Protest against 2012 budget dispersed, ralliers to file charges, intensify protests

Protest against 2012 budget dispersed, ralliers to file charges, intensify protests

“This PPP scheme for education and health will cost the taxpayers more because the government must guarantee the private sector partners’ return on investment.” – ACT Teachers Party Rep. Antonio Tinio

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Groups under Kilos na Laban sa Budget Cuts condemned the brutal dispersal of their rally on Thursday, Aug. 25 in front of the House of Representatives. The anti-budget cut groups said they will file charges with the Commission on Human Rights against the Quezon City Police District and the security office of the House of Representatives for the brutal dispersal of the rally on Aug. 26, Friday.

Kilos na Laban sa Budget Cuts is an alliance composed of various groups such as youth, students, teachers, health workers, migrants, and urban poor. According to Aki Merced, spokesman of League of Filipino students, 20 ralliers were seriously injured.

“We were in the middle of our program in front of the House of Representatives when the police from QC station 10 and security units of the HOR assaulted us. Of course the people got angry— they were hitting us with metal rods and blasting us with water from a fire truck,” Merced said.

The protesters were brutally dispersed by the police and security forces of the House Representatives. Kilos na Laban sa Budget cuts are set to file charges with the Commission on Human Rights against the Quezon City Police District and the Security Office of the HOR.
(Photo by UP Kilos Na / Bulatlat.com)

The groups said they were peacefully holding a program when, without warning, the police stationed at the Congress main gate started hitting the protesters with their shields and truncheons. After that the police trained their water canon on some 300 protesters.

“In fact, majority of the protesters were caught unaware as they were still sitting on the road, some on the sidewalks, and listening to the program, when the dispersal began,” the alliance said in a statement.

The Kilos na Laban sa Budget Cuts had described Aug. 25 as the national day of action against budget cuts on education and social services. The groups are calling on the lawmakers to reject the proposed 2012 national budget because it contains both cuts and insufficient allocations for basic social services.

“After last year’s P1 billion ($23 million) budget cut for 97 State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), 50 SUCs will face a P500 million ($11 million) slash for 2012. Funding for basic education, health, housing, and OFW services are all severely insufficient,” the alliance said. ??On the other hand, the proposed budget contains huge funds for the presidential pork barrel, or the intelligence funds of the Office of the President, from P65 billion ($1.547 billion) to P161 billion (3.833 billion).

Aug. 25 was also the scheduled budget hearing of the Office of the President and the Department of Education (DepEd). Progressive legislators of the Makabayan coalition also joined the protest calling for higher budget allocation for social services like education and health.

“Aquino the budget-slasher” 

Kilos na Laban sa Budget Cut described the 2012 national budget as anti-people and branded President Benigno Aquino III as the ‘budget-slasher’.

“Aquino is blatantly abandoning the people. Budget allocations for education, health and other social services suffered hefty cuts and remained lacking while debt servicing, military, dole-out programs like the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), the President’s unprogrammed funds and legislators’ pork barrel budgets are being increased. This plus last year’s budget allocation is a very clear indicator of Aquino’s priorities,” said Merced..... MORE
Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/08/26/protest-against-2012-budget-dispersed-ralliers-to-file-charges-intensify-protests/

When bringing education to underserved Blaans is being deemed as an act of rebellion

When bringing education to underserved Blaans is being deemed as an act of rebellion
“Why is it becoming harder to be of service to your fellow Blaan? What does the government want us to do?” – Blaan Teacher

SECOND PART: Encampment in communities, instilling fear, part of ‘peace and development’ operations?
Sidebar: Neglected, Blaans unite, empower themselves
Sidebar: News in Pictures: Suffer the little children to go to this school
Sidebar: Slideshow: In Upper Suyan Village, children suffer the worst from poverty, militarization

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

DLUMAY, Sarangani – (First of two parts) Joy Lasib, 21, does not consider herself an activist. But when she suffered harassment from the military, she said she learned to be strong and to fight for her rights.

A Blaan, Lasib grew up in Davao del Sur, south of the Philippines. Her parents are peasants whose meager income is barely enough to put food on their table thrice a day. She managed to finish high school but they could not afford four years of college.

“I had wanted to take up education in college. But poverty hindered that dream. A mining company offered me a scholarship but our family declined because we do not want to be used. We know what they are doing to our lands,” Lasib told Bulatlat.com. SMI Mining Company has been digging into Lasib’s community in search of gold and other valuable minerals in Matanao, Davao del Sur. “Land is important to us. It is our life and it sustains our needs.”

Since she graduated from high school in 2002, Lasib had helped her parents in household chores. She said she was not able to muster the courage to apply for work because of her educational background. “I am also not confident about my multi-tasking skills,” she explained. Little did she know that a few years later, she would have to pluck up the courage not just to overcome her fear of multi-tasking but fear itself.

Educating the Blaan children 

In 2008, Her uncle, Yol Lasib, asked if she was interested in teaching Blaan children in a remote area in Sarangani, a neighboring province. She was more than interested. But she hesitated, thinking she was not competent to become a teacher. But she was promised some trainings.

A Blaan child during their psychosocial activity(Photo by Janess Ann J. Ellao / bulatlat.com)

“I thought it would be better to be of help to my fellow Blaans than to stay home doing nothing. So, I agreed,” she said.

The Center for Lumad Advocacy and Services (Clans) and the Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya (Sibol) arrived in the community of Sitio Dlumay in 2007. Sibol was then looking for a community with rich water resources for their micro-hydropower electric plant project. Looking closer at the needs of the community, one of the head teachers, Maricel Salem, asked the support of the NGOs in setting up of a literacy school for the children.
In a survey conducted in 2007, the literacy rate in six sub-villages of Upper Suyan was a mere three percent. At that time, most children would have to walk two to three hours a day to go to a formal school in the village proper of Upper Suyan. Malnutrition, parasitism and poor health among the residents were also common. Clans said farming methods remain backward and undeveloped..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/08/25/when-bringing-education-to-underserved-blaans-is-being-deemed-as-an-act-of-rebellion/

ACT Representative slams surveillance operations on progressive lawmakers, teachers

ACT Representative slams surveillance operations on progressive lawmakers, teachers

“Why does the PNP keep on tracking the activities of duly-elected lawmakers, as well as teachers, of this country? Why don’t you monitor the operations of criminals, killers, drug syndicates, kidnappers and the like?” – ACT Rep. Antonio Tinio
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Progressive legislator slammed the Philippine National Police (PNP) for the use of its intelligence funds to monitor the activities of elected solons and legitimate teacher organizations instead of lawless elements.
During the budget hearing of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Aug. 23, Tuesday, ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio L. Tinio questioned officials of the PNP as to how the P505.4 million ($12 million) intelligence funds are being utilized. PNP Chief Raul Bacalzo said intelligence funds are intended for lawless elements and enemies of the state.

Tinio refuted Bacalzo’s statement by citing a firsthand account in which he and other elected representatives and legitimate teacher organizations like the Quezon City Public School Teachers Association (QCPSTA) are being subjected to PNP intelligence operations.

“Why does the PNP keep on tracking the activities of duly-elected lawmakers, as well as teachers, of this country? Why don’t you monitor the operations of criminals, killers, drug syndicates, kidnappers and the like?” Tinio asked.

On Aug. 6, Tinio said, he and other six party-list representatives of the Makabayan coalition was placed under surveillance by the PNP. In the account of ACT, a police officer who identified himself as PO3 Ruben Dipasupil of the Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) of Station 2 of the Masambong Police Station came to the venue where Makabayan was having a meeting and told them he was making a “spot report” about the on going meeting..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/08/25/act-representative-slams-surveillance-operations-on-progressive-lawmakers-teachers/

US cable: China used ZTE to buy Arroyo influence By Michaela P. del Callar 08/27/2011

ENVOY SAYS FLOURISHING RP-SINO TIES NOT A THREAT

US cable: China used ZTE to buy Arroyo influence

By Michaela P. del Callar 08/27/2011

The United States did not see as a threat the flourishing ties between the Philippines and China during the past administration of former President Gloria Arroyo but said the anomalous National Broadband Network (NBN) deal awarded to Chinese supplier ZTE was “typical of the deals that China reportedly uses worldwide to make friends and buy influence,” a 2008 U.S. Embassy cable released yesterday by online whistleblower Wikileaks stated.

Then U.S. Ambassador to Manila Kristie Kenney, in her April 28, 2008 cable labeled as “sensitive,” believes the U.S. remains a reliable ally of the Philippines despite Manila’s increasing engagement with Beijing as corruption and graft-tainted projects entered into by the two countries had cast a dark cloud over its intensifying relations.

“Strengthened Philippine-People’s Republic of China ties do not imply a weakening of our strong bonds with the Philippines,” the cable said. “Recent scandals have reawakened long-held views among Filipinos that link ethnic Chinese to corrupt practices.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110827hed1.html

P150-M deposit part of smear job — Mancao By Benjamin B. Pulta 08/27/2011

P150-M deposit part of smear job — Mancao

By Benjamin B. Pulta 08/27/2011
Controversial former police Senior Supt. Cezar Mancao, who has pinned down his former boss at the now defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson in the murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito, yesterday claimed that an unseen hand was behind the mysterious deposit of a P150-million check deposit in his bank account.

The former police official who has since earned his real estate broker’s license noted that the check could be part of an “orchestrated plan” to smear his credibility after he pointed to Lacson in the 2000 double murder case.

“This is deliberate move to destroy me. But I’m very confident that my name will be cleared,” he told reporters at the Department of Justice.

Mancao said the allegation of the senator that a P150-million check was deposited into his bank account was already investigated by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) last February..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110827hed5.html

Solon calls on Aquino gov’t to compel oil firms to open their books By Charlie V. Manalo 08/27/2011

Solon calls on Aquino gov’t to compel oil firms to open their books

By Charlie V. Manalo 08/27/2011

Ang Galing Pinoy Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo yesterday called on the Aquino government to compel the oil companies to open up their books of accounts for auditing to determine whether there is indeed overpricing in the pump price of petroleum products.

In a statement, Arroyo, who chaired the House committee on energy during the 14th Congress, said with the local price of oil products not reflective of the price of crude in the world market, there exists a strong basis for some sectors to accuse the oil companies of overpricing. Thus, the need to compel them to open up their books.

“The government should now again try to force the oil companies to open their books of account to determine whether they are overpricing their oil products as independent studies have revealed that petroleum products in the country are overpriced by at least P7 to P8,” Arroyo, eldest son of former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo, said.

The younger Arroyo recalled that when he was still the chairman of the House energy committee, he and his colleagues tried to force the oil companies to open up their books..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110827nat3.html

Angara tells PSC chief to take stand to fund best athletes in RPn By Angie M. Rosales 08/27/2011

Angara tells PSC chief to take stand to fund best athletes in RPn

By Angie M. Rosales 08/27/2011

In the wake of the controversy over reported politicking among the country’s sports officials, attributed as the root cause of the sad plight of some local athletes, Sen. Edgardo Angara yesterday told Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Ricardo Garcia to take a stand in funding the best athletes of the country who are fielded to the national team.

Angara cited the case of the Philippine Dragonboat Team, which was not financially supported by the PSC because it was not accredited by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) as a national team.

The senator’s challenge was made in hope of providing solution on the issue of the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation (PDBF) team which won five gold medals and 2 silver medals in Tampa Bay, Florida and despite the honor they brought to the country they did not receive any accolades or incentives from the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and PSC as the team was not an accredited national team.

This stance of POC and PSC earned the outrage of various sectors, including legislators that prompted them to call for an in depth inquiry..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110827nat1.html

House okays penalty for improper disposal of dangerous materials By Charlie V. Manalo 08/27/2011

House okays penalty for improper disposal of dangerous materials

By Charlie V. Manalo 08/27/2011
The House of Representatives approved on third and final reading early this week a bill seeking to penalize improper disposal of hazardous and radioactive wastes.

All 234 congressmen who attended the Monday session voted to pass the measure that provides a comprehensive management of disposal of dangerous materials, prompting Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez, chairman of the House committee on ecology, to comment the unanimous vote underscores the concern of lawmakers over the extreme dangers to life and property that could be caused by irresponsible disposal of radioactive and hazardous wastes.

House Bill 4812, otherwise known as the “Philippine Hazardous and Radioactive Wastes Management Act of 2011,” consolidated several legislative proposals authored by Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II; Reps. Irvin Alcala; Bernadette Herrera-Dy; Rodel Batocabe; Roger Mercado and Fernandez.

“HB 4812 is an urgently needed measure that will strengthen the authority of various government agencies, especially the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute, Department of Health and Department of Environment and Natural Resources, to take action against persons and firms caught endangering public health and the environment through hazardous wastes,” Fernandez said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110827met2.html

Navotas intensified drive vs dengue makes it second with lowest nunber of cases By Arlie O. Calalo 08/27/2011

Navotas intensified drive vs dengue makes it second with lowest nunber of cases

By Arlie O. Calalo 08/27/2011

The intensified campaign and the active participation of residents have placed Navotas City second among the 17 local government units in Metro Manila with the lowest number of confirmed dengue cases, Mayor John Rey Tiangco said yesterday.

The mayor made the announcement after he obtained the records from the recent observation of the 32nd Morbidity Week headed by the Center for Health Development-National Capital Region which assessed the effects of the deadly disease all over the metropolis.

“This would further encourage us to be more doubly active in implementing measures to ensure that every case is monitored so as to prevent further harm and, worse, death to the residents,” Tiangco said.

Record shows from 840 confirmed dengue cases in the city last year, the total number of cases that was recorded from January to August this year has dropped to 247..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110827met4.html

Mabuhay, Kadhafi forces! DIE HARD III Herman Tiu Laurel 08/26/2011

Mabuhay, Kadhafi forces!

DIE HARD III

Herman Tiu Laurel

08/26/2011
The strategies employed by the US and Nato are all too familiar by now: First, a massive disinformation campaign, followed by a mobilization of armed opportunistic defectors.

Then, as more gangster and terrorist elements are recruited, massive Nato bombings are set off to precede an actual armed incursion.

Ostensibly, the assault to re-colonize Libya officially began in February 2011 with the disinformation that Moammar Kadhafi’s air force had strafed and bombed “peaceful” demonstrators — who, in no time, had lots of arms and SUVs outfitted with anti-aircraft artillery. A UN resolution for a “humanitarian no-fly zone” was thereafter rushed, which, to date, has yielded 20,000 bombing sorties that have brought death and destruction to thousands upon thousands of innocent Libyan civilians. Of course, the script will never be complete without an International Criminal Court (ICC) indictment of Kadhafi and his family.

But despite the promise of a “short campaign” lasting a few days or weeks from US President Barack Obama, it’s been almost seven months now and still, Kadhafi continues to be a pain in his backside.

Remember the reports early on of a Kadhafi plane landing in Venezuela, insinuating an escape? Well, it’s the same kind of blatant disinformation resorted to recently, where Khamis Kadhafi, the son in command of elite forces, was said to have been killed; followed by claims of another two of Kadhafi’s sons being captured.
Between the disinformation that Khamis had been killed and the rebel “invasion” of Tripoli, French journalist Thierry Meyssan reported on GlobalResearch.ca that “(by) evening, a motorcade of official cars carrying top government figures came under attack… (forcing it to flee) to the Hotel Rixos, where the foreign press is based… At 1 a.m., Khamis… came to the Rixos… personally to deliver weapons for the defense of the hotel. He then left… (after which) heavy fighting all around (ensued)…”

We all know that Libyan political leader Seif Al-Islam, another of Kadhafi’s sons, appeared later in public to rally the troops, belying western media claims that he had been arrested by rebel forces.

Moreover, as Sunday’s reports of the rebel advance into Tripoli blared, Meyssan recounted on PrisonPlanet.com eyewitness reports detailing that “a Nato warship sailed up and anchored just off the shore at Tripoli, delivering heavy weapons and debarking al-Qaeda jihadi forces… led by Nato officers… (Then, after) intense firefights… drones and aircraft (of Nato) kept bombing in all directions… straf(ing) civilians in the streets with machine guns to open the way for the jihadis.”

Kadhafi had repeatedly pointed to these al-Qaeda jihadis as the rebels’ main fighting force. So, even with al-Qaeda’s status as the West’s public enemy No. 1, it should be clear to all that these so-called “enemies” have long worked together, just as Osama bin Laden did with the CIA in Afghanistan.

Overall, since the initial assault of Nato’s sleeper elements almost seven months ago, Kadhafi had quickly regrouped and turned the tables on his foes. Indeed, while the US and Nato believed that drones and air power alone were enough to neutralize Kadhafi in weeks, they didn’t count on his troops hiding their tanks and SUVs from Tunisia to disguise themselves as rebels moving about the desert.

Now that the fighting is all over Tripoli and the other cities of Libya, there’s no denying the tenacity and “brilliance” of Kadhafi’s forces in surprising the enemy. As I have said many times, “The fighting ain’t over till it’s over.” And, going by an old military adage saying, “Let the snake’s head enter then cut it off,” the entry of rebel forces into Tripoli may well be the proverbial snake’s head that Nato-bombarded Kadhafi forces are waiting to decapitate.

Even western media have reported of an imminent “counter attack” by Kadhafi — this, as they expressed fears of a possible crack in the already fractious rebel forces, made evident by the murder of their erstwhile head, Gen. Abdul Fatah Younis, by elements believed to be linked to al-Qaeda. And as the power-crabbing and grabbing of the factions within the rebel forces may erupt any moment, time is not necessarily on Nato’s side. The longer the Kadhafi family keeps the fight going, the greater the chance for a turnaround against it.
Whatever the final outcome of the battles in Tripoli and in Libya as a whole, the conflict will exacerbate beyond the leaders of today, as what is happening in Afghanistan and Iraq. Expect Libyan per capita income, at $12,000/annum under Kadhafi, to be slashed to half (and then a fourth), not only because of the war but because of the West devouring the lion’s share of the wealth of Libya’s oil fields already nationalized by Kadhafi.

Both the US and Nato will continue their war campaign against Syria, and then Iran, with their ultimate goal being China — not because the emerging superpower is a threat but because war is necessary for the western oligarchs to survive and for their populations to be continually distracted — all to feed the military-industrial complex (now celebrating its 50th year) that former US President Dwight Eisenhower had warned about, which the world has unfortunately failed to act on.

Unless we stop them soon, we’ll be in for the real holocaust. For now, Kadhafi has done his part to forestall that march toward global war. To him we say, “Mabuhay ka, Kadhafi!”

(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino/Radyo OpinYon, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 5 to 7 p.m., and Tuesday, Thursday, 5 to 6 p.m. on 1098AM; Talk News TV with HTL, Saturday, 8:15 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on GNN, Destiny Cable Channel 8; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com for our articles plus TV and radio archives; and e-mail me at mentong2011@gmail.com)
(Reprinted with permission from Mr. Herman Tiu-Laurel)

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110826com6.html

Peace hardly at stake EDITORIAL 08/26/2011

Peace hardly at stake

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

08/26/2011
Drop the substate proposal and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is expected again to unleash Umbra Kato to wreak havoc again in parts of Mindanao that the rebel group wants to carve out from the country.

Kato is the trump card of the MILF, the reason he remains free to roam the supposed MILF-dominated regions in Mindanao despite his being declared a renegade within the rebel group.

The continued recognition of the MILF control over some parts of the country also is not a palatable fact for a sovereign nation.

Noynoy, for his part, should be faulted for agreeing to include the creation of the substate in the peace negotiations..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110826com1.html

Realization FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 08/26/2011

Realization

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

08/26/2011
It is a good move on the part of the Senate to free former LTA bookkeeper Rowena del Rosario from detention, because if the senators didn’t, the Senate could have had an egg land on its face, if the appellate court ruled in favor of the petition for habeas corpus filed by Rowena’s husband.

But even more than that possibility is the fact that the Senate was already steadily losing public support and respect amid the many criticisms, with some of its senators bringing their institution down by arrogantly demanding from an “invited” guest to their hearing who attended it voluntarily, to give them the answers that they wanted, such as making her state that it is not Iggy Arroyo who, as president of LTA, leased the five helicopters but his brother Mike Arroyo.

Pro-Noynoy senators and naturally anti-Arroyo senators, were seen by the public as being much too vindictive, apart from their usual style of bringing about the trial and conviction of those whom they have already judged as guilty, no matter the lack of solid evidence with which to make a strong case against the Arroyo brothers, and of course Gloria.

Filipinos didn’t like what they were witnessing during these Senate hearings, mainly because of the way these senators were in clear disrespect in treating their “invited” guests, ordering their arrest and “indefinite detention” in the Senate, and acting like prosecutor, judge and jury rolled up in one..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110826com2.html

Crimes against humanity mounting in Libya courtesy of US and NATO

Crimes against humanity mounting in Libya courtesy of US and NATO

“The video shows the war crimes committed by Nato, as well as those committed by the Western media, which has decided to obfuscate the casualties and human suffering of the Libyan people and uphold the humanitarian fiction of Nato’s R2P mandate.” – Professor Michel Chossudovsky

By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
As bombs and heavy artillery continue to fall like rain over Libyan capital Tripoli, the western media agencies have chosen to be highly selective in its reporting. Crimes against humanity are being perpetrated with impunity, but with the virtual news blackout, voices of outrage are not being heard globally.

According to Prof. Michel Chossudovsky of the site Global Research on Globalization, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) launched intense attacks on Libyan civilians in the night of August 8 and in the early hours of August 9, 2011 from approximately 2:00 am to 4:00 am Eastern European Time (EET).

According to Global Research, civilians in Tripoli and many other cities in Libya were bombed indiscriminately by Nato. A large number of casualties occurred in the city of Zliten, in the district of Misurata. In Zliten, 85 people were killed including 33 children, 32 women, and 20 men as a result of NATO’s deliberate targeting of residential areas and civilian infrastructure. Many of the injured civilian victims are in critical condition and near death.

Zliten has been under constant Nato bombardment for several days. At least seven civilian homes belonging to local farmers were destroyed, killing entire families. The 20 families who were affected were the targets of the NATO bombings.

NATO’s official military spokesperson for Operation Unified Protector Colonel Roland Lavoie, NATO’s official military spokesperson for Operation Unified Protector, confirmed to US media in a press conference that the Nato did bomb Zliten on August 8 and 9, said the targets were legitimate.

Global Research posted a video on its site directly belying and condemning Lavoie and the Nato’s declarations about the bombing.

“The video shows the war crimes committed by Nato, as well as those committed by the Western media, which has decided to obfuscate the casualties and human suffering of the Libyan people and uphold the humanitarian fiction of Nato’s R2P mandate,” said Chossudovsky.

The video is titled “Make No Mistake. Nato is Committing War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in Libya” and shot and edited by Julian Teil, Mathieu Ozanon, Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya.

On Aug. 8 when Libyans and the rest of the Muslim world marked the breaking of the Ramadan fast, Nato launched its “Operation Mermaid Dawn” against Libya. According to reports, a Nato warship sailed up and anchored just off the shore at Tripoli, delivering heavy weapons and debarking rebel forces, who were led by Nato officers.

Killing civilians left and right

The United Nations Security Council has given the task to Nato to protect civilians in Libya. Consequent reports have been proving that instead of protecting civilians, however, Nato forces have been killing them left and right and justiiying them as part of their offensives against the government of Muamar Ghadafi. Nato drones and aircraft have been shown on mainstream media reports to conduct bombing attacks in all directions while Nato helicopters strafed the streets with machine guns..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/08/25/crimes-against-humanity-mounting-in-libya-courtesy-of-us-and-nato/

After 9/11 attacks, a military transformed — and exhausted focus 08/26/2011

‘Real stakeholders’ oppose planned evacuation of mental hospital, sale of Welfareville

We only learned about the fast-tracked evacuation and bidding plans after we got hold of a copy of the ‘not-for-circulation’ documents on the planned sale of Welfareville,” Romy Valenzuela, NACEMHEA –AHW President


By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman already has her hands full since she is heading the lead agency that is implementing the Aquino government’s flagship conditional cash transfer (CCT) program. Yet she still managed to make time for meeting with “stakeholders” last June 29 to plan the evacuation of the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) and Correctional Institute for Women (CIW). The land where the two institution sit on is targeted for public bidding on July 2012. Soliman also heads the Welfareville Development Project.

But in the said meeting June 29, Soliman excluded the director of NCMH, the representatives of the health workers and residents of Welfareville. It is they as well as their thousands of patients who would be most affected by the sale, the union said.

Mental hospital workers in this week’s protest in front of the DOH.(Photo courtesy of AHW / bulatlat.com)

“We only learned about the fast-tracked evacuation and bidding plans after we got hold of a copy of the ‘not-for-circulation’ documents on the planned sale of Welfareville,” Romy Valenzuela, National Center for Mental Health Employees Association (NACEMHEA) –AHW President, told bulatlat.com. He named Soliman, Mandaluyong Mayor Benhur Abalos and Finance Secretary Cezar Purisima, as some of the “stakeholders” in the Welfareville Development Project. He added that the document also indicated that the World Bank will provide technical assistance.

Both the NCMH and the CIW should have been relocated and transferred before the sale of the 110-hectare land property in Mandaluyong City targeted by July 2012, according to the documents on the planned sale of Welfareville.....MORE

Source: Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/08/24/real-stakeholders%E2%80%99-oppose-planned-evacuation-of-mental-hospital-sale-of-welfareville/

After 9/11 attacks, a military transformed — and exhausted focus 08/26/2011

After 9/11 attacks, a military transformed — and exhausted

focus

08/26/2011
WASHINGTON — After the 9/11 attacks, the US military found itself ill-prepared for waging war against insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, forcing a costly transformation that has left the force exhausted after a decade of combat.
It took only weeks to topple the Taliban in Kabul and Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, but American troops soon found themselves in a protracted battle that they had not trained for against insurgents using crude but lethal weapons.
The Bush administration went to war with an “exaggerated confidence in the efficacy of high-tech warfare to cope with low-tech adversaries and an aversion to the whole concept of nation building,” wrote James Dobbins, a former US ambassador now at the RAND Corp. think tank.
Having discarded counter-insurgency tactics after the Vietnam conflict, the military’s captains and majors had to learn again how to fight militants armed with kalashnikovs and homemade bombs.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110826com3.html

Words of wisdom C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 08/26/2011

Words of wisdom

C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S

Jonathan De la Cruz

08/26/2011
Thanks to friends who have apparently taken the task of putting together materials about the real P-Noy and his band of “wang-wang” transformers, those who continue to be flabbergasted by the seemingly inchoate, some say incoherent, initiatives taken to undertake this daunting national task can now breathe a sigh of relief. I just received a number of such materials including P-Noy’s statement in the 1981 Ateneo Yearbook Aegis which should provide some sense into what critics say are differing accounts of this administration’s policies and programs. Our people, some of whom have expressed exasperation over the endless initiatives taken by the administration on every conceivable concern under the sun, but sadly without any overarching theme except getting rid of the wang-wang culture — remember those placards asking where’s the over-all plan, the road map to recovery and growth — deserve to be afforded a view of the thinking processes percolating around the current leadership from P-Noy to his Cabinet members and their subalterns. Thus, with this piece I will now try to feature once-a-week a reprint or a paraphrase of the “words of wisdom” coming from these potentates. Here goes:.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110826com5.html

Senate frees ex-LTA staffer By Angie M. Rosales 08/26/2011

Senate frees ex-LTA staffer

By Angie M. Rosales 08/26/2011

Bowing to public sentiment against the Senate on the arrogant and abusive treatment certain senators give their “invited” resource persons and guests whom they categorize as “hostile,” the Senate yesterday freed former LTA bookkeeper Rowena del Rosario from detention.

She was earlier placed under arrest and ordered detained “indefinitely” for being evasive in her answers to the questions posed to her by the senators, who didn’t like her answers, as she held on to her claim that it was Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo who had leased the helicopters and not bought them.

But the former bookkeeper of Iggy for the past 11 years yesterday admitted before Senate probers that she was unaware of the existence of his supposed Jose Pidal bank accounts while he was still her boss.

Rowena told the blue ribbon committee that she did not know or encounter the controversial bank account alleged to be owned by former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110826hed1.html

Lacson berates Rowena; Senate to pin down Arroyos on tax evasion By Angie M. Rosales 08/26/2011

Lacson berates Rowena; Senate to pin down Arroyos on tax evasion

By Angie M. Rosales 08/26/2011

Not a single centavo was paid as tax by Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo or his family’s company, LTA Inc., in the transactions with Lionair Inc., Senate probers were told yesterday.

As such, possible new charges, that of apparent tax evasion would likely be among the recommendations by the Senate blue ribbon committee chairman, Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona said.

Culpability of some members of the First Family on the alleged anomalous P105-million deal can be pursued “based on the statement of facts that implicate the LTA and the Arroyos,” he added.

Former LTA bookkeeper Rowena del Rosario openly admitted before senators that they were not paying taxes, including value added tax (VAT) charges concerning payments and other transactions involving Lionair in which the Arroyo-owned firm allegedly entered into a lease agreement on the use of its helicopters..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110826hed2.html

Kadhafi forces fight back as reward offered for strongman 08/26/2011

Kadhafi forces fight back as reward offered for strongman

08/26/2011
TRIPOLI — Fighting raged yesterday as Moammar Kadhafi’s troops fought back at his Tripoli compound a day after it was captured, while rebels offered a $1.7-million reward for the elusive strongman, dead or alive.

Diplomatic efforts, meanwhile, were launched at the United Nations and in Qatar by backers of the insurgents to secure the unlocking of billions of dollars of Libyan assets for the rebels.

Washington, for its part, said Libya’s stockpile of weapons of mass destruction had been secured and that it was confident the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) could set up governing structures after overrunning Tripoli.

A group of mostly foreign journalists who had been confined to Tripoli’s Rixos Hotel by pro-Kadhafi hardliners were freed but other loyalists kidnapped four Italian journalists near the capital, and two French journalists were wounded by stray gunfire at the compound but were recovering..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110826hed3.html

MILF raps gov’t ARMM bets list as ‘move to sow discord’ By Michaela P. del Callar and Mario J. Mallari 08/26/2011

MILF raps gov’t ARMM bets list as ‘move to sow discord’

By Michaela P. del Callar and Mario J. Mallari 08/26/2011
Muslim rebels yesterday refuted a supposed government list that included its senior officials among those nominated to become the acting go-vernor of the Auto-nomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), calling it a “mischievous and malicious” move to sow discord.

A list of nominees for the post was posted by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) wherein two top officials of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) central committee and two members of the MILF Peace Negotiating Panel were named as contenders to the ARMM post.

They were Aleem Abdulaziz Mimbantas, vice-chairman for military affairs, and Ghazali Jafaar, vice chairman for political affairs and two members of the MILF peace negotiating panel, Datu Michael Mastura and Abdulla Camlian.

The MILF said the mentioned MILF members “publicly deny having given their consent to the DILG” to include their names in the list of nominees..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune


URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110826hed5.html

Magsaysay scores one over Carandang in ‘showdown’ By Gerry Baldo and Charlie V. Manalo 08/26/2011

Magsaysay scores one over Carandang in ‘showdown’

By Gerry Baldo and Charlie V. Manalo 08/26/2011

Communications Secretary Ricardo “Ricky” Carandang yesterday took a crash course on “courtesy 101” before irate lawmakers asking him questions about his purchase of computers worth P1.6 million without bidding.

Carandang earned the ire of the lawmakers when he arrogantly responded to a question with, “Was that a rhetorical question or do I need to answer that?”

According to Zambales Rep. Milagros “Mitos” Magsaysay, Carandang should “leave his antics as a spoiled brat at home.”

“Don’t be arrogant when you are (being) asked… Arrogance has no place in public service. Is that the kind of message your President wants to impart?” Magsaysay told Carandang..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110826nat1.html

CA junks US government plea to extradite Pinoy wife’s killer By Benjamin B. Pulta 08/26/2011

CA junks US government plea to extradite Pinoy wife’s killer

By Benjamin B. Pulta 08/26/2011

A taco restaurant owner who took out a murder contract on his wife 19 years ago in California to cash in on proceeds of an insurance scam will escape justice in the United States after the Court of Appeals (CA) turned down the bid of the American government to extradite him.

The appellate court said the Americans failed to present proof of conspiracy between the Filipino-American businessman, Abelardo Tasa, who was subsequently nabbed by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Kalibo, Aklan.

Tasa is facing trial in the Supreme Court of California, County of San Diego, Central Division for allegedly conspiring to kill his wife to collect $300,000 in life insurance.

In a 21-page decision by Associate Justice Apolinario Bruselas Jr., the CA’s Eight Division affirmed the decision issued by the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 41 which dismissed the extradition case filed by the US government through the Department of Justice against Abelardo Tasa for lack of probable cause..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110826met1.html

Norway no way EDITORIAL 08/25/2011

Norway no way

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

08/25/2011
Noynoy’s denial of any semblance of apology to the Hong Kong people on the bungled rescue of the tourists who are residents of the Chinese territory, apparently believes he is upholding national dignity in doing so, but all the actions he has made thus far comes off as chickening out from confronting an obvious responsibility in the incident.

He clutched at straws in defending his stance of not meeting with the relatives of the victims and the survivors of the bloody mayhem that happened more than a year ago on Aug. 23 when the whole world saw a comedy rivaling the Police Academy series. It would have been hilarious, had it not resulted in the death of eight of the hostaged tourists.

He mentioned the recent massacre in Norway where a lone gunman shot and killed 91 people as a parallel to the tragic incident, saying that there is nothing much anybody can do when faced with a deranged individual..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110825com1.html

No more decency and fairness FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 08/25/2011

No more decency and fairness

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

08/25/2011
Even when the watch list order (WLO) against Mike Arroyo was ordered by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, along with pronouncements that a WLO would also be issued against the former President, Gloria Arroyo, it had already been seen as an abuse of power and a sign of clear vindictiveness by the Palace through the DoJ.

De Lima says she issued the WLO against Mike because that is what the Senate wanted. Unless memory fails, there was never a resolution from the Senate asking the DoJ to issue a WLO against Mike Arroyo.

It will also be recalled that the WLO was issued by De Lima at the time Mike was abroad for a medical check-up with his heart specialists, and immediately, there came talk that Mike had flown the coop, did not pass through immigration, which showed his sign of guilt. But all this talk suddenly stopped because Mike returned on the day his lawyers said he would..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110825com2.html

‘Guilty beyond doubt’ INSIDE CONGRESS Charlie Manalo 08/25/2011

‘Guilty beyond doubt’

INSIDE CONGRESS

Charlie Manalo

08/25/2011
In citing for contempt and eventually detaining former LTA former bookkeeper Rowena del Rosario, the Senate has now rendered its investigation into the alleged anomalous sale of used two helicopters passed off as brand new to the Philippine National Police, virtually useless.

As it was, senators cited Del Rosario in contempt and had her detained after they failed to get from her the answers they want to hear which was for the former LTA staff to admit the choppers were owned by former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo.

By refusing to accept Del Rosario’s statement the choppers were only leased by the LTA from Lionair, insisting the former LTA employee was lying, and forcing her to admit FFG indeed owned the aircraft in question, the senators hearing the case only validated what the people already knew, that the senators had already made up their mind on the issue of chopper sale and that Big Mike is already guilty as they believe so..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110825com5.html

Strauss-Kahn scents freedom but political comeback unlikely FEATURE 08/25/2011

Strauss-Kahn scents freedom but political comeback unlikely

FEATURE

08/25/2011
PARIS — With the sexual assault case against him on the point of collapse, former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn could in theory return to frontline French politics, but no-one expects a return in force.

New York prosecutors have asked the judge to dismiss all charges against Strauss-Kahn at a hearing on Tuesday, and he is expected to do so.

Even among the 62-year-old Socialist’s most ardent admirers, few expect him to resurrect his campaign to unseat Nicolas Sarkozy in presidential elections next year, but some still want him to play a role in the national debate.

Experts and pollsters warn, however, that despite apparently prevailing in the case against him in New York he has seen his image indelibly tarnished and cannot but be a burden to the party he once yearned to lead..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110825com6.html

‘Intelligence fund’ VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 08/25/2011

‘Intelligence fund’

VIEWPOINTS

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

08/25/2011
There are a good number of intriguing and perplexing, if not suspicious, financial issues in the government from the local to the national levels. There are many serious questions asked about public funds perceived as benefiting private pockets of government officials. More specifically, there are real and ardent inquiries raised in conjunction with the standard, sizeable and impressive appropriations under the fascinating title of “intelligence fund.”

Said funds are in the hands of a good number of government entities. The Office of the President has it as some kind of a prerogative. The Armed Forces of the Philippines has it as it should. The Law and Order agencies have them as a matter of course. The truth is that even gambling corporations have them. But this is not all. There is the added truth that all so-called “intelligence funds” while glaring in amounts, are nevertheless beyond honest to goodness accounting..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110825com7.html

Peace talks doomed from start — JPE By Angie M. Rosales, Mario J. Mallari and Gerry Baldo 08/25/2011

Peace talks doomed from start — JPE

By Angie M. Rosales, Mario J. Mallari and Gerry Baldo 08/25/2011

Peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have been doomed from the start, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said yesterday, pointing out the constitutional issues hampering the demands made by the separatist group.

“I expected that it (peace talks) will bog down, and I expect that it will always bog down. I never had any doubt that it will bog down. How can you negotiate something when in effect it will violate your Constitution? All of us, we do not want our Constitution to be violated,” he said.

The Senate chief pointed out that nowhere in the provisons of the Constitution does it call for the creation of a sub-state in the southern region of the country.

Enrile noted that reports on the demands made by the MILF, to establish a sub-state in Muslim Mindanao,
separate from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), is similar to dismembering the country..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110825hed1.html

Aquino unaware of Alvarez resignation; Biazon likely to replace Customs chief 08/25/2011

Aquino unaware of Alvarez resignation; Biazon likely to replace Customs chief

08/25/2011
Malacañang yesterday downplayed speculations that Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez has resigned and that former Muntinlupa City Rep. Ruffy Biazon, a colleague of President Aquino in the Liberal Party (LP), will be taking over the Bureau of Customs.

“The President is not aware of the resignation of Commissioner Alvarez,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda clarified, reiterating that as far as Aquino is concerned, Alvarez remains at the Customs helm.

Deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte made the same remarks when asked by Palace reporters.

“We can’t say at the moment because we have not been advised of any other appointments other than the one of (Neric) Acosta,” she said, referring to the Liberal Party stalwart’s designation as presidential adviser for environmental protection, a Cabinet rank that is under the Office of the President..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110825hed3.html

MILF body expels Kato, supporters from group’s ranks By Mario J. Mallari 08/25/2011

MILF body expels Kato, supporters from group’s ranks

By Mario J. Mallari 08/25/2011

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Central Committee has officially declared recalcitrant commander Ameril Umbra Kato and his supporters under his newly-formed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) as renegades and were expelled from the MILF ranks.

In a resolution, the MILF-Central Committee announced the adoption of the decision of the Assembly of Ulama last June 27 declaring Kato, his companions and followers as “bughaat,” an Arabic term for anyone or group who rebels against the ruler or those who do not obey a lawful order or duty organized authority.

MILF chieftain Al Haj Murad signed Resolution No. 03-06 Series of 2011 last Aug. 18.

Under the Ulama resolution, Kato, his companions and followers were “no longer members of the MILF unless they cease and desist without delay their anti-MILF campaigns and other activities that are intended to discredit and destruct the entire legitimate leadership of the MILF and henceforth return at once to the fold of the MILF.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110825nat1.html

Solons seek probe into questionable policies of airline firms By Charlie V. Manalo 08/25/2011

Solons seek probe into questionable policies of airline firms

By Charlie V. Manalo 08/25/2011

Mounting complaints from their constituents have driven eight congressmen to seek an inquiry into the allegedly questionable and lopsided policies of local airline companies on matters of flight delays and cancellations; and exorbitant fees and charges to the detriment of millions of Filipinos who have now taken air travel as the preferred mode of transportation between the country’s 7,107 islands.

Reps. Carol Jayne Lopez (Yacap); Seth Frederick Jalosjos (Zamboanga del Norte); Gabriel Luis Quisumbing (Cebu); Lord Allan Jay Velasco (Marinduque), Mark Aaron Sambar (PBA); Romeo Jalosjos Jr. (Zamboanga Sibugay); Sherwin Tugna (Cibac); and Jonathan Yambao (Zamboanga Sibugay) want these policies investigated “in aide of legislation.”

In filing House Resolution 1634, the eight solons asked the House committee on transportation to look into the “policies and practices of airline companies on flight delays/cancellations, fees, charges and refunds to prevent undue and unnecessary inconvenience to airline passengers and travellers.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110825nat2.html

House minority solons lambast Noy for not taking action on missing 2K container vans By Charlie V. Manalo 08/25/2011

House minority solons lambast Noy for not taking action on missing 2K container vans

By Charlie V. Manalo 08/25/2011
While quick on the draw when it comes to its perceived political opponents, the Aquino administration has yet to lift a hand on the anomaly at the Bureau of Customs (BoC), the latest of which was the disappearance at the Port of Manila (PoM) of some 2,000 container vans of highly dutiable goods.

At a press briefing, members of the House minority bloc yesterday lambasted the Aquino administration for maintaining its silence on the case of the missing 2,000 container vans while en route from the PoM and the Manila International Container Port (MICP) to the Port of Batangas (PoB) which cost the government at least P3 billion in revenue.

“Even as the mystery of the almost 2,000 missing container vans ferrying P3 billion worth of dutiable goods has been unraveled with the identification of the suspected beneficiary and the reported complicity of ranking officials of the BoC the Aquino administration has been ominously silent on the caper compared to the reckless cacophony it generates in cases linking political foes,” Zambales Rep. Ma. Milagros Magsaysay said.

The solon also dared President Aquino to prove his sincerity in implementing his “tuwid na daan” by directing Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to act on the matter..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110825met1.html

Tesda chief exposes grant of scholarships to ‘ghost’ students and vocational schools By Angie M. Rosales 08/25/2011

Tesda chief exposes grant of scholarships to ‘ghost’ students and vocational schools

By Angie M. Rosales 08/25/2011

After unearthing recently the distribution of P2.4 billion worth of scholarships by former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) officials sans any appropriations in the budget, another discovery was made showing more than half of them were allegedly granted to “ghost” students and vocational schools.

The Senate finance committee was told only P880 million out of the P2.4 billion of Tesda’s scholarship program was “implemented.”

“And from the audit report conducted by our team, about 70 technical vocational institutions were nowhere to be found, although 35 of them were claiming and asking us to pay them,” Tesda Secretary Emmanuel Joel Villanueva told committee chairman Sen. Franklin Drilon during the agency’s budget hearing.

“So are you saying that beyond the P800 million, these are fake claims?” the senator asked..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110825met4.html

Abuse of power EDITORIAL 08/24/2011

Abuse of power

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

08/24/2011
Cutting to the chase, the Senate has displayed the arrogance and abuse of power by detaining an invited — not even summoned — resource person on the strength of its members’ belief that Rowena del Rosario, a former bookkeeper of LTA Inc., a firm owned by the Arroyos, was lying before the Senate blue ribbon committee. The intention is to detain indefinitely — or until she is forced to answer senators’ questions the way they want them answered, which is for her to state that (a) former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo is the owner of the controversial pre-owned helicopters, two of which were sold as brand new to the Philippine National Police; and (b) that Mike Arroyo bought and not just leased the choppers from Lion Air Inc., apart from his usinh his influence to get the used choppers sold to the PNP as brand new.

Yet in a courtroom hearing, even if the witness, under oath, testifies, whether true or perjured, is not ordered arrested and detained indefinitely for lying, merely because the judge and the prosecutor believe that the witness lied. Besides, a witness can always choose to remain silent and is constitutionally guaranteed not to incriminate himself..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110824com1.html

Washing his hands off responsibility FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 08/24/2011

Washing his hands off responsibility

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

08/24/2011
Noynoy, to this day, refuses to apologize to the Hong Kong hostage victims and their relatives, saying that an apology connotes that the state did these Hong Kongers grievous harm when it was just one man and not the state that did them harm.

Said Noynoy to reporters: “We deeply regret what has transpired. An apology connotes that the state did them grievous harm. I don’t think that is correct. This was the act of one man, the same token that some of our citizens have been affected elsewhere in the world, we do not blame the entire population. We know that there are criminal elements, there are mentally deranged individuals that pose a threat to anybody regardless of race or country of origin.”

Translated, what Noynoy really is saying that he, as President and Commander in Chief of all the country’s Armed Forces, refuses to accept any responsibility and accountability for the botched hostage crisis.

Despite the claim of Noynoy that the hostage-taking incident and the bloodbath that occurred on Aug. 23, 2010, was the act of just one deranged man and not an act of the state, he cannot deny the fact that while a crazed gunman did take these hostages, and did shoot at least eight hostages dead, he and his government botched the rescue operations, because the core of the issue is not that a single man acted in taking as hostage the Hong Kong tourists but that Noynoy and his government flubbed and failed to contain the crisis. The botched rescue operation is the proof of this..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110824com2.html

Romance rules Philippine literary charts FEATURE 08/24/2011

Romance rules Philippine literary charts

FEATURE

08/24/2011
MANILA — In the fantasy world created by Philippine publishing giant Precious Hearts Romances, the men are rich, sexual promiscuity and homosexuals are taboo, and the story always ends happily after 128 pages.

The ultra-cheap local versions of Mills and Boon novels are the country’s most popular books, making their authors champions of conservative Christian values and unlikely heroes in the battle to improve literacy among the poor.

“Some people say it’s trash, but at least they (the poor) read,” said Segundo Matias, the boss of Precious Hearts, which churns out 50 titles monthly to dominate a genre that has a readership estimated in the millions.
Priced at P37 (about 87 cents) and written in street-level Tagalog, the books emerged in the early 1980s when an economic crisis forced the importers of western “chick literature” paperbacks to seek out alternatives.

Matias told AFP from his Manila print shop that the local versions turned out to be far more popular, partly because they were faster-paced..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/

Open season C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 08/24/2011

Open season

C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S

Jonathan De la Cruz

08/24/2011
If last Monday’s hearing on the PNP chopper deal is any indication, it’s open season at the Senate. And it’s ugly. The way Senators Ping Lacson and Teofisto Guingona boorishly coerced Rowena del Rosario, the former bookkeeper of LTA Inc. and Negros Occidental Rep. Iggy Arroyo, you’d think they are into hazing and not a congressional inquiry in aid of legislation. What legislation are they contemplating anyway to let them bear hard on Del Rosario to the point of detaining her at the upper chamber for “evasiveness” and “telling lies?” Only the duo can tell.
In any event, since when did answering the gentlemen’s questions properly if not straight forwardly amount to evasion? It may be true, as they claimed, that Del Rosario was not being straightforward since she did not answer things to their satisfaction but that does not qualify for evasiveness. Or even untruthfulness. She answered the questions didn’t she? Was she supposed to know what the gentlemen had in mind and repeat the same under oath in order to evade their wrath? I don’t think that kind of fate should befall any resource person. Even if that person is one the gentlemen have somewhat condemned as less-than-truthful for being the assistant of someone they find contemptible in the first place? That’s guilt-by-association and the last I heard there was nothing in the statutes to qualify that as a crime, especially in a congressional inquiry not a court of law..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110824com4.html

Frustrated African-Americans demand more from Obama focus 08/24/2011

Frustrated African-Americans demand more from Obama

focus

08/24/2011
WASHINGTON — African-American support for Barack Obama appears to be softening, because of a rocky economy that has hit US blacks especially hard, and a perception that the President has ignored the economic travails faced by this once rock-solid pillar of his political base.

A Gallup poll last week found Obama’s poll numbers in the African-American community down from its once stratospheric 95 percent approval early in his term, to a still-high, but notably lower 81 percent — tying his worst ever showing from earlier this year.

Observers say softening support for Obama is the result of a faltering economy that at 16 black percent unemployment — compared to about nine percent for the population at large — has hit the Africa American community especially hard.

“We’re totally frustrated,” said US Rep. Elijah Cummings, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, speaking Sunday on CNN television’s State of the Union program..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110824com7.html

GRP talks with MILF fails despite P5-million ‘sweetener’ By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan and Mario J. Mallari 08/24/2011

GRP talks with MILF fails despite P5-million ‘sweetener’

By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan and Mario J. Mallari 08/24/2011

After pocketing P5 million in a government check handed out by the government’s chief peace negotiator Dean Marvic Leonen, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front negotiating panel flatly rejected yesterday the government’s counter-proposal on how to resolve the conflict between the government and the MILF, ending the resumption of the peace talks a day ahead of the actual negotiation schedule.

Leonen made this admission in a video conference with the Malacañang media Tuesday despite the initial optimism expressed by President Aquino who went all the way to Tokyo to secretly meet with MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim purportedly to establish goodwill with the Moro secessionist group.

Leonen however refused to accept that this meant a failure of the Aquino government’s first formal negotiations with the MILF and insisted that the 22-page document containing the government position will still be submitted to the MILF Central Committee for further review despite the fact that everything in it was already rejected by the MILF peace panel headed Mohagher Iqbal..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110824hed3.html

Gunmen kill radio broadcaster in Negros Occidental By Gina Peralta-Elorde 08/24/2011

Gunmen kill radio broadcaster in Negros Occidental

By Gina Peralta-Elorde 08/24/2011

A blocktimer radio broadcaster was gunned down by two unidentified motorcycle-riding men while on his way home in Negros Occidental last Monday afternoon.

Niel “Lito” Jimena, 42, Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) blocktimer, was shot dead by two suspects aboard a motorcycle at Jacienda Teresa in Barangay 3 E.B. Magalona town around 5 p.m.

Based on investigation, Jimena was on his way home to Barangay Alicante when the two suspects who were tailing him shot him.

The victim sustained three gunshot wounds from a cal. 45 pistol on his back and two more on the left side of his body.

Jimena was rushed to the hospital but died immediately..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110824nat2.html

Habeas corpus filed for detained LTA staffer By Benjamin B. Pulta and Angie M. Rosales 08/24/2011

‘SENATE ARREST OF ROWENA ARBITRARY, UNJUST AND UNLAWFUL’

Habeas corpus filed for detained LTA staffer

By Benjamin B. Pulta and Angie M. Rosales 08/24/2011

One down, two to go, in the case of the Arroyo brothers and their staffer in moves against them by the Senate?

The Supreme Court (SC) yesterday issued a temporary restraining order against Secretary of Justice Leila de Lima’s Senate directed watch list order against former First Gentleman Juan Miguel “Mike” Arroyo.

The Court of Appeals (CA), depending on how it rules on the Arroyo family-owned LTA Inc. bookkeeper, Rowena del Rosario’s petition for habeas corpus, may yet add up a score for the Arroyos and against a Senate position of arresting and detaining her.

The husband of Rowena, the former bookkeeper of LTA Inc. who is now detained at the Senate on contempt charges, filed yesterday a petition for habeas corpus before the CA to compel the legislative chamber’s blue ribbon committee to produce his wife before the court..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110824hed1.html

Acorda dares Ongpin to dispute raps over P660-M behest loan By Benjamin B. Pulta 08/24/2011

Acorda dares Ongpin to dispute raps over P660-M behest loan

By Benjamin B. Pulta 08/24/2011

Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) spokesman Zenaida Ongkiko-Acorda yesterday dared former Marcos Trade Minister Roberto Ongpin to confront the unresolved mysteries surrounding the alleged P660-million behest loans he obtained from the state-owned bank, the second biggest in the country.

Speaking with newsmen, Acorda cited, for instance, that bank officers clearly took shortcuts and acted with undue haste in approving loans to Delta Ventures Resources Inc. (DVRI), a firm controlled by Ongpin, including waiving the opportunity to check whether the latter’s firm was in a financial position to repay the loans it obtained.

Acorda said DBP officials broke banking laws and the DBP’s own internal rules in granting the loans to Ongpin’s firm. The latter’s camp claims the commercial transactions are allowed under the DBP’s universal bank license..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110824nat1.html

Independent group of refillers denounces LPG Act for being anti-consumer 08/24/2011

Independent group of refillers denounces LPG Act for being anti-consumer

08/24/2011
A group of independent refillers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) yesterday denounced a bill that would allow the government to confiscate some six million dilapidated and substandard LPG cylinders, calling it “anti-consumer” and defeats the purpose of the Oil Deregulation Law.

The LPG Refillers Association (LPGRA) cited a number of negative implications of the proposed “LPG Safety Act” pending in Congress, including a shortage of LPG cylinders and possible manipulation by major industry players.

“The proposed measure only allows the oil majors to continue to dominate and control LPG market,” LPGRA president Bernie Bolisay said.

Bolisay noted the bill does not provide safety nets and subsidy for the confiscation and impounding of substandard and dilapidated cylinders owned mostly by the poor and marginalized sector..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110824met4.html

‘Pagcor officials receiving bribes from casino ring’ By Charlie V. Manalo 08/24/2011

‘Pagcor officials receiving bribes from casino ring’

By Charlie V. Manalo 08/24/2011

A senior member of the House of Representatives yesterday accused officials of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) of receiving bribes from the leader of a syndicate who cheated at least three government casinos of more than a hundred million pesos.

During the hearing of the House justice committee, Zambales Rep. Ma. Milagros “Mitos” Magsaysay said the Pagcor officials were also seen partying regularly at the unit of suspected gang leader Ben Lui at the Cleveland Condominium in Parañaque City where they were allegedly handed the bribe money.

“This is the syndicate’s member’s way of bribing the Pagcor officials so they would be lenient on him,” Magsaysay said, adding Lui was allowed to leave the country despite a hold departure order (HDO) issued against him..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110824met1.html

It can’t be EDITORIAL08/23/2011

It can’t be

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

08/23/2011
He could not have been joking. He couldn’t have been, since he was talking about his father and his assassination in 1983 — and on the anniversary of Ninoy’s death.

But is Noynoy absolutely serious about his intention of reopening the double murder cases of former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. and his supposed assassin, Ronaldo Galman, after over a quarter of a century has passed?

Aquino’s assassination in 1983 remains the biggest unsolved crime in the country’s history and which is said to have tormented the nation’s psyche for more at least a generation.

Is Noynoy’s intention of reopening the Aquino-Galman murder case yet another way of Ninoy’s only son, to use his dead parent to revive his flagging political capital?.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110823com1.html

Big mistake FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 08/23/2011

Big mistake

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

08/23/2011
Good grief! It was bad enough that Noynoy has been focusing on Gloria Arroyo and her administration’s past, but now, he wants to resuscitate the Marcos past, and go after the Marcoses and others whom he says were the masterminds in the slaying of his father, because, as he intimated, the brains behind the killing are still out there and unpunished.

On the day marking the assassination of Ninoy, his father, Noynoy expressed interest in reopening the 1983 double-slay case of his father and the supposed assassin Ronaldo Galman, claiming that he knows who the culprit is and that this culprit has not been held accountable yet in any court of law.

“I believe I know who it is. How can we (be) able to prove it up to the penultimate level? That’s the issue,’” he was quoted as saying, adding that he also wants to run after several associates of former President Marcos who he says may have had something to do with Ninoy’s death but were not held accountable because they managed to slip out of the country and escaped prosecution. Aquino hinted that these “key personalities” have since returned to the Philippines and can be subjects of a reinvestigation.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110823com2.html

Islam takes root in land of mini-bikinis and carnival FEATURE 08/23/2011

Islam takes root in land of mini-bikinis and carnival

FEATURE

08/23/2011
RIO DE JANEIRO — “As-salam aleikum!” Omar greeted worshippers as he entered Mesquita da Luz, Rio’s first mosque where he had just broken his Ramadan fast at dusk.

Those are some of the only words Omar knows in Arabic, and he quickly continued his conversation in Portuguese with fellow Muslims who mostly, like him, converted recently to Islam in the world’s biggest Catholic country.

In a land known more for its mini-bikinis and extravagant carnival featuring scantily clad women, a small but growing number of Brazilians of various backgrounds call themselves Muslim.

For decades, it was primarily families of Libyan, Palestinian and Syrian descent who practiced Islam in Brazil..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110823com3.html

Noli Me Tangere

NO HOLDS BARRED

Armida Siguion-Reyna

08/23/2011
The Cultural Center of the Philippines has been accused of just about every ill, one goes to sleep thinking it not far-fetched to find out the next day it was the CCP board that had talked to Garci, got luxury vehicles from the Philippine Charity and Sweepstakes Office, and sold five used helicopters passed off as brand new.

So much so, you’d think those bewailing the lack of “good art” at the CCP would back “good art” when it’s there, but no. “Noli Me Tangere” opened a little over three weeks ago with Tanghalang Pilipino Artistic Director Nanding Josef wondering aloud why certain quarters could not, would not, cough up P3,000 for an opening night ticket of a major production. The response to the hundreds of letters asking for support from politicians and big businessmen simply went, “Walang budget.”

How hard is it for a congressman whose wife is seen toting P500,000 handbags, to sponsor a box for a CCP gala? How hard is it for a mayor who brings his staff to a weekend binge, under guise of “planning” at Boracay, to buy at least two tickets? You tell me..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110823com4.html

There should be law against it AN OUTSIDERS VIEW Ken Fuller 08/23/2011

There should be law against it

AN OUTSIDERS VIEW

Ken Fuller

08/23/2011
Doubtless this outsider was not the only one to be shocked by the title of Tony Lopez’s column in the Manila Times on Aug. 18: “We must live, die and kill for our religion.”

This was his contribution to the discussion of the work by Mideo Cruz recently exhibited as the Cultural Center of the Philippines – until the bishops, a number of politicians and others expressed outrage (and threats), and as a result the CCP pulled down the curtain. The outrage (and that may be too weak a work to describe Lopez’s reaction, who seems so consumed with bile as to become almost incoherent on occasion) was caused by the artist’s juxtaposition of an image of Jesus Christ, a wooden penis, a condom, and various other artifacts. That, at least, is how I understand it. I haven’t seen the work, have no idea whether it qualifies as “art” or, if so, whether it is “good” or “bad” art.

Much of the debate around this work has seen the champions of freedom of expression fighting a defensive battle against those who would deny anyone the right to offend the religious sensibilities of others, particular when public money is involved. Among the latter, one group has filed a case with the Ombudsman..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110823com5.html