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Love conquers all
It was a sea of white wedding wear and love was
in the air as about 500 newlywed couples kissed after their mass wedding in
Manila last week. The chaos of back-to-back typhoons and resulting bad
floods didn't deter the couples who joined the happening at a suburban
Bicutan shopping mall, organized to help people who otherwise might not be
able to afford a wedding ceremony for themselves.
Estrada firm
on presidency bid
Former Philippine leader Joseph Estrada, ousted in a popular uprising
in 2001 and later convicted of graft, has confirmed he will run again for
president in next year's elections.
The announcement by the charismatic action movie star will excite his loyal
fans, but observers said it is also likely to create constitutional
controversies and dilute opposition efforts to oust the ruling coalition.
"Yes, I will run," Estrada, 72, told newsmen last week. Estrada said he is
confident of victory, pointing out his experience climbing the political
ladder from a town mayor to senator, vice president and eventually taking a
landslide victory as the country's 13th president in 1998.
"I will not run for the presidency if I'm not sure I'll win," said Estrada,
who is fondly called "Erap" by his fans, a play on the Filipino word "pare"
which means "buddy."
Estrada's run in the May 2010 polls raises a series of constitutional and
legal questions. His six-year term was cut short half way through by a
military-backed popular revolt, amid accusations he amassed wealth from
illegal gambling kickbacks and shady deals worth about US$80 million. He was
convicted of large-scale graft and sentenced to life in jail in 2007.
President Gloria Arroyo, who played a key role in deposing him when she
served as his vice president, pardoned him six weeks later. But her legal
aides said Estrada agreed to retire from public office when he was offered
the pardon. The Philippines' constitution also bars presidents from serving
more than one term.
Estrada - who insists he was illegally deposed in
a conspiracy led by Arroyo, the influential Roman Catholic church and
businessmen - said he is confident he will beat
any legal challenge to his presidential bid.
"I commissioned some retired Supreme Court justices, deans of law schools
and other legal luminaries, and they all agreed that I can still run," he
said.
Estrada represents the United Opposition, a coalition of two influential
parties that have been highly critical of Arroyo's regime. However there are
two strong opposition contenders representing other parties in next year's
elections: Benigno Aquino, the son of late democracy icon Corazon Aquino,
and billionaire property developer Manny Villar.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro will represent Arroyo's ruling
Lakas-Kampi-CMD coalition.
Political science professor Ben Lim, from Ateneo de Manila University, said
about 10 to 15 percent of the Philippines' 40 million voters
are loyal Estrada fans.
But, with the presidency determined simply by whoever wins the most ballots
in a single round of voting, Estrada's presence will likely be a filip for
the ruling coalition, Lim said. "Estrada will diminish the votes for the
others (opposition candidates) in a field of several candidates," he said.
Arroyo could also set up legal hurdles in a bid to disqualify Estrada,
citing the constitutional provision barring a president seeking re-election,
according to Lim.
"But what is certain is that it will make politics exciting and
entertaining," he said.
Estrada said he has picked Jejomar Binay, the popular mayor of Manila's
Makati financial district and a prominent opposition leader, as his vice
presidential candidate.
Silvestre Bello, deputy secretary general of Arroyo's party, declined to
comment on the chances of Estrada and Binay, "except to wish them well."
'Coup
plotters' acquitted
A Philippine military tribunal has acquitted 11 officers of plotting
a foiled 2006 coup against President Gloria Arroyo. The defendants are among
a total of 28 military officers who were detained following the alleged plan
to force Arroyo from power.
Arroyo has survived four attempted coups and four impeachment attempts over
alleged corruption in her more than eight turbulent years in power.
The tribunal ruled there was a lack of evidence against the 11 officers and
ordered them freed. The court said it will make a ruling later on the rest
of the officers, who included two generals famous for their battle exploits
and fierce criticism of government and military corruption.
The cleared officers, who were brought to court last week in military
uniform under heavy escort, embraced each other and high-fived.
Lawyer Vicente Verdadero, who represented many of the acquitted officers,
said they could go back to military service, but he was not sure if they
were still interested.
The 28 junior army and marine officers, including their commanders,
allegedly plotted to march from their suburban camps to a pro-democracy
shrine along the main highway in the bustling capital - and then publicly
withdraw support from Arroyo.
Truce
extended for typhoon aid
Rebels in the Philippines have extended a unilateral ceasefire with
government troops to help rebuild areas hit by typhoons where at least 770
people have died in landslides and floods, a rebel spokesman says. Security
forces also said they have also redirected efforts from internal security to
clear roads and deliver food and relief material.
Rebel spokesman Martin Montano posted a statement on the website
www.philippinerevolution.net saying the insurgents have declared a seven-day
ceasefire to help rebuild communities.
The rebels had already imposed a unilateral ceasefire last month in the
central Bicol region and areas south of Manila after Typhoon Ketsana
inundated 80 percent of the capital region.
A military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Romeo Brawner, said troops are
distributing relief supplies in the northern region on the main island of
Luzon. "We're suspending internal security operations to focus on recovery,
relief and rehabilitation efforts in landslide and flood-hit areas in the
north," he said.
Wide areas in the northern Philippines remain inaccessible due to the
landslides set off by rains from Typhoon Parma. With power, communications
and transport still to be restored these areas can only be reached by
helicopter or days of trekking.
The two typhoons in as many weeks destroyed at least 18.4 billion pesos in
crops and fisheries and about 6.6 billion pesos worth of infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the governor of Benguet province in the northern Philippines has
ordered residents to evacuate their already storm-ravaged areas ahead of a
new typhoon after back-to-back storms in recent weeks killed at least 770
people in the country.
Forecasters said Lupit - the Filipino word for cruel - has intensified into
a typhoon with 130 kmh winds and gusts of up to 100 mph 160 kmh.
The latest typhoon could spare the saturated northern Philippines and veer
north toward Taiwan, or it could track the same devastating path as Parma,
chief government forecaster Nathaniel Cruz said. He said Lupit has been
slowing down over the sea east of Luzon, where it could further gain
strength.
In northern Benguet province, where at least 288 were killed in
Parma-triggered landslides, police officers were going house-to-house to
tell people to leave the affected communities before the latest storm, said
Governor Nestor Fongwan.
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Film makers
on a roll but...
A new wave of independent Philippine cinema has had critics buzzing
at festivals around the world this year but now industry veterans say it is
time to win over audiences as well.
"In the Philippines at the moment we have solved one big problem - the
technology is available and we can make the films," says director Raymond
Red. "We also have all this attention and we have won awards. But the next
stage is to capture an audience. We have to find where we are going to show
our films and we have to know who will be there to see them."
Red was a pioneer of independent cinema in the 1980s and 19990s and was the
first Filipino awarded at the Cannes Film Festival when his short film "Anino"
("Shadow") won the prestigious Palme d'Or in 2000.
He was at the 14th Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea last
week showing one of his earlier works - 1993's "Sakay" - as part of a
retrospective featuring 11 independent Philippine films.
This week, Red is in Japan with his new movie "Himpapwid" ("Manila Skies")
which is an Official aelection in the main competition of the 22nd Tokyo
International Film Festival. This is the first time a Filipino film is in
the main competition in the Tokyo festival. His 1992 "Bayani" was in the
Young Cinema competition there 17 years ago.
Red says the attention on the films this year has been a little mis-directed.
"People are talking about a revolution in Philippine cinema," he says. "But
the revolution is really just about technology. We were before shooting
films on Super-8, and our country has a rich history in films and a history
of screening films at large festivals that dates back to the 1970s.
"But now digital technology means anyone can shoot a film. Our young
filmmakers need to ask themselves why they are making movies - whether they
shoot on digital or on their mobile phones. And they need to ask for whom
are they making them."
It has already been a big year for the Philippine independent film industry.
Before the South Korean festival, Brillante Mendoza won best director at
Cannes in May for "Kinatay" ("Slaughter"). That was followed by Jose "Pepe"
Diokno's "Lion of the Future" award for "Engkwentro" ("Clash") at the Venice
Film Festival last month.
But while international festival programmers have been falling over
themselves to screen films from the country, US-based producer Roger Garcia
says the arthouse Philippine scene needs to find a broader audience at home.
"The main problem facing all these indie filmmakers is distribution," says
Garcia, who helped Red with his latest film "Himpapawid" ("Manila Skies"),
which is in competition at the Tokyo International Film Festival this week.
"The Philippines is still an active film-going country and local
blockbusters vie with Hollywood films for box office dollars. "But there is
unfortunately little space in the market place for these films, even those
like Mendoza's.
"I think the current crop of indie films on the festival circuit shows
talent but the films are sometimes regarded as somewhat exotic or esoteric
for a fairly exclusive cognoscenti."
However, Garcia points to the success of events such as Manila's annual
Cinemalaya festival held in July and the new funding opening up for young
filmmakers on the heels of the international festival plaudits.
"What might happen next is that indie Filipino cinema could reach a kind of
critical mass, a momentum which would then generate more general interest."
At the Pusan festival, director Giuseppe Bede Sampedro's film "Astig" earned
a special mention and was the lone Filipino feature film entry in the New
Currents competition. In the short film category were "Blogog" by Milo
Tolentino and "Bonsai" by Borgy Torre.
Other films from the Philippines were "Yanggaw" by Richard Somes and "Lola"
by Brilliante Mendoza in the Window on Asian Cinema category, while "Baseco
Bakal Boys" by Ralston Jover was in the Wide Angle section.
"Engkwentro," "Astig," "Yanggaw," "Blogog" and "Bonsai" were all Cinemalaya
and FDCP-funded projects.
OFWs sending
more money
Remittances sent back home by millions of Filipinos working abroad
rose 2.8 percent year-on-year in August. The total of US$1.4 billion in
August brought remittances for the first eight months of the year to $11.34
billion, a 3.7 percent increase from the same period last year.
"Remittances from Filipino workers overseas continued to underpin the
resilience of the economy, remaining a stable source of foreign exchange for
the country," the Philippine central bank said.
It credited the remittances to the steady deployment of workers abroad and
the improved services and channels for sending the money home, particularly
through local banks.
This growth comes despite earlier forecasts by the government and
international institutions that remittances from overseas workers would be
flat or fall this year due to the global financial crisis.
Central bank governor Amando Tetangco said remittances will probably
increase in the coming months amid signs that global crisis was coming to an
end. New labor agreements that have been forged with countries such as
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Australia and Taiwan will also help, he said.
The biggest sources of money from abroad were the United States, Canada,
Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom.
The cash transfers from the roughly nine million Filipinos working abroad
are equivalent to nearly 10 percent of the Philippines' economic output and
constitute.
Government economic planners have expressed confidence that the strong
overseas remittances would help the Philippines post positive economic
growth this year despite the global crisis and destructive storms at home.
Surgeons
rebuilding boy's face
Australian doctors have operated on a young boy from the Philippines
with a rare and serious facial deformity which has left him without a normal
nose or mouth.
Rey Vittalla, 13, was born with a gap in the bones in the middle of his
face. The condition means he has difficulty talking and eating and has
prompted him to wear a face mask whenever he leaves his village to prevent
people from staring at him, said surgeon John Arvier.
Arvier was one of a group of doctors at Queensland's Wesley Hospital who
operated on Vittalla last week. He said the boy is recovering well from the
first surgery in which part of the top of his jaw was repositioned. "He's
coping pretty well," Arvier said.
The operation was in preparation for a major surgery planned in February in
which most of Vittalla's face will be rebuilt, he said.
Coral
smuggler caught
A German man has pleaded guilty to smuggling more than 40 tons of
coral from the Philippines to Oregon in the United States. Gunther Wenzek
appeared in federal court last week to agree to a plea deal that recommends
he pay more than US$35,000 in fines and restitution. The deal also calls for
three years on probation.
US federal prosecutors said the investigation began in 2007 when a customs
inspector in Portland noticed a 20-foot container "smelled like the ocean."
Wenzek, the owner of CoraPet in Essen, Germany, was scheduled to be
sentenced January 5 in Portland.
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