MANILA, Philippines  President Aquino approved yesterday the promotion of 15 generals of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on recommendation of Interior and Local Government Secretary and National Police Commission chairman Jesse Robredo and PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo.

In a simple ceremonies at the PNP Multi-Purpose yesterday, Bacalzo also administered the oath of office to SAF chief Director Catalino Cuy, whose new rank is equivalent to a military Major General.

The new police generals with the ranks of chief superintendents are Lester Camba of SOCSARGEN Region; Jose Jorge Corpuz (Eta’77) of Southern Mindanao; Valiant de Guzman of Central Luzon; Victor Deona of Bicol Region; Jesus Gordon Descanzo (Delta’75), of DIPO Northern Luzon; Roman Felix of Ilocos-Pangasinan Region; Vicente Loot of Eastern VIsayas; and Manuel Piera of Cagayan Valley Region.

Other new generals are Chief Superintendents Elmer Soria of Cordillera; Catalino Rodriguez Jr. of Northern Mindanao; Francisco Uyami of DIPO Southern Luzon; Noel Lazarus Vargas of Civil Security Group; Mario Yanga of Western Mindanao and Samuel Yordan of Central Visayas.

Bacalzo reminded the generals to continue working for the good of the police organization and help in regaining the trust and confidence of the public.

As posted on Philippine Star.

CoA bags external auditor role for world health body

THE COMMISSION on Audit (CoA) has been voted external auditor of the World Health Organization (WHO), the first for the country, a Palace spokesman said yesterday. Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda shared the good news over a forwarded text message of CoA Chairman Ma. Gracia Pulido-Tan (’73).

“We have just won the position of external auditor…We beat Germany, France, Spain and Malaysia. We were number one in the first round, then beat Germany 74-62 in the runoff,” Ms. Tan said.

Ms. Tan said the choice of CoA was a vote of confidence in its “resurgence” in the international community. Mr. Lacierda said in a separate text message that this was the third time that the Philippines bid for the position. The country lost to India. Ms. Tan is now in Geneva, Switzerland with CoA Commissioner Heidi L. Mendoza and Health Secretary Enrique T. Ona attending the 64th assembly of the World Health Organization

Business World
Friday, May 20, 2011

The tragedy that was the 2010 Bar Exams Bombing spawned another tragedy which directly affected Alpha Phi Omega as an organization: the tragedy of a Secretary of Justice pinpointing APO as the perpetrator of the dastardly deed even before all angles of the incident has been exhaustively investigated and intelligently discarded. It was, after all, Sherlock Holmes who said, in the “Sign of the Four” that “when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” To further cast calumny on Alpha Phi Omega, the Secretary of Justice questionably blamed Alpha Phi Omega as the perpetrator of two other grenade attacks in Metro Manila and, thereafter, directed the NBI to find the evidence to sustain her determination. This is not justice nor even a parody of justice but a clear case of pseudo-bill of attainder where membership to APO automatically makes one a suspect. The Secretary of Justice makes a mockery of the Blackstonian formulation that “better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.” This is the reason for the call:

JUSTICE FOR ALPHA PHI OMEGA

The tragedy of blaming Alpha Phi Omega for the incident has spawned a much greater tragedy: that the true perpetrators of the 2010 Bar Exams Grenade Attack will go scot-free, never to face the bar of justice. As the State’s resources are expended on a clearly unjust prosecution, the trail leading to the true architects of the crime becomes obfuscated while the memories of the witnesses, defective as these naturally are, become even more defective as these are diluted by misidentifications of the clearly innocent. And as the trail grows cold and memories fade, the offenders escape unscathed even by the vexations of accusation and prosecution. In the end, therefore, the victims are the true losers which is the reason for the cry:

JUSTICE TO THE BAR BLAST VICTIMS

The greatest injustice of all is that the agency which is tasked by law to determine probable cause makes an accusation before gathering evidence to support the indictment. To make matters worse, the Secretary of Justice publicly denounces Alpha Phi Omega, forgetting her duties, both as THE Secretary of Justice, a FORMER Chair of the Commission on Human Rights, and, most importantly, as a lawyer trained in the intricacies of the law, that the pantheon upon which all rights proceed is that: “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.” Equally forgotten is the premier legal presumption of all, which applies in all instances and in all cases that “a person is presumed to be innocent of crime or wrong.” When these rights and presumption are forsaken for the sake of expediency, then we revert to the tyranny of old where the fate of all persons are determined, not by law, but by the will of the individual who rules over his fellowmen. Thus, we plead for –

JUSTICE FOR ALL

As our brothers “streak through storied history,” never before has an issue directly affected the Fraternity as the present witchhunt. Never before has the spirit of defiance and freedom been more apropos than at present where the strong arm of the State has once more been heavily laid

This video was a special project of the Golden Anniversary Reunion Committee headed by Jejomar Binay as Overall Chairman,  and Manny Clarino as President of UP APO AA, and whose  consent I have replicated an “on-line” internet-based version of this special video collection.

To view the videos, follow this link:

http://www.youtube.com/p/B2409C34EACA87B3?hl=en_US&fs=1

Yours Etally,
Mike Quiray, ’79B

When my batchmate, Rollie, died in a rumble, Papa and his family right away pursued the formation of the Rolando T. Abad Engineering Scholarship Foundation. A number of UP students, Alpha Phi Omega members and nonmembers alike, have been beneficiaries of the 33-year old foundation.

The Abad family, with APO legal support, also pursued Rollie’s killers. After five years in the court of first instance, four years in the court of appeals, and four years in the supreme court — 13 years all together — the homicide conviction of Rollie’s assailants took hold. According to Papa, two of them (Benjamin L. Camins and Rodolfo T. Daza) were able to change their identities and flee to the United States. And, as far as Papa knew, of the two other convicts (Mario M. Rilles and Juancho T. Jaime), one already died and one was seriously ill.

Zodiac 1973D batchmates met Rollie’s family during our initiation weeks. The night before our final initiation, all twelve of us slept in Rollie’s bedroom and in the third floor room accessible by using a wrought iron spiral staircase. At the time, the Abad residence on 11 Roseville was the tallest structure in the White Plains Subdivision in Quezon City, Metropolitan Manila. Our initiation was conducted in Pasig, and we made it back to Rollie’s rooms after and nursed ourselves there.

Papa and Mama knew what we were up to, and they were always supportive of their children. Even with Rollie’s passing, the family would welcome APO to their home warmly. Brod Titus, the fourth child, joined Alpha Phi chapter even after the incident. And Rollie’s death anniversary was marked with mass and fellowship at the house that Papa designed and built.

Angel B. Abad, architect, studied at MIT in Santa Cruz and Intramuros in Manila. He graduated in 1951 and taught for 20 years in the MIT departments of chemical engineering and architecture. He took the board examinations in architecture in 1960 and placed third. He was a fellow of the United Architects of the Philippines and was active with the UAP Quezon City chapter.

Angel and Gloria’s six children were: Oldest daughter Malou married Rocky Reynolds, and they live with their daughter in Veradale in the suburbs of Spokane, Washington. Oldest son Edward and Eva Marie nee Padilla live in Quezon City with their three daughters. Then there’s Rollie, whose remains were first buried at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina and then moved to the Christ the King crypt in Greenmeadows when Mama passed on August 17, 2006. Next is Brod Titus who married the former Erlee Santos. They live with their two daughters and one son in Daniels, West Virginia, where Titus is a practicing doctor. Michelle, the youngest girl, married Ronald Ariban, and they have a son and live in Quezon City. The youngest son, Gabby, is still single.

Two years after Rollie died, Papa started to devote himself to building churches and chapels. From 1979 until his retirement, Architect Abad designed and supervised the construction of at least 13 religious buildings. Four of those are the Christ the King church on Greenmeadows Avenue, the San Andres chapel and parish center in the White Plains Subdivision, and two in Barangay Bagumbayan, all in Quezon City. Other communities that benefit from Papa’s apostolic work are in Dagupan City, Iligan City, Batangas, and Pangasinan.

For his dedication to the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II honored Papa with a plaque of distinction. Jaime Cardinal Sin presented the following award on January 8, 1987 (in Latin):

IOANNES PAULUS II PONT. MAXIMUS
AUGUSTAE CRUCIS INSIGNE
PRO ECCLESIA ET PONTIFICE
EGREGIA OPERA STUDIOQUE CONSPICUIS PRAECIPUE CONSTITUTUM
D.no Angelo Abad
DECERNERE ET LARGIRI DIGNATUS EST, EIDEM PARITER FACULTATEM
FACIENS SESE HOC ORNAMENTO DECORANDI
EX VATICANS DE VIII JANUARIS MCMCLXXXVII

The plaque, signed by the Pope, was displayed behind Papa’s desk in his office on the main floor of his home in White Plains.

“God gave us three gifts: the gifts of time, talent, and treasure,” said Papa. “I don’t have much treasure, but I have time and talent. I do apostolic work as insurance upstairs,” he quipped. “Of real value is not what we have, but what we have done with what we have.”

God gave us Papa and Mama Abad, who in turn shared Brod Rollie with us. We value Rollie’s precious little time, Papa’s generous talent, and all of Mama’s treasure.

In Papa’s passing, and in remembering his life and times, we realize the worth of his apostolic work. Accepting His will be done, Papa honored God and us. It was a privilege to have learned and served, cried and laughed, and loved and prayed with Brod Architect Angel B. Abad.

In Leadership, Friendship, and Service,

Brod Mel S Gonzales Jr
APO-Eta Zodiac 1973D
APO-USA Gamma Beta 1984

How time flies. Parang kailan lamang ng tayo ay magkakilala at maging magkakapatid sa Alpha Phi Omega. Gusto sana naming sariwain ang mga panahong ito kaya kami na naging APO noong 1960, kaming mga Blackjacks at High Noon ay nag-kaisa na magdiwang ng aming Gintong Taon…at siempre gusto namin kasama kayo!

KAYA, YOU ARE ALL INVITED TO JOIN US AND
GET BACK TO THE 60′S
DANCING THE NIGHT AWAY TO THE MUSIC OF TWO ACKNOWLEDGED RETRO BANDS
THE X.O.P. and the Endangered Species

on Oct 23 at the Fiesta San Miguel, Dusit Thani Hotel. Sumptuous Buffet Dinner will be served at 7PM plus Bottles of Wine at every table. Please bring your partner, spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend or whoever will make your night memorable. Let us once again re-live our frat ball years. But of course, like any frat ball there is a cost to it. For this night we are asking from you a minimal contribution of P1000 per head. We, the Blackjacks & High Noon are subsidizing the difference.

The invitation is attached. PLease confirm your presence with Alumni president Manny Clarino at ev_clarino@yahoo.com.ph and/or 09178102882. Once your presence is confirmed, Manny will send you the printed invitation. Please note, our initial reservation is for 100 pax although we expect more will be coming to the affair.

In behalf of Blackjacks and High Noon, this is

Ernie Hernandez
Blackjacks, Eta 60A

(Check photos of the event here: Back to the 60s)

No one is prouder than his own Eta Chapter in the University of the Philippines, Diliman campus.

In a testimonial dinner at Metro Club in the financial district of Makati, 17 June 2010, Vice President-elect Jejomar Cabanuatan Binay was honored by no less than the University of the Philippines Alpha Phi Omega Alumni Association (UP APOAA) headed by Manny Clarino.

Binay, a graduate of political science and law from UP, belongs to Batch 60 of Eta, also known as Blackjacks. He was also a member of the UP Student Council and prime chancellor of the fraternity during his UP days.

In attendance included Binay’s batchmates and Eta Chapter’s personalities like former San Fabian, Pangasinan mayor and now provincial board member Mojamito R. Libunao ‘59, former Makati City councilor Armando P. Padilla ‘74, Intellectual Property Coalition chairman and famous violinist Philip John J. Lesaca ‘72, former UP National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP NCPAG) College Secretary and faculty member Joel V. Mangahas ’81, and members of Kappa Phi Omega.

The Band of Brothers and Sisters in Service campain team were also full force during the event. In the forefront were Atty. Luis Paredes, Atty. Rico Lainez, Atty. Chato Marinas, Ms Sallie Licauco, and members of the BRODSS Office.

Binay’s inauguration is set on June 30, 2010 before Supreme Court Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales.

MANILA, Philippines — How did Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay do it? Against what seemed like formidable odds, he emerged the winner of the vice presidential election?

The man himself invokes preparedness and destiny, plus a number of other factors involving his opponents: The complacency of the consistent survey front-runner Sen. Manuel Roxas II and the diminished ratings of Sen. Loren Legarda. And there were Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero’s endorsement, the pro-poor brand of his party standard-bearer Joseph Estrada, and the efforts of his fraternity brothers and sisters, his city’s sister cities, towns and provinces, and his fellow senior citizens.

In his initial news conferences after the voting machines started transmitting election results that showed him leading Roxas by hundreds of thousands of votes, Binay said he knew that he would be No. 1 despite the fact that his ratings were in the low single digits when the campaign began.

“Before God and before men, I will tell you that I knew I was going to win,” he told reporters in his 21st floor perch at Makati City Hall.

Read books
Originally a presidential aspirant himself, Binay claimed to have studied and prepared for the task, and to have run one of the most organized, if not the most organized, national campaign from February to May.

“I read six or seven books on the making of the American president,” he said.
In the process of narrating what he had learned, Binay cited former US President Jimmy Carter’s experience in seeking help from Georgia businessmen.

But he stopped short, thinking that he might be giving away too much. “Teka muna (Wait), that’s my trade secret,” he said, laughing.

222 sister LGUs
Binay, 68, began traveling to various points in the country late in 2007, according to his media relations officer Joey Salgado.

The trips were made at a faster clip in 2009 when local government units invited Makati to be a sister LGU and hosted the mayor for ceremonies in cities, towns and provinces.
When Binay attended the ceremonies, he took the occasion to visit other LGUs in the area, Salgado said, adding that Makati had “sister relations” with 222 local governments.
Sister cities share technologies and innovations in governance with one another. In Makati’s case, it shares its know-how in the computerization of government services. (Binay said that with its billion-peso revenues, Makati even shared resources with needy LGUs.)

“I mingled with the local governments,” Binay said. “This is my line of competency. I speak the language of mayors and governors. I can tell them the problems and what I did with the projects, so that we can take pride in saying, ‘These were successful projects.’”
Binay said that even if only half of Makati’s sister LGUs backed his campaign, that already meant millions of votes.

But he claimed that whatever political advantage he gained from the partnerships with LGUs was only incidental: “That was only an offshoot … I hope you would believe me when I tell you that with all the blessings that we received from the Lord, it was only right that we help needy local governments.”

Troubleshooting
Chiz Escudero’s role in Binay’s campaign was not confined to his TV ad endorsing the mayor as his vice presidential candidate, according to an insider who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Escudero camp intensified its involvement in the latter part of the campaign, when it realized that Binay’s ratings were not moving despite his network of local officials.

“The network was not being translated into voter preference,” the insider said. Per the insider’s account, this was how the troubleshooting went:

Taking advantage of the fact that Roxas and his people were not coordinating with local government officials, the Escudero camp began calling these officials as well as members of the House of Representatives to push Binay.

“The governors were the key … They were told, ‘Do you expect Mar to help you? He’s not even talking to you,’” the insider said.

The monetary support that was released in the latter part of the campaign, which appeared to result in Binay’s surge that culminated in a 0.2-percentage-point lead over Roxas in the last week, was not that considerable.

The important thing was the promise made—that help would come in the form of an increased share in the internal revenue allotment, or the LGUs’ share in the taxes they collected from their jurisdictions.

‘True volunteerism’
Binay said he had his brothers and sisters in the Alpha Phi Omega to thank for his victory. “The others have persons who campaign for them. I call those payroll loyalties. In my case, my brods’ loyalty is true volunteerism. We are 120,000 in our frat. And we have from governors down to barangay officials to start with,” he said.

Jokingly, he said it was some kind of “payback” after hurdling the rigors of fraternity initiation.

After his proclamation as Vice President-elect on Wednesday, Binay waived a news conference at the House that was supposed to be held after that of President-elect Benigno Aquino III, and chose to meet with his frat brothers and sisters who gathered at the lobby of the building.

Senior citizens
Binay also credited part of his victory to the support of senior citizens who, he said, had influence on some three persons in their family.

“This one, [my opponents] failed to [tap],” he said. “Senior citizens [number] six to seven million. I am a senior citizen; I can talk in the language of senior citizens.”

He added that Makati—which provides social services, even free movies, to the elderly—was the mecca of senior citizens in the country.

That he was Estrada’s running mate also helped, Binay said, dismissing talk that his camp had junked the ousted President.

“On the issue of helping the poor, our rivals were just talking about how to do it,” he said. “President Erap and I have already done it. President Erap was a mayor of San Juan and he was a model mayor of San Juan during his time.”

‘Caught napping’
Binay agreed with observations that after dominating the pre-election surveys for the most part of the campaign period, the Roxas camp became complacent.

“In the words of Sen. Serge Osmeña, they were caught napping,” he said. “In a way that is true because if you would look at the trend of the elections, [you would see that] they only focused on their own region.”

Legarda’s sudden decline in the surveys also benefited him, Binay said. But he said he had also managed to cut into Roxas’ ratings, which dwindled from the high 50s in the beginnings to just 37 percentage points a week before Election Day.

Binay actually led Roxas by 0.2 points—37.2 to Roxas’ 37—in Pulse Asia’s last survey before the elections. By then Escudero had endorsed “NoyBi” (Aquino and Binay).

Repositioning
A repositioning of forces at the end of a campaign is nothing new, according to Binay.
“Those are the realities of politics,” he said. “It’s not just the Liberal Party that experienced it.”

The Nacionalista Party’s Manuel Villar, the administration’s Gilbert Teodoro—“all of them experienced somersaulting, positioning,” Binay said. “And usually, the somersaulting happens when the supporters of an already losing candidate go with the one who’s winning.”

Looking back, Binay said destiny played a huge part in his political career.
“It just so happened that I was beside Nene (then Interior Secretary Aquilino Pimentel Jr.) and I was appointed mayor [of Makati],” he said.

More than 20 years after that appointment by then President Corazon Aquino, Binay is now the Vice President-elect.

“The one who they said wouldn’t win was the one who won. Destiny … it happens,” Binay said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100611-274985/How-Binay-did-it-Chiz-Mar-seniors-frat-brods

Brods/Sis, The anniversary ball was a success! Seeing brothers and sisters gathered even just for a night, brought chills to me, being the Grand Chancellor. It was fun to see brothers exchange stories, as well as contact numbers. At first, most brothers were hesitant to dance on the floor but a few bottles of beer and wine made almost everyone look for partners or join the line dance.  It really was a night I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Congratulations to everyone especially the committee Chair Brod Q Pastrana and Sis Rosie de Ocampo, Awards Committee Head Brod Chato Mariñas, with the support of our hardworking President Manny Clarino and all other committee members. Congratulations as well to our Order of Lafayette Awardee Brod PNP Chief Gen. Jess Verzosa and the set of Oblation Awardees. You truly made us proud to be APO-ETA!

Allow me also to thank the following for their generosity of sponsoring the resident brods and sis:

1. Jun Rivera $40 – thru Brod Frony  Balderama
2. Bernie Castillo $200 – thru brod Edmund Zamora
3. Frony Balderama $100
4. Freddie Cabling – 2 brothers
5. Boysie Brill – 1 brother (thru brod Freddie Cabling)
6. Dan Vargas $100
7. Alex Tamayo, Lito Quiray, Chito Sarrol, Ted Topacio, Tito Mayor, Ding Viray – 14,000 pesos (thru Brod Tito Mayor– turned over to President Manny Clarino)
8. Willie Vinegas – 4, 000 pesos turned over to Brod Manny Clarino

Our gratitude also goes to Brod Major General Jojie Segovia, Sis Pia, Brod Koreeks, and Mamasal for purchasing some artworks for the benefit of the resident brods. A part of the proceeds will go to the artist and another part will go to the resident fund and be used for Brod Ronald “PAPSI” Baccay’s candidacy for University Student Council Elections on February 24. He is running for Councilor and we are currently campaigning for him.

Finally, our gratitude and appreciation to brothers and sisters from Northern California who donated 24,000 pesos for our projects thru Brod Aris Corpuz. You may not be here with us during the fraternity ball but certainly you were present in spirit and definitely are in our hearts and minds.

ETA for EXCELLENCE!
See you next year!

Fritz G. Sapon
Grand Chancellor

My apologies in advance if I forgot to mention some names especially with the donors and artworks’ buyers. Please feel free to correct me. Thank you as well Brod Danny Basobas for allowing us to ride in your car (`though we got lost) and Brod Frony Balderama for lending us your access database (I hope you had a good time here and wish you a safe trip back to the US)