Pala-isip

From the Inquirer . MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino has appointed actor-director Cesar Montano as a member of the Optical Media Board, replacing violinist John Philip Lesaca. Montano, who unsuccessfully ran for the Senate in the May 2007 under the coalition Team Unity, was appointed as a private sector representative from an industry relying on intellectual property protection. Montano was appointed to a term expiring on March 5, 2013. Aquino also appointed former National Commission for the Culture and Arts commissioner Elmar Ingles to the OMB, replacing Maria Trinidad Villareal. Ingles, who is also the executive director of the Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-aawit, was appointed to the OMB as the representative of consumer organizations. His term expires on June 7, 2013. Montano was a special envoy for art, culture and film-digital and was a commissioner in the Unesco’s national commission of the Philippines. Ingles, on the other hand, is also the execut...

Brilliant article by Inquirer's Conrado de Quiros . Tapos na nga ang Linggo ng Wika, pero hindi pa rin naman tapos ang Buwan ng Wika, pwede pang ihabol ito. At kahit na kantong Tagalog pa rin lang ang alam ko, pipilitin kong mabigyang anyo ang nararamdaman ng bayan ngayon. Baka nga mas angkop ang salitang kanto para dito. Dalawang taon na ang nakakaraan mula ng sinulat ko ang “May araw din kayo” bilang pagtugis sa mga bwisit sa ating buhay. Di pa rin tuluyang nawawala ang mga bwisit na ’yan, pero masasabi na nating “Tapos na ang maliligayang araw n’yo.” Sa totoo, pwede na nga rin nating sabihing “Dumating na ang araw n’yo.” Para ’to sa kanila: Kayong mga nagsasabing lubayan na ang pag-usig sa mga nandaraya, nandarambong, at nagsalaula sa bayan nitong nakaraang dekada dahil ito ay persecution o paninikil at walang magandang naidudulot sa bayan, kami ang lubayan n’yo. Kami ang tantanan n’yo. Kami ang tigilan n’yo. Bumenta na ang dramang ’yan, nilalangaw na sa takilya and sars...

From the Inquirer . Romeo Salvador, one of the two police negotiators in the Aug. 23, 2010, hostage drama, on Tuesday stood on the same spot where last year he was filled with hope that negotiations with the hostage-taker would succeed. “I thought I would just offer a simple prayer, walk to the site and leave. But it was very hard for me. My knees shook and I was trembling as I was walking to the spot,” Salvador said in Filipino. He approached the shrine of flowers and candles—on the exact spot where the tourist bus had stood—intending to offer a prayer and then leave, not wanting to attract the attention of the survivors and relatives of the victims who were holding a remembrance ceremony at the site. But just as Salvador feared, he was recognized by some members of the local and foreign media. A Hong Kong reporter angrily asked him: “Why haven’t you resigned?” Another foreign reporter said: “Why are you still a negotiator?” One local television reporter simply asked, “Why...

I just read this story from the Inquirer about the cheating in the 2004 election. It's interesting, but not surprising. A police officer and his “boys” have come forward saying they stole original election returns (ERs) then kept at the Batasang Pambansa building and replaced these with fake ones to make sure Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would still emerge the winner of the 2004 presidential election in the event of a recount. Senior Supt. Rafael Santiago, now assigned at the Philippine National Police Directorate for Operations in Camp Crame, presented to the Inquirer envelopes bearing the seal of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and containing what he said were original ERs from various areas in Mindanao. Prior to his appointment in Camp Crame, Santiago was relieved as police director of Zambales province. At a meeting on Tuesday evening attended by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Inquirer editors and reporters, Santiago described their coming out as “providential.” ...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer . MANILA, Philippines—Better brush up on geography to prevent getting fooled by hoax text messages and information amid the radiation alert in Japan, the country’s chief volcanologist said Tuesday. “It is important for us to go back to what we've learned in Araling Panlipunan, particularly geography so that we won't be alarmed by such text messages and we can avoid the unnecessary worry,” said Renato Solidum Jr., head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. He said the tsunami alert the Phivolcs raised on the eastern coast of the country following the powerful quake and tsunami that ravaged Japan on Friday, also caused residents in the Philippines' western region to suffer needless panic attacks. Fear also gripped some parts of the country on Monday following false reports that radioactive fallout from crippled nuclear plants in Japan would reach the Philippines. The rumors, which circulated through text messages, sent p...

This is a great article by Conrado De Quiros in the Philippine Daily Inquirer about our culture of corruption. I READ an interesting story last weekend. In Japan, a 19-year-old was arrested in a case that has become a media sensation, producing all sorts of editorials on the subject. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison and a fine of $6,000. His crime? Cheating in college entrance exams. The kid was caught using his cell phone to access the Internet to get answers to questions mainly involving Math problems and translating passages from Japanese to English. Someone saw the site postings, noted that the dates coincided with the exam days, and notified the university, triggering an investigation. The kid readily confessed to the wrongdoing. An investigation is underway to see if this was merely an isolated incident or had been done by others. “It’s not a mere cheating case,” Mainichi said in an editorial. “The impact of the wrongful use of the Internet, capable of massivel...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer . HONG KONG – (UPDATE 4) The court should impose a lower sentence on Congressman Ronald Singson who has been charged with possession of illegal drugs and be allowed to go back to the Philippines, his lawyer said Wednesday. At the resumption of the hearing before Judge Joseph Yau of the Wan Chai District Court No. 4, John Reading, who is pushing for a reduction on the two-year jail term that his client is facing, cited the mitigating factors that should influence the court to impose the lesser penalty for Singson such as: • pleading guilty to drug trafficking and public expression of remorse; • Undergoing rehabilitation; • Prospects of expulsion from the Philippine Congress; and • Wide media coverage of the case in the Philippines. Reading said his plea for considerable reduction in sentence was based on evidence of his client’s good character and statement that he has no intention to commit the same crime again here. Reading also said the aggravating ...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer. MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE 4) Former Armed Forces Chief and Defense Secretary Angelo Tomas Reyes on Tuesday morning committed suicide by shooting himself in front of the grave of his mother at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City. He was 65. A close friend of Reyes called the Philippine Daily Inquirer to break the news, while Colonel Boogie De Leon, a former administrative officer of Reyes when he was AFP chief, said Reyes was rushed to the Quirino Hospital at about 7:45 a.m. to revive him. Members of his family could not be reached for comment. De Leon said that Reyes’s son Jett called him up to inform him of the incident. Reyes, who earlier suffered a mild stroke before the congressional investigations on the alleged AFP financial irregularities, said he could not take anymore the smear campaign against his name and his family. “Not my family,” he said. Reyes, who loved his mother very much when she was still alive, earlier told the Philippin...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer. SPEAKER FELICIANO Belmonte Jr. said the House of Representatives will initiate an “ethics investigation” into the case of Ilocos Sur Rep. Ronald Singson. Several legislators have called for the expulsion of Singson after reports surfaced that he would plead guilty to the lesser offense of drug possession before a court in Hong Kong, where police have lodged the graver charge of drug trafficking. Reports have it that Singson would be facing a charge of “disorderly behavior,” which Belmonte says could be meted out the maximum penalty of expulsion. Right off, accusing Singson of “disorderly behavior” seems rather underwhelming. “Disorderly behavior” would cover, say, a member of Congress slapping the House sergeant-at-arms at the height of an impeachment vote; or a Muslim member of Congress slapping a waiter over the alleged offense of serving pancit cooked with pork. (Neither of these cases, by the way, merited either an investigation or a reprimand.) ...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer. IT IS a testament to the resilience of feudal politics that Ilocos Sur Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson has defended shamelessly his son, Representative Ronald Singson, over calls for the latter’s expulsion from the House of Representatives in connection with the drug charges he is facing in Hong Kong. The congressman was arrested by customs officers at Hong Kong’s international airport in July and later charged with carrying a vial of cocaine weighing about 26 grams in his hand luggage. In an instance of non sequitur and a betrayal of his ignorance about the legislative system despite having been a member of the House of Representatives himself, the governor challenged his son’s detractors to expel first fugitive Senator Panfilo Lacson, who’s outside the jurisdiction of the House. The statement shows that Chavit Singson will do everything to deflect the blows against his son. To some, this is but a touching paternal gesture, but to most, it is nothing...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer . MANILA, Philippines—Hubert Webb and six others were acquitted Tuesday of the grisly 1991 Vizconde massacre by the Supreme Court, which thrashed the testimony of the prosecution’s star witness Jessica Alfaro as “incredible and unbelievable.” So, who did it? Who murdered Estrellita Vizconde and her daughters Jennifer, 7, and Carmela, 18, who was raped before being stabbed to death? Voting 7-4, the high court acquitted Webb, Antonio Lejano, Michael Gatchalian, Hospicio Fernandez, Miguel Rodriguez, Peter Estrada and Gerardo Biong “for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.” All of them have been released. Biong, a former policeman convicted of destroying the evidence at the crime scene, was freed two weeks ago after having completed his sentence. The decision does not cover two other accused, Joey Filart and Artemio Ventura, who have remained at large. The high court’s 38-page decision to acquit Webb et al. revolved mai...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer. ========================= MANILA, Philippines—Controversial television host Willie Revillame who captured a massive following here and abroad via his former “Wowowee” show on ABS-CBN, is promising bigger and better prizes for his new show on a rival station, despite his legal battle with his former network. Among the daily prizes are a fully furnished house and lot, P1 million in cash, a brand new car and scholarships for the children of the winning family in one segment called “Family Appear.” He added that participants from the audience in the studio could win as much as P50,000. The new show is conceptualized not just to entertain, but mainly to give hope to the viewing public. “This is my legacy to the viewers—to give them hope that their dreams could come true,” Revillame said. Revillame said prizes and gifts of his new show “Willing-Willie,” slated for launch on Oct. 23 on TV5, would exceed those of his former noontime show. “We will have bigge...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer . THE BANK OFFICIAL reported to have made off with at least P300 million in deposits of mostly Chinese-Filipino clients is said to enjoy the high life. Francis Bryan Ang, who has been relieved of his post as assistant vice president of Citibank’s Citigold wealth management unit, is “addicted to new and shiny things,” according to a schoolmate at Xavier School. “Maybe he got a taste of the high life, liked it, but found he couldn’t afford it. So this is what he did,” said the schoolmate who asked not to be named for security reasons. But Ang’s father, Manila Councilor Bernie Ang, told the Inquirer that his son was being persecuted in an effort to prevent him from exposing purported irregularities in the American banking giant. “There is a concerted effort to destroy him because Bryan was about to expose something he could not take...He was about to reveal those things and told the management about what he found wrong in the system, and they jumped the ...

Here's an article by Ramon Tulfo that explains quite well why Filipinos are posing and smiling after the hostage crisis last Monday. According to Ramon Tulfo. The reason bloody incidents like the one at Rizal Park and tragedies such as typhoon “Ondoy” keep recurring is that Filipinos take misfortunes like a joke. We make jokes about other people’s miseries and mistakes. One day after the Rizal Park incident, jokes about the bumbling cops involved in the rescue started circulating. The acronym SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) had taken on different meanings: Sorry We Aren’t Trained. Sugod, Wait, Atras, Tago (Attack, Wait, Retreat, Hide) Sana Wag Ako Tamaan (Hope I don’t get hit) Sobrang Wala Akong Training (I’m very much ill-trained) Here’s a wry comment from a friend about the incident: “The Luneta massacre shows that our policemen are trained for HOSTESS-TAKING, not hostage-taking,” an obvious reference to cops who raid sleazy bars and force bar girls to have sex with them. The...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer . ====================== MANILA, Philippines—Authorities and water distributors are considering tapping Laguna Lake and other new sources for the water needs of Metro Manila, which has been hit by rationing because of the very low level of Angat Dam, the metropolis’ main source of drinking water. Maynilad Water Services Inc. has resorted to rotating water interruptions in large swaths of its west zone concession area over the past several days. Its counterpart in the east zone, Manila Water Co., is mulling water rationing in the coming weeks as rainfall is expected to normalize only by September. Maynilad Water has started drawing water from Laguna Lake, the country’s largest lake, for its customers in Muntinlupa City since June. Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said the government was looking for alternative sources of water like Laguna Lake, Marikina River and Pampanga River to mitigate the effects of the drought. ====================== So a c...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer . ====================== MANILA, Philippines—Presiding over his first disaster management briefing, President Benigno Aquino III Wednesday took to task the weather bureau for its failure to notify the public that Typhoon “Basyang” (international codename: Conson) would directly hit Metro Manila. Officials from various agencies reported to Mr. Aquino the extent of the typhoon’s damage and the steps taken to normalize the situation at the emergency meeting of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in Camp Aguinaldo. After listening to an update by weather bureau chief Prisco Nilo, Mr. Aquino wondered aloud why the bureau failed to update its bulletin on the typhoon’s track. The President said that contrary to the last bulletin of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) on Tuesday that Basyang would make land fall in Aurora, it struck the metropolis, toppling power lines and trees. Significant ...

Well this is a first. The SUV bearing President Benigno Aquino III, along with the PSG vehicles, stops on a red light at the intersection of Quezon Boulevard and Araneta Avenue in Quezon City on its way to Malacañang on Tuesday. If President Noynoy Aquino has no other achievement other than stopping at red lights and now abusing his authority for the rest of his term. Then he's got my respect. Yes, I'm easy to please considering how every government official no matter how lowly they are abuses their authority. Meanwhile... MANILA, Philippines—All eyes seemed to be on the country’s No. 2 man ever since President Benigno Aquino III, as part of his inaugural pledge to lead by example, ordered his escorts to strictly obey traffic rules. And so Vice President Jejomar Binay apologized to the public Tuesday after a TV footage showed his security convoy beating the red light in Quezon City the previous day. “The Vice President apologized to all motorists who may have been inconvenien...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer . MANILA, Philippines—It’s official. It’s final. As widely expected, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III of the Liberal Party won the presidential election by a landslide, results of the final tabulation by Congress show. (See tally) Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay of PDP-Laban defeated Sen. Manuel Roxas II, ending the cliffhanger in the vice presidential race. Aquino and Binay are scheduled to be proclaimed Wednesday at the Batasang Pambansa complex in Quezon City. A 50-year-old bachelor and economics graduate, Aquino will officially become the country’s 15th president on June 30. He will replace President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who ran and won a House seat after a turbulent nine-year rule. Aquino’s victory reflected the public’s longing to fill a moral vacuum in a country plagued by corruption, poverty and violence. For many voters, it’s been nearly a quarter century of disappointment since his mother President Cory Aquino helped restore democracy in the ...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer . ======================= MANILA, Philippines—The next president will no longer enjoy the power of the pork that his predecessor did by virtue of a key provision inserted into the General Appropriations Act of 2010, a development that could help determine the leadership and alignments in the incoming 15th Congress. The hands of presumptive president-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III will be tied by Section 67 of the law, which calls for a “prohibition against impoundment of appropriations,” Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman of Lakas-Kampi-CMD said Thursday. The provision prevents the president from withholding the release of a budget allocation without the approval of both the Senate and the House of Representatives by a simple majority of the quorum. Lagman, vice chair of the powerful House appropriations committee, said he introduced the provision during the 2009 budget deliberations to “protect the appropriations” approved by Congress. The pork barrel, forma...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer . ====================== Sen. Manny Villar called Fe Barin, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Francis Lim, then president of the Philippine Stock Exchange, many times sometime between May and June 2007, the Philippine Daily Inquirer has learned. But the calls, according to SEC and PSE lawyers and brokers interviewed by the Inquirer on separate occasions, were “too many to be easily dismissed and forgotten.” They couldn’t forget about the calls either, they said, most especially because Villar, then Senate President, wanted the SEC and PSE officials “to throw the exchange rules out the window.” Villar was seeking the release from escrow of about 1.2 billion of the 5.3 billion secondary shares of Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. in June 2007 so these could be offered both as primary and secondary shares at the same time, or several days apart. The Senate President not only made the calls, he also appeared before SEC and PSE board meet...