Filipino Star - November 2010 Issue

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14 From Page 4 Open Letter of ethics among FCBL Committee membership when he stated: “They always make me feel I’m breaking a wedding promise to stick together for better or worse, for richer or poorer. But I can’t see how an association in a free country can possibly outlaw them.” (Paragraph 9). b. Ms. Marlene Birao-Schachter “asked whether the proposal was meant only for FAMAS Officers” (Paragraph 11). “The chair said it applied to all FAMAS members” (lone Paragraph 12 -sic). Either Ms. Birao-Schachter or you misinterpreted it as adultery issue, when in fact we were talking at another time the integrity of FAMAS members in filing candidacy to the FAMAS Nominating Committee/Committee on Elections. On this instance, we have to clarify that the issue is on filing of candidacy (where some personal information are divulged, like marital status. 4. Policies, procedures and glossary of FCBL terms, as an offshoot of the review of the FCBL, were to be recommended by the FCBL Committee members to the Executive Board. In light of this, it was delegated not only to Mrs. Alice Bustamante, solely, but to the team of Ms. Bustamante that included Mrs. Maggie Calcetas and Mr. Bernardo Sarmiento. Thus, your statement on paragraphs 6 and 14 are erroneous and insulting to Mrs. Bustamante. In addition, the Chairperson did not appoint Mrs. Bustamante “as chairman of the committee to exclude adulterers from the association.” Again we reiterate, neither committee ever existed nor an appointment had ever happened. 5. You claimed that “overwhelming majority of FCBL members said removing adulterers from rolls of FAMAS is constitutional.” Then in paragraph 13, you have stated that “other FCBL members---Birao-Schachter, Maggie Calcetas, Denie Guloy, and Paz Guloy— offered no opinion on the adultery ban.“ These are two contradicting statements, which have both fallacies, if we abide by the traditional concise reporting (in journalism). If the four (4) you had mentioned offered no opinions; and then you claimed Mr. Salazar is a dissenter, then that makes five (5) people already having no action on issues of adultery. The FAMAS representative (Shinette Khoury, replacing Ms. Aurora Osdon at that time) has no vote and the Chairperson (Leandro Tolentino) votes only in cases of tie. Ms. Erlinda Baltazar was on leave at that time. That left, in your mind, Ms. Melle Lugod, Ms. Alice Bustamante and Mr. Bernardo Sarmiento to support this issue. Therefore, there were only three as opposed to five that could overwhelmingly sway a majority in the committee. We would then request your reflection on this: where is the overwhelming majority if this has really happened? Or were you just trying to pin down particularly two of these three people because you begrudged them? 6. On paragraph 5, regarding observer Mr. Willie Quiambao’s views: it was clearly a misinterpretation on your part, as Mr. Quiambao emphatically said that the legitimacy issues discussed were regarding the right to privacy of the individuals. His examples mentioned on his proposed revision (submitted prior to this said meeting) were not pertaining to FAMAS but rather to another organization. This resolution of “legitimacy issues” was just a statement of precaution by him as a concerned member who was there to inform and enlighten FCBL Committee members. 7. Mrs. Pat Magallanes’ statements on paragraphs 15, 16, 17, and 20 were solely her opinions, based on erroneous facts. She seemingly lacked the objectivity in providing her statements to you, which you readily printed as opposed to consulting any FCBL Committee member regarding the matter. She also didn’t bother to consult any of the FCBL Committee, but she gave an outright subjective conclusion. This is risky to your newspaper, because she is one of your publishers; and this may reflect on how your publishers may rush to irresponsible conclusions without regard to clarifying issues. We stand in the FCBL Committee that we do not propose anything that “control personal relations, and is discriminatory” as she claimed in your article. B. The malicious placing of The Filipino Forum’s advertisement on the outside back cover of FFCAQ Souvenir program 1. There seemed to be a malicious intent to put the said edition of The Filipino Forum in back page of the souvenir program under the pretext of advertising your newspaper. The members of the FCBL Committee have unanimously agreed that it is inappropriate and distasteful, and think that your action was deliberate to malign FAMAS. 2. It also appeared that there was collusion between FFCAQ and The Filipino Forum on the printing of this edition where FAMAS was obviously maligned. It couldn’t possibly be an oversight on your part, for you always prided yourself on competence and efficiency. Your vulgar poorly-thought of idea may have an adverse influence on any future collaboration between FAMAS and FFCAQ. Thus, we perceive this as a malicious action that creates disunity among the Filipino community, and specifically, bannered under a federation that claims unity among organizations. We, the members of the FCBL Committee, strongly advise you to review your newspaper’s policies thoroughly regarding its contents. We further suggest that you validate or verify your sources of information, refrain from biases, and abide by the rules of responsible journalism. You have sensationalized issues that were not even put on the agenda of the FCBL meetings. Your editorial page stated: “Whatever happened to responsibility in journalism?” On this premise of yours, we ask for your immediate action to rectify or retract the contents of your article; and act accordingly based on standard ethical views. We remain. The FCBL Committee 2009-2011 Leandro Tolentino, Chairman Aurora Osdon, FAMAS President Erlinda Baltazar, Member Alice Loyola-Bustamante, Member Magdalena Belleza-Calcetas, Member Carmelita Lugod, Member Bernardo Sarmiento, Member The North American Filipino Star www.filipinostar.org From Page 4 Pacquiao matter. Pacquiao landed some big left hands early, cutting Margarito beneath the right eye and causing it to swell. By the middle of the fight he couldn't see out of that eye and his left eye began closing, too. The fight was for the WBC 154pound title even though the contract weight was 150 pounds. Margarito weighed 150 at Friday's weigh-in, but was 165 on the unofficial HBO scale before the fight while Pacquiao, who had been 144.6, was 148 pounds. Pacquiao also gave away 4½ inches in height and was at a six-inch reach disadvantage, but that didn't matter either. Pacquiao earned a guaranteed $15 million, though he is likely to make millions more on his cut of the television revenues. He planned to give a concert at Lake Tahoe on Tuesday and then return to his political duties in the Philippines. "I have another job after this," Pacquiao said. "I'm going back to the Philippines to do my other job and be a public servant." UN poisons its human rights mission Irwin Cotler From: The Australian October 04, 2010 THE UN Human Rights Council is the mandated UN body responsible for the promotion and protection of international human rights. It was intended to improve on its discredited predecessor, the UN Human Rights Commission, which former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan critiqued for its "politicised" and "biased" decision-making, but it appears to have inherited and compounded the flaws of its predecessor. The election of Libya -- one of the world's worst human rights violators -- to the UN Human Rights Council as it commences its new session is an affront to the case and cause of human rights. Libya's Gaddafi regime is notorious for its systematic and widespread violations of human rights, including its patterns of arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and persecution of minorities, let alone the 1998 bombing of Pan-Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Indeed, what is most disturbing is that an overwhelming majority of UN member states elected Libya to the council notwithstanding its international criminality, such that a global coalition of 27 non-governmental human rights groups -- joined by victims of Libyan human rights violations -- has now launched a campaign to remove Muammar Gaddafi's Libya from the council. This is but the latest in a series of breaches by the UN Human Rights Council of its mandate to protect the victims of human rights violations and hold the violators to account. Indeed, the council has turned its mandate on its head. First, the council has turned a blind eye to the world's most serious human rights violators, failing to adopt any resolution or investigative mandate for such human rights violator countries as China, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Russia or Iran, to name but a few -- all being listed on Freedom House's list of the 20 worst human rights abusers. While the UN General Assembly calls for countries to be elected to the council based on their human rights records, 24 out of 47 present members (51 per cent) fail to meet fundamental standards of democracy and human rights. Second, according to the recent 2010 UN Watch Report and Scorecard, 18 out of the 30 key council resolutions that were adopted were prejudicial and counterproductive. These included resolutions praising Sudan for its "progress"; nOVEMBER 2010 defining any discussion of terrorism committed in the name of Islam as a form of "defamation" and "racism"; commending Sri Lanka after it killed an estimated 20,000 civilians; and refusing to hold Hamas terrorism accountable. Third, since its 2006 creation, 80 per cent of the council's resolutions have singled out one member state -- Israel -- for differential and discriminatory treatment, thereby breaching the UN charter's foundational principle of "equality for all nations, large and small". Moreover, while the council has selectively singled out one member state, it continues to grant the major violators exculpatory immunity. Fourth, in an appalling breach of its own principles and procedures, the UN Human Rights Council has institutionalised a permanent agenda item indicting one member state -- agenda item No 7, which speaks of "Israeli human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories" -- while agenda item No 8 speaks of "human rights violations in the rest of the world". Here is an Alice in Wonderland situation where the conviction is secured before the hearing begins. This not only galvanises the ongoing delegitimisation, if not the demonisation, of a member state of the UN, but it provides aid and comfort to those, such as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who envisage "a world without Israel", as well as those who seek to target and criminalise Israel alone as "the Jew among the nations". What, then, can be done in light of these assaults on the UN charter and the mandate of the Human Rights Council? Australia, not unlike my country, Canada, has made important contributions to the UN for more than 60 years, including in the areas of international peace and security, human rights, development assistance and social, economic and environmental affairs. In particular, Australia has been a strong advocate of the human rights mandate of the council, and while not at prersent a member of the council, participates actively in its discussions. Accordingly, Australia, in conjunction with Canada, the US and others of the community of democracies, should seek to promote and implement an eight-point action plan outlined by UN Watch as follows: -Hold the worst violators to account: seek accountability from the world's most serious violators by introducing country-specific resolutions, and convene special sessions to address urgent situations of gross human rights violations. -Vigorously protect freedom of speech: defend freedom of speech and oppose the campaign of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference to silence any discussion of terrorism or women's rights by characterising it as a form of "defamation" and "racism". -End discriminatory and unequal treatment of Israel: combat the council's obsessive adoption of one-sided and biased resolutions against a member state, and seek to remove the permanent agenda item No 7 that institutionalises such discriminatory treatment. -Defend the rights of NGOs: vigorously defend human rights NGOs at the council, and preserve their historic role as independent voices that can hold governments to account. -Oppose the election of violators to the council: encourage countries with the strongest human rights record to stand for election to the council in their respective regional groups. -Encourage positive work of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: defend the positive and independent work of the commissioner against escalating attempts to control her activities and agenda. -Protect special rapporteurs: defend the council's independent rights monitors from efforts to intimidate them or influence their work. -Strengthen the universal periodic review through fair and informed questioning of every country reviewed. The tragedy in all this is that a UN body, established for the protection of human rights, has become a human rights violator. In particular, these violations now take place under the protective cover of the UN, invoking the imprimatur of international law and marching human rights. It is not only one state that is under assault, or the leading human rights violators who enjoy exculpatory immunity. The bell is tolling for the council and the cause of human rights. The time has come to sound the alarm and return the council to its founding principles and ideals. Irwin Cotler is a member of parliament and a former minister of justice and attorneygeneral of Canada. An emeritus professor of law at McGill University and board member of UN Watch, he delivered the Gandel Oration in Australia in July. Yours truly, Howard Liebman Chief of Staff to the Hon. Irwin Cotler, PC, OC, MP Mount Royal/Mont-Royal
nOVEMBER 2010 The North American Filipino Star 15 Ingredients: 1 whole dalag (mudfish), about 1 kg., scaled, gutted and scrubbed well to remove the slime, and cut to serving size pieces 1 bunch of pechay (local Chinese cabbage) or a combination of pechay and repolyo (white cabbage) 1 large onion, finely sliced 1 tomato (optional, I added the tomato for color, basically), diced 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced 3 cloves of garlic, crushed and peeled 1 tsp. (or more) of whole black peppercorns 3 to 4 tbsps. of vegetable cooking oil patis (fish sauce), to taste For the miso sauce: Philippine Cuisine Pesang dalag (mudfish in light soup) with miso sauce Add the miso and stir. The mixture will appear much too dry at this point. about a cup of yellow miso (available in vegetable stalls in wet markets; also available in most supermarkets) 1 onion 1 tomato 3 cloves of garlic 2 tbsps. of vegetable cooking oil patis, to taste Saute the onion, garlic, ginger and tomato, if using. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables soften a little. Add the fish. Pour in enough water to cover. Add peppercorns. Bring to the boil. Remove the froth (scum) that forms on the surface as it will make the soup cloudy. Prepare the pechay. Wash, cut off the root ends and, if rather large, cut right across the middle. Add the pechay to the pot, pushing the leaves down. Season with patis to taste. Continue boiling for a minute then cover the pot and turn off the heat. Both the fish and greens will continue cooking in the residual heat. I find this the best way not to overcook them. While the fish finishes cooking in the residual heat, prepare the miso sauce. Finely slice an onion, chop a tomato and three cloves of garlic. Heat about two tablespoonfuls of vegetable oil and saute the garlic, onion and tomato until they start to soften. Take some of the broth from the pesa and pour into the miso mixture little by little, no more than a few tablespoonfuls at a time, until the mixture is of the desired consistency. Some people like the sauce to be almost soupy; others prefer it thick. When the consistency of the miso sauce is just right, add patis to taste. Serve the pesang dalag with the miso sauce on the side. Torta (Crab Omelette) Ingredients alimango or alimasag (crabs) eggs onion celery or green onions or both (if you have kinchay, use it) salt white pepper garlic (extra garlic for frying) oil for deep frying Cooking Instructions for (Crab Torta) Boil crabs until red. Take meat out of crab including the "alige" if present. Save as much as much meat as you can. Make sure not to include 'bones' in the meat that you collect. Set meat aside and also save the shell. Slice celery and onion. Set aside. Whip eggs. As to the number of eggs, it depends on how much crab meat/vegetable mixture you have. Mix crab meat, "alige", onion, celery or green onions (note: I like celery better in this dish, it gives it a little bit of flavor, kinchay or cilantro is also good to use here), a little bit of garlic, salt and pepper to taste - like making an omelet. Mixture has to have a consistency that the ingredients don't fall apart or run. Stuff crab shell with the crab/egg/vegetable mixture. Heat oil in pan (a wok works best here), add garlic. Once the garlic is brown, fry crab. You probably need to deep fry so heat a lot of oil. This is very quick actually. When the crab meat mixture turns brown, take the crab out of oil and drain (paper towel works best). Beef Tapa www.filipinostar.org Estimated preparation & cooking time: 30 minutes Ingredients: 1/2 kilo lean beef, thinly sliced */2 cup fish sauce (patis) *1/4 cup refined sugar *3 teaspoons salt *1 head garlic, crushed and minced *1 teaspoon ground pepper *1/2 cup cooking oil Cooking Instructions: *Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl *Marinate for at least an hour or keep in the refrigerator overnight. *In a large wok, heat cooking oil. *Fry the marinated beef for 15 minutes or until golden brown. *Serve hot with steamed rice or fried rice. Pork loin Approximately 15 lbs 2 .09 lb Half or Whole pork Cut & Wrapped 1.39 lb 8 .79 Home smoked meat lb Fresh Belly with skin 2 .99 lb � Fresh pork blood � Fresh bacon � Fresh liver � Pork skin Available Mon. Tue. Wed. BUSINESS HOURS 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Thu. Fri. 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Saturday 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Sunday Closed Havelock 203 Beef Blade steak 3 .29 lb Front quarter of beef Approximately 200 lbs 2 .69 lb Beef short ribs 3 .29 lb Pork Spare Ribs 2 .29 lb St.Chrysostome St. Edouard St. Remi Sherrington Barrington Hemmingford Jackso n Road Malone Serving Tip: Beef tapa goes great with any of the following: *Atchara (pickled green papaya). *White vinegar with hot chili peppers *Sliced red tomatoes. *With fried egg and fried rice (Tapsilog) 219 Covey Hill Road Boucherie Viau Inc. Picnic ham (with bone) 1 .29 lb Pork Head 15 .00 ea 1 litre of fresh blood with purchase when available 1/2 pork 4 .99 Regular smoked bacon lb 10 lbs & over 4 .89 lb 83 Covey Hill, Hemmingford QC J0L 1H0 Tel.: (450) 247- 2130 or (450) 247- 3561 219 Moders Canada U. S. A. 202 Parc Safari Class Champlain Napierville Lacolle Sortie Exit No.6 15
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