ellen tordesillas – Page 119 – Making life worth living.

Scarborough shoal again

Published by Ellen on April 12, 2012

Update on Scarborough shoal:

Statement of Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario April 14, 2012, 6:50 pm.:

“As I said earlier, my meeting with Amb. Ma last night resulted in a stalemate. Notwithstanding, Amb. Ma has asked if we could commit to no surprises until we meet again to which I agreed.

“However, today, we received reports that the Philippine Coast Guard that 1) China sent back one of its white ships bringing the number of Chinese ships in the area back to two;2) A white Chinese aircraft with blue stripe was also sighted conducting flybys near Philippine Coast Guard vessel; and 3) A white Chinese ship harassed a Philippine-registered vessel with 9 French nationals which has been conducting archaelogical surveys.

“It appears there is an element that is lacking in our negotiations. I seek a deeper element of trust from our Chinese friends.”

The latest incident in Scarborough shoal reminds us of the issue of the non-inclusion of the sandbar, also known as Panatag , in the country’s baseline which was one of the points of conflict between the Department of Foreign Affairs and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV in 2008. Trillanes was then in detention

Under the Stacks*

Published by Ellen on April 10, 2012

In last Monday’s commemoration of Bataan day, Japanese Ambassador Toshinao Urabe once again expressed his country’s “heartfelt apologies and deep sense of remorse of the tragedy” that occurred 70 years ago.

It’s good that we commemorate what happened on April 9, 1942 so the younger generation would be told what our forefathers sacrificed for us to enjoy the freedom that we have today.

Time heals wounds but it is something to be concerned about when history is revised and mistakes are justified.The book “Under the Stacks” by Saul Hofileña, Jr. tackled a number of those historical distortions.

There is a chapter “The Yasukuni Shrine and the Japanese War Monuments in the Philippines” where he talked about his visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo which pays homage to the millions of Japanese war dead.

Hofileña said, “In the Yasukuni Shrine, the spirits of Japan’s war dead are enshrined as deities. They are their country’s guardians. The guardians or protectors of the Japanese nation who sacrificied their lives for their country.”

Hofileña said 11 of the enshrined heroes have been classified by the International War Crimes Tribunal as Class “A” war criminals. They include Hideki Tojo, Tomoyuki Yamashita, and Masaharu Homma.

Dip in Aquino’s satisfaction rating should do him good

Published by Ellen on April 8, 2012

working the crowd — Satisfying the crowd

President Aquino’s satisfaction rating may have dropped a little but by any standard it’s still high.

The Social Weather Station survey, conducted among 1,200 respondents nationwide on March 11- 13, 2012, saw the president’s satisfaction rating dip from nine points from plus 58 in Dec. 2011 which was “very good” to plus 49 which is still “good.”

His predecessor, Gloria Arroyo, never hit that high a satisfaction rating in her nine years of stolen presidency. The highest she got was plus 30 in March 2004, two months before the 2004 elections where she again robbed the people of their mandate.

Ang imbistigasyon sa kayamanan ni Lapid at impeachment ni Corona

Published by Ellen on April 8, 2012

Lito Lapid impeachment — The judge is being investigated for alleged unexplained wealth

Dapat tutukan itong imbestigasyon tungkol sa kayamanan ni Sen. Lito Lapid na isinasagawa ng Ombudsman dahil kunektado ito sa impeachment in Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Senator Lapid’s millions subject of Ombudsman probe

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/28085/senator-lapids-millions-subject-of-ombudsman-probe

Akala kasi ni Lapid, dahil mahalaga ang boto niya sa impeachment, hindi siya gagalawin ng administrasyong Aquino basta ibigay lang niya ang kanyang boto sa pag-convict kay Corona.

Hindi natin alam kung tama nga ang akala ni Lapid. Dati kasi nakalusot siya.

Nagsumbong na dati si dating Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim kay Pangulong Aquino tungkol sa hindi kanais-nais na mga ginagawa daw ni Mark Lapid, anak ni senador na dating gubernador ng Pampanga at ngayon at hepe ng Philippine Tourism Authority . Ngunit sinabihan si Lim na huwag galawin si Mark dahil kailangan nila ang boto ni Lito lapid sa pagpasa ng batas na ipagpabliban ang eleksyun sa Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao.

Two OFW kids shine in int’l moot court tilt

Published by Ellen on April 4, 2012

By Mylah Reyes,VERA Files

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Two children of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) helped propel the University of the Philippines College of Law into the circle of the world’s top four law schools, after taking part in the most prestigious moot court competition in the U.S.

Christopher Louie Ocampo, whose father works as a pumpman for an oil tanker, and Neil B. Nucup, son of a housekeeper in Rome, were part of the team which made it to the semifinals of the 2012 Jessup International Law Moot Court Championship in Washington D.C.

U.P. was the only team from Asia and the Third World that made it to the semis, finishing as one of the top four schools after competing with 137 teams from 80 countries, culled from an original field of over 600 law schools.

Who follows court orders these days?

Published by Ellen on April 1, 2012

Take a look at these headlines the past days:

CEBU SCHOOL DEFIES COURT ORDER ON BIKINI GRADUATES

DE LIMA DEFIES COURT

The first headline was about officials of St. Theresa’s College in Cebu defying the temporary restraining order issued by Cebu City Regional Trial Court Judge Wilfredo Navarro directing the school to cease and desist from enforcing the penalties on five students graduating from highschool for posting in Facebook photos in a bikini and in poses which school authorities considered “lewd.”

STC Cebu decided not to allow the five students to join the graduation rites although they can get their diploma.

Magpapatayo ba ng relihiyon si Pacquiao?

Published by Ellen on March 31, 2012

Sabi ng boxing champ na si Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, nag-uusap daw sila ng Panginoon.

Sabi niya sinabi daw ng Panginoon sa kanya na huminto na siya sa boxing. Natutulog daw siya ng sinabi sa kanya ng Panginoon itong mensahe.

Ang pinagtataka ko, bakit ngayon lang ba niya narinig yun? Matagal na yan sinasabi ng Nanay Dionisia niya at ng kanyang trainer na si Freddie Roach. Sinasabi rin sa kanya yan ng boxing writer at analyst na si Ronnie Nathanielz. Lumabas yan sa mga media.

Saan nga ba patungo ang direksyun ng buhay ni Pacquiao? Tumatanda na siya. Kahit ano pang galing niya, ang boksing na sports ay para sa mga bata. At ano pa ba naman ang gusto niya, lumalangoy na siya sa pera.

A Double Standard of Justice: The Gerry Ortega case

Published by Ellen on March 30, 2012

By Inday Espina-Varona

http://indayvarona.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/a-double-standard-of-justice/
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/blogs/insights/03/30/12/double-standard-justice-gerry-ortega-case

Justice for Gerry Ortega — A call for Justice

Executive Secretary Jojo Ochoa issued a call today, on the eve of Earth Day, to care more for Mother Nature. Meanwhile, Malacanang spits on the soul of a fallen environmental warrior. Here’s why:

A couple of months back, the nation was glued to the spectacle of government operatives barring former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from leaving the country. The incident happened in the absence of any hold order on the much-maligned former Chief Executive. There was no hold order because no court had yet issued an arrest warrant for her. In fact, no case against Mrs. Arroyo had even reached the courts yet. What the government had was a watchlist order (WLO) on President Benigno Aquino’s predecessor. This watchlist order was the subject of a Supreme Court temporary restraining order (TRO) — a TRO that Justice Secretary Leila de Lima refused to implement.

I will not discuss the merits of the TRO or the WLO — the latter the same weapon Mrs. Arroyo had wielded against her political opposition. The TRO later became part of the Aquino administration’s impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Renato Corona. Mrs. Arroyo has since been arraigned and remains in hospital arrest due to an ailment affecting the spine. The Chief Justice is still battling it out in his impeachment trial.

Ruthell Moreno’s inspiring story

Published by Ellen on March 29, 2012

Ruthell Moreno2 — Another Antiqueña excells

During graduation season, inspirational stories of triumph over adversity are in abundance. Which is very good.

Iloilo writers Hazel Villa and John Kevin Arevalo submitted to VERA Files and Yahoo the story of Ruthell Moreno, who is graduating summa cum laude, Bachelor of Special Education,major in Teaching Children with Mental Retardation from the West Visayas State University.

Ruthell, who is from Antique, is only the fourth summa cum laude of the College of Education (COE) after its founding as a Normal College more than a hundred years ago. The COE is a Center of Teaching Excellence and consistent placer in the Licensure Exam for Teachers.

In last Tuesday’s WVSU recognition day Ruthell, with a Grade Point Average of 1.23, received more receive university level awards: Most outstanding student teacher, Student of the year, Proficiency in SPED Award, Academic excellence award, an award from the Philippine Association for Teacher Education, Journalism Award, Rotary Award, Abelardo Alegre Ledesma award for excellence in culture and arts, Sen. Manuel Villar Jr Academic Excellence Award and two awards from Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.

She also delivered the valedictory address in behalf of the graduates of 2012.

Hazel and John Kevin said, the story of Ruthell, 24, known to friends as “Che” could have been any regular story of an intelligent young woman making the most of her resources and abilities, except for the fact that she has Systemic Lupus Erythematosus or lupus, an autoimmune disease characterized by acute and chronic inflammation of various tissues of the body.

The graduate

Published by Ellen on March 27, 2012

Facebook is full of posting by proud parents in their children’s graduation rites. Double pride for parents with children graduating with honors.

But the award-winning post,for me, was by journalist Isabel de Leon of the Manila Bulletin. Last week, she posted: “Scoured the entire Recto Avenue for a toga for my Petchay who’s graduating this Sunday.

“Found the toga and the cap. At dahil di ako sure kung may award na matatanggap ang apo ko, ibinili ko na rin sya ng gold medal. (And since I’m not sure if my grandchild will get an award, I also bought a gold medal.)”

Who can top that?

Recto Avenue, as we all know, is where you buy what you can’t get in school: fake diplomas, school ring, medals, etc. etc.

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