Category: Malaya

The danger that Domingo Lee poses to national interest

Published by Ellen on November 24, 2011

Domingo Lee at Senate hearing Nov 23, 2011 — Lee getting a briefing on Diplomacy 101 at Senate CA hearing Nov 23, 2011

Sen. Serge Osmeña III was so embarrassed by Domingo Lee’s ignorance about diplomacy that he appealed to President Aquino to withdraw Lee’s nomination as ambassador to China.

Related post: http://www.ellentordesillas.com/2011/08/16/will-lee-defend-ph-sovereignty-over-recto-bank-in-beijing/

But no, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, as reported by Philippine Star, said President Aquino has no plans at the moment to replace Lee as his nominee for the post of Philippine ambassador to China.

The reason, Lacierda said, was, “The government had not received objections from China with regard to the appointment of Lee.”

I’m glad that Lacierda also added, “We will leave it with the secretary of Foreign Affairs to comment on the statement of Senator (Sergio) Osmeña” because his statement waiting for an objection from China on the President’s choice of ambassador is worrisome.

Arroyo’s electoral sabotage case and Maguindanao massacre intertwined

Published by Ellen on November 22, 2011

gma ampatuan rdcc — Gloria Arroyo with Andal Sr and Zaldy Ampatuan. Malalim ang pinagsamahan.

Today, we will be at the historic Mendiola Bridge (now renamed Don Chino Roces Bridge) to remind President Aquino that the families of the victims of the Maguindanao massacre are still waiting for “justice” that he promised last July.

A tweet by Federico Pascual is shared by many who lament the slow pace of the trial: “If only PNoy could show the same speed & single-mindedness in prosecuting the plotters & killers in 2-year-old Ampatuan masssacre.”

In a statement the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said “Two years after the gruesome crime, 103 of the 196 suspects remain at large and only two of the principal suspects have been arraigned. The case remains snagged on hearings on petitions for bail of the accused.”

Lessons from last week’s circus

Published by Ellen on November 21, 2011

GMA mug shot — GMA's mugshot:Police nor Pasay RTC didn't release this photo.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, looking satisfied in her evening press briefing in Malacanang last Friday after the warrant of arrest was served on Gloria Arroyo at the St. Luke’s Hospital, said the reason she put Arroyo in the Watch List Order was because they were still finalizing the electoral sabotage case, which became the basis for the warrant of arrest issued by Pasay RTC Judge Jesus Mupas.

The arrest warrant was in connection with the electoral sabotage suit filed by the Commission on Election which alleged that Arroyo ordered former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr to make all the senatorial candidates of the administration’s Team Unity win in the 2007 elections.

Her inclusion of Arroyo in the WLO, as we all know by now, became a Hold Departure Order because based on it, airport authorities stopped Arroyo from leaving the country.

I need to re-learn the Constitution’s Bill of rights again. What De Lima was saying was it was okay for her to restrict anyone, using WLO, even if there’s no case pending in court, while she is preparing a case against that person.

That is new to me.

Thanks Manny Pacquiao for a hassle-free Sunday morning

Published by Ellen on November 13, 2011

pacquiao-marquez by reuters steve marcus — Thanks to Abs-Cbn online for Reuters' Steve Marcus photo

Boxing is too brutal a spectator sport for me but I’m thankful for the Pacquiao-Marquez fight yesterday.

No, I didn’t watch the third encounter of our very own Manny Pacquiao and Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez. But I enjoyed the free-flowing traffic because almost everybody was glued to television starting early morning. I left Las Piñas 7: 30 a.m. for an 8:30 a.m. breakfast meeting with friends at Italianni’s at Greenbelt 2.

I took the bus and made it to Makati in less than an hour!

There was a little problem though because Italianni’s was reserved for those who wanted to watch the fight so we transferred to Mary Grace, where we had a delightful breakfast of bangus and Vigan langgonisa concluded by hot chocolate and ensaimada.

Bring China’s 9-dash line to UN: Justice Carpio

Published by Ellen on November 6, 2011

The Philippine claim on the islands in the South China Sea , now being called West Philippine Sea by Philippine authorities, could have been stronger had past administrations been more decisive about asserting our claims in the area that is being claimed wholly by China and Taiwan and partially by, aside from the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei.

In a speech of Supreme Court Justice Antonio T. Carpio at the 50th anniversary celebration of Ateneo de Davao University last Oct. 29 on “The Rule of Law as the Great Equalizer’, he mentioned two instances when the Philippines could have done something but did not to strengthen the Philippine claim over the area that spans hundreds of thousands square kilometers including 53 islets.

Justice Carpio’s speech in full:

The Rule of Law as the Great Equalizer by Justice Carpio

The first time was right after the Philippines became a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1982 and the other one was before China opted out in 2006 from the compulsory dispute settlement mechanism of UNCLOS.

Giving meaning to suffering

Published by Ellen on October 30, 2011

agony in the garden — Agony in the garden

One of my favorite quotes on life and death is from the cartoon character Bugs Bunny passed on to me by fellow journalist Minnie Cadeliña.

From Bugs Bunny’s treasure chest of wisdom: “Don’t take life too seriously. After all, nobody has come out of it alive.”

Death is a sure destination for all of us. It’s a question of when and how for each and every one of us.

Another wise advice is from Steve Jobs, one of the founders of Apple Inc., whose time finally came last Oct. 5.

In his speech at Stanford University in June 2005, a year after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Jobs, the inventor life-changing gadgets, called death “the single best invention of Life.”

Here’s what Jobs shared: “No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Destab rumors as diversion: a turnoff

Published by Ellen on October 27, 2011

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte — Abigail Valte

No doubt that Gloria Arroyo and her cohorts would encourage dissatisfaction with the Aquino government but floating a destabilization rumor to divert attention from the Malacanang’s public management bungling of the Oct. 18 Albarka tragedy is a big turnoff.

Peace adviser: MILF to be charged if P5-M aid misspent

The Aquino administration on Thursday vowed to hale the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to court if a P5-million “aid” for a leadership institute is found to be spent for “lawless elements” instead.

But presidential peace process adviser Teresita Deles insisted the P5-million transaction was above board, and that the money was for establishing a Bangsamoro Management and Leadership Institute.

“Certainly if we can see the P5 million was spent for lawless elements, criminal charges will follow. That is the way it is in any such transaction,” Deles said in an interview on dwIZ radio.

Probably anxious to contain the public’s outrage over the seemingly lack of anger by the President against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which killed 19 soldiers in an encounter last Oct, 18, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte confirmed rumors of destabilization plot against the Aquino government in the wake of talks of widespread demoralization in the military.

Deepening PH and Vietnam relations

Published by Ellen on October 26, 2011

The Philippines and Vietnam share a common painful experience with colonial powers but each country dealt with them differently.
Philippine history as famously described by the eminent Carmen Guerrro Nakpil was “300 years in convent and 50 years of Hollywood” referring to 300 years of Spanish domination of Filipinos and 50 years under the Americans. In between, briefly, was the Japanese occupation.

Vietnam, on the other hand, fought fiercely – first the French and later, the Americans – and succeeded to throw out the colonial powers.

It is a tribute to the Vietnamese people that they have risen from the devastation caused by the colonial wars and is now considered the emerging economy in Southeast Asia.

No peace in PEACe bonds

Published by Ellen on October 18, 2011

kim henares — Kim Henares: will she be able to hold her ground?

How would you feel if you lent someone P100 with the agreement that he would pay you back P350 after ten years and when payment time comes, he will tell you he will pay only P300 because he had to deduct tax although when he borrowed the money he told you that the transaction was tax free?

That’s of course, oversimplification of the complicated case of the Poverty Eradication and Alleviation Certificates (PEACe) bonds which became due yesterday.

Ten years ago the Caucus of Development Non-Government Organization ( CODE-NGO) whose members actively participated in the ouster of an elected president, Joseph Estrada, and the installation of Gloria Arroyo in Malacañang in January 2001, concocted the PEACe bonds to raise money for projects for the poor.

CODE-NGO stalwarts include Social Services Secretary Dinky Soliman, Peace Process Adviser Ging Deles, and former DBP Director Dan Songco.

Another cabinet member gets away with wang-wang act

Published by Ellen on October 11, 2011

While Presidential Adviser for Political Affairs Ronald Llamas is twisting in the wind over the discovery of an AK-47 in his official car used by his bodyguards while he was in Switzerland, another cabinet member did a wang-wang act and got away with it.

Last Monday’s column of Antonio Montalvan II in the Philippine Daily Inquirer titled “The people are not her bosses” was about Imelda Nicolas, chairperson of the Commission on Overseas Filipinos.”

He related of his experience lining up for his Philippine Airlines flight last Oct. 1, when the airline’s operations were in chaos because of the wildcat strike of the PAL Employees Union.

Here’s a portion of Montalvan’s narration of the incident:

“Aggravating the already chaotic situation, only two entrance gates of Terminal 3 were opened to departing passengers that morning. Everybody just had to catch their flights. “Everybody” included one latecomer, arriving in an SUV, who was right away allowed entry into the terminal in full view of everyone in that long, long line. It was my turn next to go through the baggage scanner, except that I had to stop and give way to this favored one.