The papers continue to have updates on the killing of Julie Campbell (see the obituary in her alma mater’s website), ranging from the upcoming autopsy. to suspects being sought, to the possible murder weapon‘s being found. Our godforsaken Secretary of Justice made international news by blaming the victim and has sparked exasperated comments but the evolving case mercifully (for our country) quickly shoved aside his crass comments. In New York, local media has played up the case: something that has The Nomadic Pinoy reflecting on what the murder’s impact will be, on a hitherto tranquil and peaceful part of the country (and the country as a whole: see similar concerns expressed locally by Mike in Manila; see ialman‘s LiveJournal, too). As for international media, there’s this profile of Campbell from the Associated Press, as reproduced in The Huffington Post,.
Two other stories bringing the Philippines to international attention: Abu Sayaff conduct seven beheadings; and the assassination attempt on two media men and the murder of a reporter with the government radio network. Foreign media groups have reiterated their calls for action. See Journ Classroom for a sobering reflection on what all these murders mean.
A debate was provoked by opposition, particularly from some victim’s families, to NBC’s decision to air portions of videos sent the network by Cho Seung-hui. In Slate, there’s very interesting roundup of how the debate extended into whether NBC should have withheld the videos, or not.
In other news, the President signs an Executive Order (No. 608) establishing a National Security Clearance system. It will be interesting to compare it to one of the tightest regulations on official information, Britain’s Official Secrets Act. Naturally, the EO’s full text is nowhere to be found on line.
Allegations that officials asked the President to fund campaigns against unfriendly party-list parties. Whether true or not, another campaign’s going to be a sure thing: Sigaw ng Bayan says it will revive the campaign to amend the constitution after the elections. Meanwhile, the Comelec is being petitioned by Oliver Lozano to forbid election-related surveys.
The grilling of the American attorney-general makes for instructive reading on the importance of congressional hearings. Slate Magazine has a digest of the Q&A Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales experienced in the US Senate.
In the punditocracy, Rasheed Abou-Alsamh takes a look at Filipino voters in Saudi Arabia, and says the real sympathies of the voters won’t be known until the end of the actual voting period. Amando Doronila says the administration’s campaigning on the economy is a flop.
Miriam Coronel-Ferrer writes on International Humanitarian Law, and in the case of the Red Cross, asks if pulling out volunteers in dangerous situations isn’t a dereliction of duty.
Alexander Chancellor in the The Guardian recalls the attempted assassination of Pope Paul VI when he visited Manila in 1970, and provides this interesting vignette of a presidency not yet quite divorced from the people (today the walls have been raised, crowds aren’t permitted in the streets, and it would be pretty impossible to wave something at a president and have that president intervene with the security):
I arrived late and panted up the road to the gate of the palace between lines of armed police holding back the crowds. Immediately behind the gate stood Ferdinand and Imelda awaiting the Pope and surrounded by guards, some of whom pointed their guns at me. I waved my invitation pleadingly at the president, who signalled to his guards to lower their guns, open the gate and let me in – which was how I ended up alone in such exalted company.
Chancellor then recounts how President Marcos gave him a highly embroidered account of the assassination attempt:
…I asked President Marcos to describe to me exactly what had happened at the airport. “I’m afraid I did a bad thing,” he said. “I laid hands on the Holy Father. With my right hand I felled the assassin, and with my left I pushed the Holy Father backwards. I hope he will forgive me, for I felt I had to do it for his safety.”
“Where did the Holy Father fall?” I asked. “Into my arms,” interjected Imelda, the famous beauty. I turned to her and, with genuine curiosity, inquired how the Pope had reacted to this unusual experience. “He let out a kind of soft sigh,” she replied. “He went ‘aaaaheeeeh’.” This was all jolly interesting, but unfortunately it was also completely untrue.
In the blogosphere, there’s bread coffee chocolate yoga, where one of Julie Campbell’s friends describes her sense of loss. A Peace Corps colleague, Yvanovich.com is at a loss for words.
The Philippine blogosphere, of course, is abuzz over Julie Cambell’s blog, which from the boondocKs, who focuses on the Cordilleras, quite early on pointed out (and has done a yoeman’s job of putting together information and updates) and there have been some pretty touching tributes left in the comments section of her last entry: one remarkable entry is by wait, who said that?! from Legazpi City, Albay, who recounts seeing Julie Campbell around town, but not knowing who she was.
Others have posted tributes that include poetry, and other, I presume younger bloggers, were posted to make their first serious blog post., while knowread/knowrite in General Santos City reflects on Peace Corps volunteers in general. Filipina, Cebuana, muses on so many deaths in April. Philippine Commentary asks what happens to blogs when the blogger dies (my sense, if it’s a free blog, it becomes a kind of shrine; otherwise, remorseless Capitalism being what it is, the registration expires and the blog goes kaputt).
the thoughts that wander shares her angst over being a first-time taxpayer.
Technorati Tags: Blogging, Charter Change, constitution, elections, human rights, philippines, politics, president, red cross, surveys
DJB,
I can see a very remote connection in your idea but Mita has a point (maybe even 2).
Mita,
I don’t want to keep your hopes up about my blog. But maybe we’ll see one day.
Bencard,
“But, to paraphrase Voltaire, one may not agree with what the sec. was saying, but his right to say it must be defended at all cost.”
Voltaire never met Raul Gonzalez.
DJB,
C’mon, man.
What did they have to do with Campbell’s murder? What’s next? That Cho was a frequent visitor to the NDF website before he went on his killing spree? That communists supplied the drugs that killed Anna Nicole Smith?
bencamino, Voltaire didn’t meet you either but I think his statement also applies to you and your inanities, or else, you won’t be here posting the kind of comments you do.
JM, so you “called on” Sec. Gonzales to resign. And who are you? You think he will give your puny demand any attention? I think you should work on your language first. Insolence will not get you anywhere.
djb,
are your crusties turning red? was rizal killed by a leftie too?
thanks for posting the link to my tax article! i know its full of angst, but a good way of releasing it though
The Raul is a real jerk. You say something so insensitive like that in public, you be prepared to receive all the brickbats that will come your way. In the blogosphere, you prepare to be owned. Only in the palace by the pasig river can spinmasters operate to gloss up jerks’ remarks.
2nd paragraph above should be outside the blockquote.
bencard,
kultura ni sec gonzales at ng pamilya mo lang, wag mo idamay ang Kulturang Pilipino. Pareho kau ni Siraulo Gonzales, tustado ang utak
bencard,
idol mo ba ang isang womanizer na impotent, tustado utak, super corrupt, super balimbing, maski inutil na diparin nagreresign?
JL,
precisely my point in my first post…some things are better left unsaid…
may it be due to ad verecundiam fallacy or may it be detrimental to a colleague (as in dr. juliet’s case)…but most especially when things uttered add to the hurt being felt by those who are grieving the lost of a loved one (as in gonzalez’s case).
…in my segue re: angioplasty (and placement of stent)…i don’t think it’s negligence…the recent findings of the COURAGE trial showed that those who, in the past, performed such minimally-invasive procedure in patient’s with stable heart conditions overdid the performance of it or they have far exceeded the indication of the procedure. in short, angioplasty (and stenting) were done on patients who don’t need it simply because they won’t benefit from it.
FG may or may not have benefited from the angioplasty (largely depending on the indication or the need to do it at the time of diagnosis last year before the results of COURAGE was made public this year). all i’m saying is that i think the angioplasty somehow contributed to FG’s aortic dissection based on my 2-point theory stated above. FG’s hypertension is a given (may be due to unreligious intake of BP-lowering medicines, no change in lifestyle, a rich diet fit for a king that will surely clog the arteries, or whatever)…add to that a tear in the aorta from the angioplasty and increase in the hypertension brought about by high altitude…equal an aortic dissection waiting to happen…
but then again, some things are indeed better left unsaid…even my preceding thoughts!
FG’s precise urine outflow was the epitome of information overload!
Baycas,
I don’t want to nitpick on your 3rd paragraph so if I may, I’ll contend with the whole reply.
It seems you are replying to my post on April 21, 7:41 PM.
Maybe if I’d agreed with you more you wouldn’t be trying to explain your point but unfortunately then I did not so I’m ending up trying to clarify things out.
For the record, I didn’t disprove nor did I try to disprove your post to which I was replying to.
I made no comments regarding 2) and mostly centered on 1). I am not discounting nor countering your “possibility” but I felt that those in that specialty (Cardio vascular) are “better” suited to talk about that “possibility” rather than Dra. Gopez Cervantes who was a Gastroenterologist (unless she conferred with them).
I understand your point and I am not disagreeing with your possibility at all.
Cheers.
cvj, it’s either you are being presumptuous again (as usual) or you are now in the business of appointing palace representatives. If it’s the latter, where did you get your authority from, if you have one? Hey, you forgot to mention my compensation.
Tustado, akala ko ba ikaw ang “tustado”. Sa ppananalita mo lang, bagay na bagay sa’yo ang pangalan mo – hindi lang sa utak, pati kalulua (kong meron man). Ano naman ang nalalaman mo sa “Kulturang Pilipino” – maghusga base sa haka-haka?
cheers, JL.
—–
…i noticed 3 days ago that EO 608 is still not uploaded at the office of the press secretary website. checked it again today and it’s still not up.
now, that’s really something…the Order to keep state secrets safe is in itself a secret!!!
i tried viewing the EO 608 here since 21 april…
Bencard, i don’t know your compensation.
cvj, how come? Youre’ the one who appointed me, didn’t you?
cvj, how come? Youre’ the one who appointed me, didn’t you?
Baycas,
I’m not surprised anymore that government websites are so sloooooow.
Whether it’s deliberate or not; I can’t say.
When I was very much interested in Congress’ actions to revise the Constitution; it was months already and they still didn’t post copies of their bills, etc….
I had to get it from sites like PCIJ, IPD, or here that posted them.
If you have to do it, you might as well do it right