ellen tordesillas – Page 302 – Making life worth living.

The Air Force’s maddening silence

Published by Ellen on July 10, 2008

Losing a member of the family is hard enough to bear. But for a loved one to disappear in your life without you knowing where he is or if he is really dead, that’s unbearable.

Maria Fe Gerlie Mercado, wife of Capt. Gavino B. Mercado PMA Class ’99), one of the two Philippine Air Force pilots whose plane disappeared November 26 last year, has written Brig. Gen.Eduardo Oban Jr., wing commander of Basa Air Base, pouring out her grief over being kept in the dark of the fate of her husband and her co-pilot, Capt.Bonifacio Soriano III (PMA Class 2000)

Mrs. Mercado said Oban is the immediate superior of her husband.

AFP court discharges 11 Magdalos from service

Published by Ellen on July 10, 2008

From GMA News:

The general court martial on Thursday ordered 11 Magdalo soldiers discharged from the military service, more than a month after the accused military officers changed their not guilty plea in connection with the failed July 27, 2003 Oakwood mutiny.

The sentence was promulgated against 11 junior military officers who faced charges for violating Articles of War 96 or conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.

Nurse na supermaid

Published by Ellen on July 9, 2008

Umalma ang Philippine Nursing Association sa “practical nursing” , ang shortcut na kurso ng nursing na pinapa-iral ng Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

Ito kasing CHED ay nag-introduce ng practical nursing program na matatapos sa loob ng 12 hanggang 18 buwan. Ang regular na kurso ng nursing na nakasaad sa Philippine Nursing Act ay apat na taon.

Ang “practical nursing” ay iligal, sabi ng PNA.

Underwhelming credentials

Published by Ellen on July 9, 2008

Former Rep. Zenaida Ducut, from Lubao, Pampanga to be named chair of the Energy Regulatory Commission.

Malaya editorial:

A month back, we wrote: “When the replacement of (Energy Regulatory chair) Rodolfo Albano is named next month, we have one question to ask. How is the WACC calculated? If he could not provide an answer, thats it. Its bayad utang time, and to hell with power users.”

The background for that piece is the need for people at the ERC who must have an understanding of the complicated business of determining power rates based on cost of power generation, transmission and distribution plus some reasonable profit.

Scrap VAT

Published by Ellen on July 8, 2008

As the price of oil products continues to escalate, the proposal of Senator Mar Roxas not only makes sense; it’s imperative.

Gloria Arroyo wallowing in billions of pesos in “Katas ng Vat” while the rest of the Filipinos reel from spiraling prices is criminal. Balancing the budget should be done through more efficient revenue collection and not through this unjust value added tax that drives almost everybody into poverty.

Roxas is correct in debunking the argument of the administration that only the higher-middle class income groups and big business are affected by VAT. He said the fisherman buys gasoline for his motorized boat, the tricycle driver buys gasoline for his tricycle, the taxi driver buys gasoline to ply his route. These are poor people.

Balik ang talunan

Published by Ellen on July 7, 2008

Ngayon na tapos na ang isang taon na ban o pagbabawal ng panunungkulan sa gobyerno ng mga tumakbo at natalo noong nakaraang eleksyon, huwag tayo magtataka kung makikita na nating sila bilang miyembro ng gabinete o hepe ng kung anong opisina.

Noong Biyernes, inanunsyo na ng Malacañang ang appointment ni dating senador Tito Sotto bilang bagong hepe ng Dangerous Drugs Board na may ranggo na cabinet secretary. Ibig sabihin noon miyembro na ng cabinet ni Gloria Arroyo si Sotto.

Plain and simple extortion

Published by Ellen on July 6, 2008

When news of the arrest of former assemblyman Homobono Adaza and four of his friends for “proposing to commit coup de’tat” broke out early afternoon last Wednesday, our reaction was of disbelief and concern.

If the Adaza report were a jigsaw puzzle, the pieces do not fit.

Although Adaza’s companions- Army Lt. Col. Oscarlito Mapalo, retired colonels Ernie Amboy (Army), and Cesar dela Peña (Marines) and retired Police Supt. Rafael Cardeño – at one time or another figured in some controversial activities while in the service, they are not known to have a following in the military.

Mga padrinong obispo

Published by Ellen on July 5, 2008

Dati kung gusto mong rekomendasyon sa presidente, hahanap ka ng padrino na pulitiko. Ngayon, ang mag magaling pala na padrino para makakuha ng pabor kay Arroyo ay obispo.

Kung kilala nyo sina Arcbishop Eduardo Talamayan ng Tuguegarao at Juan de Dios Pueblos ang Butuan, doon kayo lumapit at mukhang malakas sila kay Arroyo.

‘Huge bribes’ delayed $503-M Northrail project, says lawyer

Published by Ellen on July 5, 2008

by Jess Diaz
The Philippine Star

The Chinese contractor of the $503-million North Rail project wants out because of the “huge bribe” paid to Filipino officials, causing a five-year delay in the project, according to a lawyer familiar with the case.

Speaking at the Serye Café news forum in Quezon City, lawyer Harry Roque said China National Machinery and Equipment Group (CNMEG), a state-owned corporation, spent most of the $150 million advanced by the government under its contract paying bribes.

The ghost of IMPSA

Published by Ellen on July 3, 2008

Pre-launch publicity for the book “Fight for the Filipino” by former vice-president Teofisto Guingona has underscored the portion about IMPSA, the Argentine power firm that acquired a sovereign guarantee by the Philippine government of the loan it was obtaining to rehabilitate and operate the 750-megawatt Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) power complex in Laguna.

The sovereign guarantee for the $470 million project, embodied in an opinion issued by then Justice Secretary Hernani Perez, was granted on Gloria Arroyo’s fourth day in Malacañang. It was only the second day of Perez as justice secretary.

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