ellen tordesillas – Page 52 – Making life worth living.

What happens if winner in May elections is disqualified?

Published by Ellen on January 24, 2016

Of the eight presidential candidates that the Commission on Elections approved to be listed in the ballots for the May 9, 2016 elections, two are facing disqualification cases: Grace Poe and Rodrigo Duterte.

Grace Poe and Escudero oblige a selfie with student in Cebu.

The eight names that Comelec said would be in the ballots are: Jojo Binay of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA); Miriam Defensor Santiago of the People’s Reform Party (PRP); Rody Duterte of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban); Mel Mendoza of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP); Grace Poe, independent;Mar Roxas of Daang Matuwid Liberal Party (LP); Roy Señeres of Partido ng Mangagawa at Magsasaka Workers (WPPPMM); and Dante Valencia,independent.

Printing of the ballots will start on Feb. 1 although Senate President Franklin Drilon, an LP stalwart, is asking the poll body to delay it and wait for the resolution of the disqualification cases being heard by the Supreme Court.

Doble ‘gudtime’

Published by Ellen on January 22, 2016

Neri Colmenares, main author of bill increasing pension of SSS retirees by P2,000 a month, says SSS has P325 billion uncollected revenues. From Philippine Star.

At the Mercury Drugstore the other day, I overheard two senior citizens discussing about the President’s veto of the P2, 000 peso a month increase for members of the Social Security System.

One was telling the other about the commentaries of DZMM’s Ted Failon which she fully agreed. “Bakit nila binigyan ang sarili nila ng bonus na P1 milyon tig-isa kapag Pasko kung wala pa lang pera para sa mga miembro?”

The lady said bonuses are given as reward for good performance but the she cited the report of the Commission on Audit that the SSS owns many assets that are idle that have resulted in losses amounting to over a hundred million pesos yearly.

PH should re-assess relations with Iran

Published by Ellen on January 22, 2016

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini address a news conference at the United Nations building in Vienna, Austria, January 16, 2016. © Leonhard Foeger / Reuters. Photo https://www.rt.com.

After more than two- and- half decades of suffering and enduring United States-led sanctions, Iran, one of the world’s top oil producers, is poised to rejuvenate its economy now that they can access an estimated 100 billion dollars of assets frozen since 1979 when students stormed and occupied the American Embassy in Teheran and held hostage American diplomats for 444 days following the fall of the U.S. supported Shah of Iran.

In a visit to Iran in 1989 to attend a conference on the Persian Gulf, I attended a press event where an American delegate asked an Iranian official if he could go inside the former U.S. Embassy compound which was already occupied by the Revolutionary Guards.
The Iranian official offered a deal: “We will let you visit the former U.S. Embassy compound if your government allowed us to have access to our assets in the United States.”

Binay biggest gainer in ‘destroy Grace Poe’ crusade

Published by Ellen on January 17, 2016

Binay's office released this photo to prove that he was not booed in the Sinulog celebration in Cebu — Binay’s office released this photo to prove that he was not booed in the Sinulog celebration in Cebu

The “Eliminate Grace Poe” from the presidential race crusade has benefitted Vice President Jejomar Binay who has regained the lead in the latest survey of candidates for president in the 2016 elections by the Social Weather Stations.

Liberal Party standard bearer Mar Roxas, whose allies in the Commission on Election delivered the strongest blow against Poe, has gained from it a little because he is now in a statistical tie with Poe and another candidate, Rodrigo Duterte. But it doesn’t bring him closer to the presidency because Binay is pulling away.

By helping destroy Poe, Roxas is delivering the presidency to Binay.

EDCA may have spurred China’s expansion in SCS

Published by Ellen on January 14, 2016

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and U.S. Ambassador Phillip Goldberg after signing the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

In their ecstasy over the Supreme Court decision declaring the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement constitutional and need not be ratified by the Senate, government officials are telling the Filipino people that the country is now in a better position to take on China in the territorial conflict in the Spratlys in the South China Sea.

The military’s spokesman even said from where the American troops would be based in the Philippines, it would take a shorter distance to the South China Sea where China has done massive reclamations around the reefs and rocks they occupy.

As if the American troops based in the Philippines would simply and quickly rush to the Spratlys and battle with Chinese Navy if China clash with the Philippine Navy in the disputed waters.

It would be good to refer to the Senate hearing in on EDCA in December 2014 when Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin was compelled to tell the public what EDCA is really about upon incisive questioning by Sen. Miriam Santiago, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

China not ruling out South China Sea ADIZ

Published by Ellen on January 10, 2016

Crew members of the two aircraft that landed in Fiery Cross Reef pose for a souvenir photo.From Xinhua.

The reply of China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying to the question whether China plans to declare an air defense identification zone over parts of the South China Sea, after commercial aircrafts conducted two test flights in Fiery Cross Reef, was most unsettling.

She didn’t confirm nor did she deny the plan.

She said: “As for whether or not China will set up an air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the decision will be made based on a full assessment of the security situation and our needs. We believe that the overall situation in the South China Sea is stable.”

What then if the situation in the South China Sea, whole or parts of it are being claimed by China, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, becomes unstable?

Scholarship opportunities

Published by Ellen on January 9, 2016

I’d like to share here fellowship opportunities – two for journalists and two for students.

Please take note of the deadlines for the submission of applications.

The Jefferson Fellowships offer print and broadcast journalists from the United States, Asia and the Pacific Islands the unique opportunity to gain on-the-ground perspectives and build international networks to enhance their reporting through an intensive one-week education and dialogue seminar at the East-West Center in Honolulu followed by two weeks of study tour travel in the Asia Pacific-U.S. region.

The theme of this year’s Jefferson Fellowships Program is “The Future of Growth in Asia Pacific” and fellows will be travelling to Honolulu, Hawaii; Beijing & Guiyang, China; Tokyo & Fukuoka-Kitakyushu, Japan.

Fellowship Dates: April 30-May 22, 2016

Grounding lessons

Published by Ellen on January 5, 2016

A book on the rise of Kinaray-a language by Alex de los Santos.

Second day of the year 2016, I was pulled to the ground – a much needed lesson, courtesy of a bus conductor.

Last Saturday, I took a Ceres bus to Iloilo from our province in Antique to take my flight back to Manila.

As I was gathering my baggage upon arriving at the bus terminal in Iloilo, I couldn’t find the box containing foodstuff (adobong manok, suman, saba na saging, rootcrops) that neighbors went out of their way to obtain and prepare for Manila relatives.

There were no more passengers left and I looked all over the bus but I couldn’t find the box. I was sure it was loaded in the bus together with my two bags. So I asked the conductor, “Sa diin tana ang akon box? May higot nga yellow nga straw.” (Where’s my box? The one tied with yellow-colored straw.) That’s in the Kinaray-a language of Antique.

The conductor helped me look all over the bus. We couldn’t find it. He tried looking at the rear and side compartments. No box.

He took one last look inside the bus and he found it under the last seat. I thanked him profusely.

He accepted it with relief saying they felt responsible for every piece of baggage loaded in the bus. Then he remarked. “’Box’ man ikaw nga’box’. Karton gali ang imo ginasagap. (You keep on saying ‘box’ when you are looking for a ‘karton.’)”

Beneficiaries seek accounting of MMFF funds

Published by Ellen on December 24, 2015

Text and photos Maria Feona Imperial
VERA Files

(First of two parts)
Movies featuring the country’s most popular stars—including presidential sister Kris Aquino, comedian Vice Ganda, screen favorites John Lloyd Cruz and Jennylyn Mercado, and young love team Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza—are likely to make the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival another smash hit, possibly raking in much more than last year’s almost P1 billion earnings.

But government auditors and MMFF critics say proceeds from the festival, in dwindling amounts, are not reaching their intended beneficiaries on time, and that an accounting of the festival proceeds is long overdue.

MMFF officials, on the other hand, say the festival is a private undertaking not covered by government audit rules and regulations, even if it is run by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

The main issue is the amusement tax collected from Metro Manila theater owners who screen only MMFF entries for 10 days from Dec. 25 until Jan. 5. For that period, the local government units waive amusement taxes in favor of movie industry beneficiaries.

My Christmas wish list

Published by Ellen on December 24, 2015

I have only three items in my Christmas wish list.

First, may the sick be healed. May they be given the strength to cope
with the trials they are going through.

Special mention in my list is the healing of my niece Rachelle who is
battling cancer. She has conquered cancer of the breast and she is now
battling tumor in her lungs. She is a very brave girl.

Another special mention is my boss, Malaya publisher Jake Macasaet who
suffered a stroke recently. Remarkably, he has recovered his speech
and is now back to his trademark “SOB”s against hypocrites.

He is undergoing daily physical therapy.

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