Halloween greetings from NATO
This is how the defenders of this system of greed want to greet their foes this Halloween:
Indeed, it’s easy to tell who’s the terrorist.
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Gaddafi’s Body On Display In Meat Store Freezer
[VIDEO]: Bloodied Gaddafi pleads for mercy
[Global Research]: NATO, Al Qaeda Militia Killed Gaddafi
Eyes wide shut at Open Government Partnership
First published on Blogwatch.ph
At the official launch of Open Government Partnership (OGP) early this week, some critical issues were not brought out in the open.
On Tuesday, President Benigno Aquino III joined 45 other world leaders in New York for the launch of OGP, touted as a multilateral initiative that supposedly aims to secure commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technologies.
The OGP in its declaration committed to 1) increase the availability of information about government activities 2) support civic participitation 3) increase access to new technologies for openness and accountability.
“We commit to espouse these principles in our international engagement, and work to foster a global culture of open government that empowers and delivers for citizens, and advances the ideals of open and participatory 21st century government,” the OGP said in its declaration endorsed by eight countries as of Sept. 20, 2011. Read More…
Is the Philippines hobbled by foreign aid?
Nearly three decades since streams of foreign aid were poured to the country, the Philippines still confronts a glaring contradiction in its pursuit of development goals. On one hand, official development assistance (ODA) flows to the country under the banner of development have reached billions of dollars. On the other side, majority of the Filipinos remain stuck on the same state of underdevelopment.
What went wrong with the foreign aid fairytale?
President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s SONA 2011
[Read my reaction to President Aquino's SONA here]
[Delivered at the Session Hall of the House of Representatives, Batasan Pambansa Complex, Quezon City on July 25, 2011]
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile; Speaker Feliciano Belmonte; Bise Presidente Jejomar Binay; mga dating Pangulong Fidel Valdez Ramos at Joseph Ejercito Estrada; Chief Justice Renato Corona at ang ating mga kagalang-galang na mahistrado ng Korte Suprema; mga kagalang-galang na kasapi ng diplomatic corps; mga miyembro ng Kamara de Representante at ng Senado; mga Local Government officials; mga miyembro ng ating Gabinete; mga unipormadong kasapi ng militar at kapulisan; mga kapwa ko nagseserbisyo sa taumbayan;
At sa mga minamahal kong kababayan, ang aking butihing mga boss:
Humarap po ako sa inyo noong aking inagurasyon at sinabing: Walang wang-wang sa ating administrasyon. At ngayon, patuloy nating itinitigil ito. Naging hudyat at sagisag po ito ng pagbabago, hindi lamang sa kalsada, kundi pati na rin sa kaisipan sa lipunan.
Sa matagal na panahon, naging simbolo ng pang-aabuso ang wang-wang. Dati, kung makapag-counterflow ang mga opisyal ng pamahalaan, para bang oras lang nila ang mahalaga. Imbes na maglingkod-bayan, para bang sila ang naging hari ng bayan. Kung makaasta ang kanilang mga padrino’t alipores, akala mo’y kung sinong maharlika kung humawi ng kalsada; walang pakialam sa mga napipilitang tumabi at napag-iiwanan. Ang mga dapat naglilingkod ang siya pang nang-aapi. Ang panlalamang matapos mangakong maglingkod—iyan po ang utak wang-wang. Read More…
Spratlys dispute and the US gameplan vs China
First published on Blogwatch
By many indications, the United States will be stepping up its intervention in the Spratlys territorial dispute. Will that help diplomatically resolve the row among claimant countries? Certainly not. As it appears, the issue is essentially about the US tightening the noose around China – with the help of its Southeast Asian pawns.
Gunboat diplomacy
As if to rub salt to the wound, the US has initiated a naval exercise with the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand just near the contested territory in the South China Sea. Dubbed Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT), the exercise, which runs from June 14 to 24, supposedly “aims to promote regional coordination, information sharing and interoperability in a multilateral environment.”
SEACAT will be followed by another naval exercise between the US and the Philippines in the waters east of Palawan from June 28 to July 8. Two US destroyers will be coming to Sulu Sea as part of the exercise.
Isn’t this conspicuous display of seapower in a time of tension a glaring example of the US gunboat diplomacy? The US and allied SEA states may argue that the exercises have nothing to do with the Spratlys row. Yet obviously, such actions would tend to place China on a more aggressive stance whether they intended it or not.
April Fools’ Day headline: ‘Strike fizzles in Metro’
On this year’s April Fools’ Day, a major broadsheet coincidentally came up with a misleading headline.
Today’s Philippine Daily Inquirer’s (PDI) banner headline, “Strike fizzles in Metro,” implies two related assumptions: 1) that there was a transport strike in Metro Manila 2) that the alleged strike fizzled. It appears though that the national daily conjured a transport strike in Metro Manila when there was actually none. What actually transpired yesterday (March 31) was a transport caravan in Metro Manila. In fact, the writer of the story referred to the protest as “transport caravan.”
PDI was well-aware that militant drivers and operators based in Manila would be staging a transport caravan and not a strike. Proof? PDI’s previous stories described the protest in Metro Manila as “transport caravan,” so why insist an imaginary “transport strike” in the metro at the last minute?
MMDA braces for ‘transport caravan’ (March 29, 2011)
700-strong Piston caravan heads to Mendiola —PNP spokesman (March 31, 2011)
Transport caravan peaceful so far—NCRPO (March 31, 2011)
And so, the paper cannot justify today’s headline as a journalistic boo-boo — it could really be deliberate, aimed at discrediting the transport protest. Don’t tell us the copyeditor (or whoever gave the final head) did not read the story.
The banner headline also carries a latent bias: measuring transport protests in terms of transport paralysis – which the general riding public obviously do not like. Why not change the yardstick into drivers/ operators who participated, Palace response due to protests?
Well sadly, we cannot expect much from the mainstream media organizations which have their inherent biases (even though they insist in being objective, accurate, etc. — this deserves a separate entry). But at the very least, they must try to be a beacon of truth on April Fools’ Day, when everyone else is playing with lies.
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For a full report on the extent and issues raised during the nationwide protest against oil price hikes, read Bulatlat’s Transport Caravan and Transport Strikes, “Just For Starters”
‘Impeach Merci’ Season 2
First published on thepoc.net
As the drive to impeach Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez goes to the Senate, will it be the same show only with the same villain but with a new set of heroes? Is the new season worth the wait? Who ultimately receives higher ratings at the end of the protracted series?
The controversial Gutierrez will be facing a marathon hearing at the Senate as the House of Representatives led by House Justice committee chairman Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. officially transmitted the six articles of impeachment to the Senate last March 23.
The impeachment trial would likely start when Congress resumes session on May 9, or more than a month from now. Lawmakers said the trial may take six months to finish, using the impeachment trial against former president Joseph Estrada as reference.
Historic vote
The articles of impeachment were transmitted to the Senate following the Lower House’s historic vote for the ombudsman’s impeachment at 212-47 after almost eight hours of plenary debate towards the wee hours of March 22. The “overwhelming” vote was described by some lawmakers as a “strong message to Senate.”
A list of House lawmakers and their vote was published in a news website.
Reacting to the result of the impeachment vote, Ombudsman Gutierrez said “dark politics ruled the day,” adding that the outcome of the House hearings was “lamentable but expected.”
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte gave the credit to President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III for “inspiring” the ombudsman’s impeachment, a report said. “I was surprised because the results were higher than I expected. It showed that they really wanted to see [the President] succeed because he kept saying that [Gutierrez’s impeachment] is important to his administration,” Belmonte said.
Carrot-and-stick approach?
A Newsbreak report disclosed however that Belmonte allegedly “drove a hard bargain with vulnerable congressmen” based on sources from the ruling party and the opposition. The report alleged that some legislators were assured that their pending cases with the Ombudsman would be dismissed once Gutierrez is impeached.
