Maniolas

Instead of sounding the alarm bells, the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) on Monday expressed surprise that preference for Vice President Jejomar Binay as the next President slipped by only 10 percentage points despite the corruption-related controversies he was facing.  “Given the very challenging and rough times that the Vice President faced in the past weeks, we expected a bigger decline—but the latest survey results are a surprise for us,” UNA interim president and Navotas Representative Tobias “Toby Tiangco said in a statement. Results of the latest Pulse Asia survey released earlier in the day showed significant drop in the number of Filipinos who were inclined to vote for Binay as their next President. Despite the decline, Binay, UNA’s presumptive standard-bearer remained as the top choice for the presidency, with a lead of 18 percentage points over second placer Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II. Roxas is said to be the sole choice of the ruling Liberal Party to run as President in 2016. Tiangco said the survey results showed the public remained confident Binay was capable of solving the country’s problems. “The latest figures will only motivate the Vice President to improve the bar of public service, and no amount of smear and slander can shake him,” the opposition stalwart said, adding the public was aware the allegations against the Vice President were part of a ploy by administration allies to drag him down. Binay and members of his family have been accused of  benefiting from the alleged overpricing of Read More …

(Updated 12:47 p.m.) The Sandiganbayan Third Division on Friday granted the motion of suspended Senate Minority Floor Leader Juan Ponce Enrile to remain under hospital arrest. In a 16-page resolution issuedFriday, the justices of the Third Division unanimously granted Enrile’s motion for hospital arrest at the Philippine National Police (PNP) General Hospital pending the resolution of his motion for bail. “Premises considered, accused Juan Ponce Enrile’s Motion for Detention at the PNP General Hospital pending the resolution of his motion for bail is granted… until he is determined by the doctors to be physically fit for detention at the proper Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility or until further orders from the court,” the resolution said as read by Third Division clerk of court Dennis Pulma. Pulma said the court has also allowed Enrile to seek medical services or to be confined to other medical facilities outside the PNP general hospital “first, in case of emergency or necessity and second, if the required procedure is not accessible to Enrile inside the PNP.” The resolution said all the medical expenses would have to be shouldered by Enrile.Enrile is facing plunder and graft charges in connection with the alleged pork barrel scam. On July 15, the Sandiganbayan allowed Enrile, 90, to continue his temporary stay at the PNP General Hospital for another 30 days so that doctors may examine him more thoroughly. Doctors who examined Enrile at the Philippine General Hospital had recommended that he be allowed hospital arrest since he Read More …

HAIKOU CITY, China – A Chinese think tank believes the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the Philippines and the US furthers American interests and not regional stability. The state-run National Institute for South China Sea Studies said on Wednesday that China is “not happy” about the agreement that Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and US Ambassador Philip Goldberg signed in time for US President Barack Obama’s visit to Manila in April. The agreement, which has been questioned at the Supreme Court, allows the increased rotational presence of US troops in the Philippines as well as limited access to Philippine military facilities, has been touted as a way to upgrade the Armed Forces of the Philippines and to bring stability to the area. But Wu Shicun, president of the NISCSS, told Filipino reporters in Haikou on Wednesday that the agreement opens the door for US “intervention”. He said the agreement was signed because the “US would like to come back to major bases like Clark and Subic Bay to contend with China.” Parties to the agreement have yet to determine which Philippine military installations will be opened up to US forces but activist groups in the Philippines have said the EDCA gives the US a free hand over Philippine territory. The US has raised concerns over freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, which contains major sea and air routes. But Wu said the US is “using freedom of navigation as an excuse to interfere in the South China Sea” and Read More …

PNoy takes a walk in New York’s concrete jungle. President Benigno Aquino III walks across Park Avenue in New York on Wednesday, September 24, after his meetings with businessmen and members of the Filipino community. Aquino addressed climate change issues in a speech at the UN earlier. With Aquino is Secretary to the Cabinet Jose Rene Almendras (3rd left). Robert Viñas President Benigno Aquino III is back in Manila after a 12-day voyage that took him to key cities of Europe and the United States and to a climate change summit at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. Aquino summed up his foreign mission with highlights on investment pledges, which he said totaled $2.34 billion and would lead to the creation of 33,850 new jobs. “Dalawampu’t dalawa korporasyon ang nakausap natin sa iba’t ibang mga bansang nilapagan natin. Ang sabi nga po natin sa kanila: Kung naghahanap kayo ng paglalagyan ng inyong puhunan, bakit hindi kayo sa amin pumunta, upang makasama nating pakinabangan ang bunga ng pag-unlad?” Aquino said in his arrival statement at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport late Thursday evening. The president said his administration is wooing Volkswagen to build its “global manufacturing hub” in the Philippines. “Ang Volkswagen din po, halimbawa, inengganyo nating dito magtayo ng kanilang global manufacturing hub; malaking bentahe ang lumalaki nating middle class, pati na rin ang maganda nating lokasyon at ang husay ng ating manggagawa, at ipagpapatuloy po natin ang pang-eengganyo sa kanila,” Aquino said. The president also said he Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The late novelist E.K. Tiempo liked to tell his students at Silliman the story of how, newly arrived in Dumaguete from the US with a PhD in English and fellowships from Rockefeller and Guggenheim, he was invited to speak at a church service by a smallish fundamentalist congregation (so I assume but it may have been actually a large one) and, at the end of his talk, heard this comment from the pastor: “Let us pray that our guest speaker will be forgiven for the irreverent thing that he has said to us this morning.” It may have been more strongly worded and memory won’t be held back – …for the blasphemy that he has said to us this morning. Dr. Tiempo said the story of Adam and Eve was myth not history. This was in the late Fifties – over half a century ago. It was the time of Sputnik, the beginning of the awesome thing called space exploration. Dr. Tiempo’s anecdote seems to be a homespun, hometown echo, of a Hollywood movie hit: Inherit the Wind, a frankly theatrical popularization of the debate, continuing to this day, between Evolution and Creationism. Ah! but the problem with fundamentalists and literalists and historicists on both sides is that they don’t give revelation a chance. Or even just imagination. Imagine there’s a heaven! Yes, why not ‘there’s a heaven’ instead? I thought the Beatles were saying yea not nay. A talking serpent. That’s got to be myth. Metaphor, Read More …