Author: Ellen

BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin shoal:Test for MDT

Published by Ellen on March 18, 2014

BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal. Photo from New York Times.

The rising tension at the Ayungin shoal, just 21 nautical miles from Mischief Reef where China has built fortifications, could be a test on the usefulness of the 1951 PH-US Mutual Defense Treaty

In its statement issued last Friday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said: “The BRP Sierra Madre, a commissioned Philippine Naval Vessel, was placed in Ayungin Shoal in 1999 to serve as a permanent Philippine installation in response to China’s illegal occupation of Mischief Reef in 1995. This was prior to the signing of the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in 2002. The Philippines reiterates that Ayungin Shoal is part of its continental shelf over which the Philippines has sovereign rights and jurisdiction.”

This is the first time that the Philippine government admitted that the 100 meter-long Sierra Madre, a World War II vintage LST that had served the United States as USS Harnett County during the Vietnam War and acquired by the Philippines in 1976, was deliberately grounded in Ayungin Shoal, 105.77 nautical miles from Palawan. Before, Philippine authorities played coy about the grounding of Sierra Madre in Ayungin shoal, which the Chinese call Ren’ai Reef.

The empowerment of Monique Wilson

Published by Ellen on March 12, 2014

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By VERA Files

Stage actress Monique Wilson is this year’s Hildegarde Lifetime Achievement awardee.

The Hildegarde Awards is administered by St. Scholastica’s College “to celebrate women’s achievements in the mass media and its allied fields.”

The award ceremonies are held during the International Women’s Month.

St. Scholastica’s program said St. Hildegarde, a German Benidictine nun, “was an accomplished artist who translated her visions into artistic forms that included musical compositions, poetry and paintings.”

Wilson’s acceptance speech:

Pangilinan offers Spratlys to Chinese oil firm in Reed Bank talks

Published by Ellen on March 10, 2014

By Theresa Martelino-Reyes, VERA Files

(Conclusion)

Business tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan offered China’s state-owned oil firm access to the Spratly group of islands in the South China Sea over which the Philippines has a territorial claim, although he had no legal capacity to do so.

Pangilinan, chairman and chief executive officer of Philex Petroleum Corp, offered to include in his discussions with officials of the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) the Spratlys Islands, even if his company’s contract with the Philippine government is limited to Reed Bank, which is part of Palawan.

Philex chair Manuel V. Pangilinan and CNOOC President Yang Hua.

In an aide memoire addressed to President Benigno Aquino dated May 7, 2012, Pangilinan reported on his meeting with CNOOC officials led by its president Yang Hua and listed his 11 point proposal which, he said, the Chinese “received positively.”

Chinese firm rejects MVP offer for share in PH project in Reed Bank

Published by Ellen on March 9, 2014

Phikex Petroleum President Manuel V. Pangilinan

(First of two parts)

By Theresa Martelino-Reyes, VERA Files

A state-owned Chinese oil firm has rejected the proposal of business tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan to invest in a contract to drill in the disputed Reed Bank but welcomed “innovative” proposals on how it can participate, according to a memorandum Pangilinan submitted to President Benigno Aquino.

State-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) turned down the offer made by Pangilinan, chairman and chief executive officer of Philex Petroleum Corp, in a meeting on May 2, 2012.

“A Farm-In Agreement into SC 72 (which Philex previously suggested to them) is not acceptable given the sovereignty issue,” Pangilinan reported to Aquino in an aide memoire submitted to the President on May 7, 2012. The contents of the aide memoire, obtained by VERA Files, have not been made public since it was submitted to the President.

SC 72 refers to Service Contract 72, signed in 2010, in which the Philippine government awarded Forum Energy Plc. (FEP) exploration rights to a basin within Reed Bank. Philex owns 64.45 percent of FEP, a London-based listed oil and gas exploration firm focused on the Philippines. FEP in turn owns 70 percent of SC 72.

A farm-in agreement is a contract signed between the owner of the “farm” and its exploration partner. Accepting such an arrangement could be interpreted as CNOOC accepting the Philippines as “owner” of Reed Bank.

St Scholastica’s Hildegarde awards

Published by Ellen on March 9, 2014

Hildegarde Award for Outstanding Achievement in Print and Online Journalism. — Hildegarde Award for Outstanding Achievement in Print and Online Journalism for VERA Files.

I learned something new last Saturday when I went to St. Scholastica’s College to receive the award together with my colleague, Luz Rimban, for VERA Files.

St. Scholastica cited VERA Files’s stories about victims of Yolanda typhoon being vulnerable to human traffickers. We thank St Scho for recognizing our contribution to the fight against human trafficking which is a modern day slavery.

The wonderful thing about St Scho’s Hildegarde Awards for Women and Media Communication is that, the awardees were not asked to apply. The Mass Communications students monitored all year round TV, Radio, Print and Online. After a thorough screening faculty members and students decide on the awardees.

Who is Hildegarde?

Highlighting the importance of research in journalism

Published by Ellen on March 7, 2014

University of the Philippines students Darlene Cay and Vince Nonato (third and fourth from left) receive the Chit Estella Journalism Award from Roland Simbulan and VERA Files President Ellen Tordesillas (center) along with the panel of judges. PHOTO BY The Plaridel Bulldog

Congratulations to the winners in this year’s Philippine Journalism Research Conference (PJRC) held at the University of the Philippines Wednesday.

The project is commendable because, these days when many people are dismayed by the preponderance of sloppy journalis, it gives importance to research in the practice of journalism.

Aiming to highlight commendable researches of journalism students,this year’s PJRC gave the Chit Estella Memorial Awards for Journalism Research to students with the most excellent work.

The incredible Dennis Cunanan

Published by Ellen on March 5, 2014

Dennis Cunanan, the deputy director general of Technology Resource Center (TRC), said of the some P600 million PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) or pork barrel that passed through his office and ended up in the pockets of three senators and Janet Napoles, he didn’t get a single centavo.

Incredible! As incredible as Cunanan, a college undergraduate, getting appointed by Gloria Arroyo as executive director of the Commission on Higher Education.

Thanks Karina Constantino-David for reminding the public of that attempt by Cunanan to put one over the Filipino people.

Brunei snubs ASEAN Spratlys claimants’ meeting to forge one stand on China

Published by Ellen on March 4, 2014

Sultan of Brunei Bolkiah is welcomed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Photo from Brunei Times.

By Tessa Jamandre, VERA Files

Four members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with claims in the South China Sea failed to take a united stand on China’s growing aggressiveness after Brunei opted out of a recently held meeting in Manila.

Brunei was a no-show in the 1st ASEAN Claimants Working Group Meeting held at Pan Pacific Hotel in Manila Feb. 18, and is expected to skip the second round in Malaysia on March 25,diplomatic sources privy to the talks said.

The meeting, however, saw a more engaged Malaysia, which has abandoned its former passive attitude toward China’s military activities in the region.

Mar-Chiz, Binay-Meloto, Cayetano-Trillanes

Published by Ellen on March 2, 2014

These are the political alliances shaping up for the 2016 presidential elections.

The President's dream team:Roxas-Escudero — The President’s dream team:Roxas-Escudero

President Aquino’s dream team for 2016.[/caption]Interior Secretary Mar Roxas for president and Sen. Chiz Escudero for vice president for the Liberal Party; Vice President Jejomar Binay and Gawad Kalinga founder and chairman Tony Meloto for the United Nationalist Alliance; and Senators Alan Cayetano and Antonio Trillanes IV for the Nacionalista Party.

Sources said Roxas and Binay both wanted Sen. Grace Poe as running mate but the lady senator feels she is not ready yet to run for a higher position in 2016.

The Mar Roxas and Chiz Escudero ticket is the handiwork of President Aquino, several sources said.
Both Roxas and Escudero, gave up their long-harbored presidential ambitions in 2010, to give way to Aquino, whose candidacy came after the death of his mother,former President Cory Aquino, in August 2009.

Preparing for the great summer exposure

Published by Ellen on February 28, 2014

We are reprinting this article,first published last year,as we prepare to have the most fun this summer.

By Ellen Tordesillas, VERA Files

Video by Mario Ignacio IV

The heat tells us summer is almost here. Time to prepare our bodies for the summer exposure.

Three physical fitness personal trainers – Angie M. Miranda and Jensen G. Centeno of Fitness First, Mall of Asia, and Christian S. Cerezo, formerly of Fitness First Southmall and now a freelance PT, share tips, that coupled with proper diet, will help you achieve the body worth a second glance when on the beach. In the video, they show several variations to the basic exercises like lunge or squat in order to give options, depending on one’s capability to perform the activity.