Author: Julian Alejandro

Early in the morning yesterday, I got a text message from a friend saying “the Philippines has two presidents already.”

My first reaction was like, “Was there a coup while we were sleeping?” Or maybe the SMS had something to do with the first death anniversary of Fernando Poe Jr. The other day, FPJ’s supporters reportedly placed on is tomb a banner saying something like “Here lies the 14th President of the Republic of the Philippines.”

When I opened my PC and checked the news on the Web, I learned that retired General Fortunato Abad had proclaimed himself as the president of a revolutionary transition government. (For those interested, the Armed Forces of the Philippines website has a profile of Fortunato Abat.)

Now that the country has two “presidents,” Who’s your choice? President Gloria “Hello Garci” Macapagal-Arroyo or President Fortunato Abat?

From the Young Radicals blog. More Garci “ballotbusters” on their site.

The accusations of cheating againsts our athletes are not funny–because we’ve all seen how they try their best despite meager government support–but the SEA Games jokes are. Here’s another one:

RP: What’s your proof that we cheated at SEA Games?

Thailand: We have a CD copy of your president talking with sports officials. She was heard saying “Hello, GarSEA!” 🙂

Sponsored post added on October 16, 2006

George Lindemann Jr. Yacht Race winner

A 180-Foot yacht owned by US billionaire George Lindemann took the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup at Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy last month.

According to a press report by Yachting World, Lindemann’s Adela, the largest yacht of the fleet , won first place in the in the Spirit of Tradition division. It was followed by Italian Alfredo Canessa’s Whitefin, and Annagine, owned by C.E. Van Asbeck from the Netherlands.

A new Garci joke from Neal H. Cruz’s INQ7 column:

There is an explanation to the sudden reappearance of Garci just as the SEA Games opens. Garci will be the official scorer in the games. That way, we will win in all the events.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism had reposted “Mike Defensor’s expert” after a temporary restraining order issued by a Quezon City Court against the PCIJ blog expired.

More details at Inside PCIJ

Last month, we heard the news about Bro. Eddie Villanueva’s impending arrest. The warrant order was issued several months earlier, so many became suspicious as to why the arrest would come at such a time when the preacher was actively asking for Arroyo’s resignation. The police did not pick him up, but the preacher said he believed the Arroyo administration was just threatening and harassing him.

Yesterday, another opposition figure, Pastor Boy Saycon, posted a 10,000-peso bail after he was served a warrant of arrest for a libel case filed against him by former Public Estate Authority (PEA) head Ernest Villareal.

We are posting a comment from New England Press‘ Mark Murphy, brother-in-law of fallen journalist Robert Ramos:

Robert Ramos was my brother in law. I hadn’t seen him in nearly 15 years, since my marriage to her sister, Leticia Ramos. He had taken to journalism about a year and a half ago, after working for Sharp Philippines in quality control. He had finally found his calling, when he was assassinated this past Sunday, November 20th. He was just 39 years old. My shock is overlaid only by my sadness, and inability to pay my wife’s passage to send her home for his funeral.

In the U.S., journalists face their own risks, but not as they do in the Philippines, where the government is no shield for the journalists that work there, and uncover corruption and crime. My contact with journalism is at best second hand; I took a journalism class in Suffolk University, here in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1981.

I appeal for justice for my brother-in-law, and for all those journalists who have been killed with impunity, in the Philippines and elsewhere, as they’ve been silenced by those who would kill to hide the truth of their dastardly actions. I call for President Arroyo of the Philippines to bring all the resources of her country to bear in bringing those fugitives to justice. I urge all the members of the news media in the Philippines to band together to find Robert Ramos’ killer(s), as well as the killer(s) of Ricardo “Ding” Uy this past Friday. Our prayers are with their family as well. They died trying to pursue the truth; don’t let their work be in vain.

Continue reading “Letter from Robert Ramos’ Brother-in-Law”