Skip to content

Month: November 2012

Maguindanao massacre on our mind

The media community in Cagayan de Oro. Photo from Froilan Gallardo’s FB
The 2009 Maguindanao massacre and the sad fact that justice continues to elude the victims were foremost in the minds of the delegates to the 9th Spectrum Fellowship National Campus Journalism conference held at Mambukal resort in Negros Occidental.

The Spectrum is the official student media corps of the University of St La Salle. There were about 60 participants in the conference coming not only from De La Salle but also from Far Eastern University, University of Sto. Tomas and University of San Agustin in Iloilo City.

They had an interesting range of topics. I came on the second day (Friday) and I caught up with the lectures of Ernie Sarmiento, formerly chief photographer of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, on photojournalism ethics, Philippine Star columnist Cito Beltran on opinion writing, GMA-7 (Iloilo)’s Rexcel Sorza on social media ethics, and RA Rivera on connecting through video.

PH should face up to the reality ‘When China rules the world’

Martin Jacques and Sen. Alan Cayetano, one of the sponsors of the forum.
While President Aquino was making waves in the summit of Asean leaders and their dialogue partners in Cambodia with his statement urging the United States to speak up on the South China Sea conflict which was anathema to China, visiting journalist and China expert, Martin Jacques, was telling a rapt audience at the Manila Intercon, “I don’t think it would serve the Philippine well to think that the United States will help” in the territorial conflict with China.

“I am not arguing that the Philippines give up its claims, but a way has to be found to deal with these questions, a way that does not involve derailing or poisoining its relationship with China because it will not get anywhere,” he said.

Jacques is the author of the 2009 bestseller, When China Rules the World, which asserts that “by 2027 China will overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy, and by 2050 its economy will be twice as large as that of the United States.”

Aquino living up to the role of U.S. dummy

Aquino in 2012 Asean and dialogue partners summit in Cambodia

In a United States-written script, President Aquino performed his role very well as the American dummy in Southeast Asia at the 21st Asean summit in Cambodia.

In a speech before leaders belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the group’s dialogue partners that included the United States and China, Aquino urged the U.S. to be involved in the South China Sea dispute.

Parts of the speech:“It is especially vital to have the world’s largest national economy involved in the discussions considering the interconnectedness of our current milieu…

“Each one of our nations has a stake in the stability of Southeast Asia. The United States understands this and, for this reason, has chosen to work with us to ensure the peace and continuous advancement of our region.”

The Inquirer reported that Aquino said the US presence at the Asean summits “adds a special dimension to our regional discussions particularly on issues that have far-reaching political and economic implications.”

Aquino berating media is becoming boring

Berating media has become a habit for Aquino.
Why am I not surprised that the Freedom of Information bill in the House of Representatives has been declared dead in the 15th Congress by press freedom advocates?

Simple: President Aquino does not support it.

Despite the fact that he was product of media hype, he does not understand the role of media in governance and in strengthening democracy. Although he said when he was campaigning for the presidency in 2010 that he was going to support the FOI bill, he never included it among his administration’s priority measures.

Look back to his statements the past two years:

In Oct. 2011, before Southeast Asian leaders, Aquino said: “You know, having a freedom of information act sounds so good and noble but at the same time—I think you’ll notice that here in this country—there’s a tendency of getting information and not really utilizing it for the proper purposes.”

Three years after, justice remains elusive to Maguindanao massacre victims

A most heinous crime
Talk of perfect timing.

Eleven days before the third anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre that killed 58 people, 32 of them members of media, the Supreme Court granted the petition of the primary accused – former mayor Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan, Jr to ban live broadcast of the trial.

It’s another step backward for transparency,an attribute of a working democracy.

Ampatuan told the high court that its June 2011 decision penned by then Associate Justice, now Ombudsman, Conchita Carpio-Morales live coverage of the trial deprived him of his rights to due process, equal protection, presumption of innocence, and to be shielded from degrading psychological punishment.

VFA does not say PH can be dumping site of US wastes

MT Glenn Guardian and MT Glenn Enterprise, vessels of Glenn Defense Marine Asia in Subic Bay. Thanks to Subic Bay News for this photo.
The lawyers of Glenn Defense Marine Asia better look for a justification much more astounding than the Visiting Forces Agreement for the dumping of toxic waste in Philippine waters by their client, Malaysian firm Glenn Defense Marine Asia.

Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago, chair of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments and acknowledged expert on international law, and Loren Legarda, chair of the Committee on Foreign Relations and co-chair of the Legislative Oversight Committee on the VFA, are calling for an investigation of the dumping in Subic Bay of Glenn Defense of toxic wastes from a US navy ship, Emory Land last month.

It has been reported that Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chair Roberto Garcia is investigating the incident and is asking Glenn Defense side on the illegal act.

Bakit kaya hindi nababahala si Brillantes sa mga palpak ng NPO?

An NPO official gives intsructions to NPO employees how to shade sample ballots for testing prior to scheduled testing in violation of BAC rules and procedures that only the BAC chairman should initiate such action together with other members of the committee.
Nakakapagtaka, nakakaduda at nakakabahala ang hindi pagkabahala ng Commission on Elections sa mga palpak na nagyayari sa bidding ng pag-imprinta ng balota na gagamitin sa 2013 na eleksyun.

Inamin ni Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. na palpak ang mga balota na ginawa ng Holy Family Printing Corp, ang pinanalo ng National Printing Office sa pag-imprenta ng 55 milyon na balota para sa 2013 na eleksyun.

Dapat kasi sa testing , isang libo na sample ballots ang gamitin. Noong unang test, Septyembre 12, 2012, walo lang ang dala ng Holy Family. Di ba dapat noon pa lang disqualified na sila dahil ibig sabihin nun, nag-bid sila na hindi pala sila handa gumawa ng trabaho na gusto nila kunin.

Hindi ito basta-basta lang trabaho. Balota ito para sa national na eleksyun. Demokrasya ng bansa ang nakasalalay dito.

Ngunit okay lang sa NPO. Sinubukan nila ang walong sample ballot na dala ng Holy Family. Anim sa walo ay hindi nagkasya sa makita na nabili na ng Comelec- ang Precinct Count Optical Scan machines galing sa Smartmatic.

Paano ngayun yun?

Sobra talaga ang bait ng NPO sa Holy Family . Binigyan ng isang buwan para ayusin ang kanilang trabaho.

Nagkaroon ng pangalawang test noong Oktubre 11, 2012. “Isang libong balota ang ginamit at perfect ayun sa report sa amin,” sabi ni Brillantes.

Veteran diplomat Lauro Baja on the ‘New China’

Xi Jinping
The changing of the guards in China is ongoing at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China which started yesterday.

Chinese President Hu Jintao will turn over leadership to Vice President Xi Jinping.

One of the Philippines’ seasoned diplomats, Lauro Baja, formerly the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations talked to some members of media and shared his thoughts on how the Philippines should deal with the “new China.”

Baja, who also served as Foreign Affairs undersecretary for policy, thinks despite the change in leadership, China “will not be able to veer away too much from what is existing now. “

But, he said, “there is now a new dynamic in China, the news is now more vocal, the social media is more vocal and there is a greater degree of nationalism among people in the streets. As a matter of fact they now think and they may be rightly so that they are now the center of the world. “

Concrete evidence, not snide remarks, needed to convict Gloria

Penchant for unnecessary snide remarks
The day that President Aquino talks about his accomplishments without snide remarks at Gloria Arroyo, is the day I can say that he has matured as a leader of this country.

As of now, his penchant for snide remarks about people he doesn’t like gives the impression of being juvenile.

Reports from Vientiane, Laos , where Aquino is attending the Asia –Europe summit, said during his meeting with the Filipino community, he said people in the previous administration seem to be using a different kind of calculator when it comes to public works projects and rice imports.

“As other people say, maybe they used a different kind of calculator and the addition button is automatic and frequently pushed,” he said elaborating that the Arroyo administration imported 2.5 million metric tons of rice for a 1.3 million shortage , the end result of which is excess rice now rotting in warehouses.