Archive for September, 2007
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Here’s how ZTE scam can nail Arroyo
According to an exclusive report by Malou Mangahas of GMAnews.tv, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had authorized the negotiations and subsequent awarding of the NBN contract to ZTE months before NEDA reviewed and approved it. Senator Mar Roxas, reacting to the news, said Arroyo could now be held liable for the anomalous project. So is this why former NEDA chief Romulo Neri, during the Senate hearings last week, tried his darndest best to shield Arroyo? Read Mangahas’s report here.
Wahyu was silent for six minutes, so, it was my turn to seethe with fury. Then, all of a sudden, he appeared again onscreen. “Hahaha!” he laughed, “I don’t know why you are very pessimistic! I think the Filipino people power was an inspiring thing for peoples in other Asian countries struggling for democracy.” “Inspiring?!” I asked.
Human Rights Watch today released a report saying that it had obtained a copy of a Philippine government blacklist of 504 people who are banned from entering the country. “The Philippine government has the right and duty to protect its citizens from genuine security threats,” said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “But labeling peaceful critics as Al-Qaeda or Taliban only serves to sap public confidence in counter-terror measures and exposes them as a cover for suppressing dissent.”
Banned. Writer Ninotchka Rosca was among those banned by the Bureau of Immigration, citing her alleged ties to the Taliban — a charge Rosca found laughable.
Blogs have officially become agenda-setters (sort of) in national affairs. I thought of this the moment Senator Jamby Madrigal read a portion of ANC correspondent and anchor Ricky Carandang’s Sept. 24 blog entry during yesterday’s Senate hearing on the NBN-ZTE scandal.
The Arroyo administration took a one-two punch on Wednesday. The first blow was former NEDA chief Romulo Neri’s testimony at the Senate hearings that Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos offered him a bribe. The second came from Transparency International, which released that same day its annual Corruption Perceptions Index. In it, the Philippines ranked 131, out of 180 countries that was surveyed, with 1 being the least corrupt and 180 the most corrupt. The Philippines joins the ranks of such countries as Burundi, Honduras, Nepal, Libra and Iran. Last year, the country’s ranked much better, at 121. View the CPI here.
Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo’s name cropped up in a corruption scandal once again. It has barely been a week since the Sandiganbayan found former President Joseph Estrada guilty of plunder and a scandal has erupted again involving the husband of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The Arroyo administration was in short dragged scratching and screaming into arresting and charging Estrada. Once compelled to do so by the forces that had put it in power, it had to go through the motions, but kept its options open, and most probably tried to make some deal with Estrada, including offering him the option of exile instead of a trial.
Seventeen years after my first brush with writing success, here I am writing, as I’ve never done before. Come to think of it, the process of writing is nothing but a surgery of words – suturing loose thoughts, incising ideas to reveal new images, meanings and hidden connections.
Thousands of children are victimized every day and yet few abusers are convicted. Local official frequently arrange a pay off. The sex tourists enjoy protection and impunity from prosecution and we the defenders are the ones prosecuted, we appeal to readers to write to the Philippine Embassy or Department of Justice, Padre Faura, Manila to have the fake charges of libel, made by an American suspect against our social workers, dropped.
Newsbreak magazine has an explosive story on an alleged 10-million peso payoff received by one of the Supreme Court’s justices, Consuelo Ynares-Santiago. According to Newsbreak, the money may have come from people involved in the Piatco case (Santiago dismissed graft the case against former president of Piatco) or in another case involving prime piece of property in Quezon City (Santiago wrote a decision in favor of the new claimants to the property).
Local investors save the day for Mindanao, as they invested more than foreigners did in the first half of 2007. (China led the pack in direct foreign investments.) Most investments were in the power sector, with the Davao region posting the biggest increase.
By CARLOS H. CONDE | PinoyPress
It is ironic that the Arroyo administration, which seemed to have successfully upheld the rule of law through the Estrada verdict and, by doing so, sent a strong signal that it is serious in fighting corruption, is now being regarded as if it were the one on trial. But, according to analysts and critics, there is basis for all this.
Political Bloodbath Continues: Widow of Slain Activist Shot Dead New Wave of Protests Against Charter Change Set in April Comelec’s Automation to Worsen Election Fraud — Watchdog 2008: Another Bad Year for the Philippine Press ‘Unemployment Figures Wrong; Number of Jobless Higher’ ‘Nicole Is Not the Enemy’ ‘Nicole’: ‘My Conscience Bothers Me’ Why Globe Broadband Sucks Big Time Is the Call Center Industry a Bright Spot for New Graduates? 6 Great Ways to Vent Your Frustrations Eating Dirt Is Actually Good For Children Australia Offers 150 Scholarship Slots for Philippines, Asia-Pacific Why Globe Broadband Sucks Big Time
Loreta Saludaga: Hi Maam and Sir.Im Loreta Saludaga.19 years of age.I am taking a BSIT course but it is sad to say... Globe Sucks: Grabe na talaga tong globe broadband ang panget ng service. Ang bilis ma disconnect ang tagal maka... ‘Martsa Kontra Cha-cha’ Set What Are 1109, 9006, and 9369 in Arroyo’s Agenda? Environmentalists Slam Arroyo’s Sellout of Lands to Foreigners Recruiting Militants in Southern Thailand New Round of Oil Price Hikes Hit Greenpeace Water Patrol Dismantles Blockade It’s Battle of Good Vs Evil, Church Leaders Say of Cha-cha Fight Satur: Nograles to Blame for Dispersal of Peasant Camp-Out Philippines: A Journalist on Army Target List, Another Shot, Possibly by Soldier In the Philippines, Targeting Journalists
"Sampayan ng Bayan". During its Third Congress on March 27-28, 2009, members of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-US Chapter staged protest actions against RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement through a "Sampayan ng Bayan" where a clothesline with painted shirts spelling out "JUNK VFA" was wrapped around General MacArthur's statue in Los Angeles, California. (Photo courtesy of Bayan-US)
CANDLES FOR BILLANES Members of Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) and other multisectoral groups held a candle lighting activity on March 13, 2009 at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani to denounce the increasing number of extrajudicial killings in the country; the most recent was environmentalist and anti-mining activist Eliezer Billanes. (Photo by Kalikasan-PNE)
Goodbye, Rebelyn Thousands joined the funeral march for Rebelyn Pitao, the daughter of a top Communist leader, in Davao City on Saturday. The protesters demanded justice for the schoolteacher, who was brutally murdered allegedly by military agents. (Photo by Barry Ohaylan)
PROTEST OVER REBELYN. Hong Kong human rights groups condemn the abduction, torture, rape and killing of Rebelyn Pitao in a picket protest held on March 11, 2009 at the Philippine Consulate General. (Photo courtesy of BAYAN-Hong Kong)
BERDUGO. Posters accusing the 10th Infantry Division of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as "berdugo" (butcher) are posted in major streets in Davao City. The New People's Army (NPA) accused the 10th ID to be behind the killing of 20-year old Rebelyn Pitao, daughter of NPA rebel leader Leoncio Pitao. (Photo by Ruby Thursday More/AKP Images)
Around 10,000 members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) gathered at the football field of Agro-Industrial Foundation College of the Philippines in Davao City on Saturday, March 7, 2009 for their 3rd Grand Summit Gathering with MNLF founding chair Prof. Nur Misuari. Some of the MNLF members traveled from as far away as Zamboanga provinces just for the half day gathering. (Photo by Keith Bacongco/AKP Images)
Teachers Demand Better Wages. Dozens of public-school teachers take to the street of Manila to demand better wages. They also criticized a proposed law that would give soldiers better salaries than those in the civilian bureaucracy. (Photo by arkibongbayan.org)
Beach Boy. A taho (soybean custard) vendor plies his trade in a seemingly desolate landscape, which is actually a beach in Opol, Misamis Oriental. (Photo by Ayi Muallam/PinoyPress)
Lumad Protest. Some 200 indigenous peoples coming from different parts of Mindanao staged a protest at the gate of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Eastern Mindanao Command in Panacan, Davao City, on Monday, March 2, 2009, to denounce the human-rights abuses allegedly perpetrated by the military in the indigenous communities. They also called for the repeal of the Mining Act. (Photo by Keith Bacongco/AKP Images)
Ban Balikatan. Activists from the group BAN Balikatan in Bicol held protest rallies on Feb. 25 to denounce the holding of the US-Philippine Balikatan exercises in the region. They criticized President Arroyo for being a "puppet" of Washington. (Photo courtesy of arkibongbayan.org)
NO to BNPP. Members of the Network Opposed "NO" to Bataan Nuclear Power Plant Revival ask members of the House of Representatives not to support House Bill 4631 which calls for the revival of the mothballed nuclear plant. Environmental and Civil society groups question the safety of nuclear power plants and instead call for the full implementation of the recently passed Renewable Energy Bill. (Photo by Gigie Cruz/AKP Images)
