By Jaileen F. Jimeno Philippine Center For Investigative Journalism

There was a time my colleagues at the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) threatened to print shirts that said “I am not JJ” in front and “Neither is she my friend” at the back. The (hopefully) feigned betrayal stemmed from the stories I was writing at the time about the Ampatuan clan, how its members wielded power, and the sorry state of public education in the province of Maguindanao.

Gallows humor made the fear bearable back then, but now it has become clear that what I was dealing with was no laughing matter. In one barbaric, gruesome Monday morning, the monster created by clan wars, warlords and the tacit approval—and exploitation of it—by high government officials claimed the lives of more than 40 people, among them women and journalists, in one of the province’s lonely roads.

Maguindanao is a beautiful province. But its clear rivers and streams and green fields are red with the blood of some of its own people, as these had been in far too numerous instances in the past.

For now, Frances Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi, solicitor general of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), of which Maguindanao is part, is calling on media to be fair and not to preempt the investigation into Monday’s carnage.

“We are looking at different angles,” she told the Center in a brief phone interview Tuesday. “We are looking for the culprit, and let’s wait for the result of the investigation.” She declined to make any other comments.

Working in fear

How does a local journalist cover Maguindanao? Based on what I witnessed while doing fieldwork for my stories last year, carefully—very, very carefully, as one would circle over a bomb that may or not go off.

One local journalist, for instance, had flatly refused my request for help in getting a face-to-face interview with Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. of Maguindanao, the clan patriarch. The journalist had once accompanied a foreign colleague in interviewing the governor; when that story yielded an unflattering picture of Ampatuan, the local journalist was summoned to a dressing down in the old man’s mansion. He calmly took the barrage, convinced he could have faced much worse.

A handful of other local journalists also warned me against crossing the Ampatuan clan, but they were helpful enough to get me in touch with Norie Unas, the provincial administrator. Unas told me that the governor would not agree to an interview.

Ampatuan rarely goes to the capitol. It is the capitol, via Unas, that goes to Ampatuan. The governor conducts business in his mansion just across the newly built capitol.

Almost every month, the old Ampatuan and members of his clan go to Manila, but his security cordon remains as tight as that in Maguindanao. The same is true for other officials in ARMM. I counted four security people assigned to an ARMM department head whom I interviewed in Manila.

Journalists, of course, rarely have any security detail—even in places where having one could be a good idea.

Controlled images

Needing a picture for the story I was doing on education in Maguindanao, I asked a photographer in the region for some shots of students or schools there. What he sent were “happy pictures” of students seemingly drowning in books and other resources. He said he had taken them during one of those school visits arranged by local officials.

The pictures didn’t quite go with what I had seen and written about—the dismal state of education in the province. And so I requested other shots, but was rebuffed politely. It was explained to me that even while the photographer was based in a city several provinces away, the risk would be the same.

I needed other pictures for my story about the Ampatuans, and I stumbled upon a photo of some members of the clan with President Gloria Arroyo in Malacañang. But the photographer refused to have his work associated with my story, saying the Ampatuans knew he had taken it.

It is not difficult to appreciate the fear. Despite having asked Unas for permission to take pictures of the façade of the newly built capitol, I was only able to take half a dozen, most of them embarrassingly ugly.
The capitol’s fatigue-clad guard kept on shooing me away, and my camera was no match for his armalite.

A Manila-based journalist also recalls instructing her cameraman to take footage of the expensive 4x4s in the ARMM head office’s parking lot—and ending up with no shot. Armed men who ordered them to leave the area made sure of that.

Sheer ignorance may make non-ARMM journalists willing to go farther than their local counterparts, but wariness soon creeps in. While locals refer visiting journalists doing stories on Maguindanao to two hotels in Cotabato City, the suggestions come with comments that one can easily be traced in these places.

Locals also make it a point to say that although Cotabato City is closer to Shariff Aguak, the capital of Maguindanao, than Tacurong City, the latter’s larger population can be a refuge.

Precautionary measures

Visitors to Maguindanao are advised to be indoors before it gets dark, a dictum closely observed even by locals. And while there is greater anonymity in taking public transport, the presence of tanks and clumps of uniformed and armed men in many areas do not calm the nerves of someone not accustomed to them.

For sure, covering Maguindanao poses unique problems. A hit-and-run tactic by parachute journalists prevents them from staying informed and updated, but local journalists may not want to venture far enough either because they fear their whereabouts can be traced. A source, meanwhile, can be easily
threatened, no matter how high his or her position in government is.

These became apparent to me while I was there, but I was reminded of this again weeks before my stories on Maguindanao and the Ampatuan clan were to come out: The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism suddenly received word from a fellow journalist that a member of the clan was making inquiries about me.

That prompted someone in the Center to buy me a shirt that said, “Every time I have a great idea, I get into trouble.”

A low-cost housing project in Kangkungan, Kaayusan Road, Manggahan, Pasig City, was recently launched under the supervision of Mayor Bobby C. Eusebio.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the medium-rise building took place last Saturday was witnessed by Commissioner Tony Alvarado of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP), and other city officials.
The initial phase of the housing project will have two buildings, each with 140 units, and will benefit informal settlers near the construction site.
“More than providing decent housing, the city government aims to provide a fresh start for our indigent residents,” Eusebio said. “Our goal here is not merely to uproot our indigent residents from their community to a new resettlement facility but to provide them with a fresh start in life in a community where they can realize their dreams for themselves and their families.”
Eusebio added that Pasig's experience with typhoon “Ondoy” has highlighted the urgency to relocate informal settlers, particularly those residing along rivers and creeks to safeguard their lives as well as free water tributaries from physical obstructions as part of the city government’s flood mitigation and prevention program.
The said housing project has a low amortization scheme and is strategically located near vital facilities such as schools, public markets, and hospitals. The city government expects that the project will be warmly received by the public.

By JC BELLO RUIZ

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Sunday reminded the public about the need to pass the “prometric” exam before one could work as a nurse in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The nursing prometric exam is a required by the Saudi Council for Health Specialties for foreign nurses, the POEA said in an advisory posted on its website.

The exam is similar to the licensure test for nurses given in the Philippines. The exam may be taken in KSA or in test venues in the Philippines.

In the Philippines, the accredited testing center is Thomson Prometric, Ateneo Professional Schools, 130 H. Dela Costa St., Salcedo Village, Makati City.

The examination is scheduled Tuesday up to Friday, with a fee of US$90. Applicants may visit the website: http://www.prometric.com.

Seven months to go before President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo bows out of office, majority of Filipinos still disapprove of her performance and even distrust her, a public opinion pollster said Monday.

Pulse Asia’s latest Ulat ng Bayan survey also showed more Filipinos – from 16 percent in August to 27 percent in October – were not satisfied with Vice President Noli de Castro’s performance.

“Filipinos critical of presidential performance and who distrust President Arroyo continue to greatly outnumber those with a positive opinion about the President’s work and her trustworthiness," it said.

The latest survey showed that about one of two Filipinos (51 percent) disapproves of Mrs. Arroyo’s work, while one in two Filipinos (52 percent) doesn't trust her.

Last August, Mrs. Arroyo had a disapproval rating of 43 percent and a distrust rating of 42 percent. The said survey was conducted from July 28 to August 10.

This is the first time that Mrs. Arroyo’s disapproval ratings reached 51 percent from October 2008 to October 2009.

Pulse Asia’s latest Ulat ng Bayan survey also showed more Filipinos – from 16 percent in August to 27 percent in October – were not satisfied with Vice President Noli de Castro’s performance.

“Filipinos critical of presidential performance and who distrust President Arroyo continue to greatly outnumber those with a positive opinion about the President’s work and her trustworthiness," it said.

The latest survey showed that about one of two Filipinos (51 percent) disapproves of Mrs. Arroyo’s work, while one in two Filipinos (52 percent) doesn't trust her.

Last August, Mrs. Arroyo had a disapproval rating of 43 percent and a distrust rating of 42 percent. The said survey was conducted from July 28 to August 10.

This is the first time that Mrs. Arroyo’s disapproval ratings reached 51 percent from October 2008 to October 2009.

However, her distrust ratings already ranged from 51 percent to 52 percent from October 2008 to October 2009.

Other officials

More people disapproved of De Castro’s performance, but he still has the highest approval rating among the country’s other top national government officials.

Forty-three (43) percent approve of the vice president’s performance, while Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Chief Justice Reynato Puno got a 36 percent approval rating each. House Speaker Prospero Nograles had an approval rating of 21 percent.

The most recent survey was conducted from October 22 to 30 and had 1,800 respondents. The results had +/- 2 percent error margin with a confidence level of 95 percent.

Malacañang belittles ratings

Malacañang bristled at the results of Pulse Asia’s latest survey, with deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo saying that the surveys do not represent the Philippine population and are only “opinion-based."

“We are more concerned on the results that our efforts have yielded. Mas mahalaga sa atin kung ano po ‘yong nagiging impact ng programa ni Pangulong Arroyo at ng kaniyang administrasyon sa ating mga kababayan," Fajardo said at a press briefing at the Palace.

Fajardo, however, admitted that the poor ratings “would really have an impact" on administration bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and other candidates of ruling party Lakas-Kampi (Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino)-CMD in the 2010 polls.

Still, she said the candidates’ qualities would still be “the biggest advantage over the other candidates."

Blind agents work in new call center (By Llanesca T. Panti)

What could be the first call center in developing countries to be staffed by blind persons has opened in the Philippines.

Housed at the Adaptive Technology for Rehabilitation, Integration and Empowerment of the Visually Impaired (ATRIEV) offices along E. Rodriguez Avenue in Quezon City, the call center formally opened its doors on October 20, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported on Tuesday.

It “is believed to be the first and the only one of its kind operating in a developing economy in the world,” the department reported.

The call center, a project under the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Digital Opportunity Center (ADOC) Initiative, is expected to be fully operational by November 2009.

It is supported by the ADOC Secretariat, Institute for Information Industry, Chunghwa Telecom, Acer Computer Corp. and Tamkang University—all based in Chinese Taipei—as well as the Philippine APEC National Secretariat, Department of Education, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons, Philippine National School for the Blind and city government of Quezon City.

The call center is equipped with special and customized outbound call-center software and refreshable Braille display input output devices that will enable its agents to assist clients by reading prescribed responses in Braille.

Trained agents

Those who underwent the special training course for the visually impaired in Taipei were Adonis Untalan of the Philippine National School for the Blind, Josephus Reynes of the Special Needs School Instructor of the Cebu City School System, Rev. Antonio Llanes Jr. (ATRIEV president), Lourdes Borgonia (ATRIEV instructor and blind webmaster), Deterson Omas (ATRIEV instructor, software programmer and blind athlete), Charito Co of Grace Christian Academy and Mabel Gaerlan of Philippine Resources for the Blind Foundation in Cebu.

Blind agents of the call center are assisted by a screen reader, which translates displayed text to speech, while partially blind agents make use of screen magnification software.

The technology would enable visually impaired agents to become as efficient and effective as sighted call center agents.

The opening of the center was led by Chairman Peter Leslie Wallace of the ATRIEV Foundation and Donald C.T. Lee, the representative of the Philippine Taipei Economic and Cultural Office.

A message from Dr. Stan Shih, the chairman of the ADOC Secretariat and founder of the Acer Group, was read during the opening ceremonies.

The landmark opening was witnessed by government and private partners of ATRIEV.

Wallace acknowledged the significant efforts being made to provide visually impaired persons the opportunity for sustained employment.

Lee noted the continuing work needed to enhance access to digital technology for many marginalized people in APEC.

New center

Together with the opening of the call center, the 10th APEC Digital Opportunity Center was also inaugurated at the ATRIEV Offices.

ADOC No. 10 shall design and provide training courses for Visually impaired persons in the use of computers.

The call center was a beneficiary of computer equipment donated by the ADOC Secretariat.

The unique call center and ADOC facility were launched ahead in Taipei on October 6, during the ADOC 2.0 Week.

By DR. FLORANGEL ROSARIO BRAID

A recent study on Internet Access and Use by Filipino Schoolchildren showed that almost three-fourths or 74 percent have access to the Internet.

Those living in Metro Manila and the Visayas have greater access than those in the Cordilleras and Mindanao.

The survey conducted by the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication from February to April, 2009, was commissioned by UNICEF and involved grade school pupils 10-12 years old and high school students 13-17 years old as respondents.

The children in both categories use the Internet for e-mail, connecting with friends, participating in e-groups and social networks. Yahoo is the most frequently used email account. The most visited website is Friendster, while Google and Yahoo are the most used for web search. Almost half or 46 percent spend more than P300 monthly for Internet use.

Use of social networking sites (SNS) is the number one online activity as 9 of 10 students who connect to the Net are members of Friendster. Another favorite activity is online gaming with almost 8 of 10 school -children engaged in online games. There is an equal number of male and female Internet users in all the regions except for Mindanao where more girls were found to access the Internet than boys. Compared with their counterparts in the US and other, more developed societies, Filipino children are “late” users, as a majority first used the Internet at age 8-11 years old.

Internet cafes provide the venue for access among 8 of 10 users. This is in contrast with students in the US who do much of their Internet activities at home. Of the 26 percent or one-fourth of schoolchildren which are non-users, most are in the grade school (52 percent). Among the reasons for non-use are “no Internet connection at home or school (58 percent), or “inability to use the computer (51 percent). Non-affordability and parental disapproval (both 26 percent) were also cited as reasons.

Membership in social network sites is highest in Metro Manila (88 percent) for both elementary and high school students. There are more males than females who regularly visit their networks.

Friendster is the most popular because, besides being the first social network, it is also user-friendly.

There are also more grade school pupils than high school students who play online games, and more public school than their counterparts in private schools who engage in online games. Most schoolchildren (3 of 5) go online to chat with friends and relatives. Chatting online is highest in Metro Manila and lowest in Mindanao. Private school students chat more than their counterparts in public schools. Fortunately, most do not chat with strangers. A little over two-thirds (68 percent) of the respondents use Wikipedia for schoolwork. Blogging is not as popular as the other applications, with high school students engaging in this activity more often than those in grade school.

Another study, the 2008 Digital Future Project at the University of Southern California, complements the AIJC findings with these observations: While parents have positive views about the uses of Internet, they express fears about “online predators,” discomfort over their children participating in online communities, and are not quite certain whether the Internet actually improves their children’s school performance. It showed that an average of 15.3 hours a week is devoted to online activities. 80 percent of Internet users age 17 and older consider Internet to be the most important source of information, higher than television, radio, and newspapers. And it also came out with these positive trends – that those who use the Internet spend less time watching TV but devote more time reading newspapers, magazines, and books, or playing outdoors, and working on arts and crafts. The AIJC study suggests policy and action programs to promote Internet access while protecting the safety and security of young users. Laws on anti-child pornography, children’s online privacy protection, and upgrading of the media literacy of parents and teachers are also recommended. My e-mail is florangel.braid@gmail.com

(Manila Bulletin)

As you may have heard, Oprah is scheduled to announce that she will end her talk show, “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” in September 2011 to focus on her upcoming cable channel. The news came out earlier in the afternoon and it’s now spreading through Twitter at an astonishing rate.

Not only does Oprah now dominate Twitter’s (Twitter) trending topics across multiple terms, which is quite remarkable given the volume of New Moon noise, but Trendrr has alerted us to the fact that Oprah mentions, in just the first hour alone after the news broke, skyrocketed to more than 8,000 tweets.

A group representing Father Christmases in the US is calling for Santa Clauses to be given priority for swine flu shots.

The Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas even held a seminar on the virus at a recent conference in Philadelphia.

AORBS is now lobbying for its members to be put on the much sought after swine flu vaccination priority list, reports Metro.

President Nicholas Trolli said the campaign was "not so much to protect the Santa, but to help protect the public".

"I have heard across the country numerous Santas who have actually had the swine flu, but I have not heard reports back of any of our Santas being able to get the swine flu shot as of yet," he said.

The group also urged its members to use hand sanitiser and take vitamins to boost their immune systems - and urged parents will keep sick kids away.

"If you contact AORBS, we will do our best to get a Santa to come to your home so you won't be exposing other children," Mr Trolli said.

The rival Santa America group is also calling for Father Christmases to be made a priority group for the swine flu vaccine - much like health care workers.

WORSE THAN ANIMALS !

“They speared both of her eyes, shot both her breasts, cut off her feet, fired into her mouth. I could not begin to describe the manner by which they treated her.” Mangudadatu

President Gloria Arroyo on Wednesday vowed to hunt down the perpetrators of a political massacre that left at least 57 people dead, as one of her allies was named the prime suspect. President Arroyo faced increasing pressure to take decisive action as more bodies were pulled out of shallow graves and relatives of the victims reported horrifying details of the killings, including that two women shot dead were pregnant.

“This is a supreme act of inhumanity that is a blight on our nation,” the President said in a statement as she declared Wednesday a national day of mourning.

“The perpetrators will not escape justice,” she added. “The law will hunt them until they are caught. No citizen in our nation should ever have to fear for his or her life in the free expression of political will.”

Appeal for calm

While admitting to the volatility of the political situation in Maguindanao, the President reiterated her personal appeal for calm and restraint.

She said that her officials from the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are now in the area to directly lead in the immediate resolution of the case.

Dureza to report

During a media briefing, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said that Jesus Dureza, the presidential adviser on Mindanao affairs and also the head of a crisis management team overseeing the inquiry, would make a progress report by today.

Earlier, Dureza met with the Mangudadatu clan and its political rival, the Ampatuan clan, to get their full cooperation and solve the case as quickly as possible.

Ermita said that Monday’s incident was a wake-up call for those who think they can capitalize on their alliance with the administration to break the law with impunity.

“They better come out and present themselves to authorities. That will be the best [thing] for them to do because nobody is above the law. The long arm of the law somehow will catch up with them,” he added.

The President declared a state of emergency on Tuesday in the provinces of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City. The state of emergency gives the military and police wide powers of arrest and detention.

Prime suspect

Police earlier said that the top suspect in the massacre was Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. of Datu Unsay, also a member of the ruling coalition and a son of a powerful regional politician who has helped secure votes for Mrs. Arroyo in previous elections.

“According to the initial reports, those who were abducted and murdered at Saniag were initially stopped by a group led by the mayor of Datu Unsay,” said the national-police spokesman, Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina.

Mayor Ampatuan’s father of the same name is the governor of Maguindanao who commands his own private army and is also a member of the ruling coalition—Lakas-Kampi Christian Muslim Democrats.

Political rivalry

The massacre occurred after about 100 Ampatuan gunmen allegedly abducted a convoy of aides and relatives of a rival politician, Ismael Mangudadatu, plus a group of journalists.

The victims were abducted as they were traveling in a six-vehicle convoy to nominate Mangudadatu as the opposition candidate for provincial governor in elections next year. Mangudadatu was not in the convoy.

They were shot at close range, some with their hands tied behind their backs, and dumped or buried in shallow graves on a remote farming road close to a town bearing the Ampatuan name.

Andal Ampatuan Sr. had been grooming his son to take over as governor of Maguindanao, and the victims’ relatives have alleged that the Ampatuans organized the murders so that Mangudadatu would not run for governor.

Worse than animals

Mangudadatu said that the body of his murdered wife had been horrifyingly mutilated, and that his dead sister and aunt had both been pregnant.

“We can’t call him an animal because I have pets and they are tame. No, he is a monster. They are monsters,” Mangudadatu told reporters, referring to Mayor Ampatuan and his gunmen.

“My wife’s private parts were slashed four times, after which they fired a bullet into it,” he said.

“They speared both of her eyes, shot both her breasts, cut off her feet, fired into her mouth. I could not begin to describe the manner by which they treated her,” Mangudadatu added.

The death toll rose from 46 to 57 after more bodies were pulled out of the graves on Wednesday,
according to police.

The victims included at least 13 local journalists who had been intending to report on Mangudadatu’s governorship nomination, making Monday’s killings the deadliest single attack on the media in history.

The Commission on Human Rights chairman, Leila de Lima, also called for immediate action by the President, describing Ampatuan Jr. as a “warlord.”

Recovery continues

Police also pulled out two cars and a media van buried in a pit and covered with earth on a remote village in the town of Ampatuan.

Security forces have recovered 52 corpses, including those of at least 13 journalists, since Monday after more than 100 gunmen allegedly led by Mayor Ampatuan abducted and killed more than 60 people.

One of three journalists, who were supposed to cover the filing of Mangudadatu’s nomination but had been left behind, said that the massacre could have been prevented if the military provided security to the Mangudadatu group. He added that at least 34 journalists were in the Mangudadatu group.

No security escort

A Philippine Army spokesman, Col. Jonathan Ponce, said that the military could not provide escorts to politicians—but the police could—because the law, he added, prohibits them from doing so during an election period.

National elections that are scheduled to be held in May 2010 will pick Mrs. Arroyo’s successor.

Mangudadatu said that the killings would not deter him from running for governor in next year’s polls.

His elder brother Ibrahim Mangudadatu, also the mayor of Buluan town, said that the Maguindanao
provincial government owns the backhoe used in burying the victims and the two vehicles involved.

Ibrahim noted that the Ampatuan linked to the carnage has not been investigated.

“We hope they would get him [Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr.] soon,” he said.

DOJ to spare no one

The Department of Justice expressed the same sentiment also on Wednesday, vowing to spare no one in its ongoing investigation of the massacre and prosecute those responsible for the carnage, including the powerful Ampatuan family, if evidence warranted.

“The job of the DOJ is to prosecute, not to protect anyone, whoever will come out in the investigation,” acting Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera told reporters.

ANGELO S. SAMONTE, AL JACINTO, WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL

US Embassy OK’s 10,000 vets benefit bids

BY LLANESCA T. PANTI (Manila Times)

Around 10,000 applications of World War II Filipino and Filipino-American veterans for the new and one-time benefit under the 2009 Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation law has been approved by the United States Embassy’s Veterans Affairs in Manila. This was confirmed by the Embassy over the weekend, noting that the qualified veterans were already paid a total of nearly P5.8 billion. So far, half of the said amount was paid out to American citizen veterans, while the other half to non-American citizen veterans.

The said law was passed by the US Congress and signed by US President Obama last February 2009 to recognize the service of qualified veterans.

Moreover, the Embassy reiterated that there is no master list of eligible veterans for such benefit, pointing out that each claim is unique and decided on its own merits.

“All veterans who feel they may be eligible are encouraged to apply. The application process is free and simple, and there is no need to pay anyone to assist in completing the form, which can be mailed to the US Embassy,” it said in a statement.

“Additional outreach activities will be conducted around the country to ensure that all eligible veterans have an opportunity to apply,” it added.

All claims for the benefit should be filed by February 16, 2010, or one year after Obama signed the measure into a law. The benefit, however, only covers eligible veterans and widows of eligible veterans who applied before their death since any change in the law to provide these additional benefits to other survivors would require new legislation in the US Congress.

Application instructions for the one-time benefits are on the US Embassy website: http://manila.usembassy.gov.

Overall, the Embassy’s Veterans Affairs office pays more than P800 million monthly in benefits to veterans in the Philippines. Nearly half of that goes to Filipino Filipino veterans or their survivors—which is separate from the one-time lumpsum mentioned above.

By MARVYN N. BENANING

Advocates gear to push mainstream human development agenda as an electoral issue in the coming 2010 elections amid the chaos in the political arena, as politicians are tangled in the mess of party alignment and re-alignment.

In line with this, multi-sectoral forums that seek to raise policy concerns from various sectors kicked off on Friday, tackling health, at the University of the Philippines Bahay Kalinaw.

Ramon San Pascual, Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development Foundation, Inc. (PLCPD) executive director, explained that this activity aims to gather policy. agenda that will be presented by the group as challenge to the 2010 national election candidates.

So far, he added, the multi-sectoral forums will cover five areas such as health, education, children, environment and trade issues.

San Pascual underscored that these areas should be given prime importance by the next administration if the Philippine government is serious in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

MDGs is a set of targets of governments in eliminating poverty including access to universal primary education, reducing maternal and infant mortality, environment sustainability, gender empowerment, and fair trade among others.

He said, “Early on, these candidates must already make pronouncements on their programs and policies on how to meet the Philippine commitment on the MDGs once they get elected. The electorate should be more vigilant in such a way that we should now base our votes not on the personality but on their concrete plan of action.”

San Pascual added, “This initiative will be conducted not only during the election period but will go beyond, long after the election is over. Our group will see to it that the candidates do not forget their promises once they get elected. As a matter of agreement, the group will intensify their electoral campaign so the candidates will include these issues in their political platform.”

Meanwhile, during the forum Dr. Ramon Paterno of the National Institute of University of the Philippines presented the overall health status of the Philippines which is way lower than Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, and Korea.

He reported that the 70 years average life expectancy at birth in the Philippines is more than 15 years shorter than those of developed countries. He cited uneven distribution of human resources in the health sector as one problem in the system.

He estimates that 70 percent of health workers are employed in a private health sector which serves only 30 percent of the population that can afford to pay for their health care.

“There is really a need to have huge reform for universal health care and the time to start doing what should have been started long ago is now,” Paterno said.

BY BERNICE CAMILLE V. BAUZON (Manila Times)

If Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao really wanted to pursue a career in politics, he may have to cut short the seemingly endless celebration of his recent demolition of Miguel Cotto, the Commission on Elections (Come-lec) said Tuesday. According to Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, ring superstar Pacquiao may be charged with premature campaigning if he continued with his television and other public appearances before he came home to a hero’s welcome this week.

“The moment he files his certificate of candidacy, those appearances will already constitute promotion of himself that, under our elections rules, is forbidden,” Sarmiento told reporters.

The filing of certificates of candidacy starts on November 20, the same day that Pacquiao is expected to return to the country.

Pacquiao on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) stripped Puerto Rican Cotto of his welterweight belt, giving him his seventh title in as many weight divisions.

“Let’s say, he files his certificate of candidacy on November 20, he becomes a candidate, so acts that tend to promote his candidacy by way of speeches, guestings, could be construed as premature campaigning,” Sarmiento said.

Long before the Cotto fight, Pacquiao had declared that he was running for congressman in Sa-rangani province in Southern Min-danao in the 2010 elections.

In the past, he was bombarded with invitations for TV and other live appearances whenever he arrived home from victories.

In May this year, Comelec accredited Pacquiao’s political party—People’s Champ Movement.

Under the law, a person is considered an official candidate after he files his certificate of candidacy with the poll body.

The campaign period starts on March 26, 2010 and ends on May 8, 2010, or two days before election day.

According to the law Campaigning outside the specified period is a violation of the Omnibus Election Code.

The Omnibus Election Code states, “Campaigning refers to an act designed to promote the election or defeat of a particular candidate or candidates to a public office including making speeches, announcements or commentaries, or holding interviews for or against the election of any candidate for public office.”

Sarmiento said that anyone could file a case against Pacquiao if the boxing icon commits any form of premature campaigning.

He added that the poll body, however, may be more “liberal” when it came to the hero’s welcome and parades for and congratulatory messages to Pacquiao.

Sarmiento cited the supposedly forgiving Filipino “culture” for that leniency.

The birth of Wikipedia, the death of Napster, the iPhone, Facebook, and Twitter were named by the Webby Awards on Wednesday as among the top 10 Internet moments of the decade.

Other events singled out by the New York-based International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences which bestows the annual Webby Awards were Iran's election protests, Craigslist's expansion and the launch of Google AdWords.

"The Internet is the story of the decade because it was the catalyst for change in not just every aspect of our everyday lives, but in everything from commerce and communication to politics and pop culture," said David-Michel Davies, the executive director of the Webby Awards.

"The recurring theme among all of the milestones on our list is the Internet's capacity to circumvent old systems and put more power into the hands of ordinary people," he said.

The Webby Awards list of the 10 most most influential Internet moments of the decade:

- Craigslist online classified site expands outside San Francisco (2000)

- the launch of Google AdWords (2000)

- the launch of online encyclopedia Wikipedia (2001)

- the shutdown of file-sharing site Napster (2001)

- Google's initial public offering (2004)

- the online video revolution led by YouTube (2006)

- Facebook opens to non-college students and Twitter launches (2006)

- Apple's iPhone debuts (2007)

- the use of the Internet in the US presidential campaign (2008)

- the use of Twitter during the Iranian election protests (2009)

The 14th annual Webby Awards are to be announced in April 2010. They reward excellence on the Internet in a number of categories including news and other websites, interactive advertising and online film and video. (AFP)

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