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez and adviser Michael Koncz who assaulted photojournalist Al Bello who was taking a picture of Pacquiao unconscious after he was knocked out by Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez.

The deplorable incident was captured on camera by Chris Cozzone and can be viewed at http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/boxing/manny-pacquiao-aides-allegedly-attacked-photographer-brutal-knockout-005405170–box.html

A Yahoo news report by Kevin Lole showed a picture of Koncz grabbing Bello by his shirt while the burly Fernandez kicked him.

Another picture showed an enraged Fernandez going down through the ropes running after Bello.

Aquino missed the chance of making Human Rights Day more meaningful

Published by Ellen on December 12, 2012

Daryl Fortuna — Missing since March 9, 2010

Malacanang’s enumeration of its human rights initiatives last Monday, International Human Rights Day, would have been more meaningful had President Aquino signed the proposed “Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012” which had been on his table for almost three weeks.

Fernando Butch Fortuna Jr — Fernando “Butch” Fortuna, Jr: his son disappeared more than two years ago.

Families of those who just “disappeared” from the face of the earth, most of them for their political beliefs, were fervently hoping for an early Christmas gift for the President. But alas, there was no such gift from the President.

Fernando “Butch” Fortuna, a taxi driver, tearfully appealed to the President to help find his son Daryl who was forcibly taken, with an female companion , Jinky Garcia, and Ronron Landingin, one evening in Masinloc, Zambales by men suspected to be members of the 24th Infantry Batallion of the Philippine ArmyB-PA while he was in an outreach activity in connection with his thesis. At that time, Daryl was a graduating student of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

Chit Estella Journalism awards focus on human rights reports

Published by Ellen on December 6, 2012

Congratulations to the winners in the 1st Chit Estella Journalism awards.

The awardees were Elizabeth Lolarga of the Philippine Daily Inquirer for her print story, “365 political prisoners go on hunger strike” and Ina Alleco Silverio of Bulatlat.com for her online story, “Three months after Sendong, Iligan residents still far from rebuilding their lives.”

The winners of the 1st Chit Estella Journalism Awards will be known Friday (Dec 7) in an event at the UP College of Mass Communications Auditorium that will also include a Memorial Lecture.

The Chit Estella Awards honor the best journalistic report on human rights in print and online, published between October 1, 2011 and October 1, 2012. Each awardee will be given a cash prize of P10,000 and a trophy.

This year’s finalists for online media are:

-Three months after Sendong, Iligan residents still far from rebuilding their lives by Ina Alleco Silverio

-Jonas Burgos, gentle and brave by Ronalyn Olea

-Privatization of government hospitals, further marginalizing the poor in the name of profit by Anne Marxze Umil

Maguindanao massacre on our mind

Published by Ellen on November 25, 2012

Cagayan de Oro from Froilan Gallardo — The media community in Cagayan de Oro. Photo from Froilan Gallardo’s FB

The 2009 Maguindanao massacre and the sad fact that justice continues to elude the victims were foremost in the minds of the delegates to the 9th Spectrum Fellowship National Campus Journalism conference held at Mambukal resort in Negros Occidental.

The Spectrum is the official student media corps of the University of St La Salle. There were about 60 participants in the conference coming not only from De La Salle but also from Far Eastern University, University of Sto. Tomas and University of San Agustin in Iloilo City.

They had an interesting range of topics. I came on the second day (Friday) and I caught up with the lectures of Ernie Sarmiento, formerly chief photographer of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, on photojournalism ethics, Philippine Star columnist Cito Beltran on opinion writing, GMA-7 (Iloilo)’s Rexcel Sorza on social media ethics, and RA Rivera on connecting through video.

PH should face up to the reality ‘When China rules the world’

Published by Ellen on November 22, 2012

Martin Jacques and Sen. Alan Cayetano, one of the sponsors of the forum.

While President Aquino was making waves in the summit of Asean leaders and their dialogue partners in Cambodia with his statement urging the United States to speak up on the South China Sea conflict which was anathema to China, visiting journalist and China expert, Martin Jacques, was telling a rapt audience at the Manila Intercon, “I don’t think it would serve the Philippine well to think that the United States will help” in the territorial conflict with China.

“I am not arguing that the Philippines give up its claims, but a way has to be found to deal with these questions, a way that does not involve derailing or poisoining its relationship with China because it will not get anywhere,” he said.

Jacques is the author of the 2009 bestseller, When China Rules the World, which asserts that “by 2027 China will overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy, and by 2050 its economy will be twice as large as that of the United States.”

Aquino berating media is becoming boring

Published by Ellen on November 15, 2012

3rd SonaB — Berating media has become a habit for Aquino.

Why am I not surprised that the Freedom of Information bill in the House of Representatives has been declared dead in the 15th Congress by press freedom advocates?

Simple: President Aquino does not support it.

Despite the fact that he was product of media hype, he does not understand the role of media in governance and in strengthening democracy. Although he said when he was campaigning for the presidency in 2010 that he was going to support the FOI bill, he never included it among his administration’s priority measures.

Look back to his statements the past two years:

In Oct. 2011, before Southeast Asian leaders, Aquino said: “You know, having a freedom of information act sounds so good and noble but at the same time—I think you’ll notice that here in this country—there’s a tendency of getting information and not really utilizing it for the proper purposes.”

VFA does not say PH can be dumping site of US wastes

Published by Ellen on November 11, 2012

The lawyers of Glenn Defense Marine Asia better look for a justification much more astounding than the Visiting Forces Agreement for the dumping of toxic waste in Philippine waters by their client, Malaysian firm Glenn Defense Marine Asia.

Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago, chair of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments and acknowledged expert on international law, and Loren Legarda, chair of the Committee on Foreign Relations and co-chair of the Legislative Oversight Committee on the VFA, are calling for an investigation of the dumping in Subic Bay of Glenn Defense of toxic wastes from a US navy ship, Emory Land last month.

It has been reported that Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chair Roberto Garcia is investigating the incident and is asking Glenn Defense side on the illegal act.

Veteran diplomat Lauro Baja on the ‘New China’

Published by Ellen on November 8, 2012

The changing of the guards in China is ongoing at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China which started yesterday.

Chinese President Hu Jintao will turn over leadership to Vice President Xi Jinping.

One of the Philippines’ seasoned diplomats, Lauro Baja, formerly the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations talked to some members of media and shared his thoughts on how the Philippines should deal with the “new China.”

Baja, who also served as Foreign Affairs undersecretary for policy, thinks despite the change in leadership, China “will not be able to veer away too much from what is existing now. “

But, he said, “there is now a new dynamic in China, the news is now more vocal, the social media is more vocal and there is a greater degree of nationalism among people in the streets. As a matter of fact they now think and they may be rightly so that they are now the center of the world. “

Concrete evidence, not snide remarks, needed to convict Gloria

Published by Ellen on November 6, 2012

Sharing a sick joke — Penchant for unnecessary snide remarks

The day that President Aquino talks about his accomplishments without snide remarks at Gloria Arroyo, is the day I can say that he has matured as a leader of this country.

As of now, his penchant for snide remarks about people he doesn’t like gives the impression of being juvenile.

Reports from Vientiane, Laos , where Aquino is attending the Asia –Europe summit, said during his meeting with the Filipino community, he said people in the previous administration seem to be using a different kind of calculator when it comes to public works projects and rice imports.

“As other people say, maybe they used a different kind of calculator and the addition button is automatic and frequently pushed,” he said elaborating that the Arroyo administration imported 2.5 million metric tons of rice for a 1.3 million shortage , the end result of which is excess rice now rotting in warehouses.