It’s a cruel irony that those who are asked to lay down their life in
order that we can have a just and humane society are being subjected
to continuing inhumanity and injustice.
That’s one of the dark legacies of recently retired Hermogenes Esperon
to the military establishment that the new AFP Chief Alexander Yano
would have to rectify to redeem the institution’s integrity and soul.
Update: Si CHR Chair de Lima daw ang lumalabag ng human rights ng mga police- Raul Gonzalez
Lahat tayo shocked sa nangyaring krimen sa RCBC sa Cabuyao, Laguna kung saan sampung tao ang pinatay ng mga magnanakaw.
Hindi sila nakuntento na nagnakaw. Pinagbabaril ang lahat na nanakita sa kanila.
Siyempre gusto natin mahuli ang mga kriminal. Sa sibilisadong mundo, salot ang mga kriminal. Ang gumawa ng kasalanan, dapat parusahan. Klaro yan sa mamamayan na ang may pakana ng krimen ay dapat maparusahan. Ayaw natin ang walang pakundangan na pagpatay ng mga inosente, lalo na kapag mga alagad ng batas ang may kagagawan.
This article by Doug Copp, rescue chief and disaster manager of the American Rescue International, is again going the rounds of the internet following the earthquake in China that has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people.
Copp says “when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them. This space is what I call the ‘triangle of life’. The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact. The less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured. The next time you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the ‘triangles’ you see formed. They
are everywhere. It is the most common shape, you will see, in a
collapsed building.”
Tama naman si Sandra Cam sa kanyang sama ng loob sa ilang senador, lalo na kay Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, na nagre-reklamo sa P2 million na gastos ng Senado para protektahan sina Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, Jr. at Dante Madriaga, dalawang witness sa imbestigasyon ng NBN/ZTE bill.
Si Sandra ay naging witness sa imbestigasyon ng Senado sa jueteng kung saan kinuwento niya ang kanyang pag-deliver ng pera galing sa isang Col. Mosqueda ng PNP kay Rep. Iggy Arroyo, kapatid ni Mike Arroyo. Alam ni Sandra ang sakripisyo ng isang testigo laban sa mga lider ng sindikato ng kasamaan.
Congratulations to our friend, Adel Tamano!
Atty. Adel Tamano, the youngest University President of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM), was inducted on Friday at a simple ceremony at PLM as the President of the Association of Local Colleges and Universities (ALCU).
Atty. Tamano, along with the other officers of the association, was sworn in by Senator Alan Cayetano, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education.
Ex-Navy chief ‘can’t remember’ report on ‘Garci generals’
By Joel Guinto
Inquirer
Former Navy chief Mateo Mayuga claims he “cannot remember” certain details of his controversial report clearing senior military officers of involvement in alleged vote-rigging operations that supposedly ensured President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s victory in the 2004 elections.
Following is a tribute by Ina Silverio to Ka Bel. Ina used to be in the staff of Rep. Beltran in the House of Representatives. She is now with the joint monitoring team in the peace talks between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front.
by Ina Silverio
My boss, favorite labor leader/mass leader, kaibigan and pinakamamahal na kasama Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran died yesterday, a little before noon after sustaining massive head injuries.
Gloria is in Panglao, Bohol today, one of the provinces that she posted an unbelievable win in the 2004 elections. She has announced building an international airport there. Read this piece on the folly of that project.
By Ernesto M. Pernia
Philippine Daily Inquirer
International airports are a humdrum topic until one realizes that we have too many of them, yet we do not have enough food, power, water and other basic needs. The subject comes to mind because another international airport is to break ground this month in Panglao Island, Bohol. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself is scheduled to preside over the ceremony.
The project was first conceptualized more than 20 years back when hardly anyone even dreamed that the island would become a world-renowned tourist attraction. With the typical on-again, off-again manner of government planning, not too many people paid attention to the project. Of late, however, it’s been rushed supposedly so that it can be completed in two years, before the end of the President’s and the provincial governor’s term in 2010.
Latest as of May 21, 2008: Tuloy na naman ang fare hike. Click here for Inquirer’s story.
Latest: Binawi na naman. Click here for story on “Fare increases deferred.”
Noong isang linggo, pinaglandakan ni Gloria Arroyo ang P20 na dagdag sa minimum wage. Kahapon naman inaprubahan ang pagtaas ng singil sa pamasahe ng 50 sentimos sa jeepney at P1 sa mga bus.
Ano ito, binigay ng kaliwang kamay, binawi ng kanang kamay? Ang masakit pa nito, mas malaki ang binawi kaysa binigay. Nagpapatunay na puro lang talaga pang propaganda ang ginagawa nitong pekeng administrasyon. Dahil hindi na nila alam kung paano bigyan ng maayos at totoong solusyon ang problema ng kahirapan dito sa Pilipinas Kaya ang ginagawa, lokohan na lang.
To my fellow idiots when it comes to numbers, there’s hope in understanding the voluminous national budget referred to by lawmakers and bureaucrats as the General Appropriations Act.
Yesterday, I attended a briefing conducted by the bright guys behind the Center for National Budget: Joseph Ranola, Bingo P. Dejaresco III, Resty Maglalang, Domingo Teope, Victor Tirol, Jr.
The group has broken down the intimidating GAA into short primers and analyses for easier reading. The main publication is the “Guidebook to Effective and Transparent National Budget Legislation”.
We know that all through these years Malacañang, in connivance with legislators have been giving the people a bad deal. For how do you explain P3.81 trillion (that’s twelve zeros) debt, the interest payment alone eats up one third of our budget. How did we sink in debt?