Two-faced Noy EDITORIAL 11/06/2011

Two-faced Noy

EDITORIAL

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11/06/2011
Noynoy, now before the world, during the YouTube Worldwide Series interview, exposed his Janus face on transparency and on press freedom when he was asked about the Freedom of Information (FoI) bill.

With the list of ridiculous excuses he raised from the stock alibi of consultations that are being made, to the right of way issue which was the most “creative” he has thought of yet, Noynoy was obviously stonewalling on the FoI issue.

The right of way argument is similar to a tardy student’s alibi of a spaceship landing in the middle of the road, causing a traffic jam and thus is his explanation his being late for his class..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111106com1.html

Pure BS FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 11/06/2011

Pure BS

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

11/06/2011
Outgoing military chief Lt. Gen. Arturo Ortiz claimed that there are no longer areas of temporary stay (ATS) and instructed his troops to continue pursuit operations against the “lawless elements” behind the massacre of 19 Special Forces soldiers in Al-Barka, Basilan.

At the same time, the invisible and silent Defense chief, Voltaire Gazmin, suddenly found his voice and surfaced to say that the Armed Forces of the Philippines will get fugitive Dan “Laksaw” Asnawi, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)’s second highest commander said to have led the massacre of the 19 soldiers.

All that military talk is pure BS, and if these generals and the Defense chief think the people are buying their spiel, they should think again. Filipinos aren’t stupid..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111106com2.html

The law case of the century: Indictment against NATO military and political leaders

The law case of the century: Indictment against NATO military and political leaders

NATO: Indictment for breach of international law in the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. The military and political leaders of NATO are hereby accused of the following crimes committed in the Libyan campaign of 2011, in which the systematic breaches of international law are underlined.

Understanding that international law exists and that it is systematically broken by certain powers with impunity, understanding that such a situation is unacceptable and that the same set of laws should apply to all, equally, with the same sets of weights and measures employed in upholding it, I hereby accuse NATO and the below-mentioned individuals, party to its acts in the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from February to September (ongoing) 2011, of breach of international law;

1. Accusation: NATO war crimes, crimes against humanity, breach of UN Charter, Breach of UNSC Resolutions, breach of Geneva Conventions, occasioning murder, attempted murder, actions occasioning grievous and actual bodily harm, destruction of private and public property..... MORE

Source:  Pravda.ru

URL: http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/06-11-2011/119534-indictment_nato-0/

Reign of assassins

Reign of assassins

By LUIS V. TEODORO
Vantage Point | BusinessWorld
President Benigno Aquino III has “vowed,” say media reports, to get the killers of Fr. Fausto Tentorio even if they should turn out to be members of the paramilitary groups he, Aquino, has refused to dismantle.
The call has been made often for the dismantling of paramilitary groups, among them the Civilian Volunteer Organizations (CVOs) and Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Units (CAFGU) armed and trained by the Armed Forces and that have figured prominently in the assassinations and massacres, illegal arrest and detention, and abduction and torture that in many areas of the Philippine countryside occur with impunity.

But that call assumed particular urgency in the aftermath of the Ampatuan Massacre of Nov. 23, 2009, in which the CVOs that were functioning as part of the private armies of the Maguindanao warlords figured prominently.

Fr. Tentorio was the missionary who had been working in Mindanao for 30 years, among whose advocacies in behalf of the lumad (non-Muslim) communities he was serving included opposition to mining. Fr. Tentorio was killed by unidentified gunmen last Monday, October 17, outside a church in Arakan, North Cotabato.
By no means was the Fr. Tentorio killing the only incident of its kind. Others, including priests, community activists, and Muslim and lumad leaders, have also been killed in Mindanao, both prior to and during the present administration...... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/10/28/reign-of-assassins/

Quest for a bargain... to the grave FEATURE 11/06/2011

Quest for a bargain... to the grave

FEATURE

11/06/2011
BERLIN — “If you find it cheaper anywhere else, we’ll pay you back the difference, plus 30 euros,” reads the advert — not for the latest electrical device on special offer on the high street but for a funeral.

Germany, which bore discount supermarket giants Aldi and Lidl to the delight of bargain hunters, has seen a growing demand since 2009 for discount funerals, defined by the industry as costing under 1,200 euros ($1,700).

Just over a quarter of all German funerals are expected to be of the cut-price variety this year, according to burials’ specialist Web site, Bestattungen.de, up from 16 percent two years ago and 20 percent in 2010.

“Some people find themselves obliged by law to bury their father with whom they have not had any contact for 20 years,” Hartmut Woite, head of the Berlin-based company Sargdiscount, or Coffindiscount, told AFP..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111106com3.html

Where the buck stops

TABLETS OF STONE

Larry Faraon, OP

11/06/2011
If this current administration would go so far in buck passing its imprudence and inefficiency in handling the Mindanao secessionist problem and the NPA rebellion, the buck could possibly have stopped at the lap of the late President Cory Aquino.

Immediately after the Edsa I bloodless revolt in 1986, Mrs. Aquino facilitated the release from prison Communist Party of the Philippines (NPA) founder, Jose Maria Sison, followed by Bernabe Buscayno alias Kumander Dante and in fact, requested secessionist leader and founder of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Nur Misuari, to return home from exile in Saudi Arabia.

Of course, given the sincerity of the conciliatory move, still it did not in anyway cushion the Mindanao conflict nor the NPA armed rebellion. Rather, it worsened the situation as we can see..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111106com6.html

HK groups slam culture of impunity under Noy 11/06/2011

HK groups slam culture of impunity under Noy

11/06/2011
More civil rights groups are taking notice of the culture of impunity under the Aquino administration with human rights organizations holding a picket in front of Philippine Consulate General yesterday to protest the murder of Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME and the rising cases of extra judicial killings in the country.

The Hong Kong (HK) Committee for the Advancement of Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines (HKCAHRPP) and Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR) HK chapter have expressed alarm over the increasing number of human rights advocates being killed in the country.

Expressing their solidarity with their compatriots, the HK groups slammed the culture of impunity that victimized those who take the cause of the marginalized, like Fr. Tentorio..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111106hed2.html

Palace gives AFP, JCCCH free hand on ceasefire fate By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 11/06/2011

CONFIRMS REVOCATION OF ATS DEAL WITH MILF

Palace gives AFP, JCCCH free hand on ceasefire fate

By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 11/06/2011

After publicly berating the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) following the disastrous special forces operation in Al-Barka, Basilan that caused the death of 19 soldiers, President Aquino will now give the military and the Joint Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (JCCCH) a free hand to determine the parameters of the prevailing ceasefire agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), including the withdrawal of government recognition of so-called areas of temporary stay (ATS) for the rebel group.

The JCCCH has among its members representatives from the government, the MILF and the International Monitoring Team (IMT).

This was revealed yesterday by presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda to confirm the statement of Army chief Lt. Gen. Arturo Ortiz that the MILF’s so-called ATS no longer exist. He said that “(From a) broader perspective, with respect to ATS and dealings with the MILF and lawless elements, we leave it with the AFP and the, JCCCH to operationalize those details. We will defer to the AFP,” Lacierda said on state radio..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111106hed1.html

DA to repair Banaue Rice Terraces soon 11/06/2011

DA to repair Banaue Rice Terraces soon

11/06/2011
Department of Agriculture (DA) will soon start restoring the Philippines’ famous Banaue Rice Terraces to save this centuries-old eighth wonder of the world from worm infestation that’s already destroying terraced planting areas there.

“We’ll repair the rice terraces,” DA Secretary Proceso Alcala assured the public last Friday during the Communication and News Exchange Forum in Metro Manila.

He’s scheduled to inspect the terraces next week to better assess damage there..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20111106nat5.html

CHR probe into fake claimants to compensation casts doubt 11/06/2011

CHR probe into fake claimants to compensation casts doubt

11/06/2011
Bayan Muna Reps. Neri Colmenares and Teddy Casio yesterday expressed fear and apprehension over the supposed investigation into reported cases of fake claimants to the compensation money awarded to human rights victims during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos ordered by Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chairman Etta Rosales.

In a statement, the solons said they were alarmed by CHR probe when Rosales herself announced she would investigate the matter in her own personal capacity..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20111106met3.html

Ramona’s flight to HK sign of guilt, says solon By Angie M. Rosales 11/06/2011

Ramona’s flight to HK sign of guilt, says solon

By Angie M. Rosales 11/06/2011

From the initial case of murder involving a scion of a political clan, the plot has thickened and turning out to be a serious family squabble as one of the supposed masterminds behind the killing hurriedly left the country last Friday night.

Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. publicly admitted his half-sister, Maria Ramona Bautista, had something to do with the death of her own brother Ramgen and attempted murder of his girlfriend Janelle Manahan.
“The guilty must be punished! The unwarranted flight of Ramona Bautista is a sign of guilt that she has knowledge of and direct participation in the commission of the crime,” he said.

“If there are others involved, be they my half brothers and sisters, they must bear the full force and weight of the law and suffer the penultimate consequences of their involvement either as principals, accomplices, or accessories, as the case maybe,” the senator said in a statement..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20111106met1.html