0		Emilia Boncodin, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, DBM, Hyatt 10

[UPDATE: Boncodin's remains will be brought Monday night to the Sta. Maria Della Strada Church in Katipunan, Quezon City, according to an ABS-CBN report.]

Emilia T. Boncodin, former secretary of budget and management, passed away 1:00 pm Monday at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) in Quezon City. She was 55 years old.

Black and White Movement's Leah Navarro confirmed the news over radio station DZRH. 

A medical bulletin issued by the NKTI said that Boncodin "was admitted on March 10 for difficulty of breathing and anaemia and was diagnosed to be on end-stage renal disease," said a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer. 

Along with nine senior officials, Boncodin resigned from the cabinet of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in July 2006, and joined the movement seeking her removal from office. They came to be known as the "Hyatt 10".

Boncodin later joined the organization called Former Senior Government Officials (FSGO) which is also critical of President Arroyo.

At the time of her death, Boncodin was a professor at the University of the Philippines' National College of Public Administration and Governance.

Bong Ong, a student councilor at UP Diliman, remembers Prof. Boncodin:

More than being my Accounting 1 professor in NCPAG, Ma'am Boncodin, as we students called her, taught us actual life lessons and stories in government, dealing with people and her job as a Cabinet Secretary. 

Her hopes for the future of this country and its people shouldn't go to waste. I think the best way to honor her and her memories is to live it, to protect our vote and to ensure that this election pushes through cleanly, honestly and peacefully. She has done her part, now let's do ours.

I felt like I lost a hero and an "adviser," but her memories are dear and precious, and will hold them close to my heart. I am proud to say that she's my idol in government. I hope others follow her example.

Teresita Deles, also a member of the "Hyatt 10" and FSGO, said in email that "[Boncodin] was an outstanding public servant, always did her work quietly, always straightforward and truthful about the state of governance.  She went as quietly as she had served with dedication, diligence, and amazing competence."

Deles said that Boncodin "had a cardiac arrest after she went into a semi-coma while being prepped for dialysis".

Boncodin left behind her mother and sister Adel, said Deles.

Malacanang Palace reacts

Reacting to news of the former cabinet member's death, presidential spokesman Gary Olivar: "Secretary Boncodin was a true professional and a recognized expert in budgets and public finance, and played a key role, especially in the fiscal reforms initiated during the initial years of the administration."

Olivar said President Arroyo will pay last respects to Boncodin as soon as details of the wake are made known.

Highlights of life and career

A report by the Philippine News Agency shared these highlights of Boncodin's life and career:

• Born in 1954 in Iriga City, Camarines Sur
• Graduated in 1975 with a degree of Business Administration and Accountancy at the University of the Philippines 
• Passed in 1975 the Certified Public Accountant board examination
• Took in 1986 her Master's Degree in Public Administration at Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University 
• Started work in 1978 at the Department of Budget and Management
• Appointed in 1998 as DBM secretary in 1998 under President Fidel V. Ramos and again in 2001 under President Arroyo
• Resigns in 2006 from Arroyo cabinet in protest of electoral fraud allegedly committed by the President 

[Photo of Boncodin grabbed from the ADB website.]

	0		newspaper frontpages, manny pacquiao, joshua clottey, boxing

Major newspapers and tabloids in Manila are again capitalizing on Manny Pacquiao's fight, this time with Joshua Clottey set for today in Dallas, Texas.

His photos are all over the frontpages, in an obvious effort to attract the attention of readers.

Here is the Tagalog language tabloid Balita (literally News):

Balita's sister-tabloid Tempo features a literal faceoff:

One of the country's most popular tabloid, Abante Tonite, banners a quote from Pacquiao: "I will see them on the ring!":

The early morning edition of Abante (literally Forward) banners Pacquaio's column piece where he explains -- "This is our fight!":

The Philippine Daily Inquirer, said to be the leading broadsheet, inspires patriotism in its frontpage today:

BusinessMirror meanwhile has this to attract Pacquiao fans from the business community:

The Sunday edition of The Manila Times has an interesting question:

Methinks the more important question is: What would be the news after the bout?

(Copyright of each of these frontpages belong to their respective owners).

	0		Manny Pacquiao, Joshua Clottey, power outages

Many Filipinos are nervous as we count the hours before Manny Pacquiao's March 14 fight with Joshua Clottey, but not because of a fear of defeat. Its because of the power outages and brownouts bedeviling the entire country for weeks now.

Just today, the island of Luzon suffered from rotating brownouts after three major power plants reportedly went down. Power was restored in the afternoon, to the collective sigh of relief of a people suffering from El Nino.

Nationwide, everyone seems to be looking forward to a March 14 without any brownouts that could deprive countless Filipinos with the joy of watching yet another Pacquiao fight. A government spokesman had to face the media today to give assurances to the public that they will try their best not to have outages right at the very moment the country would be watching its favorite son fight in Texas.

Pacquiao fights are a national pastime and are rare occasions for Filipinos to display national unity and pride. Traffic in Manila and elsewhere in the country goes on a standstill and the police routinely report zero crimes each time Pacquiao faces another boxer on the ring. Local governments set up free public viewing of the fights in gymnasiums, while the well-to-do could get better options via pay-per-view sites or have brunch at restaurants and hotels with satellite feeds and big LCD and Plasma screens. Brownouts could potentially spark protests. The Philippine Daily Inquirer says it could be a "national calamity" if brownouts occur on March 14.

In Southern Mindanao, where Pacquiao's hometown of General Santos City is located, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines has pledged that it would do everything to prevent any outages in time for the Pacquiao-Clottey fight.

President Arroyo and Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes should know by now that they should do everything to make March 14 a brownout-free day. Otherwise, they face the wrath of the people of the Republic of Pacquiao.

	0		7-Eleven poll, Philippines

7-Eleven, a popular chain of 24/7 convenience stores in the Philippines, started its 7-Elections poll project this week, featuring barcoded cups that bear the campaign colors and images of the leading presidential candidates in the forthcoming May 10, 2010 elections.

The number of presidential candidates has been cut down from 10 to nine, with the disqualification of Vetallano Acosta, erstwhile standard-bearer of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL, New Society Movement). Founded by the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, KBL was the ruling party during martial law.

All nine candidates are represented in the 7-Elections as well as a choice for undecided or abstaining voters.

Poll results are posted daily on the 7-Elections website and broadcast as well on its partner media organizations.

7-Eleven stores in the US have staged 7-Elections for several elections now. 

Read more about the 7-Elections at 100ARAW.com.

 

	0		travel advisory, manila, bangkok, red shirts, thailand, thaksin

Manila's Department of Foreign Affairs has advised Filipinos to defer "non-essential travel" to Bangkok and elsewhere in Thailand, citing the protest actions set for March 12.

In a brief travel advisory issued Tuesday, the DFA also told Filipinos who are already in Thailand "to avoid areas that have been identified as meeting areas and staging areas for the rallyists."

In response to the March 12 protest actions called by "red shirt" supporters of deposed premiere Thaksin Shinawatra, the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has decided to impose the strict Internal Security Act in Bangkok and seven provinces surrounding the Thai capital.

Thailand is among the favorite tourist destinations of Filipinos.

The presidential Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) places at 14,880 the number of Filipinos living and working in Thailand, as of 2008.

	0	1	Morong 43, human rights, torture, rule of law, due process, supreme court, court of appeals

The Court of Appeals ruling dismissing the petition for the writ of habeas corpus filed by relatives and colleagues of the 43 illegally arrested, detained and tortured health workers is a visual aid to why a culture of impunity reigns in the Philippines.

The writ of habeas corpus is a legal recourse of citizens against illegal and arbitrary arrest and to protect them as well from authorities' further violations of their rights while under that unjust condition. Despite the presentation of evidence and testimony that the Armed Forces of the Philippines committed grave violations of human rights and due process, the CA not only disregarded these but used Marcosian jurisprudence in denying the Morong 43's petition.

It was the easiest and most convenient thing to do, to dismiss a very controversial case involving the powerful military. Now the ball is going the way of the Supreme Court where lawyers Racel Pastores and Romeo Capulong are set to file an urgent appeal.

The military's acts against the Morong 43 are so indefensible, the CA's decision had to depend on Marcosian jurisprudence to trump the detainees' pleas. Indeed, only tyrannical rules could justify the maltreatment of the Morong 43.

The ruling is clearly disappointing to the Morong 43, their relatives and colleagues who have put their faith in the Court of Appeals. But this is also disappointing to the rest of us because it gives us a realization that we cannot depend on the country's appellate court to jealously guard our fundamental and constitutional rights.

According to the Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD), the CA is "not only perpetuating injustice, it is undermining ‘sacred constitutional rights’ by using a doctrine that legalized the abuses of the military during the Marcos dictatorship. It is now condoning the contemptuous disregard for due process and human rights of [President] Arroyo’s state security forces.” 

What the CA decision means is that the military could freely arrest anyone and as many as 43 people on the basis of a spurious warrant, lock them up in a military camp, torture them and make them undergo degrading treatment. To "cure" these illegalities, the military could just belatedly file trumped up cases against them and manufacture evidence. A top military official would also make noises like the Morong 43 raising their fists as proof positive that they are New People's Army fighters. 

If you wonder why the many instances of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, illegal arrest, torture and other human rights violations do not reach the courts, the CA decision gives a partial explanation. The public cannot fully trust the courts to side with them in restoring the rule of law. In other words, the CA ruling is a defeat for everyone else, except the abusive military.

The lawyers' prescription now is to file an appeal before the Supreme Court. We hope that high court would look favorably on the Morong 43's appeal, end the military's madness, knock some sense in the heads of the CA justices and bring back some faith in the justice system as a bulwark of fundamental and constitutional rights.