In a recent speech in Eastern Samar, President Gloria Arroyo talked about the goal of check-ing poverty and hunger, two of the most explosive problems of the country. Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap wants to do his own part: Insure that farm producers get their returns while guaranteeing cheap food supply for the population.
Yap’s programs are geared towards raising farm yields and boosting farmers’ incomes. He has come up with a localized version of the food terminal market which insures food supply in Metro Manila. He calls it the barangay food terminal, BFT. This has been his idea since his first term at the Elliptical Road.
Consumers can buy quality goods at cheaper prices at the BFTs—about 12 percent cheaper than those sold in regular markets. They are complemented by bagsakan or drop-off centers where farmers can directly sell their produce. Yap has taken note of the complaint that prices of food have gone up because of so many layers of traders interfering with the distribution system.
As of October, 21 BFTs have been set up in Metro Manila and six in regions across Luzon and the Visayas. These BFTs are directly benefiting over 450,000 families. The DA is due to open nine more BFTs in Metro Manila this October-November period.
Yap explains that his food plan belongs to the government’s hunger mitigation program. The logic is that that if there are available food prices at low cost, hunger could be alleviated. DA will establish 27 BFTs in Metro Manila this year, and 48 more across the country.
In the regions, two are operational in Samar, and one each in Leyte, Antique, Biliran and Subic.
Nine of the bagsakan centers are operational in Metro Manila. The latest to be inaugurated by President Arroyo was at the Pritil Public Market in Manila on October 15.
Farmers can sell their produce at fairly good margins in these centers, while offering consumers cheaper but quality goods. The concept tries to marry the need for helping the needy and at the same time carrying out the workings of market forces. Kailangang kumita rin.
Under this project, accredited farm delivery vehicles with gross weights of 4,500 kilograms and above and loaded with perishable goods are exempted from the truck ban from North and South Luzon to Metro Manila via the North and South Luzon expressways.
The objective of the food lanes, on top of helping dealers of agricultural goods escape the “kotong” fees charged by unscrupulous cops, is to cut post- harvest losses and reduce trading layers. This is where the team of PNP Chief Avelino Razon comes in: to insure that the prices of food are not jacked up because of the extortion on the streets.
Consumers are expected to benefit from the food lane project in terms of lower post harvest losses that eat up to 22 percent of the retail costs of perishable farm goods and the removal of trading layers that cover up to 18 percent of food retail prices.
This only refers to the distribution part. On the production part, Yap has a program of irrigation and providing of inputs which increases production. That is another story.
Climate change to hit RP
Bangladesh, India and China are projecting massive rice shortages in the next few years. This could also mean that the Philippines which, from time to time, imports this staple, could have a hard time procuring rice in the world market if it does not act with dispatch.
Because extreme climate change has triggered floods, droughts and heavy snowfall, Secretary Yap says that countries that used to have no problems producing wheat, corn and rice are now faced with spiraling food prices and shortages.
In China, food price inflation has reached 18 percent, while Indonesia and Pakistan have to cope with a 18-percent hike in food costs. Wheat has doubled in price, corn is almost 50 percent higher than a year ago and rice is now 20% more expensive. The Food and Agriculture Organization is worried about the quantity of our food reserves.
Yemen, India , and Mexico may soon have to cope with food riots. In Argentina the improbable has happened—tomatoes became more expensive than meat during the last presidential campaign period.
The Philippines is lucky because it has survived the dry spell and even surpassed its farm growth targets when it was hit by sudden climate change. In Australia, the drought cut predictions for winter harvests by nearly 40 percent, which its Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said was the worst in more than a decade.
The UN World Food Programme reports that 57 countries, including 29 in Africa, 19 in Asia, and nine in Latin America have been hit by floods. We all remember, of course, supertyphoons “Milenyo” and “Reming” which pulled down agriculture’s growth to below 4 percent in 2006. That should not happen again.
This Will never happen if aquino did not disrupted marcos' plans for the country, she completely distroyed our country's pride economical reign through asia, before; we were distributing rice all over the middle east and asia, now we are making imports from other countries which cause our country such a poor nation like india, this is such a cripple country lots of gamblers in positions and corrupt leaders.
kawawa taombayan.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Ferdinand Magellan and his legacies
Ferdinand Magellan (Portuguese: Fernão de Magalhães,Spanish: Fernando or Hernando de Magallanes); (Spring 1480 – April 27, 1521, Mactan Island, Cebu, Philippines) was a Portuguese maritime explorer who, while in the service of the Spanish crown, tried to find a westward route to the Spice Islands of Indonesia. This was the first known successful attempt to circumnavigate the Earth.
He did not complete his final westward voyage; he was killed during the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines. As he died farther west than the Spice Islands, which he had visited on earlier voyages from the west, he became one of the first individuals to cross all the meridians of the globe.
He was the first person to lead an expedition sailing westward from Europe to Asia and to cross the Pacific Ocean.
Magellan should also be recognized as the first European explorer to enter the Pacific from the Strait of Magellan, which he discovered. He is also remembered as the first European to reach the archipelago of what is now known as the Philippines, which was unknown to the western world before his landing. Arab traders had established commerce within the archipelago centuries earlier.
Of the 240 crew members who set out with Magellan to circumnavigate the earth, only 18 completed the circumnavigation of the globe and managed to return to Spain in 1522.
They were led by Spaniard Juan Sebastián Elcano, who took over command of the expedition after Magellan's death. 17 other men arrived later in Spain, 12 men captured by the Portugueses in Cape Verde some weeks later, and in 1525/1526 5 survivors of the Trinidad.
His Voyage and discoveries
He was the first person to lead an expedition sailing westward from Europe to Asia and to cross the Pacific Ocean.
Magellan should also be recognized as the first European explorer to enter the Pacific from the Strait of Magellan, which he discovered. He is also remembered as the first European to reach the archipelago of what is now known as the Philippines, which was unknown to the western world before his landing. Arab traders had established commerce within the archipelago centuries earlier.
Of the 240 crew members who set out with Magellan to circumnavigate the earth, only 18 completed the circumnavigation of the globe and managed to return to Spain in 1522.
They were led by Spaniard Juan Sebastián Elcano, who took over command of the expedition after Magellan's death. 17 other men arrived later in Spain, 12 men captured by the Portugueses in Cape Verde some weeks later, and in 1525/1526 5 survivors of the Trinidad.
His Voyage and discoveries
The aim of Christopher Columbus' voyage to the West was to reach the coasts of the Spice Islands (or the Indies) and to establish commercial relations between Spain and the several Asian kingdoms. The Spanish soon realized after Columbus' voyages that the lands of the Americas were not a part of Asia, but a new continent. Once Vasco da Gama and the Portuguese arrived in India in 1498, it became urgent for Spain to find a new commercial route to Asia.
The Treaty of Tordesillas reserved for Portugal the routes that went around Africa. The Spanish Crown then decided to send out exploration voyages in order to find a way to Asia by travelling westwards. Vasco Núñez de Balboa sailed the Pacific Ocean in 1513, and Juan Díaz de Solís died in Río de la Plata some years later trying to find a passage in South America.
When Magellan arrived at the Court of Spain, he presented King Charles V with a plan which would bring the ships of the Crown of Castile full access to the lands of the Spice Islands, after seeing that plan not approved by the Portuguese king, Manuel I.
On August 10, 1519, five ships under Magellan's command – Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepción, Victoria, and Santiago – left Seville and travelled from the Guadalquivir River to Sanlúcar de Barrameda at the mouth of the river, where they remained more than five weeks.
Spanish authorities were wary of the Portuguese Magellan, almost prevented the admiral from sailing, and switched his crew from mostly Portuguese men to men of Spain. Nevertheless, Magellan set sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda with about 270 men on September 20. King Manuel ordered a Portuguese naval detachment to pursue Magellan, but Magellan avoided them.
After stopping at the Canary Islands, Magellan arrived at Cape Verde, where he set course for Cape St. Augustine in Brazil. On November 27, the expedition crossed the equator; on December 6, the crew sighted South America.
Since Brazil was Portuguese territory, Magellan avoided it, and on December 13 anchored near present-day Rio de Janeiro. There the crew was resupplied, but bad conditions caused them to delay. Afterwards, they continued to sail south along South America's east coast, looking for the strait that Magellan believed would lead to the Spice Islands. The fleet reached Río de la Plata on January 10, 1520.
On March 30, the crew established a settlement that they called Puerto San Julian. On April 2, a mutiny involving two of the five ship captains broke out, but it was unsuccessful because the crew remained loyal. Sebastian del Cano was one of those who were forgiven.
Antonio Pigafetta, an Italian from Vicenza who paid to be on the Magellan voyage, related that Gaspar Quesada, the captain of Concepcion, was executed; Juan de Cartagena, the captain of San Antonio, and a priest named Padre Sanchez de la Reina were instead marooned on the coast.
Another account states that Luis de Mendoza, the captain of Victoria, was executed along with Quesada.
Reportedly those killed were drawn and quartered and impaled on the coast; years later, their bones were found by Sir Francis Drake.
The journey resumed. The Santiago was sent down the coast on a scouting expedition and was wrecked in a sudden storm. All of its crew survived and made it safely to shore.
Two of them returned overland to inform Magellan of what had happened, and bring rescue to their comrades. After this experience, Magellan decided to wait for a few weeks more before again resuming the voyage.
At 52°S latitude on October 21, the fleet reached Cape Virgenes and concluded they had found the passage, because the waters were brine and deep inland.
Four ships began an arduous trip through the 373-mile (600 km) long passage that Magellan called the Estrecho (Canal) de Todos los Santos, ("All Saints' Channel"), because the fleet travelled through it on November 1, or All Saints' Day. The strait is now named the Strait of Magellan. Magellan first assigned Concepcion and San Antonio to explore the strait, but the latter, commanded by Gomez, deserted and returned to Spain on November 20.
On November 28, the three remaining ships entered the South Pacific. Magellan named the waters the Mar Pacifico (Pacific Ocean) because of its apparent stillness.
Magellan was the first European to reach Tierra del Fuego just east of the Pacific side of the strait.
Heading northwest, the crew reached the equator on February 13, 1521. On March 6, they reached the Marianas and Guam.
Magellan called Guam the "Island of Sails" because they saw a lot of sailboats. They renamed it to "Ladrones Island" (Island of Thieves) because many of Trinidad's small boats were stolen there. On March 16, Magellan reached the island of Homonhon in the Philippines, with 150 crew left, and became the first European to reach the Philippines.
Magellan was able to communicate with the native peoples because his Malay interpreter, Enrique, could understand their language.
Enrique was indentured by Magellan in 1511 right after the sacking of Malacca (See: European colonization of Melaka), and was at his side during the battles in Africa, during Magellan's disgrace at the King's court in Portugal, and during Magellan's successful raising of a fleet.
Rajah Humabon of Cebu was friendly to Magellan, and he and his queen, Juana, even accepted Christianity. Afterward, Humabon and his rival Datu Zula convinced Magellan to go kill their enemy, Lapu-Lapu, on Mactan.
Magellan had wished to convert Lapu-Lapu to Christianity, as he had Rajah Humabon, a proposal to which Lapu-Lapu was dismissive.
On the morning of April 17, 1521, Magellan sailed to Mactan with an army of men. During the resulting Battle of Mactan against indigenous forces led by Lapu-Lapu, Magellan was killed.
Pigafetta and Ginés de Mafra provided the only extant eyewitness accounts of the events culminating in Magellan's death:
"When morning came, forty-nine of us leaped into the water up to our thighs, and walked through water for more than two cross-bow flights before we could reach the shore.
The boats could not approach nearer because of certain rocks in the water. The other eleven men remained behind to guard the boats. When we reached land, [the natives] had formed in three divisions to the number of more than one thousand five hundred people.
When they saw us, they charged down upon us with exceeding loud cries... The musketeers and crossbow-men shot from a distance for about a half-hour, but uselessly... Recognizing the captain, so many turned upon him that they knocked his helmet off his head twice... A native hurled a bamboo spear into the captain's face, but the latter immediately killed him with his lance, which he left in the native's body. Then, trying to lay hand on sword, he could draw it out but halfway, because he had been wounded in the arm with a bamboo spear.
When the natives saw that, they all hurled themselves upon him. One of them wounded him on the left leg with a large cutlass, which resembles a scimitar, only being larger. That caused the captain to fall face downward, when immediately they rushed upon him with iron and bamboo spears and with their cutlasses, until they killed our mirror, our light, our comfort, and our true guide.
When they wounded him, he turned back many times to see whether we were all in the boats. Thereupon, beholding him dead, we, wounded, retreated, as best we could, to the boats, which were already pulling off."
Magellan provided in his will that Enrique, his interpreter, was to be freed upon his death. However, after Mactan, the remaining ships' masters refused to free Enrique.
Enrique escaped his indenture on May 1, with the aid of Rajah Humabon, amid the deaths of almost 30 crewmen.
However, Pigafetta had been jotting down words the Bisayan language, both Butuanon and Cebuano--which he started at Mazaua on Friday, March 29 and grew to a total of 145 words--and was apparently able to continue communications during the rest of the voyage.
The Spaniards offered the natives with merchandises in exchange for Magellan's body, but they were declined and his body was never recovered.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Part 4 The Old Manila Pictures
These Photos are considered by me as terrific.
i consider manila as one of the finest classical city in asia, before i was not born at that time, i realise that what in the name of god that our government done to those old structures.
they sell some, including the jai alai and the san lazaro hipprodome which was built back on the last years of spanish rule.
i hope lim can make manila more of chanting city.
see some more informations regarding old manila at this site:
http://senorenrique.blogspot.com/2006/10/living-in-old-manila.html
im sure you'll got to love this
http://senorenrique.blogspot.com/2006/10/living-in-old-manila.html
im sure you'll got to love this
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Ang Role Dapat ng Department of Justice
Sila ang sandigan ng buong masang pilipino,
Kung tutuusin, tuta ito ng gubiyerno eh, nagawa nilang ipagtakpan at ibasura ang ibang mga cases laban sa 1st family, isipin mo isinara ang impeachment case laban sa pangulo, so it means di talaga sila pabor sa pantay na pamamaraan ng paghusga, dahil meron silang pinapaboran,
katulad nalang nitong ZTE ok, si Lozada, kung di dahil sa media patay naiyan ngaun at pinag lalamayan, isa ang korte suprema dapat sa nagbibigay ng tamang disisyon, hindi ung tipong nasusuhulan, soon tignan niyol; mawawalang bisa lang ang mga paratang iyan ni lozada dahil, di patas lumaban si gloria.
Kanya ang AFP, Kanya ang PNP, kanya din ang FBI, malamang dahil lahat ng iyon eh nahuli niya kiliti eh, Duda aq sa mga ibang miyembro ng DOJ, dahil sinusuhulan sila ng pangulo o ng unang ginoo, di tama ang nakikita nating mga pilipino dahil; pumapatay sila alang alang sa salapi, kawawa ang taong bayan, billion billion ang halagang nauubos kada araw dahil sa katarantaduhang pinaggagawa ng pangulo at ng unang ginoo.
hindi People power ang solusyon sa labang ito. kundi Civil War; ang DOJ na Dapat ay sandigan ng buong masang pilipino ay siya pang nasusuhulan ng iisang tao lamang, as in may pinapaboran silang mahalagang tao, at yun ay si 1st Gentleman Mike arroyo at ang iba pa niyang kanang kamay sa kalokohan
gaya nila ROmulo Neri, Benjur Abalos, Hermogenes Esperon, Avelino Razon at Lito Atienza.
Sila ang Mafia ng ating Bansa, Palihim nilang pinapadukot at Pinapapatay ang sinu mang kakalaban sa naturang Utak "mike Arroyo".
Kinakatakot ko, pag napawalang Bisa ng Gobiyerno ang ZTE, malamang ang kasunod, ipapapatay si Lozada at Si Madriaga, kawawa taong bayan.
DOJ? kayo ang Sandigan Hindi para sa Pangulo. Kundi! Para sa Buong Masang Pilipino, hindi dapat kayo ang tipo na nasusuhulan, ang pinapakita ninyo, sakim kayo sa pwesto, ayy kawawa talaga ang taong bayan. kung ako sa inyo dapat bumaba na kayo, anu pa ang sense ng pagkadalubhasa ninyo sa larangan ng Batas o Law, kung dahil lamang sa suhol ng pangulo eh; kayo'y mistulang tuta.
hangga't maaga pa, sundin ninyo ang batas ng diyos at ang tama, hindi ang batas ng pangulo na babayaran lang kayo at tapos na ang kaso.
mahiya kayo, wag sana ninyo masikmura ang kasalaulaang nagagawa ng mga nasa pwesto, kayo ang batas at dapat tama ang susundin ninyo at wala kayong kinikilingan.
yan ang Serbisyong DOJ o Serbisyong TOTOO hindi yung tipong nauuto kayo ng may kapangyarihan, maari ninyong kasuhan ang mga nasa kapangyarihan dahil kayo ang batas, pwede ninyong husgahan ang masamang anumalya sa gobiyerno at ang mga nasa pwesto.
Ipa Court Marshall ang mga mamatay tao na nasa pwesto, ganun, kayo ang may kaya.
kayo ang batas at kayo ang masususod, sindun ang tama at wala dapat kayong kikilingan.
Kung tutuusin, tuta ito ng gubiyerno eh, nagawa nilang ipagtakpan at ibasura ang ibang mga cases laban sa 1st family, isipin mo isinara ang impeachment case laban sa pangulo, so it means di talaga sila pabor sa pantay na pamamaraan ng paghusga, dahil meron silang pinapaboran,
katulad nalang nitong ZTE ok, si Lozada, kung di dahil sa media patay naiyan ngaun at pinag lalamayan, isa ang korte suprema dapat sa nagbibigay ng tamang disisyon, hindi ung tipong nasusuhulan, soon tignan niyol; mawawalang bisa lang ang mga paratang iyan ni lozada dahil, di patas lumaban si gloria.
Kanya ang AFP, Kanya ang PNP, kanya din ang FBI, malamang dahil lahat ng iyon eh nahuli niya kiliti eh, Duda aq sa mga ibang miyembro ng DOJ, dahil sinusuhulan sila ng pangulo o ng unang ginoo, di tama ang nakikita nating mga pilipino dahil; pumapatay sila alang alang sa salapi, kawawa ang taong bayan, billion billion ang halagang nauubos kada araw dahil sa katarantaduhang pinaggagawa ng pangulo at ng unang ginoo.
hindi People power ang solusyon sa labang ito. kundi Civil War; ang DOJ na Dapat ay sandigan ng buong masang pilipino ay siya pang nasusuhulan ng iisang tao lamang, as in may pinapaboran silang mahalagang tao, at yun ay si 1st Gentleman Mike arroyo at ang iba pa niyang kanang kamay sa kalokohan
gaya nila ROmulo Neri, Benjur Abalos, Hermogenes Esperon, Avelino Razon at Lito Atienza.
Sila ang Mafia ng ating Bansa, Palihim nilang pinapadukot at Pinapapatay ang sinu mang kakalaban sa naturang Utak "mike Arroyo".
Kinakatakot ko, pag napawalang Bisa ng Gobiyerno ang ZTE, malamang ang kasunod, ipapapatay si Lozada at Si Madriaga, kawawa taong bayan.
DOJ? kayo ang Sandigan Hindi para sa Pangulo. Kundi! Para sa Buong Masang Pilipino, hindi dapat kayo ang tipo na nasusuhulan, ang pinapakita ninyo, sakim kayo sa pwesto, ayy kawawa talaga ang taong bayan. kung ako sa inyo dapat bumaba na kayo, anu pa ang sense ng pagkadalubhasa ninyo sa larangan ng Batas o Law, kung dahil lamang sa suhol ng pangulo eh; kayo'y mistulang tuta.
hangga't maaga pa, sundin ninyo ang batas ng diyos at ang tama, hindi ang batas ng pangulo na babayaran lang kayo at tapos na ang kaso.
mahiya kayo, wag sana ninyo masikmura ang kasalaulaang nagagawa ng mga nasa pwesto, kayo ang batas at dapat tama ang susundin ninyo at wala kayong kinikilingan.
yan ang Serbisyong DOJ o Serbisyong TOTOO hindi yung tipong nauuto kayo ng may kapangyarihan, maari ninyong kasuhan ang mga nasa kapangyarihan dahil kayo ang batas, pwede ninyong husgahan ang masamang anumalya sa gobiyerno at ang mga nasa pwesto.
Ipa Court Marshall ang mga mamatay tao na nasa pwesto, ganun, kayo ang may kaya.
kayo ang batas at kayo ang masususod, sindun ang tama at wala dapat kayong kikilingan.
ZTE Consequences OFWs wants Gloria OUST!!
An alliance of migrant workers organizations launched on Tuesday an online signature campaign for a petition seeking the immediate resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo over irregularities in the $329.48-million contract for the national broadband network project and other alleged anomalies under her administration.
The petition aims to gather signatures of overseas Filipino workers from all over the world, particularly in countries where they are heavily concentrated, like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, Japan, Australia, United Arab emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada and the United States.
Migrante International is spearheading the campaign through its overseas chapters, according to Connie Bragas-Regalado, the group’s chairperson.
The group’s chapter in Saudi Arabia said it has actually began a signature campaign last week, and it has spread throughout the Middle East.
Migrante Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said the signature campaign for Arroyo’s resignation gathered 1, 200 signatories on the first day it was launched in Saudi Arabia.
Migrante’s chapters in Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar have also started collecting signatures for the petition.
In Hong Kong, church-based and other groups have united in support of Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr., key witness in the Senate investigation of irregularities in the $329.48-million contract for the government’s national broadband network project, and in pressing for the resignation of Arroyo.
Migrants groups in Hong Kong formed in November last year a coalition called Gloria Step Down Movement and gathered at least 10, 000 signatures in just five weeks for the resignation of Mrs. Arroyo.
Relatives and friends of OFWs are also target signatories to the new petition dubbed as BAgong Bayani AYaw kay Gloria, or BABAY Gloria.
“This BABAY Gloria petition encapsulates how our kababayans abroad unite with the people’s demand for Gloria to step down. It will be circulated among our member organizations and international network," Regalado said at the launching of the petition on T.M. Kalaw Street in Manila where hundreds of seafarers congregate daily for overseas job posting.
The petition is posted at http://www.petitiononline.com/babay/petition.html As of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the petition has only 57 signatures online, but the groups said hard copies of the petition are being passed around for signatures.
“We have had enough of seven years of your administration’s high-level corruption, gross human rights violations, political killings, abductions, electoral fraud, artificial economic development and subservience to foreign interests. We have had enough of your policy to export and commodify our labor, your extortion and criminal neglect of migrant workers and their families," the petition, addressed to Mrs. Arroyo, said.
It cited survey results conducted by think tank IBON Foundation in January and Pulse Asia in October 2007 showing that eight out of 10 Filipinos want Arroyo to step down and that most Filipinos believe she is the “most corrupt President in the history of the Philippines."
“Through your billion-peso kickbacks, you essentially steal food away from our families’ plate, rob our children’s access to quality education, deprive our sick adequate public health care and withhold from migrants the urgent welfare services we need," the petition further said.
The migrants groups vowed to vigorously pursue the petition until President Arroyo is out of Malacanang, along with the corrupt officials in her government.
“Given our recent victories to save the life of Marilou Ranario and for the temporary suspension of POEA Memorandum Circular No 04, or the Guidelines on Direct Hiring, we are confident that when overseas Filipinos and their families unite, much can be achieved," Regalado said.
“As such," she continued, “in line with CBCP president Angel Lagdameo’s call for ‘communal action’ and recalling the spirit of EDSA 1 and EDSA 2, we commit to again rise up to the challenge of booting yet another corrupt and dictatorial President out of office," the petition further contained.
Ang kapal talaga ng mukha mo? dahil sayo namatay si FPJ, Dahil din sayo, nasira ang dignidad ng mga Opisyal, nanunuhol ka ng mga opisyales ng gobiyerno, di ka na nahiya, manang mana ka sa tatay mo, Like Father Like Daughter, nagkakrisis din sa Bigas, ipapapatay ang lahat basta lang wag mapaalis sa pwesto, what a lame
Jesus Christ, you should get out of the position. or else somebody will assasinate you.
Everybody Hates you, so Get out in there, Kapal ng Mukha mo!!
Mag Sama Kayo ng ASAWA mong MAFIA!!!
The petition aims to gather signatures of overseas Filipino workers from all over the world, particularly in countries where they are heavily concentrated, like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, Japan, Australia, United Arab emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada and the United States.
Migrante International is spearheading the campaign through its overseas chapters, according to Connie Bragas-Regalado, the group’s chairperson.
The group’s chapter in Saudi Arabia said it has actually began a signature campaign last week, and it has spread throughout the Middle East.
Migrante Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said the signature campaign for Arroyo’s resignation gathered 1, 200 signatories on the first day it was launched in Saudi Arabia.
Migrante’s chapters in Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar have also started collecting signatures for the petition.
In Hong Kong, church-based and other groups have united in support of Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr., key witness in the Senate investigation of irregularities in the $329.48-million contract for the government’s national broadband network project, and in pressing for the resignation of Arroyo.
Migrants groups in Hong Kong formed in November last year a coalition called Gloria Step Down Movement and gathered at least 10, 000 signatures in just five weeks for the resignation of Mrs. Arroyo.
Relatives and friends of OFWs are also target signatories to the new petition dubbed as BAgong Bayani AYaw kay Gloria, or BABAY Gloria.
“This BABAY Gloria petition encapsulates how our kababayans abroad unite with the people’s demand for Gloria to step down. It will be circulated among our member organizations and international network," Regalado said at the launching of the petition on T.M. Kalaw Street in Manila where hundreds of seafarers congregate daily for overseas job posting.
The petition is posted at http://www.petitiononline.com/babay/petition.html As of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the petition has only 57 signatures online, but the groups said hard copies of the petition are being passed around for signatures.
“We have had enough of seven years of your administration’s high-level corruption, gross human rights violations, political killings, abductions, electoral fraud, artificial economic development and subservience to foreign interests. We have had enough of your policy to export and commodify our labor, your extortion and criminal neglect of migrant workers and their families," the petition, addressed to Mrs. Arroyo, said.
It cited survey results conducted by think tank IBON Foundation in January and Pulse Asia in October 2007 showing that eight out of 10 Filipinos want Arroyo to step down and that most Filipinos believe she is the “most corrupt President in the history of the Philippines."
“Through your billion-peso kickbacks, you essentially steal food away from our families’ plate, rob our children’s access to quality education, deprive our sick adequate public health care and withhold from migrants the urgent welfare services we need," the petition further said.
The migrants groups vowed to vigorously pursue the petition until President Arroyo is out of Malacanang, along with the corrupt officials in her government.
“Given our recent victories to save the life of Marilou Ranario and for the temporary suspension of POEA Memorandum Circular No 04, or the Guidelines on Direct Hiring, we are confident that when overseas Filipinos and their families unite, much can be achieved," Regalado said.
“As such," she continued, “in line with CBCP president Angel Lagdameo’s call for ‘communal action’ and recalling the spirit of EDSA 1 and EDSA 2, we commit to again rise up to the challenge of booting yet another corrupt and dictatorial President out of office," the petition further contained.
Ang kapal talaga ng mukha mo? dahil sayo namatay si FPJ, Dahil din sayo, nasira ang dignidad ng mga Opisyal, nanunuhol ka ng mga opisyales ng gobiyerno, di ka na nahiya, manang mana ka sa tatay mo, Like Father Like Daughter, nagkakrisis din sa Bigas, ipapapatay ang lahat basta lang wag mapaalis sa pwesto, what a lame
Jesus Christ, you should get out of the position. or else somebody will assasinate you.
Everybody Hates you, so Get out in there, Kapal ng Mukha mo!!
Mag Sama Kayo ng ASAWA mong MAFIA!!!
End of an Era: Passing Judgment
You can write many chapters, but can’t close the book yet on Pistons era
Passing Judgment
by Keith Langlois
Friday, March 21, 2008
Sometimes the simplest questions require the most complex answers. If you don’t believe me, have a few kids. And wait until they find out the Earth is round. And they ask you why things on the bottom of the globe don’t fall off. Simple question. Complex answer.
Every once in a while I get one of those submitted in Pistons Mailbag. David from Grand Rapids wants to know how these Pistons will be remembered. Simple question.
Impossible to answer fully right now.
David set up his question in such a way as to suggest he doesn’t think they’ll be remembered as they might have been. “The Pistons have been to five straight Eastern Conference finals,”
he wrote, “and have just one ring and two Finals appearances to show for it when they were the favorite to win the whole thing at least one or two other times in that five-year span. So how do you think the Pistons will be remembered once this run is over.”
OK, first, that’s a lot easier question to answer when the run is over.
It’s not over this year, for certain, and my hunch is there isn’t going to be anything dramatic done this off-season, although I’m getting ahead of myself there, too. Because just as you can’t “remember” something that’s still ongoing, neither will Joe Dumars reach a decision on whether to administer reconstructive or cosmetic surgery until he sees how the playoffs unfold.
But let’s wipe that out for a second – let’s suppose that Chauncey Billups had left as a free agent last summer and Rasheed Wallace had retired and Rip Hamilton had been traded and the cast of characters had turned over so radically that the Goin’ to Work Pistons era had effectively ended.
How would they be remembered? As the third-most successful NBA franchise of this millenium, that’s how. The Lakers won three straight titles after the force of Phil Jackson’s personality melded a Shaq-Kobe harmony that lasted until even he couldn’t buffer their egos any longer. The Spurs have four titles spread out around that Laker run and could still add one or two more before Tim Duncan’s odometer spins back to zeroes.
But the Pistons come in right behind them if it ended today. Barring the collapse of the free world, Joe Dumars’ creation will rack up its seventh consecutive 50-win season by winning one of their final 14 games. That’s remarkable in itself, second only to San Antonio. Five straight conference finals, with a decent chance of making it six straight, stands alone.
That’s certainly enough to separate the Pistons from Miami, the only other franchise with an NBA title since the Jordan era closed in Chicago. The Heat went from ’05 conference finalists to ’06 champions to ’07 first-round sweep victims to ’08 lottery losers.
Would anybody prefer that? Would anyone contend that the Pistons and Heat have the same resume for this decade based on the fact they both have one NBA title?
Let me answer my own question. Yeah. A lot of people would say one title apiece makes them equals, that titles count and nothing else matters.
To which I say: garbage.
The payoff for fans isn’t only in the parade. It’s in the journey. It really is. The reward for fandom isn’t only in post-victory celebration, but in preseason validity to the belief it could happen, and in-season validation of that faith. Anticipation of a great thing happening is sometimes every bit as fulfilling as the realization.
And the Pistons have paid off by that measure every year since hinting at their possibility in the 2002-03 season when they pushed to the conference finals for the first time. They began their 50-win streak the season before. Not even the most devout Pistons fan went into that postseason thinking an NBA title was within reach, but for the first time since the dying days of the Bad Boys, there was the unmistakable sense that the train was headed in the right direction and not merely making loops on a circular track.
Let’s revisit David’s preamble to the question and correct a misimpression. The Pistons haven’t gone into any postseason other than 2006 as the favorite to win it all. That was their 64-win season, but the truth is that they hadn’t been a dominant team since the midway point of that year. They started 36-5 and finished 28-13. They went from nearly invincible to very, very good. And they ran into a Miami team with the greatest big man of his generation abetted by an emerging superstar playing a level above he’d ever played before or since – and lost in six tough games to the eventual champion.
They weren’t anyone’s favorite to win it in 2004. The perception of imbalance between the East and West was even greater then than it is today. Until the Pistons crushed the Lakers of Shaq and Kobe and Karl Malone and Gary Payton in the “five-game sweep,” the West had won all five Finals played since the demise of Jordan’s Bulls – one sweep, two in five games and two in six.
The year the Pistons beat Indiana to get to the Finals, the feeling was that the Lakers, Sacramento, Minnesota, Dallas and San Antonio were all superior to anyone from the East. This year, as dominant as the West appears, you’ll find no shortage of credible basketball analysts who’ll tell you the East, though no match for the West’s depth, at least is home to the NBA’s two best teams, Boston and the Pistons.
So spin it any way you want, but it’s both harsh and just plain wrong to say the Pistons have underachieved during a period where they’ve managed to survive the turbulence of roster turnover necessitated by the salary cap’s impositions to join San Antonio as the NBA’s beacons of sustained success.
That’s the long answer.
The short answer is this: If it ends now, they’ll be remembered for remarkable consistency capped by a championship in an era otherwise dominated by the Lakers and Spurs. If they tack on another title and a few more honest runs, they’ll be remembered right there with the Bad Boys.
Earlier this week, Juan Dixon was late to practice when he was involved in a minor fender-bender. Friday, he missed it altogether – but he had a pretty good excuse. Dixon’s wife, Robyn, gave birth to the couple’s first child. A boy, Corey Wade Dixon, was born near the couple’s Baltimore-area home at 2:36 a.m., checking in at 7 pounds 7 ounces and measuring 20½ inches. Sounds like a shooting guard.
The Pistons recalled Cheikh Samb from Fort Wayne of the D-League and he went through Friday’s practice. In 19 games with the Mad Ants, Samb averaged 10.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and four blocked shots per game. His 11 blocks on Feb. 1 set a D-League record.
“It’s tough for big guys (in the D-League),” Flip Saunders said. “It’s a guard-oriented league where guards get the ball and they want to shoot all the time, so big guys don’t get a lot of touches. But I think it’s been good for him to get playing time and get on the court.”
Samb likely will return to Fort Wayne at some point, Saunders said, but while the Mad Ants are on a West Coast trip “we thought it would be best to get him back and have him around us a little bit again.”
Well, anyone judges the Pistons' performance, they were trembled by the celtics and the cavs this year? for me? theyll be back as title contenders and a finals team again.
Underdogs can make the difference
DEEEETROIT BASKETBALL!!!!
Passing Judgment
by Keith Langlois
Friday, March 21, 2008
Sometimes the simplest questions require the most complex answers. If you don’t believe me, have a few kids. And wait until they find out the Earth is round. And they ask you why things on the bottom of the globe don’t fall off. Simple question. Complex answer.
Every once in a while I get one of those submitted in Pistons Mailbag. David from Grand Rapids wants to know how these Pistons will be remembered. Simple question.
Impossible to answer fully right now.
David set up his question in such a way as to suggest he doesn’t think they’ll be remembered as they might have been. “The Pistons have been to five straight Eastern Conference finals,”
he wrote, “and have just one ring and two Finals appearances to show for it when they were the favorite to win the whole thing at least one or two other times in that five-year span. So how do you think the Pistons will be remembered once this run is over.”
OK, first, that’s a lot easier question to answer when the run is over.
It’s not over this year, for certain, and my hunch is there isn’t going to be anything dramatic done this off-season, although I’m getting ahead of myself there, too. Because just as you can’t “remember” something that’s still ongoing, neither will Joe Dumars reach a decision on whether to administer reconstructive or cosmetic surgery until he sees how the playoffs unfold.
But let’s wipe that out for a second – let’s suppose that Chauncey Billups had left as a free agent last summer and Rasheed Wallace had retired and Rip Hamilton had been traded and the cast of characters had turned over so radically that the Goin’ to Work Pistons era had effectively ended.
How would they be remembered? As the third-most successful NBA franchise of this millenium, that’s how. The Lakers won three straight titles after the force of Phil Jackson’s personality melded a Shaq-Kobe harmony that lasted until even he couldn’t buffer their egos any longer. The Spurs have four titles spread out around that Laker run and could still add one or two more before Tim Duncan’s odometer spins back to zeroes.
But the Pistons come in right behind them if it ended today. Barring the collapse of the free world, Joe Dumars’ creation will rack up its seventh consecutive 50-win season by winning one of their final 14 games. That’s remarkable in itself, second only to San Antonio. Five straight conference finals, with a decent chance of making it six straight, stands alone.
That’s certainly enough to separate the Pistons from Miami, the only other franchise with an NBA title since the Jordan era closed in Chicago. The Heat went from ’05 conference finalists to ’06 champions to ’07 first-round sweep victims to ’08 lottery losers.
Would anybody prefer that? Would anyone contend that the Pistons and Heat have the same resume for this decade based on the fact they both have one NBA title?
Let me answer my own question. Yeah. A lot of people would say one title apiece makes them equals, that titles count and nothing else matters.
To which I say: garbage.
The payoff for fans isn’t only in the parade. It’s in the journey. It really is. The reward for fandom isn’t only in post-victory celebration, but in preseason validity to the belief it could happen, and in-season validation of that faith. Anticipation of a great thing happening is sometimes every bit as fulfilling as the realization.
And the Pistons have paid off by that measure every year since hinting at their possibility in the 2002-03 season when they pushed to the conference finals for the first time. They began their 50-win streak the season before. Not even the most devout Pistons fan went into that postseason thinking an NBA title was within reach, but for the first time since the dying days of the Bad Boys, there was the unmistakable sense that the train was headed in the right direction and not merely making loops on a circular track.
Let’s revisit David’s preamble to the question and correct a misimpression. The Pistons haven’t gone into any postseason other than 2006 as the favorite to win it all. That was their 64-win season, but the truth is that they hadn’t been a dominant team since the midway point of that year. They started 36-5 and finished 28-13. They went from nearly invincible to very, very good. And they ran into a Miami team with the greatest big man of his generation abetted by an emerging superstar playing a level above he’d ever played before or since – and lost in six tough games to the eventual champion.
They weren’t anyone’s favorite to win it in 2004. The perception of imbalance between the East and West was even greater then than it is today. Until the Pistons crushed the Lakers of Shaq and Kobe and Karl Malone and Gary Payton in the “five-game sweep,” the West had won all five Finals played since the demise of Jordan’s Bulls – one sweep, two in five games and two in six.
The year the Pistons beat Indiana to get to the Finals, the feeling was that the Lakers, Sacramento, Minnesota, Dallas and San Antonio were all superior to anyone from the East. This year, as dominant as the West appears, you’ll find no shortage of credible basketball analysts who’ll tell you the East, though no match for the West’s depth, at least is home to the NBA’s two best teams, Boston and the Pistons.
So spin it any way you want, but it’s both harsh and just plain wrong to say the Pistons have underachieved during a period where they’ve managed to survive the turbulence of roster turnover necessitated by the salary cap’s impositions to join San Antonio as the NBA’s beacons of sustained success.
That’s the long answer.
The short answer is this: If it ends now, they’ll be remembered for remarkable consistency capped by a championship in an era otherwise dominated by the Lakers and Spurs. If they tack on another title and a few more honest runs, they’ll be remembered right there with the Bad Boys.
Earlier this week, Juan Dixon was late to practice when he was involved in a minor fender-bender. Friday, he missed it altogether – but he had a pretty good excuse. Dixon’s wife, Robyn, gave birth to the couple’s first child. A boy, Corey Wade Dixon, was born near the couple’s Baltimore-area home at 2:36 a.m., checking in at 7 pounds 7 ounces and measuring 20½ inches. Sounds like a shooting guard.
The Pistons recalled Cheikh Samb from Fort Wayne of the D-League and he went through Friday’s practice. In 19 games with the Mad Ants, Samb averaged 10.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and four blocked shots per game. His 11 blocks on Feb. 1 set a D-League record.
“It’s tough for big guys (in the D-League),” Flip Saunders said. “It’s a guard-oriented league where guards get the ball and they want to shoot all the time, so big guys don’t get a lot of touches. But I think it’s been good for him to get playing time and get on the court.”
Samb likely will return to Fort Wayne at some point, Saunders said, but while the Mad Ants are on a West Coast trip “we thought it would be best to get him back and have him around us a little bit again.”
Well, anyone judges the Pistons' performance, they were trembled by the celtics and the cavs this year? for me? theyll be back as title contenders and a finals team again.
Underdogs can make the difference
DEEEETROIT BASKETBALL!!!!
Pistons clinch Central Division with win over Heat
AUBURN HILLS, Mich.(AP) Rookie Arron Afflalo had career highs of 15 points and seven rebounds as the Detroit Pistons clinched the Central Division title with a 85-69 victory over the Miami Heat on Thursday night.
Detroit came in having lost three of four, and struggled against the hapless Heat. The Pistons were missing All-Star guard Richard Hamilton (hip) for the third straight game.
Miami, which only dressed nine players, has lost 13 of 15.
Reserve Jason Maxiell had 15 points for Detroit, while Chauncey Billups added 13 points and 11 assists.
Rookie Blake Ahearn, who came into the game with seven career points, led Miami with 15, but only two other players reached double figures.
Miami led for most of the first half and had an eight-point advantage late in the second quarter, but Detroit narrowed the gap to 45-43 at intermission. The Heat outrebounded the Pistons 20-15 in the half, including a 6-1 advantage on the offensive boards.
The Pistons went ahead early in the third quarter, but wasted an opportunity to build a big lead. They missed seven free throws in the period, including five by Antonio McDyess.
That let the Heat stay in the game, but Detroit had expanded the margin to 66-55 by quarter's end. Maxiell had 11 points and five rebounds in the period.
Miami got within 70-65 with 7:30 to go, but Rasheed Wallace answered with a 3-pointer. Afflalo's three-point play moved the lead to 80-69 with 2:39 left and the Pistons finally took control.
Notes: The team announced its 220th straight sellout, but there were a large number of empty seats due to a spring snowstorm in the Detroit area. ... Ricky Davis was the only of Miami's five leading scorers to play. ... Miami coach Pat Riley will miss the next two games while scouting NCAA Tournament games.
Another Triumph this year, I always believe Underdogs can make the difference.
DEEEETROIT BASKETBALL!!!!
Detroit came in having lost three of four, and struggled against the hapless Heat. The Pistons were missing All-Star guard Richard Hamilton (hip) for the third straight game.
Miami, which only dressed nine players, has lost 13 of 15.
Reserve Jason Maxiell had 15 points for Detroit, while Chauncey Billups added 13 points and 11 assists.
Rookie Blake Ahearn, who came into the game with seven career points, led Miami with 15, but only two other players reached double figures.
Miami led for most of the first half and had an eight-point advantage late in the second quarter, but Detroit narrowed the gap to 45-43 at intermission. The Heat outrebounded the Pistons 20-15 in the half, including a 6-1 advantage on the offensive boards.
The Pistons went ahead early in the third quarter, but wasted an opportunity to build a big lead. They missed seven free throws in the period, including five by Antonio McDyess.
That let the Heat stay in the game, but Detroit had expanded the margin to 66-55 by quarter's end. Maxiell had 11 points and five rebounds in the period.
Miami got within 70-65 with 7:30 to go, but Rasheed Wallace answered with a 3-pointer. Afflalo's three-point play moved the lead to 80-69 with 2:39 left and the Pistons finally took control.
Notes: The team announced its 220th straight sellout, but there were a large number of empty seats due to a spring snowstorm in the Detroit area. ... Ricky Davis was the only of Miami's five leading scorers to play. ... Miami coach Pat Riley will miss the next two games while scouting NCAA Tournament games.
Another Triumph this year, I always believe Underdogs can make the difference.
DEEEETROIT BASKETBALL!!!!
Miami coach Pat Riley says it’s sad that Shaquille O’Neal keeps criticizing Heat
By BRIAN MAHONEY, AP Basketball Writer Mar 27, 12:30 am EDT
NEW YORK (AP)—Pat Riley can’t understand why Shaquille O’Neal keeps talking about the Miami Heat.
Riley responded to O’Neal’s criticisms Wednesday with some of his own, saying his former center was wrong to disparage some of his old teammates and trainers in a Boston Globe story.
“It’s sad that he says those things. We shared so much here, together, for three years, good and bad, 3 1/2 years,” Riley said, referring specifically to the Heat’s 2006 NBA title. “I just think it’s sad that he’s got to do that.”
Riley dealt O’Neal to Phoenix before the trade deadline, allowing the 36-year-old center the chance to compete for another title instead of sticking around Miami for a last-place finish. O’Neal made it clear how much he prefers his new teammates.
“I love playing for this coach and I love playing with these guys,” O’Neal told the Globe. “We have professionals who know what to do. No one is asking me to play with Chris Quinn or Ricky Davis. I’m actually on a team again.”
After Phoenix’s loss to Boston, O’Neal elaborated, saying that defenses would sag off of Quinn and Davis and he wasn’t able to get the ball. Of Riley’s comments, O’Neal said colorfully, “I don’t (care) how he interpreted it.”
Reminded that reporters couldn’t use the quote because of the expletive, he said, “Sure you can. You can quote me, brother. You can put an ‘s,’ then the tic-tac-toe, the ‘at’ sign and then the other symbols.”
O’Neal was critical about shots—as in, not getting enough of them—often during his tenure with the Heat. This year, he expressed those sentiments in the days that followed a 110-101 loss at Utah on Dec. 3—a game where Quinn didn’t play and O’Neal and Davis were on court together for 16 minutes, 2 seconds.
He also complained about not getting enough touches two days after going 8-for-15 in a 120-99 loss against Orlando, another game where he and Quinn never were on the court at the same time. Plus, O’Neal got into an argument with Riley during an early season practice, and words got so heated that Alonzo Mourning intervened to keep the two separated.
Keep in mind, O’Neal is the one who repeatedly referred to his Miami coach as “the great Pat Riley” during his time in South Florida. But he also was clearly miffed when Riley pulled him in the first minute of a game at New Jersey earlier this season for blowing a defensive assignment.
Riley said he doesn’t have “anything but good feelings for Shaq” and wasn’t bothered by any criticism leveled at him. But he said O’Neal has no reason to blame anyone else in the organization for his unhappiness.
“When you’re 9-40, we’re all frustrated. I mean everybody’s at fault, we all were. Everybody was feeling bad and nobody wants that,” Riley said.
“He didn’t want to be there, he didn’t want to play for that kind of situation, 35 years old. He wanted to go to a contender and we sent him there. We sent him to Utopia and we’re left here with the carnage and I don’t know why he’s not happy.”
Riley also defended the work of veteran trainer Ron Culp and the team’s medical staff, saying O’Neal was out of line to speak poorly of them.
“It’s really a shame that he would insult those people like that because they gave him care. They cared,” Riley said. “They didn’t kiss his butt. They cared about him.
“He can do whatever he wants to do to me. That’s OK, I don’t care. But those men, they tried. … That upsets me more than anything.”
well its all the heat's fault, if they did resigned antoine, they can still contend for the playoffs, the wrong thing was, they released shaq, was it because wade is their superstar? shaq is not as old as he is, he can still score boards.
He can still move, deadly as a snake, i believe shaq will be a huge factor for the suns this NBA PLayoffs.
NEW YORK (AP)—Pat Riley can’t understand why Shaquille O’Neal keeps talking about the Miami Heat.
Riley responded to O’Neal’s criticisms Wednesday with some of his own, saying his former center was wrong to disparage some of his old teammates and trainers in a Boston Globe story.
“It’s sad that he says those things. We shared so much here, together, for three years, good and bad, 3 1/2 years,” Riley said, referring specifically to the Heat’s 2006 NBA title. “I just think it’s sad that he’s got to do that.”
Riley dealt O’Neal to Phoenix before the trade deadline, allowing the 36-year-old center the chance to compete for another title instead of sticking around Miami for a last-place finish. O’Neal made it clear how much he prefers his new teammates.
“I love playing for this coach and I love playing with these guys,” O’Neal told the Globe. “We have professionals who know what to do. No one is asking me to play with Chris Quinn or Ricky Davis. I’m actually on a team again.”
After Phoenix’s loss to Boston, O’Neal elaborated, saying that defenses would sag off of Quinn and Davis and he wasn’t able to get the ball. Of Riley’s comments, O’Neal said colorfully, “I don’t (care) how he interpreted it.”
Reminded that reporters couldn’t use the quote because of the expletive, he said, “Sure you can. You can quote me, brother. You can put an ‘s,’ then the tic-tac-toe, the ‘at’ sign and then the other symbols.”
O’Neal was critical about shots—as in, not getting enough of them—often during his tenure with the Heat. This year, he expressed those sentiments in the days that followed a 110-101 loss at Utah on Dec. 3—a game where Quinn didn’t play and O’Neal and Davis were on court together for 16 minutes, 2 seconds.
He also complained about not getting enough touches two days after going 8-for-15 in a 120-99 loss against Orlando, another game where he and Quinn never were on the court at the same time. Plus, O’Neal got into an argument with Riley during an early season practice, and words got so heated that Alonzo Mourning intervened to keep the two separated.
Keep in mind, O’Neal is the one who repeatedly referred to his Miami coach as “the great Pat Riley” during his time in South Florida. But he also was clearly miffed when Riley pulled him in the first minute of a game at New Jersey earlier this season for blowing a defensive assignment.
Riley said he doesn’t have “anything but good feelings for Shaq” and wasn’t bothered by any criticism leveled at him. But he said O’Neal has no reason to blame anyone else in the organization for his unhappiness.
“When you’re 9-40, we’re all frustrated. I mean everybody’s at fault, we all were. Everybody was feeling bad and nobody wants that,” Riley said.
“He didn’t want to be there, he didn’t want to play for that kind of situation, 35 years old. He wanted to go to a contender and we sent him there. We sent him to Utopia and we’re left here with the carnage and I don’t know why he’s not happy.”
Riley also defended the work of veteran trainer Ron Culp and the team’s medical staff, saying O’Neal was out of line to speak poorly of them.
“It’s really a shame that he would insult those people like that because they gave him care. They cared,” Riley said. “They didn’t kiss his butt. They cared about him.
“He can do whatever he wants to do to me. That’s OK, I don’t care. But those men, they tried. … That upsets me more than anything.”
well its all the heat's fault, if they did resigned antoine, they can still contend for the playoffs, the wrong thing was, they released shaq, was it because wade is their superstar? shaq is not as old as he is, he can still score boards.
He can still move, deadly as a snake, i believe shaq will be a huge factor for the suns this NBA PLayoffs.
Memphis Belle
The "Memphis Belle" is a World War II bomber, piloted by a young crew on dangerous bombing raids into Europe. The crew only have to make one more bombing raid before they have finished their duty and can go home. In the briefing before their last flight, the crew discover that the target for the day is Dresden, a heavily-defended town that invariably causes many Allied casualties.
It's May 17, 1943; the day before the Memphis Belle's, a B-17 bomber, 25th and final mission.
After their final mission, they crew of ten men get to go home.
Since they would be the first crew to finish all 25 missions in the 8th Airforce, there were already plans to make the 10-man crew big stars back home for the war effort. But the mission hadn't been flown yet.
With the target being Bremen (not Dresden), which was a target heavy in surface-to-air artillery, the flak wouldn't be easy to get through. With weather, nerves, and dreams all playing a part in the finishing of the mission,
It's May 17, 1943; the day before the Memphis Belle's, a B-17 bomber, 25th and final mission.
After their final mission, they crew of ten men get to go home.
Since they would be the first crew to finish all 25 missions in the 8th Airforce, there were already plans to make the 10-man crew big stars back home for the war effort. But the mission hadn't been flown yet.
With the target being Bremen (not Dresden), which was a target heavy in surface-to-air artillery, the flak wouldn't be easy to get through. With weather, nerves, and dreams all playing a part in the finishing of the mission,
the crew has to become the lead plane in the squadron and get the job done of bombing a Nazi supply factory, if they get it wrong, many innocent people could be killed.
Yep it is dedicated to all of those who died in a very dangerous mission over the German Occupied Skies, B17s are really such a great bombers, respect these heroes, i like what they did over germany they bombed all the targets and went home crucially.
Yep it is dedicated to all of those who died in a very dangerous mission over the German Occupied Skies, B17s are really such a great bombers, respect these heroes, i like what they did over germany they bombed all the targets and went home crucially.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Philippine's Rice Crisis.
Rice vendors wait for customers amid rice stocks at a public market in Manila, Philippines, Wednesday March 19, 2008.The Philippine government, one of the world's biggest rice importers, assured the jittery public Wednesday, it is taking steps to secure enough rice supplies amid surging prices and tight stocks worldwide.
The market price has increased by an average of 3 pesos (US$0.07) per kilogram from a year ago, according to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap.
This column earlier cited the World Food Program's observation that global rice stocks are at a 20-year low while rice prices have surged to a 20-year high.
This has prompted leading rice suppliers, such as Vietnam, India and Egypt, to restrict exports in order to keep their local markets well-stocked and their domestic prices under control.
One reason offered for the global rice shortage, aside from climate change and natural calamities, is the rapid income growths in Asia which have jacked up the demand for rice.
News reports say that Thai rice prices, a global benchmark, surged above the level of $500 a ton for the first time in nearly 20 years, while US rice in Chicago, the benchmark for the world's fourth-largest exporter, jumped by about 75 percent in the past year.
The ironic thing is, even if a nation has lots of money, time may come when it cannot buy rice because the traditional exporters no longer want to sell outside.
We should turn our attention to the looming world shortage; practicable measures can be pushed in a nationwide campaign. My sister-in-law, Neomi Tanedo Olivares, suggests that hotels, restaurants, cafeterias and canteens be advised against issuing too much rice to customers, as much of it ends up in the garbage bins.
On the home-front, we can avoid wastage of rice.
Yeah Philippines are about to be the 2nd india type country, too much poverty and sickness in terms of corruption.
unlike the old years with marcos, we export rice, thats what we had called the miracle rice, every youngsters all over asians had studied here in manila to learn about our agricultural style. we were the best country in asia in terms of agriculture and trades back at those years, and well oriented in terms of clean surroundings, now its all gone, just like father same as the daughter
you get what i mean, Diosdado macapagal's reign was a joke, on his reign before we suffered rice crisis, and when marcos won for presidency by landslide, he emerged and had ended our rice crisis,
now its happening again like father like daughter.
whats next? the instant products? whats next Arroyo administration? JESUS CHRIST!!
no wonder why lots of people leaves philippines for imigration.
Trigonometry 101 Basics LAW of COSINES
Law of cosines
The law of cosines (also known as the cosine formula, or the "cos rule") is an extension of the Pythagorean theorem to arbitrary triangles:
or equivalently:
I thought it was easy, my dad told me about rounding off numbers so i responded and did such thing.
The law of cosines (also known as the cosine formula, or the "cos rule") is an extension of the Pythagorean theorem to arbitrary triangles:
or equivalently:
I thought it was easy, my dad told me about rounding off numbers so i responded and did such thing.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
key X factor for Trigonometry
Rounding off numbers
I thought it was easy, my dad told me about rounding off numbers so i responded and did such thing.
here are the details about how to round off numbers after getting sines or others branches of mathematics.
I thought it was easy, my dad told me about rounding off numbers so i responded and did such thing.
Trigonometry 101 Basics LAW of SINES
As i found out last night, my father and some of my friendst thought me regarding the topic, Trigonometry, here are the details.
Legends
sine = y/h
cosine = x/h
tangent = y/x
cotangent = x/y
cosecant = h/y
secant = h/x
The Law of sines
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Legends
sine = y/h
cosine = x/h
tangent = y/x
cotangent = x/y
cosecant = h/y
secant = h/x
The Law of sines
here are some details or examples regarding the law of sine according to my feedbacks
The law of sines (also know as the "sine rule") for an arbitrary triangle states:
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Another Girl
"Another Girl" is a song by the Beatles released in 1965 on the album Help!.The song was written by Paul McCartney but credited to Lennon/McCartney. McCartney wrote the song while on vacation in Hammamet, a resort in Tunisia.[1] In the film Help!, McCartney lip-syncs "Another Girl" while standing on a coral reef on Balmoral Island in the Bahamas, and plays a girl in a bikini as if she is a guitar.
McCartney said of this song and other album tracks, "It's a bit much to call them fillers because I think they were a bit more than that, and each one of them made it past the Beatles test. We all had to like it.
Recording
The Beatles recorded the song on 15 February 1965, in 1 take, with 10 edits of a George Harrison guitar "flourish" which was not used. The master take was take 1 with a guitar solo overdub by McCartney on February 16.
It was remixed on 18 February and 23 February.
This is one of the first Beatle songs in which McCartney plays lead guitar, in addition to his usual bass. Music analyst and critic Ian MacDonald, and others, assign the lead guitar credit to McCartney for "Ticket to Ride", recorded the same day as the first session for "Another Girl," and one day before the lead guitar overdub for it.
Lyrics
For I have got another girl, another girl.
You're making me say that I've got nobody but you,
But as from today, well, I've got somebody that's new.
I ain't no fool and I don't take what I don't want,
For I have got another girl, another girl.
She's sweeter than all the girls and I met quite a few
Nobody in all the world can do what she can do
And so I'm telling you, "This time you'd better stop."
For I have got
another girl
Another girl
Who will love me till the end
Through thick and thin She will always be my friend.
I don't want to say that I've been unhappy with you,
But, as from today, well, I've seen somebody that's new.
I ain't no fool and I don't take what I don't want,
For I have got another girl.
Another girl.
Who will love me till the end.
Through thick and thin She will always be my friend.
I don't want to say that I've been unhappy with you,But, as from today, well, I've seen somebody that's new.
I ain't no fool and I don't take what I don't want,
For I have got another girl.
Another girl. Another girl.
My Appreciation regarding the Song
It Thought that that was terrific song. Theres a passion at these song and charm.I found the song more terrific, this song is perfect for couples around the world, for relationships, this one can charm every woman in the world if you fall in love, you can sing this song.
love this song, rate it 98% proud to be BEATLEMANIAC
wanna here the song heres the link
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YGakPl8a0eA
The Beatles (The British Invasion)
The Beatles were a pop and rock group from Liverpool, England. They are one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music.The band's principal members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.
In the United Kingdom, The Beatles released more than 40 different singles, albums, and EPs that reached number one.
This commercial success was repeated in many other countries; their record company, EMI, estimated that by 1985 they had sold over one billion records worldwide.
The Beatles are the best-selling musical act of all time in the United States, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked The Beatles #1 on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. According to that same magazine, their innovative music and cultural impact helped define the 1960s and their influence on pop culture is still evident today.
The Beatles led the mid-1960s musical "British Invasion" into the United States. Although their initial musical style was rooted in 1950s rock and roll and homegrown skiffle, the group explored genres ranging from Tin Pan Alley to psychedelic rock.
Their clothes, styles, and statements made them trend-setters, while their growing social awareness saw their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s.
Musical Evolution
The Beatles' constant demands to create new sounds on every new recording, combined with George Martin's arranging abilities and the studio expertise of EMI staff engineers such as Norman Smith, Ken Townsend and Geoff Emerick, all played significant parts in the innovative sounds of the albums Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966) and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).The Beatles continued to absorb influences long after their initial success, often finding new musical and lyrical avenues by listening to their contemporaries.
Among those influences were Bob Dylan, who influenced songs such as "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" and "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)".[103] Other contemporary influences included the Byrds and the Beach Boys, whose album Pet Sounds was a favourite of McCartney's.
Beatles producer George Martin stated that "Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper wouldn't have happened... Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds."
After Sgt. Pepper was released, Beach Boys' leader Brian Wilson was so despondent that he went to bed for months.
Along with studio tricks such as sound effects, unconventional microphone placements, tape loops, double tracking and vari-speed recording, The Beatles began to augment their recordings with instruments that were unconventional for rock music at the time.
These included string and brass ensembles as well as Indian instruments such as the sitar as in "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" and the swarmandel as in "Strawberry Fields Forever".
They also used early electronic instruments such as the Mellotron, with which McCartney supplied the flute voices on the intro to "Strawberry Fields Forever", and the ondioline, an electronic keyboard that created the unusual oboe-like sound on "Baby You're a Rich Man".
Beginning with the use of a string quartet (arranged by George Martin with input from McCartney) on "Yesterday" in 1965, The Beatles pioneered a modern form of art song, exemplified by the double-quartet string arrangement on "Eleanor Rigby" (1966), "Here, There and Everywhere" (1966) and "She's Leaving Home" (1967).
A televised performance of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 directly inspired McCartney's use of a piccolo trumpet on the arrangement of "Penny Lane". The Beatles moved towards psychedelia with "Rain" and "Tomorrow Never Knows" from 1966, and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "I Am the Walrus" from 1967.
Achievements
The Beatles are the best-selling musical group of all time, estimated by EMI to have over one billion discs and tapes sold worldwide.The Beatles have notched up the most multi-platinum selling albums for any artist or musical group (thirteen in the U.S. alone).
The Beatles have a record six diamond-selling albums (10 million copies): Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles, Abbey Road, The Beatles: 1962-1966, The Beatles: 1967-1970, and The Beatles 1.
The Beatles have had more number one albums than any other group (19 in the U.S. and 15 in the United Kingdom).
The Beatles spent the highest number of weeks at number one in the albums chart (174 in the UK and 132 in the U.S.).
The most successful first week of sales for a double album (The Beatles Anthology Volume 1, which sold 855,473 copies in the U.S. from 21 November to 28 November 1995).
The Beatles have the fastest selling CD of all time with 1. It sold over 13 million copies in four weeks.
SinglesThe Beatles have had more number one singles than any other musical group (23 in Australia, 23 in The Netherlands, 22 in Canada, 21 in Norway, 20 in the U.S., and 18 in Sweden).
Ironically, the Beatles could easily have had even more number ones, because they were often competing with their own singles. For example, the Beatles' "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" were released as a "double A"-sided single, which caused sales and airplay to be divided between the two songs instead of being counted collectively.
Even so, they reached number two with the singles. They even managed to hold separate releases by themselves off the top of the British chart in 1967 with "Hello Goodbye" at number 1 and the Magical Mystery Tour E.P at number 2.
In terms of charting positions, Lennon and McCartney are the most successful songwriters in history, with 32 number one singles in the U.S. for McCartney, and 26 for Lennon (23 of which were written together).
Lennon was responsible for 29 Number One singles in the UK, and McCartney was responsible for 28 (25 of which were written together).
During the week of 4 April 1964, The Beatles held twelve positions on Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, including the top five positions, which has never been accomplished by any other artist. The songs were "Can't Buy Me Love" (Capitol Records), "Twist and Shout" (Tollie Records), "She Loves You" (Swan Records), "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (Capitol), and "Please Please Me" (Vee-Jay).
In addition, seven other singles occupied lower places on the chart: "I Saw Her Standing There" (Capitol), "You Can't Do That" (Capitol), "All My Loving" (Capitol of Canada), "Roll Over Beethoven" (Capitol of Canada), "From Me To You" (Vee-Jay), "Do You Want To Know A Secret" (Vee-Jay) and "Thank You Girl" (Vee-Jay).
Furthermore, two Beatles tribute records appeared on the chart: "We Love You Beatles" by The Carefrees (at #42), and "A Letter to the Beatles" by The Four Preps (#85).
The next week, 11 April 1964, the Beatles held fourteen positions on the Billboard Hot 100. Before the Beatles, the highest number of concurrent singles by one artist on the Hot 100 was nine (by Elvis Presley, 19 December 1956).
The Beatles are the only artist to have 'back-to-back-to-back' number one singles on Billboard's Hot 100 in the modern chart era. Their "Can't Buy Me Love" single supplanted "She Loves You", which had in turn taken the #1 spot from "I Want to Hold Your Hand.
" Boyz II Men, Nelly and Outkast have directly succeeded themselves atop the chart, but the Beatles are the only artist to 'three-peat'. (In 2004, Usher came within a week of matching this feat, with three of his singles ("Yeah!" "Burn" and "Confessions") holding the top spot for 21 of 22 weeks; only a one-week interruption between "Burn"s 7th and 8th weeks atop the chart by American Idol singer Fantasia broke the streak.
Billboard's current version of the "Hot 100" chart is considered to have begun in August 1958; before that, artists such as Elvis Presley, Glenn Miller, Jimmy Dorsey, and Bing Crosby had also had three consecutive #1 hits, but on earlier Billboard charts that preceded the "Hot 100".)
The Beatles' "Yesterday" is the most covered song in history, appearing in the Guinness Book of Records with over three thousand recorded versions. It is also the most played song in the history of international radio.
The Beatles had the fastest selling single of all time with "I Want to Hold Your Hand". The song sold 250,000 units within three days in the U.S., one million in 2 weeks. (Additionally, it sold 10,000 copies per hour in New York City alone for the first 20 days.)
The largest number of advance orders for a single, at 2.1 million copies in the U.S. for "Can't Buy Me Love" (it sold 940,225 copies on its first day of release in the U.S. alone).
The Beatles appear five times in the top 100 best-selling singles in the UK. No other group appears more than twice.
My Appreciations.
Since Grade 3 I love The Beatles, they done a great job in terms of music industry, THese four guys John Lennon Rest in peace, George Harrison same thing too, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney had a terrific blend of music, they found the sweet spot that every people had really agreed to, great plays in music, some of there music realeases had been revived by some other artists.
There Music releases are Immortal, nevergone, because all the people in the world had learned to love there releases, same thing to me, i love there releases, to bad john lennon died early, i wonder if 2 of them are still alive, i want to see them on the live concert with my uncle and dad.
my tito and my father are both beatlemanias. me ofcourse, i too bad its only a dream.
but hail to there songs, really quiet impressive, whether some regrets that john did, they still shined into other people's eyes, rest in peace bryan epstein. great manager of this successful beatles band.
Rate them 99% in music. 60's was Beatles' era. love the 60's
Proud to Be Beatlemania
Filipinos respect CBCP for upholding Church law
Many top-ranking Filipinos sharply critical of the Arroyo administration told The Manila Times they respect the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines for upholding Church doctrine in its pastoral statements issued in response to the political crisis engulfing the nation.
These Filipinos appreciate the CBCP’s restraint in not calling for the resignation or ouster of President Gloria Arroyo unlike her other foes who have spoken and written against the Catholic Episcopal conference for not joining in their anti-Arroyo struggle.
Among these high-ranking and well-respected Filipinos are the Aquino presidency’s Finance Secretary Jesus P. Estanislao and central bank governor Jose Cuisia as well as the majority of the 80 former Cabinet members and chairpersons of Constitutional commissions who have formed themselves as the Former Senior Government Officials group.
That group has roundly criticized President Arroyo’s administration for its lack of transparency, bad governance and indifference to corruption.
They said they have come to believe, as a result of Mrs. Arroyo’s refusal to attend to their demands, that Mrs. Arroyo is central to the corruption in her government.
Some members of the group are calling on President Arroyo to resign.
But some would not go that far for the moment because, former Secretary Estanislao told The Times, “the FSGO has decided as a group to wage the campaign to pressure the administration to institute drastic reforms ‘incrementally.’ ”
The Times learned that most of the 80-plus FSGO members do agree that the CBCP has served the Roman Catholic Church well by observing the Canon Law and doctrine forbidding clerics from engaging in political action unless it is of momentous urgency in defense of the Church.
Estanislao explained that not only Church doctrine and Canon law make it prudent for bishops not to act about political and economic problems beyond their duty to teach about the moral aspects and to give guidelines to the faithful.
“It is also better to let the laity to do the work of protesting and taking action. We can take stronger action than priests and bishops can,”
he said.
Top bankers
"Three of the country’s top bankers The Times talked to also declared their appreciation of the CBCP’s restraint. They disagreed with the politicians who have been attacking the bishops for not being as “bold and as politically concerned"
as the late Jaime Cardinal Sin.
They all requested not to be named—in keeping with their apolitical posture. But one of them asked this writer to tell Times readers that they should heed the CBCP’s call for “prayer and communal reflection in their Basic Ecclessial Communities and their parishes, and then act as one to pressure the government into reforming.”
An insurance-group executive, George Winternitz, managing director of Winternitz Associates Insurance Inc., did not mind being named and quoted as saying that he and scores of his colleagues would like to see corruption disappear in the government and the private sector.
“We all should take the bishops’ exhortation seriously though.
We should also examine ourselves, all of us businessmen, and workers in businesses, to reform ourselves. Little acts of graft may be tiny compared to the US dollar millions they are talking about in Senate investigations,”
Winternitz said.
“But these also contribute to creating that continuing culture of corruption that the CBCP is asking the government to combat.”
Stockbrokers who want President Arroyo to resign talked to our reporter Likha Cuevas.
They also expressed agreement with the CBCP for the bishops’ refusal to be drawn into taking sides politically.
One of them said,
“The CBCP is right and I think what the bishops want is really what the silent majority want.”
Our reporter Jomar Canlas talked to Atty. Samson Alcantara, president of ABAKADA Guro Inc., a teachers and lawyers’ group fighting for social justice and against corruption. He is a bar topnotcher and the petitioner who won the case in the Supreme Court for the removal of the Pandacan Oil Depots.
Alcantara is happy with the CBCP for being apolitical now.
He has always been upset by the political activism of various religious and church groups.
“It is a strong statement recognizing corruption in the government but done in a subtle manner made by the members of the cloth. It is a strong stand. Everybody says there is corruption. But they cannot condemn because there is no proof.”
He said it is up to laymen to work and provide the proof.
Among the country’s topmost politicians, Makati’s Mayor Jejomar Binay—who is an ardent activist against President Arroyo and the president of the United Opposition—is strongly faithful to the Catholic bishops and the CBCP.
Binay told The Times the CBCP decided correctly in not asking for the resignation of President Gloria Arroyo but strongly condemning her administration’s corruption.
Manila’s Mayor Lim is also respectful of the CBCP stand.
my regards
well these priest are just like frailes, they are the one whose always right, but for mayor lim, i think he respects the CBCP because its a catholic thing, as a catholic i disagree that these politicians are using the church in able to do what they want, such as money, cardinal sin was involve with that too during aquino's emergence.
but i still respect the house of god. not those people who uses the image of the prophet in able to get money, that is tremendously rudeness for our lives.
These Filipinos appreciate the CBCP’s restraint in not calling for the resignation or ouster of President Gloria Arroyo unlike her other foes who have spoken and written against the Catholic Episcopal conference for not joining in their anti-Arroyo struggle.
Among these high-ranking and well-respected Filipinos are the Aquino presidency’s Finance Secretary Jesus P. Estanislao and central bank governor Jose Cuisia as well as the majority of the 80 former Cabinet members and chairpersons of Constitutional commissions who have formed themselves as the Former Senior Government Officials group.
That group has roundly criticized President Arroyo’s administration for its lack of transparency, bad governance and indifference to corruption.
They said they have come to believe, as a result of Mrs. Arroyo’s refusal to attend to their demands, that Mrs. Arroyo is central to the corruption in her government.
Some members of the group are calling on President Arroyo to resign.
But some would not go that far for the moment because, former Secretary Estanislao told The Times, “the FSGO has decided as a group to wage the campaign to pressure the administration to institute drastic reforms ‘incrementally.’ ”
The Times learned that most of the 80-plus FSGO members do agree that the CBCP has served the Roman Catholic Church well by observing the Canon Law and doctrine forbidding clerics from engaging in political action unless it is of momentous urgency in defense of the Church.
Estanislao explained that not only Church doctrine and Canon law make it prudent for bishops not to act about political and economic problems beyond their duty to teach about the moral aspects and to give guidelines to the faithful.
“It is also better to let the laity to do the work of protesting and taking action. We can take stronger action than priests and bishops can,”
he said.
Top bankers
"Three of the country’s top bankers The Times talked to also declared their appreciation of the CBCP’s restraint. They disagreed with the politicians who have been attacking the bishops for not being as “bold and as politically concerned"
as the late Jaime Cardinal Sin.
They all requested not to be named—in keeping with their apolitical posture. But one of them asked this writer to tell Times readers that they should heed the CBCP’s call for “prayer and communal reflection in their Basic Ecclessial Communities and their parishes, and then act as one to pressure the government into reforming.”
An insurance-group executive, George Winternitz, managing director of Winternitz Associates Insurance Inc., did not mind being named and quoted as saying that he and scores of his colleagues would like to see corruption disappear in the government and the private sector.
“We all should take the bishops’ exhortation seriously though.
We should also examine ourselves, all of us businessmen, and workers in businesses, to reform ourselves. Little acts of graft may be tiny compared to the US dollar millions they are talking about in Senate investigations,”
Winternitz said.
“But these also contribute to creating that continuing culture of corruption that the CBCP is asking the government to combat.”
Stockbrokers who want President Arroyo to resign talked to our reporter Likha Cuevas.
They also expressed agreement with the CBCP for the bishops’ refusal to be drawn into taking sides politically.
One of them said,
“The CBCP is right and I think what the bishops want is really what the silent majority want.”
Our reporter Jomar Canlas talked to Atty. Samson Alcantara, president of ABAKADA Guro Inc., a teachers and lawyers’ group fighting for social justice and against corruption. He is a bar topnotcher and the petitioner who won the case in the Supreme Court for the removal of the Pandacan Oil Depots.
Alcantara is happy with the CBCP for being apolitical now.
He has always been upset by the political activism of various religious and church groups.
“It is a strong statement recognizing corruption in the government but done in a subtle manner made by the members of the cloth. It is a strong stand. Everybody says there is corruption. But they cannot condemn because there is no proof.”
He said it is up to laymen to work and provide the proof.
Among the country’s topmost politicians, Makati’s Mayor Jejomar Binay—who is an ardent activist against President Arroyo and the president of the United Opposition—is strongly faithful to the Catholic bishops and the CBCP.
Binay told The Times the CBCP decided correctly in not asking for the resignation of President Gloria Arroyo but strongly condemning her administration’s corruption.
Manila’s Mayor Lim is also respectful of the CBCP stand.
my regards
well these priest are just like frailes, they are the one whose always right, but for mayor lim, i think he respects the CBCP because its a catholic thing, as a catholic i disagree that these politicians are using the church in able to do what they want, such as money, cardinal sin was involve with that too during aquino's emergence.
but i still respect the house of god. not those people who uses the image of the prophet in able to get money, that is tremendously rudeness for our lives.
Senate fearful for Lozada
To the Senate, the human rights of Rodolfo Lozada Jr. may have been abused when he was “abducted” Tuesday, apparently by the government’s security forces.
Malacañang said it could not have possibly authorized the national police to snatch Lozada as alleged, because there had been “no abduction” in the first place.
Lozada’s family, meanwhile, has filed petitions for a writ of habeas corpus and a writ of amparo in his behalf before the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
The Senate will investigate the incident as a possible case of violation of Lozada’s civil liberties, Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. said Wednesday. He added that the inquiry will be different from that into the National Broadband Network project because this involves human rights. Lozada is a key witness in the Senate probe of that aborted $330-million project.
Villar demanded a full accounting by airport authorities on the “abduction” of Lozada at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. His demand came as the whereabouts of Lozada remained a mystery.
In police custody
Director Genernal Avelino Razon, chief of the Philippine National Police, said Lozada was under the custody of the Police Security Protection Office. But Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the Senate blue-ribbon committee, said his men who went to Camp Crame, the police headquarters in Quezon City, said the office had denied having Lozada in its custody.
Villar appeared incredulous at Razon’s claim that Lozada’s family had asked for police protection. “How can that be when I was talking with Lozada’s wife, and she was very distraught over her husband’s whereabouts?” the Senate president asked.
Villar also pointed out that members of Lozada’s family were waiting for Lozada at the arrival area with some senators, media and members of the Senate’s Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms, so they could not have possibly asked for police protection for Lozada.
Lozada’s brother Arthur appeared on television decrying the “abduction” done right at the airport. Lozada arrived on board a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong at 4:40 p.m. Tuesday.
Malacañang said the national police taking Lozada in its custody is a standard procedure in response to his request for protection.
“First of all, there’s no abduction,” Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said. “It’s a police operational matter, and we cannot say that [President Gloria Arroyo] authorized that [‘abduction’] just because it was carried out by the [national police].”
Life in danger
Ermita added that he was informed by the police that Lozada’s brother Arthur had requested security before he arrived in the country because of an alleged threat to his life.
“Upon his arrival, there were personnel who met him there [airport], brought him out because of the threat to his life,” the Executive Secretary said. “Last night, he spoke with his family. They knew all along that he was with police officials. I understand from General Razon [that] he even brought a document [to] the airport attesting to the fact that he [had] requested [the presence of] security forces,” the Executive Secretary said.
When asked whether Malacañang will investigate the “abduction” of Lozada, Ermita said there is no need for any investigation “at this moment.” He added, “Just [what] I’ve told you, [Razon] announced that he [had] acted on the request by Lozada, so I hope all things are clear, and I reiterate that there’s no need for an investigation.”
ZTE hearing
Ermita said it is up to Lozada and his lawyers to decide whether to appear in Senate hearings on the scrapped national broadband deal. “I understand that Mr. Lozada has a company of lawyers, therefore, I’m sure he could be given pointers. I heard that he [had] prepared a written affidavit regarding his position. He could be given proper advice before attending Senate hearings.”
Ask the police
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said it also is up to the national police to provide information to the public after admitting that Lozada is in their custody.
“It would be better if you asked [Razon] about it. We monitored that the police said they are holding Lozada in its custody,” Bunye told reporters. “So as to the details, you better ask [Razon].”
But he clarified that Lozada was not taken by the police “against his will.” He said the former consultant to the technical aspects of the broadband project had been able to talk to his family.
‘Abuse of power’
Whether Lozada went voluntarily, opposition leader and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay said, will not detract from the Arroyo administration mustering “the kind of arrogance over the years in power.”
“The action is clearly an abuse of power and a violation of civil liberties,” he added in a statement.
The Senate team sent to the international airport was supposed to serve a warrant of arrest on Lozada for failing to attend a hearing of the blue-ribbon committee on the broadband project, but Lozada never came out of the arrival area. Lozada later texted his brother that he was accosted at the airport and taken to the tarmac where he was made to board a waiting vehicle without passing through Customs and Immigration.
Villar chided retired Gen. Angel Atutubo, assistant deputy for security of the Manila International Airport Authority, for saying that the Senate team did not coordinate with airport authorities.
“I don’t know if those persons studied their law,” he said. “It is very clear that we have a warrant of arrest, and they could have talked with us for an orderly serving at the airport. But it seemed that General Atutubo was more interested in the other persons who met Mr. Lozada.”
Villar added that the national police and airport authorities should explain why they prevented the Senate from serving the warrant on Lozada. The witness often sat in place of Romulo Neri in discussions of the broadband project in the Senate hearings. Neri, the former socio-economic planning secretary, was to have been served another arrest warrant, but the Supreme Court on Tuesday stopped it.
More questions
Sen. Benigno Aquino 3rd, one of the senators who went to the airport on Tuesday, said it took Atutubo five hours to announce that it was not he who took Lozada but a certain Senior Police Officer 4 Roger Valeroso. Aquino noted that Camp Crame had denied that anybody by that name was in the police ranks.
“If Valeroso does not exist, then where did Angel Atutubo get his name?” Aquino asked. “By whose authority was he given access to the airport tarmac? By whose authority and on what grounds did the [national police] take Lozada in their custody?”
He also questioned why it took the police more than 12 hours to announce that police personnel had taken custody of Lozada.
“I cannot think of any other explanation for Mr. Atutubo and the [national police’s] prolonged period of silence other than that those hours were used to concoct what appears to be a badly written official story on the fate of Mr. Lozada,” Aquino said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada said the case of Lozada might go the way of Juancho “Udong” Mahusay, a supposed witness in the Jose Pidal account allegedly belonging to President Aroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo.
Estrada explained that Mahusay, who was “kidnapped” in Tagaytay City, later recanted his testimony.
Sen. Manuel Roxas 2nd also refused to buy the police claim that Lozada’s family had sought police protection.
He said Razon should furnish the Senate a copy of the purported letter.
“This is an absurd situation, considering that the airport is a high-security zone, where people are subject to identity and baggage checks of the most stringent kind,” Roxas said.
Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan said Lozada’s disappearance showed that the downgrading of Philippine airports by the US Federal Aviation Administration was justified.
In the habeas corpus petition filed Wednesday, respondents are Razon, Atutubo, Valeroso, Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Pedrito Cadungog, Assistant Deputy Manager for Operations at the airport authority Octavio Lina, and Presidential Security Group chief Brig. Gen. Romeo Prestoza.
The Supreme Court is set to raffle the case and could decide on it this week.
Regarding Mr Lozada for his safety:
I think opposisyons should keep there security more tighter to Lozada and Madriaga, I have a bad feeling that Ping Lacson will betray the entire oposisyon once again, i hope Lim should keep an eye of him.
Lacson had done betrayals since FPJ run for presidency, he accquired money from the administration, well the oppositions are already split. he will screw us once more, all of us should keep an eye with senator ping lacson.
Malacañang said it could not have possibly authorized the national police to snatch Lozada as alleged, because there had been “no abduction” in the first place.
Lozada’s family, meanwhile, has filed petitions for a writ of habeas corpus and a writ of amparo in his behalf before the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
The Senate will investigate the incident as a possible case of violation of Lozada’s civil liberties, Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. said Wednesday. He added that the inquiry will be different from that into the National Broadband Network project because this involves human rights. Lozada is a key witness in the Senate probe of that aborted $330-million project.
Villar demanded a full accounting by airport authorities on the “abduction” of Lozada at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. His demand came as the whereabouts of Lozada remained a mystery.
In police custody
Director Genernal Avelino Razon, chief of the Philippine National Police, said Lozada was under the custody of the Police Security Protection Office. But Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the Senate blue-ribbon committee, said his men who went to Camp Crame, the police headquarters in Quezon City, said the office had denied having Lozada in its custody.
Villar appeared incredulous at Razon’s claim that Lozada’s family had asked for police protection. “How can that be when I was talking with Lozada’s wife, and she was very distraught over her husband’s whereabouts?” the Senate president asked.
Villar also pointed out that members of Lozada’s family were waiting for Lozada at the arrival area with some senators, media and members of the Senate’s Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms, so they could not have possibly asked for police protection for Lozada.
Lozada’s brother Arthur appeared on television decrying the “abduction” done right at the airport. Lozada arrived on board a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong at 4:40 p.m. Tuesday.
Malacañang said the national police taking Lozada in its custody is a standard procedure in response to his request for protection.
“First of all, there’s no abduction,” Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said. “It’s a police operational matter, and we cannot say that [President Gloria Arroyo] authorized that [‘abduction’] just because it was carried out by the [national police].”
Life in danger
Ermita added that he was informed by the police that Lozada’s brother Arthur had requested security before he arrived in the country because of an alleged threat to his life.
“Upon his arrival, there were personnel who met him there [airport], brought him out because of the threat to his life,” the Executive Secretary said. “Last night, he spoke with his family. They knew all along that he was with police officials. I understand from General Razon [that] he even brought a document [to] the airport attesting to the fact that he [had] requested [the presence of] security forces,” the Executive Secretary said.
When asked whether Malacañang will investigate the “abduction” of Lozada, Ermita said there is no need for any investigation “at this moment.” He added, “Just [what] I’ve told you, [Razon] announced that he [had] acted on the request by Lozada, so I hope all things are clear, and I reiterate that there’s no need for an investigation.”
ZTE hearing
Ermita said it is up to Lozada and his lawyers to decide whether to appear in Senate hearings on the scrapped national broadband deal. “I understand that Mr. Lozada has a company of lawyers, therefore, I’m sure he could be given pointers. I heard that he [had] prepared a written affidavit regarding his position. He could be given proper advice before attending Senate hearings.”
Ask the police
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said it also is up to the national police to provide information to the public after admitting that Lozada is in their custody.
“It would be better if you asked [Razon] about it. We monitored that the police said they are holding Lozada in its custody,” Bunye told reporters. “So as to the details, you better ask [Razon].”
But he clarified that Lozada was not taken by the police “against his will.” He said the former consultant to the technical aspects of the broadband project had been able to talk to his family.
‘Abuse of power’
Whether Lozada went voluntarily, opposition leader and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay said, will not detract from the Arroyo administration mustering “the kind of arrogance over the years in power.”
“The action is clearly an abuse of power and a violation of civil liberties,” he added in a statement.
The Senate team sent to the international airport was supposed to serve a warrant of arrest on Lozada for failing to attend a hearing of the blue-ribbon committee on the broadband project, but Lozada never came out of the arrival area. Lozada later texted his brother that he was accosted at the airport and taken to the tarmac where he was made to board a waiting vehicle without passing through Customs and Immigration.
Villar chided retired Gen. Angel Atutubo, assistant deputy for security of the Manila International Airport Authority, for saying that the Senate team did not coordinate with airport authorities.
“I don’t know if those persons studied their law,” he said. “It is very clear that we have a warrant of arrest, and they could have talked with us for an orderly serving at the airport. But it seemed that General Atutubo was more interested in the other persons who met Mr. Lozada.”
Villar added that the national police and airport authorities should explain why they prevented the Senate from serving the warrant on Lozada. The witness often sat in place of Romulo Neri in discussions of the broadband project in the Senate hearings. Neri, the former socio-economic planning secretary, was to have been served another arrest warrant, but the Supreme Court on Tuesday stopped it.
More questions
Sen. Benigno Aquino 3rd, one of the senators who went to the airport on Tuesday, said it took Atutubo five hours to announce that it was not he who took Lozada but a certain Senior Police Officer 4 Roger Valeroso. Aquino noted that Camp Crame had denied that anybody by that name was in the police ranks.
“If Valeroso does not exist, then where did Angel Atutubo get his name?” Aquino asked. “By whose authority was he given access to the airport tarmac? By whose authority and on what grounds did the [national police] take Lozada in their custody?”
He also questioned why it took the police more than 12 hours to announce that police personnel had taken custody of Lozada.
“I cannot think of any other explanation for Mr. Atutubo and the [national police’s] prolonged period of silence other than that those hours were used to concoct what appears to be a badly written official story on the fate of Mr. Lozada,” Aquino said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada said the case of Lozada might go the way of Juancho “Udong” Mahusay, a supposed witness in the Jose Pidal account allegedly belonging to President Aroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo.
Estrada explained that Mahusay, who was “kidnapped” in Tagaytay City, later recanted his testimony.
Sen. Manuel Roxas 2nd also refused to buy the police claim that Lozada’s family had sought police protection.
He said Razon should furnish the Senate a copy of the purported letter.
“This is an absurd situation, considering that the airport is a high-security zone, where people are subject to identity and baggage checks of the most stringent kind,” Roxas said.
Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan said Lozada’s disappearance showed that the downgrading of Philippine airports by the US Federal Aviation Administration was justified.
In the habeas corpus petition filed Wednesday, respondents are Razon, Atutubo, Valeroso, Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Pedrito Cadungog, Assistant Deputy Manager for Operations at the airport authority Octavio Lina, and Presidential Security Group chief Brig. Gen. Romeo Prestoza.
The Supreme Court is set to raffle the case and could decide on it this week.
Regarding Mr Lozada for his safety:
I think opposisyons should keep there security more tighter to Lozada and Madriaga, I have a bad feeling that Ping Lacson will betray the entire oposisyon once again, i hope Lim should keep an eye of him.
Lacson had done betrayals since FPJ run for presidency, he accquired money from the administration, well the oppositions are already split. he will screw us once more, all of us should keep an eye with senator ping lacson.
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