UST TOPS UAAP RANKINGS AFTER 1ST SEMESTER

MANILA, Philippines – University of Santo Tomas topped the University Athletic Association of the Philippines overall standings after the first semester of competitions, according to a report furnished Monday by host school University of the Philippines.

UST, which won five titles in the seniors division, amassed 167 points, followed by Far Eastern University with 128 and De La Salle 119.

Points are calculated based on a school’s standing at the end of each sport. First place is equivalent to 15 points, second place 12, third place 10, fourth place eight, fifth place six, sixth place four, seventh place two and eighth and last only one point.

UST, the defending overall UAAP champion, won the titles in men’s swimming, table tennis and beach volleyball and in men’s and women’s taekwondo.

The Tigers placed in the top three in all sports in both gender divisions played in the first semester except in men’s basketball where they ranked a lowly fifth.

UP culled 118 points to place fourth overall. The bottom four was composed of Ateneo (fifth, 101 points); UE (sixth, 76); Adamson (seventh, 47); and National University (eighth, 25).

Last season, UST, FEU and UP placed in the top three in that order.

In the second semester, the UAAP will play athletics, baseball, fencing, football, softball, tennis, and volleyball. – GMANews.TV

Go USTe!! Go USTe!! 😀

THE HELL IS UP WITH THE PRESIDENT NOW?! (Teehankee Issue)

I AM SO FRUSTRATED RIGHT NOW!!!

Here’s a quick view on why I’m frustrated, thanks to my 2nd internet best friend, WIKIPEDIA (AFTER GOOGLE :P)

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The Hultman-Chapman murder case was a murder case that gained wide publicity in the Philippines during the early 1990’s. This is due to the fact that Claudio Teehankee, Jr., the perpetrator of the crime, was the son of the late former Chief Justice Claudio Teehankee, Sr. and the brother of former Justice Undersecretary Manuel Teehankee. The case helped sway the public view and lawmakers on crime and restore the death penalty in the Philippines.^[1]

Court records show that Chapman, Hultman, and another friend, Jussi Leino, were coming home from a party at around three o’clock in the morning of July 13, 1991. Leino was walking Hultman home along Mahogany street in Dasmariñas Village, Makati City when Teehankee came up behind them in his car. He stopped the two and demanded that they show some identification. Leino took out his wallet and showed Teehankee his Asian Development Bank ID. Teehankee grabbed the wallet. Chapman, who was waiting in a car for Leino, stepped in and asked Teehankee: “Why are you bothering us?” Teehankee drew out his gun and shot Chapman in the chest, killing him instantly. After a few minutes, Teehankee shot Leino, hitting him in the jaw. Then he shot Hultman on the temple before driving away. Leino survived and Hultman died two months later in hospital due to brain hemorrhages caused by the bullet fragments. Teehankee was arrested several days later on the testimony of several witnesses. The witnesses were Domingo Florence and Agripino Cadenas, private security guards, and Vincent Mangubat, a driver, all three being employs of residents of the village.

Claudio Teehankee, Jr. was convicted by the the Supreme Court of the Philippines in 1995 of murders of Roland John Chap man and Maureen Hultman and sentenced to one count ofreclusión perpetua and two counts of reclusión temporal. As of 2006, he was incarcerated for thirteen years at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.^[2] Teehankee, Jr. was ordered to pay civil indemnity: in Criminal Case No. 91-4605, 50,000.00 Philippine Pesos as indemnity for the Chapman’s death; 1,000,000.00 Pesos as moral damages; in Criminal Case No. 91-4606, 50,000.00 Pesos as indemnity for Maureen Navarro Hultman’s death; 2,350,461.83 Pesos as actual damages; 564,042.57 Pesos for loss of earning capacity; 1,000,000.00 Pesos as moral damages; and 2,000,000.00 Pesos as exemplary damages; in Criminal Case No. 91-4807, 30,000.00 Pesos as indemnity for Jussi Olavi Leino’s injuries; 118,369.84 Pesos and equivalent in Philippine Pesos of U.S.$55,600.00, both as actual damages; 1,000,000.00 Pesos as moral damages; and 2,000,000.00 Pesos as exemplary damages; In all 3 cases, to pay each of 3 offended parties the sum of 1,000,000.00 Pesos for attorney’s fees and expenses of litigation.^[3]

The killings of Chapman and Hultman, together with other notable heinous crimes such as the murder of Eldon Maguan and the Vizconde massacre caused the Philippine Congress to restore the death penalty in the Philippines in 1993. The imposition of the death penalty had been suspended with the enactment of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.^[4] The death penalty would again be barred in the Philippines after legislation to that effect was passed in 2006.

On October 6, 2008, Raul M. Gonzalez confirmed Claudio Teehankee Jr.’s release from prison by virtue of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo‘ commutation of sentence: “Everything went by the rules here. His [Teehankee’s] records have been reviewed by the Board of Pardons and Parole before a recommendation was given to the President.”^[5] Raul M. Gonzalez further stated that: “I would assume that he already paid the civil liabilities.” Philippine Daily Inquirer reported about P15 million as total damages. NBP Supt. Ramon Reyes said Teehankee was released based on “good conduct time allowance,” or GCTA: “The release of Mr. Teehankee underwent a rigorous review and it was signed by the Secretary of Justice, Raul Gonzalez.”^[6][7]

It is not unusual for rich and influential Filipinos (and their relatives) to get pardon in the Philippines. Ambassador Manuel Antonio Teehankee, Philippine representative to the World Trade Organization, stated that his brother Teehankee, Jr. “has also already entered several years back with the financial settlement with the Hultmans.” Further, Gonzalez admitted that Manuel’s “reminder” was major factor in the release: “Three weeks ago bago umalis iyan (Manuel)…umalis sa Switzerland, dumaan sa office ko, hopefully sabi niya baka sakaling mapalaya ang kapatid niya (Three weeks ago, before leaving for Switzerland, Teehankee’s brother went to my office and said hopefully I can facilitate his brother’s release).”^[8]

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What is up with the justice we have grown to obey?! How could they let someone like Teehankee go withut even finishing his sentence in prison? they all say that “the pardon was because of his family name” WTF?! YOU CANNOT MAKE THE PAST ACHIEVEMENTS OF ANOTHER PERSON (which was his father, may he rest in peace) TO BE CARRIED OUT TO ANOTHER JUST BECAUSE THE PERSON IS OF CLOSE RELATIONS! NOT IN THIS SYSTEM AT LEAST! I know what you people might be thinking “it was stated in the law that this is allowed…” WHATEVER! I DON’T KNOW SH*T about the whole LAW thing here in OUR country but I sure KNOW what is ETHICALLY MORAL AND RIGHT from WRONG. I don’t care if it was in the books…if a normal person like me would review the case, which happened when I was about 1-2 years old, I would NEVER, EVER, consider this man sane and with “good conduct” as the AUTHORITIES said he had. So what?! say I killed thousands of people for no good reason whatsoever, they lock me up in jail, I’ll be nice for like…half my sentence…then HOPEFULLY the authorities give me pardon. Assuming that my lineage somehow aided the government of this country…NO $HIT! 

 

WHY RELEASE SOMEONE WHO WAS ACTUALLY GUILTY?! WHAT ABOUT THOSE OLD PEOPLE WHO HAVE YET TO BE PROVEN GUILTY YET THEY ROT IN JAIL??? I saw this commercial wherein they featured arrested SUSPECTS who have yet to have a decent TRIAL due to lack of evidence. THEY WERE IN CUSTODY FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS just because of the assumption of them being primary suspects! THEY WERE LIKE ALL OLD and SICK. If you’re not from the Philippines, I TELL you…The prison here is just as poor as it can get. Prisoners die here because of the unsanitary conditions and bad “COP” behavior. YET Teehankee jr. got OUT from his supposedly 40-year sentence! 

 

You know what…I love this country…I love the people here…and I STILL believe that our President still has something good inspite of all the craziness that has happened. But this puts a stain on their clothes. I even heard from the news itself that Sanchez was next up on the PARDONED prisoners. Here’s the full article on that case…Quotes from the article

How Sanchez ravished her
“At around 1:00 a.m. of the next day, a crying Eileen was dragged out of the resthouse by Luis and Medialdea – her hair disheveled, mouth covered by a handkerchief, hands still tied and stripped of her shorts. The Mayor, clad merely in white polo, appeared and thanked Luis and Medialdea for the “gift.” “I am through with her. She’s all yours,” the Mayor uttered in contentment. ”

Aileen’s terrible fate
“The next destination was a sugarcane field in Sitio Paputok, Kilometro 74 of Barangay Mabacan. It was here that Luis announced that it’s tiime for the group to feast on Eileen (the exact words of Luis were “Turbohin na rin natin ang tinurbo ni Boss”). She was laid at the back of the van, with her hands and legs being held by the appellants while waiting for their turn. Then the gang-rape began. The first to ravish Eileen was Luis, then Medialdea, Boy, Ama, Brion and finally, Kawit. Bewailing the helplessness of her situation, Eileen pleaded, in between sobs and whimpers, for the torture to stop. However, her tears for compassion fell, weak and ineffective, upon the insensitive brutes. Kawit invited Centeno to join the sexual fiasco but the latter refused as he cannot, in conscience, bear the bestiality being committed on Eileen who appeared to be dead. After Kawit’s turn, Eileen knelt on the seat of the van and begged for her life. Unmoved, Luis muted Eileen’s cried by forcing an object into her mouth and then fired his baby armalite at her. ”

And the lie
“The Mayor claimed that he was at the residence of his mistress Elvira in Bay, Laguna in the morning of June 28, 1993. They left for Makati City at about 1:00 o’clock in the afternoon thereafter proceeded to San Pablo City at around 4:00 p.m., left that city at 7:30 p.m. and then returned to Elvira’s house in Bay at around 10:00 p.m. He and Elvira retired at around 12:30 in the morning. He woke up at 5:00 a.m. Jogging was his favorite form of exercise, but foul whether prevented him from running that morning. His three (3) children with Elvira greeted him at around 6:30 a.m. before heading for school. He took his breakfast and lunch at Elvira’s house.”

 

All I gotta say is…that the law is somehow bent to an extent that it is almost non-existent. How, oh how could the President allow this to happen…the only thing positive I can get from this is that she may plans for these 2 people to further the development of the country. Then again, I wouldn’t want my family to be feasting on the efforts of criminals who were merely SPARED from their actual fate and, most sadly, THE LAW.

 

PS: news from reliable sources quote Andres Hultman, Maureen Hultman’s father, in an interview saying

“According to the law, we should be advised. We were not notified (about the release) by friends in the Philippines who called us and sent emails to us. I’ve got so many emails the last couple of hours from the Philippines,” Mr Hultman said.

He added: “I think this (killer’s release) is a complete violation of the law. It’s unfortunate, I’m sorry to say, it’s corruption at the highest level of the country.”

Mr Hultman noted that before the Arroyo administration, two previous governments didn’t touch Teehankee’s case.

“President (Fidel) Ramos didn’t touch this, President (Joseph) Estrada didn’t touch, and now (President) Arroyo, she secretly and sneakily released him (Teehankee),” Hultman said.

He said, he and his wife Vivian (Maureen’s mom) were “shocked, surprised and angry” upon learning about the news that their daughter’s murderer is now a free man.

“I didn’t know what to say… a lot of things that have been sort of dormant for such a long time are suddenly up like it just happened…. And it’s very difficult to handle really, it’s like it all happened yesterday,” he added.

Mr Hultman also branded as complete lie the earlier statement made by executive secretary Eduardo Ermita that they were informed as early as 1999 about the possible granting of executive clemency to Teehankee.

“It’s a complete lie! We haven’t been advised with anything. We know that the family (Teehankee) has appealed for his release but that has no legal bearing in terms of releasing him without telling us that the government was considering so. The Executive Secretary again, I’m sorry to say this, is lying to the public,” Mr Hultman added.

When asked if the Hultmans felt betrayed by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez who recommended to President Arroyo the executive clemency for Teehankee, Mr Hultman said: “No apparently he’s a different person. At that time he was enthusiastic. I felt he was a person who would fight for his people and fight for the law to be applied in such a way that it was followed by everybody.”

“Now he seems to be indifferent otherwise this would not have passed through,” he added.

Another source states

“We are very sad, very disappointed, and very angry,” Andres Hultman said in an interview on QTV-11 television Tuesday evening.

The elder Hultman criticized the secrecy he said surrounded the clemency grant to Claudio Teehankee Jr.

“He was sentenced to life imprisonment…Now he’s free. Why was it kept quiet and secret? Why didn’t the rules and regulations apply,” Hultman said.

Hultman’s statement belied Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita’s claim earlier Tuesday that the family did not oppose the clemency grant.

“It was completely unexpected. The possibility was never mentioned to us, that he will be pardoned,” Hultman said.

He also expressed dismay over reports that Teehankee’s brother, Philippine representative to the World Trade Organization Manuel Teehankee, a former justice undersecretary, asked Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales to push for his brother’s pardon.

“What does this say about the country?” he said.

Hultman laughed off reports that Teehankee had apologized for the murder of his daughter, saying, “The last time we talked to him, he denied that he committed the crime.”

“We miss everything about her [Maureen]. She was the most lively of our children,” he said.

 

 

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Writer’s last notes: I can only say that the Executive Clemency was misused. And whatever happens now…will be because of the power demonstrated by the President herself. And this even is pure evidence that our President is willing to exercise her powers at will…even if it were to be against the millions of people she governs. I respect that…I am just really upset about the whole pardon thing. Makes me sad…