Politics – Page 3 – ellen tordesillas

Another flip-flop: Arroyo will push through with US trip

Published by Ellen on September 17, 2008

Two weeks after announcing the cancellation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s trip to the United States later this month, Malacañang on Wednesday confirmed that the US trip will push through after all.

In an interview, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said Arroyo will leave for the US to address the United Nations Millenium Development Goals review on September 23. In the review, the Philippines is expected to report its compliance to the eight international development objectives.

Dureza said President Arroyo will also hold bilateral meetings in New York and meet with the Organization of Islamic Conference to express her gratitude for its support for the peace process in Mindanao.

Leksyon sa nangyari sa Thailand

Published by Ellen on September 13, 2008

Noong una nainggit ako mga taga-Thailand na napa-talsik nila ang kanilang bagong prime minister na si Samak Sundaravej na ang kasalanan lamang ay tumanggap siya ng bayad sa kanyang televised cooking show habang siya’y prime minister.

Sinabi ng Constitutional Court ng Thailand na lumabag si Samak ng batas na nagbabawal sa mga opisyal ng pamahalaan na tumanggap ng pera sa pribadong kumpanya. Wow! Ganoon sila ka istrikto.
Kung dito sa Pilipinas yan baka wala ni isang opisyal ang matira sa gobyerno.

Si Justice Jose Sabio Jr. umamin na tumanggap ng P300,000 kay Francis de Borja bilang pasalamat sa isang kasong nadesisyunan niya pabor sa pamilya ni de Borja, hindi tinangal.

Chavit Singson named deputy national security adviser

Published by Ellen on September 6, 2008

Update from ABS-CBN news: Chavit hits back at critics. “They’re just jealous. If they want the position, then it’s theirs. If they can help, the job is theirs. But if they will only add up to the troubles of our nation, then they should get out of the country,” Singson told a radio dzMM interview, adding that those who are speaking against his appointment were just jealous of it.

By Michael Lim Ubac
Philippine Daily Inquirer

After a yearlong absence from the political scene, former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson is back in the corridors of power.

President Macapagal-Arroyo has tapped Singson as deputy National Security Adviser (NSA) under Secretary Norberto Gonzales, a Malacañang official told the Philippine Daily Inquirer Friday night.

The official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to make the announcement, said the appointment of Singson was signed by Ms Arroyo this week and would be announced on Monday by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

Piggery naging cemetery

Published by Ellen on September 1, 2008

Ang panibagong report ng VERA Files ay tungkol sa Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. (Quedancor) na sinasabing bangko ng mahihirap.

Kaya talagang nakaka-ngitngit madiskubre na ginagatasan pala ito ng mga tauhan ni Gloria Arroyo. Talagang walang patawad. Isusubo na lang ng mahihirap, aagawin pa.

Ang isang kaso na ginawang showcase ng Verafiles ay yung kay Aura Drew Escanlar ng Iloilo City na ginamit ang kanyang pera para sa kanyang review sa nursing board examinations noong December of 2004 sa pagpatayo ng piggery o babuyan.

Grasping at (foreign) straws

Published by Ellen on August 28, 2008

Gloria Arroyo is leaving abroad this weekend, a source in Malacañang said.

She declined to tell me the destination but it couldn’t be to the United States because her next trip there will be next month. Arroyo is scheduled to leave for New York Sept. 22 to attend the United Nations General Assembly and the Clinton Global Initiative conference.

I’m told she will also be going to Seattle to attend a Fil-Am activity.

It is expected that Arroyo will again be accompanied by her usual coterie of junketing congressmen paid for by Filipino taxpayers. At this time economic difficulties and with the uneasy situation in Mindanao, another transatlantic trip for Arroyo reflects callousness.

MILF press con

Published by Ellen on August 25, 2008

Last Saturday, Al Haj Murad Ibrahim,chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front Central Committee, held a press conference in Camp Darapanan, part of what they consider their Bangsamoro homeland. Murad reiterated the MILF’s position that the MOA-AD is a done deal and suggested that Comanders Ombra kato and Bravo are not subject to Philippine laws because they are a revolutionary government.

For the complete MILF report on the presscon, click to:http://www.luwaran.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=862
Excerpts:

MILF position is firm

As we had said and manifested in the press and official statement I had earlier read, the MILF position is firm. “As far as we are concerned, the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA – AD) is a final document, a done deal.”

Is Ermita taking charge?

Published by Ellen on August 24, 2008

Amidst the disarray in Malacañang, it looks like Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita is asserting authority which had almost slipped out of his hands sometime ago.

Consider these confusion in Malacanang:

Last Thursday, Gloria Arroyo, in her speech at the 2nd Philippine International Motor Show at the World Trade Center, announced a policy shift towards the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, with whom her administration had forged an agreement for the creation of a Bangsamoro homeland that would include the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao and more than 700 barangays from North Cotabato, Zamboanga City and Palawan.

She announced this supposed policy shift a few days after hostilities in North Cotabaro and Lanao del Norte that left more than 30 dead and some 70,000 homeless .

Fiesta ng katotohanan

Published by Ellen on August 23, 2008

Masaya ang Truth Festival na ginanap sa Raha Sulayman Park sa Roxas Boulevard, sa Baywalk, noong Biyernes ng gabi.

Pasensya na po sa mga naperwisyo sa heavy traffic dahil isinara ang Roxas Blvd simula ng mga 3 p.m. Mga bandang 7 p.m na binuksan ang kalahati ng Roxas Blvd.

Ako na-traffic din mula Vito Cruz ngunit nakarating din mga bandang 6 p.m. na. Dahil kasama ang mga Catholic schools sa mga organizers, ang daming mga estudyante. Ito ang pinakamalaking rally mula noong Feb. 29 sa Makati. Si Jun Lozada, kasama ang mga civil society groups, ang tumulong magbuo nito.

Maganda at masaya. Mabuti naman at maganda ang panahon kaya rally kasama na rin pasyal ang ginawa ng mga tao. Iba talaga kapag kaalyado ang mayor. Nandoon ang mga pulis para magprotekta, hindi para mangharang. Nagsalita si Mayor Fred Lim.

7 senators ask SC to allow Trillanes to attend sessions

Published by Ellen on August 23, 2008

From Manila Bulletin:

Seven opposition senators petitioned the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday to allow their colleague, Senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV, to attend Senate session even under guard.

The seven senators are Senators Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr., Benigno Aquino III, Rodolfo G. Biazon, Panfilo M. Lacson, Loren B. Legarda, Jamby Madrigal, and Mar Roxas.

They filed a motion to intervene in Senator Trillanes’ petition in GR No. 79817.

Nobody’s listening to Arroyo

Published by Ellen on August 21, 2008

Gloria Arroyo has lost control. She should re-sign.

She has lost control not only of herself (look up her throwing tantrum video last Monday in YouTube) but also of the government.

She should resign to spare the country further destruction, not only in terms of loss of lives but damage to democratic institutions.

Calls for Arroyo to resign are nothing new ever since the “Hello Garci” tapes surfaced which exposed her to have masterminded cheating in the 2004 elections. But she has effectively placated her political adversaries. This time, however, she has expended her political capital. Derided by majority of Filipinos, Arroyo’s words have no value.

Even MILF spokesman Mohagher Iqbal is not taking her seriously.

Category: Politics