Month: November 2011

Sana hindi na mag-apela ang mga kamag-anak ni Pnoy sa Hacienda Luisita

Ellen Leave a comment

Photo by Homer Teodoro

Ang desisyun ng Korte Suprema na ibalik ng mga may-ari ng Hacienda Luisita ang halos 5,000 na ektaryang taniman ng tubo sa Tarlac sa mga magsasaka sa 6,296 na magsasaka ay pagkakataon ni Pangulong Aquino na ituwid ang pagkakamali ng kanyang pamilya, kasama na ang kanyang inang si pangulong Cory Aquino.

Ang Hacienda Luisita ay pagmamay-ari ng pamilyang Cojuangco. Nasabi na ni Pangulong Aquino noon na maliit lang ang kanyang parte sa Hacienda at hindi siya ang nagde-dedisyun kungdi ang mga kapatid ng kanyang ina.

Update: Just compensation for HLI may reach P5 billion

The farmers, however, said the valuation should only be P50,000 per hectare provided under the 1989 stock distribution plan.

Ito ang isang isyu laban kay Aquino noong eleksyun. Mas maganda sana kung hindi na niya hinintay ang SC mag desisyun na ibalik ang lupain sa mga magsasaka na siya talaga dapat ang magmamay-ari ayun sa sa desisyun noong 2005 ng Presidential Agrarian Reform Council. Kaya lang hindi ganun ang nangyari.

Maala-ala natin na ginawang exemption ni Pangulong Cory ang Hacienda Luisita sa kanyang pinirmahan ng Agrarian reform program nang siya ay nilagay sa kapangyarihan ng People Power noong 1986.

Hindi na bale. Nandyan na yan. Sana kausapin ni Pangulong Aquino ang kanyang kamag-anak na huwag na mag-apela para masimulan na ang pagpamahagi ng lupa na ilang dekada ring pinagkait sa mga magsasaka na siyang dapat makinabang. Maraming buhay na ang nalagas sa pakipaglaban para sa lupang ito.

Sa kanyang komento tungkol sa desisyun ng Supreme Court (nagka-isa ang mga justices sa desisyung ito), halatang medyo hindi madali para kay Aquino tanggapin ang isang bagay na maka-apekto sa kayamanan ng pamilya.

Kasama kasi sa desisyun ng Supreme Court na ibalik ng may-ari ng HLI ang mga pera nakuha nila sa pagbenta ng ilang bahalgi ng lupain sa Bases Conversion Development Authority. P1.33 bilyun din yun.

Sa halip na matuwa na matuldukan na ang isyu na parang hindi mahilom-hilom na sugat na sabit ang kanyang pamilya, ang ginigiit pa rin ni Aquino ay “just compensation.”

Ano ba naman? Ilang taon nang nakinabang ang kanyang pamilya sa lupain na dapat ay matagal nang pinapakinabangan ng mga mahirap na magsasaka.

Parang-alalang-alala siya sa kalagayan ng kanyang mga mayayamang kamag-anak. Hindi sila maghihirap, ano, katulad ng paghihirap ng mga magsasakang pinagkaitan ng lupang kanila ng maraming taon.

Dapat ang asikasuhin ng pamahalaan ngayon ay matulungan ang mga magsasaka kung paano nila gamitin itong kanilang napanalunang lupain at pera sa makabuluhan na paraan para maka-ahon sila sa kahirapan.

Nakakatuwa ang mga reaksyun ng mga simpleng magsasaka sa desisyun ng Supreme Court. Sa tagal kasi ng kanilang paglalaban, parang sanay na sila na palagi silang natatalo. Ngayong nanalo na sila parang hindi sila makapaniwala.

Sana tuloy-tuloy na ang hustisya para sa kanila.

22 Essential Tools for Testing Your Website’s Usability

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A site’s ease of use, or its usability, is an integral part of its success, especially with websites becoming more and more interactive, complex and packed with features. User-centered design is all about building websites that fulfill the goals and desires of its users, and at the heart of this concept is that a user must be able interact with your website effectively.

Testing usability is an art and a science. There are many times when usability testers rely on qualitative measurements, intuition, opinions and feedback from users and experience. However, there are also factors you can test quantitatively to ensure that a site is usable.

In this post, we’ll discuss six crucial factors that affect usability. For each, you’ll be provided with some tips, tools and ideas on how you can measure these usability factors.

We’ll focus on practical usability testing, so the emphasis is on pragmatic and inexpensive strategies that most site owners can do. These things apply regardless of what type of website (blog, e-store, corporate site, web app, mobile device, etc.) you’re evaluating.

read more>>>

Hacienda Luisita farmers jubilant over SC ruling

Ellen Leave a comment


By Homer Teodoro
Central Luzon TV and VERA Files

Red flag is victory for farmers in Hacienda Luisita

HACIENDA LUISITA, TARLAC CITY–Farmers of Hacienda Luisita were jubilant when they heard from their leaders in Metro Manila Thursday morning that the Supreme Court has junked the Stock Distribution Option and ordered the Hacienda Luisita, Incorporated to distribute the more than 6,000 hectares of land to the more than 5,000 farmers of the sugarcane plantation that belongs to the family of President Aquino.

They beat drums made of recycled tin cans making sounds of joy. One even climbed the tractor and declared on top of his voice that they won against the Cojuangcos.

Feliz Nacpil, Jr. a.k.a. “Ka Dec”, chairman of Alyansang Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA), said since Tuesday they waiting for the High Court’s decision. He said they were prepared go to Manila in case the decision and rally in front of the SC if the decision was not favorable to them.

“But now, look at our people. When they heard the good news they were so happy. The peasant farmers won! Now, they are so happy because they can till the land they fought for, the land which the Cojuangcos grabbed from them. It was a long battle,” Nacpil said.

Nacpil called on the Cojuangco family to distribute the land to the rightful beneficiaries as soon as possible. “We are very hopeful that they will respect the SC’s decision. They themselves want to have peace in the Hacienda Luisita. They should abide by the Court’s decision,” he said.

An emotional Josephine Garcia waved the placard that says “Karapatan ng mga magsasaka ipaglaban! (Fight for the rights of farmers.)”

“Ay maraming salamat, na naipaglaban namin ang karapatan sa lupa. Salamat din sa mga media na tumulong sa aming laban. (We are thankful that we fought for our right to this land. We thank media for helping us), ” she said in tears.

Florida Sibayan was dancing all over the place. “Ang laban ng mga ninuno nang mga magulang namin, ang mga magulang ko at magulang namin ay mayroon ng katarungan. Ang dapat manalo sa lupa ay nagwagi na kaya masayang masaya kami.( Our forefathers’ fight finally achieved justice. The ones who should win, won so we are very happy.) ”

Virginia Paligutan said “Napapaiyak na ako ngayon dahil ang anak ko ay isa sa mga nagmalasakit dito. Isa siya sa mga lumaban at namatay para sa lupa kaya ngayon ay nagpapasalamat ako ng maraming marami dahil nanalo siya sa kanyang laban.(I cried because my son was one of those who fought and died for this cause. I’m very thankful because he won.)” Her son Bal Paligutan joined the rebels in the mountains after the so called “Hacienda Luisita Massacre” in 2004. Bal died in an armed encounter.

Even the children joined the jubilation of their parents as they took the flags they used in rallies and played as if they were also a rally.

Gary Gonzales, vice-chairman of AMBALA said they plan to gather all the stock certificates HLI gave them as stock shares and tear them in front of the TV cameras to show their indignation. He said their leaders will meet as soon as possible to propose to the people what they plan to do with the land they fought for. One of the possible options is for AMBALA to manage the land so that it will not fall into the wrong hands or else all that they fought for will be amount to nothing.

(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)

Media continue to seek justice for Maguindanao massacre victims

Ellen Leave a comment

Photos by Mario Ignacio IV


Marking the second year of the Maguindanao massacre, journalists pledged to resist any attempt to trample a person’s right to life and free expression.

In a pledge recited following a candle lighting ceremony led by relatives of some of the 58 victims of the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao, 32 of them journalists and media workers, journalists promised to the best of their ability to obtain justice not only for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre but also victims of extra-judicial killing.

“Ako, bilang mamamahayag, ay nangangakong gagawin ang kahat ng makakaya para makamit ang hustisya, hindi lamang para sa mga biktima sa Ampatuan, Maguindanao kundi lahat ng mga biktima ng pamamaslang.
“Isusulong ang isang pamamahayag na nagtataguyod ng interest ng mamamayan, pamamahayag na lumalaan st nagtatanggol sa karapatang mabuhay at kalayaan sa pamamahayag.”

Speakers lamented the slow pace of the trial of the tragedy that earned for the Philippine the ignominous tag of the second most dangerous place for journalists in the world, next only to Iraq.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines to date, 103 of the 196 suspects remain at large and only two of the principal suspects have been arraigned. The case remains snagged on hearings on petitions for bail of the accused.

A member of the International Fact Finding Mission who visited the massacre site in 2009 said they joined the Filipinos last year in asking for justice for the victims from Gloria Arroyo. “We are doing the same to this new government because nothing has happened so far.”

University of the Philippines students carried the streamer that said, “Duguan ang matuwid na daan (The straight path is splattered with blood)”, apparently in reference to the Aquino administration’s slogan of “tuwid na daan.”

Soderno @ Molito & my food project Chicken Delish

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Straight from the organizers of Mercato Centrale, Soderno @ Molito – the newest weekend market in the South of Manila – made its successful maiden run last November 18-20. The official address is the Molito Lifestyle Center at the corner of Madrigal & Commerce Avenues, in front of Alabang Town Center and Ayala Alabang Village.

Chicken Delish

I was supposed to be at Soderno last Sunday for my food project Chicken Delish but ‘chickened out’ at the last minute :) Excited isn’t really the word. Frantic is more like it as I prepared for this project without taking a leave from my full time job. But yes, there’s no backing out now. I hope to see my friends, readers & countrymen in Soderno @ Molito this Sunday. Come visit my booth and have a taste of them tasty chicken wings & drummettes a la BonChon & Kyochon :) I’ll be selling fried chicken in a variety of sauces and flavors like kung pao, sriracha, Pinoy barbecue and my favorite Korean fried chicken (KFC) recipe with pickled radish :)

I realized that it’s only one day in the week that I’ll be selling (for the next eight Sundays!) but the scale of preparation has just been overwhelming for me. So many details to iron out and even simple things like “I should have my nails done at the salon!” take on a new dimension. Here are my thoughts as I start on this mini-venture:

1. It’s a chance to be on the other side of the fence! As bloggers, we’re used to praising/trashing food served in restaurants. It’s now a challenge to be on the receiving end of the praises and/or brickbats :)

2. It’s a chance to take it to the next level! Am on the edge of a burnout, being a corporate slave for the last decade (read: ten years!) Retirement from the office jungle is already at the top of my mind and that’s the reason why am playing with entrepreneurial ideas like this.

3. It’s always good to start out small! If there’s one important lesson to be learned in business, it’s the fact that you have to think big and start small. By small I mean minimum capital and risk. I don’t really intend to earn with this first outing ( our blogger group also sold in Mercato last year & went home with left-overs) but the exposure that a simple thing like a weekend market participation can give you is priceless. I intend to make friends and absorb things like a sponge in the eight or so weekends I’ll be here …. and of course, blog about it ;)