Ellen – Page 262 – ellen tordesillas

Ang panganib sa mga Pilipino seamen

Published by Ellen on April 20, 2009

Related article in Malaya: Ridiculous, seafarers’ group says of Aden Gulf ban

Tuwing may balitang may naha-hijack na namang barko ang mga pirata sa Somalia, ako ay kinakabahan dahil may mga kamag-anak ako sa probinsya na nasa barko.

Mahirap, kasi hindi naman palagi nilalabas ang pangalan. Sa awa naman ng Diyos, safe naman ang mga kamag-anak at kakilala ko ngunit ipinagdadasal ko rin ang mga humigit-kumulang 300 na Filipino seaman na nasa kamay ng mga pirata sa Somalia ngayon.

Mahirap sundan kung ilan na ang mga Filipino hostages ng mga pirata dahil pakawalan ang 20 ngayon, kukuha na naman sila ng panibagong barko sunod na araw. Sa dami ba naman ng Filipino na seaman, hindi maa-aring walang Pilipino na kasama.

Park-phone-for-a-fee under a Balete tree

Published by Ellen on April 19, 2009

(I have written on this subject before in my column in Abante. So this is not new to many of the regular bloggers here. This article appeared in Malaya today.)

ON the fringes of Roxas boulevard, where many shady deals are made, there’s a thriving business that operates primarily on trust.

In front of the US Embassy, under the shade of an old Balete tree, Linda Dragon will hold electronic devices for anyone going inside the embassy building for P150. No written guarantee except trust.

Ted Failon’s multiple tragedy

Published by Ellen on April 19, 2009

I pray that nobody, especially lesser mortals like me, will go through the multiple tragedy that happened to Ted Failon, one of the country’s top broadcasters.

It was tragic enough that a suicide has happened to the Failon family. It was double tragedy that a number of them became suspects and worse, they became victims of police arrogance and cruelty.

Many who witnessed the policemen’s rough treatment of Max Arteche and Pamela Arteche-Trincheta, siblings of Trina, Ted’s wife, who passed away Thursday, as well as that of their driver and household help lament that if that can happen in a case involving a broadcast celebrity under the glaring lights of live TV, how much more to ordinary citizens.

My blog’s new look

Published by Ellen on April 19, 2009

How do you like this blog’s new look? The design is called “Emerald Stretch”. It has three columns, instead of two of the old layout.…

Shocked

Published by Ellen on April 18, 2009

Pinapahalagaan ko ang serbisyo ng mga pulis sa ating bayan. At alam kong maraming maayos na mga pulis kahit na alam ko din na marami ang hindi matino, na hindi naman pambihira sa lahat na organisasyon.

Alam ko rin na ang kasalukuyang liderato ng Philippine National Police sa ilalim ni PNP Chief Jesus Verzosa, ay sumisikap na maiba ang hindi magandang paningin ng publiko sa mga pulis. Nagustuhan ko ang programa ni dating PNP Chief Avelino Razon na “Mamang Pulis” na naglalapit ng pulis sa mamamayan.

Ngunit ang pinaggagawa g Quezon City Police kay Ted Failon ng ABS-CBN, lalo na sa kanyang mga kamag-anak ng kanyang yumaong asawa si Trina at at kanilang mga kasambahay, ay talagang shocking. Mabuti lang nandoon ang crew ng ABS-CBN at nakita ng bung Pilipinas ang ilegal at brutal na pag-arestado sa kanila.

Suicide

Published by Ellen on April 18, 2009

Inquirer Editorial

After watching the way the police have been handling the investigation of the death of Trinidad Arteche Etong, ABS-CBN news anchor Ted Failon’s wife, Filipinos have reason to be afraid — very afraid — of their so-called protectors.

From the time the Quezon City police began working on the case, it was clear they wanted to pin down Failon in a murder charge.

With little to go on but a fertile imagination, Superintendent Frank Mabanag, chief of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, theorized that Etong could have been killed in their Pajero and brought up to the bathroom where Failon claimed to have found her lying in a pool of blood.

Maaring ipilit ni Arroyo ang sarili

Published by Ellen on April 15, 2009

Sa tatlong taong tinanong ng Social Weather Station kung gusto pa nila na si Gloria Arroyo pa rin ang nasa Malacañang paglampas ng June 30, 2010, dalawa ang nagsabing “ayaw ko.”

Ngunit ang tanong: may epekto ba ito kay Arroyo, sa kanyang pamilya at sa kanyang mga alagad? Kung meron man, yun ay lalong maghahanap ng iba pang paraan na tuloy ang kailang ligaya lampas ng 2010 at kung hindi talaga mapalawig ang pagpanatili sa kapangyarihan, paano nila mapruteksyunan ang kanilang sarili.

Nilabas ng SWS noong Martes ang survey na kanilang isinagawa noong Pebrero 20-23 sa tanong na, “Kayo po ba ay sang-ayon o hindi sang-ayon sa Charter Change na papayagan si Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo na manatili bilang PINUNONG OPISYAL NG PILIPINAS nang lampas sa Hunyo 30, 2010?”

‘What lures Arroyo to Dubai?’

Published by Ellen on April 15, 2009

Opposition says reasons for frequent visits ‘flimsy’
Malaya

WHY the frequent trips to Dubai?

Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay yesterday said Dubai should be one of the last countries in President Arroyo’s Middle East travels if her aim, as Malacañang claims, is to secure jobs for Filipinos.

“Recruitment agencies are saying that there are no jobs available in Dubai, which has been one of the hardest hit by the financial crisis. But why insist on flying to Dubai at every opportunity?” said Binay, president of the United Opposition (UNO).

San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito, chairman of UNO-National Capital Region, said Malacañang should come clean on reports of Arroyo’s “personal side trips” to attend to her personal finances.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde dismissed the reports.

The other war in Mindanao

Published by Ellen on April 14, 2009

Related story in the Inquirer: From Oakwood rebel to anti-drug hero

Since last Monday, the flag at the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency office has been flying at half-staff in honor of Intelligence Officer Pablo June Jala and a confidential agent known only as “Tho”, who were killed in an ambush in Maguindanao earlier that day.

Two of the victims’ companions, Intelligence Officers Brian Babang and Mark Anthony Viray were seriously wounded.

The PDEA team was on its way to serve a warrant of arrest on a certain Piad Buaya Abdula Piad in Simuay, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao when they were attacked by heavily armed men.

Roque nominated for UK’s Freedom of Expression award

Published by Ellen on April 14, 2009

harry-roque Congratulations to lawyer Harry Roque who is short-listed for an Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards.

Index on Censorship is Britain’s leading organization promoting freedom of expression. The awards are co-sponsored by the Economist, the Guardian, The Robert Gavron Trust and Bindman’s, a leading law firm in London.

Roque is a nominee for the Bindmans Law and Campaigning Award. The Award aims to recognise lawyers and campaigners who have fought repression or who have struggled to change political climates and perceptions, especially those who have used or established legal means to fight injustice in the field of freedom of expression. Special attention is given to people using or establishing legal precedents to fight injustice.

Index on Censorship’s website specifically cites Roque’s efforts in a class action suit on behalf of several dozen journalists against First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo whose “attacks on journalists seemed a blatant attempt to intimidate the press into silence.”

Author: Ellen