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Noynoy, psych patient in US — civil society group By Angie M. Rosales 04/30/2010

Friday, April 30, 2010

Aquino admits past depression, denies treatment

Noynoy, psych patient in US — civil society group


By Angie M. Rosales
04/30/2010

The claimed “fake” psychiatric test and results purportedly authored by Jesuit priest Jaime Bulatao and bared by former National Power Corp. president, Guido Delgado, as well as the new charges from a civil society group yesterday that Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino underwent psychiatric treatment in Boston, USA under the care of one Dr. Steven Aguilar, may be true, after all.

The Liberal Party standard bearer yesterday while denying having undergone professional help, nevertheless admitted that he had suffered from depressions in the past.

He also admitted that he has also thought of taking revenge on those who have made life difficult for his parents and his family.

“Sure, I would be lying if I told you I wouldn’t (want to take my revenge). All this (baring of his alleged mental disorder) is an attempt to get me mad.”.... MORE  

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100430hed1.html


Erap-Binay moves closer to May 10 ‘poll shocker’ By Gerry Baldo 04/30/2010

Erap-Binay moves closer to May 10 ‘poll shocker’


By Gerry Baldo
04/30/2010

Almost a week before the national elections, the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) tandem of former President Joseph Estrada and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay is surging to within striking distance of the leading presidential and vice presidential candidates to show their opponents they are a force to reckon with. 

Estrada said the PMP strategy of bringing the campaign straight to the people was right on track as the latest Pulse Asia ratings showed him at a tie with erstwhile second placer Nacionalista Party (NP) bet Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. while Binay shot past Villar’s running mate, Sen. Loren Legarda to land in the second place following Liberal Party bet Sen. Manuel Roxas II.

“As I told you, I will give them the surprise of their lives,” Estrada said in a telephone interview. He earlier said that his opponents would be in for a big surprise come election day.

Estrada, apparently elated at the recent developments, also said that the fight now would be between him and Aquino and between Binay and Roxas.

“It’s no longer between Mar and Loren (LP vice presidential bet Sen. Manuel Roxas II versus NP vice presidential candidate Sen. Loren Legarda). It’s already Mar versus (PMP bet Makati) Mayor (Jejomar) Binay,” Estrada said.
Estrada’s camp said they will focus the remaining days of the campaign period to prove that the ousted leader is a better choice than survey leader Sen. Noynoy Aquino, Estrada’s spokesman said on Thursday..... MORE  

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100430hed2.html


Comelec junks parallel manual count petition By Marie Surbano and Aytch S. de la Cruz 04/30/2010

Comelec junks parallel manual count petition


By Marie Surbano and Aytch S. de la Cruz
04/30/2010

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has rejected the proposal of various groups to conduct a parallel manual count as backup to automated counting of votes in the May 10 polls, saying the process is too dangerous that the electoral body’s “credibility will once again be questioned if it will allow it.”

In a seven-page resolution, the Comelec en banc yesterday noted that “allowing the conduct of a manual audit is vulnerable to possible styles” of irregularities.
“The scrapping of the electronic count and canvass in favor of the hand count and manual canvassing will likely open up the possibility of the return of old modes of cheating — particularly ‘dagdag-bawas’ (vote padding-shaving) and the resurrection of sleeping Garcis. With the certificate of canvass prepared manually, the old ills of error and fabricated CoCs will resurface, leading ironically to a less credible election result,” the resolution said.
The Comelec is referring to the proposal which will count all the votes cast, and if the figures of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines and the manual count will not tally, the machine count will be excluded.
“But the commission also cannot accept that the mere existence of disagreement between the hand count and the electronic count should automatically be interpreted as proof of the inaccuracy of the electronic count. The beneficiality of a parallel manual count, therefore, is limited only to proving the existence of a discrepancy; it does not, by itself, prove the invalidity of the electronic count,” the poll body explained.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100430hed4.html


Petition on interim pact with MILF premature — GRP panel By Michaela P. del Callar 04/30/2010

Petition on interim pact with MILF premature — GRP panel



By Michaela P. del Callar

04/30/2010

The head of the government peace negotiating panel with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has branded as “premature” the petition filed by North Cotabato officials before the Supreme Court (SC) seeking to prevent the Arroyo administration from signing an interim peace agreement with the Muslim separatist group.

Government peace chief negotiator Rafael Seguis told reporters that the petition that local government officials of the southern province has filed before the high court is premature since an interim agreement has yet to be forged between the two parties as talks over the matter are still on-going.

“In fact, as of this date, the Philippine government panel and the MILF have not even agreed on a negotiating draft,” Seguis said. 

He, though, said he expects that it is just a matter of time before the government and the Muslim rebel group forges such an agreement.

“At the least, there is need to preserve the gains of 13 years of negotiations and assure that the peace process will continue with a clear roadmap,” Seguis said in defending the government’s push for an interim deal to be sealed with the MILF assuring that the rebel group will continue negotiating peace with the next administration after the Arroyo government bows out on June 30.... MORE  

SourceThe Daily Tribune

  URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20100430nat1.html


Yellow politics of coercion EDITORIAL 04/30/2010

Yellow politics of coercion



EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
04/30/2010

Presidential aspirant Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino seems single-minded about being the next president of the land and he will not accept anything otherwise.
The problem with such an attitude, if Noynoy really believes what he is saying, is that it brings Filipinos potentially on the road to a more chaotic administration than the nine years of Gloria.

Noynoy’s predisposition to use coercion in fulfilling his desires is worse than the transactional politics of the discredited Gloria, or for that matter, that of her candidate Manuel Villar Jr.

Gloria’s brand of politics uses bribery to obtain her wishes but Noynoy’s politics would be “You’re either yellow or you’re an enemy” politics. 

Noynoy made a mockery of Filipinos the other day when he told foreign media that the only way he will lose in the coming elections on May 10 is that he will be cheated out of his victory. He stressed he will lead a civil disobedience campaign leading to a people power revolt never seen before as it will even be worse than the political unrest in Bangkok — if he does not win the presidency.... MORE  

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100430com1.html


No count but more trouble from yellows FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 04/30/2010

No count but more trouble from yellows



FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
04/30/2010

It was pretty evident that the poll body would reject the parallel manual count the business groups sought earlier.

Truth is, the call came a bit too late for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to approve the idea of a parallel manual count.

Still, it must also be stated that the Comelec has hardly come clean with the people via the Congress, and has in fact, reneged on its pledges to the congressional oversight committee to prepare for manual polls and count, in the event of a failure of automated polls.

The date agreed upon between the Comelec and the panel was that the poll body would prepare for such eventuality by March — or some two months ago. And it didn’t, claiming instead that there can be no failure of the automated polls..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100430com2.html


Thailand’s orange-robed monks reveal shades of red focus 04/30/2010

Thailand’s orange-robed monks reveal shades of red



focus

04/30/2010

BANGKOK — Dozens of Thai monks, clad in vivid orange robes, untangle their hands bound with sacred Buddhist thread after performing a chanting ceremony to protect the anti-government “Red Shirts.”

Since mass protests began in Bangkok in mid-March demanding snap elections, the red-dressed crowds have been speckled with the monks’ distinctive attire despite a long-held monastic custom of keeping out of Thai politics.
“We have been staying with the people from the beginning, more than one month already,” said a 70-year-old monk, Doctor Tuanchai.

“We sleep on the roadside. It’s a very difficult life but we decided to do it for peace and harmony and love for the Thai people.”

He said the monks were “neutral” despite their presence at the rally, though his comments revealed a leaning toward the mainly rural poor and urban working-class Reds, who say they are fighting the Thai elites.

“I hope they will gain victory soon because they ask for democracy and justice. I hope all monks and all Thai people in general, the majority will sympathise with the Red Shirts,” Tuanchai said.... MORE 

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100430com3.html


An honor NO HOLDS BARRED Armida Siguion-Reyna 04/30/2010

An honor



NO HOLDS BARRED
Armida Siguion-Reyna
04/30/2010

By the time you read this, I will have been awarded the Natatanging Gawad for Lifetime Achievement, by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, at the 33rd Gawad Urian at the Sine Adarna (UP Film Center), at the University of the Philippines.
Soon after I had been informed of the honor, I decided I wasn’t going to come up with a pre-written thank you speech and that I was going to keep it short and simple. I promised not to be emotional, but even as I do this in advance, I know the opposite is going to happen. Iyakin ako.
After all, I joined a roster that includes filmmakers Gerry de Leon, Bert Avellana, Manuel Conde, Eddie Romero, Susana de Guzman, Fernando Poe Jr., Peque Gallaga and Kidlat Tahimik; producers Manuel de Leon, Luis Nolasco and Marichu Maceda; cinematographers Mike Accion and Felipe Sacdalan; musicians Levi Celerio and Tito Arevalo; actors Anita Linda, Leopoldo Salcedo, Pancho Magalona, Rosa Rosal, Nida Blanca, Mona Lisa, Dolphy — the list is long and illustrious.
Fernando Poe Jr. was recognized as actor, writer, director and producer. Eddie Romero, as writer and producer. Rosa Rosal as actor and also for her work as pillar of the Philippine National Red Cross.
According to the Manunuri Web site, I’m cited as an actor for my performances in Tahan na Empoy, Tahan, Inagaw Mo ang Lahat sa Akin, and Sa Pagitan ng Dalawang Langit. As a producer, for “trailblazing productions that sought to break away from the star system so prevalent in the Philippine movie studio system through an approach that is creative, collaborative and professional,” and for producing “quality movies that are innovative and well-made,” seeking “to carve a niche for Filipino cinema world cinema.” Finally, as head of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), for having been “a brave and bold state official who battled censorship and prior restraint in order to advance the constitutional rights to creativity and freedom of artists.”... MORE
 

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100430com4.html


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Yellow arrogance: Erap’s redemption DIE HARD III Herman Tiu Laurel 04/30/2010

Yellow arrogance: Erap’s redemption



DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
04/30/2010

The yellow army had long declared itself victorious even as election day was still months away. Government directorships were offered left and right to any prospective recruits to entice them into their fold. Now, with 10 days to go before crunch time, the yellows declare that only cheating can deny them of victory. They promise “people power” and vow to do better than the Thai “Red Shirts” in their rampage.

“Arrogance diminishes wisdom,” says an Arabian proverb. Evidently, arrogance has been built into the yellow movement from its inception. From the hyperbolic image created for Ninoy and Cory, to the 1986 Edsa revolt, to the recent “new Aquino” spiel of Time magazine, such arrogant displays have been cultivated by the US and local oligarchy’s media.

Why, this “new Aquino” was even in talks with military elements, purportedly for a people power redux. But this arrogance, clashing with Arroyo’s hubris, can only spell victory for the Filipino people who are solidly behind the redeemed Erap Estrada.

The surveys of SWS, Pulse Asia and Nielsen have served as the basis for the yellows’ presumption of victory. But as I tell them time and again, these are merely the usual suspects in the manipulation of Philippines elections — in cahoots with Namfrel.

Recall all the heads of Namfrel, from the late retired colonel of the USAFFE Jaime Ferrer, described in the book Policing America’s Empire: The US, the Philippines and the Rise of the Surveillance State, to the present one, one can easily see US and Big Business links. Cory Aquino’s Interior Secretary Jaime Ferrer, for one, was said to have “used CIA funds to organize election monitors in the 1950s and was now promoting vigilantes…” US wheat flour behest importer Joe Concepcion and today’s Hank Greenberg-AIG man Jose Cuisia also figure as this supposed election watchdog’s leaders.

And as the US has lost Ukraine to Russia the past month, it definitely wants to ensure that its good ‘ole Philippine puppy remains firmly on its lap.

Members of the yellow army act as if they are now in Malacañang — already breathing its air and banquets, and feeling the energy of power in their sinews, with their appointments and contracts just waiting for the ink to dry. Even retired military fogies like Gen. Ramon Montaño are salivating for a comeback — hopefully not in some shady capers he and other FVR boys were rumored to have dabbled in during Ramos’ time.

Perhaps, because of the surveys and the US’ say-so, they cannot imagine not winning this electoral contest since they think that they have already hyped up an imagined victory to con a manipulable crowd. What they cannot see, however, is that their own kind, Gloria Arroyo, is much better prepared and has readied her foxholes — in Congress, the military, police, and elsewhere.

Still, both the yellows and Gloria forget one thing: By their arrogance they shall fall. They forget the masa who have repeatedly been victimized through 25 years of their lies and oppression. Even if the oligarchs’ Edsa I and II mainstream media try to becloud this issue, the masa simply cannot forget this.

In the midst of the supercilious air of one yellow stalwart I came across recently, I explained the imminent upset of the expectations of both the yellows and the GMA regime: The consolidation of the masa vote. I mentioned the El Shaddai mass base which gave an 80-percent viva voce that downed the hopes for a Villar endorsement while the Iglesia ni Cristo has remained sphinx-like in its silence which may spring the final upset.
This yellow stalwart stymied for a response then countered, “The Iglesia ni Cristo always bets on the winner.” But this yellow mascot forgets how tough the INC has shown itself through history — by standing up to Marcos when martial law was imposed; by opposing the 1986 “people power” and continuing its defiance of Cory Aquino throughout that regime’s life; and by massing in the hundreds of thousands at Edsa III even after the yellows already grabbed power and sent APCs to its radio and TV station to stop its broadcast of anti-Edsa II information.
Moreover, this yellow stalwart forgets that Ninoy Aquino had killed INC farm leaders and forced whole INC communities into exodus out of Tarlac to Nueva Ecija, and that the yellow Cardinal Sin and his minions consistently oppressed the INC.
The INC could let all these things pass for the good of its institution, but will that be its view of this new yellow peril? Like everybody else, I’m sure the Iglesia is also squirming at the display of arrogance and gall of the yellows, through these threats and saber-rattling. Add to this the condescending view of the yellows on the INC, portraying them as sycophantic, opportunist and unprincipled — which certainly cannot escape the attention of the religious movement’s leaders.

The masa and their representative institutions should take heed from Mark Twain who said that “The offspring of riches: Pride, vanity, ostentation, arrogance, tyranny.” The consolidation of the institutional masa vote through the various religious and popular movements is anywhere between four to seven million votes. Nobody in his right mind can ever fail to see this as the truest swing or upset “redemption” vote.

(Tune in to 1098AM, Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21, Talk News TV, Tuesday, 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on “The Politic Upset Potential” with Tony Gat et al.; also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)



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

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100430com5.html

Surgeon plans more live-donor liver transplants in Asia FEATURE 04/30/2010

Surgeon plans more live-donor liver transplants in Asia



FEATURE

04/30/2010

SINGAPORE — From ailing Middle East royalty arriving in private jets to desperate charity cases, Dr. Tan Kai Chah has seen them all in his liver disease center in Singapore.

But the Malaysian doctor, one of Asia’s top liver surgeons, has a more lofty mission: make transplants and treatment more accessible to patients now that the organs can be sourced from living donors, not just cadavers.
Liver disease is common in Asia due to poor hygiene practices and dietary habits and many patients end up dying because of sky-high medical costs, inadequate facilities and a small donor pool, experts say.

In Southeast Asia, about six to eight percent of the population suffer from hepatitis B, said Tan, lead surgeon and executive chairman of the Asian Centre for Liver Diseases and Transplantation.

“In some parts of Asia such as China’s Pearl River Delta (and) north Vietnam... it can affect up to about 12 percent of the population,” Tan, 57, said in an interview with AFP.... MORE  

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100430com6.html


Bali’s beach boys reject gigolo slur FEATURE 04/30/2010

Bali’s beach boys reject gigolo slur



FEATURE

04/30/2010

KUTA — Fun-loving local beach boys are as much a fixture and, for some women, an attraction of Bali as the sun and surf, but all that could be about to change thanks to a controversial new film.
The documentary, Cowboys in Paradise by Singapore-based writer and director Amit Virmani, sparked panic among Bali’s tourism officials when it was released at a film festival in South Korea earlier this month.

Its candid interviews with the local men who flirt with and seduce foreign tourists has severely tarnished the resort island’s image, officials say.

“Certainly it’s worrying. We’ll take action so the image of Bali as a spiritual island isn’t tainted,” Bali Gov. Made Mangku Pastika told reporters.

Police have rounded up almost 30 of the so-called beach “cowboys” in a bid to “clean up the beach of prostitution,” Bali police spokesman Gede Sugianyar said.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100430com7.html


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