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A sobering lesson

Despite mosquito bites and a damaged toenail, Ces Drilon was her usual perky self upon coming out of a nine-day ordeal in a bandits’ lair in the jungle of Sulu. It was good to see her smiling.

It was touching seeing her crying and sharing her reflections of her harrowing experience. I was touched with that part when Ces said something like”You don’t realize how important something is until you are on the verse of losing it.” She said many times during their captivity, they were on the verge of being killed.

Kubeta shortage

Sa Silangan Elementary School sa Taguig Rizal, isang kubeta lamang sa 2,031 na estudyante.Buhos-buhos pa. At kadalasan, wala pang tubig.

Dahil sa ganitong sitwasyon, maraming estudyante ang napa-ihi na sa kanilang pants. Ang iba kung saan na lang. Kaya daw ang baho-baho na ng kubeta at ng paaralan.

Jinggoy’s general and Erap’s DVD

Update: In today’s hearing, Atty. Bagares challenged Gen. Martir because he was the one who approved (even ordered according to militarynsources) of Lt. Raymundo’s detention and filing of charges against him.

Martir said he had inhibited, three days earlier. (Then why was he there presiding?) Then he left. Another member, Lt. Col. Emmanuel Salamat, also inhibited himself from the panel because he was the one who prepared the report on Lt. Raymundo’s case.

Mga bunga ng kahirapan

Update: In the 6:30 evening news, PNP Chief Avelino Razon said Ces Drilon, Jimmy Encarnacion and Octavio Dinampo will be released “in a few hours to one day”.

Update:The kidnappers of ABS-CBN reporter Ces Drilon and her cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion have given an indefinite extension on talks for their captives’ release, the son of the crisis negotiator said.

May napansin ako sa sinabi ni Mayor Alvarez Isnaji ng Indanan, Sulu,
ang negotiator sa pagpalaya kina Ces Drilon ng ABS-CBN, ang kanyang cameraman na si Jimmy Encarnacion at ang professor sa Mnidnao State University na si Octavio Dinampo.

Sinabi ni Isnaji na ang kidnappers ni Ces ay mga batang Tusog, mga 15 hanggang 20 taong gulang. “Mga anak at apo ng kasamahan ko sa MNLF, sabi ni Isnaji na dating kumander ng Moro National Liberation Front na nakipaggiyera noong panahon ni Marcos para magkaroon ng hiwalay na bansang “Bangsamoro” para sa mga Filipino-Muslim.

Ces’ kidnappers give deadline: P15 million by Tuesday noon

DILG puts up P500,000 each for the kidnappers of Ces and her team.

The kidnappers of ABS-CBN broadcast journalist Ces Drilon, her cameraman and a university professor have asked for a P15-million ransom, which they want delivered by Tuesday noon, according to an emissary.

The emissary, Alvarez Isnaji, mayor of the town of Indanan, Sulu, told reporters in Sulu the kidnappers set Tuesday as the deadline for the P15 million ransom for Drilon, ABS-CBN cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion and Prof. Octavio Dinampo of the Mindanao State Univerisity.

Managing our Foreign Service

(The following article appeared in the Philippine Star last week where former foreign secretary Roberto R. Romulo writes a regular column.)

by Roberto R. Romulo

From 1989 to 1995, I was in government service as Ambassador and Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Having worked in a multinational corporation for 25 years in various management positions, I presumed that management techniques tried and proven effective in business organizations could be equally applicable in the government bureaucracy.  I am writing on this topic, using my experience in the DFA, in the spirit of constructive criticism.

Dinampo on the Abu Sayyaf

Alan Tanjusay of Mainichi Shimbun’s Manila has interviewed several times Octavio Dinampo, a Tausug professor in the Mindanao State University who accompanied ABS-CBN reporter Ces Drilon and her cameramen, Angelo Valderama and Jimmy Encarnacion last June 8 to Maimbung, Sulu where they were abducted.

A week before the abduction of Ces and her team, Tanjusay met with Dinampo in a restaurant here in Manila. Dinampo informed him that his book on the Abu Sayyaf group will soon be out.

Erap commends CBCP for admitting error on Edsa 2

Former President Estrada yesterday commended the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines for admitting that their supporting a power grab against him in January 2001 that installed Gloria Arroyo in Malacañang was a mistake.

“I commend the CBCP in displaying humility and admitting their error in supporting my ouster. At least now people are beginning to admit the truth that Edsa Dos was a conspiracy, a power grab. Former Chief Justice Cecilia Munoz Palma was right when she said that Edsa Dos was an instance when the rule of law was thrown out and the rule of force prevailed.”