TAGA-ILOG NEWS

‘Ap-piece-ment’

2012-10-12T18:49:00.000+05:00

Written by Herman Tiu Laurel
Friday, 12 October 2012 00:00

The acknowledged territory of the Republic of the Philippines has since Edsa I been apportioned to foreign countries: a piece here, a piece there. Sabah, ARMM and now the expanded Bangsamoro and the Sulu Sea. This is “ap-piece-ment” of the Republic to the foreign powers and interests. Led by a scion of the Yellow ruling class, the country now submits again the Filipino people to humiliation and imperial victimization again in an onerous, destructive ceding of Cotabato City, Isabela City, and the municipalities of Baloi, Munai, Nunungan, Pantar, Tagoloan and Tangkal in Lanao del Norte province, barangays from Kabacan, Carmen, Aleosan, Pigkawayan, Pikit and Midsayap towns in Cotabato City, and the greatest prize of all — the Sulu Sea where Exxonmobile and others have has set its eyes on.

GRP peace panel negotiator Marvic Leonen says no foreign influence figured in the peace deal, but not so secret “dirty little secret” is that the USIP (United Institute for Peace) led by J. Robinson West of the largest energy consulting firm PFC Energy, has its dirty hand all over it. Leonen’s prevarication shows that the peace talk panel representing the Philippines and its work deserves no respect from the Filipino people as the panel is devoid of integrity. The peace talks are an expensive sham. The UNDP stepped up to gift the major Philippine peace panel negotiator an N-Peace Network award, to reinforce the respectability of this ap-piece-ment and the negotiators who carved off more pieces of Filipino flesh to the Western oil interest. UN agencies are invariably used as tools of US and Western powers to legitimize imperial projects with such honorific blessings, such as in Kosovo which was wrest from Serbia.

The other title for this article is “Pipsqueak Leaders,” highlighting how small or insignificant this country’s leadership is before the subterfuges and pressures of the US and Britain (represented by client Malaysia) to negotiate away 75 percent of the economic wealth of the country. As the rebel MILF band’s vice chief for Political Affairs Ghadzali Jaafar told the Philippines over a radio interview their 75 percent share is non-negotiable. Ninety percent of that 75 percent will go to the US and Britain while crumbs will be thrown to the likes of Jaafar empowering them to be little potentates like the US surrogates in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, etc. Can Bangsamoro ever become a developed state? Not in anyone’s lifetime. It’ll be just like feudal, archaic Middle Eastern kingdoms the US controls and ready when needed to be used to control US hegemony as the potentates do in the Middle East.

Pipsqueak Philippine media pushes “ap-piece-ment,” too: from Inquirer: “The glowing praises are richly deserved. After a protracted internecine war, one that has brought untold suffering on Muslim Mindanao, there’s real hope the war may finally end.”

What about he “untold suffering” of Filipino soldiers who fought to defend all Filipinos’ sovereignty and the Filipinos’ continuing impoverishment with the looting of 75 percent of its economic wealth in the Sulu Sea?
In the Philippine Star one writes, “Leonen has convinced me from a distance that it is providential the Bangsamoro will be born during the watch of President Aquino whose only concern is peace and prosperity for the people of Mindanao … Since I see no alternative, I am willing to take my chance with it.” Providential my eye, curses instead: Cory Aquino gave Sabah away; BS Aquino III cedes even more territories.

No alternative? The alternative is clear — defend national sovereignty over all our territory undisputed in any international forum. President Marcos defended that sovereignty, won and laid the basis for a durable peace with the Tripoli Agreement; but after he was deposed in 1986 by the conspiracy of the US and local oligarchs, the US stooge who succeeded him, Corazon Aquino, returned to the country the leader of the defeated MNLF and reinvigorated the secession movement. Likewise, under President Estrada the MILF was demolished at Camp Abubakar and its leader Hashim Salamat fled to Malaysia and beseeched US President Bush to restore him in Mindanao. When Estrada was deposed by the same forces that deposed Marcos, the Edsa II successor Gloria Arroyo restored the MILF to its former glory. Forgetting is not an option.

Two years back I wrote “The Traitor Class,” about the Yellows cabal in Philippine politics that serve as handmaiden of the foreign powers. While that class runs the show in the country the Philippines will never win any of its struggles against the imperial and neo-colonial powers. How I envy those countries in Latin America that are already in the process of successfully throwing off the yoke of colonialism by nationalizing foreign resource-extraction and public utilities corporations, striking independent foreign policies, respecting each other’s sovereignty, opposing foreign interventionism. Venezuela just overwhelmed the US sponsored presidential candidate for Hugo Chavez. In the Philippines, time will come when we can revisit the Mindanao issues and recreate a truly just peace that keeps the national intact for all Filipinos benefit and welfare.

(Watch Destiny Cable GNN’s HTL edition channhttp://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/item/5485-%E2%80%98ap-piece-ment%E2%80%99el 8, Saturdays, 8:15 to 9 p.m., replay 11:15 p.m. and Sunday, and on www.gnntv-asia.com: this week “Filipino Homegrown Franchises Expo”; tune to 1098AM radio Tuesday to Friday 5 to 6 p.m. http://newkatipunan.blogspot.com)

May pahintulot ng pagsipi mula kay Ka Mentong

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/item/5485-%E2%80%98ap-piece-ment%E2%80%99

Devil and the deep blue sea Written by Tribune Editorial Tuesday, 07 August 2012 00:00

2012-08-06T20:50:00.000+05:00

Devil and the deep blue sea

Written by Tribune Editorial
Tuesday, 07 August 2012

It would be an unenviable situation that congressmen allies of Noynoy will find themselves in today as the House votes on the Reproductive Health (RH) bill since it seems that they are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Their position becomes more precarious as the House majority leader pushed nominal voting for the bill instead of the mere raising of hands.

The majority leader claimed that nominal voting bespeaks of transparency, rather than a viva voce vote.

That could well be true. However, given that Noynoy is pushing the congressional enactment of the RH bill, nominal voting could very well have something to do with knowing just who voted for, or against it, as it is generally known that when the Malacañang resident wants a congressional vote on a measure he wants passed, great are the Palace rewards for the congressmen who go along with what Noynoy wants.
Noynoy tried to marshall his forces in a caucus yesterday, worried that the vote today would be marred by absences after the Church gave those who will vote in favor of the bill something to think about related to next year’s elections after the prayer rally at Edsa Shrine against the bill which is evidently a show of force by the bishops on the Church’s diminished but still potent clout..... MORE

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/editorial/item/2582-devil-and-the-deep-blue-sea

Waiting for Noynoy’s order? Written by Ninez Cacho-Olivares

2012-08-06T20:20:00.000+05:00

Waiting for Noynoy’s order?

Written by Ninez Cacho-Olivares
Tuesday, 07 August 2012

Presidential pressure must certainly be piling up on the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to amend its rule on disqualifying nominees and candidates for positions in the Supreme Court (SC) and include Noynoy’s favorite bet for the chief justice position, Leila de Lima in the shortlist, despite the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) having categorically stated that the disbarment cases against her will be pursued.

Noynoy’s pressure on the JBC has become much too evident, considering the fact that the JBC has again postponed its voting for the selection of the candidates scheduled yesterday. His loyal ally, Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., has already prepared an amendment to change the JBC rule on disqualification, for De Lima’s benefit.
The body claimed that, with the re-entry of the two members of Congress in the JBC, more time is needed for them to review and assess the qualifications of the nominees to be included in the shortlist which would be submitted to the President..... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/item/2581-waiting-for-noynoy%E2%80%99s-order?

Swarm of bees tells Hillary Clinton to 'buzz off'

2012-08-06T20:00:00.000+05:00

Swarm of bees tells Hillary Clinton to 'buzz off'

Hillary Clinton’s six-and-a-half hour trip to Malawi literally went by in a buzz. The US Secretary of State has received not-so-warm welcomes from several countries she’s visited, but in Malawi she was reportedly chased onto her plane.

Chased onto herhttp://www.rt.com/news/hillary-clinton-bees-mawali-962/ plane by a swarm of bees, that is.

Clinton ran for cover and boarded her jet to escape the bees, which attacked her at Malawi’s international airport, the local Nyasa Times quotes witnesses as saying. The Secretary was preparing to board a Johannesburg-bound flight when the stinging swarm forced her to make a quicker entry than planned..... MORE

Source: RT.com

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/

Twitter impostor: Hacked Reuters account says Washington, al-Qaeda allied

2012-08-06T19:30:00.000+05:00

Twitter impostor: Hacked Reuters account says Washington, al-Qaeda allied

Just two days after phony posts appeared on Reuters’ blog, the agency’s Twitter account was also hacked. Once again, the hoax tweets informed readers of rebel losses in Syria, and reported fake White House admissions of supporting al-Qaeda.

Many of the tweets were sensational, but fraudulent statements coming out of the White House.

“Obama takes Al Qaeda off list of terrorist organisation, says Al Qaeda no longer a threat to US interests,” the Reuters Tech account tweeted Sunday..... MORE

Source: RT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/reuters-twitter-account-hack-931/

Tobacco tax rise = smuggling increase

2012-08-06T19:00:00.000+05:00

Tobacco tax rise = smuggling increase

Written by Jonathan de la Cruz
Monday, 06 August 2012

With news of increased smuggling activities all over the place, the latest being the now celebrated(?) rice smuggling in Subic and the multibillion-peso smuggling of meat products, it behooves Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and his associates, in and out of the agency, to review their oft repeated promises that they will be able to ward off smuggling of other products, especially cigarettes and tobacco as they try to railroad passage of the questionable “Sin Tax” law increasing excise tax on these items which most experts believe will result in smuggling. The experience of many countries including the United States is instructive.

More than five years ago, 27 states in the US decided to raise taxes on tobacco in a move to pump revenue into their cash strapped treasuries. The state officials had the shock of their lives. Not only did the cash increases hardly materialize, a fresh scourge cropped up before their very eyes. Michigan’s Mackinac Center for Public Policy which closely tracks tobacco tax rates across the United States noted that the increases “inspired an increasingly dangerous cigarette industry where big profits lured criminal gangs and drug traffickers into the booming markets.” The Center noted that smuggling is an “unintended consequence of high cigarette taxes.” .... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/item/2494-tobacco-tax-rise-=-smuggling-increase

Lawbreakers Written by Dinah S. Ventura

2012-08-06T18:30:00.000+05:00

Lawbreakers

Written by Dinah S. Ventura
Monday, 06 August 2012

Another young man has lost his life undergoing a “rite of passage” that has been deemed unlawful.

Marc Andrei Marcos, law student, in joining a law school fraternity, went through an initiation process that, in the end, took rather than gave him a future.

His family grieves, concerned citizens are righteously indignant, and the authorities are in the thick of investigations. The news reveals that some 20 individuals may be involved in the death of young Marcos.

Government officials have reiterated that hazing is against the law. “It is a heinous crime under the law. In fact, it is non-bailable,” said Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III, officer in charge of the Department of Justice (DoJ), in a Daily Tribune report last Aug. 2.

For this non-bailable offense, students of the law are, ironically, risking their future in order to help assure themselves of a future..... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/item/2493-lawbreakers

Frat culture Written by Aldrin Cardona Monday, 06 August 2012 00:00

2012-08-06T18:00:00.000+05:00

Frat culture

Written by Aldrin Cardona
Monday, 06 August 2012

Our country was born through the blood and sacrifices of fraternity members.
The Katipunan was envisioned as a frat, called brotherhood at the time, with Bonifacio — the Supreme Leader — entailing sacrifices and millenarian practices for acceptance and leadership even at the time of his death at the hands of his own “brothers,” or fratmates if we are to call them now.

Frats have served the country well during dire straits.

The RAM stood up against Marcos when this brotherhood of soldiers realized he had gone too far. The Magdalo banded together to demand Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s ouster. Many university frat members have joined the underground under a testy political situation with many of them sacrificing their lives for their causes.

Each Filipino family has a relative in a fraternity. Each province or region has its own amalgamation of brotherhoods and sisterhoods, called sororities. Majority of communities have them. The Catholic church has several confraternities and is open about it..... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/item/2492-frat-culture

Noynoy calls House caucus to assure RH bill passage

2012-08-06T17:30:00.000+05:00

Noynoy calls House caucus to assure RH bill passage

Written by Fernan J. Angeles
Monday, 06 August 2012

WORRIED OVER ABSENCES OF ALLIES AFTER CHURCH RALLY

Apparently wanting to assure the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill two days after the Catholic Church made a grand reminder to legislators about its still potent political clout, President Aquino called a caucus among Liberal Party (LP) members in the House of Representatives at Malacañang on the eve of the voting for the bill.

Some House members expressed fears that several legislators may resort to disappearing acts during the day of the vote to prevent being targeted by the Church during next year’s elections.

In a text message sent by the Office of Communications Assistant Secretary Renato Marfil, the caucus is scheduled at 1 p.m. today. However, there wasn’t any agenda indicated in the text advisory regularly sent to Palace reporters for reference. Even Aquino’s deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte confirmed the caucus but did not give further details about the event..... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/headlines/item/2553-noynoy-calls-house-caucus-to-assure-rh-bill-passage

UN applies pressure on Noy for RH enactment

2012-08-06T17:00:00.000+05:00

UN applies pressure on Noy for RH enactment

Written by Fernan J. Angeles
Monday, 06 August 2012

The pressure is mounting on President Aquino from opposite sides over the Reproductive Health (RH) bill as the United Nations warned yesterday that failure to pass the birth control law could reverse gains in development goals a day after the powerful Catholic Church flexed its muscles through a massive rally against the measure that goes to a vote tomorrow.

The bill seeks to make it mandatory for the government to provide free contraceptives in a country where more than 80 percent of the population is Catholic and which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in Southeast Asia.

Ugochi Daniels, country representative from the UN Population Fund, said she remained “cautiously optimistic” that President Aquino’s allies who dominate the House of Representatives could muster the numbers to pass the bill on Tuesday after 14 years of often divisive debate.

“What is important now is to highlight the urgency of the bill,” Daniels said..... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/headlines/item/2551-un-applies-pressure-on-noy-for-rh-enactment

DENR OKs gas, mineral search in Benham Rise Written by PNA Monday, 06 August 2012 00:00

2012-08-06T16:30:00.000+05:00

DENR OKs gas, mineral search in Benham Rise

Written by PNA
Monday, 06 August 2012

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Ramon Paje said on Thursday the Department of Energy (DoE) can now explore the seabed of Benham Rise for possible natural gas and other mineral resources.

Paje revealed this as he included in the DENR’s performance review in the Senate the approval of the Philippines’ claim on the jurisdiction over the seabed resources in Benham Rise area by the United Nation on April 12.

”It’s now ours. The UN has agreed. It’s already ours. The DoE can take the ball if they want to,” Paje said.
Paje told the Senate committee on finance that the Benham Rise is rich in manganese and possibly, other minerals and natural gas..... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/nation/item/2538-denr-oks-gas-mineral-search-in-benham-rise

DENR OKs gas, mineral search in Benham Rise

2012-08-06T16:00:00.000+05:00

DENR OKs gas, mineral search in Benham Rise

Written by PNA
Monday, 06 August 2012

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Ramon Paje said on Thursday the Department of Energy (DoE) can now explore the seabed of Benham Rise for possible natural gas and other mineral resources.

Paje revealed this as he included in the DENR’s performance review in the Senate the approval of the Philippines’ claim on the jurisdiction over the seabed resources in Benham Rise area by the United Nation on April 12.

”It’s now ours. The UN has agreed. It’s already ours. The DoE can take the ball if they want to,” Paje said.
Paje told the Senate committee on finance that the Benham Rise is rich in manganese and possibly, other minerals and natural gas.

DENR Undersecretary Peter Tiangco, who spearheaded the campaign to get the jurisdiction of the Benham Rise seabed for 12 years, said if the DoE or any department cannot explore the area at this time “the important thing is it is now ours.”.... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/nation/item/2538-denr-oks-gas-mineral-search-in-benham-rise

Palace ups dengue, leptospirosis alert

2012-08-06T15:30:00.000+05:00

Palace ups dengue, leptospirosis alert

Written by Fernan J. Angeles
Monday, 06 August 2012

Malacañang has raised the alert level for the deadly diseases leptospirosis and dengue as the number of recorded cases doubled from that of 2011.

At a press briefing in Malacañang, deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte said President Aquino has instructed the Department of Health (DoH) to make sure that government hospitals and medical professionals were ready to work round-the-clock mode to attend to the growing number of leptospirosis victims which stood at 2,002 from January to July this year, up from the 887 cases in the first seven months of 2011.

“The Department of Health (DoH) has already assured us that all government hospitals in the country have been put on stand-by, while government hospital administrators have already been told to be ready and equipped with whatever medicines are needed (as) medical professionals have already made a commitment to be and available to serve at anytime they’re needed,” Valte said..... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/nation/item/2540-palace-ups-dengue-leptospirosis-alert

Garbage volume in Las Piñas City drops by 37%

2012-08-06T15:00:00.000+05:00

Garbage volume in Las Piñas City drops by 37%

Written by Pat C. Santos
Monday, 06 August 2012

The Las Piñas City government, after passing an ordinance banning the use of plastics and styrofoams, has decreased its garbage volume by 37 percent.

This after Las Piñas Mayor Vergel Aguilar recently noted significant drop in volume of solid wastes collected from households and commercial areas in the last three months.

Aguilar renewed his call for a continued practice of proper garbage disposal and minimal use of plastics and styrofoams as food packaging and carry-out bags.

Aguilar said there is about 37 percent decrease in garbage volume collected by the city’s Environmental Sanitation Office from households in 20 barangays, public markets and talipapa as well as in all commercial center areas in Las Piñas.

The city’s 60 compactor trucks make an average of 105 trips per day to collect solid wastes from households, 50 talipapa and wet markets and 15 public markets. To date, the Environmental Sanitation Office said only about four percent in plastic and styrofoam materials are found from the trash collected..... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/metro-section/item/2509-garbage-volume-in-las-pi%C3%B1as-city-drops-by-37

Six-month suspension order served on Councilor Paulate — QC official

2012-08-06T14:30:00.000+05:00

Six-month suspension order served on Councilor Paulate — QC official

Written by Arlie O. Calalo
Monday, 06 August 2012

An official of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has insisted it already served and enforced the preventive six-month suspension order on Quezon City Councilor Roderick Paulate despite refusal of his staff to receive the copy.

Nevertheless, DILG-QC director Juan Juvian Ingeniero said the case was different from Paulate’s colleague, Councilor Francisco Calalay Jr., whose staff accepted the copy of the order without any resistance when he handed it to his (Calalay) office on July 25.

That was the same time when he served the order on Paulate, who is also a movie and television personality, through his staff but the latter refused to receive it, Ingeniero told members of the Quezon City Press Club.
He recalled that Paulate’s employees even blocked them when he and his staff posted the order on the door of the local lawmaker’s office at the legislative building.

Just the same, the DILG-QC official insisted that he already served and enforced the preventive suspension order which he also posted on the bulletin board of the city council..... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/metro-section/item/2512-six-month-suspension-order-served-on-councilor-paulate-%E2%80%94-qc-official

More than a flip-flop Written by Tribune Editorial

2012-08-05T20:30:00.000+05:00

More than a flip-flop

Written by Tribune Editorial
Sunday, 05 August 2012

The Supreme Court (SC) tried to sound Solomonic in its resolution of the impasse on the Congress representation in the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), but in the end it was an admission of its abject inability to rule independently and stick to its position.

The acting Carpio Court’s decision to suspend its “executory” decision that Congress is only entitled to one seat in the JBC was clearly a co-opting to the whims of both the Palace and Congress on the issue.

While the decision was not entirely a reversal of the earlier ruling, it exposed the Carpio Court’s lack of resolve in defending what the SC justices had already interpreted as what was contained in the Constitution which was the expressed limit of only one representative for Congress in the body.

The decision resulted in both legislative chambers to order their representatives to withdraw from the nominating body which is tasked to draft the shortlist for the SC chief justice candidates from which Noynoy will choose the head of his reclaimed and pliant high court..... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/editorial/item/2453-more-than-a-flip-flop

Told you so Written by Ninez Cacho-Olivares

2012-08-05T20:00:00.000+05:00

Told you so

Written by Ninez Cacho-Olivares
Sunday, 05 August 2012

Hate to tell you “I told you so,” but I did tell you so, which is why the nation now has not only a subservient-to-Malacañang Supreme Court (SC) but also a high court petrified of a Congress, because both can easily impeach and convict any SC justice they want — even when there is no impeachable offense committed.

This has all come about because the Malacañang tenant now knows how powerful money and position can be in getting Congress to do his every bidding — including throwing out any justice, especially the Chief Justice, and any impeachable officer holding a constitutional office and convict them despite the absence of an impeachable crime.

It was being preached then by Noynoy and his Yellows, and yes, even some SC justices who were salivating for the chief justice post, that the high bench was nothing but a Gloria Arroyo court, and that with CJ Renato Corona heading the SC, never can the Filipino people expect justice and impartiality in its decisions. This, claimed the hypocrite of the first water Noynoy, was the reason he was out to impeach and convict Corona, to reclaim the SC for the people..... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/item/2452-told-you-so

Father of political detainee Ericson Acosta appeals for son’s health, freedom

2012-08-05T19:30:00.000+05:00

Father of political detainee Ericson Acosta appeals for son’s health, freedom

“I cannot but be distressed by the continuing prejudice of our justice system against my son and other political prisoners like him.”
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — The family of political detainee artist Ericson Acosta has issued a new appeal to human rights advocates and Acosta’s friends and supporters, this time regarding the detainee’s health problems.

Acosta’s father, Isaias, said his son is in immediate need of medical attention because of a worsening kidney problem. Isaias, 79, said Ericson, who has been detained for over a year since February 2011 in Calbayog, Samar on false charges, is suffering from painful kidney stones. He and his wife Liwayway, 80, are not in the peak of health either and have their own share of health issues.

“We are both physically suffering due to our respective conditions but nothing compares to the torment of knowing that our son continues to be unjustly imprisoned,” he said.

Isais said that in his last visit to Acosta, his son said he had been feeling persistent pain in his abdomen and lower back. The pain, Acosta said, intensifies whenever he urinates. Now he has also noticed spots of blood in his urine.

“My cousin, Ericson’s uncle, displayed similar symptoms before he succumbed to prostate cancer. Ericson rarely complains when he is sick. Even when he was arrested last year, his first words to me were, ‘Daddy don’t worry about me. He always tells his mother not to fuss over him. That’s how Ericson is. He suffers in silence. Once when he was still in grade school, he waited until a stomachache had become too unbearable before he finally told us to take him to the hospital. It turned out he immediately needed to undergo an appendectomy. The doctor said we got there in the nick of time,” Isaias said.

According to the detainee’s father, Acosta’s last check-up two years ago revealed a renal function abnormality and a possible prostate affliction.

“So as soon as we received word that he was in pain, we arranged for a visit and asked our lawyers to immediately file a motion before the court seeking urgent medical attention for my son. We had to skip the visit because of my condition. But after we filed the motion, we were told that the judge in charge of his case had just retired. How long would it take until a new judge is installed? It is as if our frustration with the slow resolution of Ericson’s case is not enough. We are once again left bereft of immediate legal options,” he said..... MORE

Source: Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/08/03/father-of-political-detainee-ericson-acosta-appeals-for-sons-health-freedom/

Radioactive cesium found in Japan’s fish, seawater

2012-08-05T19:00:00.000+05:00

Radioactive cesium found in Japan’s fish, seawater

Harmless traces of radioactive cesium have been discovered in fish and seawater in several areas of Japan, as the country continues to debate whether their fish is safe to consume and anti-nuke protests grow in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) stated that radioactive cesium, presumably from the crippled Fukushima I nuclear plant, was found in seawater and fish in several regions of the country, Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported from Tokyo.

The aquatic radiation was detected in central Japan (Shizuoka Prefecture), the western part of central Honshu (Niigata) and the country’s northeast (Iwate)..... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/radioactive-cesium-japan-fish-seawater-895/

Pilgrims or mercenaries? Iran asks Turkey, Qatar for help freeing captured nationals in Syria

2012-08-05T18:30:00.000+05:00

Pilgrims or mercenaries? Iran asks Turkey, Qatar for help freeing captured nationals in Syria

Tehran has asked Turkey and Qatar to help secure the release of Iranian nationals kidnapped in the Syrian capital Damascus on Saturday. The Free Syrian Army claimed the Iranians were members of the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Forty-eight Iranians who disappeared in Syria on Saturday were kidnapped by the Free Syrian Army, Iran's Fars news agency reported..... MORE
Source: RT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/syria-kidnap-damascus-iranian-pilgrims-872/

Heidi Mendoza, attack dog of Palace and LP Written by Jacinto ‘Jing’ Paras

2012-08-05T17:30:00.000+05:00

Heidi Mendoza, attack dog of Palace and LP

Written by Jacinto ‘Jing’ Paras
Sunday, 05 August 2012

The most popular official of the land, Vice President Jejomar Binay is getting to be the new flavor of Malacañang and the Liberal Party(LP). After Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, then Chief Justice (CJ) Renato Corona, the Palace is now aiming its gun on Jojo, who is predicted by many Filipinos to become the next President either by election or by substitution due the people’s confidence and trust in his performance.

All pollsters say he is the most trusted and popular official of the Aquino administration. People believe in the sincerity and capability of the Vice President because he is always one step ahead whenever there is a need to help any Filipino. Whenever, there is a calamity such as a typhoon or earthquake, VP Binay is already there at the site,

He is also the darling of the OFWs because he is ready to help them, whether in his various trips to the Middle East to help rescue some workers or in China to save a worker to be sentenced to death..... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/item/2449-heidi-mendoza-attack-dog-of-palace-and-lp

Ominous silence Written by Archbishop Oscar V.Cruz

2012-08-05T17:00:00.000+05:00

Ominous silence

Written by Archbishop Oscar V.Cruz
Sunday, 05 August 2012

The speech was extra long. So many accomplishments have been deliriously reported. So many projections were proudly made. So many issues have been courageously addressed. So much water was even drunk to facilitate more and more enumeration of successes achieved as well as aspirations projected to be soon happily accomplished — preparing for war from within and without. That is why there were those who felt they heard the recitation of a long litany of joyful and glorious mysteries.

But behind the report of the year-after many acts as well as year-ahead envisioned numerous splendid agenda, there is something that can be considered as ominous — sinister, disquieting, threatening.
The subject matter has extraordinary significance for the people of the Philippines as well as grave implications for their dear country. But such very significant as well as truly relevant concern was curiously unsaid, strangely unmentioned..... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/item/2448-ominous-silence

US ‘concerned’ over new China garrison in tense sea

2012-08-05T15:30:00.000+05:00

US ‘concerned’ over new China garrison in tense sea

Written by Tribune
Sunday, 05 August 2012

WASHINGTON — The United States yesterday accused China of raising tensions through a new military garrison in the South China Sea as it called on all sides to lower tensions in the hotly contested waters.

China announced last week that it was establishing the tiny city of Sansha and a garrison on an island in the disputed Paracel chain, infuriating the Philippines and Vietnam which have accused Beijing of intimidation.
“We are concerned by the increase in tensions in the South China Sea and are monitoring the situation closely,” US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement.

“In particular, China’s upgrading of the administrative level of Sansha city and establishment of a new military garrison there covering disputed areas of the South China Sea run counter to collaborative diplomatic efforts permanently inhabiting points in the South China Sea until a code of conduct is reached.

The resolution, sponsored by senators from both major parties, declared that the United States was committed “to assist the nations of Southeast Asia to remain strong and independent.”

During a 2010 visit to Vietnam, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared that the United States had a national interest in freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, through which half of world cargo passes..... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/headlines/item/2478-us-%E2%80%98concerned%E2%80%99-over-new-china-garrison-in-tense-sea

Gener leaves 41 dead, P290 million in damage Written by Tribune Sunday, 05 August 2012 00:00

2012-08-05T15:00:00.000+05:00

Gener leaves 41 dead, P290 million in damage

Written by Tribune
Sunday, 05 August 2012

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that Gener left 41 dead and affected 177,440 families or 800,944 people in 1,077 villages in 141 towns and 27 cities in 35 provinces.

Of these, 3,904 families or 16,514 people are being served in 104 evacuation centers.

Damage to property was estimated at P289,852,863.10, including P116,560,384 in infrastructure and P172,792,479.10 in agriculture.

As this developed, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration that
(Pagasa) said flash floods and landslides may threaten the western section of Luzon due to southwest monsoon while the a potential cyclone remains far from the country.

At present, due to continuous rains, Pagasa said yesterday at least five dams in Luzon opened their gates.
Pagasahydrologist Gine Nievares said as of 7:20 a.m., Ipo Dam in Bulacan opened one gate at a rate of 66.4 cubic meters per second..... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/headlines/item/2479-gener-leaves-41-dead-p290-million-in-damage

New Noy slogan: ‘No baby, no poverty,’ says Church

2012-08-05T14:30:00.000+05:00

New Noy slogan: ‘No baby, no poverty,’ says Church

Written by Tribune
Sunday, 05 August 2012

Daily Tribune photo

PALACE SHRUGS OFF EDSA RALLY, SAYS RH BILL IN THE BAG

Calling the government program seeking to distribute contraceptives for free under the Reproductive Health (RH) bill a form of corruption, nuns and priests led thousands of Catholics in a show of force yesterday at the Edsa Shrine, a landmark that symbolized takeovers of past governments, ahead of an August 7 vote on the bill at the House of Representatives.

Leading the Catholic Church charge was Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, a spiritual adviser of the family of President Aquino, who made a pun on the Aquino administration’s “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” (No corruption, no poverty) slogan which he said should not mean “kung walang anak, walang mahirap” (No baby, no poverty).

Villegas, however, was not at the so-called prayer power rally against the RH bill and his message was read by Henrietta de Villa, a pro-life group leader.

Villegas said it is corruption that the government should cure, not procreation. The police estimated the crowd at about 7,000.

Villegas was a staunch supporter and friend of Aquino’s mother, Corazon Aquino, from the time she became President after the Edsa People Power Revolution..... MORE

Source: The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/headlines/item/2480-new-noy-slogan-%E2%80%98no-baby-no-poverty%E2%80%99-says-church