• 6 AUGUST - *1907 - Gen. Macario Sakay, one of the Filipino military leaders who had continued fighting the imperialist United States invaders eight years into the Ph...
    11 years ago

......................................................................................

The Daily Tribune

(Without Fear or Favor)

Specials:

Bulatlat.com

World Wildlife Fund for Nature-Philippines

The Philippines Matrix Project

Noynoying

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Noynoying
 
By BENJIE OLIVEROS
Bulatlat.com
What was perhaps intended as a form of protest that would land at least a photo in newspapers and a video clip in the evening news became viral locally and internationally. Noynoying is trending in Twitter, and, according to an article in ABS-CBN News online, it has 3,685 likes on Facebook so far. The Wall Street Journal wrote an article on it. And it has landed a page in Wikipedia.

At first, Malacañang tried to ignore it with President Aquino saying he would not honor it with a response. In any case, for two consecutive days after, the Philippine Daily Inquirer published photos of the president working. But now the president appeared miffed. He said he has the statistics to prove his accomplishments but it is difficult to let people see it if they do not want to see.

Noynoying caught fire because President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III is not known to be a hands-on, hard working president. It would not have worked with former president Fidel V. Ramos who was known to be a workaholic or even with Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who was prompt to visit typhoon struck areas.

Aquino’s performance as a member of the House of Representatives and then as a Senator is, at best, average. This was reinforced by the president’s slow response to the massive disaster and flooding caused by typhoons Pedring and Quiel. He convened the National Disaster Risk Reduction Council five days after Pedring wreaked havoc on large areas in Luzon and he made a hurried visit to affected areas much later, justifying his non-inclination to visit by saying that he is not fond of photo opportunities.

However, it is not accurate to say that President Aquino has been “noynoying” (coined to mean procrastinating and lazy) on all issues affecting the country. Let us name a few issues where he reacted immediately and those where he appeared to be procrastinating..... MORE

SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/03/23/noynoying/

Irresponsible freedom of expression FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 04/01/2012

Irresponsible freedom of expression

FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
04/01/2012
SWS’ Mahar Mangahas, in his Saturday Inquirer column, defended conducting his survey and releasing its findings on the issue of the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona, at this time, saying there is no basis to stop ordinary people from expressing opinions about a trial or stop the media from publishing such opinion polls, stressing on the right to free expression.

Mahar skirts the real issue, which is his loaded and highly unfair, if not unprofessional, questions posed to respondents on the impeachment trial.

There was hardly any negative comment from the public when Pedro Laylo came up with his survey on the impeachment trial, mainly because he did not touch on the perceptions of guilt or innocence of the Chief Justice.

If he did, he certainly did not release this finding, which makes him a reliable and responsible survey taker..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120401com2.html

Call of duty: Saudi Arabia bent on arming Syrian rebels



 Call of duty: Saudi Arabia bent on arming Syrian rebels


Calls to arm the Syrian rebels are growing louder, with Saudi Arabia saying that supplying weapons is a “duty.” The desire to tool up rebels comes as major Syrian opposition groups have appealed to neighboring states to allow the transit of arms.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced on Sunday that top ranking Arab and Western officials will be discussing further ways to apply pressure on President Bashar al-Assad.  The promise of more humanitarian aid to the rebels was also high on the agenda. 

But as her Saudi Arabian counterpart has revealed, this help might not be limited to medicine and blankets. During a joint news conference with Clinton, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said  “the arming of the [Syrian] opposition is a duty, I think, because it cannot defend itself except with weapons.”.... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/syrian-rebels-armed-turkey-957/

Switching to candle light: Russia goes dark for Earth Hour (VIDEO, PHOTOS)



Switching to candle light: Russia goes dark for Earth Hour (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

With the planet turning out the lights in a symbolic Earth Hour event, some 15 million Russians observed it this year, its organizers claim. This is about 40 per cent more than the previous year.

­Moscow’s celebration of the day was centered at Vorobyovy Gory (Sparrow Hills), which is located near the campus of the Moscow State University in the city’s southwest.

Thanks to its elevation, it has a spectacular view of the capital’s skyline, so observers were able to clearly see a total of 75 famous structures in Moscow going dark. Those include Luzhniki Stadium just across the Moskva River, Moscow City Hall, several high-standing Stalinist buildings known collectively as the Seven Sisters, (including the university’s central facility), several bridges and Moscow’s Academy of Sciences, among others..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/russia-earth-hour-moscow-947/

Self-destruct habit TABLETS OF STONE Larry Faraon, OP 04/01/2012

Self-destruct habit

TABLETS OF STONE
Larry Faraon, OP
04/01/2012
Manny Pacquiao is an international icon, in fact, our only global pride since the late Cory Aquino stepped into the halls of the US Congress in 1987 and came out carrying a bagful of well deserved applause for a “bloodless revolt” called Edsa I.

Nobody in this country has ever achieved the mileage of media coverage and fame that this boxing legend has etched into our global face. We are not in any way glorifying a boxer to the heights of heroism or national emulation, but the fact remains that the Pacman holds the sensational record of popularity that even the President of the United States had requested his presence in a private audience last year, when Malacañang was desperately inching its way into the hectic schedule of Barack Obama.

Now here comes a Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Region XII officer Rozil Lozares who perhaps indiscreetly jabbed the boxing icon with tax violations. The BIR filed charges against the boxing champ this March when he failed to submit some documents on taxes paid in the United States. He was charged with violating Section 266 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) which carries a fine of a minimum of P10,000 and two-year imprisonment..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120401com6.html

‘Where goest thou?’ VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 04/01/2012

‘Where goest thou?’

VIEWPOINTS
Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz
04/01/2012
Living is hard and employment is scarce. Prices are high and take-home pays are low. Human dignity is also low and criminality is likewise high. There are less and less educated Filipinos and wherefore more and more ignorant ones. The multi-national corporations are raking in the money and the consumers are shelling out the little cash they have. The murderers, crooks and law breakers are becoming more daring while the police authorities are becoming less able to accomplish their task – if emerging as law offenders themselves. Human life has become cheap, human dignity is low and basic human rights are held but by a selected few.

The Executive Department is merely looking and talking much but in fact doing nothing much, if any. Most of the local public officials from the provincial to the municipal levels are indifferent to the miserable plight of their constituents – unless their own self-interests are being undermined by fed-up people in their jurisdictions. The relatively few wealthy individuals are well secured in both their lives and livelihood while millions of poor and miserable families are fast becoming not only more and more angry but also progressively feeling desperate. Meantime, the administration merrily continues taxing them from birth to death, charging them the infamous VAT..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120401com7.html

Environmental groups: Mindanao outages induced to justify new coal plant deals 04/01/2012

Environmental groups: Mindanao outages induced to justify new coal plant deals

04/01/2012
The recent spate of power outages in Mindanao was artificially induced to justify the construction of more coal-fired power plants and other controversy-ridden projects in the region, environmental groups based in Mindanao said yesterday.

They described the recent blackouts in Mindanao as “deliberate acts” and are “part of a ploy of power distributors and the Aquino administration to justify the construction of more coal-fired power plants and other extractive energy projects such as Pulangi V Mega Dam.”

Independent web site Bulatlat.com quoted Jean Lindo, No to Coal–Davao convenor and member of the newly formed Kalikasan Party, as saying that the brownouts in Mindanao are not real indicators of a power crisis..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120401hea2.html

Palace unveils P9.3-B business cash transfer 04/01/2012

EO TO ‘MONETIZE’ VAT TAX CREDITS

Palace unveils P9.3-B business cash transfer

04/01/2012
More cash transfers, which are prone to politicial influence, were unveiled by President Aquino yesterday through Executive Order 68 that will monetize tax credit certificates (TCCs) worth P9.3 billion until 2016 on so-called input value added tax (VAT) given to businesses.

EO 68 was released yesterday but it was signed last March 27 based on a copy of the order.

According to the EO, the monetization program provides two options for VAT-registered taxpayers in getting the cash equivalent of their TCCs including the collection in advance from a trustee bank a discounted cash value of the TCCs and reimbursement of the full cash value of TCCs upon a “certain maturity date” to be determined by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) or the Bureau of Customs (BoC) pursuant to the implementing rules and regulations that will be issued to implement the EO..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120401hea1.html

LPA death toll now 12 By Gina Peralta-Elorde 04/01/2012

LPA death toll now 12

By Gina Peralta-Elorde 04/01/2012

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) has reported that the death toll due to low-pressure area has risen to 12 as of Friday evening.

The NDRRMC disclosed that three people are still missing as of press time, while several roads and bridges have been destroyed and are not passable to vehicles.

In the Visayas, the fatlities were identified as Diomer Albay, 14, form Cuartero, Capiz; Kathlene Padilla, 3, from Cuartero, Capiz; Jolly Dioso, 14, from Panitan, Capiz; Karen Denubo, 10, from Panitan, Capiz; Rey Reyes, 9, from Mambusao, Capiz; Jean Academia, 50, from Tayasan, Negros Oriental; and Angelo Sergio, 8, from San Roque, Northern Samar..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120401nat1.html

House okays granting of additional benefits to Filipino centenarians 04/01/2012

Filipino community in South Korea rallying behind Filipina who is running for Parliament

04/01/2012
The Filipino community in South Korea is rallying behind the candidacy of Jasmine Lee, a Filipina married to a Korean who is running for Parliament under the ruling party, and Vice President Jejomar Binay said her strong showing “gives hope not only for Filipinos but also for all migrants and immigrants.”

“We are all very proud that a full-blooded Filipino is being given the opportunity to be a member of the Korean Parliament,” Binay told South Korean media. “It shows that Korea is prepared to extend the opportunity to become a public servant even to those who were not born here.”

Binay said if elected, Lee “will be an advocate not only of Filipino workers’ rights, but the rights of all migrants in South Korea as well.”.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120401met2.html

House okays granting of additional benefits to Filipino centenarians 04/01/2012

House okays granting of additional benefits to Filipino centenarians

04/01/2012
The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a measure providing incentives to all Filipino centenarians and declaring every 25th day of September as “National Respect for Centenarians Day.”

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of House Bill 834, said centenarians will be granted cash gift in the amount of P100,000 and a letter of felicitation congratulating every Filipino residing in the Philippines or abroad on his or her 100th birthday to be awarded by the President of the Philippines.

The bill seeks to amend Section 4 of Republic Act 7432, otherwise known as “An Act To Maximize The Contribution Of Senior Citizens To Nation Building, Grant Benefits And Special Privileges And For Other Purposes,” as amended by RA 9247 or the “Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2003,” and further amended by RA 9994, also known as the “Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.”.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120401met5.html

Two of five suspects in slay of tabloid reporter arrested 04/01/2012

Two of five suspects in slay of tabloid reporter arrested

04/01/2012
Two of the five suspects in the killing of a tabloid reporter in Antipolo City before dawn Friday have been apprehended by police operatives.

One of the two suspects was identified as Benedicto Lecto, 18. The name of the second apprehended suspect was withheld because he is a minor, only 17 years old.

At least five suspects were held liable for the killing of Edwin Perez, a reporter of People’s Balita..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120401met3.html

Blog Archive