Rehash EDITORIAL 07/26/2011

Rehash

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

07/26/2011
If the aim of Noynoy’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) was to bring about a “transformation” in the mindset of the Filipino people, specifically on the way they think of government and even bring about a change in public perception of Noynoy as a competent leader of the nation, he failed at it, and his speech was a disappointment. It was mainly a repeat of the speeches made during his inaugural and first Sona.

It hardly inspired the people, but it was obvious that his speechwriters thought that, as his inaugural speech inspired his supporters and even some non-supporters, they stuck to the same thing and ended up with a flop.

The Sona harked back to his inaugural speech of the wang-wang business, which he said he believes was the start of the transformation of the Filipinos, and used this symbol of the wang-wang in claiming that there were still those who insist on defying the transformational wang-wang. And he again brought up the people are his boss spiel, which hardly means anything these days, when he hardly listens to the people’s voice, but that of his KKK..... MORE
Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110726com1.html

Remembering 2004 FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 07/26/2011

Remembering 2004

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

07/26/2011
Past sins always find a way of catching up with the “sinners,” in this case, the former rah-rah boys of Gloria Arroyo, especially during the 2004 presidential elections, but who are now the lapdogs of the new Palace tenant.

Among those who are now being called to disclose the alleged election fraud are two Liberal Party stalwarts with Noynoy Aquino who are now rabid anti-Gloria. These are Senators Franklin Drilon, Kiko Pangilinan, National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) officials and many more.

Yet today, they have this irritating holier than thou attitude, as though they were neither active nor passive participants in the election fraud.

Both Pangilinan and Drilon were instrumental in facilitating the canvass in Congress of the votes that led to Arroyo’s proclamation with Pangilinan being remembered for breaking his gavel while uttering “noted” on every protest raised by the camp of Fernando Poe Jr. on election documents..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110726com2.html

White South African farmers seek new life in Georgia FEATURE 07/26/2011

White South African farmers seek new life in Georgia

FEATURE

07/26/2011
SARTICHALA — A long way from his South African birthplace, amid the sweeping wheat fields of eastern Georgia, farmer Piet Kemp says that he has found a new home in this former Soviet republic.

And if the government gets its wish, hundreds more like Kemp will follow to help revive Georgia’s ailing agricultural sector, bringing in both cash and expertise.

Shaken by violent attacks and reforms to transfer land to blacks in South Africa, many white farmers have been emigrating, and 10 have already relocated to Georgia to set up businesses under a program launched by the government.

Kemp was the first of them to make the move, lured by local business opportunities — and the promise of security..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110726com3.html

Outsider beats holy chum AN OUTSIDERS VIEW Ken Fuller 07/26/2011

Outsider beats holy chum

AN OUTSIDERS VIEW

Ken Fuller

07/26/2011
A Filipino correspondent has sent me an article entitled “Godlessness has doomed Britain,” by one Shmuley Boteach (my favorite anagram of which is “Beats Holy Chum,” hence the title of this piece. Doubtless Boteach, an American rabbi, would prefer “Holy Beats Much”).

Appearing in the Jerusalem Post on July 4 as, presumably, Rabbi Boteach’s contribution to American Independence Day, the article seeks to demonstrate that the rise of the former colonial subjects and the decline of their colonial ruler can be measured by the extent to which the citizens of each country believe in a deity. To say that the article is poorly-argued is an understatement. If, therefore, the intention of my correspondent is to convert this godless outsider, he’ll have to do a lot better than this.

Although, says Boteach, Europeans tend to look upon “American evangelicals as backward religious knuckle-draggers who believe Adam and Eve actually ate apples with a talking snake,” they represent “the single largest voting bloc in the world’s main superpower.”

Well, yes, Rabbi. This perhaps explains why young Americans have been sent to kill and be killed in Afghanistan and Iraq with minimal congressional opposition. And while young Britons have been sent on the same missions, they were dispatched not by an atheist but by that fervent believer, Tony Blair..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110726com4.html

‘P-Noy, have mercy’ VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 07/26/2011

‘P-Noy, have mercy’

VIEWPOINTS

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

07/26/2011
In the context of sincerity and with the spirit of urgency, this can be readily considered as an ardent prayer said with bowed head and on bended knees even.

It is a fervent supplication based on objective truth and ground reality about a disturbing and distressing national phenomenon. It is a loud plea addressed to someone in the highest governing office in the country, repeatedly professing its unquestionable integrity and loudly declaring its consuming crusade against corruption.

Thus it is that this some kind of a litany is directed to someone supposedly in tenure of all the authority and wherefore empowered to act accordingly — if he wants to. He has in command of the entire Philippine National Police plus the intelligence of the whole National Bureau of Investigation in addition to the extensive authority of the Department of Justice..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110726com5.html

Fashion ‘political’ statements in Noy’s second Sona INSIDE CONGRESS Charlie Manalo 07/26/2011

Fashion ‘political’ statements in Noy’s second Sona

INSIDE CONGRESS

Charlie Manalo

07/26/2011
Oversha- dowed in Noynoy’s Second Annual Bashing of the Arroyos yesterday were the fashionable political statements some members of the House of Representatives tried to convey as they walked down the aisle of the largest bastion of conservatism in the country.

Militantly yet femininely, Emmie de Jesus of Gabriela donned a baby pink panuwelo creatively crafted by Marikina’s fashion designer par excellence, Ruel Rivera, with lilac nouveau art text spelling out her call to “Scrap eVAT.”

With a minimalist silver gray Italian gazar-cut gown, Emmie’s dress was accented with embroidered fuschia leaves and flowers, complementing the panuwelo with its political call.

According to Emmie, the Rivera-designed gown reflects her duty as a representative of the women sector to bring the voices and demands of poor women to Noy’s Sona..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110726com6.html

Small peace dividends in Taliban’s southern gateway focus 07/26/2011

Small peace dividends in Taliban’s southern gateway

focus

07/26/2011
ARGHANDAB VALLEY — Lt. Chris Choi receives a mix of stares and scowls as he shakes hands with curious Afghans on their way to prayer in the restive Arghandab district of southern Kandahar.

But he says the mere presence of the turbaned men walking through heavy traffic to the Haji Baba Wali shrine is a sign of progress stemming from the brittle peace in an area that was once a key Taliban supply route.

Nearby, half-dressed children dart in and out of the murky canal waters that help irrigate fertile pomegranate fields.

Such scenes would not have been possible a year ago, when the Arghandab valley resembled a chessboard of American forces vying with the Taliban for control of Afghanistan’s southern heartlands..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: hhttp://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110726com7.html

Noy’s Sona a rehash of ‘wang-wang’ speech By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 07/26/2011

Noy’s Sona a rehash of ‘wang-wang’ speech

By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 07/26/2011

President Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) may have done away with human props but he relied on heavy symbolism on the old practice by government officials of using “wang-wang,” the local term for car sirens, in a bid to evoke a vivid picture of the nation’s past, present and future under his administration.

But his speech neither inspired nor excited, as this was a repeat and rehash of his inaugural speech as well as his maiden Sona. Both substance and presidential style were missing.

Like a homily of a non-practicing believer, his Sona was absent of any battlecry to which every Filipino could rally. Neither was there a roadmap that was specific, measureable and time-bound. There was no-forward looking vision of how his administration can lift the nation from low economic growth status to high growth that would impact positively on the poor.

In the process, Aquino got at least 50 by way of applause counts for his speech that lasted for about an hour but it was noticeable that the applause mostly came from the president’s Cabinet members and Sona guests in the gallery, composed of his yellow supporters, and not from the legislators who were at the plenary..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110726hed1.html

Special court for Arroyo sought as Noy names new Ombudsman 07/26/2011

Special court for Arroyo sought as Noy names new Ombudsman

07/26/2011
Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo should be tried in a special court in the event that cases filed against her prosper.

Former President Joseph Estrada, in a chance interview after the State of the Nation Address (Sona) of President Aquino, said given the numerous cases that have been filed and are going to be filed, the current administration should create a special court to try her and her allies.

“There is a need to create a special court,” Estrada stressed.

He also raised the possibility of filing charges against Arroyo for her involvement in the alleged cheating during the 2004 presidential elections.

“She corrupted all the agencies of the government,” he noted..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110726hed6.html

Sotto urges colleagues to speak out in 2004 polls fraud By Angie M. Rosales 07/26/2011

Sotto urges colleagues to speak out in 2004 polls fraud

By Angie M. Rosales 07/26/2011

Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III yesterday joined those urging colleagues who took part in the canvassing procedures during the 2004 presidential elections where alleged massive rigging of votes took place to speak out on the issue.

“This is a good chance for them to air their side and clear their names. It cannot be avoided that their names will be mentioned whenever we talk about it,” the lawmaker said, referring to the period when Congress, during the 13th Congress, was convened as National Board of Canvassers (NBC) for the presidential and vice presidential elections.

Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano likewise backed up the call saying that now is the time to “tell all.”

Sotto recalled that lamentable moves taken by then colleagues aligned with the Arroyo administration in acting on the complaints and other motions the opposition bloc filed before the NBC with regard to alleged tampered election returns..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110726nat2.html

House to drop Ecleo from roll soon By Gerry Baldo 07/26/2011

House to drop Ecleo from roll soon

By Gerry Baldo 07/26/2011

The House of Representatives is going to drop Dinagat Islands Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr. from its roll soon as the Supreme Court (SC) rules with finality on the three cases against him.

Belmonte explained that all three cases are interrelated and that one is still pending before the Supreme Court.
“All of which are interrelated and one case is still pending in the Supreme Court which in my view has some repercussions on three cases,” Belmonte told reporters.

The House Speaker stressed that he is diligently monitoring the status of Ecleo’s cases so that appropriate action can be made in accordance to the existing rules of the House..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110726nat1.html

CA freezes assets of expat drug suspects in many banks By Benjamin B. Pulta 07/26/2011

CA freezes assets of expat drug suspects in many banks

By Benjamin B. Pulta 07/26/2011

Access to funds in three dozens bank accounts under the names of four foreigners suspected of trafficking prohibited drugs in the country have been frozen by the Court of Appeals (CA) for six months.

In a five-page resolution, the CA through Associate Justice Jane Aurora Lantion extended from a period of 20 days to six months the effectivity of the freeze order until Nov. 7, 2011 against the accounts of Sally Ang Nina, Tian Gang Shi, Sarah Lee Jessica and Evelyn See Ting. Associate Justices Andres Reyes Jr. and Japar Dimaampao concurrred to the ruling.

“The motion for extension of effectivity of freeze order is hereby granted. The order covering all concerned banks is extended for a period of six months from July 11 or until Nov. 7, 2011,” the ruling stated.

The freeze order covered several bank accounts of Ang Nina in Metrobank, China Bank, Banco de Oro, Security Bank, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. and Malayan Insurance Co. Inc. The CA also recapped its order against Metrobank due to its failure to freeze the bank account of Ting..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune


URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110726met1.html

Lim rejects developer’s offer of 50 hectares of land in exchange for Manila Zoo By Pat C. Santos 07/26/2011

Lim rejects developer’s offer of 50 hectares of land in exchange for Manila Zoo

By Pat C. Santos 07/26/2011

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim has rejected the developer’s offer of a 50 hectares of land in Cavite and Tagaytay in exchange for the historic Manila Zoo located in Malate, Manila.

Lim made mention of the offer yesterday during the 52nd anniversary celebration of the oldest zoo in Asia which was built at the time of the late Manila Mayor Arsenio Lacson.

Lim reiterated the zoo will remain in the city as long as he is still the mayor of Manila.

“This is a heritage to the people of Manila which is a priceless gift by our predecessor, and thousand of students are benefitted from it as they can see the real animals alive not only in pictures and in books or on films but in real life as well,” Lim said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110726met2.html