Category: Malaya

Following the leader

Published by Ellen on February 2, 2010

Update: Martir,Preztosa and Paez were all confirmed.

Gloria Arroyo’s penchant for midnight deals seems to have rubbed on with some members of the bureaucracy.

Victoria Bataclan, president of the Union of Foreign Service Officers wrote to Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile in his capacity as chair of the Commission on Appointments to convey the grievance of the members of foreign service corps, this time not about another political appointee in violation of foreign service law but about another career foreign service officer, Patricia Ann Paez.

The CA is scheduled to meet today.

Brig. Gen. Jonathan Martir and Brig. Gen. Romeo Prestoza are also among those whose promotion to Major General are for confirmation today.

Martir’s name was included at the last minute. There is something wrong here because Martir is due to retire March 5. There’s a rule in the military that one cannot be promoted within one year to retirement.

We are told that a very influential member of the CA is pushing for Martir’s confirmation even if it’s in against the law because a security agency identified iwht the general supplies the guards for his son’s business. Talk of ethics!

Prestoza is lucky because Sen. Panfilo Lacson won’t be here to block his promotion. Prestoza, it will be recalled, was the one who enticed Mancao to implicate Lacson in the Dacer-Corbito double murder case. Success!

Paez, who holds the rank of career minister and is currently detailed in Malacañang as special assistant, is being promoted to Chief of Mission I. If promoted she would qualify for an ambassadorial assignment.

Choose well

Published by Ellen on January 31, 2010

Former Defense Secretary Avelino “Nonong” Cruz was not one of the speakers in last Friday’s forum of the “The Powers of the Presidency: Preventing Misuse and Abuse” but he was asked to say something when the issue of the Ampatuans’ private armies came up inthe question and answer portion.

Cruz gave a two- word advice for the coming May elections: “Choose well”. He said it will go a long way in instituting reforms in governance if we have a president that will lead by example.

He, of course, didn’t ask to vote for the presidential candidate he is advising: the Liberal Party’s Benigno Aquino III.

Karina Constantino-David, former chair of the Civil Service Commission, also stressed the importance of choosing a president with integrity because she said, “in the final analysis it is the character of the President, his/her honest dedication to public service and not just to power that will speall the difference between decency and judiciousness on the one hand and mis-use and abuse on the other.”

‘Ganito kami noon, ganito pa rin kami ngayon’

Published by Ellen on January 27, 2010

Malaya editorial

Our favorite “pa-pogi” guy in government, Arthur Yap of the Department of Agriculture, is at it again. In the face of soaring prices of sugar, he directed the National Food Authority to make available 150,000 kilos to poor families through NFA’s “Tindahan Natin” outlets in Metro Manila.

The volume of 150,000 kilos translates into 150 tons of sugar. At an estimated nationwide consumption of 6,000 tons a day, the volume the NFA has been directed to inject into a market represents 2.5 percent of consumption. The volume will last about half an hour assuming people buy sugar round the clock during a 24-hour day.

(And, yes, we know that in doing the pencil-pushing exercise above we might be accused of intentional misrepresentation. The 150,000-kilo infusion is limited to Metro Manila, hence, we should not have used the nationwide consumption figure as the denominator. But we deliberately did so to show the silliness of Yap’s announcement given the obvious gap in demand and supply situation.)

A conspiracy to continue illegitimate governance

Published by Ellen on January 26, 2010

Gloria Arroyo must be the happiest person today.

While the people are pre-occupied watching the Senate circus and other political entertainment, she is laying down the infrastructure for what looks like her last try to stay in power beyond 2010.

The group that calls themselves Former Senior Government Officials (FSGO) has information of a sinister plot by Arroyo and her allies that will spell the death of democracy in this country.

The FSGO issued a statement that warns of “A Conspiracy to Continue Illegitimate Governance.” Let it not be said that we were not warned:

Three critical turnovers

Published by Ellen on January 24, 2010

There are three changes that would be happening in May and June that should be a cause of concern for the Filipino people.

No, we are not talking about the presidency. It’s not the replacement of Gloria Arroyo after June 30, 2010 that we are worried about. It’s more of she might be replacing herself.

The most discussed impending change is in the judiciary, when Chief Justice Reynato Puno retires on May 17.
Article VIII, Section 4(1) of the Constitution states that any vacancy in the Supreme Court shall be filled within 90 days of the occurrence. Gloria Arroyo’s minions say that she can appoint Puno’s replacement because he term ends on June 30.
However, Article VII, Section 15 of the Constitution prohibits midnight appointments . It states that after two months immediately before the next presidential election and up to the end of his/her term, a President or acting President shall not make appointments except temporary appointments to executive positions when continued vacancies will prejudice or endanger public safety.

Cancer talk

Published by Ellen on January 21, 2010

This week has been designated “National Cancer Consciousness Week” in an effort to fight one of the top killer diseases in the country.

Being informed is one of the weapons to fight cancer.

Puerto Galera-based artist Bernadette Wolf sent an article about avoiding cancer.The article says every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion.

When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.To improve one’s immune system a healthy lifestyle, which includes healthy diet, is important.

Mrs. B

Published by Ellen on January 19, 2010

There’s nothing that a mother would do for her child. No distance too far to travel, no obstacle too high to hurdle.

It has been almost three years since Edith Burgos, wife of the late Jose Burgos, Jr, founder of Malaya and regarded as a press freedom icon, last saw her son, Jonas.

On April 28, 2007, Jonas, father of an 18-month old girl, was abducted by unidentified men and a woman while having lunch at the Hapag Kainan restaurant in Ever Gotesco Mall in Quezon City. He was dragged into a waiting van and he has been missing since then.

Jonas is described in new reports as “activist-farmer”. Probably because at the time he was abducted, he was a member of the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Bulacan (AMB), a provincial chapter of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP).

Jonas studied agriculture at Benguet State University. He practiced organic farming in the Burgos family farm in Bulacan and shared his knowledge of it with other farmers.

Since the abduction almost three years ago, the Burgos family, headed by Edith Burgos has been searching relentlessly for Jonas. Mrs. Burgos has taken all the avenues — courts, police, military, morgues, government agencies including the Office of the President, international organizations and the streets — to look for her son.

She has endured hunger, insults and harassment.

Widows, journalists lament

Published by Ellen on January 12, 2010

Today, widows of slain journalists in the Ampatuan Maguindanao massacre filed their opposition to Maj. Gen. Alfredo Cayton’s promotion as Vice-Commander of the Philippine Army with the Commission on Appointments.

Those who trooped to the Senate, where the CA deliberations were being held, were the widows and family members of the following slain journalists: Alejandro Reblando, Joel Parcon, McDelbert Arriola, Julito Evardo, Bienvenido Legarta, Lindo Lupogan, Robert Momay, Victor Nunez, Napoleon Salaysay, and Daniel Tianzon Cayton, then commander of the 6th Infantry, denied the request of Buluan vice mayor Toto Mangudadatu for security escorts in his filing of the certificate of candidacy last Nov. 23. That refusal enabled the Ampatuans to massacre at least 57 persons, 30 of them journalists.

Cayton was relieved of his post after the massacre, which happened a stone’s throw away from a military detachment. But he was promoted to Philippine Army vice commander. The widows are appalled.

Foreign policy forum for presidentiables

Published by Ellen on January 7, 2010

On Jan. 14, the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation, Asian Institute of Management, and ABS News Channel will hold a foreign policy forum featuring presidential candidates and will focus on Philippine credibility and competitiveness in the world.

The forum takes special significance at this time when world has to deal with the twin threats of terrorism and economic recession and the Philippines carries additional burden of resources strained by recent calamities and a notorious reputation of lawlessness.

Liberal Party presidential candidate Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, who is leading in all election surveys, has declined the invitation to participate in the forum. Surprisingly, Nacionalista Party presidential bet Manny Villar, who used to have a phobia with presidential fora, has agreed to attend.

Let Trillanes fulfill his mandate

Published by Ellen on January 5, 2010

Senate Majority Floorleader Miguel Zubiri should not worry about the Philippines setting a precedent in allowing a detained senator to fulfill his duties to the people.

The Philippines has already set a precedent for having a president who has never been elected to that position by the people.

Zubiri, defending his sitting on a Senate resolution allowing detained Senator Antonio Trillanes IV to participate in the sessions and other legislative functions through remote or electronic Zubiri asked, “Is there a parliament anywhere around the world that allows legally detained members to participate in their sessions?”