ellen tordesillas – Page 85 – Making life worth living.

Aquino and the beetle experiment

Published by Ellen on November 3, 2013

"Hindi tayo pareho. Hindi kami nagnakaw, at hindi kami magnanakaw." — “Hindi tayo pareho. Hindi kami nagnakaw, at hindi kami magnanakaw.”

President Aquino wants the public to believe that he and his team are God’s gift to democracy. That they can do no wrong. Corruption in government is confined to some members of the political opposition. His men are like him : upright, honest and candidates for sainthood.

That’s the essense of Aquino’s televised ranting last Wednesday.

Apparently, Aquino and his team have sensed the public indignation over misuse of pork barrel funds, intended in principle for the poor but ended up in public officials pockets. If everything is going well, why would he make changes in his communication setup. He enjoyed high approval ratings with the condescending Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda (aligned with Mar Roxas faction) assisted by Abigail Valte and Communications strategist Ricky Carandang as his mouthpieces. Why then the need to bring in the unassuming Press Secretary Sonny Coloma, aligned with the 2010 election Samar group that supported Vice President Jojo Binay?

Filipina wins Mignone International Human Rights Award

Published by Ellen on November 3, 2013

By Ellen Tordesillas, VERA Files

Human rights activist Mary Aileen D. Bacalso, secretary-general of the Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) is this year’s awardee of the Emilio Mignone International Human Rights Prize.

Bacalso said she was informed Thursday by the embassy of Argentina in the Philippines of the award “in recognition of her work against enforced disappearance in Asia and the world. “

Bacalso will travel to Buenos Aires on Dec. 10 to receive her award in a ceremony to be attended by Argentinian government officials. Aside from her funded travel to Argentina and a plaque, Aileen will also have speaking engagements in different organizations.

Bacalso said “I will be honored to receive this prestigious award soon which will be given not only to me but also to the disappeared and their loved ones and the rest among us in this bigger global movement against enforced disappearances. Let this be an important victory for the cause of the disappeared and their families in the Philippines, in Asia, in Latin America and in the rest of the world.”

Think about this when you go to the cemetery

Published by Ellen on November 1, 2013

A visit to the cemetery, which many of us will undertake starting tomorrow for our annual observance of All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls Day (Nov. 2) should humble us.

As France Charles de Gaulle famously said, “The cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.”

Any sense of self-importance should be erased by De Gaulle’s reminder.

The much- respected Haydee Yorac, said the same when she was battling cancer and resigned to face her creator. She was confident that there will be no dearth of Filipinos who will continue her crusade for truth and justice. She consoled people,””No one is indispensable.”

Bel canto live from Ayala Museum

Published by Ellen on October 29, 2013

By Pablo A. Tariman, VERA Files

Tenor Arthur Espiritu with pianist Najib Ismael

Like it or not, bel canto (the art of beautiful singing) is the most-quoted word in the opera circle.

Teachers brandish it as though it were a vocal talisman and some students think it is the key to instant vocal stardom.

If you are active in the conservatory circuit, you realize very few singers live up to it. A few sing to impress, not to communicate. Still many relish the bravura moments in Puccini and Verdi arias and end up doing the opposite of bel canto.

For lack of solid technique compounded by bad teachers, some students — who wanted to absorb the angelic resonance of bel canto — end up as pedestrian singers who think acting can cover up for a singing style way below the standard of how it should sound.

The truth is bel canto is better heard than lectured.

“An Evening of Bel Canto” — the closing season concert of the MCO Foundation, Inc. heard at the Ayala Museum last Saturday — gave that special audience the essential, if, substantial qualities of the art of beautiful singing.

Embarrassing findings on concrete blocks in Bajo de Masinloc

Published by Ellen on October 29, 2013

A closer look at the concrete blocks from the air.

Retired Philippine Navy Commodore Rex Robles had very serious doubts about the concrete blocks in Bajo de Masinloc as foundations for structures similar to what the Chinese did in Mischief Reef when he first saw the photos presented by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin during a budget congressional hearing last Sept. 3.

“Those blocks did not look like the beginnings of underwater build up,” said Robles, who had taken up advanced engineering courses.

Robles’ doubts have been proven correct because further investigation by the military showed that those concrete blocks, numbering 75 scattered within the 120-square-kilometer strategically important shoal, were not put by the Chinese, but by the Americans, who were in nearby Subic naval Base for more than 80 years until 1991, when the Philippine Senate junked the RP-US Military Bases Agreement.

AFP probers say US, not China, put concrete blocks in Bajo de Masinloc

Published by Ellen on October 24, 2013

One of the photos shown by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin during a congressional hearing.

By Ellen Tordesillas,VERA Files

The concrete blocks in Bajo de Masinloc, which Philippine defense and military officials last month accused China of putting there, may have actually been placed by the United States Navy decades ago, military sources said.

A military investigation found that the concrete slabs were covered by algae, an indication that they had been in the area for many years. The probe also found that the blocks had been used by the U.S. Navy as “sinkers” to preserve the wreckage of old ships they used for target practice.

The information contradicts Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin’s statement at the congressional budget hearing in September in which he accused China of laying the foundation for structures similar to what it did in Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands in 1995.

Empowering barangays

Published by Ellen on October 23, 2013

Candidates for barangay council campaign at BF Resort in las Piñas.

I have seen some campaigners for candidates running for positions in the barangay elections on Monday but in Metro Manila, the Oct. 28 elections does not have the hoopla of the congressional, senatorial and presidential elections.

But it’s a different matter in the provinces, especially in the barrios, where the environment is much more intimate and emotions are much more intense.

Philippine Star reported that a total of 6,195 barangays or 14.74 percent of the 42,028 barangays nationwide were declared by the Philippine National Police as election watchlist areas .

Using calamity an excuse for another calamity

Published by Ellen on October 20, 2013

Aquino inspecting damage in Bohol. Photo by Malacañang. — Aquino inspecting damage in Bohol. Malacañang photo.

One week after the 7.2 magnitude tremblor that shook Bohol, Cebu and other parts of Central Visayas, many are still unaccounted for.

Heart rending is the report about the missing five children playing by the waterfall, which has also been obliterated by landslides that followed the quake.

There may still be areas, isolated by the destruction of roads and bridges that are still to be reached by rescuers and people who are bringing assistance.

Aquino still in deep slumber despite wake up call

Published by Ellen on October 17, 2013

Mahar Mangahas commented on this column in my FB wall:

“Ellen, the SWS report about the 2013Q2 rating of the ADMINISTRATION was NOT a recycled piece; it was simply the final release from the 2013Q2 SWS survey. It is different from the SWS report on the 2013Q2 rating of the PERSONAL PERFORMANCE OF PNoy, which was released much earlier. Our report last week on the 2013Q3 personal rating of Pnoy was the first of a series from the third quarter survey; more will follow in due course, including the rating of the Administration (not the person) again. http://www.sws.org.ph/pr20130923.htm

“Ellen, here is the earlier SWS report about the 2nd quarter rating of PNoy, that you claimed was “recycled.” SWS does not do recycling; publicity is not our occupation.
http://www.sws.org.ph/pr20130729.htm”

Now we know why the three-month old survey of the Social Weather Station showing a high public satisfaction for the Aquino administration was recycled last Sept. 19.

At the height of the pork barrel/Janet Napoles scandal and the bungling of the Zamboanga conflict involving the Nur Misuari’s Moro National Liberation Front, the SWS survey conducted June 28-30 and was reported about in July was released again and was carried by major media outlets.

What to do during an earthquake

Published by Ellen on October 15, 2013

Before and after earthquake photos of centuries-old Loboc church in Bohol. Yahoo photo.

Let’s pray for those who were affected by the earthquake that shook the Visayas and Mindanao yesterday.

Renato Solidum, the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said more aftershocks could happen in the coming weeks.

I’m reprinting here guidelines from the “Disaster Preparedness and First Aid” handbook prepared by the Senate Committee on Climate Change chaired by Sen. Loren Legarda. The guidelines were provided by the Phivolcs.

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