Duterte tells US, other critics to stop the hipocrisy

 News
Sep 292016
 
Duterte tells US, other critics to stop the hipocrisy

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte reviews an honor guard with his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Dai Quang during a welcome ceremony at the presidential palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. AP DAVAO CITY – President Rodrigo Duterte said the United States must stop its criticism of him, particularly in connection with the extrajudicial killings tied to his war on drugs, by saying it should “not pretend to be the moral conscience of the world.” “Do not be the policeman because you do not have the eligibility to do that in my country,” he said. Earlier, US Senator Benjamin Cardin of Maryland said in a dialogue with Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, that “in advocating and endorsing what amounts to mass murder,” Duterte has taken the wrong way in dealing with the illegal drugs problem. “Senator Leahy is absolutely right when he said that a lack of respect for rule of law and democratic governance breeds instability, distrust, and sometimes violence,” Cardin said. But Duterte said the US was being hypocrite and urged it to “stop it.” “Why are you shooting the black people there when they are on the ground? he asked. He also said the US and it’s allies, such as Britain, also violated the human rights of other countries, such as when they invaded Iraq “on the flimsy excuse that there was a weapon of mass destruction there.” “They’re only good at criticizing,” he said, calling them pea-brained. Duterte said the criticisms have been going on for years Read More …

Miriam was Asia’s ‘Iron Lady’

 Entertainment
Sep 292016
 
Miriam was Asia’s ‘Iron Lady’

Former Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, known as the “iron lady of Asia” died Thursday morning after a two-year battle with lung cancer. She was 71 years old. According to reports, Santiago died peacefully in her sleep at 8:51 Thursday morning at the St. Luke’s Hospital in Quezon City. Santiago ran but lost in the May 9 presidential elections. She entered the presidential derby despite being diagnosed as having stage 4 lung cancer. With her death, the country has lost one of its most intellectually gifted brilliant political leaders the Philippines has ever produced. She was known in the Senate as a tough fiscalizer with a zero tolerance against corruption. The feisty former Senator from Iloilo was not only known for her wit and intelligence, but also for her sharp tongue that has rebuked corrupt and inefficient government officials . Santiago was elected senator in 1995. She served three terms in the Senate. She retired from politics after her term ended last June 30. Senator Santiago gained worldwide attention after being elected in 2012 as the first Asian from a developing country to be elected in the United. Nations (UN) as judge of the International Criminal Courts (ICC). However, many believed that her deteriorating cancer ailment made her relinquish voluntarily the prestige of being an ICC judge. The ICC hears cases against heads of state. Santiago was one of the few politicians that I know who served in all three branches of the Philippine government – judicial, executive and legislative. In Read More …

PHL-US arms exercises doomed?

 Entertainment
Sep 292016
 
PHL-US arms exercises doomed?

President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his message to the Filipino community in Vietnam during a meeting on September 28. (MNS photo) HANOI, Sept 29 (Mabuhay) – Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. has denied hearing President Rodrigo Duterte declare the end of joint military exercises with the Philippines’ treaty ally, the United States. Yasay told reporters that what the president meant was that the Philippines would not have joint patrols with a warship of another country outside the country’s territorial waters. “We are not going to undertake any joint patrol ever in our exclusive economic zone which is outside of the 12-mile territorial limit in a joint patrol with a gray ship of another country,” said Yasay, who is part of Duterte’s official delegation on an official visit here. Duterte earlier in September said he didn’t want Philippine forces to be involved in joint patrols outside the country’s territory. “We will not join any expedition of patrolling the sea. I will not allow it because I don’t want my country to be involved in hostile act,” Duterte said during the 48th anniversary of the 250th Philippine Airlift Wing on September 13. “I just want to patrol our  territorial waters… We do not go into patrol or join any army because I do not want trouble,” he added. Asked about Duterte’s remarks that the next Philippines’ next “war games” with the US will be the last, Yasay said, “I have not heard that so I cannot make any comment on that.” In Read More …

Miriam Defensor Santiago passes away

 Entertainment
Sep 292016
 
Miriam Defensor Santiago passes away

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago arrives at the Commission on Election headquarters in Manila to file her certificate of candidacy (COC) for president under the People’s Reform Party on Friday. Santiago also announced Sen. Bongbong Marcos would be her running mate for the 2016 elections.(MNS photo) MANILA, Sept 29 (Mabuhay) — Former senator Miriam Defensor Santiago has passed away after a long bout with lung cancer, according to her husband Atty. Jun Santiago said. She was 71. “She died peacefully in her sleep this morning,” Santiago said. Santiago’s passing came just weeks after she was brought to the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Bonifacio Global Citya fter suffering complications. The senator, known for being feisty and fearless, first announced on July 2, 2014 that she had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. She was then teary-eyed speaking to reporters but still went on to tell jokes, even saying that she was “excited” she had the disease. In October 2015, or over a year after her announcement, Santiago declared she would seek the presidency for the third time after having supposedly “conquered” cancer. Santiago served in all three branches of the government. She was a former presiding judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (judicial branch); immigration commissioner, agrarian reform secretary (executive branch); and a senator for three terms (legislative branch) or from 1995 to 2001 and 2004 to 2016. She had filed the most number of bills in the Senate. Some of her pending bills are the Anti-Political Dynasty Bill, Read More …

Alvarez: Nothing wrong if De Lima ‘sex video’ shown in probe

 Entertainment
Sep 292016
 
Alvarez: Nothing wrong if De Lima ‘sex video’ shown in probe

Senator Leila de Lima ,President Benigno Aquino III , New Bilid Prison,Justice Secretary, Vitaliano Aguirre II , Liberal Party MANILA  (Mabuhay) — Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez on Wednesday said he would allow the House of Representatives justice committee investigating the alleged Bilibid drug trade to present the alleged sex scandal of Senator Leila De Lima. “Para sa akin, wala naman sigurong deperensiya na ipanood ‘yan para malaman ng tao kung talagang totoo ‘yan o hindi (I don’t see anything wrong if we show it to the public so the people can judge if it’s true or not),” Alvarez said in an ambush interview after the majority bloc caucus. He denied that showing the sex video would be a form of “slut-shaming” against De Lima, who crossed swords with President Rodrigo Duterte when she led a Senate investigation into the extrajudicial killings at the height of the administration’s war on drugs. Davao Del Norte Rep. Alvarez and Duterte are key allies. De Lima’s strained relationship with the president started when De Lima as then human rights chair investigated Duterte’s alleged links to the vigilante group Davao Death Squad when the latter was then Davao city mayor. Alvarez called the sex video the only material evidence to prove De Lima had a relationship with her purported lover, her former driver Ronnie Dayan, who inmates in the national penitentiary and a National Bureau of Investigation official said collected pay-offs for De Lima from the Bilibid drug trade. “Ipapalabas natin hindi dahil gusto natin Read More …

Speaker Alvarez: ‘Forces’ who don’t want Sebastian to testify could be behind attack

 Entertainment
Sep 292016
 
Speaker Alvarez: ‘Forces’ who don’t want Sebastian to testify could be behind attack

— WIRETAPPING FOR ANTIDRUG WAR: Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs Chairman and Senator Ping Lacson(2nd from right) explains the need for the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other law enforcement agencies to employ wiretapping operations in the war on illegal drugs during a committee hearing on Tuesday, September 27, 2016. Lacson, a former PNP chief, said the PNP and other anti-drug agencies should rely more on signals intelligence (SIGINT), but stressed that only government must be able to possess wiretapping equipment and not private and non-government entities “so they won’t fall into the wrong hands.” Also in photo are (right to left) Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, along with Senators Gregorio Honasan and Manny Pacquiao.(MNS photo) MANILA  (Mabuhay) – House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Wednesday said he thinks certain “forces” are behind the attack on Bilibid inmates, including Jaybee Sebastian, so they won’t be able to testify on the illegal drug trade inside the national penitentiary. Alvarez said the timing of the attack was suspect, especially since the House committee on justice has already summoned Sebastian to its drug-related inquiry next week. “That [attack] is sad. Apparently, there are forces na ayaw na mag-testify iyong Jaybee Sebastian and tingnan natin ang motibo kung sino ang ayaw na malaman siguro ang katotohanan,” said Alvarez. “Bakit ngayon lang sila magpapatayan, targeted pa ang intended resource person ng committee on justice,” the House leader said, adding that there is “always that possibility” that the attack is connected to Read More …

PNP chief Bato dela Rosa surprised with Bilibid riot, says probe ongoing

 Entertainment
Sep 292016
 
PNP chief Bato dela Rosa surprised with Bilibid riot, says probe ongoing

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Director General Ronald Dela Rosa (3rd from right) leads officials in the boodle fight with the troops during the 115th Police Service Anniversary in Camp Olivas, San Fernando City, Pampanga on Monday (Sept 5, 2016). The PNP chief presented awards to policemen wounded in the intensified campaign against drugs. He also warned policemen involved in illegal drugs to mend their ways as he will not tolerate it under his watch. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)lam/acd MANILA, Sept 28 (Mabuhay) – Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa expressed surprise Wednesday on the riot at the New Bilibid Prison which resulted in the death of a Chinese drug lord and the wounding of three others, including Jaybee Sebastian. “Yes, nagulat ako bakit sila nagpapatayan,” Dela Rosa told reporters at the sidelines of Asian Defense, Security, and Crisis Management Exhibition and Conference in Pasay City. “Meron tayong investigation na ginagawa. I hope they will come up with a very good investigation, result in their investigation kung ano ang nangyari doon,” he added. The SAF has been assigned to guard the maximum security compound following reports that illegal drug operations continue inside the national penitentiary. Chinese drug lord Tony Co was killed in a stabbing incident while Peter Co was in critical condition. Sebastian, on the other hand, was already in a stable condition at the Medical Center of Muntinlupa City. Another high-profile inmate, Vicente Sy, was also hurt in the incident. He was taken Read More …

For Duterte reformers, lessons from the Erap years

 News
Sep 292016
 
For Duterte reformers, lessons from the Erap years

“I could see more and more on a larger scale that this guy had absolutely no respect for institutions, had no understanding of what policy meant, had no appreciation of planning and was running (the country) like a small town.” The person being referred to was a president of the Philippines. No, it was not Rody Duterte. The “guy” in the quote was Joseph Estrada. Erap was overthrown just a few weeks after Karina David, the academic activist who served as his housing czar, described to me her tumultuous stint as a member of Erap’s team. Erap was like Duterte in many ways: a popular tough-talking maverick with a macho swagger who presented himself as a man of the masses. Erap won the support of many well-known activist social reformers like David and former rebels, Horacio Morales and Edicio de la Torre. And so has Duterte. In fact, the progressives on Digong’s team, some of them respected veterans of the fight against the Marcos dictatorship — led by Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco and Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo — are considered one of the hopeful signs that the Duterte era could be a period of meaningful reforms. That certainly was the hope during the first six months of the Erap presidency in 1998. It was a time of optimism when the country appeared to have a president who was serious about addressing issues of poverty and social injustice. “The first six months were to me inspiring,” David told me. Edicio Read More …

Banff services studying ‘shabu’ use by some Filipino immigrants

 News
Sep 292016
 
Banff services studying ‘shabu’ use by some Filipino immigrants

The Town of Banff, Alberta, Canada, a busy tourist area, has many Filipinos working in its hospitality industry. JHONG DE LA CRUZ RED DEER, Alberta – Various communities here and their stakeholders are trying to understand the use of crystal meth by some newcomers to Canada, particularly Filipinos. A possible link between work-related stress and the use of crystal meth, more commonly known by Filipinos as “shabu,” is being examined in a series of community discussions that began in summer in the tourist town of Banff, Alberta. A scathing news by CBC.ca this month reported that some members of the Filipino community in Banff are using crystal meth. Their usage was identified as a coping strategy to handle work-related stress. But the work-stress link appears to be part of a bigger picture, said Meagan Stewart, coordinator for Bow Valley Immigration Partnership (BVIP). “The idea that shabu might be used in the Bow Valley to cope with multiple jobs is speculation. At this time, we are seeking to learn more about how and why it might be used,” she said. BVIP, a community partnership of stakeholders from the communities of Banff, Canmore, Lake Louise, Kananaskis and Western M.D. of Bighorn, assist with immigrant settlement and integration in the Bow Valley region. Small number   A few members of the Filipino community had reported to BVIP’s partner organizations about their use of shabu, or of somebody they know who was using shabu, said Stewart.   “We also learned that very few of Read More …

SF Bay Area ecumenical service: ‘Never again to martial law’

 News
Sep 292016
 
SF Bay Area ecumenical service: ‘Never again to martial law’

Atty. Rodel Rodis tells ecumenical service attendees that the number of victims of extrajudicial killings in the 14 years of martial law under President Marcos figures has been surpassed by the reported 3,800 deaths in the two-month-old Duterte presidency. JUN NUCUM DALY CITY, California – Filipinos here marked 44th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law with an ecumenical prayer service and community discussion in Daly City “to remember the victims of martial law,” which signaled the dictatorship of the late Ferdinand Marcos. They also prayed for the current victims of human rights violations, particularly the victims of alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs), which are on the rise in the Philippines with President Duterte’s war on drugs. They reiterated their opposition to President Duterte’s plan for a hero’s burial to dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Participants later broke into smaller groups to talk about what they could do “as Filipinos residing in the U.S., to respond to the EJKs, and to the current threats to civil liberties and democracy in the Philippines due to the seduction of strong-man, dictatorial rule.” Kontra Libing coalition member Ago Pedalizo says that the extrajudicial killings happening right now are reminiscent of martial law. JUN NUCUM While the organizers of the event in a statement welcomed President Duterte’s invitation to the UN Special Rapporteur, the European Union and the United States to probe allegations of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, they also “called on President Duterte to take all steps to ensure Read More …

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