ellen tordesillas – Page 223 – Making life worth living.

Two more Magdalo officers enter politics

Published by Ellen on December 1, 2009

Capt. Dante Langkit is running for governor of Kalinga and former Air Force Lt. Ashley Acedillo is a candidate for representative of the first disctrict of Cebu.

Dante fills up his certificate of candidacy accompanied by his twin brother, Danzel.

Langkit (PMA class ’95), who is detained at Fort Bonifacio, was allowed last week by the Armed Forces of the Philippines to leave his detention cell to file his certificate of candidacy.

Langkit is facing mutiny charges for allegedly planning to withdraw support from Gloria Arroyo together with 27 other officers in February 2006 following the expose of the “Hello Garci” tapes which revealed that Arroyo used the military to tamper the results of the 2004 elections to her favor.

Thinking that they could break Langkit’s will, his custodians put him in a solitary confinement for 10 months, the longest that an officer was subjected to such harsh condition.Langkit held firm to his convictions.

‘It’s like Rwanda’: UN expert on Maguindanao massacre

Published by Ellen on November 30, 2009

by Romel Regalado Bagares

COTABATO CITY.–Peruvian forensic anthropologist Dr. Jose Pablo Baraybar didn’t like what he saw when he visited for the first time Sunday the massacre site in Barangay Salman, Ampatuan town.

Take note of the backhoe with the marking 'Province of Maguindanao'

“It reminded me of something—it’s just like Rwanda,” said Dr. Baraybar after spending a few hours in the area in the company of Commission on Human Rights Chair Leila M. De Lima, British forensic investigator Chris Cobb Smith and lawyers from the Center for International Law (Centerlaw).

Baraybar said the “topography of the crime” in Ampatuan town is eerily similar to that he had found as a United Nations expert serving in the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Desparada na si Gloria

Published by Ellen on November 30, 2009

Iba-ibang paraan ang sinubukan ni Gloria Arroyo para manatili siya sa kapangyarihan habang buhay.

Nandiyan yung charter change. Ipinasa ng mga tutal niya sa House of representatives. Hindi nakarating sa Senado.

May mga senyales na binalak niya ang martial law. Kaya ipinuwesto niya sa mga strategic na posisyun ang mga nasa PMA Class ’78, kung saan honorary member siya. Binalaan siya ng Amerika.

Election 2010 begins

Published by Ellen on November 30, 2009

Photos of Erap-Binay, Villar-Loren and Noynoy-Mar

As of today, more than 50 have filed certificates of candidacy for president in the 2010 elections.

Today, in the morning, the Commission on Elections office in Intramuros turned orange. former President Joseph Estrada, his running mate, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and their senatorial candidates filed their certificates of candidacy wearing orange shirts, the color of Partio ng Masang Pilipino.

Erap came driving a jeepney, reviving his 1998 “Jeep ni Erap” motif, with the senatorial candidiates as passengers. His senatorial candidates include his son, re-electionist Jinggoy Estrada, Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile, Jose “Joey” de Venecia III, Rep. Rodolfo Plaza, former Negros Occidental Rep. Apolinario Lozada.

Gloria Arroyo to file certificate of candidacy tomorrow

Published by Ellen on November 30, 2009

Gloria Arroyo’s declaration of her candidacy for second district of Pampanga.

Mga kababayan, lubos na karangalan at pribilehiyo sa akin na maglingkod sa taongbayan bilang Pangulo.

Gumawa ng malalaking pagsulong sa bagay ng ating economy, education, foreign affairs and job creation. While I’m very much looking forward to stepping down as president at the end of my term, I have been mulling different ways to stay involved.

Tiningnan ko ang pagbalik sa pagtuturo. I have also examined ways of working with non-profit organizations on issues ranging from the environment to women’s issues. After much contemplation, I realized I am not ready to step down completely from public service.

As you know, people from my hometown in the second district of Pampanga have been asking me to remain in public service. So after my soul searching, I have decided to respond affirmatively to their call.

To that end, I will file my candidacy for Congress in order to serve the hardworking people of my province.

Ang paglingkod sa publiko ay banal na trabaho. At a very young age, it was emblazoned in my DNA. Umaasa akong ipagpatuloy ang pagkampiyon ang pangangailangan ng mahihirap, ipaglaban ang mas malakas na economy at tiyakin na nasa kaabutan ng karaniwang pamilyang Kapampangan ang education, kalinga sa kalusugan at trabaho.

Binibigyan ako nito ng pagkakataong ituloy ang paglilingkod mula sa puwestong mas malapit sa taong bayan.

Hayaan niyong linawin ko, I will be firmly in control of our national government until the last day I am in office. As president, my first commitment is to the nation we all love. My bid for Congress will be spirited but secondary to my duties as president. We have come too far and too much is at stake for me to waiver these last few months from my commitment to the people of the nation. I will keep a steady hand on the tiller of the ship of state.

Our nation is entering a crucial election year at a time when our economy has just survived a global recession. Though the lead in ensuring free, fair and open elections belong to the Comelec, now more than ever, it is is important for me to focus on the Executive’s duty to help the Comelec perform its role. I will ensure the resources required by the Comelec to see the elections through and then I will work cooperatively with the incoming administration so that they can hit the ground running.

Her lawyer, Romulo Makalintal said, Arroyo will continue performing her duties as president until June 30, 2010 even as she campaigns for a congressional seat.

Media groups to GMA: swift justice or resign

Published by Ellen on November 30, 2009

Media groups and journalists call for the resignation of Gloria Arroyo if her government fails to the catch the perpetrators of the Maguindanao massacre and make them accountable for the crime.

Statement of the Nov. 23 Movement

A Challenge of Conscience

The brutal, indiscriminate mass murder on Monday in Ampatuan town, in Maguindanao province, raises the ultimate challenge of conscience. It carries the culture of impunity at work in this country to such levels of horror that, if it remains unpunished for long, can send the nation into an inexorable descent into absolute dehumanization.

The crime thus calls for swift justice, which can only be achieved through a credible and independent process, which in turn can only be achieved without the hand of this government – a government justly mistrusted generally and openly friendly precisely to the very members of the clan accused in the massacre.

We, ourselves colleagues of the more than a score journalists who were killed, demand the following:

The importance of correct handling of evidence

Published by Ellen on November 29, 2009

Last April, I attended a very informative lecture by Peruvian forensic anthropologist Jose Pablo Baraybar on investigating extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances.

Sponsored by the Center for International Law chaired by Harry Roque, the US Department of State and the American Bar Association, the seminar in General Santos City had prosecutors, members of the military and the Philippine National Police assigned in Mindanao as participants.

Baraybar, who has been called on by the Commission on Human Rights to help in the investigation of the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre, comes with impressive credentials and solid accomplishment: he helped secure the conviction of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori for his role in two cases of massacres in the 1990s.

Election-related happenings worth noting

Published by Ellen on November 29, 2009

Photos of Brig. Gen. Danny Lim, Col. Ariel Querubin, Capt. Gary Alejano, Ltsg James Layug.

Magdalo former Marine Capt. Gary Alejano was granted five days out of detention last week to file his certificate of candidacy for mayor of Sipalay in Negros Occidental.

Last Wednesday, another detained Magdalo officer, Navy Ltsg James Layug filed his certificate of candidacy as representtive of the seond district of Taguig.

Layug,39, is a graduate of Philippine Military Class of 1995. He served in the Philippine Navy and was assigned in several posts throughout the country. He said he joined the July 27, 2003 Oakwood incident “to air out their grievances against a corrupt, inept, and oppressive regime.”

Running as an independent, Layug enjoined everybody to practice new politics: “Sama-sama nating isulong ang Bagong Pulitika. Isang pulitika na kakatawan sa boses ng masa, ipaglalaban ang interes ng bayan, babantayan ang kalikasan at maglilingkod ng tapat sa mamamayan. Bagong pulitika na naka-angkla ang plataporma sa patriotismo, nationalismo, idealismo, at altruismo. Pulitika na hindi nakatali sa salapi bagkus ang pinapahalagahan ay ang malasakit sa kapwa,” Layug added.

Peruvian who nailed down Fujimori for mass murder to probe Maguindanao massacre

Published by Ellen on November 29, 2009

The Commission on Human Rights is availing of the services of two international experts on investigation of human rights violations to help probe the Maguindanao massacre that killed 57 persons, the worst election-related violence in a highly volatile Philippine elections.

Human Rights Chairperson Leila de Lima said the commission has deputized Jose Pablo Baraybar, a forensic anthropologist who helped convict former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori for mass murder, to initially ” make crime scene on-site assessment and evaluation.”

She said, “If Dr.Baraybar recommends the exhumation of the bodies for further investigation, we will coordinate with relatives and proper authorities for that.”

De Lima said Baraybar will be assisted by British Chris Cobb-Smith, a seasoned inspector and investigator in trouble spots all around the world. “Smith’s expertise is relevant to our investigation of the November 23 carnage,” she said.

Panagutan ni Arroyo sina Ampatuan at ang kanilang krimen

Published by Ellen on November 28, 2009

Marami ang nakapansin na sa pag-aresto kay Mayor Andal Ampatuan,mayor ng bayan ng Datu Unsay, hindi siya nakaposas. Escorted siya ng mga ahente ng National Bureau of Investigation at kasama rin niya si Presidential Adviser Jesus Dureza.

Sabi ni Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera sa mga reporter na sumalubong sa kanila s airport, “He is properly restrained.”

Si Andal Ampatuan ang tinuturong nag-utos na pagpapatayin sina Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu at ang kanyang mga kasamahan sa Maguindanao. Ang namatay ay ang asawa ni vice mayor, kapatid at 55 pa. Ayon sa report, 37 sa mga napatay at nawawala pa (hindi pa siguro nakikita ang mga bangkay) ay mga journalist. Ang iba ay mga kasamahan ng mga Mangudadatu at at iba ay talagang namalas lang na nagbibiyahe kasabay ng mga Mangudadatu.

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