Category: rePosts

At the same time, it cannot be true that there are only negative things happening in the Philippines today—that nothing has changed; that we are still apathetic and cynical; and that one shortcoming becomes reason enough to discount the whole. I have met so many people who are embodiments of the good news and optimism surrounding the Philippines. There are the beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer program now studying in universities, colleges, and technical-vocational institutions, studying to gain a better future for themselves and their families. There are the multinational companies who want to entrust their success to the Filipino people. Recently, an elderly woman approached one of our Cabinet Secretaries, full of gratitude for the PhilHealth program, which had paid for the removal of her cataracts.

Source: Speech of President Aquino at the 2015 FOCAP Presidential Forum « ForeignAffairs.co.nz

“Kung ito Gunfight at the OK Corral, I would see him as the last person standing. Why? Siya lang ‘yung walang corruption issue, and I can personally vouch for his integrity. Second, siya lang ‘yung walang disqualification case na hinaharap. Third, siya lang ‘yung walang health issue,” he added.”We don’t know what awaits Senator Poe kasi meron siyang disqualification case or DQ case. Vice-President [Jejomar] Binay may mga issues. Of course, Senator Miriam [Santiago] – I really don’t know. I can only wish her good luck and good health.”The former senator also said Roxas appeared as a witness in the counter-affidavit he filed before the Department of Justice in the Dacer-Corbito case.Roxas backed Lacson’s statement that they were together at the United Nations to attend an event in 2009, debunking Cesar Mancao’s claim that he got instructions from Lacson on the Dacer-Corbito case.”I told him, ‘Senator Mar, baka naman pwedeng makapag-witness ka sa aking counter-affidavit na i-fa-file kasi iniipit talaga ako. Ayaw na magpa-postpone.’ Ayaw magpa-ectend, gusto i-file na yung case…After he checked, sabi niya: ‘Paano ba ito? Honeymoon ko eh.’ Parang katatapos lang ng kasal niya. Parang, I remember, ikakasal pa lang siya kay Korina. Sabi niya, ‘Kailangan ko bang pumunta sa DOJ?’ Sabi ko: ‘Kailangan daw e. Kailangan personal na i-a-affirm mo yung affidavit mo.’ And he did. Imagine, for an all, for a friend to do that favor para sa iyo – I won’t forget that,” Lacson said.

Source: Lacson backs Mar, says Roxas will be ‘last person standing’ | ABS-CBN News

Recently, the Philippines had to overcome the challenge of Typhoon Lando, which made landfall in Casiguran, Aurora, last October 18, a Sunday. Access was no easy task, to say the least. Strong winds made it difficult, if not impossible, for all aircraft to fly; traveling by boat meant rough seas and a long journey. Fallen infrastructure, flooding, and mudslides blocked roads, and some towns were completely cut off.Even with all these, Filipinos from both the public and private sectors moved heaven and earth to ensure that relief arrived in a timely manner. Lando made landfall on Sunday; I am told that, by Monday night, relief goods had been transported to Casiguran, which earlier was reported as being isolated. So many people sacrificed and exerted so much effort to minimize the deprivation of affected communities. I am sure they would have appreciated the recognition of their efforts.Instead, I am told, this is the coverage that their work received. A major Philippine broadsheet tweeted about Typhoon Lando, saying: “Government fails to achieve zero casualty; NDRRMC says 33-year old man died after being hit by fallen tree in Quezon City.” A local reporter from another media outlet also tweeted that relief goods had arrived in Casiguran, but that these goods had not yet been distributed. He closed by saying, “Bukas darating si PNoy!” or “PNoy is arriving tomorrow,” as if to imply that relief goods would be distributed only when I was there.At a time of challenge for many Filipinos, it seemed to me as if the only interest of these particular members of the media was to sensationalize, to highlight tragedy, to point out supposed failures, and to make accusations. Some of us might even be led to speculate that on the anniversary of Typhoon Lando—whether the first, the fifth, or the tenth—that media coverage would insist on reliving every tragic detail, while paying only lip service to the positive developments, lessons learned, and corrective actions implemented.

Source: Speech of President Aquino at the 2015 FOCAP Presidential Forum « ForeignAffairs.co.nz

In the past several decades, Kojima’s name has become synonymous with video-game blockbusters.CREDIT PHOTOGRAPH BY JORDAN STRAUSS/INVISION/APOn Friday, October 9th, Hideo Kojima left the Tokyo offices of Konami, the video-game company where he had worked since 1986, for the last time. The departure ceremony, according to one of the hundred or so guests who attended, and who asked that I not use his name, took place at Kojima Productions, the director’s in-house studio, and was “a rather cheerful but also emotional goodbye.” He said that he did not see Konami’s president, Hideki Hayakawa, or its C.E.O., Sadaaki Kaneyoshi, at the party, but some of Kojima’s colleagues from other studios showed up to pay their respects, as did many of the people who worked on his most recent directorial project, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The game, which takes place in mid-nineteen-eighties Afghanistan and Zaire, made a hundred and seventy-nine million dollars on its launch day, in September—more than the two highest-grossing films of the year so far (“Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Jurassic World”) combined. In the past several decades, Kojima’s name has become synonymous with such blockbusters, and with the Konami brand itself. His impending resignation had been rumored as early as March, but the fact of it remains startling—as much as if Shigeru Miyamoto, the originator of Donkey Kong and the Mario brothers, left Nintendo.

Source: Kojima, Konami, and the Future of Japanese Video Games – The New Yorker

Thousands, 75,537 to be exact, have already filed claims in the HRVCB. And there are still those who wish to file claims but missed the May 2015 deadline.According to the book, “Some are Smarter than Others,” when Ferdinand Marcos became President in 1965, there were approximately 13.4 million, or 39 percent of the population, who could not meet basic needs for food, shelter and clothing. After 10 years of Marcos rule, this figure had ballooned to 20.5 million, or 48 percent of the population.By contrast since the first Edsa People Power Revolution, figures from the World Bank show a steady decline of the poverty headcount ratio at $1.25 a day. From 39 percent in 1985, this ratio declined to 31 percent in 1994, and further decreased to 23 percent in 2002, and 19 percent in 2012.

Source: Good life under Marcos; you kidding, right? | Inquirer News

Sorry, I was not able to see her comment earlier because I was chasing a deadline. Just to correct my mistake – for which I apologize – Ms. Mendoza was finally confirmed by the Commission on Appointments in June 2014 after three years of delay and being blocked 14 times. Her appointment had a fixed tenure of up to February 2018. Those who tried to block her appointment were Senators Vicente Sotto and Jinggoy Estrada and Congressman Luis Villafuerte. They are practically the same lawmakers who had blocked th

Source: I won’t abandon Binay cases, outgoing COA Commissioner Heidi Mendoza assures Cyber Plaza Miranda

Penn State and Yale University astronomers, unable to explain strange data patterns they’re observing from a star, have come to the conclusion that there may be an “alien superstructure” orbiting it.

Source: Not a Hoax: Scientists May Have Discovered an “Alien Superstructure” | Big Think

Many reports, including GMA-7’s 24 Oras last October 3, reminded the public of Santiago’s other bizarre statements in the past which she nonchalantly retracted. Among these declarations played up by the press were claims that she would hang herself if she didn’t win in the 1992 elections and she would jump out of a plane without a parachute in 2001 if then president Joseph Estrada landed in jail. Given Senator Santiago’s habit of lying, it is amazing why media seem to readily take her statements hook, line and sinker.

Source: “He said, she said” reporting | Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility
 
Emphasis mine

The ante insofar as intrigue-laden stories are concerned was upped by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago. The feisty and confrontational senator revealed an alleged assassination plot against President Arroyo by no less than prayerful former president Corazon Aquino and Senate President Drilon.According to Santiago, the plan to kill the President was supposed to be carried out by October 15, if the oust-Arroyo move did not materialize within the said deadline. She said she got the information from a “chattering” relative of the Senate President. Drilon and Mrs. Aquino denied the allegations, describing Santiago’s story as “fantastic,” “absurd,” and a product of the senator’s very fertile imagination.Santiago’s mind-boggling expose was the headline of the Inquirer and front-page story of the Star and The Daily Tribune on October 2. The Manila Bulletin used the story for page 1 but focused on Drilon’s denial and call for sobriety. The Manila Times reported on a plot to oust the President based on an intelligence report, whose existence was denied by the military a few days later.

Source: “He said, she said” reporting | Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility

My analysis: The ancestral land of the lumad is prime land—for logging and mining activities. The NPA wants control of it, and so, of course, do corporations interested in these activities. They may or may not be in collusion. But the NPA sees the lumad as ripe for exploitation—and among the first things it is tackling is the education of the lumad. He who controls the minds of the young will eventually control the community.So the NPA is trying to take over the education, and even the cultural practices, of the lumad. The military is the only one standing in its way. So it must be dealt with. Thus come the charges of “militarization” and “enemies of the people.” Hogwash.The NPA, according to the lumad, has killed 357 lumad between 1998 and 2008. No one is doubting the accuracy of that statement. The military, according to the NPA, has killed 50 lumad during P-Noy’s watch. The only question is: Are these lumad, or are these NPA wolves in lumad clothing?Clearly, the lumad know what the game is. One can only hope that the rest of the Filipino people are just as intelligent.

Source: Read the ‘lumad’ lips | Inquirer Opinion