Pala-isip

Can you really blame the Filipino people from being pissed off and frustrated at the government? Post by Filipinos Abroad - Ramil T. Queroyla .

Last Saturday, after an official visit to Cebu and instead of boarding a flight back to Manila, Sec. Robredo took a private plane en route to his hometown of Naga City so he can watch one of his daughters receive an award from a swimming competition. However, his plane encountered engine trouble and crash landed in the waters off Masbate. Two pilots also perished in the accident while his aide managed to be rescued. A sad day for the Philippines. Source

The continuing comedy of the Philippine Senate and the Corona Impeachment trial. Atty. Vitaliano Aguirre - How could you respect a person when that person herself does not show respect? Sen. Miriam Santiago said the prosecutors were "anyayabang, anggagago naman (conceited, stupid)" for saying that they already have a strong case against Corona. "When I heard the news yesterday, I felt like creeping back to bed and adopting a fetal position, which is the normal reaction of any sane person when he's faced with a world that is crumbling around him. I no longer know what universe I'm in because I've spent 5 years of my miserable adult life in trial court day after day after day hearing civil, criminal cases and special proceedings but I've never seen this done to a judge before," she said. ============================ The impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona was momentarily suspended on Wednesday afternoon after Senator Miriam Defens...

From the Inquirer . After some hemming and hawing, Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr. on Wednesday finally confirmed he and a Philippine Savings Bank branch manager, Anabelle Tiongson, had met before. In a phone interview over Radyo Inquirer prompted by a photograph that appeared in the social network Facebook on Monday, Tupas confirmed he and Tiongson met at a wedding held 25 years ago. In the picture, a man wearing a barong Tagalog—identified as Tupas—and a woman in an off-shoulder gown— supposedly Tiongson—are shown flanking a young, newlywed couple. Asked if he had seen the picture, Tupas said in Filipino: “It was shown to me yesterday, so I remembered. I was 15, that was 25 years ago.” He maintained, however, he did not know that Tiongson was the same woman who was in the photo with him as part of a wedding entourage. “You don’t really get to know the other people in such occasions,” he said. The head of the prosecution panel in the impeachment trial of Chief Just...

From ABS-CBN News . MANILA, Philippines - House chief prosecutor Niel Tupas Jr. on Wednesday denied rumors that he has multimillion-peso accounts in Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank). Text messages circulated on Wednesday said Tupas has a P158-million time deposit, a P36-million savings account and a P5.22-million current account at PSBank Katipunan branch. PSBank Katipunan is the same branch where Chief Justice Renato Corona had P19 million in savings as of December 2010, according to bank records. Tupas said efforts to link him to PSBank Katipunan and its manager, Annabel Tiongson, insinuate that he was able to procure bank documents for Corona's impeachment trial. He denied ever setting foot at PSBank Katipunan or meeting Tiongson. "Wala po akong bank account sa PSBank," he said. "I have never met Tiongson until she appeared on the witness stand." Sen Jinggoy Estrada, however, said he does not believe that Tiongson and Tupas do not know each othe...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer . ================== MANILA, Philippines—Angered by a bill in the United States Congress seeking to strip the Philippines of $2 million in US military assistance due purportedly to the country’s dismal human rights record, Sen. Joker Arroyo wants the issue taken up by Filipino officials during the two-day visit to Manila this week of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “We should ask her (Clinton) directly, why is it that you’re removing the military assistance that is not even a big amount—because you say that the Philippines is a human rights violator,” Arroyo said in an interview over dzBB radio. Arroyo said America had a worse human rights record than the Philippines. “If you look at yourselves in the mirror, you will see that you are even a worse violator, because it’s a state policy sanctioned by the (US) government,” he said. Arroyo said that in the case of the Philippines, it was possible that human rights violations were being committed by...

With regards to the blog post of Ella that I reposted . Here is a statement from Dr. Esperaza Cabral of the DSWD. I may be cynical about the Philippine government, but I believe in fair and balanced news. I just hope that what Dr. Esperanza Cabral said is true. ===================== Statement of Dr. Esperanza Cabral on the issue of relief goods in the DSWD Warehouse October 23, 2009 The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) manages the National Relief Operations Center (NROC) which is the facility for processing and storage of relief goods that are purchased by the Department or donated to us by generous individuals both here and abroad. The relief goods are released to our Regional Offices or directly to evacuation centers or to the local government units as they are needed and requested by these entities. They are delivered in trucks, many of which were lent to us by private companies or by military vehicles. Some of the goods are shipped by air from nearby Vil...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Environment Secretary Lito Atienza may not be able to send 1,000 erring mayors to jail for operating garbage dumps but he can still sue them. In a statement issued Tuesday, Joey Papa of the Bangon Kalikasan Movement said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is authorized to issue cease-and-desist orders against violators of the country’s environmental laws. If Atienza fails to do this, he should resign, Papa said. Yeah, good luck with that. He sues the mayors, he losses his chance to run for higher office. I find it funny how Atienza became environment secretary. This from a guy who practically paved over all of Metro Manila. Remember Plaza Binondo? Instead of rehabilitating it with greenery, he paved it over and put tiles all over. Now there's no grass and trees to clean the air and no plants to take away the rainfall. When it rains, the tiles are very slippery. What a dumb idea. If his main concern was the squatters living there,...

Several articles on the Philippine Daily Inquirer have been talking about the flooding caused by Typhoon Ondoy in Metro Manila on Sept 26, 2009 like this one that says nine hours would have made a difference and this one where it says flood forces developers to back off . I especially like this one where Marikina Mayor says they have learned their lessons . All I can say is, "Ngayon pa!" Why do these people always wait until some huge calamity happens before they learn their lesson? These are not new things. These problems has always been there in some small way. But a study done back in the 1970s has already warned government of these potential once in a hundred years event. I really like what Marikina City Mayor Marides Fernando (wife of MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernado) says. Lesson No. 1: No more excuses and favors for riverside squatters living in danger zones. “This time around we’ll be very strict. I think now people have no reason to resist when we ask them to move out ...

Excerpts from an article on the Philippine Daily Inquirer. ============ “It’s plain incompetence of the leadership, and government was absent,” said Sen. Loren Legarda. The National Disaster Coordinating Center (NDCC), she said, “clearly has no action plan.” Legarda called for a review of NDCC activities. “Can they say they don’t have money or power (to mitigate the) effects of disasters? Of course not,” the senator said, pointing out that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has an annual P2-billion “calamity fund.” “What sticks out from the aftermath of Ondoy is that the Arroyo government is not prepared to handle such emergency situations. It is very clear that those who were stranded overwhelmingly outnumber available rubber boats and members of rescue teams,” said KMU chair Elmer Labog in a statement. Labog said the television and radio ads by Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. on disaster preparedness proved a waste of taxpayers’ money. “Clearly, the government is not putting wh...

An article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports that Catholic educational institutions are seeking exemption from a provision in the new Magna Carta of Women banning the dismissal of unwed mothers from employment or school. Monsignor Gerardo Santos, national president of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP), said the CEAP would ask that a provision on such an exemption be inserted into the new law’s implementing rules and regulations. He said the chairman of the Commission on Higher Education(CHEd), Emmanuel Angeles, has said he would support the CEAP’s participation in the writing of the IRR. “It is important that we respect the religious affiliation of these institutions, the schools, or company the persons [concerned] belong to,” Santos told the CEAP national convention at the Manila Hotel. Wow...how narrow minded can people be. Even the CHEd chairman is stupid for supporting the CEAP. As head of a government institution, he should be the first to unde...

Anybody read this article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer? Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez issued a memorandum circular that would make it difficult for people to get copies of the Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth of government officials. This is the latest move by the Arroyo government to hamper access to information of public concern. Wow...just wow. So instead of investigating why Mikey Arroyo has an inflated net worth. The Ombudsman instead issues a memorandum so that nobody can look into his SALN anymore. That way, there's nothing to investigate. No evidence, no investigation, no expose. Nothing for the media or anyone to throw at Mikey to make a fool of himself anymore. Makes sense. If anybody still doubts that Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez is working for the benefit of the Arroyo family. This confirms it. It's unconstitutional to issue this kind of memorandum. Unconstitutional because the Constitution recognizes “the right of the people to informati...

Here's a summary of Aga Muhlach's interview on Straight Talk. Kind of old, but still relevant. Here's the full interview.

Someone called me a hypocrite today because I posted a link to Conrado de Quiros ' column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. She said that "Isn't it enough that you left the Philippines because you hate the country so much? Given that that's the case, why not just lay off all in constantly condemning the country of your birth. You're such a hypocrite!" She called me a hypocrite. No, I'm not a hypocrite. Asshole, maybe. Jerk, sometimes. Dumb ass...come to think of it, my wife calls me that a lot. But no, certainly not a hypocrite. Let's see now...according to the dictionary, this is the meaning of the word hypocrite. Hypocrite - a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs. So a hypocrite is a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc that he does not actually posses. Let's see now...

In this article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Malacanang Palace is slamming the media on why they are quibbling over a few thousand dollars when, according to them, GMA has brought in billions of dollars in investments in return. On the article, it says “Whatever monies may have been spent for the appropriately ceremonious conduct of her official trip abroad are but a tiny fraction of the billions of pesos she has committed, and will continue to commit, to the alleviation of hunger and the amelioration of poverty in our country,” Anthony Golez, a deputy spokesperson of Ms Arroyo, said Thursday, reading from a statement at a media briefing. What does that the dinner have to do with the investments and the billions committed to alleviate hunger? This just shows how numb and insensitive they are. The Palace said that the dinner was paid for by Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez who had footed the bill at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse in Washington. If it was a Philippine Congressman that footed the ...

Reading the Philipine Daily Inquirer today, I just can't help but admire the gall of the politicians and government employees today. Take a look at this article by Juan Mercado on how GMA is keeping silent over her plans in 2010. Not only that, it seems that her silence has infected other government officials like Presidential Commission on Good Government Chair Camilo Sabio is doing the same thing when he was asked by Senator Juan Ponce Enrile about his trip to Europe with his family and entourage on whether government sequestered fund where used. His answer? “I’ll answer questions at the proper time and at the proper forum”. This is the kind of government the Philippines have to live with. A government with no accountability. The silence is deafening.