Good moves C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 07/07/2010

Good moves

C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 07/07/2010 It is good that newly appointed Energy Secretary Rene Jose Almendras has deferred any action on the proposed sale of the government’s 10 percent stake in the multibillion-dollar Malampaya gas project. That gives one and all, including the old set of directors which failed to firm up a decision on the matter until it was unceremoniously changed toward the end of the term of the previous administration, to come out with their suggestions on how best to handle this issue. As Almendras himself correctly noted “...it is best that the board issues be resolved first then we will study how the Malampaya approach is going to be, or even ask the question: Do we really want to sell Malampaya if it’s generating revenues for the government today...” Which is how it should have been worked out in the first place. For if truth be told, the sale of assets such as the revenue rich Malampaya stake, considered one of the remaining “crown jewels” among government properties, should really be as deliberate as can be.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100707com4.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Fair is fair FRONTLINE Unprepared, undecided and unaware FEATURE Private detectives: A pre-nuptial priority for some in India C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Good moves HE SAYS A-ha! SHE SAYS Uh-oh

A-ha! HE SAYS Aldrin Cardon 07/07/2010

A-ha!

HE SAYS Aldrin Cardon 07/07/2010 Wang-wang stories have fed tabloid (and even broadsheet) headlines for a week, with reactionary law enforcement agencies taking President Aquino’s order to rid our highways of siren-equipped cars which have become more of a curse than a simple menace to law-abiding motorists, like you and me. I have no problems with Noy’s order, however. If that’s what Noynoy wants, then he deserves to get it, as it is primarily the thrust of his inaugural speech. President Aquino only wanted to drive home a point, and there was no better way than to stir his crowd of common folk to an applause by providing a simple solution to a simple problem, which our law enforcement agencies could not seem to address, except perhaps for a short period of time when Erap was president (and Ping Lacson his Chief of Police), but it also led to Erap’s downfall when he intended to silence Chavit Singson’s siren, which proved to be louder than anybody else’s wang-wang during Gloria Arroyo’s ambitious drive to power..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100707com5.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Fair is fair FRONTLINE Unprepared, undecided and unaware FEATURE Private detectives: A pre-nuptial priority for some in India C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Good moves HE SAYS A-ha! SHE SAYS Uh-oh

Uh-oh SHE SAYS Dinah S. Ventura 07/07/2010

Uh-oh

SHE SAYS Dinah S. Ventura 07/07/2010 Now that the excitement of “newness” has begun to ebb and the Aquino administration is buckling down to work, one can’t help but wonder about some early “slip-ups” and brow-raising moves that have reaped their share of reactions. Philippine media, which have often been regarded by the objects of their eagle eyes as a living, breathing being that tend to bite and breathe noxious fumes, were the first to raise an “issue,” if one may call it that.  On President Noynoy’s first day at work, the Malacañang press corps got all confused over Memorandum Circular No. 1, which declared “all non-career executive service positions vacant as of 30 June 2010 and (extended) the services of contractual employees whose contracts expire on 30 June 2010.” This was then revised but still signed as Memorandum Circular No. 1, but now declared “all non-career executive officials occupying career executive service positions to continue to perform their duties and responsibilities and extending the services of certain contractual and or casual employees whose contracts expire on June 30.”.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100707com6.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Fair is fair FRONTLINE Unprepared, undecided and unaware FEATURE Private detectives: A pre-nuptial priority for some in India C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Good moves HE SAYS A-ha! SHE SAYS Uh-oh

Luisita massacre case closed—Palace By Aytch S. de la Cruz 07/07/2010

Ombudsman already cleared Noynoy—spokesman Luisita massacre case closed—Palace By Aytch S. de la Cruz 07/07/2010 For a presidency that calls for closure — even through a special Truth Commission — this is easily claimed to have closure when it comes down to a case involving President Aquino and his Cojuangco relatives pertaining to Hacienda Luisita. To Aquino and his Palace, the hacienda case is a closed case that should not be questioned or investigated further. Malacañang yesterday said the long-standing issue on the plight of the victims in the 2004 Hacienda Luisita massacre should be regarded as a “closed case” following the resolution supposedly executed by the Office of the Ombudsman which absolved then Tarlac congressman now President Aquino of any accountability in the massacre of the farmers. This acquittal of Aquino must have been recent, since this issue was a campaign issue against him yet his camp never stated that then Senator Aquino had already been cleared by the Ombudsman. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda made this statement in response to a reporter’s question on how Aquino plans to address the continuing cry for justice of the relatives of the farmers who were killed in the outskirts of the Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac while fighting for their right to just compensation from the Cojuangco-Aquino clan. “That (Hacienda Luisita massacre issue) has been investigated. There was already an Ombudsman report way, way back and it has already cleared then Congressman Benigno Aquino III. So it’s an old issue,” Lacierda said. “That’s been a closed issue…that has been a campaign issue before and we have already answered that—that the charges against then Congressman Benigno Aquino were already dismissed,” he reiterated in an apparent bid to quickly end a discussion on the matter. Lacierda also mentioned that the protracted land row dispute in the HLI between the farmers and the Cojuangco-Aquino clan will be addressed by newly-appointed Agrarian Reform Secretary Gil de los Reyes but he said the case will be treated just “like any other ordinary case.”... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100707hed1.html

HEADLINES Luisita massacre case closed—Palace Noynoy eyes line budgeting, slashed pork Miriam claims Villar already has Senate presidency in the bag Comelec into cover-up on folder scam—ex-employee Widened ambit seen to weaken truth body Malacañang sees nothing wrong in extension

Noynoy eyes line budgeting, slashed pork By Gerry Baldo 07/07/2010

Noynoy eyes line budgeting, slashed pork

By Gerry Baldo 07/07/2010 President Aquino’s popularity could be short lived in the Senate and the House of Representatives, with his Liberal Party (LP) allies disclosing yesterday that the ruling party is now eyeing to itemize the budget and slash the pork barrel, euphemistically called Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), into something that is just enough for each congressional district. Quezon Rep. Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III, LP spokesman, said each department would have to depend on its budget and not on the congressional allocations from the pork of the lawmakers. “It has always been mentioned during the campaign that President Aquino favors zero budgeting, which means each department would have to depend on its actual budget.” Tañada explained that Aquino wants to find out if there is really a need to increase the budget. “This is because we might say that we need a P1.6 trillion or P1.7 trillion budget, but that the reality is that we may just be needing only P1 trillion,” Tañada said, adding that a big cut in the pork barrel could drastically reduce the budget deficit. Citing the recent decision of the G20 heads of government during their Toronto Summit on June 26 and 27, 2010 to reduce their deficits, Tañada said Aquino’s move would augur well with the move of the world’s biggest economies. .... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100707hed2.html

HEADLINES Luisita massacre case closed—Palace Noynoy eyes line budgeting, slashed pork Miriam claims Villar already has Senate presidency in the bag Comelec into cover-up on folder scam—ex-employee Widened ambit seen to weaken truth body Malacañang sees nothing wrong in extension

Miriam claims Villar already has Senate presidency in the bag By Angie M. Rosales 07/07/2010

Miriam claims Villar already has Senate presidency in the bag

By Angie M. Rosales 07/07/2010 While senators engage in a psy-war to gain the needed numbers to seat a new Senate president when Congress opens late this month, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said the support being contested is already in the bag for Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. Santiago disputed conflicting claims on who among the senators will support to replace Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and gave hints that Senator Villar, one of the frontrunners, already has secured the commitment of 12 of them. This, she said, was long before another aspirant, Liberal Party (LP) bet Sen. Francis Pangilinan, started courting senators for support. “There are some who are mistaking their dream for the reality. They’ll wake up on July 26 (Congress’ opening),” the senator said in twitting Villar’s so-called rivals during a phone-patched interview with reporters. Santiago, who already made earlier pronouncement on Villar securing the commitment of some of their peers, said immediately after the May 10 elections, where Villar lost in his bid for the presidency, he had managed to seal the support of 12 senators for the Senate leadership. This would mean having 13 of the required votes, to include Villar himself, according to Santiago.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100707hed3.html

HEADLINES Luisita massacre case closed—Palace Noynoy eyes line budgeting, slashed pork Miriam claims Villar already has Senate presidency in the bag Comelec into cover-up on folder scam—ex-employee Widened ambit seen to weaken truth body Malacañang sees nothing wrong in extension

Comelec into cover-up on folder scam—ex-employee By Marie A. Surbano 07/07/2010

Comelec into cover-up on folder scam—ex-employee

By Marie A. Surbano 07/07/2010 Commission on Elections officials, evidently, even the Comelec commissioners, are allegedly into a cover-up of the P700-million budget translated into 1.8 million ballot secrecy folder scam, with their refusal to even put under suspension those poll officials mentioned in the poll body’s law department probe findings. This was the charge aired by former Comelec employee Melchor Magdamo, the whistleblower, who has called for the immediate suspension of the people behind the botched P700-million secrecy folder acquisition during the May 10 polls. Magdama said by not suspending the poll officers named in the probe report, there is no one to prevent the pieces of evidence in the case from possible “disappearances.” Magdamo stressed that all those implicated in the controversy remain in position and it has become only too obvious that the Comelec high officials are planning a cover up. He particularly cited Comelec executive director Jose Tolentino who he stated in his affidavit as the poll official who had approved the specifications of the ballot secrecy folder that was given to the winning supplier OTC Paper Supply. “The mere fact that Tolentino (and others) are still there, it is obvious that there would be a cover up. They (their superiors) should have placed under preventive suspension all those involved to prevent them from getting the evidence…,” Magdamo said in Filipino during an interview at UNTV. Magdamo noted that this is not the first time that evidence in cases in the Commission disappears. A highly reliable source in the Comelec, told the Tribune that on top of the list of poll officials involved in the folder scam is Tolentino, who was also under fire during the congressional probe of the automated polls as well as the Congress during the presidential canvassing, for having issued last minute memos and changing rules, thus opening the auto polls open to electoral fraud.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100707hed4.html

HEADLINES Luisita massacre case closed—Palace Noynoy eyes line budgeting, slashed pork Miriam claims Villar already has Senate presidency in the bag Comelec into cover-up on folder scam—ex-employee Widened ambit seen to weaken truth body Malacañang sees nothing wrong in extension

Widened ambit seen to weaken truth body 07/07/2010

Widened ambit seen to weaken truth body

07/07/2010 Expanding the scope of the so-called Truth Commission to include alleged irregularities and abuses committed during the Ramos and Estrada administrations could only muddle, if not weaken, the purpose of the body and affect its initial expressed purpose of giving closure to issues raised against former President Arroyo. Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago also expressed pessimism over the competence of the fact-finding body under the helm of former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. in taking up unresolved cases supposedly committed in the last three adminis-trations. “That is justified under the circumstances but it might have a problem building up a case or finding evidence to sustain the charges against (former) President Arroyo. We might be asking too much from it,” she said in a phone-patched interview with Senate reporters. Some church leaders have urged Malacañang to expand the mandate of the body and not focus solely on Arroyo but to include past presidents. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Palace was open to this idea but clarified that it is up to Davide to decide on this matter given his authority to oversee the commission. “For me, the magnitude of the task makes it impossible. You’re talking the presidency. There are so many layers of bureaucracy that insulates the president. So it’s very hard to prove that the (former) president was first liable for an official act of the State. That’s why if the investigation against all other prior presidents are conducted at the same time as the investigation against (former) President Arroyo, that is the best way to dilute the limited resources of government and in effect, stymie the proceedings,” she pointed out.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100707hed5.html

HEADLINES Luisita massacre case closed—Palace Noynoy eyes line budgeting, slashed pork Miriam claims Villar already has Senate presidency in the bag Comelec into cover-up on folder scam—ex-employee Widened ambit seen to weaken truth body Malacañang sees nothing wrong in extension

Malacañang sees nothing wrong in extension By Michaela P. del Callar 07/07/2010

Malacañang sees nothing wrong in extension

By Michaela P. del Callar 07/07/2010 Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo defended yesterday his directive to extend the terms of 21 political diplomats appointed by former President Arroyo, saying there is nothing irregular and illegal about it. In a media interview, Romulo said the extension of terms of political envoys has been a common practice by previous presidents such as Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada. “During the time of transition from President Ramos to President Estrada, they were extended for six months from July 1 to Dec. 31. During Cory’s time, they were also extended,” Romulo was quoted as saying. Under the Constitution, the President has the power to appoint or re-appoint officials and diplomats, but not extend their terms and, therefore, a Commission on Appointments confirmation is needed. In a separate interview with the same network, former congressman Apolinario Lozada, who used to be a career diplomat, branded as “questionable” the extension of the envoys. Lozada pointed out that political diplomats cease to represent the Philippines once the President who appointed them steps down. “They aren’t representatives of (President) Noynoy (Aquino). That’s illegal,” Lozada said. He added that the envoys should have tendered their courtesy resignation on or before June 30 and turned over the operations of the embassies to their deputies. Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said in a statement that he and Romulo have jointly recommended to Aquino to allow a three-month extension of the terms of the ambassadors, whose terms were deemed to have ended with that of Arroyo on June 30. If approved, the terms of 21 ambassadors should expire on Sept. 30.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100707hed6.html

HEADLINES Luisita massacre case closed—Palace Noynoy eyes line budgeting, slashed pork Miriam claims Villar already has Senate presidency in the bag Comelec into cover-up on folder scam—ex-employee Widened ambit seen to weaken truth body Malacañang sees nothing wrong in extensio

Pledge made, pledge broken EDITORIAL 07/06/2010

Pledge made, pledge broken

EDITORIAL Click to enlarge 07/06/2010 One of the most stupid soundbites made during the new Malacañang tenant’s inaugural speech was his pledge of no more wang-wangs, as a result of which he was late for his appointments. His yellows in media who cheered this spiel as though it was an earth-shaking policy that transforms both the presidency and the Filipino people, now appear to realize the stupidity of this no blaring sirens policy, now saying that wang-wangs should be banned for all officials and VIPs — except the President. This is a curious argument, considering that the yellows appear to believe that it is only the President who should have exclusive use of these sirens, and no other high public official, and wasn’t the cheering of the no sirens policy being projected then by the media as Noynoy Aquino being one with the people, to the extent of showing that he is not only the people’s President, but also the servant of the Filipino people? Stated differently, all other high public officials, whether the Vice President, the Senate President, the Speaker and the Chief Justice, not to mention visiting foreign VIPs, are deemed unimportant by the yellows, and that their appointments are not important either for them to come on time, as they will naturally be held up in the horrendous traffic that Metro Manilans are subjected to every day.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100706com1.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Pledge made, pledge broken FRONTLINE Ain’t over till it’s over FEATURE Years of prison, but no justice for Haiti’s women inmates MR. EXPOSE Gambling center of Asia NO HOLDS BARRED Help AN OUTSIDERS VIEW A ghetto for parties with programs? focus Job discrimination riles China’s Uighurs

Ain’t over till it’s over FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 07/06/2010

Ain’t over till it’s over

FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 07/06/2010 It may not look like it right now, but Johnny Ponce-Enrile may just have the best of chances to retain the post of Senate president, that is, if the presidency is handed to him on a virtual silver platter, rather than his campaigning for it. While it may look as though it is Kiko Pangilinan who has more or less wrapped up the votes to make him Senate president, it may not be all that it seems. The equation is simple enough: There are supposedly at least four blocs within the Senate that have pledged to vote as blocs. Enrile has said that four of them will be voting as a bloc, the bloc being composed of Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, Greg Honasan and Tito Sotto, or so it was said. Ed Angara also has a bloc of five to seven, or so it is being claimed. The Angara bloc members are: Angara, Migz Zubiri, Lito Lapid, Bong Revilla and Loren Legarda. The Villar bloc is said to be composed largely of his Nacionalista partymates, who are the Cayetanos, Pia and Alan Peter, Villar, Bong Bong Marcos, Miriam Santiago and Joker Arroyo, making six in the bloc. The Liberal Party with Kiko Pangilinan heading the bloc, has five sure votes: Pangilinan, Frank Drilon, Serge Osmeña, Ralph Recto and TG Guingona, with an additional vote from detained Sen. Sonny Trillanes, if he will be allowed to attend the opening of Congress and cast his vote for Pangilinan. If Trillanes does get that furlough from both the court and the military, you can be sure that the new Malacañang tenant will have dipped his presidential finger in both the judiciary and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to get Trillanes to appear in the Senate and give his vote.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100706com2.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Pledge made, pledge broken FRONTLINE Ain’t over till it’s over FEATURE Years of prison, but no justice for Haiti’s women inmates MR. EXPOSE Gambling center of Asia NO HOLDS BARRED Help AN OUTSIDERS VIEW A ghetto for parties with programs? focus Job discrimination riles China’s Uighurs

Years of prison, but no justice for Haiti’s women inmates FEATURE 07/06/2010

Years of prison, but no justice for Haiti’s women inmates FEATURE 07/06/2010 PORT-AU-PRINCE — The inmates at Haiti’s only women’s prison cry out in desperation as warden Marie-Yolaine Mathieu makes her rounds, hoping that she will hear their case and perhaps, help secure their release. “Director, director, I need to speak to you,” calls out one woman with matted hair and a blemished face, whose days of incarceration without a conviction turned first into weeks and now months. Like so many others, the woman makes a futile plea for Mathieu’s intervention. “I’ve been in this prison for six months. I have a 10-year-old child who has not been cared for since my mother died during the earthquake,” she cried. “I can’t take it any more,” she screams, beside herself with despair.   This impoverished Caribbean country’s broken judicial system has failed its citizens at every turn. But it has been especially delinquent in prosecuting those who face criminal charges but have never been convicted of crimes. Haiti’s main in prison in Port-au-Prince was virtually destroyed by the 7.0-magnitude quake on Jan. 12, and almost all of its estimated 4,000 male prisoners escaped. But the women’s institution — condemned years ago by UN officials as “cruel and inhumane” — still holds its unhappy occupants. This was built for around 30 inmates houses 300. The prison director said however said she feels for the women, but that she is powerless to improve their plight. “They keep arresting the women and sending them to us,” Mathieu said, “and the criminal justice system does not free them. What is one to do?”.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100706com3.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Pledge made, pledge broken FRONTLINE Ain’t over till it’s over FEATURE Years of prison, but no justice for Haiti’s women inmates MR. EXPOSE Gambling center of Asia NO HOLDS BARRED Help AN OUTSIDERS VIEW A ghetto for parties with programs? focus Job discrimination riles China’s Uighurs

Gambling center of Asia MR. EXPOSE Amb. Ernesto Maceda 07/06/2010

Gambling center of Asia

MR. EXPOSE Amb. Ernesto Maceda 07/06/2010 Archbishop Oscar Cruz has correctly asked President Benigno Aquino III to bare his gambling policy after he appointed Ateneo classmate Cristino “Bong” Naguiat as Chairman/CEO of Pagcor. Since he ran and won on a platform of anti-corruption and choosing the high moral road, P-Noy must look with priority into the current gambling situation which is the worst of all of Asia and probably the world except Las Vegas. Under GMA, FG and Ephraim Genuino, there have been literally more than a thousand casinos, Internet gambling parlors, poker parlors, bingo halls, slot machine parlors, small town lottery outlets and recently, Jai-Alai off track betting parlors and soon dog racing in Mandaue, Cebu. And the casinos are much bigger. Maxims Casino will have 1,000 tables in five floors. All of these gambling outlets alongside jueteng collectors, masiao outlets, daily horseracing, daily cockfights, you can also bet on boxing, NBA, PBA and UAAP basketball games by telephone or text. Just like revenue collecting Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs, Pagcor has become a lucrative cash cow for the powers that be. If ran honestly, Pagcor can produce P5 billion more of revenue. Franchises highly disadvantageous to the government have been granted to Maxims, Marina Hyatt and Fontana Leisure resorts. Note that there are now more than 25 casinos in the greater Metro Manila area including Thunderbird resorts in Binangonan, Rizal and also in Imus, Cavite. There are six casinos in Angeles City alone. There are casinos in Olongapo City, Bacolod, Cebu, Davao, Tagaytay, Poro Point, Laoag, Dakak/Dapitan and the Cagayan CEZA in Sta. Ana.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100706com4.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Pledge made, pledge broken FRONTLINE Ain’t over till it’s over FEATURE Years of prison, but no justice for Haiti’s women inmates MR. EXPOSE Gambling center of Asia NO HOLDS BARRED Help AN OUTSIDERS VIEW A ghetto for parties with programs? focus Job discrimination riles China’s Uighurs

Gambling center of Asia MR. EXPOSE Amb. Ernesto Maceda 07/06/2010

Gambling center of Asia

MR. EXPOSE Amb. Ernesto Maceda 07/06/2010 Archbishop Oscar Cruz has correctly asked President Benigno Aquino III to bare his gambling policy after he appointed Ateneo classmate Cristino “Bong” Naguiat as Chairman/CEO of Pagcor. Since he ran and won on a platform of anti-corruption and choosing the high moral road, P-Noy must look with priority into the current gambling situation which is the worst of all of Asia and probably the world except Las Vegas. Under GMA, FG and Ephraim Genuino, there have been literally more than a thousand casinos, Internet gambling parlors, poker parlors, bingo halls, slot machine parlors, small town lottery outlets and recently, Jai-Alai off track betting parlors and soon dog racing in Mandaue, Cebu. And the casinos are much bigger. Maxims Casino will have 1,000 tables in five floors. All of these gambling outlets alongside jueteng collectors, masiao outlets, daily horseracing, daily cockfights, you can also bet on boxing, NBA, PBA and UAAP basketball games by telephone or text. Just like revenue collecting Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs, Pagcor has become a lucrative cash cow for the powers that be. If ran honestly, Pagcor can produce P5 billion more of revenue. Franchises highly disadvantageous to the government have been granted to Maxims, Marina Hyatt and Fontana Leisure resorts. Note that there are now more than 25 casinos in the greater Metro Manila area including Thunderbird resorts in Binangonan, Rizal and also in Imus, Cavite. There are six casinos in Angeles City alone. There are casinos in Olongapo City, Bacolod, Cebu, Davao, Tagaytay, Poro Point, Laoag, Dakak/Dapitan and the Cagayan CEZA in Sta. Ana.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100706com4.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Pledge made, pledge broken FRONTLINE Ain’t over till it’s over FEATURE Years of prison, but no justice for Haiti’s women inmates MR. EXPOSE Gambling center of Asia NO HOLDS BARRED Help AN OUTSIDERS VIEW A ghetto for parties with programs? focus Job discrimination riles China’s Uighurs

Help NO HOLDS BARRED Armida Siguion-Reyna 07/06/2010

Help

NO HOLDS BARRED Armida Siguion-Reyna 07/06/2010 I fired my new maid the other day. If I had my druthers, the other one would have gone as well, except that she had been with me for a little over three months and I’m hoping against hope she still somewhat makes the grade. Which I doubt very much. We don’t get good helpers anymore, the better ones have gone to greener pastures abroad. Truthfully, it was no longer hunky-dory between me and the one I let go. She couldn’t remember instructions and wouldn’t write them down either. With my own long-term memory going bonkers, it was getting harder and harder for me to rely on someone just as forgetful. Our last scene had to do with the CD remote control I could not find in my office. It was not in the usual place where I put it, on the counter behind the atril I use for my solo rehearsals for “Aawitan Kita sa Makati.”  An atril, by the way, is a music rack, or a music stand, where a musician props up his score sheet to guide him as he plays his musical instrument. Pianos come with a built-in atril; singers and orchestra members use the stand-alone type. I’m bringing this in as just last week I sung in a public gathering, so I wanted an atril on standby, where I could easily glance at the lyrics in case I forgot any. I must have asked three people about it, and they all said there was none. As it turned out, there was a lectern onstage. No one knew what an atril was, that it served the same purpose as the lectern. It would have been easier if people had forthrightly asked, “Ano ho’ng atril?” But no one did. .... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100706com5.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Pledge made, pledge broken FRONTLINE Ain’t over till it’s over FEATURE Years of prison, but no justice for Haiti’s women inmates MR. EXPOSE Gambling center of Asia NO HOLDS BARRED Help AN OUTSIDERS VIEW A ghetto for parties with programs? focus Job discrimination riles China’s Uighurs

A ghetto for parties with programs? AN OUTSIDERS VIEW Ken Fuller 07/06/2010

A ghetto for parties with programs?

AN OUTSIDERS VIEW Ken Fuller 07/06/2010 An explanation is required concerning last week’s column and, more particularly, its table. This, you may recall, detailed the fortunes of the left parties in the party-list elections since 2004. There were, however, five errors in the table, presumably the result of a technical glitch occurring somewhere along the stretch of road between my e-mail attachment and the published paper. Four of the errors occurred in the 2004 column, where the figures for the ranking of Anak ng Bayan, Suara Bangsamoro, Migrante and Akbayan were duplicated in the column giving the votes of those parties. Thus, for example, the vote for Akbayan, which came in at number 3 in 2004, was shown not as 852,473, but 852,4733. Probably, most readers had been able to work out what had happened. This may not have been the case, however, with the 2010 column, where the Anak Pawis vote was shown as 45,628 instead of 445,628, the first four having migrated to the column on the left. Last week’s column suggested that the fact the left has ended up with nine party-list seats out of a final total of 57 (the final results are still, at the time of writing, to be announced), might be the subject of sober reflection. There will probably be reflection anyway. The Makabayan group’s decision to field Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza as guest senatorial candidates on Manny Villar’s Nacionalista ticket will, presumably, be hotly debated on a number of grounds, including the disappointing (for both Villar and them) results, and the controversies which emerged during Villar’s campaign and provoked visible discomfort in Ocampo.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100706com6.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Pledge made, pledge broken FRONTLINE Ain’t over till it’s over FEATURE Years of prison, but no justice for Haiti’s women inmates MR. EXPOSE Gambling center of Asia NO HOLDS BARRED Help AN OUTSIDERS VIEW A ghetto for parties with programs? focus Job discrimination riles China’s Uighurs

Job discrimination riles China’s Uighurs focus 07/06/2010

Job discrimination riles China’s Uighurs

focus 07/06/2010 URUMQI — Tursun’s eyes well up as she describes life as a Uighur in China, which she says is marred by overt discrimination in the job market — a source of much bitterness in the restive city of Urumqi. “There are so many young Uighurs here who have been abroad, who speak perfect English, perfect Japanese,” the shopkeeper says in the violence-scarred capital of far-western Xinjiang region. “But they can’t find good jobs despite that,” she says, gesturing to rows of market stalls and the vendors minding them. “I’ve been for many job interviews here but they wouldn’t hire me because I’m a Uighur.” Many Uighurs in Xinjiang complain about what they say is a job market openly skewed against them, with many of the better-paid professional and technical jobs going to members of the country’s Han Chinese majority. That resentment boiled over on July 5 last year, when some mainly Muslim Uighurs took to the streets of Urumqi in a protest that descended into violence against the Han Chinese. Han mobs then sought revenge in the following days. The government said the unrest — the worst ethnic clashes in China for decades — left nearly 200 dead and 1,700 injured. So far, 26 persons have been sentenced to death for their roles in the mayhem. Tursun, who asked that her real name be withheld out of fear of reprisals, maintains a steely stare as tears begin to roll down her cheeks.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100706com7.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Pledge made, pledge broken FRONTLINE Ain’t over till it’s over FEATURE Years of prison, but no justice for Haiti’s women inmates MR. EXPOSE Gambling center of Asia NO HOLDS BARRED Help AN OUTSIDERS VIEW A ghetto for parties with programs? focus Job discrimination riles China’s Uighurs

Truth body may include probe of FVR, Erap terms By Aytch S. de la Cruz 07/06/2010

Truth body may include probe of FVR, Erap terms

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 07/06/2010 Former President Arroyo, now Rep. Gloria Arroyo, may no longer be the focus of the so-called Truth Commission which is being created by President Noynoy Aquino, and which body will be headed by former Supreme Court Chief Justice and former permanent Philippine ambassador to the United Nations, Hilario Davide Jr. Instead, the Arroyo probe may include probes of alleged irregularities and abuses committed by previous administrations, including the Ramos and Estrada administrations, it was broadly hinted by presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda yesterday, as he spoke of the probability of widening the scope of the truth commission. Lacierda gave this statement in response to the reported suggestion made by Church leaders represented by Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales not to focus solely on Arroyo, but to include past presidents, although Lacierda clarified that it is up to Davide to decide on this matter given his authority to oversee the said commission. Lacierda, who speaks for the President, categorically stated that the Palace is open to this idea of widening the scope of the probe but that all it can do is to merely recommend this position to Davide himself pending the parameters he will be seeking for the commission’s powers. Earlier, it was reported that Aquino himself would be providing the parameters of the commission, but apparently, he is leaving everything to Davide. It was not made clear by Lacierda, however, if the Cory administration’s irregularities will also be included in the recommendation for inclusion in widening the scope of probe. There were many firesales made from sequestered companies suspected by the Cory government as part of the Marcos properties, with the Cojuangco relatives buying these up at bargain prices, as well as the overpricing of the generators purchased during the power crisis that gave the country 12 hours brownouts daily under the Cory presidency.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100706hed1.html

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