• 6 AUGUST - *1907 - Gen. Macario Sakay, one of the Filipino military leaders who had continued fighting the imperialist United States invaders eight years into the Ph...
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Five years of searching for Jonas Burgos

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Five years of searching for Jonas Burgos


Five years ago today, Jonas Joseph Burgos was abducted by suspected state security agents at a busy mall in Quezon City. From that day until this very moment, his family and friends continue searching for him despite all the difficulties.

After five years, Jonas Burgos still missing

Mrs. Burgos calls for justice on 5th year anniversary of Jonas’ abduction(Photo by Ronalyn V. Olea / bulatlat.com)
MANILA – In hopes of finding Jonas Burgos, Mrs. Edita Burgos and her family have turned to the judicial system but found it wanting.

“We went through the legal process and here we are now,” Mrs. Burgos said in an interview a few days before the fifth year of the disappearance of her son. She encountered a labyrinth and she is still nowhere near finding even a trace of her missing son.
Just last week, the Court of Appeals ruled that the military documents related to the case are secret. In a five-page decision by Associate Justice Rosalinda Asuncion-Vicente, the CA’s special former seventh division said the documents, including the summary of information about the two suspects, are considered as confidential. In effect, the court has ruled that the military part of Mrs Burgos’ labyrinthine search for Jonas is untouchable. (Click here to read the whole article)

Jonas Burgos, gentle and brave

The three boys in the family share a light moment. On the right is Jonas. JL stands beside him and Sonny below.(Photo courtesy of the Burgos family / bulatlat.com)
MANILA – Jonas or Jay to his family was born on an Easter Sunday, on March 29, 1970. “I was attending Mass when my labor began. In less than an hour, before the Mass ended, I gave birth to him,” Mrs. Edita Burgos recalled. Jonas is the middle child of the five children of Mrs. Burgos and press freedom icon, Jose Burgos Jr.

As a child, Jay was full of energy. “I would tell his teachers to keep him busy or else they’d get into trouble,” Mrs. Burgos said. Jay went to Victoria School Foundation during his grade school.

Jay was called “supervisor” for his habit of roaming around the school. On the first day of classes, he already knew the names of all the teachers. Sometimes, he would tickle the knees of his classmates, moving from one desk to another.
Asked why he was doing those things, Jay would tell his mother: “Our teacher was saying the same things over and over again.” Smiling, Mrs. Burgos said: “And so, by next school year, he was given the task of erasing what was written on the blackboard. Sometimes, he would erase the text even before his classmates were done copying.” (Click here to read the whole article)
5 years of search, 5 years of hope.... MORE
SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/04/28/five-years-of-searching-for-jonas-burgos/

Noynoying strikes again EDITORIAL 04/29/2012

Noynoying strikes again

EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
04/29/2012
At the conclusion of the 33rd National Conference of Employers last Wednesday, Noynoy was anticipated to make policy pronouncements in his remarks that will close the annual assembly of the country’s business executives.

The finale of the event was set at 11 a.m. on the 25th and the big shots in business were all at the edge of their seats waiting for what pronouncements Noynoy may have to rev up the local economy which seems to have hit a lamp post in managing only a 3.7 percent growth last year against the 7.9 percent growth in 2010.

The result was almost predictable, no Noynoy, no policy speech and everyone who participated in the conference going home in disgust and disappointment over the Aquino no-show.

In Noynoy’s place was Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz who failed to give comfort to the disenchanted business people since they had been talking with the ever present official during the entire length of the event that ran for four days since April 22..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120429com1.html

Under-age call girl scandal shakes Singapore elite FOCUS 04/29/2012

Under-age call girl scandal shakes Singapore elite

FOCUS

04/29/2012
SINGAPORE — An unfolding scandal over an under-age call girl has shaken Singapore’s political and economic elite after businessmen, civil servants and uniformed officers were charged in the case.

Prostitution is legal in Singapore, but 48 men ranging in age from their early 20s to late 40s have so far been charged under a 2008 law making it a crime to pay for sex with a girl under 18.

Singapore has long been perceived as a conservative, even prudish, city-state but it has a thriving sex industry dating back to its beginnings as a key trading port of the then British empire..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120429com3.html

Keep guessing: US deploying fighter jets to the Gulf?

Keep guessing: US deploying fighter jets to the Gulf?

The US says it has deployed a number of its most modern jet fighters to an air base in Southwest Asia. The announcement alarmed many, who suspect the base is actually in the United Arab Emirates just 200 hundred miles from Iran.

­The Air Force did not specify the exact number or location of the recently-deployed F-22 Raptors, but confirmed that they had been sent to a base in Southwest Asia, a region that includes the UAE.

“Such deployments strengthen military-to-military relationships, promote sovereign and regional security, improve combined tactical air operations and enhance interoperability of forces, equipment and procedures,” said Air Force spokesman Capt. Phil Ventura..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/us-deploying-jet-fighters-gulf-242/

Divorce, Saudi style: Man splits with ‘disobedient’ wife during live broadcast

Divorce, Saudi style: Man splits with ‘disobedient’ wife during live broadcast


Ever travelled to a nearby city on your own? In Saudi Arabia, this could be grounds for divorce. A Saudi man broke up with his wife because she “disobeyed” him by going on a business trip without his consent.

­The man phoned a radio program dealing with marital problems to complain about his wife to host Sheikh Ghazi al-Shammari, a prominent Islamic scholar.  The unnamed man said his wife “offended his manhood” by traveling from the Saudi port city of Jeddah to the capital Riyadh for a business conference, alone and without his approval.

Al-Shammari concluded that the man had to divorce his wife..... MORE
SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://rt.com/news/saudi-divorce-radio-disobedient-248/

Testing P-Noy’s mettle TABLETS OF STONE Larry Faraon, OP 04/29/2012

Testing P-Noy’s mettle

TABLETS OF STONE
Larry Faraon, OP
04/29/2012
Authority is supposed to create fear, or in Christian ethical parlance, “reverential fear.” It is a kind of fear that would make us tremble at the sight of the authority’s iron hand and heart of steel, but would bow our heads in due respect and obedience.

But of course, indeed, there is already an atmosphere of fear in the form of doubt and insecurity creeping into the sensibilities and perceptions of our people. This worrisome insecurity is even leading to doubts as to the present administration’s capability to put this country under its nose and grip.

Nobody can’t help chill in the fact that “even when the cat is around, the mouse will play.”
Primetime news and broadsheets are now competing with tabloids in reporting of all sorts of heinous crimes viewable from CCTVs mostly daring heists and senseless murders in malls, homes and the streets, just like in the movies. And the perpetrators are getting younger by the day! We are still top in the list of countries unfriendly and hazardous to the journalistic profession, the latest of which was an attempt to strafe the house of columnist Professor Randy David. Despite the automatic denials of the police authorities as they lace their reports with facts of dwindling crime rates in select areas, the public perception says the contrary. President Joseph Estrada was head of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC) when he was vice president to Fidel Ramos and continued to fight off criminality when it was his turn at the helm..... MORE
SourceRT.com

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120429com7.html

Philippines tops list of world’s most disaster-hit countries in 2011

Philippines tops list of world’s most disaster-hit countries in 2011


By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — Topping this list is not an achievement for any country.

The Citizens’ Disaster Response Center (CDRC) has recently released its 2011 Disaster Report saying that the Philippines topped the list of countries most frequently hit by natural disasters last year. Citing the records of the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), Carlos Padolina, CDRC deputy executive director, said that of the 302 natural disasters that happened worldwide, 33 occurred in the Philippines.

CDRC is a non-government organization that pioneered and continues to promote community-based disaster management in the Philippines. It operates nationwide through a network of regional centers and people’s organizations. It maintains its own disasters database, monitoring both natural and human-induced disasters.

Based on the report, a total of 431 natural and human-induced disasters were reported in the Philippines in the past year. These killed 1,774 people, and affected more than three million families or 15.3 million people, and caused over P26 billion in economic damages.

“This is a more than 50 percent increase from the 2010 figure of 202 disaster events recorded,” said Padolina.




















Increasing number of people affected by disasters
 
The CDRC’s 2011 Philippine Disaster Report presents information on disasters that occurred in the Philippines in the past year, providing an overview of the type of disasters that occurred, the frequency of occurrence, as well as the effects of these disasters on communities. Where available, direct economic costs to agriculture and infrastructure were also included. A substantial portion of the data.... MORE

SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/04/27/philippines-tops-list-of-world%E2%80%99s-most-disaster-hit-countries-in-2011/

China brass calls for ‘decisive action’ over RP standoff 04/29/2012

China brass calls for ‘decisive action’ over RP standoff

04/29/2012
A major general in the China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has called for “decisive action” from the Chinese government to assert its territorial claim against the Philippines over the Scarborough Shoal dispute.

Prominent Chinese military commentator Major Gen. Luo Yuan accused the Philippines of initiating the current standoff in the South China Sea.

“Therefore it is important that China demonstrates its determination to safeguard its national sovereignty and security,” Luo said..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120429hea2.html

CBCP urges Aquino to distribute Hacienda Luisita now 04/29/2012

CBCP urges Aquino to distribute Hacienda Luisita now

04/29/2012
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice, and Peace (CBCP-Nassa) called on President Aquino and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to swiftly facilitate the implementation of the SC ruling upholding the distribution of the vast Hacienda Luisita estate of the Aquino-Cojuangco clan to farm workers.

CBCP-Nassa lauded the Supreme Court (SC) for the favorable ruling on the Hacienda Luisita land dispute.

“The long wait is over. The decision for land distribution of Hacienda Luisita has finally been rendered. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace thanks the Supreme Court for its resolution to distribute the lands to the farmers of Hacienda Luisita following the land valuation of 1989,” said CBCP-Nassa chief and Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo in a statement..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120429hea3.html

NPA frees 5 human shields By Gina Peralta-Elorde 04/29/2012

NPA frees 5 human shields

By Gina Peralta-Elorde 04/29/2012
The Philippine Army (PA) yesterday confirmed that the five civilians, including a barangay kagawad who were held hostage by the New People’s Army (NPA) guerillas in Davao del Sur have been released on Friday.

This was disclosed by the PA’s 10th Infantry Division spokesman, Major Jacob Obligado.

Obligado said the five civilians, Barangay San Miguel Councilor Enteng Bunal, Jolly Paimalan, Elmer Pentes, Rhyan Banua and Pablo Butaya have been released by their captors..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120429nat1.html

Criminalize hiring of teachers through contracts, job orders — ACT 04/29/2012

Criminalize hiring of teachers through contracts, job orders — ACT

04/29/2012
A lawmaker has moved to criminalize the hiring of public school teachers through service contracts or job orders.

ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio filed House Bill 6006, which seeks to dismiss from service with cancellation of eligibility and perpetual disqualification from government service any government official found guilty of the offense. His or her retirement benefits shall also be forfeited.

Tinio said the measure covers teachers employed in public schools in the kindergarten, elementary and secondary levels, as well as in public post-secondary education institutions, including state universities and colleges (SUCs), local universities and colleges (LUCs), and technical-vocational schools..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120429nat2.html

Policeman, four others slain in clash between lawmen and holdup men in QC 04/29/2012

Policeman, four others slain in clash between lawmen and holdup men in QC

04/29/2012
Five persons, one of them a policeman, were killed while two others were wounded when armed men held up passengers of a jeepney that led to a brief encounter between responding policemen and the suspects in Quezon City last Friday night.

Killed were PO3 Erwin Hipolito, Rommel Tinio, the jeepney driver, and three of the suspects who were gunned down by policemen.

The wounded were identified as POI Cyril Agitong and another driver identified as Ignacio Rigor..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120429met4.html

Aurora lawmaker files bill seeking Magna Carta for Filipino seafarers 04/29/2012

Aurora lawmaker files bill seeking Magna Carta for Filipino seafarers

04/29/2012
Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara has filed a Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers that includes, among other lofty provisions, a comprehensive definition of their employment and economic rights and mandates 15 government agencies to actively promote, professionalize and prepare the seafarers for the 21st century maritime industry.

The Angara bill lists 17 items on the rights of seafarers alone, seeks best business practices acts from foreign ship owners recruiting Filipino merchant marine officers and urges all stakeholders to adopt all the international conventions and standards on seafarers’ welfare, especially those on compensation and wages.

The bill also seeks to rein in the fees and the cumbersome procedures that merchant marine officers face when seeking employment or re-deployment, mostly from government agencies and local placement companies..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120429met2.html

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