Maniolas

popular Aquino knew of Mamasapano mission; Purisima called the shots – SAF chief Poe says Purisima must explain role in ‘Oplan Wolverine” Maguindanao bomb expert on US wanted list The ballad of Rey Valera Mamasapano: From peaceful community to land of conflict Slain SAF officer planned to marry fiancée next year Purisima’s call AMLC shows how Jinggoy Estrada got Napoles ‘kickbacks’ videos MNLF: Mamasapano clash not a massacre, both sides fought valiantly Widow wants ‘all-out war’ against SAF 44 killers Bongbong urges gov’t, MILF: Develop trust in each other’s intentions Pasay court clears Abalos in electoral sabotage case Santiago: President Aquino may be charged before ICC MANILA, Philippines — Pope Francis has said that he will never forget how Leyteños showed faith and endurance during his short visit to the province last January 17. In a letter sent to Palo Archbishop John Du dated January 21, Pope Francis said that he would continue to include the Leyte faithful in his prayers. “I thank you, too wholeheartedly, for the witness of faith and endurance which your people showed me in the midst of trials. I will never forget this—may the Lord never permit to—and I will keep them in my prayers,” the Pope said. The Supreme Pontiff apologized anew for his shortened visit in the province. Pope Francis waves as he leaves Tacloban, Philippines, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015. AP FILE PHOTO “I was deeply saddened that the weather warning forced us to anticipate our departure by four hours; this prevented a Read More …

Expat Rovaira Dasig Rovaira Dasig remembers when she first saw Monday Street and the house in Mandaluyong to where her mother had been sending balikbayan boxes packed with American goods for as long as she could remember. “I felt really tall,” Dasig, who stands about five-foot-three, says. The roads were cramped, the rooms were tiny, the ceilings low, everyone was shorter than she was. She saw a kid pooping in the street. The houses were made of exposed cement blocks, cobbled together as materials became available. Everything was bathed in the cold, dim light of cheap fluorescent bulbs. That neighborhood, where she might have grown up if her mother hadn’t made their way to the United States, isn’t a slum. The people who live there own their homes and have decent, working-class jobs. But it’s a far cry from where she grew up in America. The small town where her mother eventually settled the family sits at the foot of Mount Rainier, outside Seattle. The air was clean, and it was the sort of place that had homecoming football games, county fairs and Daffodil Princess contests. It was a place where Dasig could grow up and be class president and valedictorian, then study economics at Wellesley College, the elite East Coast institution. The Pulse website at http://pulse.ph/ (Source: pulse.ph) Binan-born Dasig, 26, was born in Biñan, Laguna, and moved to America as a toddler. Her life has followed the trajectory imagined by every Filipino ever to have applied for an immigrant visa at the US Read More …

Mar offers sympathy to families of slain SAF men in Baguio. At the Church of the Resurrection in Baguio on Monday, February 2, DILG Secretary Mar Roxas II consoles with Janet Carap, widow of PNP-SAF PO2 Peterson Carap, a Cordillera native and one of the 44 elite police commandos killed in the infamous January 25 Mamasapano clash. Carap asked Roxas to speed up the investigation and resolution to the ongoing probe on the police operation. Dave Leprozo Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said the police Board of Inquiry’s probe on the Mamasapano clash that killed 44 elite police commandos will be “transparent and truthful.” “To show respect to those who lost their loved ones in the incident, we will make sure that the board will be transparent and truthful,” Roxas told 200 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig on Sunday. He also asked Filipinos to give the BOI, which was formed last week, a chance to get to the bottom of what happened in the Maguindanao town. “Like all of you, I am very interested to know the results of the investigation of the Board of Inquiry, for us to know the truth. Let us patiently wait for the report and see the findings of the board,” he said. The BOI tapped Police Deputy Director and Officer-in-Charge Leonardo Espina, Police Director Edgardo Ingking of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Western Mindanao, and Chief Superintendent Catalino Rodrigo of the Directorate for Human Resource and Doctrine Read More …