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Author: Ellen

Justice for Phillip Pestaño

Published by Ellen on August 3, 2010

This was one time when I remarked,”Multuhin ka sana.”

Even if one wants to give Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez the benefit of the doubt, it’s really difficult not to join the call for her ouster with the recent decision of her office to dismiss the murder charges filed by the family of Ensign Phillip Pestaño against Philippine Navy officials.

It didn’t even take into consideration the findings of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights released six days before it finalized its own that said, “It now appears undisputed that the death of the author’s son was a violent one, resulting from homicide.”

Homicide is murder. It’s not suicide as Navy officials claim.

The Ombudsman’s ruling reflects indifference and incompetence. Trabahong tamad. It said that there was no evidence who had killed Pestaño, or if a crime had been committed at all.

They were not sure that a crime had been committed?

This is the story of Phillip as narrated by Fr. James Reuter, S.J:

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Hindi tinatantanan si Arroyo

Published by Ellen on August 3, 2010

Sa unang araw ni Gloria Arroyo bilang kongresista, hindi pa raw uminit ang kanyang upuan, umalis na.

Paano kasi, itong si Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello ay nag-privilege speech na ang titutlo ay “Corruption was the signature of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.” Ang pirma ni Arroyo ay korapsyun.

Sabi ni Bello,”If the subordinates of the GMA administration behaved like pigs, kung ang mga galamay ng nakaraang administrasyon ay kumilos parang buwaya, ito ay dahil meron silang magandang halimbawa sa pangungurakot sa taas.”

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Researchers discover fossil of human older than Tabon Man

Published by Ellen on August 3, 2010

By Howie G. Severino, GMANews.TV

Move over, Tabon Man. Callao Man is here.

Callao bone
Evidence has emerged that the islands comprising the Philippines could have been inhabited by humans more than a dozen millennia before the so-called Tabon Man of Palawan, long thought to be the archipelago’s earliest human remains.

A team of archaeologists led by Dr. Armand Mijares of the University of the Philippines-Diliman has confirmed that a foot bone they discovered in Callao Cave in Cagayan province was at least 67,000 years old. Tabon Man’s remains were a relatively young 50,000 years old.

The foot bone discovered in Callao Cave was a mere 61 millimeters or 2.4 inches. Photo courtesy of Dr. Armand Mijares.
“So far this could be the earliest human fossil found in the Asia-Pacific region. The presence of humans in Luzon shows these early humans already possessed knowledge of seacraft-making in this early period,” Mijares told GMANews.TV in an exclusive interview conducted by email in between archaeological digs.

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Humaneness in the age of technology

Published by Ellen on August 1, 2010

Stirring journalism and security worlds are WikiLeaks releases of classified military documents on the war in Afghanistan filched by a 22-year old American intelligence analyst from State department online files.

The leaked documents are unprecedented in terms of volume – 91,000 diplomatic cables out of the 260,000 that Bradley Manning, the intelligence analyst, said he downloaded covering the years from 2004 to 2010. The leaks underscored the game-changing role of the internet in information dissemination.

The leaks, which have been condemned by the White House, Pentagon and State Department, raises anew the endless debate on press freedom and the public’s right to know versus national security.

There is also the aspect of humaneness , of not putting innocent people at in harm’s way, that every journalist should value.

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Sundan maigi ang Truth Commission

Published by Ellen on August 1, 2010

Sa mga nagku-kwestyun ng legalidad ng Executive Order No. 1 na nagbubuo ng truth Commission, sinabi ni Pangulong Aquino na pumunta na lang sa Supreme Court.

Sabi ni Aquino,”Iyung sinasabi pong unconstitutional, iyun ang opiyun ng ilang kongresista.Kami po may opinion din. Ang huhusga kung sino ang tama ang opinion, Korte Suprema. Palagay namin ay tama iyung ginagawa namin.”

Hindi naman nakapagtataka na umalma kaagad ang mga kaalyado ni Gloria Arroyo sa pagbuo ng Truth Commission na siyang mag-iimbestiga ng mga corruption at ibang katiwalian na nangyari sa siyam na taon na administrasyon ni Arroyo.

Sinabi ni House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman na kukwestyunin nila sa korte ang legalidad ng Executive Order No. 1 dahil sabi niya, sa pamamagitan lamang ng batas, na ipapasa ng Kongreso, mabubuo ang isang Commission.

Sinabi na rin ito ni Sen. Joker Arroyo. Sabi pa nga niya kung gagawa si P-Noy ng Truth Commission, sayang lang daw ang oras at pera dahil walang ngipin ito. Hindi raw ito maaring mag-subpoena o magpilit ng isang tao na humarap sa imbestigasyon.

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Heto na naman si Kris Aquino

Published by Ellen on July 31, 2010

Tatlong linggong nakapahinga ang bayan kay Kris Aquino at heto na naman siya.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/entertainment/07/30/10/kris-aquino-arrives-vacation-tells-all#ooid=d0d3FsMTonP2nbNqnWZ8s7ImIYkZl6Gk

Pagdating niya galing sa Amerika, nagsalita siya sa naka-abang na media at siyempre nagbigay ng exclusive interview sa kanyang BFF na si Boy Abunda. Nagpaliwanag siya sa mga tsismis tungkol sa kanya.

Hindi raw totoong may affair siya sa mga batang artista na sina Gerald Anderson at Coco Martin.

Hindi rin daw totoo ang kay Sen. Chiz Escudero. Ito ang kuwento ni Kris:

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WikiLeaks on Afghan War stirs journalism debate

Published by Ellen on July 30, 2010

It brings back the unending journalist dilemma of the right of the public to information versus national security.

By Ron Synovitz
Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty

As the Pentagon investigates the potential damage from the leak of more than 91,000 classified U.S. military reports on the war in Afghanistan, the leak is fueling debate about the role of whistle-blowers as journalistic sources in the age of digital data.

WikiLeaks, a website that tries to foster policy debates by making classified information available to the public, received the cache of documents from sources it will not disclose. Wikileaks then passed the materials on to three media organizations — “The New York Times,” “The Guardian” newspaper in the United Kingdom, and “Der Spiegel” magazine in Germany.

Officials in Washington say they are concerned the leaks pose a national security threat and may endanger people in Afghanistan or Pakistan who have worked against the Taliban or Al Qaeda.

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The Truth Commission

Published by Ellen on July 30, 2010

Highlights:
• Truth Commission will just investigate, not prosecute
• Powers limited to recommendation for prosecution
• It will have a life-span of two and half years. Up to Dec. 2012
• Scope of work: reports of graft and corruption during the previous administration . Meaning the administration of Gloria Arroyo.
• The Commission will decide which cases to investigate

House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman of the Arroyo-led Lakas-Kampi-CMD party said in a statement on Saturday that their bloc is “seriously considering” challenging the constitutionality of Executive Order No. 1 before the courts.

Lagman said that the creation of the commission may have been unconstitutional, since only Congress can create new offices and commissions based on the 1987 Constitution.
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/197479/house-minority-questions-aquinos-eo-on-truth-commission

MALACAÑAN PALACE
MANILA

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 1

CREATING THE PHILIPPINE TRUTH COMMISSION OF 2010

WHEREAS, Article XI, Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines solemnly enshrines the principle that a public office is a public trust and mandates that public officers and employees, who are servants of the people, must at all times be accountable to the latter, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives;

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