Ellen – Page 301 – ellen tordesillas

Peace talks collapse- MILF

Published by Ellen on July 26, 2008

Breaking news:

Esperon has just issued a statement from KL:

“A breakthrough has been achieved in the issue of ancestral domain in Kuala Lumpur at 8:15 PM tonite with teh signing of a joint communique between the GRP panel headed by Chair Rodolfo Garcia and the MILF panel under Chair Iqbal.

“With this positive development and the negotiations, the signing of the framework agreement on ancestral domain is tentatively set early August this year.”

From Inquirer:

ZAMBOANGA –– Peace talks between the Philippine government and Muslim separatist rebels collapsed after Manila tried to go back on an earlier agreement, rebel spokesmen said Saturday.

Near total collapse of credibility for Arroyo

Published by Ellen on July 25, 2008

One out of ten Filipinos (14% believe that she will be truthful in her State of the Nation address on Monday. A huge majority either outrightly expects her to be lying again (40%) or unsure whether she will be truthful or not (46%), the latest Pulse Asia survey showed.

Pulse Asia said,”Past patterns of public skepticism as well as outright disbelief regarding the truthfulness of President Arroyo’s SONAs carry over into present times. Nationwide, in relation to the truthfulness of the forthcoming SONA this July 2008, a large plurality (46%) is unable to anticipate whether this coming SONA is going to be truthful or not; a smaller but nevertheless still significantly large proportion (40%) of respondents nationwide expects it to be untruthful. As in previous Arroyo SONAs, only a rather small number of respondents (14%) believes truthfulness will attend the next Arroyo SONA.”

For the complete report of Pulse Asia on their latest SONA survey click to:http://pulseasia.com.ph/pulseasia/story.asp?ID=651

Cuidate!

Published by Ellen on July 24, 2008

Justifying the support of Gloria Arroyo for the postponement of the August 11 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said it is necessary to ”give the opportunity to peace efforts that are being undertaken by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that struck a breakthrough last week on the contentious issue of ancestral domain.”

I try to follow closely developments in Muslim Mindanao but I feel that there are many things I fully do not understand. Like, I don’t see the connection between the postponement of the ARMM elections and the resumption of the GRP-MILF talks as soon as the Memorandum of Agreement,which the two parties are finalizing in Kuala Lumpur now, is done.

Konektado sa 2010

Published by Ellen on July 23, 2008

Mabuti naman at nagsasalita na si Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio tungkol sa mga kababalaghan na nangyayari sa Ombudsman sa ilalim ni Merceditas Gutierrez.

Maayos na tao si Villa-Ignacio ngunit medyo inis ako sa kanya noong trial ni dating Pangulong Estrada sa kasong plunder. Alam ko trabaho lang niya at talaga namang may nagawang kasalanan si Estrada ngunit naiinis lang ako na sumisilbi siya sa mas malaking magnanakaw .

Sa akin kasi, kung sumusunod ka kay Gloria Arroyo, wala kang karapatan tumiligsa sa ibang magnanakaw. Unahin mo ang pinakapunong magnanakaw.

Harry Roque elected to Council of the International Criminal Bar

Published by Ellen on July 23, 2008

University of the Philippines College of Law Professor Herminio Harry L. Roque Jr. has been elected to the Council of the International Criminal Bar, which acts as representative of counsel to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Prof. Roque is the first Asian to have been elected to as an individual counsel to the governing body of the The Hague-based six-year old international lawyersʼ organization.

Recto is new NEDA chief

Published by Ellen on July 23, 2008

Shoving VAT to the people’s faces.

From GMA-7 online

Losing senatorial candidate Ralph Recto was appointed on Wednesday as the new director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Radio dzBB’s Nimfa Ravelo reported that Executive Sec. Eduardo Ermita made the announcement during his weekly press briefing. He justified Recto’s appointment saying he is qualified for the job.

Be afraid

Published by Ellen on July 23, 2008

Last Sunday, a friend texted me to read the column of former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban in the Inquirer, and “be afraid.”

Panganiban’s column is titled “Can Arroyo reign beyond 2010?”

His answer is “yes” and he thinks she will opt for constituent assembly aptly called Con-Ass. Under Con-Ass, the two branches of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives will convene jointly to amend the Constitution including a shift to a parliamentary system.

So young and so out of touch

Published by Ellen on July 23, 2008

Today’s editorial of the Philippine Daily Inquirer unmasks Sen. Francis Escudero:

Referring to the present dispensation and his political plans, (Sen. Francis) Escudero has said, “We have already suffered and sacrificed for seven years, what is two years?” This is a cunning statement, at once reinforcing his opposition credentials while paving the way to give the present suspects a free pass should they relinquish power.

He laid the predicate for this some weeks back when he said: “GMA [President Arroyo] is not running in 2010, and it would be unfair to the people if presidential candidates should still use her as an issue. Any candidate who runs on an anti-GMA platform is insulting the intelligence of the people. The people will vote for a presidential candidate because of what he or she intends to do if victorious, not because he or she is against GMA.”

Continue readingSo young and so out of touch

IPU looks into Trillanes’ case

Published by Ellen on July 22, 2008

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is looking into the case of Senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV.

During the 122nd Session of the IPU’s Committee on Human Rights of Parliamentarians held last week in Geneva, Switzerland, the Committee heard the case filed by Senators Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal last year in behalf of Senator Trillanes. In their
letter-complaint dated 25 March 2007, Lacson and Madrigal condemned the fact that the Philippine gvernment has been preventing Trillanes from attending Senate sessions and from performing his duties as a Senator despite being elected by more than 11 million voters and
despite of Senate Resolution urging the executive and the courts to allow Trillanes to serve and to attend Senate sessions.

It’s the economy, stupid

Published by Ellen on July 20, 2008

Executive Secretary is finding it hard to understand why the Filipino people do not like Gloria Arroyo despite her working so hard, traveling all over the country doling out crumbs from the billions of pesos that she rakes in from the citizenry.

Following the release of the SWS survey for the period June 27 to 30 where dissatisfaction over how Arroyo runs the country was reflected in an all-time low rating of -38 , Ermita said, “Of course people have to wonder why after the many things that she is doing for the well-being of our citizens that that should still be the perception.”

Author: Ellen