1.Floods submerge houses of 6,100 families in Butuan
2.PNoy calls on Sultan to stand down
3.USS Guardian being chopped up
4.Greenpeace pickets Comelec in costume
and these stories all appear above the fold (above the fold should be in quotes), i disagreed with the algorithm of the robot and put them above the fold (or at first glance on the screen).
This blog here has been using the word sultan although the news organizations have now started to use the family name instead in their headlines. Technically, you’d put the word sultan in quotes because our laws do not confer royal titles; I have never put them in quotes out of respect for the cultural heritage and tradition which I consider part of our own Philippine heritage and tradition and not just of one region/ ethnicity/ religion, etc.
Pres. PNoy mentioned the inciting-to-war provision of the Revised Penal Code in his statement when he called on the followers of the Sultan to stand down, although in the later news casts, the sound byte was on the Constitution, declaration of principles… Well let me wait for them to file a complaint for inciting to war against the Sultan and his followers — that should be a sight. As to the declaration of principles… anobur; declaration-of-principles na kaso ba iyon… I’ll wait for them to file a case before typin’ up sumthin’ ,
I’ve tried to be more balanced by including more news sites from the regions from North to South – you’d be surprised that I found only two “regional” news organizations on twitter tweeting news daily (i’ve put the word “regional” in quotes because the internet has made it possible for the “community newspapers” to have a worldwide reach thru daily or hourly tweets of the reports if this could be done).
Then, to rend a little the hegemony of the American press (geez, I’ve promised never to use that word “hegemony” – but there it is), I have Moscow Times, Sudan News (it appeared in an earlier edition, the algorithm takes care of the foreign news), the Community to Protect Journalists, Global Voices (citizen journalists), Channel News Asia, Al Jazeera, etc.
In the masthead, it says “What’s Trending”, but a couple of the stories are not “What’s Trending” because there’s an effort to include the underreported regions/ areas/ topics.
Well, I also have vegetarianism, yoga, chi running, a bit of celebrityhood etc etc. – there’s a story there for you! Happy reading!
posted at 8:21am today: Breaking news: Pres. PNoy calls on Sultan followers to stand down
President Aquino called on the followers of the Sulu Sultan who are holed up in Lahad Datu, Sabah to stand down and return to Sulu.
In a statement broadcast live at the government TV station, the President said that he had ordered an investigation to determine whether any laws have been violated by the acts of the Sultan’s followers.
He said that the grievances of the Sultan of Sulu are being addressed and the impression that the Palace had ignored his letter to the President a few months ago was misplaced. The President clarified that the letter was caught in the maze of the bureaucracy. He said that with this explanation, the Sulu Sultan should not continue proceeding from a mistaken notion.
