Newscast: The World Tonight - Broadcast date: 10/25/96
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Copyright © 1996, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp.
Subject: RAMOS LASHES TIMOR CRITICS
Newscast: TWTONITE - Air Date: 10/25/96A day after Malacañang turned down the visa application of East Timorese resistance leader Jose Ramos-Horta the president today found himself defending his decision again. And it seems the president is getting tired of the subject.
The occasion was a video conference with the APEC Business Advisory Council in Washington DC, but it got sidetracked by the East Timor issue. This time it seems the president's patience run out. It was an Indonesian journalist who threw the question. Suharto's human rights problem after all is not limited to East Timor. He has been under attack for his crackdown on pro-democracy activists. And now the Ramos government's commitment to human rights is also under question. Ramos once more defended the ban on Jose Ramos Horta. East Timor was not the only diplomatic headache in the APEC summit. There is also the question of Taiwan. Its president Lee Teng Hui has not been invited. There is no way China will allow it.
A leftist group will question before the Supreme Court next week the ban on Ramos-Horta. The Manila People's Forum has invited Ramos-Horta as a keynote speaker in next month's conference.
Subject: INDONESIA BREAKS SILENCE
Newscast: TWTONITE - Air Date: 10/25/96The Indonesian embassy has issued a statement saying its occupation of East Timor has resulted in better lives for its people. But a human rights group in the United States urges president Ramos to stand up to the region's hardline rulers in promoting freedom of expression.
Human rights activists held a picket at Mendiola to demand an accounting of political dissidents who disappeared during the dictatorship. And in another picket before the Justice Department, they demanded the release of all political prisoners. They say their release has been snagged by bureaucratic red tape.
But it was not the Ramos government's domestic record on human rights that the human rights watch an organization based in the United States was concerned about. The group wrote president Ramos to lift the ban on Jose Ramos Horta and set the example in a region that resists Western style democracy. The Indonesian government today issued a statement saying its occupation of East Timor has resulted in universal suffrage, political representation, and real economic upliftment. Malacañang has spoken the ban on Ramos-Horta stays. Despite today's protests the president seems satisfied at his own record on human rights.
Subject: PRESIDENTIAL PROSPECTS
Newscast: TWTONITE - Air Date: 10/25/96Reli German handles the image of Vice President Joseph Estrada. for the past months his firm has been preparing for the 1998 elections. Image handlers of other presidential wannabees have already started the groundwork others have even set up offices in the provinces.
But with the election still 18 months away. Some warn it's premature. Bubby Dacer of Bubby Dacer PR Management Co. says, "To hire a pr man this early would alert your opponent and indirectly develop enemies". Senator Angara likes to think his t-v ad is not a form of politicking.
If you want to win the presidency, pr specialists say, image is key. You need something for voters to remember you by especially on election day. The issues sometimes don't matter at all. Aurelio German notes, "Ang nagiging concentration nowadays is more of prsonality oriented campaigns. His ability to sing and dance, shake hands and kiss babies|"
The past 2 elections have shown a well-projected image can catapult you to victory a bad one can make you a consistent loser. All marketing people know a good product will sell itself, while a bad one, no matter how you try to sell it, will only go so far. Image handlers say that rule couldn't be more true with politics.
Subject: BASILAN FIGHTING
Newscast: TWTONITE - Air Date: 10/25/96Fighting between the military and MILF guerillas continued for the 4th straight day in Basilan. Air force planes bombed and fired rockets at guerilla positions on the mountains around the town of Tipo-tipo. The military says at least 33 rebels were killed. The Tipo-tipo town council is appealing for relief supplies for at least 600 people who fled the fighting.
Subject: SMUGGLED GUNS SEIZED
Newscast: TWTONITE - Air Date: 10/25/96The Bureau of Customs seized thousand pesos worth of firearms spare parts from a shipment of relief goods from the United States. The shipment was consigned to a group called the Propagation of the Faith Reaching Out Foundation Incorporated. The gun parts were hidden under used clothing. The shipment was declared as relief goods for the indigent and calamity victims.
Subject: SPCPD-US IN BUSSINESS
Newscast: TWTONITE - Air Date: 10/25/96The Autnomous Regiion for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is wasting no time it is now entering into business agreements with US Chambers of Commerce. MNLF Chairman and now SPCPD Chair Nur Misuari and Yolanda Stern, President of the Federation of Phil-American Chambers of Commerce, signed an agreement to foster economic cooperation. Both parties agreed to identify investment opportunities, sponsor cross visits and training seminars. They also plan to draw up a market based master plan for Mindanao.
Subject: CARAGEENAN OK'D
Newscast: TWTONITE - Air Date: 10/25/96A major trade victory for the Philippines. The European parliament has approved carageenan as a safe food additive. Carrageenan is a major export totalling almost thirty million dollars in the first half of the year. Previously the EC classified Philippine carageenan as unacceptable as a food additive.
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Subject: FUTURES EXCHANGE TO OPEN
Newscast: TWTONITE - Air Date: 10/25/96The Manila International Futures Exchange may resume operations next year. SEC Chairman Perfecto Yasay says the new exchange will be patterned after the Australian futures market, also used by Hongkong as a model. Rules are being revised and MIFE will soon be holding workshops and seminars to heighten awareness about investment risks in the futures market. A professional clearing house will also be established to be led by one of the country's biggest commercials banks. Yasay says the commission will revoke the licenses of 6 brokers whose operations were previously suspended.