January 2007 – ellen tordesillas

Read this and weep

Published by Ellen on January 30, 2007

Excerpts from the signed affidavit Filipina rape victim in Qatar. We will hide her identity under the name “Clara”.

Sometime in April 2005, my father suffered a second stroke and was unable to work since then. I wanted to be able to work in Oman in order to care and provide for my parents as I did not want them to return to the Philippines. This prompted me to seek for any job placement for Oman.

Sometime in May 2005, I read Jinhel International Recruitment Agency’s (hereinafter, “Jinhel”) Manila Bulletin advertisement for job placements in countries in the Middle East. I immediately placed a call in the telephone number contained in the ad.

Continue readingRead this and weep

Pinay maids ayaw mag-Supermaid

Published by Ellen on January 29, 2007

Nagwawala ang mga Pinay maids sa Hongkong, Singapore, Malaysia, at Taiwan dahil sa bagong requirement na nilabas ng POEA (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration) para maka-trabaho sa labas ng bansa bilang katulong.

Ang bagong requirements ay 1) bawal ang placement fees na pinapabayaran sa mga maid; pinapa sa ibang lugar; 2) mas mataas na simula ng sweldo. Magiging $400 na sa halip na $200; 3)mas mataas ang edad. Dapat 25 taong gulang. Dati pwede na ang 21 taong gulang; 4) dapat nakapag-training sa TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

Ang mga napabalitang nagpu-protesta ay ang sa Southeast Asian countries. Ngunit apektado lahat na Pinay maids kasama na ang nasa Middle East dahil sa lahat naman na sulok na mundo ngayon mayroong Filipina na maid.

Detention takes its toll

Published by Ellen on January 28, 2007

In the last hearing of the court martial panel trying 28 military officers for their alleged plan to withdraw support from the bogus presidency of Gloria Arroyo in February last year, notably absent were Col. Januario Caringal and Lt. Col. Custodio Parcon, both of the Philippine Marines.

The two officers were sick. Caringal , former deputy commander of the 2nd Marine Brigade, has been at the AFP Philippines Medical Center (former V. Luna Hospital) in Quezon City from his detention quarters in Fort San Felipe in Cavite since November . He was suffering from acute hepatitis B and hypertension.

Parcon, a medal of valor awardee, is detained at Fort San Felipe in Cavite. In the Jan. 18 hearing, he was represented by his counsel, Alex Lacson, who was his classmate at the Philippine Military Academy.

Col. Ariel Querubin, another medal of valor awardee, almost didn’t make it to the hearing in Camp Capinpin in Tanay too. A few days before last Christmas, Querubin was confined at the Cavite Naval Hospital due to high cholesterol, high blood pressure, fluctuating sugar levels, and high uric acid.

May paki-alam ang taumbayan

Published by Ellen on January 27, 2007

Dapat pasalamatan ni Alan Peter Cayetano si Mike Arroyo.

Dahil sa pambabastos ni Arroyo kay Alan, lalong lumalakas ang kanyang kandidatura sa pagka-senador. Sa galit ng mga tao sa kayabangan ni Arroyo kasama ang kanyang anak at kapatid, pati na rin ang kaniyang abogado, marami ang boboto kay Alan. .

Sa hearing ng House Ethics Committee, tinanong ni Alan si Mike Arroyo kung totoo na siya ay classified na Triple A client ng Morgan Stanley, isang investment firm. Kapag Triple Aclient ka, ibig sabihin noon malaki , siguro hindi lang milyon kun di bilyon ang iyong pinahawakan na pera sa kanila para i-invest sa iba’t ibang mapagkaperahan.

Ang sagot ng mayabang na asawa ni Gloria Arroyo, “It’s none of your business.” (Wala kang paki-alam.)

Crazy, merry Philippine politics

Published by Ellen on January 26, 2007

You can say anything about Philippine politics. But you can never say it’s boring.

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile has resigned as chair of the Pwersa ng Masa party of President Joseph Estrada, citing displeasure over the United Opposition’s choice of candidates. But he remains a member of PMP.

Senate sources said Enrile’s resignation could have been triggered by the inclusion in UNO’s senatorial line-up of lawyer Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, son of Senate minority leader Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, and Tarlac Rep. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

Enrile had a falling out with Sen. Pimentel about two years ago over the revised value added tax, which prompted the former to quit from the minority bloc.

Esperon in suit in a military activity shocks other officers

Published by Ellen on January 26, 2007

I got this message from an officer who was flabbergasted seeing AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon in a suit during the thanksgiving dinner in…

Feb. 6 for Trillanes;Feb. 7 for Honasan

Published by Ellen on January 26, 2007

Honasan, Trillanes allowed to personally file candidacy by Ashzel Hachero in Malaya:

THE Makati regional trial court yesterday granted the separate requests of former senator Gregorio Honasan and Magdalo leader Navy Lt. (s.g.) Antonio Trillanes IV that they be allowed to leave their detention cells to personally file their certificates of candidacy for senator at the Commission on Election main office in Intramuros.

In a one-page order, Makati RTC Branch 148 Judge Oscar Pimentel allowed Honasan to leave Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna from 8:30 in the morning till noon of Feb. 7 under police escorts.

Pimentel gave Trillanes, who is detained at the Marines headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, between 8:30 a.m. until noon on February 6 to file his candidacy. He will be escorted by Marine custodians.

Iloilo storm troopers recommended for award

Published by Ellen on January 26, 2007

This is what you call adding insult to injury.

By Veronica Uy in Inquirer.net

The police director for Western Visayas has recommended awards for the policemen who stormed the Iloilo provincial capitol last week in an attempt to physically evict Governor Niel Tupas Sr.

Chief Superintendent Wilfredo Dulay admitted this before the Senate hearing on the capitol assault, which many quarters have dubbed an “overkill” based on television footage of the incident which showed heavily armed Regional Mobile Group personnel training their weapons on unarmed civilians, among them Tupas’ son and namesake, who is also a member of the Provincial Board.

In his letter to the Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Oscar Calderon dated January 21, Dulay “recommended appropriate awards for all tasked personnel for carrying out successfully the lawful order of higher PNP authority.”

Continue readingIloilo storm troopers recommended for award

Comelec’s ‘honest’ mistake

Published by Ellen on January 25, 2007

It was admirable of James Jimenez, director for public information of the Commission on Election, to admit on TV a gross mistake by the Commission in its Resolution 7767 implementing the Fair Election Act (RA 9006) in relation to the May 14, 2007 synchronized national and local elections.

There’s a provision in Comelec Resolution 7767, promulgated Nov. 30, 2006, that says, “Surveys affecting national candidates shall not be published fifteen (15) days before an election and surveys affecting local candidates shall not be published seven (7) days before an election.”

Pia Hontiveros, host of ANC’s “Strictly Politics”, said they discovered the disturbing provision during a seminar conducted by ABS-CBN on election laws, rules and regulations last Saturday in preparation for the May election. She then decided that it would be the topic of “Strictly Politics” last Tuesday. (I’m editorial consultant of that show.)

A cry for shepherds

Published by Ellen on January 25, 2007

Last January 19, some 134 concerned citizens gathered at the Asian Social Institute in Malate, Manila for a whole day of “discernment for the common good”.

They came out with a call to the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines titled “A Cry for Shepherds”

I.The Signs of the Times

Month: January 2007