Tag Archives: Pork Barrel

International, Law Enforcement, Politics, Religion, Travel

PHILIPPINE SENATOR BONG REVILLA A CHANGED MAN AFTER HOLY LAND ENCOUNTER

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Revilla
Revilla

Tel Aviv, Israel – As the Office of the Philippine Ombudsman prepared to indict three senators for their alleged role in the 10 Billion-peso pork barrel scam, most Filipinos went about their usual traditional Lenten season rituals – fasting, abstaining from meat, visiting churches, praying the rosary, going through the stations of the cross (via crucis) and giving alms to the poor. There is much anticipation for Easter Sunday, which Catholics know to be the day that Jesus Christ resurrected following his death on the Cross.

The three senators – Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla – are about to face plunder and graft charges for allegedly pocketing their pork barrel funds in an elaborate scheme supposedly masterminded by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles who is now in detention.

Senator Revilla is on a different level of Lenten tradition, one that  low to medium-income people don’t usually get the chance to experience. Revilla, his wife and children, are in the Holy Land on a religious pilgrimage to what is believed to be the birthplace of Jesus.

In a skype call with Revilla’s wife, Cavite Representative Lani Mercado-Revilla, she indicated that  immediately upon their arrival in Jerusalem, she saw a transformation with the Senator. “His physical appearance and demeanor totally changed. He seemed like he was at peace,  like he just came out of the confessional box. In fact, throughout our flight from Manila to Tel Aviv, Bong was very calm and kept on listening to a video recording of “My Way,” sung by Rose Fostanes, the Filipina caregiver and winner of the first “X Factor Israel.”

Mrs.Revilla denied that the family was planning to seek political asylum in Israel, adding: “when we return to the Philippines after the pilgrimage, Bong will make an important announcement.” She didn’t say whether that announcement would be “guilty” or “not guilty.”

Meanwhile, Senators Enrile and Estrada, appear to be observing the Lenten season in solitary confinement in their respective mansions, perhaps praying for divine intervention.

 

Business, Film and TV, International, Law Enforcement, Music, Technology, The Media

OSCAR-WINNING SONG ‘LET IT GO’ CLIMBS TO NO. 1 IN PHILIPPINE MUSIC CHARTS

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Philippine Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago (photo credit: philstar.com)
Philippine Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago (photo credit: philstar.com)

Manila, Philippines – “Let It Go,” the Oscar award-winning best song from the Disney animated film, “Frozen” shot up to number one in the music charts in the Philippines, and this happened in less than 24 hours.

The song was composed by Robert Lopez, a Filipino American, and his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez.  But that was not the reason the song climbed up the music charts.

At a Philippine Senate hearing investigating the 10 Billion-peso pork barrel scam involving detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles and implicating three senators, state witness Dennis Cunanan was being grilled by Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. 

Santiago repeatedly asked Cunanan, who was the director of the Technology Resource Center (TRC) when the pork barrel scam happened,  what he knew about the involvement of the senators.  TRC, a government corporation, acted as a conduit for the release of pork barrel funds to fake non-governmental organizations or NGOs.  The senators who were allegedly involved in the scam were Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla, Jr.

 “Wow. I’m very interested in what you have to say,” Santiago told Cunanan at one point of the questioning.  When Cunanan hesitated to confirm who he thought was the mastermind of the whole scam, Santiago said, “Let It Go”  in a Karaoke-style musical tone.

Immediately, the social networks exploded with the Santiago quote and radio stations started simultaneously playing the song from “Frozen.”  In just a few hours, “Let It Go,” became the number hit on the Philippine music charts.

Business, Food, International, Politics, Religion, Uncategorized

PHILIPPINE POLITICIANS GIVE UP PORK BARREL FOR LENT

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Philippine Cardinal Tagle administers ash to the Catholic faithful on Ash Wednesday (file photo)
Philippine Cardinal Tagle administers ash to the Catholic faithful on Ash Wednesday (file photo)

Manila, Philippines – In his message to the Filipino people on Ash Wednesday – the beginning of Lent – Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle admonished the Catholic faithful to “fast and abstain not to be slim and sexy, and be charitable not to be popular.”

Many Catholics abstain from eating meat for 40 days during Lent in the spirit of sacrifice.

Responding to the cardinal’s appeal,  Philippine legislators in both the Senate and House of Representatives unanimously agreed to give up pork for the next 4o days – pork barrel, that is.

The decision by the politicians couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time in view of the current legislative investigation of the 10 Billion-peso pork barrel scandal which has linked several legislators to the scam of siphoning taxpayer money into fake non-govenmental organizations (NGOs) and into the pockets of certain businessmen and elected officials.

It wasn’t clear whether the politicians’ “abstinence” from pork will automatically be rescinded come Easter Sunday, the end of the Lenten season.