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Social unrest: A probable scenario EDITORIAL 09/14/2011

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Social unrest: A probable scenario

EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
09/14/2011
Malacañang the other day dismissed the Ralph Recto scenario of social unrest led by the middle class owing to increases on fares in public transportations, along with toll increases, adjustments in power rates and continuing rise in oil prices.

The Palace reaction was expected. There is no Palace occupant who would publicly admit that such a scenario would occur, but if Noynoy continues with his hard stance on doing nothing to bring down the prices affecting everyone — and not just the middle class, eventually, the social unrest will manifest itself in a revolt and that could lead to the end of the Noynoy Aquino government.

Some years back, then President Fidel Ramos was twice faced with the probability of serious social unrest leading to revolts, one of which had to do with the Flor Contemplacion death by the Singapore government, as the public saw that the Ramos government failed to assist a Filipina domestic in pleading for her case..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110914com1.html

All theirs to have FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 09/14/2011

All theirs to have

FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
09/14/2011
More and more, it looks like Noynoy and his boys aren’t so much against the projects planned or started by the previous administration but that review of contracts and cancellations are merely aimed at Noynoy and his boys getting the contracts themselves.

Why, for instance, is there that “urgency” to get into a national broadband network (NBN) when such should not even be considered a priority project of government?

Surely there are more important projects to focus on that would be of greater benefit to the Filipino people who are currently suffering from high prices and higher taxes.

But what is even more suspicious is the fact that, according to the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) secretary, Mario Montejo, the Chinese firm ZTE can still make a bid for the NBN project the Aquino government wants..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110914com2.html

A German mountain haunted by Hitler’s ghost FEATURE 09/14/2011 BERCHTESGADEN — On a mountain-bike, the cyclist comes barreling through the Bavarian pine forest, racing along a rough alpine track straight through what would have been Adolf Hitler’s living room. He does not stop, or even glance, at the greyish stone wall set in the nearby hillside which is all that remains of Hitler’s mountain retreat, known as the “Berghof,” his favorite residence for more than 10 years until his death by suicide in a Berlin bunker in 1945. The “Berghof,” half way up a Bavarian mountain, was damaged by bombing at the end of World War II and US occupation forces dynamited what was left. No signpost indicates the way to it, but a notice board does tell visitors they have reached the right spot once they find this historical no-man’s-land, neither quite on, nor off the map, a symbol of how Germany still finds it difficult to deal with its Nazi past.

A German mountain haunted by Hitler’s ghost

FEATURE

09/14/2011
BERCHTESGADEN — On a mountain-bike, the cyclist comes barreling through the Bavarian pine forest, racing along a rough alpine track straight through what would have been Adolf Hitler’s living room.

He does not stop, or even glance, at the greyish stone wall set in the nearby hillside which is all that remains of Hitler’s mountain retreat, known as the “Berghof,” his favorite residence for more than 10 years until his death by suicide in a Berlin bunker in 1945.

The “Berghof,” half way up a Bavarian mountain, was damaged by bombing at the end of World War II and US occupation forces dynamited what was left.

No signpost indicates the way to it, but a notice board does tell visitors they have reached the right spot once they find this historical no-man’s-land, neither quite on, nor off the map, a symbol of how Germany still finds it difficult to deal with its Nazi past..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110914met1.html

Bangladesh police ‘death squad’ under fire FEATURE 09/14/2011

Bangladesh police ‘death squad’ under fire

FEATURE

09/14/2011
DHAKA — Bangladesh’s feared Rapid Action Battalion police kill about 100 “criminals” a year, but when they shot 16-year-old Limon Hossain they discovered that their impunity might have limits.

Hossain, a student who has become a symbol for anger over tactics commonly used by elite “RAB” officers, was hit at point-blank range and survived only after his leg was amputated.

The RAB say he was a member of a criminal “terrorist” gang and was wounded in a gunfight with RAB commandos, but government-backed agencies, rights groups and even — it seems — the prime minister have all questioned its account.

Hossain’s case has unleashed an outpouring of criticism of the RAB, which can normally rely on public support for its routine killing of alleged criminals in what it describes as “encounters” or “incident shootings.”.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110914com5.html

The next crises C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 09/14/2011

The next crises

C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S
Jonathan De la Cruz
09/14/2011
That P-Noy’s six year term now on its first 15 months will be marked by crisis upon crisis is no longer debatable. Just a month after he took office in 2010, we witnessed the botched Luneta hostage rescue which has earned us countless hours of free exposure worldwide on History Channel and a lingering animosity with Hong Kong which hosts close to 200,000 of our countrymen.

Then, we have the specter of endless violence enveloping the land from the unsolved killings of journalists like Doc Gerry Ortega in Palawan to the beheading of seven Marines in Sulu by the bandit group Abu Sayyaf to the burning of car dealers Evangelista and Lozano and the daily incidents of robberies, hold ups and road mishaps all across the land.

We are also witnessing the incessant increase in prices of basic goods such as pandesal and gasoline and utilities such as power and water and, now, government services as well. Indeed, to say that P-Noy and his boys are up to their neck justifying the non-fulfilment of their campaign promises, including the taming of graft and corruption is to state the obvious. They are in deep, deep doo-doo. And the problems are just starting to manifest themselves. We will not be surprised if immediately after the planned nationwide transport strike over oil price increases and the toll and MRT/LRT fees, we will have a march of women with pans and cooking utensils banging at Malacañang for a reprieve on the cost of power and water..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110914com4.html

Noynoy’s sharp turn on China deals after visit raises eyebrows By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 09/14/2011

Noynoy’s sharp turn on China deals after visit raises eyebrows

By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 09/14/2011

Did President Aquino enter into a secret deal with the Chinese government in his State visit a few weeks ago that he has now softened from his former hardline position in relation to two abandoned government projects previously awarded to Chinese companies?

This question is now being raised as Malacanang appears very subdued and cautious in issuing statements about the ZTE Corporation, the Chinese company behind the National Broadband Network (NBN) project, after Aquino’s China visit, partticularly following his meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.The NBN-ZTE deal was abandoned during the time of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo due to allegations of massive corruption that even nearly led to her impeachment as president.

The ZTE deal was scrapped even after the company has already spent huge amounts of cash in order to corner the contract and it would be of its best interest if it can recover at least some of its losses. A “repayment” deal was apparently forged following Aquino’s meeting with Wen because the ZTE, like many
other Chinese companies, is basically owned by the government..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110914hed2.html

Big Mike’s ‘bagman’ admits 2004 fraud By Angie M. Rosales 09/14/2011

MONER PINPOINTS FORMER PPA CHIEF CUSI AS HANDLER

Big Mike’s ‘bagman’ admits 2004 fraud

By Angie M. Rosales 09/14/2011
x
A former Shariah court judge who is an appointee of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo made a turnaround yesterday confirming before Senate probers previous charges against him on having been a participant in the alleged poll fraud operations in certain provinces in Mindanao during the 2004 elections when Arroyo questionably secured a new six-year term over popular opposition candidate Fernando Poe Jr., even acting as the purported “bagman” of the administration in allegedly bribing election officers to tamper the results.

Nagamura Moner, former Shariah Circuit judge of Lanao del Sure and Iligan City, linked former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo and former Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) manager Alfonso Cusi, who is a known associate of Mr. Arroyo, as supposedly on top of the poll fraud operations, with him also identifying Cusi as his supposed handler.

These new twists happened during the continuation of the proceedings of the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on the sale of used choppers to the Philippine National Police (PNP) which turned virtually into a preview of a called probe on the massive cheating during the 2004 presidential elections
also by the same pannel, jointly with the electoral reforms committee chaired by Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110914hed1.html

Blasts hit Cotabato during Robredo visit By Mario J. Mallari 09/14/2011

Blasts hit Cotabato during Robredo visit

By Mario J. Mallari 09/14/2011
Two successive roadside bombings hit Cotabato City yesterday while Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo was attending a public hearing in the city.

Army 6th Infantry Division (ID) deputy commander and concurrent spokesman Col. Imanuel Luis Ochoterna said that two improvised explosive devices (IEDs), believed to be composed of .81mm round, exploded one after the other around 12:15 p.m. on Sinsuat Avenue.

The two roadside bombs exploded in front of Notre Dame Hospital and the Cotabato Regional Hospital.
Ochoterna said no casualty was reported during the blasts.

The Army official expressed belief that the attack could be the handiwork of terrorists, particularly group of Basit Usman, one of the most wanted terrorists operating in southern Philippines and is included in the United States’ list of wanted terrorist with $1 million bounty..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110914nat1.html

Lawmakers to impose moratorium on law exempting kids 15 below from criminal liability By Angie M. Rosales

Lawmakers to impose moratorium on law exempting kids 15 below from criminal liability

By Angie M. Rosales 09/14/2011

Lawmakers are mulling imposing a moratorium on the law exempting children 15 years old below from criminal liability and revert to the old set-up which covers nine and below, due to the rising incidence of criminality committed by minors.

The suspension of the implementation of the provision in the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 could take effect for a few years or until after the establishment by local government units of facilities for “rehabilitation” is already in place for the needed “intervention” of juvenile delinquents.

Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, yesterday said his panel will submit a report next week recommending the suspension of the provision on exemption of 15 year olds and below from the juvenile justice law and revert to the old provision under the Child and Youth Welfare Code or the Revised Penal Code which says that only those under nine years old are exempted from criminal liability..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110914nat2.html

Special body sought to track prices of oil products By Charlie V. Manalo 09/14/2011

TO PROTECT PUBLIC FROM PREDATORY PRICING

Special body sought to track prices of oil products

By Charlie V. Manalo 09/14/2011

A member of the House of Representatives is seeking the creation of a special body to monitor the prices of petroleum products to protect the public from possible predatory pricing, or mispricing of pump prices by the oil companies.

In his letter to House Speaker Felciano “Sonny” Belmonte, Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said he is asking Congress to create a monitoring body to be placed under the Congressional Budget Policy Office (CBPO) to track the prices of oil products.

“The pricing of local fuel is something that the oil companies themselves determine based on metrics that they set, and with the pricing variables that are not shared with the general public,” Evardone said..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110914met1.html

Makati City court stops MMDA, DPWH from tearing down billboards on major roads By Pat C. Santos 09/14/2011

Makati City court stops MMDA, DPWH from tearing down billboards on major roads

By Pat C. Santos 09/14/2011

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) suffered another legal setback after it was slapped by the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) a temporary restraining order (TRO) ordering it to stop its campaign against giant billboards.

This came after Judge Elpidio Calis of the Makati RTC Branch 133 ordered the MMDA and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to stop tearing down billboards based on the petition made by Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP).

OAAP in its petition for TRO said the MMDA exceeded its authority provided under its charter when it started dismantling and rolling down advertising materials installed in different billboards along major roads, including Edsa.

“Thus in the exercise of its sound discretion, in order not to render any judgement in this case ineffectual, and considering further the irreparable injury that may be sustained by the petitioner if the acts sought to be enjoined are continued, this Court hereby grants the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order directing the public respondents (MMDA and DPWH) to maintain a status quo until a hearing can be had to determine the propriety of injunctive relief,” Calis ruled in his September 1 order..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110914met2.html

Bishop slams Pagcor for ‘Miss Casino’ pageant 09/14/2011

Bishop slams Pagcor for ‘Miss Casino’ pageant

09/14/2011
Outspoken retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz has strongly criticized the first ever Miss Casino Filipino held recently for supposedly “exploiting” women.

Cruz, who is a staunch critic of gambling, said the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) put the women in bad light just to promote gambling in the country.

“This Miss Casino is a slap to Filipino decency. It is exploiting the girls… exploiting their ignorance and enthusiasm and this is to propagate the vice of gambling,” he said.

Cruz added popular beauty pageants such as Miss Universe and Miss World stand up for “something dignified, something humanitarian.”.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110914met3.html

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