11 awe inspiring people of 2011

By: Ivanna Aguiling

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Amid the storms we had to weather in 2011, certain characters stood out, gleaming with calidad humana (human quality)—they were strong in their conviction, generous with their gifts and persevering in their passion. We, the youth, can definitely learn from these heroes.

1. Who could be more deserving of recognition than the 17-year-old Visayan lay catechist Pedro Calungsod, who died from attempting to defend a fellow mission worker? Young as he was, he displayed steadfastness in defending his faith amid recriminations. Beatified by our beloved Pope John Paul II in 2000, his canonization was recently approved by Pope Benedict XVI, making him only the second Filipino to become saint, next to Lorenzo Ruiz.

2. Another Calungsod made it to the papers. Seafarer Edberto Calungsod was among our unsung heroes who surfaced, saving lives from Typhoon “Sendong,” which ravaged Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City. Eight flood victims were rescued by the crew of a passing ship, M/V Yang A. These men, among other rescuers, proved that bayanihan remains alive in us.

3. From across the seas, one more echoes of pride, as Filipino-American midwife Robin Lim was awarded the coveted CNN Hero of the Year. “Peace begins at birth,” Lim says. Mother Robin, as locals fondly call her, transformed the pain of losing her sister into good deeds that benefit mothers in Indonesia. She established Yayasan Bumi Sehat (Healthy Mother Earth) Foundation I

John Pelias (left, front row) at the Bagong Rizal Awards

nternational to ensure the peaceful and gentle delivery of babies into our world.

4. The youth are the source of our pride. International School Manila ninth graders Cristian Ayala, Lucas Ramos and Rom Villarica placed fifth out of 31 teams in the Open Category, Junior High School Division at the 2011 World Robot Olympiad (WRO) held in Abu Dhabi.

TWENTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD Dino Ferrari won the E&O Search for Asian Food Channel’s Next Celebrity Chef and will have his own show.

5. In “Ang Bagong Rizal,” the nationwide search for youth who emulate our national hero, among the awardees was 19-year-old John Pelias who graduated summa cum laude from the University of the Philippines. Despite offers from top companies, he opted to pay it forward. At 19, he started teaching mathematics to his peers in his alma mater.

6. Another 19-year-old, Jaeline Mina, led the storytelling at the National Children’s Book Reading Day celebration at SM City Rosales. Jaeline kept her audience in awe. She lost her eyesight when she was 7 but, she declares, “My condition does not define me.”

7. A Filipino private chef won in t

he E&O Search for Asian Food Channel’s Next Celebrity Chef. It was 26-year-old Dino Ferrari, who beat 35 finalists from all over Asia. His own cooking show on AFC will air early next year.

8. Quite a number of firsts  happened in 2011. Danica Flores Magpantay became the first Filipina, and only the second Asian, to win the 2011 Ford Supermodel of the World Competition in New York City. Besting more than 70 contestants from around the globe, she received a $250,000 modeling contract from Ford Models.

New York-based Dio Saraza is a scholar in the prestigious Juilliard School. COURTESY OF DIO SARAZA

9. Another Filipino in New York inspires young musicians to aim high and succeed in their chosen fields. Dio Saraza grew up among the Promil gifted children. Now, he resides in New York, a scholar in the prestigious Juilliard School. He reveals his long-term dream of wanting to come back to the Philippines to share with our young aspiring musicians what he has been blessed to learn from the world’s greatest artists.

GKONOMICS builds strong, sustainable and scalable social enterprises in communities rebuilt by Gawad Kalinga.

10. Out of 100 entries, the all-Filipino social enterprise GKonomics bags First Place in the Breakthrough Innovation Grant, a global call for entrepreneurs and SMEs for the most innovative business ideas that will have an impact on poverty alleviation in the Philippines. GKonomics builds strong, sustainable and scalable social enterprises in communities rebuilt by Gawad Kalinga. More young social entrepreneurs are coming together and investing in businesses for returns that are more important than money.

11. Lastly, the astounding leap of Maristella Torres in the long jump event at the SEA Games not only produced the first gold for Team Philippines, it also turned out to be record-breaking. Her competitors could not even come close to her 6.71m record.

“All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope,” Sir Winston Churchill said. These awe-inspiring stories did not pop up from a click of a button, a snap of a finger or a blink of an eye.

We stand in awe when hearing these people’s stories because they struggled through decisions and action—and struck gold in the end.

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Shocking revelations in 2 dissenting opinions

By: Neal H. Cruz
Philippine Daily Inquirer

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The defense in the impeachment case against Chief Justice Renato Corona is using the entire Judiciary as its shield, saying that the impeachment is an attack by the Executive on the independence of the Judiciary. But as the House prosecutors said in its reply, “the CJ is not the judiciary.”

A fraternity brother of Corona in the Court of Appeals (CA) is reportedly spearheading a campaign among the CA justices for the issuance of a manifesto expressing their support for the Chief Justice and calling for the protection of the Judiciary. Such call by his fraternity brothers and other supporters is expected, but hitching this partisan cause to a grand call to protect the independence of the Judiciary is wrong. Obviously Corona is not the Judiciary, and the Judiciary is not CJ Corona.

The Judiciary has long lost its independence, not to the present administration but to former President Gloria Arroyo when she packed it with people beholden to her. The impeachment process is not an assault on the independence of the Judiciary but, precisely, the first step in releasing it from its bondage to Arroyo.

The Court is a hostage institution, it must be freed and reclaimed by the people. The first step in this rescue is to remove its gatekeeper, Corona, who was appointed just as the Arroyo administration was ending.

* * *

I read the dissenting opinions of Associate Justices Antonio Carpio and Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno to the Nov. 29, 2011 resolution of the Court. That resolution, by a vote of 7-6, upheld the effectivity of the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued in favor of Arroyo despite her non-compliance with the conditions—set by the Court itself in its Nov. 15, 2011 resolution—just so the TRO would become enforceable. The dissents reveal explosive facts: the TRO specially favored Arroyo and Corona’s bias and partiality towards her.

1. The premature issuance of the TRO was revealed in the dissent of Justice Carpio who said that the TRO was actually issued and released to the petitioners before 6 p.m. of Nov. 15, even before petitioners’ compliance with the first two conditions of the TRO.

The high court had set conditions in its Nov. 15, resolution before the TRO could take effect: (1) the posting of a P2-million cash bond; (2) the appointment, by special power of attorney (SPA), of a legal representative who will receive subpoenas, orders and other legal processes on her behalf; and (3) Arroyo’s informing the Philippine embassy or consulate in the place where she will be traveling regarding her whereabouts at all times.

However, despite these clear conditions, the TRO was prematurely issued prior to Arroyo’s full compliance. She posted the bond and submitted the SPA only at 6 p.m. on Nov. 15, but the TRO had already been issued earlier. In fact, Supreme Court spokesman Midas Marquez confirmed in an interview that the TRO had already been issued “past 5 p.m.” This clearly shows the premature issuance of the TRO.

Furthermore, given the irregularities of the issuance, it is evident that only the Court could have authorized the irregular issuance to allow Arroyo to flee and escape prosecution, Carpio said.

2. In her own dissenting opinion, Justice Sereno revealed how she was prevented from publishing her dissent in the Nov. 15 resolution in violation of Article VIII, Sec. 13 of the Constitution, which states: “any member (of the Supreme Court) who took no part, or dissented, or abstained from a decision or resolution, must state the reason therefor.”

Sereno said she submitted her dissent on Dec. 2. However, the Clerk of Court refused to promulgate her dissent. Instead, lawyer Enriqueta Vidal, the clerk of court of the tribunal en banc, admitted that “she could not tell (Sereno’s) staff the real reason for the non-promulgation of (Sereno’s) opinion; that actually, Justice Presbitero Velasco instructed her, as “confirmed by the Chief Justice,” that Sereno’s opinion “should not be promulgated but that it should be taken up in the Dec. 6, 2011 en banc session.”

3. A reading of Sereno’s dissent shows why Corona suppressed it—to hide how he falsified the results of the Court’s Nov. 18, 2011 deliberations by correcting the draft resolution which changed the decision made by the Court.

On. Nov. 18, the Court had voted on two issues: whether or not Arroyo complied with the conditions for the issuance of the TRO; and whether or not the TRO was still effective.

The Court voted 7-6 that there was non-compliance by Arroyo with the conditions. However, the Court voted 7-6 to keep silent on the effect of the non-compliance since the ineffectiveness of the resolution was “common sense.”

In spite of the clear vote of the Supreme Court en banc, the Chief Justice made his own handwritten corrections to the resolution prepared by Justice Velasco on the decisions made on the Nov. 18 deliberations wherein he falsely made it appear that Arroyo “substantially complied with the conditions for the issuance of the TRO and that the TRO was in full force and effect.”

Despite the fact that Corona’s handwritten corrections were contrary to what was approved by the Supreme Court en banc on Nov. 18, Corona ordered the clerk of court to immediately promulgate his “falsified version.”

4. Sereno’s dissent revealed that “while the resolution has not yet even been written,” Midas Marquez falsely told the public that the “TRO is in full force and effect and, as far as the SC is concerned, Arroyo can travel out of the country immediately.”

Marquez even falsely declared that the voting for the affirmation of the TRO was 9-4 when the truth was, the Court voted 7-6 that there was non-compliance.