Reeling from the SC's triple whammyIt was a heart-rending scene.
Seventeen grandmothers, in the sunset of their lives, staged a rally Monday before the Supreme Court protesting the plagiarism in the decision that denied them remedy for the wartime savagery they suffered.
The first siege was 66 years ago. In his blog, Roque narrated the horror that descended on Mapanique one day in November 1944:
“At dawn of November 23, 1944, Japanese troops descended on the town of Mapanique, Candaba, Pampanga. To the shock of the local inhabitants, Japanese troops gathered all the men and boys and proceeded to castrate many of them. After which, the men were forced to put their severed sexual organs in their mouths before they were burned to death en masse.
“The women and girls, on the other hand, were marched to what is known until today as ‘Bahay na Pula’ (red house) in San Ildenfonso, Bulacan. There, the women and girls were interred and repeatedly raped.
The latest survey of the Social Weather Station should encourage President Benigno Aquino III to be his own man and assert his leadership as influence groups exert pressure on him, some out of a genuine desire to help him and others to push their own agenda.
The survey conducted June 25 to 28, a few days before Aquino’s inauguration as the country’s 15th president, showed that 88 per cent of adult Filipinos said they have much trust on him while only four percent said had little trust in him. Eight per cent were undecided.
Vice President Binay also got good ratings with 77 per cent trusting him much and only eight per cent have “little trust” in him. Fourteen per cent were undecided.
Eighty-eight percent is very high. Higher than his mother’s high trust rating of plus 72 in October 1986, eight months after she ascended into the presidency through People Power that ended more than two decades of Marcos dictatorship. Higher also than the March 1995 excellent rating of Pope John Paul , whose Philippine visit two months earlier attracted a five million throng at the Rizal Park.
I read that in the training of members of the Aquino cabinet on how to deal with media, public relations practitioner Carol Espiritu stressed the importance of credibility.
How does one achieve credibility? By telling the truth.
Never lie to media. You may be able to get away with it for a few hours or a day but it would be discovered later on. You can’t fool all the people all the time.
That’s what happened in the press conference of Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo last Wednesday. He cited two cases as legal justification for his recommendation to extend for three months the stay of 21 political ambassadors of Gloria Arroyo : Mendoza vs Quisumbing, 186 DCRA110 and Topacio vs Angeles, 76 Phil 12.
Don’t visit the website of the Office of President (www.op.gov.ph). It’s inaccessible and it contains the warning: Visiting this site may harm your computer.
Unable to access the site, a blogger, Ferrum Mann tried accessing a cache and this is what he got: “The website at webcache.googleuser.com contains elements from the site www.macapagal.com which appears to host malware – software that can harm your computer or otherwise operate without your consent. Just visiting a site that contains malware can affect your computer.”
The status of the OP website mirrors the standoff in the rivalry of the two factions in the Aquino administration. It’s also a manifestation of the disarray in the first week of the Aquino presidency.
Vice-president elect-Jejomar Binay has set aside subtlety and made known his desire to be appointed secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government.
“If you go by my experience and expertise, if the incoming President would allow, I would like to be appointed secretary of the DILG, “Binay said yesterday after their proclamation as winners of the May 10 elections.
I seriously doubt Binay will get his wish, even if many in Aquino’s inner circle were his supporters . I understand it’s Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo who will be given this politically strategic position.
Only an informed citizenry can give true meaning to the definition of democracy, which is a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Our Constitution recognizes this. That’s why it is enshrined in the Bill of Rights that “The right of the people to information on matters of public concern shall be recognized.
“Access to official records, and to documents, and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as to government research data used as basis for policy development, shall be afforded the citizen subject to such limitations as may be provided by law.”
The Freedom of Information bill, which Arroyo-administration dominated House of Representatives refused to pass, gives flesh to this Constitutional provision.
22 BulletsThere is something nicely different with the way French filmmakers narrate their stories.There is subtlety absent in Hollywood movies Filipinos are used to, which makes them absorbing and fascinating.
That’s why the yearly French film festival in Manila is an event film lovers look forward to. That’s why it has lasted this long and still going strong.
In last Tuesday’s preview of the film “La graine et le mulet” (The secret of the grain), Martin Macalintal, head of the audio-visual section of the French Embassy, said in selecting movies to be shown in the festival they always make sure that they are the latest releases. Although there are a number of historical or period films in past festivals, the bulk of the films showcase French contemporary society.
“La Graine et le mulet” is about a 60-year old divorce who was retrenched from his job at the shipyard. In relating how the main character copes with the crisis in his past mid-life (putting up a restaurant that offers couscous , a grain dish, on a junk ship), the film also shows family relationships in today’s France.
Another admirable thing about French films is that their stars are not always the usual young ,handsome and pretty actors and actresses. They stress more on character. And yes, seductive scenes, are part and parcel of French movies.
Screening schedule of La Graine et let mulet: June 4, 6 p.m.;June 6, 3 p.m.;June 9, 3 p.m.;June 11, 9 p.m. and June 13, 9 p.m.
Another film I will make sure not to miss is ” L’immortel” (22 Bullets) starring Jean Reno and directed by Richard Berry. The synopsis says “Charly Mattei has turned over a new leaf and left his criminal past behind. For three years now he has been leading a peaceful existence dedicated to his wife and their two children. However, one winter morning, he is left for dead in a parking lot in the old port of Marseille, his body riddled with 22 bullets. To everyone’s general astonishment, he doesn’t die. Based on real life, the story has been reinvented within the Marseille gangster underworld.”
Screening Schedule: June 10, 12 noon;June 12, 6 p.m.;June 13, 3 p.m.
It’s good that Brig. Gen. Danny Lim is able to celebrate his 55th birthday today out of detention.
In Times st, after his releaseIt would have been better if his men, still incarcerated in Camp Capinpin, would have been able to join him in his celebration of his freedom.
I’m told that in the courtesy call of former Scout Ranger chief Brig. Gen. Danny Lim to Armed Forces Chief Delfin Bangit immediately upon his release from Camp Crame custodial center early Monday evening, they discussed the situation of the 15 other officers still in detention.
Among the remaining 15 officers are eight Scout Rangers, who are still detained in Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal and one member of the Army’s Special Forces, Capt. Dante Langkit.
The eight Scout Rangers are Maj. Jason Laureano Aquino, Maj. Jose Leomar Doctolero, Capt. James Sababan, Capt. Montano Almodovar, Capt. Joey Fontiveros, Capt. Isagani Criste, Capt. William Upano, and 1Lt. Homer Estolas.
.Romulo, loyal to Gloria to the endThe victory of Liberal Party presidential candidate Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino gave the Foreign Service corps a sense of hope that the winds of change he promised during the campaign would revitalize the department that had degenerated under the watch of Gloria Arroyo’s lackey, Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo.
But their hopes have been dashed when sources close to Aquino relayed the message that Romulo would be retained.
It’s demoralization time again for the country’s global frontliners.
It’s bad enough that Romulo is incompetent. What is worse is that he has been the face of the Arroyo government to the world throughout these years of corruption and human rights violations. He defended Arroyo in international fora amidst accusations of cheating in the 2004 election, extra-judicial killings, and massive corruption.
COCs in a boxYesterday, under heavy security, ballot boxes containing election returns and certificates of canvass of May 10, 2010 elections were brought to the Batasan Pambansa, where the canvassing for the presidential and vice-presidential contest would be held.
The heavy security, the TV reporter annotated, was because of the reported switching of election returns that happened after 2004 elections.
In July 2008, I did for Vera Files a special report on the 2004 ER switching, which was the last stage of the grand conspiracy set up by Gloria Arroyo to defraud the Filipino people of their choice of president.
The ER switching, carried out starting at around midnight of Jan. 23, 2005, was done by the Special Action Force, the elite unit of the Philippine National Police.
