Category: Malaya

Oras na ng bayaran ng P35 bilyun na PEACe Bonds

Published by Ellen on October 9, 2011

Nabuhay na naman ang usapang PEACe Bonds ( Poverty Eradication and Alleviation Certificates) dahil sa Oktubre 18, magbabayad na ang pamahalaan ng P35 bilyon sa ibinentang bonds na ang kumita ng husto ay ang CODE-NGO (Caucus for Development-Non-Government Organization).

Click below for:

Position paper of CODE-NGO on Peace Bonds
Statement of the Freedom from Debt Coalition on PEACe Bonds

Ang CODE-NGO ay organisasyun ng grupo nina Social Services Secretary Dinky Soliman.

Ito ngayon ang interesante. Noong binabatikos ito noong 2001 sa Kongreso, ang nagdedepensa kina Soliman ay si Mikey Arroyo, anak ni Gloria Arroyo, na doon ay kongresista ng pangalawang distrito ng Pampanga (ang nanay niya ang may hawak ng puwesto nay an ngayon) na ngayon ay miyembro pa rin ng kongreso ngunit bilang kinatawan ng mga security guards at tricycle drivers.

A traumatic taxi ride

Published by Ellen on October 6, 2011

My VERA Files colleague, Yvonne Chua, forwarded to me a note from Jose Ramon Albert, a senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies,enclosing a first-person account by his niece Carina Linao, titled “Near-death experience.”

It was dated Sept. 26, 2011.I’m sharing this letter to warn others to be careful in taking taxis.

Here’s Ms Linao’s story:

“I don’t think I’ll ever go to Mall of Asia ever, again. I don’t like that mall anyway. Besides, it’s too big and far for me. I won’t go there ever.

In the aftermath of “Pedring”

Published by Ellen on September 27, 2011

The world is filled with stories of opportunities resulting from adversities.

There is one report that gives me hope Manila’s landscape would improve after the destruction caused by Pedring.

A Facebook entry mentioned that many of those ugly, multi-colored lamps along Roxas Blvd have been destroyed.

That means, the city government would be allotting millions of pesos again to have Roxas Boulevard lighted. I hope former Tourism secretary Gemma Cruz, who advises Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim on historical and cultural matters, recommends a better- designed lamps that reflect the beauty and character of Manila.

Buko talk

Published by Ellen on September 26, 2011

buko juice vendor — Thanks to Desi-Radio for the photo

Much as I’d like to join in the excitement of President Aquino over the interest of American businessmen in coconut water or buko juice, I have my reservations.

Upon his arrival from the United States, where he attended the official launch of the Open Government Partnership in New York – an initiative by US President Barack Obama and Brazil President Dilma Rouseff to promote transparency in governance, the President waxed ecstatic about the information that the Americans have discovered the joys of drinking buko juice, something that Filipinos have been doing since time immemorial.

“Drinking what they call coco water and what we call buko juice is a growing trend in the US. Because of its nutrients, because it is natural and environment friendly, it is becoming the new natural sports drink in America and is now a hundred-million-dollar industry,” he said.

An afternoon of Laughter Yoga

Published by Ellen on September 18, 2011

Laughing with RRR — This was not the Laughter Yoga session. But we were laughing and having a good time.

I came across two articles on the benefits of laughter last week.

One was through e-mail about a study conducted by the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine which was presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Paris last August 28.

The article written by Rick Nauert PhD, senior news editor of psychcentral.com, it said volunteers watched segments of a funny movie, such as “There’s Something About Mary” on one day and on another day watched the violent opening segment of the stressful movie “Saving Private Ryan.”

The study revealed that when volunteers watched “Saving Private Ryan,”, their blood vessel lining developed a potentially unhealthy response called vasoconstriction, reducing blood flow. “This finding confirms previous studies, which suggested there was a link between mental stress and the narrowing of blood vessels,” the article said.

Lim’s resignation puts Mark Lapid issue in Aquino’s court

Published by Ellen on August 14, 2011

Mark Lapid 2 — Mark Lapid: a test of Aquino's 'tuwid na daan' crusade

Now that Bertie Lim will soon be out of the Department of Tourism, the issue about Mark Lapid rests squarely with President Aquino.

People in the DOT are keenly watching the case of Lapid because it would prove to them that the President’s pledge l to lead the people through the “matuwid na daan” is more than just sloganeering.

I would like to make it clear here that the case of Lapid is a separate issue from Lim’s lackluster performance as tourism chief.

I think that quitting the DOT was a good decision for Lim. His one year stint with the DOT showed that he is not cut for that job which requires more than sincerity, honesty and dedication.

Anyway, sometime in May, Lim reported to Aquino about his problem with Lapid, chief operating officer of Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), formerly Philippine Tourism Authority. The report allegedly involved deals with suppliers.

The untouchable Jesus Verzosa

Published by Ellen on August 7, 2011

Is it believable that then Philippine National Police Chief, Jesus Versoza, signed the documents for the purchase of three new helicopters in the amount of P104.9 million without knowing that two of those aircraft were second-hand and previously owned by Mike Arroyo, husband of Gloria Arroyo?

Is it also believable that Mike Arroyo would decide to involve PNP in this anomalous deal without making sure that the PNP chief is into his scheme?

The seemingly velvet glove treatment of Verzosa in this anomalous deal that cost the reportedly cash-trapped PNP, and in a larger picture, the Filipino people millions of pesos, is intriguing and disturbing.

After “Hello” from Bedol, will it be “Hello Garci”?

Published by Ellen on July 19, 2011

bedol and his cellphone — Photo by Rhoy Cobilla of Malaya

It was so ludicrous that you would think it was a Michael V skit.

Yesterday, at the start of the media presentation of Lintang Bedol at the Commission on Elections in Intramuros, Manila, Chairman Sixto Brillantes told the magician election supervisor of Maguindanao, ” O baka gusto mo mag-hello.”

Bedol, wearing dark glasses and a bullet-proof vest, looked so relaxed despite the charge of contempt that was slapped on him for his four-year disappearance when he was asked to produce some documents related to the 2007 elections.

Bedol, waving to the reporters, said, “Hello, kumusta kayo lahat.”

It was bizarre.

I don’t think he realized his crime when he tampered the results of the 2004 elections subverting the people’s choice of their leaders thereby allowing a fake president to remain in power for six more years.

No closure without truth about ‘Hello Garci’

Published by Ellen on July 12, 2011

I don’t know if Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano has a hidden agenda in questioning the refusal of Chairman Sixto Brillantes of the Commission on Elections to his call for revival of the investigation on the “Hello Garci” scandal but I see the merits of his proposal because all the anomalies that are now coming out can be traced to Gloria Arroyo’s original sin which was stealing the presidency.

Nothing can be more eloquent than the fiery accusation of Susan Roces, widow of Fernando Poe Jr.: “You stole the presidency not once but twice!”

All that Arroyo could say was, “I am sorry.” To this day, we don’t know what she was sorry about.

FPJ was the second victim of Arroyo’s theft of the people’s mandate. The first was Joseph Estrada, from whom Arroyo grabbed power in 2001 with the help of civil society groups that have since discovered her true colors and have become her critics.

Joint use in Spratlys: ‘What is mine is mine and what is yours, we share’

Published by Ellen on July 11, 2011

JMSU map sent by Golez — The red line is the coverage of the JMSU. The area to the right of the blue line is Philippine-claimed territory.

Retired Philippine diplomat Alberto Encomienda quipped when he delivered his paper “The South China Sea: Back to the Future through Cooperation” that with all meetings and conferences, as many as 20 in one year, being held on the South China Sea, it’s no longer “confidence building.”

We are now experiencing “conference building,” he said.

But as Winston Churchill wisely said, “To jaw-jaw always is better than to war-war.”

The organizers of last week’s Manila Conference on the South China Sea deserve congratulations for a substantial program. They got excellent speakers. Even if many of the papers presented overlapped with each other, which cannot be avoided because they revolved around one subject, they all helped in the deepening of understanding of the issue that keeps on popping up on an otherwise stable region.