Ina Kapatid Anak

By Pablo A. Tariman, VERA Files

Friday night last week, it seemed everyone who owns a TV set was glued on the final airing of the Channel 2 teleserye, “Ina, Kapatid, Anak” directed by Don M. Cuaresma and Jojo A. Saguin.

The evening audience profile surprisingly cut through and went up the usual CD audience categories with the educated class equally awaiting the dramatic ending.

It was a given that the masa was there as usual but it was also true that the other bulk of the teleserye watchers were public servants, working journalists and performing artists as well.

The big come-on was the highly competent cast led by Cherrie Pie Picache, Pilar Pilapil , Janice de Belen , Ronaldo Valdez with actors Enchong Dee and Xian Lim providing the “kilig” factors.

Alex MedinaThe amazing discovery of this recently concluded teleserye is undoubtedly the new actor Alex Medina (son of Pen Medina and brother of Ping Medina). Even in a secondary role, Alex has the temperament, the intensity and highly expressive

By Mikha Flores, VERA Files

The Supreme Court launched on Friday an electronic filing system that will digitize judicial processes in trial courts in Quezon City.

Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno. Photo by Mikha Flores/VERA Files

Dubbed as “eCourt”, the system uses case management software that will allow judges and court personnel to organize case flows from the filing of the complaint up to its resolution and enforcement.

The system will be piloted in regional and municipal trial courts in Quezon City, which account for about a third of total cases handled by trial courts in metro Manila. The project will be rolled out eventually in other regions across the country.

“We can only deliver justice if indeed the systems…that will deliver justice are abled and the eCourt system is a step in the right direction,” Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno said in her speech at the launch of the project in Quezon City.

With the eCourt, the raffling of cases will now be done electronically instead of using tambiyolos (raffle drum), removing human intervention and

Pride march

By Patrick King Pascual, VERA Files

Festive street parties, parades and marches usually mark the annual celebration of Pride month in June by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in the country and elsewhere.

“But Pride Month is not just about parties,” Michael David Tan, executive director of Bahaghari Center for LGBT Research, Education and Advocacy, stressed. “What we want to do in Bahaghari Center, or in the LGBT community in the Philippines in general, is to change [public] perception and [instead] look at the conditions and situations of the LGBTs more closely.”

In recent years, LGBT organizations have resorted mainly to plain street parties to celebrate Pride Month, which do not fully convey the real meaning and message of such celebrations in the country.

This year, Bahaghari Center and the Progressive Organization of Gays in the Philippines (ProGay Philippines) aim to promote a more thorough LGBT acceptance and education in the coming Pride

Independence Day ride

By Jonathan de Santos, VERA Files

At least a thousand cyclists marked 115^th Philippine Independence Day on Wednesday riding in solidarity with 27 million modern-day slaves.

The Freedom Ride, organized by the Dakila collective, was intended to raise awareness of the 1343 Action Hotline, a text and phone hotline for human trafficking cases in the Philippines, a source and transit point for traffickers.

Dakila is a Tagalog word for nobility.

Dakila Philippine Collective is a group of artists, students, and individuals committed to working together to creatively spark social consciousness formation towards social change.

The ride was also meant to recruit Freedom Warriors who will be on the lookout for Filipinos who may be victims of modern-day slavery and human trafficking.

Dakila vice president Noel Cabangon said, "After 115 years of celebrating Independence Day, we still have no real freedom. Many Filipinos are still being exploited by human trafficking or what we now call modern-day

By Elizabeth Lolarga, VERA Files

"Fusion" seems to be the best word to describe the look of Filipino buildings and home interiors.

Filipino Style, a 1997 de luxe book put out by the Department of Tourism in time for the country's national centennial in '98 and preceding the current soft-cover Philippine Style: Design and Architecture (Anvil Publishing Inc.), used that word long before it became the vogue adjective for food that takes in a variety of cultural influences.

"Three hundred years in the convent, 50 in Hollywood and a brief interlude with the Japanese"--that was how eminent writer Carmen Guerrero Nakpil described the country's colonial history and its three former masters (Spain, the US and Japan). The last didn't quite seep in, except maybe in the sleek lines of modern architecture.

Today, hard-earned dollars from overseas Filipino workers have made possible the rise of a hodge-podge of architecture flecking the countryside with houses derivative of Mediterranean villas or

Commentary

Admiral Locklear being received by President Aquino.

By Ellen Tordesillas

In Bangkok last week, the commander of the United States Pacific Command, Admiral Samuel Locklear, said the usual line that their Asian allies expect from visiting American officials: we will oppose China’s expansionism.

“We will oppose the change of status quo by force of anyone,” Locklear said referring to the situation in South China Sea where China is reported to be positioning in Ayungin Reef, just 25 miles away from Mischief Reef, 130 miles away from Palawan, that China occupied in 1994.

But just like other American officials, Locklear did not commit that the US will fight China if the latter gets embroiled in violent confrontation with any of the countries in this part of the world. That’s because, in truth, the US will not because it values relations with China.

Although the US would like to contain China’s power, it would not want make an enemy of the Asian behemoth. The cordial meeting between US President Obama and Chinese President Xi

History reenactors Pedro Javier (left) and Joey Felizco pretend to face the enemy.

By Norman Sison, VERA Files

The Philippine Revolution may be a memory, but not for a group of history re-enactors. For them, history is not only a record of events past but also lessons for the future.

It began in 2003 with an epiphany. Like many Filipinos, electrical engineer Pedro Javier liked all things foreign. But later he realized that a large part of the country’s many problems came from Filipinos’ general lack of appreciation for their own history.

“God made me a Filipino. He didn’t make me an American,” he says. “If Filipinos won’t care for their own country, who will?”

Inspired by the large-scale re-enactments of battles in the American Revolution and US Civil War, Javier pondered: why not borrow the idea? So, the first step was to make replica uniforms worn by Filipino revolutionaries over a century ago.

The present Philippine Army traces its lineage to the 1897 Tejeros Convention, when the Philippine revolutionary government was formed, with General Emilio Aguinaldo as the

Site of incident

By Lauro Baja Jr., VERA Files

It is difficult to develop a pattern of action for the incident in Balintang Chanel which happened a month ago. We know what Taiwan wants but we are still at sea on how we have responded and/ or how we will further respond.

Taiwan is a province (read: surrogate) of China. It is also an ally (read: vassal) of the United Sates and has the support of the powerful China lobby in Washington. The media carry reports of statements of US House members supporting Taiwan.

The Philippines has substantial trade and investment relations with the “system” and thousands of Filipinos work in the island. This arrangement redounds to the mutual benefits of both and is governed by our so-called One-China policy.

This policy has not been clearly defined. In practice, what happened are rules against top leaders of the Philippines – President, Vice President, Senate President, House Speaker, Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Secretary of National Defense – visiting Taiwan and