ellen tordesillas – Page 82 – Making life worth living.

Aquino for Binay for president in 2016?

Published by Ellen on January 5, 2014

There’s a compelling reason for President Aquino to make sure that that he would be able to influence the people’s choice of his successor otherwise he would suffer the same fate that befell the two presidents before him.

His predecessor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, is in jail – hospital arrest, actually- facing plunder and electoral sabotage charges.
Arroyo’s predecessor, Joseph Estrada, spent six years in detention- much of it under house arrest – for plunder. Convicted, he was later pardoned. He nearly made a comeback as president in 2010, placing second to Aquino. He is now mayor of the city of Manila.

Surely, Aquino knows that in his position, it’s not a matter of good intentions as his “Tuwid na Daan” slogan trumpets. As president, he makes decisions, sometimes resorting to legal brinkmanship. Example is the Disbursement Acceleration Program, the legality of which is being questioned in the Supreme Court.

A lovely New Year even with Yolanda!

Published by Ellen on January 2, 2014

Yolanda was very much in our mind as we bid goodbye to 2013 and welcomed 2014.

Our place in Guisijan, Laua-an, Antique was one of those hit by Yolanda. Not as bad as Leyte and Samar but there was still a lot of repairing and fixing to do.

My mother's langka tree was no match to Yolanda's fury. — My mother’s langka tree was no match to Yolanda’s fury.

Makahulugang pasko para sa lahat!

Published by Ellen on December 24, 2013

As we celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ in the midst of trials and challenges, let’s take the examples shown by these children of supporting each other when they only have themselves to turn to:

Girl baby sitting a baby while in school. Maybe the parents are working and there's no one to take care of the baby. — Girl baby sitting a sibling while in school. Maybe the parents are working and there’s no one to take care of the baby.

I'm not sure of teh nationalities of these children. But their caring fro each other is heart-rending. — I’m not sure of the nationalities of these children. But their caring for each other is touching.

December in the life of the De Venecias

Published by Ellen on December 22, 2013

. Rep. Gina de Venecia talks to survivor Michael Abadia of Palo Leyte, who lost his entire family, his wife and five children when typhoon Yolanda struck. At the background are Rep. Victoria Noel and another victim, Wilma Castillote who also lost a child. — Rep. Gina de Venecia talks to survivor Michael Abadia of Palo Leyte, who lost his entire family, his wife and five children when typhoon Yolanda struck. At the background are Rep. Victoria Noel and another victim, Wilma Castillote who also lost a child.

December 26 is the birthday of former House Speaker Jose de Venecia, who is now sporting an arm sling after he figured in an accident at his relative’s house in San Francisco, California last month. He stepped on a hose in the garden and fell to the ground fracturing his shoulder and harming his knees. His doctors advised him against undertaking long-haul travels in the next two to three months.

The accident compelled the peripatetic JDV to forgo attendance in the meeting of the standing committee of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties in Ankara, Turkey last Nov. 21 and 22.

JDV co-founded ICAPP, a forum of political parties of various ideologies among countries in Asia-Oceania to promote exchanges and cooperation; enhance understanding, and create an environment for sustained peace and shared prosperity in the region.

Will PH be ready for Asean 2015 when we can’t do simple things right

Published by Ellen on December 15, 2013

What I’m relating is not a life-and-death matter but it shows why we are lagging behind with some of our Southeast Asian neighbors.

When the Jetstar plane I took from Singapore touched down at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport about 10 in the morning yesterday, I realized I haven’t filled up the Immigration and Customs Declaration forms that are usually distributed on the plane. I asked fellow passengers if the flight stewardess had distributed the forms while many of us were asleep and they replied, “None.”

When we got to the area before the Immigration Counter, we were told the forms were on the stands on both side of the room occupied by passengers dutifully filling up the form.

Dapat ayusin muna ni Pacquiao ang laban niya sa BIR at IRS

Published by Ellen on December 15, 2013

Understandable for Pacquaio to seek divine intervention with his tax problems.

Kawawa naman itong si Manny Pacquiao.

Kapag hindi niya malusutaan itong problema niya sa buwis, hindi lamang sa Pilipinas kung di sa America rin, magre-retire pa lang siyang libing sa utang.

Sa dami ng bugbug na natamo niya, utang lang ang bagsak niya. Kawawa naman.

Ugly

Published by Ellen on December 15, 2013

Roxas vs Romualdez. Thanks to Inquirer for photo.

This Mar Roxas-Alfred Romualdez fight is ugly.

As ugly as the Juan Ponce-Enrile-Miriam Defensor-Santiago battle.

At the hearing of the congressional oversight committee on the Philippine Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 last Monday, a tearful Romualdez related how, he claimed, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas tried to marginalize him in the relief and recovery efforts for the Yolanda-devastated city.

He said Roxas asked him for an ordinance allowing the national government to undertake relief and rescue operations in Tacloban to “legalize everything” or a letter stating that he could no longer function as mayor.

Will China withdraw from UNCLOS if UN court decides in favor of PH?

Published by Ellen on December 10, 2013

The possibility of China pulling out of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has been mentioned in informal discussions among foreign affairs experts and observers but it was the first time that a Chinese scholar said it in public.

Shen Dingli, speaking to reporters after his speech in a forum “What is to be done?: Resolving Maritime Disputes in Southeast Asia” organized by the Angara Centre for Law and Economics at Marriott Hotel last Thursday, said it was a mistake for China to have joined the 1982 UNCLOS, “an international treaty that provides a regulatory framework for the use of the world’s seas and oceans to ensure the conservation and equitable usage of resources and the marine environment and to ensure the protection and preservation of the living resources of the sea.”

UNCLOS also addresses such other matters as sovereignty, rights of usage in maritime zones, and navigational rights, the UN website states.

“We should not have joined UNCLOS,” Shen said.

Mandela will live in our hearts forever

Published by Ellen on December 8, 2013

Read and watch Maya Angelou’s poem tribute to Nelson Mandela below.

Photos from http://philippinediplomaticvisits.blogspot.com/2012/08/philippines-south-africa-1997.html

Mandela arrives in Malacanang. AP photo.

Twenty-seven years in prison, a long period of that in darkness and limited access to sunlight, affected the eyesight of world hero Nelson Mandela.One of his requests when he came to the Philippines on a state visit on March 1, 1997 was to have the lights dim in his hotel room.

His office also specified a room temperature for the almost 80-year old South African leader, whose unrelenting fight against apartheid and boundless capacity to forgive even those who had persecuted him have made him an inspiration and an icon.

I am not sure where he stayed during his Manila visit but usually at that time state visitors stayed at the Manila Hotel.

I was then a Malacañang reporter and I felt privileged covering the visit of the distinguished leader. I brought his autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom” hoping for a chance to have him autograph it. When I did not get the chance to approach him during the press conference, I gave the book to the protocol officer hoping that he would have the opportunity in between the visiting leader’s official activities.

The protocol officer returned the book to me without the much-desired autograph explaining that he was told by Mandela’s aides said that the South African leader has made it a policy not to autograph books and memorabilia.

A 2010 news item in The Guardian carried a request from the Nelson Mandela Foundation that “Because of the sheer volume of requests for his autographs, he no longer signs books, memorabilia, photographs, etc. “

Cebu journalist new McLuhan Fellow

Published by Ellen on December 5, 2013

VETERAN journalist Eileen G. Mangubat is the 2013 Marshall McLuhan Fellow.

The Embassy of Canada, which is behind the Marshall McLuhan Fellowship, said Mangubat, publisher and acting editor-in-chief of Cebu Daily News, is being recognized for her noteworthy efforts to steer and maintain an independent and professional community press in Cebu. She is the third community journalist to receive the McLuhan Fellowship.

The fellowship, named after the world-renowned Canadian communication scholar, is the embassy’s flagship media advocacy initiative. Launched in 1997 to encourage responsible journalism in the Philippines, the fellowship underlines Canada’s belief that strong media is essential to a free and democratic society.

The program, with financial support from Sun Life of Canada, provides the winner with a study tour to Canada. The winner will also have the chance to sit as a fellow at the McLuhan Institute in Toronto.

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