ellen tordesillas – Page 96 – Making life worth living.

In his desire for personal comfort,Brillantes insults foreign service

Published by Ellen on April 21, 2013

Wants a taxpayers' paid relaxation abroad. — Wants a taxpayers’ paid relaxation abroad.

Nakakahiya.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes told reporters last week that he will ask President Aquino to name him ambassador to a country in Eastern Europe once he leaves the election body.

“I will wait to see the President so that I can ask him … My plan was to ask him, ‘Could you give me an ambassadorship instead so that I can rest. It’s so tiring in the Comelec,’” he was quoted by media to have said.
Brillantes named countries that he was eyeing: “Romania, Slovakia, or Hungary … where no Filipinos go.”

Two things are very wrong with what Brillantes wants:

China gives a glimpse of armed power

Published by Ellen on April 18, 2013

China's aircraft carrier — China’s aircraft carrier

China’s Defense White Paper released last Tuesday is an interesting read in the light of the current tension in the Korean Peninsula and the Philippine’s territorial dispute with the new world economic and military power.

The White Paper titled, “The Diversified Employment of China’s Armed Forces” was released as US State Secretary John Kerry completes his Asia visit (South Korea and Japan) re-affirming the “rebalancing” policy initiated by the Obama administration in its first term.

Under the rebalancing or “pivot” policy, the US shifts its military power and presence from the Middle East war zone to the Asia Pacific region.

The Pichay lesson in political ads

Published by Ellen on April 16, 2013

Pichay's ad in 2007 elections — Pichay’s ad in 2007 elections

Some are concerned that with the lifting by the Supreme Court of the airtime limits on political advertisements, we would be bombarded with all those propaganda in the next 30 days.

Less-moneyed candidates are worried that they would be drowned by those with money to burn. Independent senatorial candidate Teddy Casiño said the SC’s ruling favors wealthy candidates or those backed by the ruling elite.

“Ginawang parang unli text, unli call.The problem is its steep cost,” he said. TV ad rates, depending on the time slot, would not go below P250,000 for a 30 second ad. A candidate would need some P30 million for the remaining four weeks of the campaign.

” It is disgusting that the SC has decided against the Comelec’s effort to rein in expensive campaigns which poor or cash-strapped candidates like me cannot afford,” Casiño lamented.

Trawling Tubbataha’s treasures

Published by Ellen on April 14, 2013

By Rex Robles,VERA Files

It was 1974 and I was taking up an advanced course in Mechanical Engineering at the US Navy Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. For our final exam in Oceanography, our professor simply called the twelve of us to his office one by one and asked us a few questions. I noticed a certain level of interest in the Philippines that I did not expect.

For instance, he showed me a satellite photograph of Manila Bay and asked me what I thought about a plan to build a highway along the Manila-Cavite coastline. I mumbled some comment on how the ecology in the area would be affected.

Then he showed me photographs of the entire Sulu Sea with what looked like ridgelines in the water running roughly parallel to Palawan. I was intrigued. My professor, who is based in New Zealand, told me they were a dozen or so swells that go northwest at certain times. At other times, they go the opposite way.

What to do when your cellphone gets wet

Published by Ellen on April 14, 2013

Once again, I’ve been given a lesson by the best teacher on earth – experience. And I’m sharing the lesson with others with the hope that you would be wiser and would know what to do in case what happened to me happened to you.

Last week, while checking in at Iloilo airport for the flight back to Manila, the mineral water in my bag spilled.The contents of my handbag all got wet, including my Blackberry phone.

It’s the same phone that I accidentally dropped in Southmall Supermarket December last year and was picked up by an honest janitor who returned it to me.

Spot the big difference

Published by Ellen on April 11, 2013

Chinese fishermen whose boat ran aground in Tubbataha.Interphoto. Thanks to Interaksyon

President Aquino is being consistent when he said that the government will not be filing a diplomatic protest against China for the intrusion of a fishing vessel that got stuck in Tubbataha Reef in Sulu Sea, 150 kilometers southeast of Puerto Princesa City in Palawan.

After all, he didn’t also protest to the United States when the minesweeper USS Guardian got stuck and caused extensive damage to the reef which is Marine Protected Area three months ago (Jan. 17). It took the US navy three months remove the 1,300-ton, 68-meter-long Avenger Class minesweeper piece by piece. It was completed last March 30.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said April 7 that a diplomatic protest against the U.S was “unnecessary” because the superpower has been cooperating with the maritime investigation and has committed to the compensation and rehabilitation of the reef.

AMRSP’s critical reflection on Aquino presidency

Published by Ellen on April 3, 2013

The Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines has been in the forefront in all the political upheavals the country has experienced since the time of the Marcos dictatorship.

Many of its members braved the tanks sent by Marcos to Edsa during the 1986 People Power. They were very much visible in the 2001 ouster of Joseph Estrada and the installation of Gloria Arroyo.

But they did not hesitate to rally against Arroyo when reports of election cheating and massive corruption surfaced.

They supported the rise of Benigno Aquino III to the presidency.

One of Us – James Yap

Published by Ellen on April 2, 2013

By JB Baylon, VERA Files

Last Easter Sunday I watched PBA games live, sitting for the first time in the venue called The Arena at the Mall of Asia. I was transfixed – it was as if I had been transported to a city in the United States, or China even, as the venue was truly a vast improvement from what we have anywhere else in the country.

But I was even more transfixed by the public – the basketball fanatics who had trooped to the Mall of Asia on an Easter Sunday.

But these were no “ordinary” Pinoys. They were the fans who have followed teams and cheered for players and booed their opponents for generations. And tonight their greatest cry – a loud and prolonged cheer actually — was reserved for one team. In fact, it was reserved mostly for one player, the one wearing jersey Number 18 while playing for the San Mig Coffee Mixers: James Carlos Yap.

Civil society takes Malaysia to UN for maltreatment of Filipinos in Sabah

Published by Ellen on April 1, 2013

By Ellen Tordesillas, VERA Files

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Photo from kualalumpurpost.net

Concerned citizens are hauling the Malaysian government to the United Nations for human rights abuses against Filipinos in Sabah, even as they criticized the Philippine government for lack of outrage and action.

Concerned groups and individuals are filing Monday urgent appeals with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay and UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, both based in Geneva, Switzerland.

In their letters, the civil society groups asked the two UN agencies to “urgently intervene so that Malaysia will respect the human rights of the Filipinos in Sabah, recognized under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

Agonizing moments at the DFA over Sabah

Published by Ellen on March 31, 2013

Malaysia arrests Filipinos Photo By BAZUKI MUHAMMAD REUTERS Wed, Mar 6, 2013 From Yahoo.

When some 30 concerned citizens met before the Holy Week to discuss the appeal to the United Nations for help for Filipinos in Sabah who are being maltreated by Malaysian authorities, they decided they would do it as private citizens and not waste their time getting the support of the Philippine government.

Of course, the petition would have carried more weight if it were the government seeking international intervention for its people, which should be the case because the government exists for its people.

In fact, it is in the Constitution’s Declaration of Principles and State Policies that (Art. II, Sec. 4) The prime duty of the Government is to serve and protect the people.”

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