Archive - Focus

By KIM ARVEEN M. PATRIA
AT first, politicians attend to needs. After some time, the needs turn to wants and desires. Soon the desire becomes greed. Then, to satisfy greed, they push the country to the brink of poverty.

WHAT has the country got to do with the highly publicized marital case of television host and presidential sister Kris Aquino and basketball star James Yap? None, many might be quick to say. But for Kris, the speedy resolution of her petition to nullify her marriage to James will not only benefit her but the

By MELVIN PURZUELO
ILOILO CITY. -- The Department of Environment and Natural Resources on Tuesday stopped the test-firing of the newly constructed coal-fired power plant in Barangay Ingore, La Paz district due to complaints by residents of the barangay and other nearby communities about the foul odor and the noise coming from the plant.

ONLY Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim has been recommended for criminal sanction by the committee that investigated the August 23 hostage; the rest of the government officials were recommended  for administrative sanctions. At the same time, the recommendations opened the possibility of heavier sanctions for officials involved with the  “recommendation  that a preliminary investigation be conducted

ON 20 September 2010, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has been given by the Philippine IIRC the First Report of the IIRC on the 23 August 2010 Rizal Park Hostage-taking Incident: Sequence of Events, Evaluation and Recommendations. Since it is a long report, the Chinese side does need time for a careful study. The

THE Incident Investigation  and Review Committee on the August 23 hostage-taking identified eight critical incidents that turned the  crisis into a tragedy, the report made available to the public today showed. They are: 1.The Crisis Management Committee was not activated in accordance with the Manual on the activation of a Crisis Management Committee (CMC).  Mayor

By KHRYSTA IMPERIAL RARA EVERY day at 6:30 a.m., Pacman goes to his training area for a 30-minute run. Egged on by his trainer, he goes through his morning routine with the focus and determination of a top-seeded athlete. But this Pacman doesn’t spar with his coach. This Pacman chases his trainer around instead. Pacman the

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS MALACANANG has antedated the appointment papers of Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo to cure the original that the Commission on Appointments found defective. Romulo, a holdover from the Arroyo administration, took his oath and had been functioning as foreign secretary in the first 40 days of the Aquino administration without an appointment, documents showed. Romulo

By TESSA JAMANDRE A MILITARY court will decide today on the plea—twice denied under the government of former President Gloria Arroyo—to exonerate 16 military officers facing mutiny charges for a supposed plot against her in 2006. This is the first time that the court martial proceedings will resume under the new commander-in-chief, Benigno Aquino III. After

PRESIDENT Aquino  is giving himself and Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo two more months to  work on the compatibility of their working style. In an ambush interview, Aquino confirmed  a report by VERA Files Monday that the reason Robredo’s appointment is in acting capacity was due to differences which date back to the election campaign. “There

SUPPORTERS of Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo are rallying behind him, saying it is “unjust” for him to be blamed for the Aug. 23 hostage debacle when he has no jurisdiction over the Philippine National Police. This developed as Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda confirmed a VERA Files report that the appointments of Robredo, together with

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS, LUZ RIMBAN, YVONNE CHUA and AVIGAIL OLARTE WHEN Malacañang submits to Congress for confirmation its list of Cabinet appointees, Interior and Local Governments Secretary Jesse Robredo, who is under fire for supposedly mishandling the Aug. 23 hostage-taking crisis at the Quirino Grandstand, won’t be on it. A list of appointments made by

By TESSA JAMANDRE CHINESE Vice Premier Li Keqiang has cancelled his official visit to Manila, supposedly set for the first week of September. But the Department of Foreign Affairs clarified the cancellation had nothing to do with the hostage-taking incident that is straining diplomatic relations between the two countries. Li was supposed to arrive for a

By TESSA JAMANDRE DESPITE the criticisms hurled at the media for the way they covered last Monday’s hostage crisis,  most of them observed journalist manuals and safety guidelines on dangerous assignments, and only a few seemed unaware of such guidelines. But one thing was clear. They all took their cues mainly from the police on

BY ELLEN TORDESILLAS PRESIDENT Aquino Tuesday  called up Donald Tsang, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, to personally express his condolences to the families of eight Hong Kong residents who died Monday in Manila after they were held hostage by a dismissed policeman while on a

(Reflections on Venus and the Miss Universe contest) By MYLAH ROQUE I WIPED my eyes after the Miss Universe 2010 host announced Venus Raj was 4th runner-up. Coming from watching the coverage of the tourists’ hostage taking the day before, I felt that we were a nation hungry for a break, for a spot of

By BOOMA CRUZ TWENTY-SEVEN years after the murder of opposition leader and former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., his daughters say the search for the brains behind his assassination is over, and that the Aquino family has already achieved justice. Ma. Elena “Ballsy” Cruz and Aurora “Pinky” Abellada, elder sisters of President Benigno Aquino III,

By KHRYSTA IMPERIAL RARA “MY son wants to be an MILF commander,” said 38-year-old Abdulbasit Benito, a peace advocate based in Cotobato City. “He wants to fight soldiers because they are causing displacement and poverty.” Benito’s son, Hareeth Djibril, is eight years old and likes to play war games with his friends and classmates, imagining

BY TESSA JAMANDRE DAVAO.— Sixty-five years ago today, Juan Pascual was hiding in a foxhole in Guianga town, south of this province. He had been there for days as double-bodied planes of the Americans were shelling the abaca farm he was tending, clearing the area of the remaining Japanese forces that have already announced unconditional

VETERAN journalist, journalism educator and VERA Files trustee Yvonne Chua was named 2010 Ninoy and Cory Aquino Fellowship Awardee for journalism. In a simple ceremony held Monday, Chua was cited for the “depth and breadth of her work” as a journalist. Flora May M.Cerna, head of the Department of Research and Project Development of the

By JOSEPH ARNEL DELIVERIO Sibugay Express IPIL, Zamboanga Sibugay.—They fled Basilan to escape the menace of sea bandits, only to live more difficult lives here—as beggars. Seven impoverished Badjao families have made the streets of Ipil their home after fleeing Maluso town in Basilan to avoid what they said was harassment and terrorism by sea

By TESSA JAMANDRE TANAY, Rizal.—Some of the Armed Forces’ most promising officers spent years in detention here, inside a high-fenced, heavily guarded facility within Camp Capinpin, the isolated military outpost east of Metro Manila. The prison became the setting for some of the soldiers’ hardest and loneliest days, and it was also where they marked

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS and TESSA JAMANDRE (Conclusion) HUNDREDS of junior officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines who took over the Oakwood Hotel in 2003 in a mutiny against military corruption continue to face the consequences of their actions, with lives derailed and careers destroyed. Most of them spent years in jail, were physically

By TESSA JAMANDRE HEARINGS on the Maguindanao massacre resumed Wednesday, the first under the Aquino government, with former Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and 16 other suspects pleading not guilty to the murder of the 57th victim, UNTV journalist Victor Nunez. Ampatuan, the alleged mastermind, and the other suspects, mostly police officers, were each

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS and TESSA JAMANDRE (First of two parts) THE stockades at Camps Crame and Aguinaldo in Quezon City and the Marines headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig that once held scores of soldiers accused of rising up against the government are now empty except for three prisoners—a senator, the Armed Forces’ most bemedalled officer and

STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS PRESIDENT BENIGNO AQUINO III July 26, 2010, Batasan Pambansa Complex, Quezon City (English translation below) Speaker Feliciano Belmonte; Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile; Vice President Jejomar Binay; Chief Justice Renato Corona; Former Presidents Fidel Valdez Ramos and Joseph Ejercito Estrada; members of the House of Representatives and the Senate; distinguished

THE 15th Congress opened today electing Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile of the Partido ng Masang Pilipino as senate president  and  Quezon City (4th district)  Rep. Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. of the Liberal Party  as speaker of the House of Representatives. Enrile, dubbed as  “unity” senate president,  obtained  17 out of 20 votes of senators belonging to

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS IN the sunset of their lives, 17 Malaya Lolas (Liberated Grandmothers) staged a rally Monday before the Supreme Court protesting the plagiarism in the decision that denied them remedy for the wartime savagery they suffered. CenterLaw’s Harry Roque, counsel for 40 grandmothers who were forced to serve as “comfort women” to Japanese

By TESSA JAMANDRE THE Aquino government, in reviewing the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, will examine the terms of reference and roles of the third-country facilitator as well as state parties and international nongovernmental organizations before restarting talks. Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles said while the government is still

By CARLOS MARQUEZ Nueva Ecija Gold ALIAGA, Nueva Ecija.—An entire village virtually turned sepia here last week as people clothed themselves in mud to celebrate the Feast of St. John the Baptist. Unshod feet rushed from the barrio’s farthest points to the chapel patio—most wrapped in dried banana leaves and wild plants soaked in mud—where