Noynoy pambato ng LP: Roxas ‘di na tatakbong pangulo sa 2010 polls

MANILA – Matapos ang ilang araw na espekulasyon tungkol sa magiging standard bearer ng Liberal Party, inihayag ni Senador Manuel “Mar" Roxas II nitong Martes ang kanyang pag-atras sa panguluhang halalan upang suportahan ang kandidatura ni Senador Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III.Sa ipinatawag nitong press conference sa Club Filipino, inihayag ni Roxas nagkakaisa sila ni Aquino na magkaroon ng makabuluhang pagbabago sa bansa. Dahil dito, kahit mahirap umano sa kanyang sarili, susuportahan na lamang niya ang presidential bid ng nag-iisang anak na lalaki nina dating Pangulong Cory Aquino at dating Sen Benigno “Ninoy" Aquino Jr. "I want to make a difference...I am the president of the Liberal party. It is within my power to preside over a potentially divisive process or to make the party a bridge for the forces of change," ayon kay Roxas."Today I'm announcing my support for the candidacy of Noynoy Aquino for president in 2010," tuluyan niyang pagdeklara. “Good will win over evil." Ipinaliwanag ni Roxas na nagdesisyon na siyang magsalita upang maalis na ang pagdududa sa kaisipan ng publiko kung sino ang isasabak ng partido sa 2010 presidential elections. “Noynoy Aquino and I have the same outrage over the mess we are all in, the same way we share the solution – clean, honest and selfless public service," ayon kay Roxas. “Marami at matindi ang problema ng bansa. Kailangan natin ayusin. Matindi ang kalaban. We need a determined force for good far stronger than the festering evil around us," idinagdag niya.

Sinabi pa ni Roxas na nagdesisyon siyang umatras sa kanyang presidential bid upang mapagkaisa ang partido na unti-unting nahahati ng intrigang bumabalot sa panawagan na tumakbo si Aquino sa panguluhan. “It is within my power to preside over a potentially divisive process or to make the party a bridge for the forces of change. I choose to lead unity, not division. Bilang pinuno ng aking partido, magdedesisyon ako," anang mambabatas. “Over the weekend, Noynoy and I had a many long conversation. Masinsinang usapan. We agreed; let us forget about ourselves for a moment. This is not about us; this is about our people and our country. This is about our common dreams, the dreams of our parents," ayon kay Roxas. Like brothersKinumpirma naman ni Quezon Rep. Lorenzo “Erin" Tanada, opisyal ng LP, nagkaroon ng tatlong pagpupulong sina Roxas at Aquino sa mga nakalipas na araw, at nag-usap bilang magkapatid. “Nagkaroon muna sila ng tatlong meetings. Pero, hindi ako kasali sa meetings kaya hindi ko alam ang kanilang pinag-usapan. They are reacting to each other like brothers," kuwento ni Tanada. Personal na desisyon umano ni Roxas na umatras at suportahan kandidatura ni Aquino. Ngunit hihintayin pa ng LP ang magiging tugon ni Aquino sa pasya ni Roxas.“We have no decision yet for Noynoy to be our standard bearer, we have to wait for the decision of Sen. Aquino (on the announcement of Roxas)," paliwanag ni Tanada. Idinagdag naman ni dating Batanes Rep. Butch Abad, opisyal din ng LP, magpapatawag si Aquino ng presscon sa Miyerkules upang ihayag ang kanyang magiging tugon sa habang ni Roxas. Tiniyak naman ni Sen. Rodolfo Biazon na susuportahan ng LP ang magiging resulta ng pag-uusap nina Roxas at Aquino.Kondisyon ni NoynoyUna rito, sinabi ni Aquino na tatlong bagay ang maaaring maging daan para magdesisyon siya upang tumakbong presidente sa 2010 elections.Una rito ay katiyakan na magkakaroon ng pagbabago sa lipunan at bansa; nakahanda ang gagamiting makinarya para sa kanyang kandidatura; at basbas ng kanyang mga kapatid na babae.Hindi pa tiyak kung si Roxas ang awtomatikong magiging bise presidente ni Roxas, ngunit naniniwala si Abad, campaign manager ng LP, malamang na ang Aquino-Roxas ang magiging tambalan sa 2010 elections ng partido.Sinikap ng GMANews.TV nitong Martes ng gabi na makausap sa telepono si Aquino upang kunan ng reaksyon sa naging desisyon ni Roxas.Ayon sa isang security aide ni Aquino na nagpakilalang si “Bong" na nakausap ng GMANews.TV sa telepono, naghahapunan ang senador kasama ang kanyang mga kapatid na sina Maria Elena "Ballsy" Aquino-Cruz at Victoria Eliza "Viel" Aquino-Dee.

After giving way to Noynoy, Mar open to VP post or reelection

After he passed on the torch to Sen. Benigno Simeon “Noynoy" Aquino III as the Liberal Party’s standard bearer in the 2010 elections, Sen. Manuel Roxas II on Wednesday said that he is open to becoming Aquino’s running mate or to just seek reelection in next year's polls.A day after he "sacrificed" his shot at the presidency, Roxas said that he sees no reason why he should not continue serving the public. Roxas’ term as a senator expires in 2010. “Walang dahilan kung bakit ‘di ko iko-continue. Bukas ako diyan (vice presidency or senatorial bid), pero hindi akin ang desisyon, kasi kusang-loob kong sinabi kay Noynoy na (siya) ang magiging torchbearer ng forces of reform," Roxas said in an interview on GMA News’ Unang Hirit. (I do not see any reason why I should not continue. I am open to seeking the vice presidency or reelection, but the decision is not mine because I wholeheartedly told Noynoy that he will be the torchbearer of the forces of reform.)

Nonoy has yet to announce whether he would indeed seek the presidency following Roxas’ decision. The only son of former President Corazon Aquino and the late Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. will reportedly make an announcement later in the day. Roxas likewise stressed that his giving way to Aquino came with no strings attached. He added that he and Aquino made no “transaction" that he would slide down as Noynoy's running mate. “Hindi ako pumasok sa public service para sa ibang dahilan kundi magsilbi. ‘Wag nating bahiran ito ng horse-trading (I entered public service for the sole purpose of being of service. Let us not taint it with horse-trading)," Roxas said. In a separate interview on dzBB radio, Roxas said that in elections, some politicians eyeing the presidency make “deals" with their possible running mates. “Usually, sa pulitiko, sasabihin, mag-slide ka na. Mag-vice ka na lang sa akin (Usually, some politicians tell other aspirants, slide down and become my vice president)." 'Hardest sacrifice'While he reiterated that giving up his presidential bid was the hardest sacrifice he had to make in his life, Roxas said he felt at peace because he was confident that he knew he did the right thing even if his decision saddened his loved ones. In the television interview, Roxas said that when he got off the stage after making his announcement Tuesday night, his mother, Judy Araneta-Roxas, told him she was “proud" of him. “Sinabi niya, ‘I’m proud of you.’ 'Di mo maitatanggal yung may emotion, may lungkot, may disappointment. Pero yung pinakamabigat ay nung bumababa ako sa stage, at sinabi niya, ‘I’m proud of you.’" (My mother told me she was proud of me. Of course, there were the emotions, the sadness, and disappointment. But what’s important is she told me she was proud of me.) Roxas also said that his fiancée, broadcaster Korina Sanchez, assured him that she has her continued support. "She (Sanchez) said, ‘I love you no matter what,’" Roxas said. Roxas also said that Liberal Party chairman emeritus and former Senate President Jovito Salonga told him that when his “compass" is pointing to the nation’s welfare, he could not go wrong. “Hindi ka magkakamali basta para sa bansa ang direksyon mo (You cannot go wrong when you’re directed to helping the country)," Roxas quoted Salong as saying.

Iglesia ni Cristo's Eraño Manalo dies at 84

Eraño Manalo, the head of the politically influential, vernacular-speaking, and home-grown Iglesia ni Cristo, passed away Monday afternoon, an INC official said. In a recorded announcement aired on dzBB radio, INC spokesperson Bienvenido Santiago confirmed Manalo's death at 3:53 p.m. Monday, August 31, 2009. Manalo was officially the Executive Minister of the INC, but he was also its supreme, charismatic leader who took over the church upon the death in 1963 of the founder, his father Felix Manalo. "Ikinalulungkot naming ipabatid sa buong Iglesia at sa buong sambayanan na ang tagapamahalang pangkalahatan ng Iglesia ni Cristo, ang kapatid na Eraño G. Manalo ay pinagpahinga na ng Diyos. Pumanaw siya sa kanyang tahanan sa ganap na 3:53 kahapon Agosto 31, 2009, sa gulang na 84 taon," Santiago said. (We are sad to announce to the Iglesia and to the whole nation that the Executive Minister of Iglesia ni Cristo, our brother Eraño G. Manalo, joined our Creator. He passed away at his home 3:53 p.m. on August 31, 2009. He was 84 years old.)Santiago said that according to Dr. Ray Melchor Santos, Manalo died due to cardiopulmonary arrest. According to Santiago, Manalo's remains will lie in state at INC's Central Temple in Quezon City. Further details will be announced, Santiago added. Manalo was born on Jan. 2, 1925. He was INC founder Felix Manalo's fifth child. Manalo's flock and influenceManalo had guided his religious group through a long period of national and global expansion, and in the last decade had thrown his church's clout behind former president Joseph Estrada. The PCIJ has described the INC as "a secretive, tightly organized church composed mainly of poor members."Its membership has been estimated at between two and eight million members concentrated in Tagalog-speaking regions of Luzon. But its churches are reportedly located in over 60 countries. The INC's influence on state affairs can be traced back to its founding in 1914, when Manuel L. Quezon, Commonwealth president and a mason, cultivated a relationship with the then-obscure church as a foil to the Roman Catholic church. Its sway reached a new peak during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos, who rarely failed to attend important INC events, including "Ka Erdy" Manalo's birthday, and gave an INC-affiliated company major Land Transportation Office contracts. It is widely known that the INC's power lies in the tagubilin emanating from Manalo and other church leaders, orders that cannot be disputed by members and can be used to command voting blocs around the country. While Manalo often used his power to support certain candidates in the past - aside from Marcos and Estrada, he also backed Eduardo Cojuangco in 1992 - he famously wielded his clout during the EDSA Tres demonstrations that reached the gates of Malacañang, arguably still the most serious threat the Arroyo administration has faced. Three out of four of the demonstrators were reportedly INC members. But President Arroyo eventually won Manalo to her side. When she ran in 2004, the Iglesia ni Cristo threw its support behind her. Pollster Mahar Mangahas told GMANews.TV that he estimates that the INC actually can command only about 75 percent of its members to vote for a particular candidate. But in a closely fought contest, that could be the margin of victory. With Manalo now dead, it remains to be seen how his successor will use the church's influence in the coming elections. But if history is any indication, the INC will certainly play a role. Arroyo, Estrada mournOn Tuesday, Malacañang, through deputy presidential spokesperson Anthony Golez Jr., extended its sympathies to Manalo’s family and to the INC community. “Nakikiramay po ang First Family at administrasyon sa pagpanaw ni Ka Erdy Manalo. He has been very instrumental sa simbahan, sa pagiging charismatic at pag-unite ng mga tagapagsunod. At nakikriamay po kaming lubos sa pamilya," Golez told dzBB radio in an interview. (The First Family and the administration condole with Ka Erdy Manalo’s family. He has been very instrumental in the church, in his being charismatic, and in uniting his followers.) Estrada also expressed his sadness over Manalo’s death. “President Estrada joins the nation in mourning the loss of one of the nations’ greatest religious leaders," Estrada’s spokesperson Margaux Salcedo told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. In February 2006, while Estrada was facing trial for plunder, presidential chief of staff Mike Defensor disclosed that three religious leaders, including Manalo, had expressed their willingness to serve as Estrada's guarantors if he applied for his release on recognizance. Estrada was later convicted of plunder in September 2007, but President Arroyo granted him executive clemency a month later. Religious leaders sympathizeMeanwhile, other religious groups also extended their sympathies to those left behind by Manalo. Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said that despite differences in their religious views, Manalo was a good man. “Masasabi natin na mabuting tao po yan, bagaman, magkaiba kami ng pananampalataya (I can say that he is a good man even if we differ in religious beliefs)," Cruz said in an interview on dzBB. Another religious leader, Bro. Eddie Villanueva of the Jesus Is Lord Movement, also expressed sadness. “Ang aming buong pamilya at Jesus is Lord (members) worldwide ay buong pusong nakikiramay at nakikidalamhati sa pamilya ni Ka Erdie at sa ating kaibigan sa INC. Nawa’y maramdaman ng pamilya ni Ka Erdie at lahat ng INC ang kapayapaan ng ating buhay na Diyos," Villanueva said. (My family and the Jesus is Lord worldwide wholeheartedly extends our condolences to Ka Erdie’s family and our friends at the INC. I hope they feel the Lord’s peace.) - With reports from Sophia Dedace and Joseph Holandes Ubalde

Domestic violence in the UAE

Thousands of women come to the UAE every year hoping to build a better life working as housemaids. But for some, their hopes are dashed as they face a life of abuse.
More and more countries are putting measures in place to help protect their citizens from exploitation at the hands of ruthless employers and to ensure they do not come to the country illegally, making them more vulnerable.
One of the latest to do so is Nepal.
There are 125,000 Nepalese expats in the UAE, including 75,000 in Dubai, and during a visit to Dubai yesterday, the country’s labour minister said he was concerned about the fate of women working in domestic service.
His comments come as a Filipina housemaid spoke out about the terrible abuse she suffered at the hands of a Lebanese family in Ajman.
Speaking at a meeting of the Non-Resident Nepalese Association in Dubai, Mohammed Aftab Alam, the Nepalese Minister for Transport and Labour Affairs, said his government currently banned Nepalese women from working as housemaids in the UAE, because of reports of abuse.
But, he said, people were getting around the ban by using recruitment firms in Bangladesh and India.
Now the Nepalese government is looking at lifting the ban so that it can better monitor the welfare of Nepalese expats and keep an eye on recruitment practices.
The Nepalese Ambassador to the UAE, Arjun B Thapa, said the embassy has dealt with numerous cases of housemaid abuse. “When they come to the embassy, we assist them in repatriation and speak to the sponsor to sort out the problem,” he said.
In 2007, the UAE government passed new laws that ensured domestic workers were entitled to a month’s holiday, medical care and better salaries. Many abusers have also been successfully prosecuted.
Damith De Silva, from the Sri Lankan consulate, said the UAE government worked hard to protect domestic workers.
“By and large they are doing their best and we are happy about it,” he said. And CP Mathew, the chief coordinator at the Valley of Love, a UAE voluntary organisation that protects expat workers, said the situation was improving, especially for new maids.
But he added: “There are still women who have been here for many years who are not monitored well and are being ill treated.”
He urged consulates to visit all housemaids and their employers at least twice a year to check on working conditions.

OFW Abuse for Living

Sean O’Driscoll meets a maid whose dream of making money in the UAE turned into a nightmare of physical and mental torture by her bossInside the Filipino Overseas Labour Office in Dubai, refugees are everywhere. They sit in the hallway eating dinner, they crowd the living room watching TV, some sit in the kitchen chatting. There are 60 of them living there, nearly all former maids who ran from their employers. Many have no passports, held by their employers in case they tried to run away, and many arrive here early in the morning, sobbing, with just the clothes on their back.
Among them, leaning to her side to avoid hurting her fractured ribs sits 25-year-old Nuan, referred to as “definitely our worst case” by office volunteer, Marbeth Valquez.
She limps into the room and sits down. There is barely a square inch of her hands, arms or legs that are not permanently scarred by blows from an electrical wire or scalding from a clothes iron.
Many of the giant scars on her arms are uneven and badly healed, evidence of chronic neglect after the blows were inflicted.
Nuan has a round face and big eyes that blink nervously through tears as she recalls her story.
She is from the Isabela province of the Philippines and hoped to make some money in the UAE.
An employment agency in Ajman found her work with a Lebanese man and his family.
His wife was strict but showed no tendency towards violence in the beginning. Nuan travelled with the family to Lebanon and later moved home with them to a sixth floor apartment in Ajman.
But once there, the wife locked the door and never let Nuan see the outside world again.
Last summer, the woman became pregnant and Nuan says she became progressively more violent.
She kicked and punched her, sometimes giving her black eyes. And, Nuan says, she would hurt her for even the slightest discrepancy in her daily schedule. She would tie her feet together, ignoring her pleas for mercy as she beat her all over the body with an electrical cord, ripping skin from Nuan’s arms as she tried to cover herself from the blows.
Nuan says she would bleed for days, all requests for bandages or painkillers turned down.
The beatings got worse when the woman gave birth, and her sister, who was living with the family while her husband was abroad, sometimes joined in the beatings.
They had insisted that Nuan wear a headscarf to protect her modesty, but Nuan says the sister ripped it off her and cut off her hair when she wasn’t happy with the cleaning.
Nuan says the husband would sometimes tell his wife not to beat her so hard but she ignored him and inflicted the worst punishments when her husband was away.
Crying every night, unable to contact her friends or family, Nuan says she became progressively more desperate as the violence got worse and worse. The beatings became a daily routine this month. The woman even used a hot iron on Nuan’s feet to burn the skin.
Nuan says the worst incident was on August 7, when the woman broke her ribs by beating her with the electrical chord. Nuan had already gone a day without food and was desperate to escape the torture.
“There is no food here today,” she would be told when she begged for even a scrap of bread. By August 9, after three days of hunger and unhealed broken ribs, she noticed the door was open in the morning.
Disoriented, with her head aching, she ran, terrified she would be caught. She rushed to a taxi and, once inside, explained that she had no money but asked him to take her to the job agency.
The taxi driver could see she was in serious trouble and took her there.
The agency’s manager brought her to hospital. She stayed there for 12 days as doctors treated her injuries.
The Philippine Consulate has said that police have since arrested the woman, and prosecutors are now considering other arrests.
As well as being traumatised, Nuan is also penniless - in the one year and seven months she worked for the family she says she never received a single penny from them.
She will stay at the Overseas Labour Office until she can give evidence against the wife and then hopes to return to the Philippines where she intends to set up a small business.
However, Nuan still needs money for further medical treatment.
“God knows what internal damage may have been done to her,” says the Philippines Counsul General.
“She is lucky to be alive.
“The doctors said she could have been killed with just a few more minutes of this type of beating. “A weaker person would have been killed,” he added.

Cory in 1985 interview: I do not seek any political office

For those of an older generation -- old enough to know what Big Ike's Happening was -- the accompanying video excerpt from a lengthy Cory Aquino interview is more than a revealing portrait of an unassuming future president.It's a window into the 1980s, down to the hair-do's of both the guileless widow and glib Viewpoint program host Dong Puno, then known as Ric. Compared to today's slick productions, Viewpoint was downright quaint.The real value of this cultural artifact, of course, is that it sets the stage for what we know happened in the months after the interview on August 20, 1985, the eve of Cory's husband Ninoy's second death anniversary. She was hoping the multitudes again would turn outto join her in marching in the streets.
This page requires a higher version browserWhen she claimed little interest in high office, one could sense her sincerity, another artifact from a more innocent time. "I think that I just serve as some kind of symbol now, reminding people of what Ninoy did and how we should sacrifice for our country," Cory told Ric Puno. She added that her political role was simply helping choose who would be Marcos's challenger in the event of a snap election.Watching this video, recently excavated from the files of Mr. Puno, the viewer relishes knowing the future and what both host and guest could only speculate about at the time. Months later, Marcos did call for a snap election that would take place in February 1986.Cory the self-described homebody would soon occupy what media likes to call "the Palace," and she would become the closest modern Filipinos would have to a benevolent queen. -

After eight years, are people better off under Arroyo?

At around noon, Laarni started having labor pains. She was about to give birth to her first child, but she refused her family’s plea to take her to the hospital. She insisted on delivering her baby at home. Her stubbornness caused Laarni her life. She died three hours later due to profuse bleeding after giving birth. Laarni is only one of the thousands of Filipino women who die in child birth due to poverty, lack of education, and inadequate access to health care services. She was not able to attend college for lack of funds, so she decided to work in a nearby factory and become the family’s breadwinner. In 2007, she and boyfriend Jojo got married, in a civil ceremony sponsored by their families and friends, as she was already pregnant. Jojo ran a neighborhood lugawan (rice porridge stall). Laarni tried to save what she could of her earnings along with Jojo’s income, but these were not enough for her childbirth.She often missed her monthly prenatal checkup at the Jose Fabella Hospital, about seven kilometers away, due to lack of money for tricycle and jeep fare. She also missed taking the vitamins prescribed for her and her child’s health. It is people like Laarni who desperately need government help, and whose situation the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals are trying to address by 2015.
On the right track?In 2001, Filipinos looked up to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as the key to a better future as she stood in front of the historic EDSA Shrine to take her oath of office.At that time, hopes were high because she was replacing, through a second People Power revolt, an administration plagued with accusations of immorality and corruption. But after eight years in power, has she been able to provide the Filipinos the progress she promised? The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), in a 2007 report, believes the government is on track in meeting its goals in improving the lives of Filipinos. The UN Development Program (UNDP) has the same evaluation; on its Web site, it said the Philippines has made "encouraging strides" and the probability that it will meet its targets remains high. According to the latest figures from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), poverty has dropped from 45.3 per cent of the population in 1991 to 32.9 per cent in 2006.
Republic Act 8425, or the Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act, defines the poor as individuals and families with an income falling below the poverty threshold such that they cannot meet even minimum basic needs such as food, health, education, and housing. As of 2007, the NSCB said the national poverty threshold stood at P14,866 for a family of five per month, based on prevailing prices of food and services in the country. NEDA attributed the drop in the figures to government projects such as Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino, which provides P1,000 in cash to extremely poor households in exchange for compliance to certain responsibilities, such as sending their children to school. Secretary Domingo Panganiban, head of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, says the efforts of the Arroyo administration to achieve poverty reduction are on the right track. “The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, the Food for School Program, the distribution of access cards to ensure the poor access to rice at P18.25 a kilo, and the Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program are all steps toward the reduction of hunger, unemployment and poverty," he said in a statement emailed to GMANews.TV. He cited the results of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) surveys for the second quarter of 2009, which indicated that many Filipinos consider the government as the second most reliable source of assistance after relatives. “This suffices as proof that the government’s poverty reduction programs have had a positive impact on the lives of the poor," Panganiban said.