Maniolas

Kuwento By Benjamin PimentelINQUIRER.net 3:01 pm | Wednesday, September 11th, 2013 Most Americans know it as the day when extremists killed more than two thousand innocent civilians in New York and Washington DC. This week in Manila, it’s associated with a controversial rally claiming to be against government corruption. But for many Filipinos and Chileans, September 11 is memorable for other reasons. It’s Ferdinand Marcos’s birthday and the dictator never got tired of making us remember it when he was in power. (I still remember the fascist song we also had to sing during those years.) In Chile, it was the day in 1973 when a military coup backed by the United States overthrew the democratically-elected government of Salvador Allende, launching one of the most brutal regimes in Latin American history. Last year, we marked the 40th anniversary of the martial law declaration that launched the Marcos dictatorship. This year, it’s the Chileans’ turn. They’re marking the 40th anniversary of the bloodbath that ushered in an era of terror. Here’s another way to see it: Marcos was celebrating his birthday and the first year of his reign of greed and terror when the Chileans were plunged into their own ugly nightmare. One date, two dictatorships. In both Chile and the Philippines, it was a time of suffering. People opposed to the regimes were imprisoned, tortured or made to disappear. The cronies of the dictators grew rich and powerful. People lived in fear, even hopelessness. But it was also a time Read More …

INQUIRER.net 4:25 pm | Sunday, August 25th, 2013 Filipino migrant workers in Dammam, Saudi Arabia express solidarity with their compatriots in the Philippines who are set to hold a simultaneous nationwide march Monday to protest the graft-tainted pork barrel fund. Photo courtesy of Junar Elmedo MANILA, Philippines—From one of the world’s major centers of international diplomacy, Geneva, to the deserts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, migrant Filipinos are making their voices heard. By simply posting protest photos on Facebook or holding their own “picnic” to coincide with the nationwide march Monday in the Philippines, overseas Filipinos express their indignation over the alleged massive misuse of taxpayers’ money in Congress. Junar Elmedo, supervisor and trainer at Crane and Heavy Equipment Operator, posed with fellow Filipinos at a construction site in Dammam, Saudi Arabia to protest the pork barrel fund. “Even through that photograph we’d like to show our opposition and demand to abolish the pork barrel,” Elmedo told INQUIRER.net, explaining that holding protest actions is banned in the Islamic kingdom. Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia express their demand to scrap the pork barrel fund. Photo courtesy of Almer Casio Almer Casio of the Facebook group Filipino Friends In Saudi Arabia posted a photo too of placard-bearing Filipinos in Riyadh. “As a show of support of our compatriots in Saudi for the widespread call to junk the pork barrel,” the caption of the photograph read. Bangkok-based Filipinos turn a welcome party into a gathering to demand the abolition of the pork Read More …

By Frances MangosingINQUIRER.net 12:28 pm | Monday, August 12th, 2013 Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario. AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines–The Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of National Defense on Monday announced that negotiations on a framework agreement on increased rotational presence of U.S. troops in the Philippines will start this week. “This week, diplomacy and defense will once again intersect to secure our nation. This week we start negotiations with the United States to institutionalize this policy through a framework agreement,” Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario told media men at Camp Aguinaldo. The first round of talks will begin Wednesday at DND in Camp Aguinaldo, and is expected to be finished within four meetings. Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the plan is in line with the realignment of American troops in the Asia-Pacific, and comes as China, the Philippines and several other nations are locked in territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea. Gazmin stressed that the wider U.S. troop presence will comply with the constitution, which bans foreign military bases, and will not be permanent. Del Rosario, for his part, said:  “For our defense, modernization can begin even before we are able to purchase the necessary defense systems. Deterrence can be enhanced even before modernization. Maritime security and maritime domain awareness will be given a boost even before we have ships and aircraft we need. And even before we have the advanced and sophisticated hardware we wish for, we will know how to Read More …