Piercing Pens

Antonio Trillanes IV, who rose to national prominence as the spokesman of the young rebel soldiers who staged the so-called Oakwood mutiny on July 27, 2003, is now a senator of the Republic. He was proclaimed at the Commission on Elections earlier today.

Trillanes’ inclusion in the list of winners in the senatorial race came as a surprise for many reasons: one, he consistently ranked outside the magic 12 in the pre-election surveys of SWS, Pulse Asia, and other polling firms; two, he was in detention and was not able to campaign; and of course, the Magdalo’s method was regarded by many as too radical. (more…)

We’re starting a “Pierce the Candidates” series to help our readers get to know our senatorial candidates better. Each posting will be updated as we gather new information about a particular candidate. For our first piercing, we’d like to start with administration bet Prospero “Butch” A. Pichay, Jr.

Pichay was born on June 20, 1950 in Cantilan, Surigao del Sur. He has a son named Carlo, who is proud of his father.

Pichay, a Commerce graduate of De la Salle University, has been the representative of the first district of Surigao del Sur since 1998. Before entering the Congress he was a businessman. He was the owner of Carlo Commercial Printing and Carlo Publishing, which reportedly published the tabloid Remate. (more…)

(Text and photo courtesy of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

Manila — Posing in a jungle setting with their naked bodies covered only with painted-on tiger stripes next to the tagline “Even the Wildest Animals Don’t Belong in Zoos,” top Filipino models Ornusa Cadness and Borgy Manotoc appear together in the first of a series of three ads for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia-Pacific.

Local postcard advertising company YOCard has printed 10,000 postcards of the ad and is now offering them at various restaurants, bars, bookstores, and cultural areas around the metro free of charge. The couple also stars individually in print ads with the tagline “Keep Wild Animals Free–Boycott the Zoo.” The ads were shot by ace photographer and PETA volunteer Xander Angeles. Indie film luminary Dante Mendoza donated his services to create the amazing set, and Leo Posadas was behind the makeup for the shoot. (more…)

From Prof. Danilo Arao of the UP College of Mass Communication via Bryanton Post:

This press statement released on March 20 (Tuesday) was signed by 18 faculty members of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP CMC) led by Dean
Elena Pernia. For verification, please call the UP CMC Department of Journalism at 920-6852.

The undersigned faculty members of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP CMC) condemn in the strongest possible terms the filing of multiple murder charges against Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo which resulted in his arrest and detention last March 16.

That the charges were filed during the election season is already questionable, especially since
Ocampo’s Bayan Muna Partylist group is running for representation in the House of Representatives and has been repeatedly accused by the powers-that-be as a communist front. The situation is preposterous as the crimes he allegedly committed happened more than
two decades ago while he was in detention. (more…)

Text messages protesting Manila Police’s plan to transfer Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo to Leyte woke me up this morning. One message said Ocampo’s wife, retired UP journalism Prof. Carolina Malay, was asking their friends to gather in front of the Manila Police District building where her husband was detained. Other text messages were invitations to a forum in defense of Ka Satur. (more…)