Groups press for release of activist, condemn violent dispersal of anti-SONA protests

Groups press for release of activist, condemn violent dispersal of anti-SONA protests

By ANNE MARXE D. UMIL and RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Members of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-National Capital Region demanded the immediate release of a protester arrested during President Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday.

Protesters picketed Camp Karingal, headquarters of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) July 25, to condemn the continuing detention of Arturo Capellan Jr., 20, a member of Anakbayan chapter in Marikina.
According to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) of the QCPD, Capellan, along with some leaders who organized the rally last Monday, will be charged with malicious mischief, physical injuries and damage to properties.

Bayan NCR secretary general Paulo Quiza decried the arrest as “illegal.”

“We have all the legal grounds to march to Congress. What was illegal that day were the police barricades, the violent dispersal of our ranks, and the arrest and continued detention of our fellow activist,” Quiza said.

Bayan filed an application for a rally permit with the Quezon City Government ten days before President Benigno Aquino III delivered his third State of the Nation Address (SONA), but the local government did not act upon the petition. Under Batas Pambansa 880, an application is deemed granted if not acted upon within two days.

“What was supposedly a peaceful assembly ended up in violence because of the government’s violation of its own law. The policemen should know the laws they implement, our march was legitimate and their blockade was not. They should free our fellow activist at once,” Quiza said.

Bayan said the ground commander was lying when he said that they had not received any permit because they knew fully well that Bayan complied with the legal requirements.

Policemen aim their truncheons at protesters.(Photo by Fred Dabu/ bulatlat.com)

A scuffle ensued as policemen attempted to block the protesters from marching toward Batasang Pambansa while Aquino was delivering his speech. Dump trucks hired by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) tried to run over some protesters.

Bayan said the protesters acted in self-defense when they stopped the rampaging dump truck. The protesters almost got hit by the truck and the police were just looking. “The police actions and inaction that day further added to the frustration and anger of the protesters,” Bayan said in a statement..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/07/26/groups-press-for-release-of-activist-condemn-violent-dispersal-of-anti-sona-protests/

Digging a grave for the SC Written by Ninez Cacho-Olivares

Digging a grave for the SC

• Written by  Ninez Cacho-Olivares
• Thursday, 26 July 2012 

Chances are high that Noynoy will be appointing an outsider for the post of chief justice, as talks making the rounds say that Noynoy’s bets would be Justice Chief Leila de Lima and Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza, both of whom are with him, in his  executive branch.

But if her pending cases against De Lima are not cleared, then obviously, she would be disqualified, and the next choice of Noynoy would be Jardeleza.

If an insider is Noynoy’s choice, chances are, it would be acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio.
Frankly, among the three, neither one would be able to heal the wounds inflicted by the Legislature and Malacañang on the high court as the three are perceived to have caused the destruction of the institution.

And  such an appointment of either one would, in all probability, cement that perception of an utterly submissive CJ and the high court itself, which would put finis to any hope of a perceived independent court..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/item/2013-digging-a-grave-for-the-sc

Bulgaria bomb blast: Iran accuses Israel of killing its own citizens

Bulgaria bomb blast: Iran accuses Israel of killing its own citizens

Iran's UN envoy says it was Israel who plotted and staged the Bulgarian bus attack, buffing off allegations his country was behind the tragedy.

­The suicide bomb attack on a bus in the Bulgarian city of Burgas on July 18 killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver and injured over 30 more.

Israel was quick to point the finger at Iran, accusing Tehran and its “Hezbollah proxy” of staging the bombing..... MORE
Source:  RT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/iran-israel-bulgaria-attack-096/

Iran arrests terrorists behind nuclear scientists' assassinations

Iran arrests terrorists behind nuclear scientists' assassinations

Iran has identified and arrested all of the terrorists involved in assassinations of the country’s nuclear scientists, Iran’s spy chief said, adding that several regional countries disturbed by Mossad-backed terrorists provided crucial information.

­Over the course of the investigation, Iran's Intelligence Ministry also detected some of Mossad's bases on the territories of one of Iran's “Western neighbors,” according to Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi. The facilities reportedly provided training and logistic support to terrorist networks.

On Sunday, Iran marked one year since the assassination of nuclear researcher Daryoush Rezai, who was assassinated in front of his house in Tehran. In a statement, Moslehi shared some details of the ongoing operation to “foil the enemy's wide-scale assassination plot.”.... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/nuclear-scientists-iran-arrests-terrorist-806/

Antarctic ice melts into hidden ‘Grand Canyon’

Antarctic ice melts into hidden ‘Grand Canyon’

A mile-deep rift valley that could rival the dramatic chasms of America’s Grand Canyon has been found hiding beneath the ice in West Antarctica. UK scientists behind the discovery believe it is contributing to ice loss.

­The steep walls of the Ferrigno Rift plunge nearly 1.5 kilometers down at its deepest point. Being about 10 kilometers across and at least 100 kilometers long, it probably goes all the way to the sea.

A joint team from the University of Aberdeen and the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge discovered the canyon in the course of an exhausting 2,400-kilometer trek through the region that had only been visited once previously, in 1961..... MORE
Source:  RT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/antarctic-ice-canyon-warming-080/

Gambling alias gaming Written by Archbishop Oscar V.Cruz

Gambling alias gaming

• Written by  Archbishop Oscar V.Cruz
• Thursday, 26 July 2012 

Call it hypocrisy, duplicity or falsity. Say it is because of shame, remorse or embarrassment. It is the same. The present administration, just like the previous one — if not much worse — is a big admirer and consummate lover of gambling.

It is continuous in its futile attempt to devotedly hide its gambling propensity and delight under the pitiful guise of “gaming” through its minions; it now even speaks of a national “gaming industry” or something the like — instead a downright gambling economy as truth postulates.

Money, money and more money — no matter where it comes, how it is made and for whatever purpose it will be used. Gambling, gambling and more gambling — no matter what cheats, crooks and gangsters it attracts, wines and dines. Pagcor then, Pagcor now and Pagcor for the years yet to come — no matter the human dignity it undermines, the profession it destroys, the families it breaks..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/item/2008-gambling-alias-gaming

Gloria wins bail, posts P1M for freedom

Gloria wins bail, posts P1M for freedom

• Written by  Tribune
• Thursday, 26 July 2012 

Daily Tribune image

Arroyo to seek 3 medical opinions on bone mineral ailment

Former President Gloria Arroyo walked free from eight months in detention yesterday after a court issued a surprise ruling granting her bail, saying a vote rigging case against her was weak.

Wearing a neck brace to support her spine that is weakened from a rare disease, Arroyo left a tightly guarded military hospital in Manila where she had been awaiting trial on the charge that could see her jailed for life.
Arroyo was finally back at her La Vista abode, after Pasay City Regional Trial Court Judge Jesus Mupas granted her bail.

Mrs. Arroyo walked out of the presidential suite at the Veteran’s Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) where she had been under hospital arrest since December last year at exactly 2:28 in the afternoon yesterday and left the hospital ground five minutes later on board a white van after the sheriff delivered the release order signed by Mupas, hours after the former President, through her lawyers, posted a bail of P1 million.

One of Mrs. Arroyo’s counsels, lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, said the former President’s  release on P1 million bail “is a reaffirmation of what our camp has been saying all along that the charges against her are as thin as the soup made from boiling the shadow of a chicken that has been starved to death.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/headlines/item/2051-gloria-wins-bail-posts-p1m-for-freedom

Think tank: South China Sea tensions may escalate Written by Mario J. Mallari Thursday, 26 July 2012 00:00

Think tank: South China Sea tensions may escalate

• Written by  Mario J. Mallari
• Thursday, 26 July 2012 

Tensions over competing claims in the South China Sea could escalate into conflict, with an arms build-up among rival nations raising the temperature, an international think tank warned yesterday.

Prospects of solving the disputes “seem to be diminishing” after a recent failure by the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) grouping to hammer out a “code of conduct” that would govern actions in the sea, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said.

“Without a consensus on a resolution mechanism, tensions in the South China Sea can easily spill over into armed conflict,” warned Paul Quinn-Judge, the ICG’s program director for Asia.

“As long as Asean fails to produce a cohesive South China Sea policy, a binding set of rules on the handling of disputed claims cannot be enforced.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/headlines/item/2042-think-tank-south-china-sea-tensions-may-escalate

Defense chief pleased with Senate ratification of SoVFA

Defense chief pleased with Senate ratification of SoVFA

• Written by  Mario J. Mallari
• Thursday, 26 July 2012 

The Senate’s ratification of the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SoVFA) with Australia gives the Philippines another strong ally in addressing pressing security issues in the region, including the increasing tensions in the disputed West Philippine Sea or South China Sea.

This was according to Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, who welcomed yesterday the Senate’s 17-1 vote on Tuesday for the ratification of SoVFA as a huge boost to the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) capability through trainings and other exchanges with Australian military.

“That (ratification of SoVFA) is a big boost because we got another strong ally that will help us with the security issues in the region,” said Gazmin.

“We will have clear exchanges of information, exchanges of technology in our border security, maritime border security and it could also help us in our anti-terrorism campaign,” added Gazmin..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/nation/item/2045-defense-chief-pleased-with-senate-ratification-of-sovfa

MILF slams police raid on Lanao del Sur base

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Palace official defends cops in brawl during Aquino’s Sona

Palace official defends cops in brawl during Aquino’s Sona

• Written by  Fernan J. Angeles
• Thursday, 26 July 2012 

Policemen suddenly found an unlikely ally in Malacañang as a top Palace official defended the actions taken by the anti-riot cops against the protesters outside the Batasan during President Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) last Monday.

Coming to the defense of the Philippine National Police is deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte who seemed convinced that the PNP exercised “maximum tolerance” before the melee that saw 95 protesters and several media men injured took place.

She said while the Palace respects the protesters’ right to stage demonstrations, making them violent is “crossing the line.”

“These incidents should not have happened. They should not be allowed to happen in the first place. Why? We respect very highly freedom of expression in this country. But again, as one favorite character of ours has said, ‘superb power comes with great responsibility,’” Valte said.

She added Malacañang has always maintained a policy of always listening to public sentiments, but described violence as not among those which the administration would want in its system..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune


URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/metro-section/item/2022-palace-official-defends-cops-in-brawl-during-aquino%E2%80%99s-sona

Health-damaging chemicals found in toys being sold to public school children

Health-damaging chemicals found in toys being sold to public school children

• Written by  Jason Faustino
• Thursday, 26 July 2012 

A toxics watchdog has revealed that toys containing health-damaging chemicals are being sold to public school children right at their doorstep.

The EcoWaste Coalition made the revelation after subjecting 171 assorted children’s products to chemicals analysis using an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer.

The samples, with prices ranging from P2 to P50, were purchased on July 17 to 19 from vendors and stores in the immediate vicinity of 18 public elementary schools in Metro Manila’s 17 local government units.

“Dangerous chemical ingredients in toys may eventually end up being chewed and ingested by kids who are completely unmindful of the hazards posed by these substances,” said Thony Dizon, coordinator of the  EcoWaste Coalition’s Project Protect..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/metro-section/item/2020-health-damaging-chemicals-found-in-toys-being-sold-to-public-school-children

Bulgaria bomb blast: Iran accuses Israel of killing its own citizens

Bulgaria bomb blast: Iran accuses Israel of killing its own citizens

Iran's UN envoy says it was Israel who plotted and staged the Bulgarian bus attack, buffing off allegations his country was behind the tragedy.

­The suicide bomb attack on a bus in the Bulgarian city of Burgas on July 18 killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver and injured over 30 more.

Israel was quick to point the finger at Iran, accusing Tehran and its “Hezbollah proxy” of staging the bombing..... MORE
Source:  RT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/iran-israel-bulgaria-attack-096/