Category: Malaya

Estrada’s amazing performance

Published by Ellen on May 13, 2010

The May 10, 2010 elections gave Liberal Party‘s Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III overwhelming victory but it was the performance of former President Joseph Estrada in the race that amazed many.

As of Thursday, with 89 percent of the votes in, the Commission on Election Count gave Aquino 13.8 million votes followed by Estrada with 8.4 million votes. With only about 10 percent of some 38 million votes cast left uncounted, Aquino’s over- five- million vote-lead looked insurmountable.

But the fact that Estrada, invariably dismissed by analysts early in the election campaign as either a “spoiler” or “a kingmaker”, one who can help ensure the victory of one candidate in a close contest by his endorsement, is running second, overtaking the expensive campaign of Nacionalista Party Manuel Villar, showed his strong hold on the masses who comprise the bulk of the 50 million voters despite his being convicted of plunder . (Estrada was convicted of plunder in 2006 after more than six years in detention but was pardoned by Gloria Arroyo a month after.)

P for Patience,not People Power

Published by Ellen on May 7, 2010

In the presentation of Mahar Mangahas of Social Weather Station of public opinion on the May 10 election, there were items that are very relevant in the wake of calls for People Power by some sectors which has become louder with the malfunctioning of the Precinct Count Optical Scan or PCOS, the thing that holds the future of Philippine democracy.

One item showed the high expectations of the people for Monday’s elections. SWS asked their opinion last February on the “Expected accuracy of the vote-counting machine at one’s precinct in the 2010 elections compared to the past elections.”

Twenty-five percent said “definitely more accurate” and 57 percent said “probably more accurate.” That’s a very high of 82 percent of Filipinos putting their trust on the still untested election automation. Only three percent were non-believers and 14 percent said “probably not more accurate.”

Pray that this does not happen to your mother

Published by Ellen on April 29, 2010

JJ Domingo, a 20-year old student of international relations, relates in his Facebook wall the harrowing experience of his mother in the hands of people who introduced themselves as members of the Quezon City police.

JJ , who is now in Japan with his mother, said he has emailed this narration to the Philippine National Police and to the Napolcom. So far, he has not received any response.

He is also sending it to the Commission on Human Rights.

Here his story about what he said was the “arbitrary detention and extortion” of his mother by men who are supposed to protect her from lawless elements:

“When my mother went to the Philippines to attend the graduation ceremony of my sister and to seek the opinion of Filipino doctors on her mild cancer two weeks ago, she had no idea she was in for the shock of her life.

Gloria appoints manicurist to Pagibig board and gardener as deputy Luneta park administration

Published by Ellen on April 22, 2010

Just like manicurist, GMA gardener gets sinecure
by Jarius Bondoc

Professionals among Malacañang’s housekeeping staff are outraged. Not only did Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appoint her personal manicurist to the board of trustees of Pag-IBIG Housing Fund. She also earlier named her gardener as deputy of the Luneta Park Administration. Both postings are improper sinecures, Palace aides murmur.

One insider feels disgust that beautician Anita Carpon and gardener Armando Macapagal were placed in positions in a departing admin. As Pag-IBIG trustee Carpon will make P130,000 a month in per diem, plus perks, for a fixed two-year term. Macapagal’s seat as Luneta deputy earns less. But his appointment can be as dubious if he and the President happen to be related. The Constitution and anti-graft laws prohibit government officials from appointing or transacting with kin.

Another source laments that the postings were made on the sly. Carpon was sneaked into the Pag-IBIG board along with three others after the terms of four trustees lapsed in recent weeks. But she was unable to join them in last week’s oath taking and first board meeting as she accompanied Arroyo to the US and Spain. Macapagal’s appointment surfaced only after Carpon’s hit the headlines. A Palace reporter says the offices of Executive Sec. Larry Mendoza and Press Sec. Cris Icban are mum about the appointments, likely made during the election ban.

Two explanations

Published by Ellen on April 18, 2010

Last week, I wrote that “The law doesn’t protect deceit” in connection with the report on the fake psychiatric evaluation of Liberal Party presidential candidate Benigno Aquino III and the refusal of ABS-CBN to name the source of fraud.

I’m running here two statements from ABS-CBN on the issue because I believe that it benefits us all to listen to all sides in any issue.
The first article “Telling it like it is” is by Maria A. Ressa, head of ANS-CBN News and Current Affairs and managing director of ANC.
The other article “Name Your (Anonymous) Sources! “ is by Glenda Gloria, chief operations officer of ANC and member of the board of the Public Trust Media Group.

Telling it like it is
by Maria Ressa

Law doesn’t protect deceit

Published by Ellen on April 13, 2010

The much-respected Maria A. Ressa, head of ABS-CBN News & Current Affairs, invokes “confidentiality of sources” in rejecting the challenge of the Nacionalista Party to reveal the names of their alleged “two sources from the Nacionalista Party ” who gave them the fake psychiatric analysis of Liberal Party Sen. Benigno Aquino III by a Jesuit priest.

“While it’s tempting to take the Nacionalista Party’s challenge, it violates a sacred rule of journalism,” Ressa said.

I don’t agree with Maria.

Journalism is basically truth telling. A journalist’s job is to tell the public the truth.

Batting for Chiz to fill a dangerous power vacuum

Published by Ellen on April 8, 2010

Raissa Robles, Philippine correspondent of the Hongkong-based South China Morning Post, has waged an online campaign to have Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero elected as interim Senate president to be eligible to be the acting president in case there would be a failure of election in the May 10 polls.

In her personal blog, Raissa said, “ Pssst, let’s urge senators to elect Chiz Escudero as Senate President to avoid dangerous power vacuum… in case a new President is not proclaimed by June 30 – the same day the tenures of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Vice-President Noli de Castro, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and House Speaker Prospero Nograles all lapse.”

I join Raissa in the campaign to elect Chiz as Senate president before June 30. But an election for a new president can only happen if there’s vacancy in the position. So let us also ask Senate President Enrile to do the patriotic act of resigning as Senate President.

Why is this necessary?

The Constitutional provision on succession states: “When no President and Vice-President shall have been chosen or shall have qualified, or where both shall have died or become permanently disabled, the President of the Senate or, in case of his inability, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall act as President until a President or a Vice-President shall have chosen and qualified.”

Citizens report

Published by Ellen on March 21, 2010

It’s heartening to see the enthusiasm of people not involved with the campaign of any of the candidates in the forthcoming polls in making sure that the May 2010 elections be honest, peaceful, and credible.

Since it was launched last March 8, VOTE 2010, an election monitoring project of VERA Files with 17 civil society organizations, eight community newspapers, three media-related institutions and a number of individuals, has been steadily getting reports from citizen-journalists, which are not reported in mainstream media.

Immediately after the first part of our two-weekend seminar-workshop on citizen journalism at the Holy Angel University in Angeles city, one of the participants, Joel Ocampo , who is active in the Social Action Center of the Holy Rosary Parish, took pictures of posters of candidates nailed on trees which is a illegal.

Section 22 of Comelec Resolution 8758, which implements the Fair Election Act (Republic Act 9006) provides that political posters can only be displayed in Comelec-designated areas. It also clearly states that “A common poster area does not refer to a post, a tree, the wall of a building or an existing public structure that is in active use, but a structure that is temporarily set up by the candidates or political parties for the exclusive purpose of displaying their campaign posters.”

Confused national identity

Published by Ellen on March 16, 2010

In a way, I’m glad that deviation from the original composition in the singing of the Philippine national anthem is causing controversy.

That means that people still care very much about our national anthem, which is one of our patriotic symbols.

The latest in the “Lupang Hinirang” controversy is the version of much- admired Arnel Pineda (of the international band “The Journey”) sang last Sunday at the Pacquiao-Clottey fight at the Dallas Cowboys stadium in Texas.

I only caught up with Arnel’s performance in Monday’s evening news reports (I don’t watch boxing fights) but here’s the comment of the musically-inclined journalist Inday Espina-Varona in her Facebook wall: “The first two notes of Arnel’s Lupang Hinirang had us betting he wouldn’t hit the high notes. He was fine with the first high notes, sang the anthem straight and pure, and then he had to do the runs… ayan, sablay.”

Smartmatic ‘bond’ slashed

Published by Ellen on March 15, 2010

From Malaya:

$4.3M of $25.3M left to answer for poll automation failure

The Commission on Elections has allowed Smartmatic, the holder of the P11.3 billion election automation contract, to reduce its bank credit line from $25.3 million to $21 million, leaving only $4.3 million to answer for any failure of the contractor to successfully carry out the project.

Comelec’s accommodation was among recent developments that have raised fears that automated elections would end up a failure.

First, Smartmatic has lost its original partner, the local company Total Information Management Corp., in the consortium. Second, it has lost the Aboitiz-owned logistics company 2Go as distributor of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to 70,000 precincts nationwide.

The decision to “remove, cancel or extinguish the credit line” given by the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corp. Manila was reached by Comelec in a meeting on January 20.