Unite and lead DIE HARD III Herman Tiu Laurel 01/10/2011

Unite and lead

DIE HARD III

Herman Tiu Laurel

01/10/2011
Divide and rule, the politician cries; unite and lead, is watchword of the wise.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Last week we saw the climactic final arguments in the intensely-debated issue of apology as a requisite for the amnesty to be granted to the Oakwood and 2006 AFP protesters. Those demanding it — led by Joker Arroyo and the Monsods (Christian and Solita), along with outright Gloria Arroyo devotees such as Edcel Lagman — were pitted against Gen. Danilo Lim, the most vocal, unapologetic anti-Gloria military protester, as well as the equally firm but more restrained Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.

About a month ago, a special article by Christian Monsod got the ball rolling, followed by a series from Solita, all against Lim. But the final devastating blow, the coup de grace so to speak, was delivered when Gen. Danny Lim delivered his knockout blow via his statement: “Admitting guilt would clear Gloria Arroyo…” Now that ends the debate!

Anybody still demanding an apology from the patriotic soldiers who stood up to oppose the venalities of the Arroyo regime would hereafter look like pro-Gloria apologists; but indeed, the Monsods and their ilk are still really closet Arroyo devotees, as are many others in print and broadcast media who range themselves with the pro-apology line.

Gloria’s media operations are very much around. Our Sulo ng Pilipino volunteers monitoring the radio airwaves can identify each and every one of these “kumain-taristas” still under someone’s payroll, evidently because of their inane spiels that the plea bargain with Gen. Carlos Garcia is even more acceptable than the amnesty for our conscientious military objectors.

Trillanes, for his part, also gave his own coup de grace by accepting the amnesty while “proudly” admitting the disobedience of certain rules without apologizing for anything.

If after this point the amnesty is not consummated, then there’ll be hell to pay. The embers of protest will grow into a fire and then ignite a great prairie conflagration over in the tinder fields of suppressed popular rage over MRT-LRT and transport fare increases, along with other burdensome hikes in toll fees as well as power and water rates.

No doubt the Gloria Arroyo forces would like to see this happen too. So if the Aquino III administration falls into the trap of yielding to the demand for an apology then they’ll have hell in their hands. But either way, the Arroyo media team, planting their assets in various newspapers and commissioning full-time bloggers and Facebook brigades, will go to town hitting at the administration and destabilizing the situation.

That requirement for apology was indeed inserted by Arroyo elements in Aquino’s cabal, and he’d better recognize who they are or he’s in deep shit.

While the Arroyo versus Aquino undercurrents continue to run (at least officially), it should also be clear that the Aquinorroyo direction runs parallel to it. Among the many factors that tie the two together, the clearest ones are their co-existence in the matrix of Belmonte-Ochoa and Rico Puno, aside from the aggressive continuation of such policies as the cash transfer program, privatization, and build-operate-transfer scheme in the guise of public-private partnerships.

This is very difficult for many to keep in perspective as the ruling class which presides at the very top works hard through the manipulation of media to frame the polarization of issues as Aquino versus Arroyo, when the real polarization is between the people’s welfare and the insatiable appetite for profits of the oligarchs, which both Arroyo and Aquino are serving and are part of. The people and the conscientious and patriotic military officers must therefore be conscious of this.

Unity of the people is key to overcoming the millennial strategy of divide-and-rule. For so long, the ruling oligarchs have been dividing our minds and ruling our lives. Through the past three decades, members of the ruling class centered in the plush Makati business district, guided and aided by foreign powers, have set the agenda by dividing the people into Yellows, Reds, pro-Marcos, pro-Erap, and whatnot.

And now that they are featuring a tussle between the pro-Aquino vs pro-Arroyo Yellows, the oligarchy with its foreign partners continues to increase its stranglehold on the nation’s assets, resources and natural wealth while making the country harsher and harsher for the Filipino people — with higher taxes and public utility rates, among others. Even filing fees now make it impossible for the poor to bring their cases to court.

“Those who have less in life should have more in law,” Magsaysay was supposed to have said. But that is no longer true today especially after the evolution of economics and politics into an anti-poor and pro-oligarchic system.
The recent turn in the Vizconde case seems to have highlighted this and has led to efforts by heretofore divided pro-people advocacy groups to come together and clamor for a rethinking of what is happening to our justice system.

Last week the People’s Movement for Justice was formed with various groups, ranging from Liza Masa’s Gabriela and its once estranged fraternal organization Sanlakas, to Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (associated with Edsa II) and our own Sulo ng Pilipino which was part of Edsa III, as well as many others under the unifying influence of Rasti Delizo and Tito Guingona, to pursue justice for all.

The people’s military and civilian champions are getting wiser. Unification of popular causes and efforts must proceed henceforth with greater energy and wisdom to lead this nation toward full emancipation and prosperity.

(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; TNT with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on GNN, Destiny Cable Channel 8 with Dr. Rene Ofreneo and Mr. Hiro Vaswani on “2011: Filipino SWOT”; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

 (Reprinted with permission from Mr. Herman Tiu-Laurel)


Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110110com5.html

The many faces of freedom HE SAYS Aldrin Cardon 01/10/2011

The many faces of freedom

HE SAYS

Aldrin Cardon

01/10/2011
He fought a corrupt, abusive system for more than half his life.

He took the hills as an idealistic young man, who probably had thought he could change the system, like many of his other contemporaries who have sacrificed more, with others even giving their lives for the cause, while some were snuffed out by their own comrades, who believed in their own cleansing, but which ultimately led to the weakening of the Philippine left movement.

Tirso Alcantara, the hardened New People’ Army leader on whose hands have dried blood of former comrades who had to fall under the Maoist hardliners’ Kampanyang Ahos, the Communist Party’s cleansing its ranks of suspected infiltrators, had fallen into his captors’ hands. He met the end of his revolutionary road somewhere in Lucena, where even in the most hidden villages, its folk have cellular phones, no matter how ancient the models are, and one tipped him off to the military..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110110com6.html

A few good men SHE SAID Malou E. Rosal 01/10/2011

A few good men [and women]

SHE SAID

Malou E. Rosal

01/10/2011
Is honor dead in the police and military forces of the Philippines?
Over the years we have grown weary of erring politicians and government leaders, but now it seems even those men whom we used to count on for protection and security are falling into the quagmire as well.
Not only are crooked policemen in hot water these days, but the unresolved issues in the military are still making headlines, with former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) comptroller retired Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia on the hot seat.
Murder, robbery, kidnapping — these latest blows on the police, which have yet to revive its ailing image — have made those cases of stray bullets or even that embarrassing foiled rescue of tourists in Manila seem petty..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110110com7.html

1 dead, 560 hurt in cult tradition 01/10/2011

PRELATE ESTIMATES 10M FLOCKED TO BLACK NAZARENE

1 dead, 560 hurt in cult tradition

01/10/2011
One person was killed while 560 devotees were treated for minor injuries yesterday after taking part in an annual procession which many consider a cult ceremony to honor a centuries-old black statue of Jesus Christ believed by many to have miraculous powers.

Barefoot Catholics, which some estimates put at as much as 2 million, joined the religious procession of the Black Nazarene atop a gilded carriage around Manila’s downtown Quiapo district.

The procession is one of the country’s most spectacular and extreme shows of faith and attracts people from all walks of life.

A 17-year-old man was stabbed to death by an unidentified assailant in front of the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta Park, Manila where the image of the Black Nazarene was brought as part of the festivities of famous image of the Christ on Saturday night..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110110hed1.html

DoJ tosses to CSC PAO eligibility row By Benjamin B. Pulta 01/10/2011

DoJ tosses to CSC PAO eligibility row

By Benjamin B. Pulta 01/10/2011

The Department of Justice (DoJ) had tossed to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) the responsibility of sorting out the eligibility of state lawyers in connection with the brewing controversy over a DoJ opinion stating that Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida Rueda – Acosta and her deputies are not qualified to their positions due to the lack of Career Exe-cutive Service (CES) eligibility.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said CSC’s clarification on the issue is needed following apparent conflicting opinions of some of its commissioners and of officials of the Career Executive Service (CES) Board submitted to the department..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110110hed2.html

Last of detained Magdalos placed under Sabban’s care By Mario J. Mallari 01/10/2011

Last of detained Magdalos placed under Sabban’s care

By Mario J. Mallari 01/10/2011

Cashiered Marine Capt. Nicanor Faeldon, one of the core leaders of the Magdalo group, was released from detention last Saturday after the military leadership approved his petition for transfer of custody to Western Command (Westcom) chief Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban.

Lawyer Trizie Angeles, Faledon’s counsel, said the Marine captain was released from his detention at the Marine headquarters at Fort Bonifacio before 4 p.m. Saturday.

Faeldon was the last Magdalo officer to be released from detention.

“His (petition for) transfer of custody to General Sabban was approved,” Angeles said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110110hed3.html

Lawmaker in critical state, 6 dead in Arizona shooting spree 01/10/2011

Lawmaker in critical state, 6 dead in Arizona shooting spree

01/10/2011
TUCSON, Arizona — A US congresswoman was in critical condition after being shot in the head Saturday (Sunday, Manila time) by a gunman who opened fire in Tucson, Arizona, killing six persons, including a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, 40, a member of President Barack Obama’s Democratic Party, was meeting constituents at a supermarket in Tucson, Arizona when the assailant unleashed a volley of automatic fire.
Obama called the attack a “tragedy for our entire country.”

The House of Representatives, which opened under new Republican leadership just
three days earlier, called off proceedings for the upcoming week..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110110hed4.html

‘Not tonight, honey, I’m tearing’ 01/10/2011

‘Not tonight, honey, I’m tearing’

01/10/2011
When women cry, their tears send out a chemical signal that puts a damper on men’s sexual arousal, a study by Israeli researchers has found.

Researchers collected the women’s tears in vials and presented them to 24 men, aged 23 to 32, who did not know what they contained.

Some men sniffed control vials that contained odorless saline solution, and others sniffed vials containing women’s tears, which also have no detectable smell..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110110hed5.html

2 Pinoy sex tourism victims get US restitution funds 01/10/2011

2 Pinoy sex tourism victims get US restitution funds

01/10/2011
Two Filipino minors who were victims of sex tourism have received restitution trust funds from the United States government after an American was convicted of engaging sex with them.

The trusts were established as a result of an order of restitution against Donald Mathias of Davie, Florida in the criminal case against him. Mathias, 64, was sentenced on March 3, 2010, to 20 years in prison for engaging in sex tourism in the Philippines, and also ordered to pay $200,000 in restitution to his victims.

The trusts serve to ensure that restitution money ob-tained for the victims of Mathias’ crimes is used for appropriate purposes and for the benefit of the victims..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110110hed6.html

Statement of Noynoy on 2016 gives green light for Cha-cha debate — solon By Charlie V. Manalo 01/10/2011

Statement of Noynoy on 2016 gives green light for Cha-cha debate — solon

By Charlie V. Manalo 01/10/2011

President Aquino’s statement openly declaring he will not run for 2016 should be taken as a go-signal to open up the debates on the amendments to the 1987 Constitution.

This was the statement of Samar Rep. Ben Evardone after Aquino last Sunday announced before the 56th general assembly of the League of Cities in the Philippines (LCP) that he would not seek another elective post in 2016.

“With President Aquino’s declaration that he will not run for public office in 2016, I think this is the best time to start the national debate on Cha-cha (Charter change),” Evardone said through a text message.

However, the Samar solon stressed that no one among the incumbent officials should benefit if ever the 1987 Constitution is amended..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110110nat4.html

Worms destroy 2,000 has. of farms corn worth P21M 01/10/2011

Worms destroy 2,000 has. of farms corn worth P21M

01/10/2011
SANTIAGO CITY — About 2,000 hectares of corn farms worth P21 million were ravaged by armyworms over the weekend, said official from Isabela provincial agriculture office.

The farms were located in the villages of Ilagan and Tumauini towns in Isabela..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110110nat5.html

The past as a convenient excuse EDITORIAL 01/09/2011

The past as a convenient excuse

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

01/09/2011
The sins and sinners of the past have become an obsessive part of nearly all the speeches of Noynoy, including his message the other day to the diplomatic community during a vin d’honneur, which is a traditional event at the start of the year to strengthen the country’s relations with other countries, along with informing their representatives of what has been done, and what direction the administration is taking.

But with no tangible achievement for the past six months that he has been in office, Noynoy’s natural tendency was to turn to blaming his political critics for his inability and that of his administration to make any headway in governance.

Nearly everything until now the Palace describes as a work in progress, which in itself, is an utter oxymoron since nothing has been moving in terms of policies or even mid term projects. His anchor decrees are all either suspended or invalidated by the Supreme Court largely because the edicts were poorly crafted and contrary to law instead of what the Palace and Noynoy are passing off as the result of an antagonistic high court whose most members he considers as political appointees of the past administration and therefore, his foes..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110109com1.html

Mar Roxas: De facto president FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 01/09/2011

Mar Roxas: De facto president

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

01/09/2011
Less than a year ago, in a press conference, Noynoy Aquino made a startling announcement — startling because he was running for the presidency yet he was already making it known that he was going to be president in name only — or so his message clearly implied.

What he said then, with his vice presidential running mate, Mar Roxas, beside him, was that his presidency will be a shared one with him, as it would be an 80-20 workload, i.e., 80 percent of the work would be done by Roxas, while 20 percent would be Noynoy’s.

It was a shocking statement, considering the fact that the presidency is never shared. There can only be one president who will have to have responsibility and be accountable his acts in office.

If memory serves — and it usually does — Noynoy never recanted his statement and even when Roxas lost the vice presidential race, Noynoy never made it a secret that once the one-year ban on losing candidates taking on an appointive positions lifts, he would certainly be tapping Mar for an important job in Malacañang..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110109com2.html

Mass bird and fish deaths stoke curiosity FEATURE 01/09/2011

Mass bird and fish deaths stoke curiosity

FEATURE

01/09/2011
WASHINGTON — Five thousand dead blackbirds rained from the sky on the first day of the New Year in Arkansas. Then more dead birds fell in other states. Then huge fish kills were discovered in multiple US waterways.

And suddenly it became a worldwide phenomenon, with reports of mass die-offs of birds and fish in Sweden, Britain, Japan, Thailand, Brazil and beyond.

Doves, jellyfish, snapper, jackdaws... it seemed no species was immune.

Conspiracy theorists, doomsdayers and religious extremists warned that the end was nigh.

Could it be astronauts testing a potent sound beam to ward off aliens? The US military experimenting with satellite-powered energy weapons?

What about chemical sprays, meteor showers, or earthquakes activating pollutants from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110109com3.html

Shoot to kill — Mayor Lim BLURBAL THRUSTS Louie Logarta 01/09/2011

Shoot to kill — Mayor Lim

BLURBAL THRUSTS

Louie Logarta

01/09/2011
Department of Justice (DoJ) and National Bureau of Investigation probers assigned to the reopening of the Vizconde Massacre are said to be looking for the whereabouts of a certain Bureau of Immigration official identified as “Ferdie Sampol” to clarify some muddled details regarding the two-decade-old case.

From the information we gathered from DoJ sources, it appears that Sampol, then a rookie immigration officer, was the guy who had stamped the passport of Hubert Webb in March 1991 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport when he was supposed to have departed for the United States. In his defense, Webb’s lawyers have steadfastly maintained their client had returned to the country only in October 1992, and had never resurfaced in the country during the intervening months, which means he was innocent of complicity in the hideous crime..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110109com4.html

Bad news VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 01/09/2011

Bad news

VIEWPOINTS

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

01/09/2011
It all started during the infamous Luneta hostage debacle. It was then expressly revealed by no less than Malacañang itself that the DILG has been in fact effectively divided into two separate agencies. The Local Government Section is headed merely by an “acting secretary” with acknowledged administrative skills in governance. But the PNP is placed under the direction of a permanent undersecretary whose principal credential is friendship of long standing with the Chief Executive. Incidentally, the said acting secretary is known as an anti-jueteng crusader. On the other hand, true or not, the undersecretary is a suspect in the working and benefactions of jueteng in the country.

Recently, it was officially announced by Malacañang that the Cabinet was due for a shake-up at the beginning of this year. Translation: Some four or so members thereof are on their way out. And the same number of fortunate and well-chosen individuals are on their way in. Their names have been mentioned now and then, here and there. Being an office of interest and influence by reason of its authority and scope, the loaded question asked these days is one and the same: Whom will Malacañang appoint as permanent DILG secretary?.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110109com5.html

Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno TABLETS OF STONE Larry Faraon, OP 01/09/2011

Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno

TABLETS OF STONE

Larry Faraon, OP

01/09/2011
My late father died on this day eight years ago, the Feast of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo, Manila. It was not a coincidence, but he was an ardent devotee. In his younger days, we would watch him pack his stuff of a couple of shirts, Spartan rubber shoes and a pair of rugged gloves that he uses to tightly grip the 50-meter long abaca ropes during the long haul and grueling procession on the day itself. He used to be a “mamamasan”—those devotees who carry and pull the carroza of the Black Nazarene along the procession route.

My father’s religious orientation is quite personal and devotional since he despises the hypocrisy of the Sunday church goers in our local parish, seeing the corrupt officials kneeling at the communion rail and the holier-than-thou manangs and senoras who treat their muchachas shabbily if not ruthlessly at home. I never saw him come to Sunday mass despite my mother’s heckling. His first but not the last mass attendance was when I said my first thanksgiving mass as a newly ordained priest — he had to or else my mom would divorce him!.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110109com6.html

Fake Indonesian inmate exposes prison corruption FEATURE 01/09/2011

Fake Indonesian inmate exposes prison corruption

FEATURE

01/09/2011
JAKARTA—When Kasiem, a 55-year-old Indonesian woman, was condemned to seven months in prison she decided she would prefer not to serve the sentence. So she hired someone else to go to jail on her behalf.

Kasiem was convicted of selling government-subsidised fertilizer, a crime in Indonesia, but during her transfer to prison swapped places with Karni, a 50-year-old widow to whom she allegedly paid 10 million rupiah ($1,100).

It is the latest in a series of prison corruption scandals that have activists calling for deep reforms.

The case was uncovered last week when one of Kasiem’s neighbours went to visit her in jail only to be presented with the impostor..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110109com7.html

Roxas seen as de facto president; trouble up By Aytch S. de la Cruz 01/09/2011

NOY BLASTS CRITICS, DEFENDS CHIEF TROUBLESHOOTER MAR

Roxas seen as de facto president; trouble up

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 01/09/2011

Malacañang yesterday came to the rescue of President Aquino and his announced chief troubleshooter, losing vice presidential candidate, former Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas as it defended Aquino’s running mate in the last presidential polls, amid early criticisms following Aquino’s announcement last Friday of giving Roxas a powerful appointment.

Shortly after the vin d’honneur at the Palace, Aquino told Malacañang reporters that his defeated running mate would be serving as one of his “chief troubleshooters” once the mandatory election ban on previous candidates expires this June 30, which is less than six months away.

Reporters quoted Aquino as saying that he “will really be tapping his (Roxas’) expertise in so many aspects. He might be my...one of our chief troubleshooters on something that needs more intense attention. I might ask him to do that if he is willing,” he said, although Aquino admitted that details about Roxas’ impending appointment to Malacañang are still being threshed out.

Comments have already floated this early that instead of serving the President as his troubleshooter, Roxas may just turn up to become the de facto president as well as become a “troublemaker” in the administration, presumably due to the pervading influence of the warring factions in Aquino’s circle of allies..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110109hed1.html

‘Noisy minority’ a factual statement — Palace By Aytch S. de la Cruz 01/09/2011

‘Noisy minority’ a factual statement — Palace

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 01/09/2011

Malacañang yesterday refused to apologize for President Aquino’s highly impolitic and derisive remarks against the political opposition and his critics, in his very brief speech he made during the recently concluded vin d’honneur with one of his spokesmen arrogantly stating that the “noisy minority” allusion is a “statement of fact.”

Deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte told reporters in her weekend news briefing that the “noisy minority” serving as a stumbling block of his administration in implementing his supposed reforms in government.statement is fact since the presidential sentiment and remarks on the “noisy minority” have been on the record for some time, while Malacañang wondered aloud why it is only now that House Minority leader and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman would make an issue out of it.

“There will be challenges ahead — from an uncertain outlook for the global economy, to a noisy minority who want to rekindle the malicious practices of the past,” Aquino said Friday in a speech that lasted for about one and a half minutes—the shortest vin d’honneur speech on record.

Aquino was also late for his first vin d’honneur, which is regarded as impolite, improper and thoughtless, considering that he was its host..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110109hed2.html