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Perfect fit EDITORIAL 09/07/2011

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Perfect fit

EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
09/07/2011
For a government that is almost zilch in intelligence gathering, that was pure chutzpah Noynoy Aquino displayed when, obviously with a tinge of sarcasm, coupled with his ire over the Wikileaks leaked diplomatic cable painting an unflattering picture of him, he stated that the United States should check its capabilities to assess and gather the necessary information in order for the US government to get the right information from which to base its decisions.

Obviously, Noy is smarting from the unflaterring description of him as stated in the leaked document.

But what probably got him fuming mad was that the leaked cable came at a time when he is slated to go to the US to attend some kind of a forum which will have US President Barack Obama participating, and Noy, knowing now that this is how the US government — or at least the State Department, and naturally Obama, being the President — probably sees him, must feel pretty much like one foot tall dealing with Americans and the world stage, despite his claims that such a cable content will not affect the country’s relations with the US..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110907com1.html

Deal or no deal? FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 09/07/2011

Deal or no deal?

FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
09/07/2011
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s confirmation of her appointment as chief of the Department of Justice (DoJ) hinges on the approval of Sen. Ping Lacson, and he has made no bones about it.

But apparently, given that Lacson no longer appears to want her appointment blocked, as he had earlier claimed that he sympathizes with the budget of the DoJ, he and De Lima seem to have come to some kind of a deal, which translates to a “you give me what I want, and I will give you what you want” kind of pact, in exchange for his non-opposition to her appointment.

All the signs point to De Lima capitulating to the demands of Lacson, who has been using his close alliance with Noynoy as well as abusing his position as senator and Commission on Appointments (CA) member to get what he wants from De Lima, which is mostly to sate his vindictiveness, which he had admitted recently, in explaining his fixation on his biggest foes, the Arroyos.

Just what is it that Lacson wants from De Lima, which obviously she is granting all trhe way?.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110907com2.html

Global crisis should prompt Aquino to find new dev’t paradigm


Global crisis should prompt Aquino to find new dev’t paradigm

The Migrant Heritage Commission said it is high-time for the government to change its development paradigm, especially in the wake of reports that 1,000 Filipino teachers in Prince Georges County and Baltimore in Maryland are facing deportation.
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com

The deadline for development was yesterday.

A migrant organization based in Washington DC in the United States has called on the Benigno Aquino III government to focus its effort at developing local industries in the Philippines by promoting science and research programs instead of relying on labor export to sustain the economy.

In a statement, the Migrant Heritage Commission (MHC) said, it is high-time for the government to change its development paradigm.

The MHC is a service institution for immigrants in the US, which is providing for their legal, education, cultural development, and information needs. It provides assistance to Filipinos with immigration and labor cases.

The group said the worsening global economic meltdown that had its flashpoint in the US severely affects Filipino workers abroad. It cited the cases of retrenchment of some 1,000 Filipino teachers in Maryland and the discontinuation of hiring of Filipino nurses in the US.

“These massive dislocations are an indication that labor exportation cannot be the sole paradigm of development. It should make us realize that we have to go back to our own issues, and develop our own local economy where families could stay together and need not leave the children in order to respond to basic necessities,” said MHC co-executive director Jesse Gatchalian.

Human rights lawyer Arnedo Valera, co-executive director, said the Philippines continues to be poor because of the absence of locally-based industries that spawn jobs and create self-reliance.
Valera criticized the Philippine government’s continued reliance on labor exportation as a way to sustain the economy. He cited reports from the Department of Labor and Employment showing that an average of 2700 Filipinos leave the country everyday to work overseas.

“The dollar remittances of these overseas Filipinos are mainly used for consumption and education to propel the same kind of system,” Valera said. He said having an economic system reliant on remittances from abroad makes for a vulnerable economy.

“It does not create a long-term solid foundation of industrial strength and stability,” he said.

Dollar remittances comprise 10 to 13 percent of all Philippine revenues. The Philippine Central Bank, however, has reported that between 2008 and 2010, these remittances have gone down by some 25 percent because of the effects of the global recession.

Need to increase budgets for agriculture and health 

According to the MHC, the Philippine government should provide sufficient budget for scientific projects and researches, particularly on agriculture and health.

Valera said the Philippines has rich and vast natural resources, but majority still live in poverty..... MORE

SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/09/07/global-crisis-should-prompt-aquino-to-find-new-devt-paradigm/

Eyewitness identifies Army major as one of Jonas’s abductors

Eyewitness identifies Army major as one of Jonas’s abductors

The eyewitness, a busboy at the restaurant where Jonas Burgos was abducted, said he was about to help Jonas when a woman and three men approached him, one after another, to tell him not to intervene. One of them he later identified as Maj. Harry Baliaga Jr, who was then assigned to the 56th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — Even after knowing by heart the full details of when and how Joseph Jonas Burgos was abducted on April 28, 2007, Mrs. Edita Burgos, his mother, still listened intently as the story was told by an eyewitness.

“It feels like we are back to where we began. Every time there is a hearing, I am always tense. Every time there is a new witness, I always hope that (she or he) would give concrete testimony and lead us to Jonas’s whereabouts,” Mrs. Burgos told Bulatlat.com.

Jeffrey Cabintoy, 27, according to Mrs. Burgos, described in a hearing before the Court of Appeals on September 1 how Jonas’s abductors took him from Ever Gotesco Mall in Commonwealth, Quezon City more than four years ago. Cabintoy, a busboy in the restaurant at that time, identified Maj. Harry Baliaga Jr, who was then assigned to the 56th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as one of the people who took Jonas.

Joseph Jonas Burgos, son of press freedom icon Jose Burgos Jr., was abducted on April 28, 2007 inside a mall in Quezon City. His family, friends and comrades continue to search for him to this day.

Cabintoy, who referred to Jonas as “customer” and “the one who was eating,” said Jonas arrived at the restaurant at around lunch time. After a while, he noticed four men talking to the customer.

Mrs. Burgos said she felt uneasy after hearing Cabintoy describe what Jonas said at that time when his abductors approached him: “Uy, oh! May nanggugulo dito. Paalisin niyo. (Hey there are troublemakers here. Please ask them to leave.) ” when his abductors approached him. “All of a sudden, I felt his presence,” Burgos said, “Those could have been his words. When you know a person by heart, you know how he speaks.”.... MORE

SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/09/07/eyewitness-identifies-army-major-as-one-of-jonass-abductors/

Alvarez as whistle-blower? C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 09/07/2011

Alvarez as whistle-blower?

C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S
Jonathan De la Cruz
09/07/2011
So, what’s embattled Customs Commissioner Lito Alvarez waiting for, now that P-Noy has confirmed that he is “unhappy with him?”

This was stated bt -Noy after Alvarez went on a mini-media offensive to defend his year-old record at the agency, it behooves him to finally make a final statement and ease the pain of his unceremonious sacking.
Believe me, it was really unceremonious having been sacked through a pre-taped radio interview before P-Noy left for China last week. Even to people who are not really that impressed with Alvarez’s stint at the bureau it was largely undeserved. The guy was cajoled out of a cozy private sector job and somehow given free rein by P-Noy and his immediate boss, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, who was a colleague at the SGV. He could have easily said NO and that’s it. But apparently, P-Noy and his screening committee managed to get him out of his comfort zone and pressed him to preside over an unwieldy and, based on surveys, one of the most graft-ridden government agencies. He shouldered on and tried to do something about the situation..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110907com4.html

No room for the dead in Singapore focus 09/07/2011

No room for the dead in Singapore

focus

09/07/2011
SINGAPORE — The days are numbered for Bukit Brown Cemetery, one of Singapore’s oldest burial grounds, but concerned citizens are campaigning for history to win over high-rises.

Graves in the thickly forested cemetery are set to be exhumed to make way for more apartment towers in one of the world’s most densely populated countries, which has 7,126 persons per square kilometer (0.4 square mile).

The fate of the graveyard, where several of the island’s early ethnic Chinese businessmen are buried, has sparked an emotional call for the preservation of the hilly expanse located in a prime bungalow district.

“Bukit Brown possibly contains Singapore’s oldest Chinese grave, and that says a lot,” Irving Johnson, an assistant professor of Southeast Asian studies at the National University of Singapore, told AFP..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110907com5.html

GMA’s NBN critics now believers of Noy’s NBN deal By Angie M. Rosales 09/07/2011

GMA’s NBN critics now believers of Noy’s NBN deal

By Angie M. Rosales 09/07/2011

When it was then President Arroyo and her administration that pushed the national broadband network with the Chinese ZTE supplier, most of the opposition senators raised a howl and even came up with a full-blown probe on it, claiming that there was a lot of anomalies and irregularities in the overpriced NBN-ZTE contract, apart from the deal being a useless expense.

But now that the Malacañang tenant is President Aquino, who, in all probability, will be giving the NBN contract to a Chinese supplier after his visit to China, many of the same senators who stood against the contract now do not oppose the planned revival of the controversial NBN project, although they claimed that their approval does not mean that they are agreeable to continuing with the contract with the China-based ZTE Inc..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110907hed2.html

Rosebud hits WPP delisting as DoJ chief’s gift to Lacson By Mario J. Mallari and Angie M. Rosales 09/07/2011

PING ALSO WANTS MANCAO OUT OF WITNESS PROGRAM

Rosebud hits WPP delisting as DoJ chief’s gift to Lacson

By Mario J. Mallari and Angie M. Rosales 09/07/2011

Controversial state witness Mary Ong, alias Rosebud, said the government has left her out in the cold after Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Ong was stricken off the witness protection program (WPP), supposedly based on an assessment made by the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp) that threats on her life have been reduced significantly.

Ong, nevertheless, said her nemesis Sen. Panfilo Lacson had a hand in her removal from government protection and said the Department of Justice (DoJ) made the decision to present her “to Ping as a gift.”
Lacson described Ong’s fears as “imagined threat.”

Lacson has been against the confirmation of De Lima in the powerful bi-cameral Commission on Appointments (CA) where Lacson is a member and had recently spelled out conditions for him to withdraw his opposition to De Lima’s posting..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110907hed1.html

CPP accuses gov’t of ending peace talks 09/07/2011

CPP accuses gov’t of ending peace talks

09/07/2011
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) is now bracing for its so-called “war of suppression” by the Aquino government which it accused of being determined to put an end to the peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front (NDF).

In a statement, the CPP noted the Aquino government’s recent statements regarding the peace negotiations, showing apparent disinterest in ending the decades-long armed conflicts through the peace process.

The CPP said the government of the Philippines failure to use the peace negotiations as a tool for pacification, apparently referring to the New People’s Army (NPA), prompted the GRP to loose interest in the talking peace with the NDF.

“After only a few months, it has become obvious that the GRP is only interested in using the peace negotiations with the NDFP as a bait to hook the revolutionary forces into agreeing to one ceasefire after another, without addressing the socio-economic and political issues that lie at the roots of the armed conflict,” the CPP stated..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110907nat4.html

PNP chief’s replacement still unknown 09/07/2011

PNP chief’s replacement still unknown

09/07/2011
Who will be the 17th director of the Philippine National Police (PNP)?

The question remained hanging since outgoing PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo doesn’t know up to this time who will replace him following his mandatory retirement on Sept. 15.

Bacalzo, who is set to turn over his post to the next top police chief on Friday, said he is waiting for the President to announce his replacement.

Bacalzo said at least 95 names of candidates vying for the top police posts have been submitted to the President and it’s his prerogative to select the next PNP chief.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110907nat3.html

Pangandaman deserves to be chastised, says House leader By Gerry Baldo 09/07/2011

Pangandaman deserves to be chastised, says House leader

By Gerry Baldo 09/07/2011

A formal complaint against Lanao del Sur Rep. Nasser Pangandaman should be filed before the House ethics committee for the latter to act on the incident where the former allegedly manhandled a security guard at a parking lot of a commercial establishment, House Majority Leader Rep. Neptali Gonzales II said yesterday.

Gonzales, who was one of the guests at the weekly Ugnayan sa Batasan media forum, said the ethics panel of the House will always take cognizance of a complaint which is made under oath.

“If a congressman is liable for committing a disorderly behavior it’s possible to impose the penalty of either suspension or expulsion,” Gonzales said. At the prosecutor’s office, the complaint of the aggrieved party should be proven by testimonial and documentary evidence for the purpose of criminal prosecution.

He said the guard, who was allegedly manhandled, should come out and defend himself..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110907met1.html

Prosecute 2 private water concessionaires, MWSS execs for criminal offenses – solon By Charlie V. Manalo 09/07/2011

Prosecute 2 private water concessionaires, MWSS execs for criminal offenses – solon

By Charlie V. Manalo 09/07/2011
Describing the Metro Manila privatization scheme as a “big fat failure,” Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy yesterday called on government to prosecute the two private water concessionaires and officials of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) for various criminal and administrative offenses, including the highly anomalous hike in water rates.

In a privilege speech, Herrera-Dy also called on the Commission on Audit (CoA) to impose its authority to conduct a “full-blown legal and transactional audit” of the concessions system with Maynilad Water Services Inc. and the Manila Water Company (MWC).

Herrera-Dy said the Constitution and various rulings handed down by the Supreme Court (SC) categorize the two privately-run water service firms as public utility companies which are restricted to 12 percent profit margin for their services.

She delivered the speech a few weeks after the House committee on good government concluded its inquiry into the controversies affecting the water privatization contracts of MWSS and the two private firms..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110907met3.html

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