Philippine media at The Pen

A hard day at the office yesterday for the Philippine working press. Covering the moribund Trillanes revolt from inside the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati, over 50 Manila-based journalists found themselves cornered in an assault by tear-gas lobbing SWAT teams, and the subject of the news themselves as they were handcuffed and roughed up in the aftermath of the failed rebellion.

The police attack on the Peninsula Hotel allowed the Arroyo administration a convenient excuse to get back at the Philippine media which had openly reported on the litany of political controversies that had hounded the administration ad nauseum.

The Peninsula incident effectively breached the invisible protective barrier that had erstwhile insulated the Philippine working press from police harassment in the exercise of press freedom and transformed this administration into a rabid dog that had tasted blood for the first time and will not hesitate to do it again.

Misjudgment

Palawan’s Regional Trial Court Judge Toribio Ilao, Jr has been raising eyebrows in the judiciary.

Recently, he ordered the release of a Malaysian vessel involved in an illegal fishing case by upholding a false and self serving claim of its owner that the vessel was already sinking in sea water.

Yesterday, while presiding over the trial of the high profile murder case of broadcaster Fernando Batul, he surprised everyone by blocking the testimony of a key prosecution witness and instead had him arrested by the police on a reportedly trumped up charge of illegal gambling. (see my PDI Story on the Batul trial)

There are serious rumblings around the Justice Hall questioning Ilao’s “misjudgments” and highly placed sources have told me the Supreme Court’s office of the Court Administrator is closing in on Ilao.

A Day at the Beat

I couldn’t help but blog this one, off topic as it might seem, about an unwitting reporter who loses a story by not paying attention to a simple press release.

When the Western Command’s 570th Composite Tactical Wing announced Monday it had lost one of its two AS 211 fighter jets while searching for a capsized fishing boat in the Spratlys during the height of typhoon Lando, a deadline-challenged local radio reporter interviewed live the unit’s commanding officer to inquire about the status of the case, and threw the following question from left field.

Lady Reporter: “Sir, have you already found those who stole the plane?”

Mishap and Mischief in the Spratlys

Today’s flash alert: A Philippine Air Force AS-211 jet went missing November 26 over Pag-Asa in the Philippine-claimed territory in the Spratlys. The fighter jet was on a support mission to find Filipino fishermen whose boat earlier sunk near the island and reported 28 crewmembers missing. (Link to PDI breaking story)

Welcome back Lando!

As Mina moves out of the country, Tropical Storm “Lando” (international codename: Hagibis) will reenter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on Monday afternoon, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.

Lando will make landfall in northwestern Palawan late Tuesday evening, and would hit Mindoro Island, the Bondoc Peninsula, the southern portion of Quezon province and Camarines Norte, Science and Technology Undersecretary Graciano Yumul said. (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 11/26)

I have never before seen a typhoon coming back to where it landed, but I will give PAGASA the benefit of the doubt and, erring on the side of caution, will skip my afternoon biking despite the enticing morning weather today. Maybe Lando wasn’t satisfied with the damage he has wrought on my garage and decided it might as well finish the job. Damn!

 

Palawan’s big boys

It is quite rare nowadays to see Palawan’s so-called Big Four seated at one table. Finding three of them (less Puerto’s Mayor Ed Hagedorn) in one place during the opening of the annual Provincial Development Council planning meeting at the Legend Hotel today was enough of a treat to local news hounds like me since we can do interviews ala carte. So, I decided to play a little game of scoring the opening speeches of each of these three, using the following simple criteria:

Typhoon Lando Hits Puerto Princesa

At the height of typhoon Lando’s rampage Tuesday night, Leonida Martel, 49, decided to abandon their stilt house built atop dead corals along the shores of Puerto Bay in Barangay (village) Bancao-Bancao.

The entire city had plunged into total darkness. Angry winds swept from the sea, tearing away the roofs of shanties built along the shoreline. Leonida and her family had tucked themselves dry in a relative’s house not too far away.

Narra Nickel Bags 4 Supply Deals

By Ronnel W. Domingo, PDI November 18, 2007

CANADIAN mining firm MBMI Resources Inc. said its Philippine unit, Narra Nickel, has firmed up four supply deals with buyers from China, Australia and Japan for ores coming from its Alpha project in Palawan.

The announcement follows a statement in June on the start of shipments to buyers in South Korea and China.

A perspective on the Palawan Mining Summit

Mining projects in Palawan are a big time milking cow of politicians. Former Palawan board member Art Ventura cast that observation when we chatted over lunch at his place in Aventura Resort last Sunday. I couldn’t agree more.

Incidentally, the Mining Summit is finally scheduled on December 6 in Puerto Princesa City. It is organized jointly by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD).

Don Schloat recalls Palawan Massacre

I’m reprinting the entire story on WWII Veteran Don Schloat, a survivor of the Palawan Massacre, that came out in the Philippine Daily Inquirer today (November 15).

By Redempto Anda, PDI Southern Luzon Bureau

No gun salutes welcomed Don Schloat as he disembarked from a commercial flight and stepped on Palawan soil again after 63 years. Neither were there streamers, military honors or flag-waving schoolchildren.