Senator Alan Peter S. Cayetano on "Tanim-Bala"-issue

Office of the Senate Majority Leader

Alan Peter S. Cayetano

Rm. 603 GSIS Complex Senate of the Philippines Roxas Blvd Pasay City

         

PRESS RELEASE

05 November 2015

 

 

 

Cayetano on "Tanim-Bala" issue: “They’re people, not statistics” 

 

 

“Tao ang pinag-uusapan natin, hindi numero, hindi statistics. Napaka-offensive na iko-compare mo kung ilan ang biktima sa population ng (NAIA passengers). Ang numero, walang buhay ‘yan, walang anak, walang pamilya, walang trabaho, walang pangangailangan. Pero ang tao, meron. And government is supposed to protect the weakest of the weak,” Senate Majority Leader Alan Cayetano said, stressing that DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya owes the public an apology for his recent statements on the "Tanim-Bala" issue.

 

"Sa 0.004% na apektado, dapat 101% parin ang tugon ng gobyerno," Cayetano insisted as he slammed cabinet officials who seemed to undermine the occurrence of the modus at the country’s international airports.

 

"Panay ang salag, panay ang dipensa, as if sila ang ina-accuse na gumawa nito. Pero ang ina-accuse sa [kanila] ay ang pagiging napaka-defensive, to the point na wala [silang] ginagawa to prevent and to correct [the alleged scheme],” the senator added.

 

In a press conference on Wednesday, Abaya addressed allegations of extortion by airport personnel, stressing that the cases have been “blown out of proportion” as the number of passengers who were caught with ammunition merely comprised 0.004 percent of the total number of passengers who pass through NAIA terminals.

 

Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras confirmed that the Palace is looking into the possibility that “Tanim-Bala” reports could merely be part of a demolition job against the administration, especially since elections are coming up and the situation is an ideal political issue.

 

But Cayetano criticized the officials’ take on the issue as well as the government’s overall “gross inaction” on cases reported by victims of the scheme. He decried the repeated denials early on by government agencies that extortion activities were happening at the airports.

 

“Ang binibilang lang nila, ang nahulihan ng bala. [What about the] chilling effect [experienced by all passengers]… OFW man o turista… napa-paranoid na mataniman sila ng bala. So how can [they] say na 0.004 lang ang percentage ng apektado?” he noted.

 

The senator cited the case of Gloria Ortinez, an OFW from Hong Kong who was arrested after airport officials allegedly found a rifle bullet in her bag. Ortinez was later on released due to questionable evidence, but lamented at how her employment abroad was crucially affected as she is forced to stay in the country pending her case.

 

“Kahit isa lang ‘yan out of 100 million Filipinos, ang ine-expect natin sa gobyerno, maging proactive. [Matapang na solusyon at mabilis na aksyon ang kailangan, hindi panibagong palusot],” Cayetano concluded. ###

Materialists and idealists

Kleinvieh macht auch Mist ...

In German: Kleinvieh macht auch Mist.
What it means: Small amounts add up to something bigger.

Interesting, isn’t it? Learning other language? University of Southeastern Philippines, Institute of Languages and Creative Arts offers Languages.

One of these languages is the German Language. German as a foreign Language is like French. German has become a classic second foreign language in the western world, as English (Spanish in the US) is well established as first foreign language. German ranks second (after English) among the best known foreign languages in the EU (on a par with French) as well as in Russia. In terms of student numbers across all levels of education, German ranks third in the EU (after English and French) as well as in the United States (after Spanish and French). In 2015, approximately 15.4 million people were in the process of learning German across all levels of education worldwide. As this number remained relatively stable since 2005 (± 1 million), roughly 75–100 million people able to communicate in German as foreign language can be inferred assuming an average course duration of three years and other estimated parameters. According to a 2012 survey, up to two thirds of this global number, i.e., ca. 47 million people, within the EU claimed to have sufficient German skills to have a conversation. Within the EU, and not counting countries where it is a (co-)official language, German as a foreign language is most popular in Eastern and Northern Europe, namely the Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Poland. German was once, and still remains to some extent, a lingua franca in those parts of Europe. 

What are you waiting for? Enroll Now!

Just a loan

WED, NOVEMBER 4, 2015 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINION
Klaus Doring

Sweet words are easy to say; nice things are easy to buy; but good people are different to find. Life ends, when you stop dreaming; hope ends, when you stop believing; friendship stops, when you stop sharing. A good friend of mine sent me this quotation. I commented back: So very true and very well said!

Our life is borrowed – from God. No rental charges are collected from us. Many of us have forgotten this and live life at his fullest. Our life is equal to a book from a library that lends one. But how insatiable and unbearable are we in disdainful acting towards life and therefore to ourselves? Remember: life is just a loan!

Life seems to be nothing, just being ready to riddle one with bullets. Life seems to be nothing, just being broken through the indifference and unreliable and immoral behavior. Life seems to be nothing for those people who don’t understand cries from the heart of other people around them – cries for their hearts and families, for justice and for many other things.

Life with all its ups and downs, is just a loan, but for many of our fellow creatures it just seems to be nonsense to be littered like dump. And, if people try to survive, especially during these days, and if they just experienced (once more!) indifference, arrogance, ignorance or cheating by whomever – they will give up!

I can assure you that every one of us can at first help in prayers and, in reading the bible. “Proverbs” is probably the most down-to-earth book in the bible. Its teachings prepare you for the daily life, the street and the market place, but not for the schoolroom. The book offers warm pieces of advice you get; practical guidance for making your way on earth. Proverbs co-vers any kinds of questions you might have right now. Any-body can relate to the generalities of Proverbs, because this book simply tells how life works most of the time.

While writing this piece, I observed that more and more people struggle through life: tired, hopeless, experiencing their rock-bottoms, believing in fallacious “people” around them. I also observed a lot of people living a thief life, as if it it has been giving them without limitation.

“Let’s enjoy every single loophole in law!” What a sad and fatal attraction!

+++

Email: doringklaus@gmail. com or follow me in Facebook or Twitter or visit www.germanexpatinthe philippines.blogspot.com or www .klausdoringsclassicialmusic.blogspot.com .

Eine ganz besondere Schule ...

Ich lebe bereits seit fast 17 Jahren als Auswanderer auf den Philippinen.

Seit fast acht Jahren unterrichte ich Deutsch an der University of Southeastern Philippines am Fremdsprachen-Institut in Davao City.

Bei meinem letzten Besuch in Manila fragte mich Konsul und Verwaltungsleiter sowie Sachgebietsleiter RK, Ulrich Koehler, ob ich ueberhaupt schon einmal die Deutsche Manila besucht haette. Ich verneinte ... .

Und prompt arrangierte er ein Treffen mit dem neuen Schulleiter Andreas Thiergen, der seinen Posten Anfang September 2015 angetreten hat.

Andreas Thiergen, der sich im April 2015 ueber die Zentralstelle fuer das Auslandsschulwesen fuer Izmir bewarb, bekam Manila vorgeschlagen. Wie er in einem frueheren Interview sagte: "Der 50-jaehrige hat die Entscheidung gemeinsam mit seiner Familie getroffen, erneut ins Ausland zu gehen".

Ich empfand Andreas Thiergen von der ersten Minute sehr symphatisch und offen. Es war eine Freude, seinen Erzaehlungen zu lauschen. Bis vor den diesjaehrigen Sommerferien war er Lehrer fuer Deutsch, Geschichte, Gemeinschaftskunde und Ethik am Andreae-Gymnasium in Herrenberg. Nun ist er also Schulleiter der beruehmten Deutschen Internationalen Schule in Manila - oder auch German-European School Manila genannt.

Er kennt die Tropen. Er kennt Asien. Er unterrichte acht Jahre in Jakarta/Indonesien und lernte dort seine liebenswuerdige Frau Elita Nasution kennen. Die beiden Kinder Alifah und Arifin wurden in Jakarta geboren.

Ja, die Arbeit als Schulleiter an der GESM mit ueber 300 Schuelern ist eine Herausforderung fuer Andreas Thiergen. Er ist fuer -neben vielen anderen Dingen-  fuer die Kooperation zwischen Deutscher Botschaft, Goethe Institut und "seiner" Schule zustaendig.

Die German European School Manila, die mich sehr beeindruckt hat, bietet von der Krabbelgruppe ueber den Kindergarten, die Grundschule und die hoehere Schule verschiedene Betreuungsangebote und Bildungsmoeglichkeiten an. Zusammen mit der Franzoesischen Schule bildet sie den Eurocampus Manila. GESM besitzt einen deutschen und internationalen Zweig und als SEK-II-Abschluss das "International Bacalaureat Diploma".

The German European School Manila (GESM) started its Special Education Needs Policy in 2013 based on long lasting experience with special needs students at GESM.

This SEN policy is GESM's own take on the Concept of Inclusion wherein the school increases the participation, by reducing barriers of learning, of students who have "special educational needs" or with physical or sensorial impairments.

The Student Services Department oversees the daily operation and implementation of the SEN policy and its spearheaded by the Guidance Councelor (Socio-emotional) and SEN Coordinator (students with special education needs).

Check out for more here:

http://www.gesm.ph

At the moment, the side is down for maintenance.

The German European School Manila, is an international school in Parañaque City, Metro Manila, Philippines. GESM is an IB World School in its Diploma and Primary Years Programme and a Certified Excellent German School Abroad. Wikipedia

Address: 75 Swaziland Street, Better Living Subdivision, Parañaque, 1711 Metro Manila

Phone: (02) 776 1000

Founded: 1983

New Borders in Europe?

Philippines Cancels Flights and Alerts Hospitals Over Haze

By: Agence France-Presse

A woman takes a photo from a building of the thick haze, believed to be from Indonesia's forest fires, engulfing the city of Davao on Friday. Smog from the fires on Sumatra island and the Indonesian section of Borneo island has affected several Southeast Asian countries. Photo by Dennis Jay Santos, AFP.

MANILA -- The Philippines cancelled flights and put hospitals on alert on Sunday, as its southern and central islands were covered by thickening haze from Indonesian forest fires.

Smog from Indonesian slash-and-burn farming has choked vast expanses of Southeast Asia for weeks, killing at least 10 people, forcing events to be shut down and schools to close across the region.

International efforts to douse the blazes have done little to clear the air, and Filipino authorities warned ash levels were becoming increasingly dangerous in the southern islands.

"The department of health is advising those who have breathing problems or respiratory diseases to wear face masks in areas covered by haze," presidential spokesman Herminio Coloma told reporters.

Hospitals in the south were ready to receive anyone affected by the haze, he added.

Six flights to central and southern islands were cancelled or delayed Sunday due to the thickening smog, after thousands were left stranded over the past 10 days.

Pilots flying in the central city of Cebu could only see eight kilometers ahead, said government weather observer John Agbay, adding that visibility was also impaired in the western island of Palawan.

Indonesian forest fires are an annual occurence, but dry weather has made them particularly bad this year and Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Japan have all sent help to fight the blazes.

While the haze in the Philippines has been mild compared to other parts of Southeast Asia, the smoke has been largely unexpected as the islands affected lie thousands of kilometers away from the fires.

Singapore, one of the worst hit, on Sunday urged fellow ASEAN members to take "firm and decisive action" against ahead of a group summit in Malaysia next month.

The city-state issued the call after Singaporean troops and firefighters returned from an international assistance mission in Indonesia's Sumatra island.

Experts say Typhoon Koppu (local name "Lando"), which passed over the northern tip of the Philippines last week, may have contributed to the problem in the archipelago by dragging the smoke across from Indonesia.

© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

Professor Files Third Petition vs Poe

By: Pia Gutierrez, ABS-CBN News

A political science professor of the De La Salle University has filed the third case against Senator Grace Poe here at the Commission on Elections since the senator filed her certificate of candidacy for president last week.

Professor Antonio Contreras filed a Petition to Deny Due Course or Cancel the COC of Senator Poe before the Comelec's Clerk of the Commission Tuesday using her residency as grounds.

Contreras believes that the senator is two months and 9 days short of the 10 years minimum residency requirement to run for president.

Compared to the earlier petitioners, Contreras in his petition did not use Poe's citizenship status against her as there is no clear jurisprudence yet on foundlings.

He also did not choose to file a disqualification case against Poe because he believes that she has not committed any election violations when she filed her COC.

He added that his decision to file the petition was to prove that someone without any political backing or dubious motivations could question the qualifications of any candidate, even one who is leading in the surveys like Senator Poe.
Contreras told reporters that he is acting on his own, and that he is using his own money to finance the case, even going against his own mother who he said will vote for Grace Poe.

The Poe camp said the different petitions against the senator are meant to condition the minds of the voters that she will be disqualified.

"In their quest to achieve that malicious objective, the barrage of petitions being filed is already turning the electoral process into a circus. To reiterate, Sen. Poe is ready to answer all these unfounded petitions in the proper forum point per point," the Poe camp said.

The DLSU professor is the third person to file a petition against Poe before the Comelec since last week.
Last Friday, Atty. Estrella Elamparo filed a petition to deny due course or cancel Poe's COC for alleged "material misrepresentation in stating that she is a natural-born Filipino."

Elamparo argued that Poe is not a natural-born Filipino citizen because she is a foundling, and that her adoption did not have the effect of transmitting or conferring upon her the status of a natural-born Filipino.

READ: A foundling named Grace

She also argued that international conventions and treaties on stateless persons are not sufficient to grant Poe the status of a natural-born citizen, and any presumption that the senator is a natural-born Filipino is not sufficient for the residency requirement under the Constitution.

On Monday, former senator Francisco "Kit" Tatad also filed a disqualification case against Poe, saying Poe cannot run for president next year because she is not a natural born Filipino and because she failed to meet the residency requirement for candidates.

Real Change in Emergency Response

Office of the Senate Majority Leader

Alan Peter S. Cayetano

Rm. 603 GSIS Complex Senate of the Philippines Roxas Blvd Pasay City

         

PRESS RELEASE

21 October 2015

 

 

 

CAYETANO CALLS FOR REAL CHANGE IN EMERGENCY RESPONSE: RENEWS CALL FOR CREATION OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE DEPARTMENT

“We need to make real change to make sure our government is ready when disaster strikes,” said Senator Cayetano.

In light of the onslaught of Typhoon Lando that hit several Luzon provinces this week, Cayetano said now is the perfect time for government to create a single, unified department that will spearhead the government’s disaster risk reduction and management efforts. 

“We must learn from our past experiences and create real change now to ensure government does all that it can to help when Filipinos need help the most,” We have not yet fully recovered from the impact of previous calamities that devastated the country in the past years. And now, another one threatened the lives and livelihood of our kababayans in the north,” Cayetano said.

In the aftermath of super typhoon Yolanda two years ago, the senator filed Senate Bill No. 1940 which, if enacted into law, would institute an "Emergency Response Department" (ERD) that will be headed by a Cabinet Secretary, will manage all disaster preparedness and response activities. and allocates more funds for the execution of such tasks.

But Cayetano lamented that the administration has not given priority to the bill since it was filed in November 2013.

“In times of emergencies, we need to make a real change in how government responds, and that means better communication and accountability,” Cayetano explains. “This is not possible when the agency is part-time. Samantalang ang kalamidad sa ating bansa ay full-time,” he added. ###

The Haze is on

WED, OCTOBER 21, 2015 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR

EDITORIAL

Davao City’s skyline looks like it came straight out of a surreal painting with the darkened horizon. While everyone wants to believe that this fog-like image came as a result of the cool weather brought about by Typhoon Lando, the experts at Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) were however quick to awaken us from dreamland to tell us that this is all haze straight from Indonesia. Apparently, the monsoon winds have brought us not the romantic air we beget but the haze from Indonesia’s forest fires. The same haze is visible in General Santos City, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro City. Even ASEAN countries like Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore have been under a blanket of haze for quite sometime now, no thanks to the forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan in Indonesia.

Forest fires occur because of farmers who engage in slash-and-burn practices when clearing their lands primarily for economic reasons. The El Niño or the long periods of drought or dry season has only worsened the forest fires and unfortunately, the haze. This should be a cause of concern for all of us not only because it is detrimental to our environment. More importantly, this haze could be detrimental to our health especially those suffering from asthma and other chronic diseases. If you find yourself coughing a lot now, or sneezing more than you should be, then you should start to wonder if this is all caused by the haze. It is high time for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to start measuring air quality in the cities and provinces affected by the haze so we become aware if it is still safe to breathe freely. The Health Department should also come up with a guideline as to the effects of haze on our health, and what we can do to minimize the ill effects if there are.

Indonesia may be thousand of miles away from the Philippines but the haze that we are experiencing now shows that no country is isolated from the outside world anymore. As Joey Ayala’s song “Magkaugnay” goes…

Lupa, laot, langit ay magkaugnay

Hayop, halaman, tao ay magkaugnay

Ang lahat ng bagay ay magkaugnay

Magkaugnay ang lahat.

(C) 2015 by MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR, Davao City