August 2011 – Page 3 – ellen tordesillas

Pres. Aquino meets with MILF chair Murad

Published by Ellen on August 5, 2011

By Carolyn O. Arguillas
Mindanews

Aquino wd Murad — Aquino and Murad in a Tokyo Hotel Thursday evening. Photo by OPPAP

GENERAL SANTOS CITY- Now the silence can be explained.

President Benigno Simeon Aquino III and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim shook hands and talked peace for two hours in a hotel in Japan with their respective panel chairs taking down notes, the President’s Cabinet members and the MILF’s peace panel and Central Committee members as well as the Malaysian facilitator waiting outside the meeting room.

The President and the MILF chair agreed to move the negotiations forward to ensure that whatever agreement is forged can be implemented within the Aquino administration whose term ends on June 30, 2016, the chairs of both panels told MindaNews in separate telephone interviews. How the talks can move forward, the panels will discuss when they meet within the month, they said.

Gloria loses voice; no immigration record of Mike leaving for HK

Published by Ellen on August 4, 2011

Update: Mike Arroyo, misspelled name in BI Departure card; De Lima apologized for wrong info to public

By Ashzel Hachero
Malaya

Former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo is undergoing therapy due to loss of voice following cervical spine surgery last week at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City.

GMA leaves hospital
ABS-CBN
Doctors said Arroyo has been told to rest at her house for a month. She also was told to rest her voice. Doctors said there are no complications from her cervical spine surgery. However, she lost her voice after her vocal cords got swollen after she started to receive visitors last Wednesday.

“Her vocal chords were swollen and until now are swollen not because of complication in the surgery but they were strained because of use of cellphones,” Cervantes said.

Mayor Jerry Pelayo of Candaba, Pampanga, a close Arroyo ally, Arroyo is prohibited from talking, reading newspapers and watching television.

Mike Arroyo flies to Hongkong; may face contempt charges

Published by Ellen on August 3, 2011

From ABS-CBN and Malaya

Former first gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, who left for Hong Kong last Sunday, may face contempt charges if he fails to appear before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, Senator Franklin Drilon said.

“Kung nasa labas siya ng bansa, admittedly, hindi mo masu-subpoena. But I don’t think he should do that because, as we say, flight is evidence of guilt,” Drilon said.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee said putting Arroyo on the immigration watch list would be pointless since he has already left the country.

This was in response to reports that the Department of Justice is drafting an order to place Arroyo under the immigration watch list.

“I instructed Chief [Justice Ricardo] Paras first to confirm officially if there is really a request from the Senate because it was reported in the media na there’s a request from certain senators to put him on watch list. So once that is verified, then I am inclined to issue a WLO (watch list order),” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said.

Zubiri resigns

Published by Ellen on August 3, 2011

Says cheating allegation has taken toll on family, nation

Zubiri speech Honor and Integrity

By JP Lopez
Malaya

Amid allegations he benefited from the supposed cheating in the 2007 elections, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri yesterday announced his resignation, a move seen by colleagues and even his opponents as an act of statesmanship.

“Without admitting any fault and with my vehement denial of the alleged electoral fraud hurled against me, I am submitting my resignation as a duly elected senator of the Republic of the Philippines in the election for which I am falsely accused without mercy and compassion,” Zubiri said in an emotional privilege speech.

Aquilino “Koko “ Pimentel III I: I commend him for the rare act of resigning but na-disappoint lang ako na parang may denial pa siya na nagkaroon ng dayaan sa Maguindanao which was the reason why he got proclaimed in the first place. Hindi po baseless and unfounded ang charges of election fraud in Maguindanao. Proven na po iyon.”

“I am resigning, not because I am exhausted from the demands of my calling as a legislator. . I am resigning, not because I wish to evade the decision of the Senate Electoral Tribunal. Handa kong tanggapin ang anumang hatol mula sa nasabing hukuman,” he said.

Kiko vs Tito

Published by Ellen on August 2, 2011

I’m enjoying the Kiko-Tito exchanges.

Following the coming out of Police Senior Superintendent Rafael Santiago of his primary role in the switching of genuine 2004 election returns stored at the Batasan Pambansa with manufactured ERs, Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan called on the Commission on Elections and the Department of Justice to ferret out the truth no matter who gets hurt.

Pangilinan, who earned the pejorative tag “Mr. Noted” for dismissing protestations of the Minority in the canvassing every time questionable returns would be canvassed with “Noted,” is on the defensive because many accuse him of being instrumental in allowing Arroyo to get away with her electoral cheating.

‘Jose Miguel Arroyo owned helicopters’

Published by Ellen on August 1, 2011

Businessman to testify in Senate probe
By Cathy Yamsuan
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Two five-year old helicopters sold as brand new to the Philippine National Police in 2009 were among the five choppers that then First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo acquired for the campaign of his wife, then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in the 2004 presidential election.

This was disclosed by a businessman, who was privy to the sale of the helicopters to Mike Arroyo in late 2003. The businessman is scheduled to appear as a witness at a hearing of the Senate blue ribbon committee on Tuesday.

The Inquirer tried to contact Sunday night Raul Lambino, lawyer and spokesperson of the Arroyos, to get his side but did not get any response.

Questions nobody asked ‘Garci’

Published by Ellen on July 31, 2011

Who is Maj. Jason Aquino and who was he representing?

The press conference of former Commission on Elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano raised more questions which the reporters didn’t ask.

It seemed that reporters in that press conference held in Bukidnon wanted only to hear Garci say “I was ordered by Gloria Arroyo to cheat” and when they didn’t hear that, they didn’t know any more what questions to ask.

They didn’t question when Garci said that there was no point for them to cheat because it was ten days after elections.

The reporters didn’t point out to Garcillano that in 2004, it was still manual elections and counting and canvassing took even more than a month. They were still tampering with election results in the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao to make up for the unexpected avalanche of votes for Fernando Poe Jr that came from the vote-rich Lingayen-Lucena corridor.

Month: August 2011