- Ellen Tordesillas is disappointed with Manny Pacquiao
- Conrad de Quiros writes about "The Da Vinci Code" movie, and how Filipino Catholics are worried by it's impending release:
I CAN understand some of the complaints about "The Da Vinci Code," which have become a little more strident as the movie looms. Movies being the more popular fare, Christians, or indeed Catholics, are a little more alarmed at the harm it can do to their faith. I myself have gotten text messages from acquaintances asking me to aid them in their campaign against the movie.
My advice to Filipino Catholics is this: If you want to be taken seriously, start threatening the Dreamworks, the producers, the actors and distributors with violence, jihad and beheadings. That's how many Muslims around the world reacted with the Mohammed cartoons controversy.
Say something like "Behead those who insult Christianity." That might do the trick.
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- PCIJ: Are electoral reforms possible under Arroyo?
OF COURSE IT'S POSSIBLE! DON'T YOU REMEMBER the promise Arroyo gave to her Rizal day speech about working "Clean and Honest Elections" in 2004?
On the other hand, relieved of the burden of politics, I can devote the last year and half of my administration to the following:
First, strengthening economy; to create more jobs and to encourage business activities that is unhampered by corruption and red tape in government.
Second, healing the deep divisions within our society.
Third, working for clean and honest elections in 2004.
Didn't it all worked out a-okay in the end...
... for Arroyo? LOL.
Ellen Tordesillas Comments:
Sinulat ko ito noong Enero sa Malaya dahil balita nga sa Department of Foreign Affairs na hiningi ni Davide itong posisyon bago pa siya mag-retire. Inis ang mga taga DFA dahil lampas na sa retirement age si Davide na dapat hindi pinapayagan sa ilalim ng Foreign Service Act.
Bago pa siya mag-retire, sinigurado na ni Arroyo kay Davide na kanya ang posisyon ng U.N. ambassador sa New York. Kaya lang bago, siya ipadala sa New York, hiningi muna ni Arroyo kay Davide na tulungan siyang takpan ang baho ng kanyang pandaraya noong 2004 eleksyon. Kaya ginawa siyang senior adviser for electoral reforms. Isa naman sa pagkukunyari ni Arroyo na hangad niya ang malinis na eleksyon.
Paano naman magkaroon ng reporma na nandyan naka-upo sa Malacañang ang number one na mandaraya. Nakalagay ba yan sa rekomendasyon ni Davide? Siyempre, wala.
Sa pagtanggap ni Davide ng posisyon kay Arroyo, kung ano man ang natirang kredibilidad ng Supreme Court nawala na. Kaya huwag na tayong umasa na makakuha tayo ng hustisya sa Supreme Court sa mga paglabag ni Arroyo ng Constitution katulad ng Calibrated Responsive Response na sumisikil sa ating karapatan magtipon-tipon, ang E.O. 464 na humaharang sa paglabas ng katotohanan sa mga imbestigasyon ng Senado, ang Proclamation 1017 na dagok sa ating demokrasya, at itong People’s Initiative ni Gloria Arroyo para siya manatili sa kapangyarihan habambuhay.
Ang laking ipokrito itong si Davide. Kahit na nilalakad niya ang kanyang appointment sa U.N. noon, sinabi niya sa media na ang plano raw niya kapag mag-retire na siya ay mag-farming.
Sabi ni retired Ambssador Hermie Cruz, ang sweldo raw ni Davide sa U.N. ay $30,000 (dolyar yan, ha) sa isang buwan. Kasama na raw diyan ang $20,000 sa housing at $10,000 na kanyang sweldo at allowance. Kaya mga $360,000 sa isang taon. I-multiply mo sa P51. Tumataginting na P18,360,000. Eighteen million, 360 thousand pesos.
Ang swerte namang farmer ito.
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- PCIJ: Photo Exhibit of PROC 1017 at the Oarhouse
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- I smell another coverup: What the COA didn’t say: Lawmakers behind NGOs in fertilizer funds scam
AT least three nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) named as recipients or conduits of the P728-million fertilizer funds of the Department of Agriculture (DA) were created and run by or affiliated with lawmakers from the ruling party Lakas.
The Commission on Audit recently came up with its final report on the Ginintuang Masagang Ani (GMA) fertilizer funds and listed several NGOs and political organizations as recipients. The commission, however, omitted the fact that some of these groups had direct links to public officials. A source from the COA said the information may have been withheld, but it was “known to auditors in the field.” The link between the NGOs and the lawmakers, said the COA source, was the “smoking gun” that could have shed light on how the fund was distributed and used.
One of the lawmakers however denied that the NGO had any dealings with the DA to purchase fertilizers, and it may have merely been used by those actually involved.
The P728-million fund was the subject of an inquiry conducted by the Senate Committee on Agriculture based on media reports which allege that the fund was used to purchase overpriced fertilizers. There were also allegation that the money was actually disbursed to various lawmakers and local government officials in 2004 and was used for the election campaign of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Former Solicitor General Frank Chavez also filed plunder charges against Arroyo alleging she used the fund for election purposes.
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- Ducky Paredes: Truth is, there are no jobs available
Secretary Peter Favila is wrong and so is Gloria Arroyo. It is not true that if only our new graduates were not so picky, they would all have jobs. The fact that when employers write up their help wanted ads, they look for over-qualified persons can only mean that there are more applicants than jobs.
When more jobs than applicants are available, the job market tends to write down the qualifications that they are looking for. Here, even for messengers and drivers, employers tend to prefer applicants with some college education. Thus, because the ones looking for people to hire have such high standards, this can only mean that there are more applicants than jobs available, not the other way around.
(Actually, this is the wrong way to do it. When hiring persons who are qualified, one always faces the possibility that the person hired will be too smart for the job and will find ways of cheating or wringing more money out of the job than someone who has just the right education. This is why, in hiring drivers and driver-helpers, I never look at their educational attainment. What is really more important is a good driving record and a good employment record. In this sort of job, hiring someone who has a college degree always turns out to eventually become a bad experience.)
There are no jobs available.
To blame the graduates for their not having jobs is to be very mean, unnecessarily so. As government officials who have access to all the data gathered by the census and labor departments, both Gloria and Peter know the real score. So why are they going out of their way to be mean to the new graduates?
The fact is that the future of this country is abroad. For graduates, the best thing that can happen to them is to find work abroad, whether as OFWs or hired by multi-nationals. There is practically no job market locally.
Of course, there are jobs to be had, even high-paying jobs but they are few and far between. That is the unvarnished truth.
- Conrad de Quiros: "'BUT what's the alternative to Arroyo?' Surprisingly, that question is still being asked today. As I keep saying, that's not the hardest question in the world to answer. It's the easiest."
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More info on Cha cha here:
- MBC warns against ‘fast-track’ cha-cha
- People’s initiative as tool to force Constituent Assembly
- Constitutional change proposals: A critique by Ramon Casiple
“Changing the form of government should be a reform measure. It should not lead us to a regression to a form a government we don’t want, and in our concrete historical context that would be the dictatorship. It should lead us to more democracy, not less democracy,” Casiple said.
Read the whole thing.
- SWS: 56% to vote ‘no’ to cha-cha
- Codal on government’s attack on CBCP over Cha cha comment
CODAL hails the recent Pastoral Letter of the CBCP decrying government fast-tracking of moves to revise the Constitution through a ‘people’s initiative’. CODAL on the other hand expresses concern over the Arroyo government’s statements through Sec. Raul Gonzalez, that the CBCP Letter is a handiwork of leftists and that the said letter is an insult to the intelligence of the Filipino people.
By charging the CBCP letter as influenced by ‘leftists’ in the church, Pres. Arroyo has virtually accused the CBCP as a leftist controlled organization composed of unthinking bishops. The CBCP has basis to question whether the Filipino people understand the proposed revisions of Art. VI, Art. VII and the transitory provisions, all of which contain 82 provisions under the 1987 Constitution. Even lawyers have difficulty understanding the complexity of the proposed shift, and it is not farfetched for many to believe that the signatories to the initiative do not understand the nature and implications of the proposals.
Considering that government forces have been relentless in harassing dissenters as ‘destabilizers’ and therefore the target of raids, violence, warrantless arrests and arbitrary detention, CODAL is concerned that this baseless attack on the church for expressing its views on the ‘initiative’ may be a signal for attacking anti-initiative advocates including church workers.
TRO on ‘no permit no rally policy’
Based on the advice of the CBCP, Pres. Gloria Arroyo should allow more people to come out with their views whether for or against charter change to encourage exchange of information and lively discussion on the issues. After all, she herself promised to ‘let the great debate begin’. CODAL hopes that the Supreme Court will issue a Temporary Restraining Order on the ‘no permit, no rally’ policy and the CPR in order to ensure full play of expression and sentiments by the people. BP 880 and the CPR policy are stumbling blocks to the full discussion of the issues against the so called ‘peoples initiative’ and charter change.
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