Referring to the extrajudicial killings that were so much a part of the past Arroyo administration, and the killing of journalists that spiked on November 23, 2009, President Benigno Aquino III declared in his 2010 State of the Nation Address (SONA) that his administration would “hold murderers accountable.”

Despite that pledge, six journalists have been killed since then, or a total of ten since the Ampatuan Massacre of November 23, 2009 which claimed the lives of 58 men and women, of whom 32 were journalists and media workers. Dozens of human rights workers, political activists, labor leaders and others have also been abducted, tortured and killed during the same period.

Do you see the look on Gloria’s face as she swears in her chief justice? She seems to be saying “Bwahaha! Naisahan ko kayo! Jejeje!”

коли под наеммебели
“President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Tuesday gave the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) 15 days to complete its investigation report on the capsizing of MV Princess of the Stars off Romblon at the height of typhoon ‘Frank.’”
- GMANews.TV report, July 1, 2008

See more of Gloria’s deadlines here and check out the bloggers’ blogswarm against Sulpicio Lines.

In 2005, Arroyo said she just wanted to “protect [her] votes” when she cheated with Virgilio “Hello Garci” Garcillano.

In her 2006 SONA, Arroyo condemned political killings “in the harshest possible terms” by recognizing the efforts of Jovito Palparan.

And of course, Raul Gonzalez has just been confirmed as “justice” secretary.

It’s time for their disruption and violation of human rights to be put to rest so that the nation can move ahead. They impede the progress and development of a number of rural areas. They’re responsible for a wide range of human rights abuses.

I did not include the first and last sentence in the paragraph above. Kind of confusing, di ba? I guess you didn’t know that it’s Arroyo who’s talking, you’d have a hard time guessing if she’s referring to the military or the rebels.

And I’m very happy to hear the report that the insurgents’ strength has been brought down to about 6,000 from 12,000 in 2001 and 7,000 a year ago. In other words, you have brought down their strength to one-half of what they used to be. And I am very happy to hear that from a high of a 107 NPA guerrilla fronts in 2005, continuing dismantling of their structures in barangay has eliminated 20 fronts. At the rate we are going, I feel we are on track to put an end to the insurgency by 2010. Congratulations!

Familiar words. I heard these years before, except that at that time, her subject was the Abu Sayyaf Group. Her exact words then were: “I’ve given the military a deadline for the ASG, 90 days.”

However, recent news reports say the Marines are still fighting ASG in Mindanao.

It must be just one of Gloria’s deadlines.

Pulse Asia’s “most corrupt” President was not a survey, it was a grand plan of Sergio Osme a III & Rafa Lopa to discredit PGMAà

I think Osmena and Lopa do not need a grand plan to discredit a fake president. Besides, she’s been doing that herself since 2001.

As of this writing, Trillanes Lim is reading a statement calling for the people’s solidarity in their call for Arroyo’s removal from the presidency.

7:20 pm update: Ellen Tordesillas on media arrests after the mutiny

Read additional info from the rebel soldiers at Sundalo Tagapagtanggol ng Pilipino.

Let’s hope the state security agents will not attempt to harm them. We don’t need dead heroes like Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, and Ninoy Aquino. We need living leaders like them.

Interviewed on television about the forfeiture of his assets, Estrada said he’s ready get jailed in Munti if proven guilty of violating anything in connection with this forfeiture issue.

Funny how he seems to have chosen to forget how he eventually gave in to the executive pardon offer that was so excitedly given to him by the Palace people. To think he had spent most of the past six years in his rest house and in a hospital. And now he’s saying that he’s ready to go to a real prison. Bagay nga sila ni Arroyo!

Could it be that the powerful will use this as an excuse to repress the people some more? GMANews.tv quoted Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros as saying: “We cannot help but fear that this would lead to the declaration of Martial Law or a state of emergency to give way to repressive acts. We caution the government against using the bombing to institute repressive measures.”

Or is blaming You-Know-Who getting for every tragedy in the country just becoming a bad habit?

It could also be a protest, ala-Light A Fire Movement, against the kakapalan of the bribees in Batasan.

De Venecia reportedly described the bombing as “a terror attack on the House.”

Hopefully, our questions will be answered in the coming days. Meanwhile, here are other entries from the Philippine blogosphere:

• Blast rocks Batasan complex
  
• Pagsabog sa Batasan
• Flash Report: Bomb Explode at House of Representatives
  
• Breaking news: Congress Bombed!
• Batasan blast injures Gabriela solon, scores of others

More than 800 activists and journalists have been killed since the start of the Arroyo administration in 2001. The killers have also targeted lawyers and judges–and now, even civil servants like Dalaig. As long as the culture of impunity remains, this series of violence will most likely not be broken.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) – Cite This Source – Share This im·pu·ni·ty Audio Help /ɪmˈpyunɪti/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[im-pyoo-ni-tee] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun

1.	exemption from punishment.

2.	immunity from detrimental effects, as of an action.

---

[Origin: 1525–35; < L impūnitās, equiv. to im- im-² + pūnitās punishment (pūn- (s. of punīre to punish) + -itās -ity); see punitive]

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez wrote a personal tribute for Dalaig on his blog. Here’s an excerpt:

He was one of the last of his breed – a COMELEC warrior who dealt with politicians fiercely and firmly, had only snarling patience for those who gratuitously bad-mouthed the COMELEC and its personnel, but who was gentler than strangers imagined, and who was every COMELEC employee’s friend.

Jun Macarambon, son of newly appointed Comelec Comissioner Moslemen Macarambon, said the “news is kinda scary“. They learned of Dalaig’s killing while celebrating his father’s appointment.

What review is the BuCor talking about? I say bring the elder prisoners’ documents to the Palace and have President Arroyo sign their release papers.

If she could grant executive clemency to a former president and convicted plunder only a few weeks after promulgation of judgment, why can’t she do the same to ordinary inmates? Estrada never stepped foot in Bilibid even for a minute while these oldies have been in prison for many years. Their papers say they are over 70. That’s the same supposed reason Gloria freed Erap. If she believes in justice for all, she should also free these old inmates without delay!

The Glorietta bombing, the bribery in Malacañang, the bishops’ call for her resignation, the ZTE broadband deal, and the Estrada pardon were among the recent issues touched by the article. It also mentioned the Hello Garci controversy to substantiate its statement that almost since Arroyo became president, “her administration has been buffeted by allegations of corruption every bit as audacious as Estrada’s.”

The article also quoted fellow blogger and Inquirer columnist Manolo Quezon as saying Arroyo may be able to finish her term due to people’s apathy.

Read the article here: “Crisis — Again — for the Philippines’ Arroyo”

The group will do a nationwide campaign to exert pressure on the Arroyo government “to allow detained senator Antonio Trillanes IV to perform his duties as a lawmaker.” Trillanes, Paglingkurin! movement’s unity statement is reposted on Tinig.com, and the group could be contacted at trillanespaglingkurin@gmail.com.

The Senate has earlier adopted a resolution with a similar call, and Senator Miriam Santiago warned them that they may be courting contempt of court. While their cause is just–and will surely be popular–I’m concerned that VP Guingona, Ka Dodong and other personalities in Trillanes, Paglingkurin! movement are doing the same. I hope my lawyer online friends would enlighten me.

A solicited advice to the group: you may want to get the OFWs and bloggers to join your cause. The Malu Fernandez controversy illustrates why.

The Inquirer quoted the university’s president as saying they want “to create an environment” in which those who will speak in Filipino at the English zones will be ignored.

This policy, besides being ironic–the university that imposes it is called Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila–is stupid. While contributing to the continued marginalization of the Filipino language, it suppresses the natural flow of communication between students, teachers and staff of the university and makes these people sound awful.

Imagine a crowd trying very hard to speak a languange other than their own. Think of students artificially chatting in English as if they are acting in a school play. Funny, isn’t it?

We wonder if those pushing for the use of English in schools ever thought about how they complicate the process of learning by insisting on using a language that is foreign to both the students and the teachers. Even Manila Times, an English daily, admits that “[t]here’s some evidence that a child learns faster and retains what he or she learned longer when taught in his or her home language.”

Proponents of the use of English argue that proficiency in the language would make Filipinos globally competitive, as if every single Filipino has to communicate with the global village. Which is of course, not necessary.

As UP Prof. Luis Teodoro wrote: “It’s also virtually impossible to make an entire population literate in a foreign language they don’t use in their daily lives. And it’s not really necessary, unless, by “global competitiveness” the die-hard partisans of the English language mean Filipino capacity to compete in the international labor market as domestics and day laborers–and unless it is the country’s permanent aim to keep on providing that kind of labor to the rest of the world forever and ever.

Maybe that’s why Rizal called the language as the soul of the nation and those who love their language will surely yearn for freedom. Unfortunately for us, while we keep on disregarding our languange, we dare not dream of being freed from being mere servants of other peoples of the world.