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Key to normalization of PH-Taiwan relations: release of probe report

Published by Ellen on July 19, 2013

Is President Aquino going to announce at his fourth State of the Nation address what he is going to do with the investigation report of the National Bureau of Investigation on the May 9, 2013 incident in Balintang Channel where a member of the Philippine Coast Guard shot and killed a Taiwanese fisherman?

The NBI report, submitted to Aquino June 11, recommended the filing of administrative and criminal charges against the Coast Guard personnel, whose action caused serious diplomatic, political and economic problems for the country.

Although it has not been officially released, leaks to media, which were not denied by the NBI, revealed that the killing of Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-cheng, 65, was unwarranted.

Sources said testimonies of personnel of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources belied the claim of PCG that the 15-ton fiberglass made fishing vessel was ramming the 110-ton BFAR owned vessel, to justify the shooting of the fishing boat.

Taiwanese President Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeo, under pressure from an outraged constituency, made four demands from the Philippine government: formal apology, investigate the shooting and punish the guilty, compensation, and fisheries agreement.

Taiwanese meanwhile imposed sanctions: a freeze in the hiring of Filipino workers and a travel alert.

The sanctions translate to a loss of millions, even billions, of pesos. It means thousands of Filipinos remaining jobless because some 2,500 job applications are processed by Taiwan from Filipino applicants monthly. Those new hires join the more than 100,000 Filipino workers in Taiwan.

We owe whistleblowers

Published by Ellen on July 16, 2013

Two news items yesterday recall to mind NBN/ZTE star whistleblower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada and his meeting with President Aquino in Malacanang last February.

Benhur Luy, exposed Janet Napoles vast network of corruption

The first news item was about the statement of the lawyer of Jane L. Napoles, who is in the center of the alleged P10 billion pork barrel scam, to file administrative and criminal charges against whistleblower Benhur Luy, formerly Napoles personal assistant.

The other news item was the downgrading by the Court of Appeals into “simple misconduct” of the Ombudsman’s ruling finding him guilty of grave misconduct for his role in the aborted $329 million National Broadband Network deal with the Chinese telecommunication firm, ZTE.

Romy Neri, for hiding the truth from the public, just a 'simple miscounduct.' — Romy Neri, for hiding the truth from the public, just a ‘simple miscounduct.’

Why Jun Lozada?

The two news items illustrate the risks that a whistleblower has to face if he decides to take on bigtime operators who have built deep and wide network within the government.

In the NBN/ZTE controversy, second only to the Hello Garci scandal as far as negative impact on the Arroyo administration, both Neri and Lozada were privy to the behind the scenes machinations that tripled the cost of the telecommuncations project.

Remembering Ruben Cusipag fondly

Published by Ellen on July 14, 2013

Social media is flooded with the report on the death of Glee actor, Cory Monteith, who was found dead in his hotel room (Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel) in Vancouver Saturday (Sunday, Manila time) due to drug overdose, news reports said.

But there’s another death in Canada we grieve over: that of newsman Ruben Cusipag.

We learned about the passing away of Ruben only yesterday from another friend in Canada and we immediately wrote his wife, Tess, who replied: “I am still devastated because it was so sudden. This morning was his funeral so we gave him a good send off. His Upsilon brods gave him their farewell.”

Ruben was a reporter of the Elizalde-owned Evening News before martial law was imposed on Sept. 21, 1972. He was one of the journalists thrown into prison during the early days of martial law.

In late 1974, Ruben immigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto where he published Balita.

Balita was not the usual community paper that chronicled merely the social activities of the Filipino immigrants. As Balita’s profile states, “ Cusipag’s views evolved over time, from assertive politics to a milder apolitical tone, and Balita lived up to its promise to provide frank, sincere, and honest-to-goodness discussion of the Philippine problem.”

How to keep your sanity when stuck in Metro Manila traffic

Published by Ellen on July 12, 2013

Metro Manilans' daily calvary. Thanks to Inquirer for photo. — Metro Manilan’s daily calvary. Thanks to Inquirer for photo.

Surviving traffic in Metro Manila is a test of patience, an exercise in anger management.

Here are some tips I’d like to share with my fellow sufferers:

1. Text and call.

It’s the time to send text messages or make calls that you should have done earlier but were not able to do because you were attending to some other things.

After an hour,you would have accomplished a lot. Time not wasted.

A triumph for Kinaray-a advocates

Published by Ellen on July 10, 2013

There are issues about the K-12 program being implemented by the Department of Education but the one good thing about it is the use of the mother tongue or native dialect as medium of instruction for the first years in school. That means from Kindergarten to Grades 1 to 3.

In a country, where many equate speaking English, however badly, with intelligence and class, the use of the mother tongue as medium of instruction in early education was a bold step to right a wrong policy.

The new policy was based in various studies that the use of the language spoken at home during early years of schooling produces better and faster learners who can easily adapt to learn a second language (Filipino) and third language (English).

The implementation of this policy is daunting considering that the Philippines has 181 documented languages. Producing learning materials for would require a lot of resources and time.

An Inquirer report said that The DepEd used 12 major languages when it introduced the mother tongue based-multi-lingual education (MTB-MLE) last school year namely Tagalog, Kapampangan, Pangasinense, Iloko, Bikol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Tausug, Maguindanaoan, Maranao and Chabacano.

Una, MNLF. Sunod, MILF. Ngayon, BIFF.

Published by Ellen on July 9, 2013

Noong Sabado ng gabi, ayon sa report ng military, inatake ang ng sabay sabay ang mga sundalo sa maguindanao at North Cotabato ng mga 100 na rebelled. Limang sundalo at 18 na rebelde ang patay.

Nangyari itong pag-atake dalawang araw bago mag-usap ulit ang mga representatives ng pamahalaan ng Pilipipinas at ng Moro Islamic Liberation Front sa Kuala Lumpur para ipagpatuloy ang naantalang peace talks para sa Mindanao.

Ang mga umatake daw sa mga sundalo ay miyembro ng Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters o BIFF.

Ano naman itong BIFF?

A guide to understanding the West Philippine Sea dispute

Published by Ellen on July 7, 2013

The Asian Center of the University of the Philippines has come out with a very useful document: The West Philippine Sea: Territorial and Maritime Jurisdiction Disputes from a Filipino Perspective.

It’s available online: http://www.babaylan.dk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/UP_Primer-on-the-West-Philippine-Sea_April-2013_0.pdf

Prepared under the direction of experts on the subject (Dean Eduardo T. Gonzalez of the Asian Center; Aileen S. P. Baviera, professor, Asian Center; and Jay Batongbacal, director, Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea of the UP College of Law), the timing of the primer is perfect as tension in the area continues to simmer.

The authors have succeeded in simplying the complicated topic. It covers history of the conflict and recent events. Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Panatag shoal and by its international name Scarborough Shoal (Chinese name is Huangyan island) which has been the area of conflict since the standoff April last year involving Chinese and the Philippine ships, is well covered.

‘Stupid proposal, stupid reply’

Published by Ellen on July 4, 2013

US Secretary of State Joh Kerry shook hands with his counterparts at this weeks's ARF in Brunei except Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, whom he embraced. — US Secretary of State Joh Kerry shook hands with his counterparts at this weeks’s ARF in Brunei except Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, whom he embraced.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario is known not to mince words when it comes to China and its behavior in the disputed areas in the West Philippines Sea.

He accused China of “duplicity” and “intimidation” at the 2012 Asean Ministerial Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This week, at the 2013 Asean Ministerial Meeting in Brunei, he blasted the neighboring behemoth again saying the “massive presence of Chinese military and paramilitary ships” is destabilizing the region.

Philippine diplomats accompanying him related proudly to reporters how the foreign secretary refuted the accusations of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that the Philippines is stirring tension in the South China Sea during last Sunday’s Asean plus three (China, Japan, South Korea) meeting.

China offers to remove BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin shoal

Published by Ellen on July 2, 2013

Chinese Foreign Secretary Wang Yi made an offer yesterday during the Asean Regional Forum in Brunei that rendered the articulate Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario speechless.

Del Rosario told reporters that Wang said “Scarborough and Ayungin were theirs, historically, and we were the ones sending ships, interdicting their fishermen, and the grounded ship has been there for so long.”

Wang was referring to BRP Sierra Madre which ran aground at Ayungin Shoal also known as Second Thomas shoal (Ren’ai Reef to the Chinese) in May 1999.

Ayungin Reef is 105.77 nautical miles from Palawan. It is about 21 nautical miles from Mischief Reef, which was occupied by China in 1995.

Gazmin makes the Philippines look pathetic

Published by Ellen on June 30, 2013

Never have I felt so kawawa reading the statements of Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin justifying his plan to allow American and Japanese military access to military facilities in the Philippines to deter China’s aggressive moves in the South China Sea .

Newspaper reports quoted Gazmin as saying: “We cannot stand alone. We need allies. If we do not (seek allies), we will be bullied by bigger forces and that is what is happening now. China is already there, staying in our territory.”

Gazmin must be referring to the situation in Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal or Panatag, off Zambales which is no longer accessible to Filipino fishermen since April 2012 and Mischief Reef in the Spratlys , which was China occupied in 1995.

It is feared that China would take over Ayungin Shoal, some 25 miles away from Mischief Reef.

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