Tracking Angie’s trail EDITORIAL 01/16/2011

Tracking Angie’s trail

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

01/16/2011
What would it take for Angie Reyes, the nine-year first knight of Gloria, to succumb to abuse? Not much, it seems.

For the whole two stolen terms of Gloria, Angie stuck out as a fixture in the Cabinet.

Angie was the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines when the presidency was snatched from Joseph Estrada in 2001. And it was he who led his service commanders to mutiny against a duly constitutional president and commander in chief. Angie was among the first officials then to defect to Gloria instead of protecting the constitutionally-elected leader of the land. It was later revealed that Angie was part of a conspiracy hatched even before Estrada warmed his seat at Malacañang.

For that betrayal, Angie was richly rewarded by Gloria. Two days after his retirement as chief of staff, he was sworn into office as secretary of the Department of National Defense (DND)..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110116com1.html

Persecuting Webb FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 01/16/2011

Persecuting Webb

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

01/16/2011
Where in the world can we find a Justice secretary like Leila de Lima who seems to insist on persecuting the acquitted instead of finding out just who committed the rape murder case in a sensationalized case?

Hubert Webb and company who have been acquitted by the Supreme Court (SC) last year are still being treated by De Lima and Lauro Vizconde and his group, as the guilty parties, despite the high court already ruling with finality that Webb and his group are not guilty and therefore have been acquitted.

She was supposed to have formed a task force to investigate further and look for the probable guilty party, where Webb, et al. are included, although her focus is on Webb, and not the et. al.

There are supposed to be two other groups who are deemed suspects in the same case, yet there is no focus on them and, worse, nothing much has moved by way of her department’s investigation into the other two suspect-groups..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110116com2.html

India’s airlines spend big but airports are lacking FEATURE 01/16/2011

India’s airlines spend big but airports are lacking

FEATURE

01/16/2011
NEW DELHI — An upstart Indian carrier’s $15 billion order with Airbus is a bold bet on travel demand in the fast-growing country. But aging airports and over-ambition could yet clip the industry’s wings.

IndiGo, which was launched in 2005, on Wednesday stormed onto the international stage by announcing a deal for 180 new aircraft, the largest number of Airbus planes ever bought in a single order.

“We are putting our money where our mouth is,” IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh boasted after sealing the deal at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, southwest France.

“If the country has to grow by 9 to 10 percent, the airline business has to be an equal partner,” he told the Mint daily newspaper. “There will be one or two years of up and down, but overall there will be only one direction.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110116com3.html

An albatross called ‘Noli’ BLURBAL THRUSTS Louie Logarta 01/16/2011

An albatross called ‘Noli’

BLURBAL THRUSTS

Louie Logarta

01/16/2011
One of the New Year resolutions of Virginia Torres is to implement Republic Act (RA) 10054 (or the Motorcycle Helmet Act) on a nationwide basis in a bid to cut down on the increasing number of fatalities being reported to authorities.

Torres, who is the present chief of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), said she would be starting her campaign against violators of RA 10054 here in Metro Manila where she can rely on hundreds of policemen as well as various other traffic enforcers to strictly implement said law that has largely been honored by riders more in the breach than anything else.

In a recent address before the Philippine Motorcycle Federation, Ms. Torres said LTO estimates place the number of unregistered motorcycles in the country at over 1 million, which is why the number of accidents involving the two-wheeled vehicles most surely will rise drastically in the coming years if law enforcement agents are lax in implementing the Helmet Act.

But in several provinces in Northern Mindanao, particularly Cagayan de Oro City, LTO officials have found themselves hamstrung in this regard because local government functionaries aren’t keen in putting some bite to the Helmet law as, they claim, this would simply add to the deterioration of the peace and order situation prevailing..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110116com4.html

Criminality unlimited VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 01/16/2011

Criminality unlimited

VIEWPOINTS

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

01/16/2011
Something is definitely wrong, disturbing and dangerous in the present Philippine society. And meantime, nothing decisive and convincing is being done by the government through its several agencies, precisely designed for and financed by the general public to keep them safe and in peace – as they go about in their day to day living. The social malediction is called “criminality.” Its pejorative qualification is unlimited. Translation: Crimes are thriving, rampant and unchecked!

Murders in broad daylight. Assassinations wherever and whenever convenient. Kidnappings. Rapes. Hold-ups. Stealing. Snatching. Name it and it is there – day and night, anytime and anywhere. Add to all these the finding of this and that dead fetus left by the roadside, thrown to the garbage – not to mention at least once left in an airplane. Conscience is dysfunctional. Morality is but a word. Evil has become the order of the day. The law is inutile. The law enforcers are without force. The victims of crimes are down and known. The criminals remain unidentified and free..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110116com5.html

Now comes the ‘child’ TABLETS OF STONE Larry Faraon, OP 01/16/2011

Now comes the ‘child’

TABLETS OF STONE

Larry Faraon, OP

01/16/2011
This morning I shall be baptizing the six-month-old Baby Nash. It is interesting and funny how I met this cute angel. Pushed back to the edges of the Plaza Miranda in Quiapo because of the gargantuan crowd readying to welcome the image of the Black Nazarene with almost frenzied religious cheers as it enters the Church, I was comfortably standing in front of this baby and its mother in a rather shoulder to shoulder situation. When the image finally arrived in the area, ecstatically, the people raised and waved their hankies, rosaries, religious items and even their babies! — to at least receive some virtual blessings from the revered image itself. Yes, including Baby Nash, who most probably was suddenly traumatized when his enthusiastic mom brandished him and began peeing liberally on my head!

Indeed, even before I pour holy water on his fine cute little forehead later, he already did “baptize” me much earlier last Sunday!

But what is significant is that today is the Feast of the Holy Child or Sto. Niño. The liturgical worship today is a special grant by the Vatican, only in the Philippines, since it only in this country that we celebrate a bambino donned in royal robes, complete with a scepter, crown and golden boots. The 16th century original image gifted by Ferdinand Magellan to Rajah Humabon and wife has been enshrined at the Basilica de Minore del Sto. Niño in Cebu City and is currently and in the past the center of devotion, particularly in the Visayas region with cultural elaborations of Ati-Atihan, Sinulog and Dinagyang festivals..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110116com6.html

In US, China’s Hu to confront battered image FEATURE 01/16/2011

In US, China’s Hu to confront battered image

FEATURE

01/16/2011
WASHINGTON — For all the hot topics between the two nations, Chinese President Hu Jintao will also seek a broader goal when he visits the United States next week: To repair his country’s battered image.

China has become a political byword in the United States for both economic competition and strategic rivalry. While differing on approach, few US politicians have kind words for China on issues from trade to human rights.

People planning the state visit said the usually formal Hu will reach out to ordinary Americans including with a stop to President Barack Obama’s hometown of Chicago, where he will showcase a Chinese-run factory creating jobs.

Most Washington-based China watchers believe that Beijing remains sensitive about its image overseas, and that its sometimes shrill denunciations of international criticism is meant largely for domestic consumption..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110116com7.html

Roxas as troubleshooter for RP’s sake — Palace By Aytch S. de la Cruz 01/16/2011

Roxas as troubleshooter for RP’s sake — Palace

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 01/16/2011

Malacañang defended the phasing into the Cabinet of President Aquino’s losing running mate, former Sen. Manuel Roxas II, who got an appointment as “chief troubleshooter” as being done for the sake of the country while dismissing the possible negative implications of the move on the working relationship between elected Vice President Jejomar Binay and Aquino.

Deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte yesterday rejected the speculation made by Maguindanao Rep. Simeon Datumanong that Roxas’ appointment could adversely affect the working relationship of Binay and Aquino.

Valte said nothing will change in the working relationship of all officials in the Aquino administration as she cited the “professionalism” established by both Roxas and Aquino in dealing with government affairs.

She claimed that there was nothing personal with respect to Aquino’s decision to give Roxas an important role in his administration once the ban on defeated candidates from seeking government posts expires by the end of this June..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110116hed1.html

Palace takes potshots at SC anew over Garcia plea deal By Aytch S. de la Cruz 01/16/2011

Palace takes potshots at SC anew over Garcia plea deal

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 01/16/2011
The Palace again cranked up its machinery to assault the Supreme Court yesterday, saying tribunal spokesman and administrator Jose Midas Marquez questioning the authority of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to demand an explanation from the Sandiganbayan on its approval of the plea bargaining agreement forged by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) comptroller, Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, and the Office of the Ombudsman was unwarranted.

Marquez questioned De Lima’s authority to demand such explanation from the Sandiganbayan, with him saying only the Supreme Court has the right to ask the anti-graft court justices on their decision.

Garcia accused of carting away hundreds of millions of pesos in what are believed to be AFP funds pleaded guilty to a lesser offense of indirect bribery which carries a mere six years of imprisonment against life imprisonment for plunder.

“I don’t think we have to wait for a damage to be done first before we take certain actions. Our only position is that you represent the real standpoint of the public. We cannot be expected to just sit around while these things are happening,” Valte said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110116hed2.html

Money non-issue in US court’s rights ruling — Palace 01/16/2011

Money non-issue in US court’s rights ruling — Palace

01/16/2011
It doesn’t matter how much money would land in the hands of those who survived the tortuous Marcos years since the recent decision rendered by a United States federal court on the $7.5-million settlement already spells vindication for them, Malacañang implied yesterday in response to the initial public reaction that such amount may not be sufficient.

Deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte explained that money is no longer the issue here with respect to the class action suit filed by the human rights victims against the deceased dictator but the principles that they have held.

“What the victims went through (during the Marcos regime) is no longer compensable in terms of money. At this point, I think money is not the issue here anymore but it’s a vindication. It’s like, in Tagalog, it’s already a matter of principle,” Valte commented over radio dzRB.

There are about 7,526 people who stand to receive $1,000 or about P44,000 each from the compensation package approved by US District Judge Manuel Real last Thursday..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110116hed3.html

Melo successor urged to unlock poll secrets By Pat C. Santos 01/16/2011

Melo successor urged to unlock poll secrets

By Pat C. Santos 01/16/2011

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo’s resignation took effect yesterday and the clamor for the next head of the poll body to make public the true results of the just held national elections that saw President Aquino winning by a comfortable margin started to gather steam.

A workers’ poll watchdog dared the successor of Melo to unlock the many “secrets” of the May 10, 2010 automated polls and to hold those accountable for the anomalies that may have occurred.

Workers’ Electoral Watch (WE Watch), a network of workers advocating fraud-free elections, pitched this challenge to the next Comelec chief as it issued yesterday the Automated Election System (AES) Evaluation and Policy Recommendations.

Melo served for close to three years as Comelec chairman that covered the the holding of the first fully automated national elections, which many suspects to have been tainted with electronically generated fraud..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110116hed4.html

Weeks of rains leave 47 dead in RP 01/16/2011

Weeks of rains leave 47 dead in RP

01/16/2011
More than two weeks of heavy rains have left at least 47 persons dead from flash floods and landslides across the Bicol region and other parts of the Visayas and Mindanao, the government yesterday said.

Monsoon rains have battered parts of the country since December 29, with more thunderstorms still forecast for these areas, the government weather station said.

The death toll from the rain has risen to 47 due to drownings or burial by landslides, while four more persons remain missing, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said.

Eight more persons were injured by landslides, the NDRRMC said in a statement, while over 18,000 persons were still housed in government evacuation centers because of continued danger..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110116hed5.html

Pirates hijack Danish ship with 4 Filipinos 01/16/2011

Pirates hijack Danish ship with 4 Filipinos

01/16/2011
Four Filipinos were among the crew members seized when a Danish-owned cargo ship was boarded by suspected Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden last January 12, a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) report said.

Leopard, a 2,000-ton ship believed to be carrying “sensitive” cargo, was boarded in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Oman.

Two other Danish crew members were also seized.

The report was confirmed by the local manning agency that deployed the seafarers in the ill-fated ship.
According to news reports, the ship was thereafter abandoned by the pirates. The Turkish navy later located the vessel..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110116hed6.html

More jobs, no to CCT dole outs By Charlie V. Manalo 01/16/2011

SOLON TELLS AQUINO

More jobs, no to CCT dole outs

By Charlie V. Manalo 01/16/2011

While admitting they can not force the estimated 2.3 million family-beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program from rejecting the P1,400 monthly cash assistance, a lady solon yesterday reiterated their call to President Aquino to reconsider his administration’s CCT program and come up with policies and programs that will create concrete jobs for Filipino workers.

“President Aquino is creating a grand illusion that his CCT program will reduce the hunger incidence in the country. While we cannot deny that the 2.3 million target poor families will not reject the P1,400 monthly assistance under this program, we know and they know that this program will not change their hand-to-mouth existence,” said Gabriela Rep. Emmi de Jesus citing the recent SWS survey showed that 18.1 percent or about 3.4 million families experienced hunger in the past three months.

De Jesus called on the Aquino administration to prioritize policies and programs that will create more decent jobs for the workers, the farmers, and all the marginalized Filipinos who have always wanted to have an income enough to provide for all the needs of their family. Pushing for genuine land reform and nationalist industrialization are sure-fire remedies that will open up hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and not the measly 43,000 jobs touted by the Aquino administration..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110116nat1.html

Food advocates to Aquino: Put behind bar those involved in rice scams 01/16/2011

Food advocates to Aquino: Put behind bar those involved in rice scams

01/16/2011
As reported about the overpriced rice imported by the previous administration came out again in the news, a network of food security advocates yesterday reminded President Aquino to make true his anti-corruption campaign promise and use this issue as another case against the Arroyo administration.

The Task Force Food Sovereignty (TFFS) reiterated over the weekend its call for an immediate investigation and prosecution of all past and present government officials and personnel as well as private entities who were involved in this criminal act.

According to news reports, the National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Lito Banayo disclosed that the rice agency imported rice during the last three years of the Arroyo administration was overpriced by $125 per metric ton, and in the last 10 years, these imports were overpriced by an average of $60 per metric ton. He revealed that fictitious cooperatives and companies took part in the unlawful activity.

Alice Raymundo, TFFS coordinator, said that they were no longer surprised with the news as this already came out in July 2009..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110116nat3.html

Dire Times Ahead: Poor Brace for Impact of Fare, Price Increases

Dire Times Ahead: Poor Brace for Impact of Fare, Price Increases

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — The year 2011 started not with a bang but a lot of whimper – whimper, that is, from many Filipinos who complain about tough times ahead.

Much of the discontent so far is focused on the increasing cost of transportation. There’s the 300-percent increase in the toll fees for the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX); because many of the capital’s produce are sourced from the south, this inevitably raised as well the prices of certain goods, such as vegetables.
There’s the increase as well of the flag-down rates of taxis and the hike in the prices of basic commodities such as sugar and flour.

Then there’s the increase in MRT and LRT fares, which is eyed for implementation by March 1.

An analysis by the online newsmagazine Newsbreak shows that the MRT-lRT fare hikes will affect the poor most. It explains that the price of single-journey tickets will increase by 100% while the price of stored-value tickets increased by only 50%. Most rail commuters opt to buy single-journey tickets because, as Newsbreak points out, a stored-value ticket, which can be bought for P100, is out of their budget. But the publication finds that a single-journey ticket costs more per trip than a stored-value ticket.

The only thing that doesn’t increase, many minimum wage earners complain, is their salary, which in Metro Manila is pegged at P404 (less than $10) that barely covers the most basic necessities of a small family.
Shirley Pascua, 35, a housewife, thinks that the poor are getting poorer under the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III. “He is proving to be a disappointment. The price of everything is going up,” she told Bulatlat.com.

Pascua’s husband is a taxi driver. She said what he makes is barely enough to make ends meet. They have two children; Adrian, 13, and Marielle, 12. “It’s a good thing my eldest is in a good school. If not for his scholarship, we will not be able to send him to a school like that,” Pascua said. Her youngest will also apply for the scholarship in the same high school.

A child in the slum community of Isla Puting Bato. Many like her are certain to suffer more as prices of basic commodities shoot up. (Photo by Ayi S. Muallam / bulatlat.com)

Her husband’s take-home pay is barely enough for their daily needs. “I just hope that none of us gets sick,” she said, noting a concern raised by many poor Filipinos.
Pascua thinks the P40 increase in the flag-down rate for taxis, to be implemented on Jan. 21, is useless. “The price of all basic commodities will surely shoot up. What’s the use of the increase in the flag-down rate?” she said. She worries that her family will face dire poverty the rest of the year.

Rowena Lopez, 34, is also a housewife with seven children. Her husband is a jeepney driver who earns P700 a day. She said the increase in prices of basic commodities affects their budget especially with seven mouths to feed. “We make do with what my husband earns,” she said..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/01/14/dire-times-ahead-poor-brace-for-impact-of-hikes-in-fare-prices/

Outrage by MRT-LRT Commuters Can Avert ‘Great Train Robbery,’ Groups Say

 Outrage by MRT-LRT Commuters Can Avert ‘Great Train Robbery,’ Groups Say

By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – There is hope that the proposed fare hikes of Manila’s two rail networks, MRT and LRT, can still be averted.

And all it takes is for the public, mostly poor Filipinos who would be affected, to register their opposition to the increases, said Sammy Malunes, spokesman of the Riles Network, an alliance of progressive peoples’ organizations that believe that “the railways should be for the people.”

In a protest action and petition signing held by Riles Network on Wednesday, Malunes told Bulatlat.com he is pegging his hope on the hundreds of thousands of largely low-income riding public who stand to be adversely affected by the proposed fare hike and who are, in fact, not only joining their petition against the fare hike but also articulating their protests in other ways.

A commuter signs the petition against the MRT fare hike during the Riles Network’s protest action at the MRT North Avenue Station on Wednesday. (Photo by Marya Salamat / bulatlat.com)

The government recently approved a “provisional” 50-percent to 100-percent hike in MRT and LRT fares, which will take effect on March 1. But as protests against the increases have spurred the formation of another consumers’ alliance vowing to hold more protest actions at the MRT and LRT stations, the transportation department said the “provisional” fare hike will still be tackled in public consultations.

“The Great Train Robbery”

Based on what the government has initially approved, starting March the MRT and LRT lines would be charging a boarding fee of P11.00. The government will also simplify the current fare matrix into three denominations of P15, P20 and P30, effectively hiking the fares by 50 percent to 100 percent. Four kilometers will now cost P15.00 while five to nine kilometers will cost P20.00. End-to-end trips may cost as much as P30.00 or twice the present fare.

“The increase is so huge  the DOTC should not implement it even on a provisional basis,” said Bayan secretary-general Renato M. Reyes Jr. in a statement. “They are doing this sans any public hearing, without any transparency and without any regard for public welfare.”

He added that an increase of this magnitude “will have far-reaching effects on the pockets of some 1.2 million combined LRT and MRT commuters.”.... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/01/13/outrage-by-mrt-lrt-commuters-can-avert-great-train-robbery-groups-say/

Apart from ‘Shocking’ 300% Toll-Fee Hike, Philippines Has to Account for Dramatic Jump in SLEX Project Cost

Apart from ‘Shocking’ 300% Toll-Fee Hike, Philippines Has to Account for Dramatic Jump in SLEX Project Cost

 By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — It’s not just the exorbitant toll-fee increase, it’s the project itself that’s anomalous.

Last January 7, anti-corruption advocate and lawyer Ernesto Francisco filed a formal request for investigation with the Office of the Ombudsman on the issue of the 300-percent toll hike at the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX). According to Francisco, the South Luzon Toll Corp., which operates the expressway, is using the multibillion project cost for the expansion and improvement of the expressway as a reason for raising toll fees. The projected cost is the primary basis for the 300-percent toll hike.
 

Sidebar
Aquino Disappoints on Toll Hike but That’s Not a Surprise
“I see nothing wrong if President Aquino wants to honor the Philippine government’s commitments to foreign investors, but what about his commitments to the Filipino people?” lawyer Ernesto Francisco asks.
Read the full story Click here for more stories on the toll-fee increases

Francisco said that that the South Luzon Toll Corp., the SLEX investor Malaysian company MTD Capital Berhad and the Toll Regulatory Board, which allowed the toll-fee increase, should be compelled to explain why the project cost

ballooned to P12.5 billion from a much smaller P5.88 billion a few years ago. He said the massive increase should not have been allowed without a review by the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Commission on Audit.

The Toll Regulatory Board is the agency that regulates all toll roads in the Philippines. It was created via Presidential Decree No. 1112 or the Toll Operation Decree, and has regulatory authority over all toll facilities in the country. According to its charter, it is authorized to enter into contracts on behalf of the government, with qualified persons, natural or juridical, for the construction, operation and maintenance of toll facilities. It exercises jurisdiction over the toll facilities of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX); the SLEX,; the Manila-Cavite Expressway (Coastal Road);  the South Metro Manila Skyway (Skyway); the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (Star Tollway); and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX).

The South Luzon Expressway: Anti-poor imposition. (Photo by Mithril Cloud / skyscrapercity)

According to Francisco, the Office of the Ombudsman should immediately investigate whether or not the Toll Regulatory Board and the South Luzon Toll Corp. complied with the provisions of Letter of Instructions No. 579, which states that all plans and specifications for any proposed extension projects of the Manila North and/or Manila South Expressways be first subject to the review and approval of the the Department of Public Works and Highways before the Toll Regulatory Board decides to recommend or not to the president the construction of such a project..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/01/13/apart-from-%E2%80%98shocking%E2%80%99-300-toll-fee-hike-philippines-has-to-account-for-dramatic-jump-in-slex-project-cost/

Farmers Urge Noynoy to Reopen Mendiola Massacre Case

Farmers Urge Noynoy to Reopen Mendiola Massacre Case

By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — As the 24th anniversary of the infamous Mendiola Massacre nears, farmers led by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas KMP) called on President Benigno S. Aquino III to bring justice and closure to the issue by reopening the investigation.

“President Aquino has yet to prove that he is no different from his predecessors. From the time he entered Malacanang he has yet to lay down any decree, ruling or program that will genuinely benefit Filipino farmers. His own mother former president Cory Aquino presided over a government that committed so many violations against the economic, political and human rights of farmers – none of us has forgotten the Mendiola Massacre, ” said KMP secretary-general Danilo Ramos.

“We challenge the 50-year-old president to re-open the Mendiola Massacre case and pursue a full-blown and independent probe. The murderers are still out there and worse, nobody from past administrations and even under Mr. Aquino’s administration dares to revive the investigation which we have been demanding since 1987.”

On Jan. 22, 1987, some 10,000 to 15,000 farmers marched from the agrarian reform office in Quezon City to Mendiola in Manila to remind the late former president Corazon C. Aquino to make good on her word to implement genuine agrarian reform. According to reports, anti-riot personnel under the command of then Capital Regional Command commander Gen. Ramon Montaño, Task Force Nazareno under the command of Col. Cesar Nazareno and police forces under the command of Western Police District (WPD) Chief Brig. Gen. Alfredo Lim had been prepared to block the protestors.

The phalanx of civil disturbance control units was comprised of policemen from the WPD, members of the Integrated National Police Field Force, members of the Philippine Marine Corps, and the Marine Civil Disturbance Control Battalion. Behind the line of these fully armed personnel were army trucks, water cannons, fire trucks and two Mobile Dispersal Teams prepared to launch tear gas.

As the farmers reached Claro M. Recto, the government forces attacked. In the melee, 13 farmers were killed, 39 were wounded by gunshots, and 20 suffered various injuries. Killed were Danilo Arjona, Evangelio, Leopoldo Alonzo, Angelito Guiterrez, Adelfa Aribe, Rodrigo Grampan, Dionisio Bautista, Bernabe Laquindanum, Roberto Caylo, Sonny Boy Perez, Vincent Campomanes, Roberto Yumul, and Ronilo Dumanico.

In the immediate aftermath of the massacre, the peace panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) withdrew from peace talks with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP).

Now, 24 years later, the KMP remains vigilant in demanding justice for the slain and punishment for the masterminds and perpetrators of the massacre.

Ramos, in a statement, called on Mrs. Aquino’s son, the incumbent president, to reopen the case and support the conduct of a full-blown and independent probe. The KMP has also issued the same call to former presidents Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when they were in power, but the call was met with silence. All these years, the group said, justice has been denied the victims, their families, and the rest of the protestors who could have been killed in the attack.

Flashback to Cory government’s Citizen’s Mendiola Commission

Back in 1987, Cory Aquino issued Administrative Order No. 1, which created a body to investigate the massacre. Called the Citizens’ Mendiola Commission, the body later absolved the security forces involved in the brutal attack that left so many dead. It was composed of retired Supreme Court Justice Vicente Abad Santos as chairman, retired Supreme Court Justice Jose Y. Feria as member and Antonio U. Miranda. Created on January 22, 1987, it was tasked to submit its findings no later than February 7, 1987..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/01/14/farmers-urge-noynoy-to-reopen-mendiola-massacre-case/

2 extravagant peas in a pod EDITORIAL 01/15/2011

2 extravagant peas in a pod

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

01/15/2011
Gloria Arroyo and a big number of congressmen accompanying her on her trip to New York who dined at the posh Le Cirque a little over a year ago, received a severe bashing — mainly from the Yellows who were keeping tabs on Cory Aquino’s last days — with accusations of Gloria’s extravagance, luxurious living and insensitivity amid the poverty gripping the Filipinos.

The dinners didn’t even amount to P4.5 million that Noynoy Aquino splashed on a German sportscar, a Porsche, also in the face of growing poverty and hunger among Filipinos; the flood-stricken victims who have been displaced, with some 40 persons already declared dead; high gasoline prices, higher light rail transit fares and overall higher prices for goods and services. Yet the Yellows aren’t into flailing Noynoy for his extravagance and his gross insensitivity. Talk about double standards they always engage in, when it is their anointed who does just what Gloria did..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110115com1.html