Malaya – Page 59 – ellen tordesillas

Trillanes reports to the people

Published by Ellen on July 1, 2008

Message of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV as he marks his first year as senator:

“Inside a jail, you are not witness to the state of the country with your own eyes: the rising cost of living in unequal proportion with a failing economic order. You are unable to hear the sentiments of our people first hand: pervasive cries for justice and accountability against perpetrators of political violence and corruption. You appear insulated from what others endure outside these walls: the disillusionment of a people in the Administration that blatantly betrays its own obligation to serve them.

Continue readingTrillanes reports to the people

P.O

Published by Ellen on June 30, 2008

In journalism, there are “sources” whom reporters endear for one reason or another.

I have a few in my list and one of them is P.O. Domingo.

I first met P.O. when I was covering the education beat in 1984. He was representing the Dalupan family in the controversial and failed attempt of the Maharishi to gain control of the University of the East.

The US junket

Published by Ellen on June 24, 2008

Correction: Iloilo Rep. Arthur Defensor is not with Arroyo in the U.S.

The Inquirer reported that Defensor cancelled his trip to Europe to attend to oversee the rehabilitation of his district (3rd) which was badly hit by typhoon “Frank”. My apologies.

While thousands of our countrymen are pre-occupied with coping with deaths and devastation left by typhoon “Frank,” members of Gloria Arroyo’s entourage are busy posing for souvenir photos with American officials.

A member of Arroyo’s delegation relates a comical incident at the photo session after the meeting of Arroyo with Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte. Other officials in that meeting were Ambassador Kristie Kenny, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.

Hope for justice restored

Published by Ellen on June 22, 2008

Statement from AFP Spokesman Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres:

1.We recognize the wisdom of the court and respect its decision. The decision is neither a victory for the defense nor the prosecution. It was a triumph of the rules as upheld by the court;

2.It should be noted that the decision to prescribe some of the charges was reached not based on the merits of the case but on mere legal technicalities. Hence it will not in any way affect the conduct and outcome of a separate trial for a graver charge of mutiny;

3. We will consistently allow the due process of law to take its course. And with the current development, we are optimistic that we will soon finally get to know the truth surrounding the events that took place in February 2006.

Marine lieutenant Belinda Ferrer said she was praying all the while that Col. Marian Aleido was reading the decision on whether the minor charges against them have prescribed and therefore,dropped.

It was the longest ten minutes of her young military career, she said adding that her fellow detainees were in the same nervous state as she was. After two years of being on the receiving end of unfavorable decisions by the court, the only female detainee in the whole armed forces said she prepared herself for the worst.

A sobering lesson

Published by Ellen on June 19, 2008

Despite mosquito bites and a damaged toenail, Ces Drilon was her usual perky self upon coming out of a nine-day ordeal in a bandits’ lair in the jungle of Sulu. It was good to see her smiling.

It was touching seeing her crying and sharing her reflections of her harrowing experience. I was touched with that part when Ces said something like”You don’t realize how important something is until you are on the verse of losing it.” She said many times during their captivity, they were on the verge of being killed.

Jinggoy’s general and Erap’s DVD

Published by Ellen on June 17, 2008

Update: In today’s hearing, Atty. Bagares challenged Gen. Martir because he was the one who approved (even ordered according to militarynsources) of Lt. Raymundo’s detention and filing of charges against him.

Martir said he had inhibited, three days earlier. (Then why was he there presiding?) Then he left. Another member, Lt. Col. Emmanuel Salamat, also inhibited himself from the panel because he was the one who prepared the report on Lt. Raymundo’s case.

Continue readingJinggoy’s general and Erap’s DVD

Dinampo on the Abu Sayyaf

Published by Ellen on June 15, 2008

Alan Tanjusay of Mainichi Shimbun’s Manila has interviewed several times Octavio Dinampo, a Tausug professor in the Mindanao State University who accompanied ABS-CBN reporter Ces Drilon and her cameramen, Angelo Valderama and Jimmy Encarnacion last June 8 to Maimbung, Sulu where they were abducted.

A week before the abduction of Ces and her team, Tanjusay met with Dinampo in a restaurant here in Manila. Dinampo informed him that his book on the Abu Sayyaf group will soon be out.

Praying for safe return of Ces and team

Published by Ellen on June 10, 2008

Update: ABS-CBN rules out ransom

Rep.Roilo Golez yesterday called on those who cherish freedom and peace “to pray for the safety and life of Ces Drilon and all other who are under involuntary and hostile custody. Let’s pray that God will enlighten and soften the hearts and minds of their captors.”

Ces and her crew, cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion and assistant cameraman Angel Valderama, together with peace advocate Octavio Dinampo, a professor at the Mindanao State University were abducted armed men in Maimbung, Sulu Sunday. Police reports say the kidnappers were members of the bandit group, Abu Sayyaf.

ABS-CBN appeals to colleagues in media to exercise “utmost consideration for the safety of our news team.”

Anwar’s anecdotes

Published by Ellen on June 8, 2008

Former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has an advice to people who complain that they have no time to read: Serve jail time.

Six years in prison on trumped -up charges of corruption and sodomy has not diminished Anwar’s wit and sense of humor. Speaking at a forum in Makati organized by De la Salle University College of Business and Economics, Ramon V del Rosario Sr. Graduate School of Business, and Asian Institute of Democracy, Anwar said while in solitary confinement from 1998 to 2004, he was able to read the entire collection of the works of Shakespeare not once but “four-and-a-half” times.

Colonel Loy’s magic formula

Published by Ellen on June 1, 2008

One does not have to be a lawyer to understand that if there’s is no offense, there is no trial.

As Frank Chavez, counsel for Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, puts it simply to the panel presiding in the court martial of the 28 officers who allegedly planned to withdraw support from Gloria Arroyo in February 2006, “That’s common sense, Your Honor.”

Category: Malaya