ellen tordesillas – Page 53 – Making life worth living.

The inconvenient truth in convenience stores

Published by Ellen on December 13, 2015

There’s a petition at Change.org initiated by the Philippine College of Physicians, Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance, PH and Philippine Medical Association directed at the owners of three convenience stores to remove cigarettes from their stocks in branches near the schools.

The petition cites Section 10 of Republic Act No. 9211 (Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003) which clearly states: “The sale or distribution of tobacco products is prohibited within one hundred (100) meters from any point of the perimeter of a school, public playground or other facility frequently particularly by minors.”

Health officials led by Secretary Janette Garin, Undersecretary for Technical Services Vicente Y. Belisario and Undersecretary for Health Regulations Kenneth Y. Hartigan-Go had written way back in July the owners of 7-eleven (Jose Victor Pardo), MiniStop (Robina Y. Gokongwei-Pe) and Family Mart (Anthony T. Huang) asking for their cooperation in enforcing the law.

Sorry for the general statement about education in the provinces

Published by Ellen on December 11, 2015

I made a terrible mistake in my column last Monday.

In my article on Ronald Gadayan, the NAIA janitor who returned to the owner a pouch he found while he was cleaning the departure area in September 2012 containing some P2.4 million cash and valuables, I wrote about his concern about his children’s education.

Being a contractual employee at NAIA, he only earns P481 a day. He has three children, ages 12, 10 and 6. His wife is looking for a job to augment their income.

His children go to a public school in Bulacan. He said he is worried about his children’s future education and asked Education Secretary Armin Luistro for assistance. He said the education secretary told him that his children cannot qualify for scholarship because they are not “matalino.”

Remember the honest NAIA janitor?

Published by Ellen on December 7, 2015

If you are intelligent and rich, there is no problem about getting the education you desire.

If you are poor but intelligent and have good grades, there are opportunities to higher education given by the government and private institutions.

But if you are poor and do not have good grades (there are many factors involved why many children do not do well in school), getting on to higher education would really be a problem.

If your educational record is not impressive, you would have a difficult time getting a good job. If you don’t have a good job, escaping from the cycle of poverty would be hard.

Pagcor’s 12 days of Pamaskong Handog

Published by Ellen on December 4, 2015

What better way to break the stressful stories in the political scene – the Comelec 2nd division disqualification of frontrunner Grace Poe as presidential candidate in the May 2016 elections and the cursing of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who has also filed his certificate of candidacy for president as substitute for a candidate that the Comelec was considering to declare a nuisance candidate – than stories that put a smile on the face of the poor, the orphans, the sick, and persons with disability?

PAGCOR President and COO Jorge Sarmiento (middle) and Assistant VP for Corporate Communications and Services Maricar Bautista (seated left) sign a Memorandum of Agreement with National Children's Hospital (NCH) Chief Dr. Epifania Simbul (seated right) for the P3-million funding that the state-run gaming firm granted to NCH for the operation of indigent children with congenital heart disease. — PAGCOR President and COO Jorge Sarmiento (middle) and Assistant VP for Corporate Communications and Services Maricar Bautista (seated left) sign a Memorandum of Agreement with National Children’s Hospital (NCH) Chief Dr. Epifania Simbul (seated right) for the P3-million funding that the state-run gaming firm granted to NCH for the operation of indigent children with congenital heart disease.

On the fourth day of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s 12 days of Pamaskong Handog, it was not one but two children diagnosed with congenital heart disease were given a better chance to overcome their health problems

Judy Ann Canlas 7, and Mark Kenneth Candes, 5, both patients at the National Children’s Hospital will be able to undergo the much needed heart operation, the expenses to be shouldered by PAGCOR.

To the parents of Judy Ann and Mar, Pagcor’s help is the miracle that they have been praying for.

When Duterte took on Pope Francis

Published by Ellen on December 1, 2015

Living up to his macho image of a crime buster that discriminates no one, in Tagalog, “walang sinasanto,” Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte took on the well-loved Pope Francis whose arrival in the Philippines last January caused him to be stuck in traffic he had to pee in his car.

Last Monday at his declaration as PDP-Laban presidential candidate in lieu of former barangay captain Martin Diño, who filed his certificate of candidacy for president last Oct. 16 but withdrew later as the the poll body included him in the list of nuisance candidates (the Comelec has yet to decide on Duterte’s substitution of Diño), Duterte was in his element spewing “P..I” in abandon, according to news reports.

He cursed traffic in Metro Manila. He related his ordeal last January: “From the hotel to the airport, alam mo inabot kami ng… limang oras. Sabi ko bakit? Sabi pinasarado daw.” A friend told him that the road closure and the traffic jams were due to the arrival of Pope Francis.

He told the adoring crowd: ” Gusto kong tawagan, ‘Pope, p.. I.. ka, umuwi ka na. ‘Wag ka nang bumisita dito.”

Fisheries agreement upgrades PH, Taiwan political relations

Published by Ellen on November 30, 2015

Remember the Balintang Channel incident two years ago that briefly strained relations between the Philippines and Taiwan?

It was triggered by the shooting by members of the Philippine Coast Guard of a Taiwanese fishing vessel in the overlapping maritime borders between the Philippines and Taiwan in the Balintang Channel off Batanes on May 9, 2013. A Taiwanese fisherman, 65-year-old Hung Shih-cheng, was killed.

The Aquino government took the defensive position right away insisting that the Taiwanese vessel intruded into Philippine waters.

It was established that the incident happened 21.6 nautical miles from Batanes, not within the Philippine 12 nautical miles territorial waters but within the 200 NM economic exclusive zone. But at the same time it is 170 nautical miles from the southernmost point of Taiwan and still considered within its 200 EEZ.

International law provides the rules of engagement in overlapping EEZs. Shooting is never one of them.

Duterte and Aesop’s fable about the frogs who desired a king

Published by Ellen on November 26, 2015

The frogs desiring a king (Illus by Harrison Weir, John Tenniel, Ernest Griset)

The frustration of the people over the ineptness of the Aquino government has made the “kamay na bakal” brand of leadership that Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte appealing to many.

Former Human Rights Commission Chair Etta Rosales warned about the dangers of a leader who wants to play God.
Rosales said, ““These people who say we need a Duterte, they don’t think of the law. They don’t realize that if you don’t respect the law, it would affect also you and your family.”

She adds: “The moment you take the law in your hands and you think you can get away with it, then you become part of the problem, and that has been the way of all authoritarian rulers.”

The latest from Duterte

Published by Ellen on November 24, 2015

Thanks to Philippine Star for this photo

The May 2016 elections is now more fun with the entry of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in the race.

Last Monday, Duterte, after months of flip flopping – even writing an open letter last Oct. 12 saying, “The country does not need me” – he declared last weekend in a birthday party in Cavite, that he is after all running for president in the May 2016 elections.

But, in the first place, can he join the presidential race? Although a member of the PDP-Laban ((Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan), he filed his certificate of candidacy for Davao City Mayor as candidate of Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod.

The slot that he is supposed to take for the presidency is the one filed by former Quezon City Barangay captain Martin B. Dino, who has already withdrawn his candidacy after it was reported that he would be declared a nuisance candidate by the Commission on Elections.

But wait, didn’t Duterte said on Oct. 16, “Hindi ako pang-substitute. Pang original ako.”

Obama and Xi talk about jet lag at APEC reception

Published by Ellen on November 23, 2015

Do powerful persons ever engage in small talk? And what do they talk about?

Former Vice President of Taiwan Vincent C. Siew shared with members of media some tidbits about the Leaders Meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation held in Manila last week.

Chinese Presifent Xi Jinping and U.S. President Obama talk about jet lag at pre-dinner conversation Mall of Asia arena. Beside Obama, hidden from the camera, is Taiwan's Vincent Siew. — Chinese Presifent Xi Jinping and U.S. President Obama talk about jet lag at pre-dinner conversation Mall of Asia arena. Beside Obama, hidden from the camera, is Taiwan’s Vincent Siew.

Siew, who represented Taiwan in the 21-Economy grouping, said during the pre-dinner reception at the Mall of Asia Arena on the evening of Nov. 18 (Wednesday), U.S. President Obama joined him and China’s President Xi Jinping.

The great divide in an ‘inclusive’ APEC

Published by Ellen on November 18, 2015

Thanks to GMA News for this photo by Danny Pata.

The monstrous traffic jam last Monday that caused thousands of people to walk to their destinations under the sweltering heat of the noonday sun shows the disastrous gap between noble intentions and miserable realities on the ground.

That’s what makes many people resist embracing the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation which is holding its 23rd summit today and tomorrow at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

This week is an opportunity for the Philippines to shine in the world stage. (This is the second time that the Philippines hosted APEC Leaders Meeting. The first was in 1996 under Pres. Fidel Ramos. It was held in Subic.) Twenty-one leaders of the Asia Pacific Economies or their representatives are in Manila to discuss how to realize the vision they laid down in 1989 which is to support sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.

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