Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on Wednesday accused Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile of being a “GMA lackey” for supposedly rushing a bill that would cut…
Making life worth living.
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on Wednesday accused Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile of being a “GMA lackey” for supposedly rushing a bill that would cut…
An opportunity for newly-appointed Interior and Local Government Mar Roxas to help in the healing of bruised ties with China has been presented by the Chinese government with its invitation for him to attend the 9th ASEAN- China expo in Nanning, the capital of China’s Guangxizhuang Autonomous Region starting this weekend (Sept 21 to 25).
There is no word yet if Roxas has accepted the invitation.
Sept. 20 -Secretary del Rosario recommends Secretary Roxas as special envoy to the 9th China-Asean Expo
Read story in comments.
ASEAN leaders expected to attend the Expo include Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra , Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Myanmar President U Thein Sein.
President Aquino is going to Brunei on Sunday to attend the wedding of a daughter of Sultan Bolkiah.
China is being politically astute in inviting Roxas.
I wish President Aquino would stop talking about “tuwid na daan” anymore.
It’s adding insult to injury with the way he protected Rico Puno, his shooting buddy whom he appointed undersecretary in the Department of Interior and Local Government. He accepted Puno’s resignation last Sept. 11.
The House of Representatives spared the public another farce by dropping the planned investigation on the alleged overpriced purchase of firearms for the Philippine National Police and the conflicting versions of Puno’s role in securing the documents on the deal, which included a report questioning his trip to Israel to visit the manufacturing plant of one of the bidders, the Israeli Military Industries.
If Puno was able to get away with stonewalling Sen. Miriam Santiago, chair of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Laws, who conducted hearing, the congressmen are not expected to fare better when it comes to ferreting out the truth. They won’t dare antagonize Malacañang.
Nominations to the 1st Chit Estella Journalism Awards are now open.
The family of Chit (Chit Estella-Simbulan), who died in a vehicle accident May 13, 2011, has set up the Journalism Awards in cooperation with VERA Files and the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communications.
Chit, at the time of her death was a journalism professor at UP-Diliman and trustee of VERA Files, a group that we, together with four other media colleagues – Yvonne Chua, Booma Cruz, Luz Rimban and Jennifer Santiago, set up in March 2008. VERA Files undertakes in-depth reporting on current issues and conducts journalism training.
The Chit Estella Journalism Awards, which are intended to keep alive Chit’s ideals of excellent and principled journalism, will honor the best journalistic report in print and on-line media.
The theme for this year’s contest is human rights as enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
Philippine media have their ample share of problems, one of them irresponsible reporting, but on the report on alleged support of Singapore for the Philippine position in the West Philippine Sea, they correctly reported what was officially conveyed to them.
The statement released by the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs last Sept. 10 insulted Philippine media.
The statement:
Ambassador ‘loved Libya so much’
Tripoli, Libya (CNN) — Chris Stevens, an American who risked his life to help Libyans overthrow dictator Moammar Gadhafi, was killed overnight in the former rebel capital of Benghazi — a city he helped save, making it an especially tragic place for him to die, President Obama said Wednesday.
An Arabic speaker who loved Libya and understood it deeply, Stevens died along with three other Americans when an angry mob stormed the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. He was the first U.S. ambassador to be killed in the line of duty since 1979.
The consulate was one of several American diplomatic missions in the Middle East to face protests Tuesday after the release online of a film mocking Islam and depicting the Muslim Prophet Mohammed as a child molester, womanizer and ruthless killer.
Despite denials from Malacanang that DILG Undersecretary Rico E. Puno resigned when Mar Roxas was appointed to replace the late Jesse Robredo, Puno indeed submitted his resignation Aug. 31.
Here’s his letter of resignation:
From Official Gazette:
Last Friday, former DILG Undersecretary Rico E. Puno submitted his letter of resignation to the President, through Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. The President has accepted Mr. Puno’s resignation effective immediately.
Statement of Undersecretary Puno on his resignation, September 11, 2012
As Undersecretary for Peace and Order in the DILG, I am entrusted with duties and responsibilities that involve strict confidence, security and protocol. Violating the confidential nature of my duties may expose people to danger or jeopardize critical operations. Hence, I am duty-bound to act with restraint and circumspection, even when subjected to personal attacks in the mass media. This is why I have opted not to react to the speculative accusations that have been hurled against me by some media organizations.
This is the chronology of events that transpired on August 18 and 19, 2012 as I followed the orders of the President:
Update: Puno resigns. http://www.interaksyon.com/article/42864/dilg-usec-puno-resigns
After days of deafening silence on the issue of his favorite undersecretary,Rico Puno,in-charge of police matters at the Department of Interior and Local Government,attempting to get hold of the documents in the possession of the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, President Aquino finally spoke and revealed that it was upon his orders that Puno did it.
Speaking to media on the sidelines of the summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in Vladivostok, Russia, Aquino disclosed: “Sometime in the early evening (Aug. 18), tumawag sa atin si Secretary Leila de Lima at pinaalalang may mga confidential folders si Secretary Robredo that needed to be secured. I instructed him (Puno) to seal the office of Secretary Robredo to ensure that ‘yung all of these records will be left intact. And that is the extent of the instructions that I gave to him.”
Transcript of the Vladivostok press briefing:
http://www.gov.ph/2012/09/10/for-the-record-interview-with-president-aquino-on-usec-puno-in-vladivostok-russia-on-september-8-2012/