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Noynoy’s call for people power ‘crazy’ — cardinal By Angie M. Rosales and Marie A. Surbano 05/03/2010

Monday, May 3, 2010

NP-LP war on Aquino’s mental health still raging 

Noynoy’s call for people power ‘crazy’ — cardinal

By Angie M. Rosales and Marie A. Surbano
05/03/2010

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales indirectly branded Liberal Party (LP) presidential candidate Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino “crazy.”

This “crazy” tag was in relation to comments made by the prelate to reporters yesterday who had asked for his view on a candidate’s call for mounting a people power revolt in the event he is cheated out of his presidential victory.

“That (call for another Edsa I revolt repeat) is crazy. Crazy. Crazy,” he said, virtually saying that anybody who issues such warnings of yet another people power should have his head examined.

The threat to call on his yellow army to bring about civil unrest, Aquino has been quoted as saying many times, in interviews, will even be worse than the civil unrest currently ongoing in Thailand with the Red Shirts waging an undeclared civil war against the Abhist government..... MORE  

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100503hed1.html

Noynoy has no leadership qualities, says Villar By Angie M. Rosales 05/03/2010

Noynoy has no leadership qualities, says Villar
By Angie M. Rosales
05/03/2010

Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar chided his main rival Liberal Party (LP) presidential bet Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, saying it is hard to imagine how a candidate who has zero performance as a legislator can now claim he can change the country.

“If you haven’t been able to change anything in your life, what makes you think you can now initiate change in our country? What makes you think you can be a good manager when you haven’t managed anything in your life?” Villar, in a statement, said.

He stressed that it was important for voters to look at the track record of candidates and check their performance as leaders in their respective fields.

“It is insulting to our countrymen for candidates to seek their votes and expect them to vote for you even though you have no experience and no leadership qualities,” Villar said.... MORE
 
SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100503hed4.html

Gov’t workers in Mt. Province decry non-release of bonus 05/03/2010

Gov’t workers in Mt. Province decry non-release of bonus
05/03/2010
Provincial government employees of Mountain Province have assailed the provincial leadership of Gov. Maximo Dalog for withholding without apparent reason half of their P10,000 yearend benefits.

The employees, numbering around 800-1,000, said they were supposed to have availed of around P10,000 each as part of their yearend bonus, but instead they only received half of the amount.

According to the employees, the amount was derived from P7,000 issued as cash gift by President Arroyo last November with an added P3,000 given by the provincial government through provincial board resolution last December.

The employees expressed concern that their withheld bonus, totaling some P5 million, might be used for some other purpose other than what it was meant for, particularly as the campaigning for the national elections next Monday is in its currency.... MORE
 
SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20100503nat5.html

Enemies from the past EDITORIAL 05/03/2010

Enemies from the past

EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
05/03/2010
The bandwagon created by the down-to-earth style of campaigning of former President Joseph Estrada of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino has proved its effectiveness that now even the rabid pro-Aquino media are taking notice.

A broadcast network that has been dishing out stories that either extol or defend Liberal Party contender Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, recently carried a banner article, either in praise or in worry, of Estrada’s effective strategy of utilizing tricycles to reach out to Filipino voters, many of whom are beyond the reach of electronic and print media because of extreme poverty.

The analysis of Estrada’s campaign style, nevertheless, tried to stress the fact that the battle is not between survey leader Noynoy and Erap but for second place, between Erap and Nacionalista Party bet Manuel Villar Jr. and that the strategy is only effective enough for taking away votes from Villar.... MORE  

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100503com1.html

That’s democracy? FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 05/03/2010

That’s democracy?

FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
05/03/2010
In his Sunday column, With Due Respect, former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban wrote that one of the ways to fight, or at least minimize a no-proclamation situation that could occur owing to a possibility of a Gloria holdover presidency or the emergence of military rule is to ensure that the presidential victor wins by a landslide. That way, he says, there will be no questions over the elections which will then be deemed credible, despite electoral fraud, and the presidential victor is proclaimed.

“Hence, let us vote for the presidential candidate with the best chances of winning, even if he...may not be our first choice, so that the margin of victory would be so overwhelming that glitches here and there would not matter. A huge landslide will also wipe out the effects of cheating and manipulation.”

Then he says that since a “horrendous landslide” is necessary, the electorate should therefore vote for the “presidential candidate with the best chances of winning, even if he ...may not be our first choice, so that the margin of victory would be so overwhelming that glitches here and there would not matter. A huge landslide will also wipe out the effects of cheating and manipulation.... MORE  

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100503com2.html

Myanmar’s junta prepares ground for elections focus 05/03/2010

Myanmar’s junta prepares ground for elections



focus

05/03/2010

BANGKOK — Myanmar’s generals have shed their uniforms and are establishing a new political party ahead of the country’s first election in two decades, but doubts remain over whether any real change is likely.

The military government, which faces strict Western sanctions because of its human rights record, has billed this year’s polls — expected in late October or November — as a shift of power outside its entrenched military structure.
But critics charge that the shift is essentially cosmetic and part of a long expected bid by the military regime to buy some legitimacy.
Prime Minister Thein Sein and 22 other ministers resigned from the military last week to officially become civilians ahead of the polls.
“They will just change their military uniform. Their positions will be still the same as before,” a Myanmar official told AFP.
The premier then filed to form the “Union Solidarity and Development Party” (USDP), a name echoing Myanmar’s body charged with lobbying and social activities, the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA)..... MORE 

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100503com3.html

First Gen: ‘Our’ green grass and geothermal... DIE HARD III Herman Tiu Laurel 05/03/2010

First Gen: ‘Our’ green grass and geothermal...



DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
05/03/2010

A half-page spread in the business section of one of the mainstream newspapers seized my attention. The ad said, “The grass is greener on our side” and in the background of lush green mountains rose a few puffs of white smoke and one line underscored it saying, “Our EDC Geothermal Power Plant in Leyte.” The ad is from First Gen, a Lopez company that has taken over many of the nation’s geothermal plants which is now “their” geothermal power plants. The idea that these geothermal plants that I have since my teen age been taught and told is the nation’s patrimony, collectively owned by the people of the Philippines — the idea that these now are not “our” as a people but “our” only to the Energy Development Corp. (led by Paul Aquino who himself privatized it as head when it was government owned) owned by First Gen so graphically and emphatically claimed really had shock effect.

On the same day news came out that Meralco doubled yes, doubled) its profits from increasing electricity rates. Again, the utterly undisguised and unapologetic report socked me. It’s as if there is no other consideration, no other consequence, to consider; that it’s all right to double profits simply by increasing rates. Some consumer groups stage a protest, a picket at Malacañang, but the government spreads its eyes wide open as if to say, “Why ask us?” Apparently we, the people, don’t belong to this country anymore, or maybe it is better said that nothing in this country belongs to us anymore, not even government. Electricity consumers who pay the increasing rates and from whence the profit is extracted, do not matter; their pains and debilitation do not exist. You and I, we who pay the power bills and the increases who are already screaming in pain and rage, are not heard. It wasn’t like this in Marcos’ or in Erap’s time. All these callousness came about only after Edsa II.

Volcanic steam that emanates from this country’s land now belong to two families; electricity and its distribution owned and controlled by another set, interlocking in some, handful of families; power transmission is also controlled by syndicated local and foreign corporations. The people own nothing, and pretty soon none of the lands in this country will be in Filipinos hands except for the same few families controlling the myriad of other essential assets. This situation is the legacy of Edsa II, which in turn is the legacy left behind by Edsa I and Cory Aquino, with her Yellow entourage. This is the “democracy” they brought, shared non-ownership by 90 million Filipinos and absolute ownership of all the instruments of economic power and growth in the hands of a handful of families, mega-corporations and their foreign overlords.

Can a nation and a republic survive without popularly shared and commonly held economic assets? This results in almost complete leverage over everything else, including politics and even control of the public mind. Paul Guiterrez’s article “Yellow surveys” in People’s reveals the cross directorship in the country’s top survey groups, SWS and Pulse Asia: “...some of the prominent members of the board and stockholders of Pulse Asia and SWS are relatives or friends of the Aquinos. Jose de Jesus, one of the founders and stockholders of Pulse Asia, was secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways during the time of President Cory Aquino. Antonio Cojuangco, cousin of the Liberal Party standard bearer, initially bankrolled Pulse Asia, while Rafael Cojuangco Lopa, also Noynoy’s cousin and executive director of the Ninoy Aquino Foundation, was president of Pulse Asia until last year.”

One Yellow fanatic texted me denying that Lopa is involved in Pulse Asia, wasn’t it so “timely,” this Lopa’s divestment, with a presidential campaign polling? Ping de Jesus also appears in the board of many Lopez companies. Which brings us to a reported deal between the Yellow candidate, BSA (interpret the initials), and Meralco to “cease and desist” from continuing with its overcharging if and when that candidate sits in Malacañang. This exposes candidate BSA’s special relationship with the oligarchs, and that rumor instead of enticing voters to swing to BSA to get relief from Meralco’s price gouging actually reminds the millions of suffering Meralco power consumers how they were fooled by BSA’s campaign manager Butch Abad who spearheaded the Omnibus Power Bill, precursor of the Epira which gave us the infamous PPA.

A more reliable survey, by the Magdalo, puts Estrada at 24.8 percent ahead of Villar against Pulse’s 20 percent -20 percent tie of the two; thus Estrada is far closer to BSA than Pulse portrays. The Lopez and oligarchs’ survey groups are foisting the myth of BSA’s vast lead to trend the May 10 elections. They’re also spreading the black prop that Erap is withdrawing due to schlerosis. The fact is the Yellows know that an upset from Estrada is imminent, and their plot is no longer against Villarroyo or his sponsor but against the masa and the people. With Estrada, the people and the masa can take back the green pastures, as well as the geothermal power plants, the transmission lines, the water systems, the toll ways, and all that the nation needs to green its future again. 

(Tune to 1098AM, Sulo ng Pilipino, M-W-F, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21, Talk News TV, Tuesday, 8:00 p.m. to 9 p.m. “The Potential Upsets” with Tony Gat, et al.; visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)


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

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100503com4.html

Louisiana ‘way of life’ at risk as oil spill threatens fishing grounds FEATURE 05/03/2010

Louisiana ‘way of life’ at risk as oil spill threatens fishing grounds



FEATURE

05/03/2010

VENICE — As a sea of crude oil threatens to wash away her livelihood, Margaret Legnon stares at the boats sitting idle in the docks and wonders how long her coastal Louisiana fishing town can get by.

Not to mention what all those shrimp and crab lovers in New York and Detroit and Los Angeles will do if one of the nation’s largest sources of wild seafood is poisoned.

“It’s going to be ugly,” Legnon says of the looming environmental and economic disaster.

Louisiana’s fragile wetlands are prime breeding grounds for the fish, crab and shrimp which support a $2.4 billion a year commercial and recreational fishing industry.

Already badly damaged by decades of coastal erosion and the ravages of Hurricane “Katrina” in 2005, many here worry the marshes which have supported their way of life for generations will be destroyed by the epic oil spill.
.... MORE  

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100503com5.html

Ang presidente ko… HE SAYS Aldrin Cardon 05/03/2010

Ang presidente ko…



HE SAYS
Aldrin Cardon
05/03/2010

Jejomar Binay would not pass for a teletubby, but I find his endorsement by Sen. Chiz Escudero rather cute. I could not fathom, however, why Chiz can’t say balls, and somehow lost its translation when he changed its Filipino equivalent to “B,” which Binay’s detractors quickly decoded as “babae, bebong or babes” and made complete with photographs, which, at this point of the campaigns, are clearly for black propaganda.

It takes a real man with balls to own up to his dalliances, and Binay sure has them when he did not deny his past dawdling, killing right away whatever effect such a black propaganda would entail his chances of winning the vice presidency.

Overseas-based Filipino journalist Ares Gutierrez made a funny retort to the situation by saying any propaganda against Binay is “black.” Yes, I found it cute.

Chiz extended his “endorsement” from black to yellow, although his ads on Binay have made their mark as made clear by his sudden jump on the surveys, which Noynoy, Chiz’s president, also clearly enjoys leading.... MORE  

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100503com6.html

Impossible dream? SHE SAYS Dinah S. Ventura 05/03/2010

Impossible dream?



SHE SAYS
Dinah S. Ventura
05/03/2010

Now that I know what Sen. Chiz Escudero meant with “B,” I can honestly say that it is one quality I require of a leader for my country. Who has got the “b” to take on the humongous work ahead? But more important, who has got the heart to go with it.

We all know that having the “b” — or the guts — to make important yet difficult decisions is easier said than done. Some might believe courage is all it takes to run a country as difficult as ours, but I believe it also takes vision and compassion. And, of course, it starts out with believability, which comes from character and integrity.

Just remember the time when an honest “sorry” back in 2005 would have sufficed — because a sincere attempt to correct a mistake would have taken more than that taped moment in history. Certainly, it would have taken the “b” to step down from a tainted position for good.

Instead, our “sorry” president stayed on... and on... and made people realize that “b” could well mean “b-tch,” as one of her allies jokingly said at one time. But enough of recriminations (or sorry lack thereof).... MORE  

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: hhttp://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100503com7.html

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