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Tag: Vera Files

Will Spratlys tension pave the way for US troops in PH?

An anti-submarine helicopter on the flight deck of USS Howard, a missile-guided destroyer that participated in the PH-US military exercise
To those who got excited with the statement of United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Ambassador Harry Thomas about supporting the Philippines in the Spratlys issue, read carefully what they said.

Thomas said: “We are allies. We will continue to work with each other in all issues including the South China Sea and Spratlys.” This was at the time when the Philippines was protesting the intrusions of Chinese armed vessels in West Philippine Sea.

Thomas got hearty applause when he repeated that assurance during the launching of the National Renewable Energy Program at the Department of Energy in the presence of President Aquino.

Thomas also said that the US stands “by our commitment under Mutual Defense Treaty.”

Mikey’s firm sells Foster home for $1.125M

By VERA Files
Click on photo to view it enlarged

A company partly owned by Ang Galing Pinoy party-list Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo recently sold the controversial house in upscale Foster City, California that used to belong to him and his wife Angela for $1.125 million (about P48.49 million).

The five-bedroom beachfront house at 1655 Beach Park Blvd. was sold by the Beachway Limited Liability Company (LLC) – a company Arroyo has admitted being part owner of – and this transaction was reported to the San Mateo County Assessor-Recorder’s Office on March 16.

The property was transferred just last month to Mary Grace Apolinario and Jerome Ngo who appear in the county’s database as “grantees” or buyers. The buyers are owners of the popular restaurant chain “Gerry’s Grill” who, sources said, are good friends of Mikey

The property was transferred to Mary Grace Apolinario and Jerome Ngo who appear in the county’s database as “grantees” or buyers. The buyers are owners of the popular restaurant chain “Gerry’s Grill” who, sources said, are good friends of Mikey.

TAF-VERA Files to launch ‘Democracy at gunpoint:election-related violence in the Philippines’

The Asia Foundation and VERA Files will be presenting their latest work, Democracy at Gunpoint: Election-Related Violence in the Philippines, on March 2 at 5 p.m. at the Magellan Room, 41/F of the Discovery Suites in Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

In the 2010 elections, The Asia Foundation partnered with VERA Files in producing a series of journalistic accounts—news, features, in-depth reports on election-related violence in nine provinces that were traditionally considered as election hotspots. VERA Files consolidated the journalistic pieces into a book to provide a comprehensive, in-depth report that examines election-related violence in the Philippines.

The 212-page Democracy at Gunpoint: Election-Related Violence in the Philippines examines why election violence happens in 10 provinces known for being hotspots. While violence was the thread that stitched all provinces together, each one had particular characteristics that aggravated the problem.

“That violence still happens more than two decades after the ouster of Marcos and the restoration of democracy, and well into 21st century Philippines is cause for consternation and frustration,” wrote book editors Yvonne Chua and Luz Rimban in the preface.