Author: Ellen

2 Ampatuans to go free

Published by Ellen on April 17, 2010

by Dona Pazzibugan and Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer

The government will drop murder charges against two prominent members of the powerful Ampatuan clan in connection with the November 2009 massacre of 57 people, including 31 media workers, in Maguindanao.

Zaldy Ampatuan, the suspended governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and his cousin Akmad Ampatuan, the former acting vice governor of Maguindanao, will be dropped from the list of those accused, Acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra said Saturday.

The two men were initially alleged to be among the key planners of the massacre that drew condemnation from all over the world.

Agra said he had ordered state prosecutors to exclude Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan from the information sheet filed before the court, and that the prosecutors would formally inform Quezon City Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes that they were not charging the two with murder.

Asked if the two would now be released, Agra said: “It will depend on the judge.”

Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan were among the family members transferred from detention in General Santos City and Davao City to Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City, on Friday night.

Danny Lim

Published by Ellen on April 17, 2010

Pumunta kami ng aking kapwa reporter na si Dana Batnag ng Jiji Press, isang Japanese news agency , sa Alabel, Sarangani noong isang Linggo dahil gumagawa kami ng report tungkol sa sa kandidatura ni Manny Pacquiao.

Pumunta kami sa palengke. Panay Pacquaio,a ng kanyang kalaban na si Rep. Roy Chiongbian at ng kanilang mga kapartido ang mga posters. Bigla kaming may nakita na malaking poster sa harap ng isang bahay na nagsasabing “Danny Lim for mayor. Ang litrato isang may kapayatan na mama.

Natawa kami dahil iba ang mukha ng Danny Lim na kilala naming na tumatakbo para senador sa tiket ng Liberal Party. Nang lumapit kami, katabi ng “Danny Lim for mayor”, mayroong sticker ng “Danny Lim for senator”.

Inikuwento sa amin ng mga kamag-anak ni Danny Lim for mayor na number one kagawad daw siya ng siyam na taon. Independent daw siya ngunit ang kanyang dinadalang congressman ay si Pacquiao na ang partido ay People’s Champ Movement at luminya sa Nacionalista Party ni Manny Villar sa nasyunal na antas.

Sabi ng kamaganak ni Kagawad Danny Lim na sina Rosa at Alberta, na tumatanaw daw sila ng utang na loob kay Pacquaio dahil tinulungan daw ng boksingero ang kanilang tiya na nangangailangan ng P200,000 para sa kidney transplant.

Mining and the candidates

Published by Ellen on April 16, 2010

Most presidential bets seek new mining code

by Roslyn Arayata
Alyansa Tigil Mina

Majority of the presidential candidates favor a revision of the country’s mining policy, a survey of a network of green groups revealed.

Conducted on the third week of February by the Green Electoral Initiative (GEI) led by EcoWaste Coalition and Greenpeace, the results showed that six of the seven candidates who responded to the GEI survey support the passing of an Alternative Mining Code.
Iloilo City candidates go for Cha-cha

Click here (VERA VILES Vote2010) for the rest of the story.

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Iloilo City candidates go for Cha-Cha

by Melvin Purzuelo
Green Forum-Western Visayas

Iloilo City. —It’s yes to “Cha-cha” and to mining for all three congressional candidates here.

Davide – super oportunista

Published by Ellen on April 14, 2010

Davide administers oath of office to power grabber

Numero unong oportunista talaga itong si Hilario Davide.

Sa kanyang presscon noong Lunes tungkol sa kanyang pagtalon sa Liberal Party, sinabi niya na kaya daw siya bumaligtad dahil ang sambayanang Pilipino ay hindi makalimutan ang kurakutan ng adminsitrasyung Arroyo at hindi na sila papayag mangyari yun.

Sabi niya ang unang problema daw ni Gilbert Teodoro, Jr , ang kandidato para presidenet ng administrasyon ay ang pagkadikit kay Gloria Arroyo.

Ang pagbabago daw ay mangyayari sa administrasyon ni Noynoy Aquino at Mar Roxas. Kaya daw siya nag-resign bilang permanent representative sa United Nations noong Abril 1.

Alam pala niyang ang kurakutan nina Arroyo, bakit tumahimik siya at nagsipsip sa pekeng presidente? Bakit ngayon buwan lang siya nag-resign?

Law doesn’t protect deceit

Published by Ellen on April 13, 2010

The much-respected Maria A. Ressa, head of ABS-CBN News & Current Affairs, invokes “confidentiality of sources” in rejecting the challenge of the Nacionalista Party to reveal the names of their alleged “two sources from the Nacionalista Party ” who gave them the fake psychiatric analysis of Liberal Party Sen. Benigno Aquino III by a Jesuit priest.

“While it’s tempting to take the Nacionalista Party’s challenge, it violates a sacred rule of journalism,” Ressa said.

I don’t agree with Maria.

Journalism is basically truth telling. A journalist’s job is to tell the public the truth.

Reuters cameraman’s chilling last picture show

Published by Ellen on April 13, 2010

This is journalism!

Click here for the slideshow.

by Nick Macfie
Bangkok
(Reuters) – Seven minutes of film taken by Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto illustrate how a scrappy street protest turned deadly on a balmy Bangkok night.

It is some of the last video Muramoto, 43, a father of two young children, ever took. He died on Saturday from a gunshot wound to the chest, his killer unknown.

The film encapsulates the fear, the tension and the sudden, chilling bloodshed after a month of protests by Thailand’s “red shirts” whose anti-government protests had largely been festive and peaceful until then.

Muramoto, a Japanese national who had worked for Reuters in Tokyo for more than 15 years, arrived in Thailand on Thursday. He was taken to hospital two days later without a pulse. The bullet had entered his chest and exited the body through the back.

His camera was returned to Reuters by the protesters. It is not known if the footage was his very last.

Election campaign, Abra-style

Published by Ellen on April 13, 2010

by Artha Kira Paredes VERA Files BANGUED, Abra—Ryan Luna goes around campaigning in barangays here using one of his army-type trucks that people often mistake…

NP, LP vie to catch politicians jumping from Lakas-Kampi sinking ship

Published by Ellen on April 13, 2010

Speaker cites ‘total disarray’ in ruling coalition
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

He never even said “hi” or “hello.”

Speaker Prospero C. Nograles is “seriously considering” dumping the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD and its standard-bearer Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro and joining Nacionalista Party candidate Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr.

Nograles griped about a Teodoro snub during a recent visit to Davao City, where the Speaker is now running for mayor, and the absence of civility that he said was causing a “total disarray” in the administration coalition barely a month before the May 10 elections.

Villar, Wowowillie rally

Published by Ellen on April 12, 2010

Click here for the VERA Files slide show.

Photo by Philip Duquiatan
Bonggang-bongga ang rally ng Nacionalista Party sa Koronadal noong Linggo. Si Willie Revillame, Manny Pacquiao at Manny Villar nagkasabay sa isang stage.

Gumagawa ako ng special report tungkol sa kampanya kaya iniisa-isa ko ngayon ang pag-cover ng mga rally ng bawat partido.

Una naming kinuberan ang rally ng Nacionalista Party sa Koronadal athletic stadium sa Southern Cotabato noong Linggo kung saan mga 100,000 ang dumalo. Sa susunod na mga araw, rally ng Liberal party naman ang aming pupuntahan.

Girian para sa 2016

Published by Ellen on April 10, 2010

Hindi pa nagaganap ang 2010 na eleksyun ngunit nagsisimula na ang girian para sa 2016 na eleksyun.

Napabalita noong isang araw ang maliit na gulo sa Liberal Party sa pagitan ng Team Chiz at grupo ni Mar Roxas, ang kandidato nila para bise presidente.

Ang Team Chiz ay mga tauhan ni Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero na kinabubuan ng writers at media coordinators. Medyo marami-rami din yan sila.

Kung maala-ala natin, tatakbo sana si Chiz bilang presidente sa eleksyun na ito at maganda ang kanyang ratings. Kaya lang nang namatay si Cory Aquino, nag-iba na ang tanawin sa pulitika. Pati si Mar Roxas, na siyang pambato sana ang LP para presidente ay bumaba para magiging bise-presidente. Si Chiz naman, nagdesisyun na hindi na ipilit ang kanyang pagka-kandidato.