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Category: Vera Files

Gun ban should go with crime prevention

Published by Ellen on January 14, 2013

By Ace Esmeralda, VERA Files

A .45 caliber pistol like this one was used in the accidental shooting of Stephanie Nicole and in the rampage of Ronal Bae. Photo by SecurityMatters
The election period in the Philippines began Sunday and signalled the start of a nationwide total gun ban expected to minimize election-related offenses, particularly gun-related violence among political groups and clans.

For many, the gun ban brings some relief, especially since the country enters this period with heightened fear of gun-related violence.

The accidental death of 7-year-old Stephanie Nichole Ella in Caloocan City from a stray bullet fired on New Year’s Eve, to the killing of 10 people by an alleged mentally deranged and drug-crazed frustrated village politician in Kawit, Cavite a few days later have prompted calls for a total gun ban, gunless society, taking into the arena issues against gun ownership, regulation and control. Some quarters even associate gun crimes with President Benigno Aquino III’s passion for guns.

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Lolarga and Silverio win 1st Chit Estella awards

Published by Ellen on December 8, 2012


By Eimor P. Santos, VERA Files

In death, Vera Files trustee and journalism professor Lourdes “Chit” Estella Simbulan continues to champion human rights campaign in the country.

The 1st Chit Estella Journalism Awards honored the best journalistic reports on human rights, Dec. 7. This is in line with the celebration of the National Human Rights Consciousness Week with the theme, “My Voice Counts in Ending Impunity: I Work for Human Rights-Based Governance”.

Babeth Lolarga
his year’s awardees were Ina Alleco Silverio of Bulatlat.com for her online story, “Three months after Sendong, Iligan residents still far from rebuilding their lives” and Elizabeth Lolarga of the Philippine Daily Inquirer for her print story, “365 political prisoners go on hunger strike”.

Links to winning stories:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/107101/356-political-prisoners-go-on-hunger-strike

http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/03/16/three-months-after-sendong-iligan-residents-still-far-from-rebuilding-their-lives/

The works of Silverio and Lolarga were chosen among seven other finalists, four from online and two from print which were all published between October 1, 2011 and October 1, 2012. The winners each received P10,000 and a trophy, funded by the Simbulan-Estella family, and co-presented by the University of the Philippines Department of Journalism and Vera Files.

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The sad, dramatic, if redeeming, life of Juan Ponce Enrile

Published by Ellen on October 6, 2012

By Pablo A. Tariman, VERA Files

The 753-page of “Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir” has many things going for it.
For one, the simple yet striking cover layout doesn’t call attention to itself and for another, it is well-edited (by Nelson Navarro) which makes for smooth, easy reading. It is, by turn, a no-nonsense book about someone’s life as he lived it and how he survived it.

Divided into two parts ( “With God and Guts” and “Making A difference”), the memoir has a unique voice you can’t mistake for a politician’s. The narrative flows with ease as the subject recalls the poverty-stricken barrio of his birth and ending his joining the government in the first part.
The first part is easily the most engrossing and the most poignant. The author – now well-known and famous — recalls the abject poverty of his past with startling details.

Born February 14, 1924, Juan Ponce Enrile (JPE) admits he was a love child baptized in the Aglipayan Church as Juanito Furagganan. His father, Alfonso Ponce Enrile, was born from parents from Baliwag, Bulacan. He notes that his grandfather, Damaso Ponce, was first cousin to Mariano Ponce of La Soledaridad, the propaganda arm of the Philippine Revolution of 1896.

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Wounded

Published by Ellen on August 21, 2012

By Marilyn Mana-ay Robles,VERA Files

Cris Villonco and Noel Rayos lead the Walang Sugat cast
What biting wit!

Such is Walang Sugat, a sarswela written by the father of Tagalog sarswela, Severino Reyes, popularly known as Lola Basyang. Walang Sugat was written in 1898 and first staged in 1902. The play was considered subversive during the early years of American colonization.

The story line is very much relevant to this day.

A sarswela is a play which employs song, dance and poetry. For many years, this genre was used by Filipinos to express their conflicts of the heart, political fervor and resentment towards a domineering foreign colonizer. However, the advent of modern stage plays relegated sarswelas to the sidelines.

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Yes Virginia, their telephones work

Published by Ellen on August 13, 2012

By MARILYN MANA-AY ROBLES, VERA Files

The week past was very revealing. Filipinos again displayed resilience in the midst of tragedy. As the floods came and swept away treasured material possessions people grinned and bore it out. Some were unable to have food for days and shivered in the cold. Even the untimely death of loved ones buried in mud was taken as mere fate. Could something have been done to prevent or reduce the effect of this calamity?

Yes, something could have been done. We have a National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) if you need help. They operate 24/7.

The hotlines of NDRRMC are 911-1406, 912-2665 and 912-5668.

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What to do before, during, and after the flood

Published by Ellen on August 7, 2012

VERA Files’ Luis Liwanag made the rounds of Quezon City. Here’s what he saw:

We pray that the number of casualties caused by the current flooding would not increase even as we cope with continuous rains.

I’d like to share notes from the “Disaster Preparedness and First Aid Handbook” produced by the Senate Committee on Climate Change chaired by Sen. Loren Legarda.

When warned of flood, here are the things you should do:

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Zumba: Exercise made fun and sexy

Published by Ellen on July 25, 2012

By Ellen Tordesillas, VERA Files
Video by Mario Ignacio and Mario Espinosa

YOU will know it’s Zumba time at Fitness First Southmall every morning of Monday and Tuesday because women are in their stylish gym attires as if they are going to a party.

And, it’s not just any party. Usually it is a themed party.

Last week, it was Polynesian. Women in floral headdress were gyrating to the tune of Conga Remix. In the next Zumba class, they looked alluring in off-shoulder blouses. Earlier, their theme costume was a necktie — worn, of course, over gym outfits.

Hilda Oraya, a Zumba devotee, says the vivacious beat of Zumba shakes off one’s inhibitions. “Masaya (fun) and inspires you to dress up.”

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Int’l ballet stars to perform for Filipino ballet scholars

Published by Ellen on June 5, 2012

I did the following story for VERA Files

The real beauty of Ballet Manila’s latest project bringing together eleven international ballet stars in a once-in-a-lifetime production is that it will benefit talented Filipino students in public schools who dream of becoming ballet dancers.

On Friday and Saturday (June 8 and 9), at 7:30 p.m.,American Ballet Theatre’s Paloma Herrera and Maxim Beloserkovsky, The Royal Ballet’s David Makhateli and Natalia Kremen, Mariinsky Theatre’s Daria Pavlenko and Yevgeny Ivanchenko, English National Ballet’s Dmitri Gruzdev, Kremlin Ballet’s Aleksandra Timofeeva, Norwegian National Ballet’s Yoel Carreno and Yolanda Correa Frias, and the Philippines’ own Lisa Macuja-Elizalde will perform in a grand production, dubbed “World Stars of Ballet,” at the Aliw Theater, CCP Complex, Pasay City.

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