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More booboos FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 06/27/2012

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

More booboos

FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
06/27/2012
There really is a problem with this government under Noynoy. It jumps to conclusions much too easily, then later, with a rotten egg on its face, the same government quickly changes its tune, but not before causing diplomatic ties to deteriorate.

In the case of Jordanian journalist Baker Atyani and his two Filipino crew, for over a week, Noynoy, his aides, Jesse Robredo, his military and police along with the Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan, insisted that he was neither missing nor abducted by the Abu Sayyaf, while announcing that Atyani is an Abu Sayyaf conduit and that no rescue operations would be launched.

Where they based their conclusion that Atyani is in cahoots with the terrorist group is, as claimed by Noynoy and his aides, due to the fact that Atyani had been to the country at least three times and interviewed the Abu Sayyaf, plus the fact that that he had interviewed Osama bin Laden before the US Seals assassinated the former al-Qaeda leader.

Naturally, after the Jordanian government, through its foreign ministry, confirmed that its national had been kidnapped by the terrorist group, Noynoy and his aides suddenly admitted that Atyani and his crew have been kidnapped, but in trying to save face, they insisted that the journalist went there voluntarily. What crap they spew. Why would a journalist tell, or even ask the government for permission to interview the Abu Sayyaf?.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120627com2.html

Turning yellow EDITORIAL 06/27/2012

Turning yellow

EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
06/27/2012
Now is Noynoy’s chance to play hardball with China now that a Filipino fisherman has died after a fishing boat was supposedly rammed by what the Filipino boat crew identified as Chinese in an incident that happened very close to Scarborough Shoal where a standoff ensued between Philippine and Chinese vessels over rival territorial claims.
The incident happened well within Philippine territory, off Bolinao, Pangasinan, where there was no reason for a Chinese vessel to be present in the area, much more for it to ram a Filipino vessel.

It seems that without American imprimatur, Noynoy cannot act on his own in defending the country’s boundaries.

The standoff at Scarborough Shoal happened shortly after Noynoy received the Philippine Navy’s first decent warship for ages, a decommissioned cutter of the US Coast Guard, which was named BRP Gregorio del Pilar. As soon as the cutter arrived in the country, it sailed off to the disputed shoal to supposedly arrest Chinese fishermen who have long been using the shoal along with their Filipino counterparts without any trouble.

The sudden appearance of a Navy warship in the disputed area touched off heated diplomatic exchanges between the Philippines and China, with both sides maintaining the presence of government-owned vessels in the area..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120627com1.html

Syrians hopeful for summit convened by Russia

Syrians hopeful for summit convened by Russia

The Syrians are in hopeful expectation of an international meeting convened by Russia, and negotiations are underway to reach a solution to the crisis of this nation that survives in the Levant.

In this sense, the press reflects that the visit that will be carried out in Iran in the morning with Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, to discuss the situation in Syria and preparations for the meeting of the countries of the G-6 around the nuclear program of Iran

The Russian news agency ITAR-TASS indicated in a report that the purpose of the meeting will be mainly to seek actions to support the implementation of the peace plan of the Special Envoy of the UN, Kofi Annan, and to put an end to the problems that impede it..... MORE
SourceRT.com

URL: http://english.pravda.ru/world/asia/25-06-2012/121482-summit_russia-0/

Moody's cuts ratings of 28 Spanish banks

Moody's cuts ratings of 28 Spanish banks


Ratings agency Moody's has cut the ratings of 28 Spanish banks following a June 13 downgrade of Spain's sovereign rating by three notches.

The banks' long-term debt and deposit ratings have been downgraded by one to four notches. The rating of Bankia, one the country’s largest banks, has been cut to junk status.

Moody’s cited two main factors behind the move: the agency’s assessment of Spain's reduced creditworthiness, and an “expectation that the banks' exposures to commercial real estate (CRE) will likely cause higher losses, which might increase the likelihood that these banks will require external support.”.... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/business/news/moodys-ratings-spanish-banks-682/

Joseph Estrada, on Dolphy NO HOLDS BARRED Armida Siguion-Reyna 06/27/2012

Joseph Estrada, on Dolphy

NO HOLDS BARRED
Armida Siguion-Reyna
06/27/2012
President Erap’s daughter Jackie Ejercito and husband Beaver Lopez hosted our lunch get-together in their new house last Sunday. We were told the next mayor of Manila would be a little late owing to the mass at San Juan, for it was also “Araw ng San Juan”. Soon enough he was jauntily walking in, attired in trademark orange polo shirt, and matching orange Converse rubber shoes.

And then it was lunch.

Talk naturally drifted to Dolphy, for even those who barely knew him wanted to know how he was doing. Someone volunteered overhearing that Eddie Garcia was not keen on seeing his fellow Sampaguita Pictures contract actor on the sickbed, although later on in the day Garcia ended up dropping by to see the well-loved comedian at the Intensive Care Unit, after the healing mass at the hospital.

“I didn’t want to see Dolphy bed-ridden, too.” Erap said. “But I visited him to stop malicious talk that I didn’t care what was happening to him, kasi raw galit ako at him dahil nag-Villar siya in 2010. That’s not true. Of course I care about him. Puwede bang hindi, e maski matanda siya sa akin, kami halos ang magkakapanahon niyan sa industry. Iba ang pulitika, iba ang long-standing friendship. Mahal ko si Dolphy, tapos.”.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120627com4.html

‘Red International’ splits AN OUTSIDERS VIEW Ken Fuller 06/27/2012

‘Red International’ splits

AN OUTSIDERS VIEW
Ken Fuller
06/27/2012
Two weeks ago, in the first part of this account, we identified three kinds of splits in the labor movement — the party-political split, the split influenced by employers, and the split engineered by government. Last week, there was the split caused by labor-leader paternalism, or the desire to escape it — for the TUPAS-FSM split might be seen as an example of this. (At the lower levels of the movement there must have been countless undocumented examples of this kind of split over the years, along with those caused by personality differences and the careerism of leaders.)

We might also add that while not necessarily causing splits, foreign funding like that advanced by the Asian-American Free Labor Institute has acted as a means of fencing off conservative organizations from their more progressive brethren. And finally, we have the example of the post-1993 splits, which we might dub the “Red International” type of split. This requires some explanation.

Following the Russian Revolution in 1917, a number of communist-led organizations were established on an international level with the aim of gaining influence in the labor and peasant movements. One such organization was the Red International of Labor Unions (RILU), established in 1921. As the international communist movement entered its most sectarian period (characterized by the slogan “class against class”), the RILU saw the aim of communists as attempting to win the support of the labor movement in their own country for the cause of revolution, and if the existing trade unions could not so be won, to establish “red alternatives.”.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120627com5.html

Noynoy violates Charter, allows nuclear sub in RP By Mario J. Mallari 06/27/2012

Noynoy violates Charter, allows nuclear sub in RP

By Mario J. Mallari 06/27/2012

Apart from allowing armed foreign troops and bases into the country, on claims that the bases and American servicemen’s “visits” are temporary and on a “rotational’ basis despite the United States bases in Mindanao being virtually permanent, President Aquino has again violated the Constitution when it allowed another United States nuclear-powered vessel to enter Philippine territory.

The nuclear-powered submarine yesterday docked in Subic Bay for a supposed routine port call — the second such “visit” by US attack seacraft since the standoff between the Philippines and China over the disputed Scarborough Shoal erupted last April.

Article ll, Section 8 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, under State policies, mandated by the Filipino people, states that the “Philippines, consistent with the national interest, adopts and pursues a policy of freedom from nuclear weapons in its territory.”.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120627hea1.html

Palace warned vs SoVFA push as Aussie military faces abuse probe 06/27/2012

Palace warned vs SoVFA push as Aussie military faces abuse probe

06/27/2012
Malacaang should be cautious in pushing the immediate ratification by the Senate of the proposed Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SoVFA) with Australia amid news reports on record of numerous cases of physical and sexual abuse of minors, supposedly committed by members of the Australian armed forces.
An article that came out in the New York Times last June 15 said Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard raised the possibility of a high-level public inquiry or convening a royal commission, a major investigative body occasionally used by some countries of the Commonwealth, to investigate sensitive public issues.

The matter has come to the attention of Senators Gregorio Honasan and Joker Arroyo and both urged the Executive department to exercise caution before having the SoVFA rushed for plenary approval..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120627hea6.html

Disini firms up libel suit vs ex-CJ Panganiban By Charlie V. Manalo 06/27/2012

Disini firms up libel suit vs ex-CJ Panganiban

By Charlie V. Manalo 06/27/2012

Having already been cleared from various Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) deal-related charges, businessman Herminio Disini has tightened the noose on the libel case he had filed against former Chief Justice-turned-columnist Artemio Panganiban for his repeated use of the phrase “go between” in reference to him in one of his column articles.

Included in the libel suit filed by Disini is the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

In his Reply-Affidavit to Respondents’ Counter-Affidavits last Friday, he said “Mr. Panganiban ascribed to me the commission of a crime, particularly corruption of a public official and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, when he described me as Westinghouse’s ‘go between’ with, and a ‘close personal associate of former President Ferdinand Marcos.’”.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120627hea3.html

Money, Corona topbill Noy’s 3rd Sona By Fernan J. Angeles 06/27/2012

Money, Corona topbill Noy’s 3rd Sona

By Fernan J. Angeles 06/27/2012

In what appears to be a sneak preview of his third State of the Nation Address (Sona), no less than the main man on center stage hinted “money” and “crown” as the highlights when he opens Congress sessions in the third week of July.

In a speech before administering the oath-taking of the Liberal Party’s newest members in Baguio City, President Aquino hinted that the financial capability of the present government to promptly deliver services and provide immediate help to its constituents gave it distinction from the previous administrations.

“I am not saying that our country is drowning in cash but we now have the capability to give to our bosses what is due them all at once, without favoring anyone and in the quickest time possible,” Aquino told his audience at the Benguet State University..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120627nat1.html

Palawan Council: ABS-CBN, 18 local execs broke SEP Law 06/27/2012

Palawan Council: ABS-CBN, 18 local execs broke SEP Law

06/27/2012
For occupying and converting Sabsaban Falls into an eco-tourism resort without a clearance from the Palawan Council Sustainable Development (PCSD), charges have been filed against the ABS-CBN Foundation (ACF) and 18 local government officials, PCSD legal chief Adel Belena said.

Belena said the ACF-Bantay Kalikasan, which occupied the falls within the timberland in Brookes’ Point, Palawan and converted them into a resort violated Administrative Order (AO) 6. The case marked as Administrative Case 438 is now pending with the PCSD Adjudication Board (PAB).

AO 6 provides the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act 7611 or the Strategic Environmental Plan (SEP) for Palawan Act. The order requires a SEP clearance for all projects affecting the environment and natural resources of Palawan, including government projects..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120627nat3.html

Miriam pushes RH bill to June brides 06/27/2012

Miriam pushes RH bill to June brides

06/27/2012
All newlyweds should consider it a moral duty to observe reproductive health during marriage, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago said at a posh Cebu City wedding.

Santiago, as principal wedding sponsor and guest speaker last Saturday, exhorted a newly married couple to “follow the RH paradigm” at a five-star hotel wedding reception attended by some of the most prominent Cebu City families.

“Reproductive health is the new wave of the future. The critics are flaying a dead horse. To mix metaphors, the critics are missing the boat. In the 2013 elections, the voters will educate the non-educable,” said Santiago..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120627met8.html

Makati City strengthens ban on synthetic packaging materials 06/27/2012

Makati City strengthens ban on synthetic packaging materials

06/27/2012
The City of Makati will deploy 45 teams from the Plastic Monitoring Task Force (PMTF) to inspect 738 establishments starting June 26 to inspect their stock inventory of plastic and other non-biodegradable materials and evaluate their compliance with the Solid Waste Management Code of Makati.

Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay said Chapter 9 of the code, also known as City Ordinance 2003-095, gives food and retail establishments nine years to dispose of all their stocks of plastics, styrofoam and similar materials and to replace them with environment-friendly materials.

“We are now in the ninth year of implementing the ordinance, so we believe we have given establishments enough time to prepare for the full phase-out being required of them. The new executive order (EO) I issued recently has, in fact, extended the deadline to June 20, 2013,” Binay said..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120627met2.html

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