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GPH set to terminate peace talks with NDFP next year – NDFP’s Agcaoili

Saturday, May 26, 2012

GPH set to terminate peace talks with NDFP next year – NDFP’s Agcaoili


The prospect for a peace agreement between the Government of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines becomes dimmer as President Aquino accuses the NDFP of issuing ‘impossible demands’ and the NDFP accusing Aquino of laying the groundwork for scuttling the talks.
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com

The negotiating panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) deplored President Benigno Aquino III’s earlier attacks against the NDFP. Last May 17, Aquino went on air in an interview with Bombo Radyo and alleged that the NDFP was insincere in its calls for peace.

In the radio interview, Aquino said the NDFP continues to set an expanding series of conditions for the peace talks. He claimed that these conditions served to delay and prolong the process, and negate chances of a peace agreement being forged between the two negotiating parties. Aquino also placed the blame on NDFP chief political consultant Jose Ma. Sison, implying that he was the one who was setting the conditions.

Aquino also said if the NDFP is sincere in pursing peace, it should stop attacking government forces. He also insisted that the NDFP should provide a list of conditions that are “doable,” as opposed to those that are “impossible.” He said the NDFP’s demands are “impossible to achieve.”

Among the “impossible demands” Aquino mentioned was the NDFP’s insistence on the recognition of the list of persons who may be covered under the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees. He said the NDFP refuses to present the list saying that the CD containing the names has been corrupted.

NDFP peace panel member Fidel V. Agcaoili immediately corrected Aquino, saying that it was the president who is exposing himself “as the hypocrite who pays lip service to peace but is in fact obsessed with carrying out a brutal war under the US-instigated Oplan Bayanihan.”.... MORE

SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/05/25/gph-set-to-terminate-peace-talks-with-ndfp-next-year-%E2%80%93-ndfp%E2%80%99s-agcaoili/

What now after Corona EDITORIAL 05/26/2012

What now after Corona

EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
05/26/2012
It appears that the Senate impeachment court is resolved in deciding on the fate of Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice (CJ) Renato Corona this week to end an agonizing five-month trial that had not only drained the nation’s energy in seeing the elements of strife within government in almost a daily fashion but has also sharply divided the people again.

The trial had been going on for the past five months with Noynoy and his allies in the House prosecution team and those who take care of the demolition jobs outside the Senate impeachment court, hurling every conceivable abuse that can be thrown at Corona and his family.

The ultimate goal was to turn public sentiment against him, which as a result of the manner at which the allegations — many of which are proven to be lies — were being repeated meant to destroy the character of the chief magistrate before the public..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120526com1.html

Canada protest spreads as arrest list hits 2,500 benchmark

Canada protest spreads as arrest list hits 2,500 benchmark


Ontario students have pledged to take to the streets in solidarity with their protesting fellows in Montreal and other cities of Quebec. The students are defying emergency laws the authorities are imposing to curb down the wave of dissent.

Students in Quebec have been protesting for more than 100 days now, with violent clashes between police and protesters reported on several occasions. The latest demo on Wednesday night resulted in a police crackdown on demonstrators.

About 700 people were detained throughout the province, which pushed the total number of detentions over the months over 2,500..... MORE
SourceRT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/canada-protest-spreads-ontario-284/

EU health commission: Monsanto strain won’t be banned

EU health commission: Monsanto strain won’t be banned


Invincible agricultural giant Monsanto has once again demonstrated its ability to crush countries on the legal battlefield. The EFSA has ruled there is no “scientific evidence” of damage caused by consuming genetically-modified maize.

­France is the latest country to try and battle Monsanto over its genetically-modified corn. In February it requested that the European Commission ban the MON 810 strain from EU markets, supporting the request with scientific argumentation. While awaiting the decision, French government unilaterally reinstalled a ban on MON 810, though the country’s highest court had earlier ruled in favor of Monsanto..... MORE
SourceRT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/monsanto-corn-france-health-commission-266/

Iran says new Gospel to cause Christianity collapse

Iran says new Gospel to cause Christianity collapse


Tehran says a religious text containing verses attributed to Jesus Christ, proves Islam is the righteous religion and will cause the downfall of Christianity. The Christian world denies the existence of such a gospel and calls it a fake.

­The book thought by some to date from the fifth or sixth century was confiscated in Turkey in 2000. It was seized during a crackdown on a gang charged with smuggling antiquities, illegal excavations and the possession of explosives, the Daily Mail reports.

Turkish authorities believe it could be an authentic version of the Gospel by Jesus's disciple Barnabas, known for his travels with the apostle Paul..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/iran-christianity-gospel-islam-messiah-215/

Southern Tagalog human rights situation worsening – Karapatan-ST

Southern Tagalog human rights situation worsening – Karapatan-ST


The Armed Forces of the Philippines claims that it has not committed a single human rights violation during the year, but human rights and people’s organizations, as well as victims and their relatives in Southern Tagalog say it is even getting worse.
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com

Karapatan Southern Tagalog is determined to do its share in exposing what it said are the lies of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) when in comes to human rights. In a series of activities this May, the group denounced the AFP as “an institution swimming in the blood of victims of human rights violations in Southern Tagalog and the rest of the Philippines.”

Last May 14, AFP officials were quoted in an article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer saying that the AFP has a clean human rights slate from January to April this year and all other human rights violations cases filed at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) from July 2010 are mere accusations.

In an article written by Inquirer reporter Dona Pazzibugan, the Armed Forces of the Philippines Human Rights Office (AFPHRO) said, “No soldier has been accused of human rights violations this year.”
In the same report, the AFPHRO said 84 cases of alleged human rights abuses were filed against military personnel at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) since July 2010 when the Aquino administration took over. All of these complaints, however, were considered by the AFPHRO as “not having a leg to stand on based on its internal investigation.”

“The findings of the BOI revealed that all of the human rights violation cases tagging military personnel were only accusations and did not produce sufficient evidence against soldiers,” Pazzibugan quoted AFPHRO chief Colonel Domingo Tutaan as saying.

The official said the AFP’s clean human rights slate from January to April showed that its advocacy to educate and train soldiers to uphold human rights and international humanitarian law on warfare was working.

“The AFPHRO was very active in teaching soldiers in garrisons and in the field about human rights, international humanitarian law and pertinent laws such as the Anti-Torture Act of 2009 (Republic Act No. 7438) and the rights of arrested or detained persons as well as the duties of arresting, detaining and investigating officers,” he said.

Karapatan-ST secretary-general Glendhyl Malabanan immediately reacted saying that for the AFP to make such a claim was ludicrous.

“The AFP should stop spreading its lies. Currently, there are an estimated eight battalions of the army, police and Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) stationed in 22 towns and 50 barangays in the southern part of Quezon,” she said. She pointed out that a such a high concentration of military forces in rural communities automatically translates to an escalation of human rights violations,” she said.


(Photo courtesy of ST Exposure / bulatlat.com)
Units deployed in the area include Philippine Army’s 85th, 76th, 74th, 59th Infantry Battalions, 1st Special Forces of the Philippine Army, 201st Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, CAFGU and 416th Provincial Police Mobile Group. Malabanan said while past administrations also used militarization campaigns in their counterinsurgency programs, the recent deployment in South Quezon is still alarming considering the concentrated number of military relative to the areas where they have been deployed.
Malabanan explained that Quezon, specifically South Quezon and Bondoc Peninsula, can be considered as center of agricultural production where products such as coconut, corn, and grains abound..... MORE

SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/05/24/southern-tagalog-human-rights-situation-worsening-%E2%80%93-karapatan-st/

RP, China continue to trade barbs over ‘incursions’ 05/26/2012

RP, China continue to trade barbs over ‘incursions’

05/26/2012
After the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) declared that it has sent a May 21-dated seventh protest to the Chinese government on the dispute over the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, the script from both sides has invariably become a matter of “he said, she said.”

On May 23, the DFA said China has escalated its presence in the Bajo de Masinloc, with close to 100 vessels of several types, including fishing boats that ought to have been off the area because a Chinese ban on fishing is enforced in the disputed territory. DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez, a former consul to China, said this was hypocritical.

Hernandez’s counterpart in Beijing, Hong Lei, said the fishermen were in the area, observing Chinese laws.
He explained that “the public service ships sent by the Chinese side to China’s Huangyan Island waters are government ships providing service and administration to Chinese fishing boats as well as performing guard, management and control duties.”.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120526hea5.html

Cites ‘Co-Mingled’ Funds, FCDU Law for Exclusion in SALN By Benjamin B. Pulta and Angie M. Rosales 05/26/2012

CORONA ADMITS $2.4M, P80M IN BANK ACCOUNTS

Cites ‘Co-Mingled’ Funds, FCDU Law for Exclusion in SALN

By Benjamin B. Pulta and Angie M. Rosales 05/26/2012

Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona returned to the witness stand at the Senate impeachment court yesterday seeking to redeem himself from his controversial exit from the proceedings last Tuesday admitting owning not $12 million as Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales earlier had alleged but a mere $2.4 million in his bank accounts in foreign currency deposits plus an P80.7 million account in peso denomination which the chief magistrate was quick to point out as not entirely his but “co-mingled” funds of his and her wife’s families.

An ailing Corona yielded before the Senate impeachment court a waiver on the confidentiality of his bank deposits, this time without any “condition.” During his tumultuous first appearance before the Senate court, Corona signed the waiver but said that he would release it only if 188 members of the House of Representatives

signed the articles of impeachment against him and chief ally of President Aquino Sen. Franklin Drilon also sign similar waivers on their financial records..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120526hea1.html

Coronas, Basas reconcile Coronas, Basas reconcile By Benjamin B. Pulta 05/26/2012

Coronas, Basas reconcile Coronas, Basas reconcile

By Benjamin B. Pulta 05/26/2012

Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona and his family may have gained something as nearly gratifying as an acquittal from the Senate court as during an interregnum at the impeachment proceedings, the feuding Corona and Basa families apparently reconciled after a bitter 30-year property dispute.

Cristina Corona, in a scene more akin to a telenovela than a court hearing, television coverage of the proceedings suddenly panned on the family of Corona’s wife Cristina showing her in a reconciliatory embrace with members of her Basa family who had earlier accused Corona of swindling them of their share in a family firm which was among the issues clarified by Corona last Tuesday during his first day on the stand.

Corona last Tuesday denied he had used his public position to take advantage of the family and pointed out that the cases pending between his in-laws are languishing in various courts for at least 30 years and said that his accusations were brought by members of the Basa families who had lost libel cases he filed for maligning him..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120526hea2.html

3rd blast hits Zambo Sibugay By Gina Peralta-Elorde 05/26/2012

3rd blast hits Zambo Sibugay

By Gina Peralta-Elorde 05/26/2012

A bomb exploded at a residential compound of a provincial prosecutor in Ipil town, Zamboanga Sibugay province on Thursday night, the local police reported.

Zamboanga Sibugay police director, Senior Supt. Ruben Cariaga disclosed that the blast took place at about 7:40 p.m., at the compound owned by Jeric Cagaoan, Zamboanga Sibugay provincial prosecutor, in Barangay Don Andres, Ipil town.

The local police bomb experts have subjected the bomb residue for laboratory analysis to determine the components used in the bomb..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120526nat7.html

19 Tawi-Tawi women saved from traffickers — Binay 05/26/2012

19 Tawi-Tawi women saved from traffickers — Binay

05/26/2012
Authorities have rescued a total of 19 women, including two minors, from being trafficked outside the country in four separate rescue operations in Bongao town in Tawi-Tawi, Vice President Binay said Friday.

Binay, who sits as the chairman emeritus of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), lauded the successful rescues and said the latest string of operations showed “the government’s commitment to curb human trafficking in the country.”

He related that “yesterday’s rescue saved two minors from the Zamboanga Peninsula, aged 16 and 17 years old, while the operations on May 23 led to the rescue of eight women and the arrest of one suspect..... MORE
SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120526nat3.html

Referenda for Bacoor and Imus cityhood set By Efren B. Chavez 05/26/2012

Referenda for Bacoor and Imus cityhood set

By Efren B. Chavez 05/26/2012

The provincial office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is now preparing for the much-awaited plebiscites for the cityhood of Bacoor and Imus, which are set on the third and fourth Saturdays of June, respectively.

Cavite Comelec Supervisor lawyer Juanito Ravanzo Jr. said the referendum was scheduled by the Comelec main office after President Aquino signed into law on April 10 Republic Acts 10160 and 10161 converting the two first class municipalities into component cities.

Bacoor was a lone congressional district in the province that satisfied all the requirements needed for its conversion into a city under RA 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991..... MORE
SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120526nat2.html

QC to tap high school students as traffic aides 05/26/2012

QC to tap high school students as traffic aides

05/26/2012
The Quezon City government is set to tap students in the enforcement of traffic rules and regulations, especially in areas near their schools this coming June.

QC Department of Public Order and Safety (DPOS) chief Elmo San Diego told the Tribune in a text message that he already informed Mayor Herbert “Bistek” Bautista during a regular executive meeting that the DPOS is planning to train students, especially in the high school level, as junior traffic enforcers.

The students will be familiarized with basic traffic signs, rules and regulations and road safety information in preparation for fielding them as junior traffic enforcers this class opening, San Diego said..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120526met3.html

Angara urges Ched to adopt ICT framework for universities, colleges 05/26/2012

Angara urges Ched to adopt ICT framework for universities, colleges

05/26/2012
Sen. Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate committee on education, arts and culture, yesterday urged the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) to adopt a strategic framework on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as a useful guide for Philippine universities and colleges.

“Ched should help universities and colleges plan, manage and develop their ICT resources, and set a national standard in ICT education,” Angara stressed.

The veteran lawmaker, who is also the chairman of the Senate committee on science and technology and the congressional commission on science, technology and engineering, also underscored the need to provide schools equal access to expert advice, professional learning programs, digital learning resources and services, application software, ICT infrastructure and technical support services..... MORE
SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120526met5.html

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