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No place for rights violations in a professional police force

Human rights usually means bad news to police, who equate the word with charges slapped against them. It doesn’t help that President Duterte has repeatedly denounced the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and other groups that point out the country’s lapses in this field.It’s a negative view that the Philippine National Police Human Rights Affairs Office (PNP-HRAO) has been working to correct through a series of training and seminars on human rights.“(Police officers) perceive human rights negatively because they think they will be charged immediately for the slightest mistake (they make in dealing with civilians),” said Supt. Joel Usman, who heads the PNP-HRAO’s Promotion and External Affairs Division.“They also have this notion that we conduct training and seminars on the subject only in areas where there are lots of human rights violations,” he added.But the training is just a reminder of the police’s duty to respect the rights of people, Usman said.“We tell them that if they remain competent and professional and strictly adhere to police operational procedures, they do not have to worry about being slapped with charges. We remind them to conduct operations by the book in enforcing laws, which are aimed at protecting our citizens’ rights,” the HRAO official said.Usman further explained that the PNP-HRAO trainings and seminars were just like the values education subject in high school, which serves to “enhance the values of policemen in their work, in themselves and towards others.”The trainings, he said, are more on lectures and case analyses where they teach policemen the right approach in interacting with citizens so the public perception of PNP personnel is positive and not wary.“We basically teach them to take things step by step and avoid shortcuts (in implementing laws) so that they will not violate human rights,” Usman explained.According to PNP-HRAO spokesperson Melvin Ragasa, the PNP personnel take away from the trainings a broader awareness of human rights and a sense that their primordial duty is to protect the rights of all citizens.He pointed out, “The PNP leadership believes that human rights is the first business of policing.”Usman said that the PNP-HRAO’s target was to train all 180,000 PNP personnel nationwide in human rights protection, which entails a continuous effort and calls for prioritizing areas where there are numerous reports on violations.But he pointed out that the trainings conducted by the PNP-HRAO were more like refresher courses for police personnel who were already given human rights modules upon their recruitment.With only a handful of personnel at the PNP-HRAO headquarters in Camp Crame, the police leadership has created human rights desks in all police offices at the regional and provincial levels down to the stations.Ragasa explained that these were their “conduits for the promotion and awareness programs on human rights.” The police regional, provincial and station human rights desks, he said, conduct trainings and seminars and monitor human rights violations committed by policemen in the different areas.He clarified that while it was also part of the mandate of the PNP-HRAO to monitor human rights violations committed by police personnel, the unit had no power to investigate them.“The PNP-HRAO function is limited to monitoring investigations, as well as legal and judicial processes related to human rights violations (committed by policemen). We do not have investigative power. Investigative power is vested on other disciplinary mechanisms of the PNP like the IAS (Internal Affairs Service) and the DIDM (Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management),” Ragasa pointed out.PNP-HRAO monitoring reports are used, he said, for policy recommendations on how to further improve police efforts in protecting and upholding human rights, adding that the provision of body cameras to PNP personnel conducting anti-illegal drug operations was one such suggestion that emanated from the unit.As part of monitoring efforts, the PNP-HRAO conducts inspections on police custodial facilities nationwide to make sure that persons deprived of liberty, or PDLs, receive humane treatment like clean and well-ventilated cells and are still afforded their rights.PNP-HRAO was born on June 29, 2007, along with its military counterpart, as part of the government response to recommendations by then UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitral execution, Philip Alston, who observed impunity on extrajudicial killings in the Philippines following his 2007 visit.The primary functions of the PNP-HRAO are: to develop a systematic, holistic implementation of human rights programs and activities; review, formulate and recommend human rights policies and programs including administrative and legal measures on human rights; monitor investigations and legal, judicial processes related to human rights violations of PNP personnel; undertake an information campaign on PNP human rights initiatives; and establish links with concerned agencies involved in handling human rights violation cases against PNP personnel such as the CHR, the presidential human rights committee and other government and nongovernment organizations.PNP-HRAO has begun community-based dialogues between PNP personnel and civil society groups, as well as local government units to facilitate better understanding.With the war on drugs, the PNP-HRAO has had to work double time to reach more policemen, particularly those involved in anti-illegal drug operations.“We need to intensify our trainings and reminders to our police personnel because the slightest allegation of abuse is detrimental to the whole institution,” Ragasa said.

['Jeannette I. Andrade']

14/05/2018 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/956372/no-place-for-rights-violations-in-a-professional-police-force

Inquirer

Solon says corruption lurks in traffic bill

A minority member of the House of Representatives on Saturday warned his colleagues against “being stampeded into approving” a bill granting emergency powers to the Duterte administration to solve the traffic crisis in Metro Manila, saying it could open the floodgates to corruption.Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza, in a statement, said he did not see House Bill No. 4334, or the proposed Traffic Crisis Act, as the solution to the “seemingly unsolvable traffic mess.”“This is not the solution. This would only aggravate the situation since it does not address the real cause of the traffic gridlock in Metro Manila and other urban cities

['Dj Yap']

2016-07-29 00:22:16+08:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/969548/solon-says-corruption-lurks-in-traffic-bill

Inquirer

BoC exceeds March collection target

THE Bureau of Customs (BoC) exceeded its collection target by P265 million for the month of March, Customs Commissioner Isidro S. Lapena said on Tuesday.The bureau collected P45.398 billion, exceeding its target of P45.133 billion.Despite the two non-working holidays in March, 12 ports either maintained or exceeded their revenue collection for the month, while five collection districts, including the so-called “flagship ports,” failed to hit their targets.The Port of Batangas topped the list with a total collection of P11.542 billion, 10.5 percent higher than its P10.449 billion target; followed by the Port of Limay with P2.896 billion; Port of Cebu, P2.189 billion, Port of Davao, P1.755 billion, Port of Subic, P1.655 billion, and Cagayan de Oro, P1.625 billion.The San Fernando port collected P278 million, Port of Clark, P154 million, Port of Tacloban, P68 million, Port of Legazpi, P22.10 million, Port of Surigao, P4 million, and Port of Aparri, P6 million. WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL

['The Manila Times']

2018-04-04 00:02:36+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/boc-exceeds-march-collection-target/390278/

Manila Times

On the air soon: Rody uncensored

Soon, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte would be within reach, not only by his fellow Davaoeños but also by the rest of his countrymen.That is, if plans push through to bring his weekly television program “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa” (From the Masses, for the Masses), which is aired on a local ABS-CBN channel in Davao, nationwide.Television anchor Martin Andanar, who was named head of the Presidential Communications Operations Office, on Saturday disclosed plans of the Duterte camp to continue the mayor’s Sunday TV program after he assumes office next month.Andanar said he had initial talks with Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco and Duterte’s executive assistant Christopher Go about the plan.“We still have to talk again because everything needs the approval of the President,” he said.“Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa” stopped airing when Duterte announced that he was running for President.Policies, local issuesThe hourlong program discussed his policies and local issues and served as a venue for warning erring public officials and policemen.Duterte also used the program to caution criminals, especially drug traffickers.The program was pretaped, with Duterte’s expletives bleeped during the 9 a.m. airing.Andanar could not say if Duterte’s program would be aired live, considering that the incoming President is known for his foul mouth.“We’ll see,” he said.He also said that instead of Cebuano, which was the language used by Duterte on the program, the incoming President might be speaking in Filipino and English since he will be having a national audience. Nico Alconaba, Inquirer Mindanao

['Philippine Daily Inquirer']

2016-08-24 16:32:25+08:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/789196/on-the-air-soon-rody-uncensored

Inquirer

Record heat wave scorches Los Angeles

A high temperature record that stood for 131 years in downtown Los Angeles was broken on Saturday as the region suffered scorching heat.The National Weather Service (NWS) reported that the temperature in downtown hit a record high of 98 Fahrenheit degrees (36.6 degrees centigrade), beating the former record of 95 Fahrenheit degrees (35 degrees centigrade) set in 1886.“A strong upper level high pressure system over the southwest United States along with locally breezy northerly winds at the surface will create dangerous record-breaking heat over much of the area again this afternoon into the early evening,” said NWS in a heat advisory.High temperatures away from the coast will range from 90 to 100 Fahrenheit degrees (32.2 to 37.7 degrees centigrade), including downtown Los Angeles. “This is a dangerous situation with an increased threat of life-threatening heat related illness, especially to those without access to air conditioning. Power outages are more likely,” warned NWS.An excessive heat warning was in effect until 11 p.m. (0600 GMT Sunday) for some districts in Los Angeles County. Temperatures in Los Angeles should begin cooling on Sunday in some areas, but even so it remains hot in some locations, said NWS forecasters.In response to the extreme heat, Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks extended cooling center hours at some locations. Some libraries also served as cooling centers during regular hours.About 140,000 residents living in the northwest of Los Angeles were cut power service from Saturday evening to Sunday morning, when the city was baked by a high temperature hit record.The power outrage was initiated by an electrical incident at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) plant in Northridge, an outskirts city 40 kilometers northwest of LA downtown.According to a LADWP press release, the 230 Kilovolt equipment, which carries high voltage electricity and distributes it to customers in the surrounding area, caught fire and exploded around 6:53 p.m. Saturday.About 100 firefighters through night battled heavy flames and explosions, which can be seen from 10 kilometers away.The fire was in an energized storage vault with more than 50,000 gallons of mineral oil, NBCLA reported, adding that firefighters had to let the flames burn while DWP workers de-energized the facility, then they put water and foam on the fire.Los Angeles Fire Department Public Service Officer Brian Humphrey was quoted as saying that the cause of the fire was accidental and attributed it to a “mechanical malfunction”.Nobody was injured in the accident while more than 100 thousands residents suffered an unusual hot summer night until the power service was restored 9 a.m. Sunday.Many residents sat at lawns, chatting with their neighbors, while more people scrolled through their cellphones under candles and posted videos to social media showing large plumes of smoke billowing into the air.“I won’t EVER take light or AC for granted again,” user “VeryPROUDAuntie” tweeted Saturday night.

[]

12/07/2017 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/07/12/record-heat-wave-scorches-los-angeles/

Manila Bulletin

Govt boosts free education program

The government will boost its Free Tertiary Education Program next year by allotting an additional fund of P11 billion, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said on Wednesday.He made the announcement during the 2018 Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) Midterm Convention in Pasay City.Diokno said the budget for the free education program will increase to P51 billion in 2019. This year’s budget is P40 billion.Of the amount, P44 billion will be released to the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) while P7 billion will be allocated to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), Diokno added.President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 10931, also known as The Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, on August 3, 2017.The law covers 112 state universities and colleges as well as CHEd-accredited local universities and colleges and Tesda-run technical vocational institutions.The law exempts enrolled students from paying tuition and miscellaneous fees.It also provides allowances for books, school supplies, transportation and miscellaneous personal expenses to select beneficiaries.Students from families enrolled in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program will be given priority. Student loan options will also be made available to students from private universities.On June 13 this year, CHEd, SUCs and local universities and colleges (LUCs) signed a memorandum of agreement on the implementation of the free tertiary education law.|A total of 112 SUCs and 78 CHEd-recognized LUCs will be covered by the agreement.

['Mayvelin U. Caraballo']

2018-06-28 00:10:43+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/govt-boosts-free-education-program/413244/

Manila Times

VP Leni: Pray for our fallen soldiers

Vice President (VP) Leni Robredo called on Filipinos on Sunday to remember and pray for the fallen soldiers, who perished in the pursuit of their duty to the country on All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day.“Mag-alay tayo sana ng dasal para sa ating mga sundalo at kababayan na nag-alay po ng buhay upang makamit ang kapayapaan sa Marawi. Ito ang panahon para alalahanin natin iyong sakripisyong ibinigay nila sa ating bayan (Let us offer prayers to our soldiers and countrymen who sacrificed their lives to attain peace in Marawi. This is the time to remember their sacrifices for the country),” Robredo said.The Vice President conveyed her message to Filipinos for the commemoration of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day on November 1 and 2 during her weekly radio show, “BISErbisyong Leni.”Robredo said it is fitting to pray for the eternal repose of the souls of fallen soldiers and heroes in recognition of their efforts to defend democracy, freedom, and peace.Robredo, a former Camarines Sur representative, wished the entire country a peaceful All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day celebration.

[]

29/10/2017 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/10/29/vp-leni-pray-for-our-fallen-soldiers/

Manila Bulletin

Drama students from Parkland school take NY stage again

The drama students from Florida’s Parkland school have made another surprise stage appearance in New York.This time it was a fundraiser in Central Park for the summer Shakespeare in the Park program.The benefit Monday night included a production of the 1978 Tony-nominated show, “Runaways” by the late Elizabeth Swados.At the end of the show, the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were brought onstage. They performed a piece that was written by Swados for a screenplay of “Runaways” that never materialized.The students appeared during Sunday’s Tony Awards to sing “Seasons of Love” from “Rent.” Their drama teacher, Melody Herzfeld, was honored during the show. She has been credited with protecting students during a school shooting that killed 17 people.

[]

12/06/2018 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/06/12/drama-students-from-parkland-school-take-ny-stage-again/

Manila Bulletin

Dayan tried to live a normal life

Until his arrest on Thursday night, Ronnie Dayan, the former driver and bodyguard of Sen. Leila de Lima, tried to live a normal life in the farming village of Galarin here.Dayan was first arrested on Nov. 22 last year for snubbing a House inquiry into alleged drug trafficking in New Bilibid Prison, the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City.He was allowed to return here on Dec. 7 where he resumed his daily activities, including meeting with his relatives and friends. He would wake up early in the morning and inspect the rice field behind his house in the village.This had been his daily routine shortly before he fled to a mountain village in La Union province in July last year when the House ordered his arrest.Arrest orderOn Thursday, Dayan was taken by the police after he was ordered arrested by the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court for his alleged role in drug trafficking inside the national penitentiary.The order also covered De Lima and former Bureau of Corrections chief Rafael Ragos.Chief Insp. Joshua Maximo, Urbiztondo police chief, said Dayan never left this town after he returned home.“We are unfamiliar with his daily activities, but we were sure that he was just here,” Maximo said.“We did not see him much. There were only a few times that we saw him pass by on his motorbike,” Barangay Galarin chief Rodolfo Licuanan said.“I was even told that after working in the rice field, Ronnie would join other men in his neighborhood to play cards,” he said.GamblerDuring the House committee hearing in December, Dayan admitted breeding fighting cocks and said he used to bet as much as P11,000 during derbies.He was never ostracized by Galarin residents despite the scandals, according to Licuanan.Dayan has four children—two boys and two girls. His sons live with him in Galarin.A brother and a sister are also among his neighbors. Other family members have settled in Metro Manila and nearby towns.Dayan was waiting for the policemen in his house on Thursday night to serve the arrest warrant on him, Maximo said.“He was expecting us because he had seen on TV that a judge had ordered his arrest,” Maximo said.At 5:30 a.m. on Friday, Dayan, accompanied by his lawyer and relatives, was taken to Muntinlupa, where he was presented to Judge Juanita Guerrero, who issued the arrest warrant.“I’m no longer afraid. But please pray for my safety. I leave everything to God,” Dayan said in a statement.

['Gabriel Cardinoza']

2018-02-12 00:49:46+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/875183/dayan-tried-to-live-a-normal-life

Inquirer

Russia vows to play ‘important stabilizing role’ in Asia-Pacific

RUSSIA has vowed to continue to play an “important stabilizing role” in the Asia-Pacific and in global affairs despite efforts of some Western countries to isolate the nation.President Vladimir Putin, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, has considered the Asia-Pacific region as a strategic priority for the rest of the 21st century and would continue to maintain ties with majority of states in the region as well as in the entire Asia.“As a Pacific power, Russia will make full use of the vast potential of this region’s rapid development, including for lifting the Russian Far East and Eastern Siberia,” Lavrov recently said in a speech during a meeting with the finalists of the Leaders of Russia contest Russian Diplomatic Leadership in Today’s World in Sochi.He added that Russia’s foreign ministry is focused on further strengthening and developing Russia-China foreign policy coordination, noting the current relations of the two nations is at “all-time best.”“Our common policy is aimed at strict compliance with the fundamental norms of international law and the UN Charter, be it in Syria, on the Korean Peninsula, or elsewhere, and at playing an important stabilizing role in global and regional affairs,” Lavrov said.He added that in the context of Eurasian integration, the country has been taking vigorous steps to harmonize the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) with China’s One Belt, One Road strategy.This move, Lavrov said, is apart from existing agreements on cooperation in trade, investment and services between the EAEU and member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) reached in May 2016.Russia, he added, has a constructive dialogue with majority of foreign partners on all the continents, a partnership that is based on respect of each other’s interests and commitment to further democratization of international life.Lavrov, however, noted that Western countries, particularly the United States, have avoided discussing it because democratizing international life means to stop dictating to all and to start working toward an agreement.“Our Western colleagues are constantly interfering in the internal affairs of other states demanding that every country respect human rights, follow the principle of rule of law and democracy,” he said. “We suggest that the same principles of the rule of law and democratization be applied to international life.”Russia’s top diplomat said there is now a growing sentiment in and outside the country that there is no sense to try to isolate Russia, and attempts to come up with a broad anti-Russian coalition have failed.He added that there have been many changes that their Western colleagues were not yet prepared to accept but Russia would always be ready for a dialogue with the West on the basis of equality and respect for each other’s interests.Russia, according to Lavrov, is also committed to fighting terrorism and is in favor of forming a united anti-terrorist front based on common interests and the coordinating role of the United Nations.But, he said, it should be free from double standard and must comply with the fundamental principles of international law and respect for sovereignty of nations.Russia, Lavrov added, would also continue its efforts to defuse the situation in the Korean Peninsula and, like China, believes that there is no alternative to political dialogue and have advanced their own joint initiative.He said they are hoping that the United States would consult other countries affected by the tension in the Korean Peninsula, particularly the leaders of the Republic of Korea and Japan.Lavrov added that efforts of the United States in trying to escalate sanctions and to threaten the use of force could lead to a scenario that would claim a million lives or more.“The present-day world is witnessing the end of an epoch dominated by what we call the ‘historical West’ and a transition to a multipolar era,” he said in his speech.

['Jefferson Antiporda']

2018-02-12 00:49:46+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/russia-vows-play-important-stabilizing-role-asia-pacific/379610/

Manila Times

32 village officials on drug list

Manila police have placed 32 barangay (village) chairmen and barangay kagawad (councilmen) on a drug watch list provided to Mayor Joseph Estrada, including a village chairman who was shot and killed last Friday.This was announced after the Manila Police District (MPD) said they have established the identity of the gunman behind the killing of Angelito Sarmiento.MPD chief Joel Coronel confirmed Sarmiento was on the MPD’s list of village officials involved in drugs.Estrada said they will be monitoring those included in the list after being briefed by the MPD chief on the city’s anti-drug operations.“There are monitoring 32 of them, Chairman Sarmiento was one of them. We are monitoring them, so in time we’ll come up with a report,” he added.Estrada has directed Coronel to continue investigating the case of Sarmiento, who was shot dead by unidentified assailants inside his house in Malate district.Last October, he bared his own “narco-list” of city officials who are either using drugs or working with drug traffickers.Estrada said “a few” in the village level have already been confirmed to be on drugs.In November, he also ordered 896 village chairmen to submit themselves to drug testing in light of the previous month’s police raid on the Islamic Center in Quiapo district.The results of the drug test will soon be released, according to the Manila Barangay Bureau and Manila Health Department.

['Kenneth Hare Hernandez']

2017-05-30 21:37:16+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/32-village-officials-drug-list/330113/

Manila Times

Drilon leads race for Senate Magic 12

Of the probable winners in the senatorial race, five belong to the Liberal Party, four are independent candidates, two are members of the Nationalist People’s Coalition and one each from the United Nationalist Alliance and Akbayan party-list group, according to results of the latest Pulse Asia survey.Leading the race is Senate President Franklin Drilon (47.8 percent), followed by Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III (43.5 percent) and former Senators Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan (41.9 percent), Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri (38.9 percent) and Panfilo Lacson (38.5 percent).Completing the Top 13 are boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao (37 percent), former Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros (36.7 percent), former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Director General Joel Villanueva (35.5 percent), Sen. Sergio Osmeña III (35 percent), former Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon (34.1 percent), former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima (33.8 percent), Sen. Ralph Recto (32.6 percent) and Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian (29.9 percent).Just outside the winning circle are Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona III (25.6 percent), former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chair Francis Tolentino (24.6 percent), Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno (24.5 percent) and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez (22.8 percent).Pulse Asia found that 33 percent of 4,000 respondents, who are registered voters, had already completed their senatorial slate of 12 candidates.The poll, commissioned by ABS-CBN TV network, was conducted on April 26-29. It had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 1.5 percentage points.RELATED STORIESPacquiao slugs his way to No. 3 in senatorial pollSotto, Drilon top Senate bets in latest survey

['Inquirer Research']

12/07/2016 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/783313/drilon-leads-race-for-senate-magic-12

Inquirer

‘Habal-habal’ ride of Orbos a wake-up call for Tugade

While it annoyed Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, Transportation Undersecretary Tim Orbos’ controversial motorcycle ride to get to an official event on time should serve as a reality check for officials about what Metro Manila commuters endure every day

['Jovic Yee']

12/07/2016 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/931159/habal-habal-public-transportation-arthur-tugade-metro-manila-traffic-tim-orbos-arthur-tugade

Inquirer

With hunt for rebel leaders underway, Duterte urged to be more patient

Sen. Francis Pangilinan on Wednesday called on President Rodrigo Duterte to be more patient and tolerant in working for peace as the military and police intensified the hunt for rebel leaders who took part in the peace negotiations.Pangilinan said the President’s decision to terminate the talks with communist rebels early in his term was “rash and impulsive.”The government on Tuesday announced an all-out war against the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA), after Mr. Duterte lifted the government’s ceasefire and ended talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) that had shown some promise of success at the start of his term. The rebels will end their own truce on Friday.“This communist insurgency, which has resulted in the killing of Filipino by fellow Filipino, has been going on for nearly half a century. He has been President for just six months,” Pangilinan said.“Giving up on peace and declaring all-out war just six months into his presidency, I believe, with due respect, is being rash and impulsive,” he said.“We need greater patience and understanding rather than anger and the ease to resort to violence and more killings,” he added.As the military started hunting down NPA rebels, a nationwide alliance of peace advocates added its voice to calls for the revival of the talks.Like Pangilinan, the Citizens Alliance for Just Peace (CAJP) asked for more sobriety from the government and the rebels.“Scuttling the peace talks would bring monumental disappointment for those striving to build a just and enduring peace in our land,” said the group, which is composed of institutions, Church groups and activists advocating for peace.CAJP said the gains achieved in the talks were in peril and the threat of widespread violence had heightened after the declaration of war on the rebels.Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo Año said many of the NDFP consultants, including alleged CPP Chairman Benito Tiamzon and his wife, Wilma, had gone underground but they would eventually be captured.“Do they really want to spend the rest of their lives hiding like rats?” Año said. “It’s their choice if they want to go into hiding again but the long arm of the law will always catch up with them.”The military did not waste time and immediately launched operations against the rebels in Mindanao, even before Mr. Duterte announced he was terminating the talks.Maj. Gen. Rafael Valencia, the commander of the 10th Infantry Division, said he had dispatched Army units to hunt down the rebels as soon as Mr. Duterte terminated the government’s unilateral ceasefire.Valencia also said his men were now trying to locate NDFP advisers and negotiators, who had been released from detention to participate in the talks. “They should better turn themselves in,” he said.

['Tarra Quismundo']

12/07/2016 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/869637/with-hunt-for-rebel-leaders-underway-duterte-urged-to-be-more-patient

Inquirer

Voice shaking, Ford tells her Kavanaugh assault story

exams, movies, sports and plenty of parties. That’s the year when Ford says she believes the assault occurred.Nothing on the calendar appears to refer to her.Ford released sworn statements from people who said she had told them about the assault in later years.Late Wednesday, the committee released a flurry of other documents of unclear significance.Transcripts of private interviews with committee investigators show they asked Kavanaugh about two previously undisclosed accusations received by Senate offices. One came in an anonymous letter sent to the office of Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., describing an incident in a bar in 1998, when Kavanaugh was working for the independent counsel investigating President Bill Clinton. The other accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct in college. Kavanaugh denied them both.

[]

27/09/2018 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/09/27/voice-shaking-ford-tells-her-kavanaugh-assault-story/

Manila Bulletin

MMDA: Burning goods of illegal vendors an implied warning, but…

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) yesterday clarified that the threat to set ablaze the stalls and merchandise of illegal vendors in Balintawak, Quezon City was an implied warning for them not to return to their illegal spots.MMDA chairman Danilo Lim said over radio dzMM that he made the “side comment” of burning the stalls and products of illegal vendors since they did not appear to be taking the agency’s warning against illegal vending seriously.“Maaaring naging side comment ko iyan just to underscore the fact na ang makukuha nating gamit ay hindi na magagamit o makakabalik diyan sa Balintawak. Hindi ito literal (I may have made the side comment to underscore the fact that confiscated items they can no longer return to sidewalks and streets in Balintawak),” Lim said.Lim, however, said that illegal vendors must not test his patience since he might just push through with his warning.“Pwedeng sunugin o dalhin sa dumpsites ang [stalls and products] para di na magamit ulit kasi paulit-ulit na lang ang problema (The items can be burned and brought to dumpsites so that such can no longer be used because the problem does not seemt to go away),” he added.The MMDA chair also reiterated the lack of support extended by local officials to supervise their areas of jurisdiction.Meanwhile, the MMDA again conducted a clearing operations on Baclaran, Parañaque yesterday morning, particularly in the areas of Redemptorist Church, Service Road, along Quirino Highway and on the vicinity of LRT, where there were still a few illegal vendors sighted despite the agency’s repeated operations.“May mangilan-ngilan pa rin na matitigas ang ulo. Wala tayong magagawa kundi kasuhan ang kapitan ng barangay kapag ganyan, hindi niya ma-supervise ang area niya (There are still a few stubborn individuals. We have no other recourse but to file charges against barangay officials since he can no longer handle and supervise his area),” Lim said.Dondon Cailles, barangay captain of Baclaran, vowed to cooperate with the MMDA but said that the illegal vendors were asking him where they would get money to sustain their daily expenses.“Ang hinaing ng mga vendor ay wala silang pagkukuhanan ng pera dahil iyon lang ang ikinabubuhay nila,” Cailles said.Parañaque administrator Fernando Soriano said the local government unit is planning to transfer the vendors to a P40-million flea market being built by the local government unit of Parañaque in a one-hectare government-owned lot at Aseana complex opposite the Redemptorist Church.

['Opinionated Asshole']

22/06/2017 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/06/22/mmda-burning-goods-of-illegal-vendors-an-implied-warning-but/

Manila Bulletin

Duterte: I’m protecting the people from the drug menace

“Who wants to kill the innocents? Definitely not me.”This was what President Duterte stressed here on Friday in an apparent bid to parry allegations he ordered the killings even of innocent individuals under his drug campaign while he was still mayor of Davao City.Speaking at the turnover of the P500,000 drug rehabilitation facility in Sitio Maag in Barangay Peñaplata here—which was funded by Chinese-Filipino businessmen—the President said his orders were clear from the start: “Go hunt pushers, ask them to stop and if they won’t, then arrest them. If they put up a fight, kill them.”He said it was better that pushers were the ones killed than law enforcers.He also took a swipe at human rights advocates by saying their hearts bleed for pushers.“But me, I want to protect my community, the Filipino people. That’s my sworn duty,” Duterte said.Because he was protecting the Filipino people against the drug menace, the President said drug pushers and their protectors could not expect him to have mercy on them.“Don’t use human rights and due process, I am sworn to protect the Filipino people,” Duterte said.He then went on to say that his blood boils when he thinks of overseas Filipino workers, who work hard so they could raise their children well.He said that some OFW-mothers even had to endure being raped just to earn money for their families.“And the children only waste it on drugs,” he said

['Philippine Daily Inquirer']

04/09/2018 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/875202/duterte-im-protecting-the-people-from-the-drug-menace

Inquirer

‘National ID good for elderly’

Election lawyer and senior citizen’s rights crusader Romulo Macalintal lauded the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) law as a welcome development for the Filipino elderly as it makes accessing senior citizens’ discount easier.Macalintal, the lawyer of Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo, said the law would clear up the confusion on the kind of ID that senior citizens could use to avail of their senior discounts.According to Macalintal, there are establishments that refused to give the elderly their discounts without the Senior Citizen’s Card issued by the local Office for Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA).This is in spite of a provision in the Expanded Seniors Citizen Act that any government-issued ID, such as driver’s license, voter’s ID, and the like, will suffice, he added.Macalintal said that some local government units also give additional benefits but the elderly is required to present the ID issued by the LGU to ensure that the senior citizen is a resident.He also said that every time there is a new mayor elected, the LGU-issued ID is also changed to include the signature and sometimes even the picture of the local executive.“The national ID will certainly resolve this problem since the law ‘aims to eliminate the need to present other forms of identification when transacting with the government and private sector,’ he said.Once a person reaches 60 they do not need to apply for an SC card anymore because the national ID will indicate the date of birth.PhilSys was signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday in Malacañang. Under the law, the Philippine government will be able to start issuing national ID cards containing basic details on the holder, such as name, sex, birthdate, birthplace, address and nationality.

['The Manila Times']

2018-08-11 00:03:58+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/national-id-good-for-elderly/428813/

Manila Times

5.2 quake rocks Lanao Sur town

THE series of earthquakes rocking the country continued as a magnitude 5.2 tremor was recorded 14 kilometers northwest of Lao, Lanao del Sur.The earthquake struck at 4:40 a.m. on Sunday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported.The quake was tectonic in origin and had a depth of focus of three kilometers.The tremor was felt at Intensity 5 in Wao; Intensity 4 in Kalilangan, Bukidnon; and Intensity 3 in Cotabato City.It was at Intensity I2 in Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental and Pangantucan, Maramag, Valencia City and Quezon in Bukidnon.No damage was expected from the earthquake but Phivolcs warned that aftershocks were expected.This is the third time in less than a week that an earthquake struck Wao.Last Wednesday, a magnitude 6 quake shook the town, followed by Thursday’s magnitude 5.3 tremor.

['Francis Earl Cueto']

2017-04-16 22:15:59+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/5-2-quake-rocks-lanao-sur-town/322497/

Manila Times

LAWMAKER TO ICC: LET PH HAVE FIRST CRACK

Rep. Harry Roque of Kabayan party-list on Wednesday asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to give the Philippines the opportunity to probe alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) before it intervenes.During the 15th Session of the Assembly of the States Parties (ASP) in The Hague, The Netherlands, Roque said in his speech that the ICC should instead make a priority the improvement of its partnership with the Philippines by providing technical knowledge in addressing the issue.He slammed the statement of ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, saying that it “has come a bit too early, at the expense of disenfranchising national efforts to address its problem.”“I would have expected the prosecutor instead to address the Philippines’ prosecutorial offices to perform their mandated task to carry out a genuine investigation and prosecution of the extralegal killings or give way to international mechanisms under the ICC upon the aut dedere aud judicare (either extradite or prosecute) principle,” Roque said.“I agree that the Philippine government under President Rodrigo Duterte will have to show more than lip service to the rule of law and to its international legal obligations under the Rome Statute. But first of all, it has to be given the chance to make complementarity a reality within its own jurisdiction,” he added.In an e-mailed statement issued in The Hague, Bensouda expressed her concerns over the alleged killings, saying high officials in the country even seem to condone and further encourage State forces and civilians to continue targeting individuals.“Extra-judicial killings may fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court if they are committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population pursuant to a State policy to commit such an attack,” she said.In response, Roque noted ICC’s principle of complementarity, which provides that the States have the first responsibility and the right to prosecute international crimes while the ICC may only exercise their right to prosecute when the national legal system fails to do so such as when they are unwilling, unable or do not genuinely carry out proceedings.

['Angelica Ballesteros']

2016-11-17 21:12:34+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/lawmaker-icc-let-ph-first-crack/297068/

Manila Times

What Went Before: Calls for Aquino to apologize over Mamasapano debacle

Since the massacre of 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos on Jan. 25, calls have been made for President Aquino to apologize for the botched counterterrorism operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province.The widows of PO2 Peterson Carap, PO2 Noble Kiangan, PO2 Jerry Kayob and the parents of PO1 Russel Bilog said they could not move on with their lives unless the President ended the finger-pointing.“We want President Aquino to accept responsibility for this [bloody mishap], apologize publicly and sincerely and then investigate the one who gave those orders that led to the deaths of our family members,” Celestino Bilog said. “This issue would not have gone unanswered this long had the President simply stepped up and apologized.”“Our grieving has not ended,” Janet Carap said, adding it would continue unless the government revealed everything about the operation.Last week, former President Fidel V. Ramos said a sincere and humble apology from Aquino “would probably do 90 percent of the job.”“What’s so difficult about that? A previous President said ‘I am sorry,’ and so that removed a lot of pressure on that person although eventually other things came up to cause her temporary detention in a hospital for alleged crimes,” Ramos said, referring to former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.“Certainly, he’s the Commander in Chief,” Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez of Marbel said. “Humility is a sign of true leadership…. Genuine leaders never pass the buck.”Senators Sergio Osmeña III and JV Ejercito blasted the President for supposedly being bullheaded.According to Osmeña, Aquino should follow the example of then President Arroyo, who publicly apologized for the “Hello Garci” controversy in 2005.“His pride is too high and [he] is stubborn at times,” Ejercito said.Sen. Nancy Binay said the President should take responsibility for Mamasapano debacle. “If you follow the line of command, he’s the one on top, at the very top,” she said.Even allies have also called on the President to say he’s sorry.“A commander is responsible for everything that his unit does or fails to do. Unlike authority, which may be delegated, responsibility is something that a leader cannot pass on to others. Command responsibility is a time-tested leadership principle practiced and observed by great leaders all over the world,” former Sen. Panfilo Lacson said.“A leader assumes responsibility, not for any reason, except it is the right thing to do. Assuming responsibility does not automatically mean admitting criminal liability,” he added.Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello resigned from the administration coalition, saying that he could no longer support the President and his “continuing cover-up” of the fiasco.“He can go ahead and scratch me off the list of his allies,” Bello said. “Mamasapano is a deadly acid eating at the presidency,” he said.“This is the latest development in the shrinking of the man from a credible President to a small-minded bureaucrat trying to erase his fingerprints from a disastrous project,” added Bello, who led Akbayan in supporting Aquino’s run for the presidency in 2010.Source: Inquirer Archives

['Philippine Daily Inquirer']

2017-02-16 01:12:41+08:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/680889/what-went-before-calls-for-aquino-to-apologize-over-mamasapano-debacle

Inquirer

Firms warned on bias vs older job seekers

The Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) on Monday told employers not to discriminate against older job seekers, as the law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of age was now in effect.Johnson Cañete, director of the Dole office in the National Capital Region, stressed the need to educate and make employers aware of Republic Act No. 10911, which was passed last year.“The law is very new so it’s normal that not all may have been oriented. But we all know very well that there’s already a law,” Cañete told reporters.RA 10911RA 10911 or the Anti-Age Discrimination in Employment Law prohibits employers from prescribing age for job applicants.Cañete made the rounds of the nine job fairs conducted in Metro Manila on Monday, Labor Day.The fairs were among 54 organized by the Dole, offering more than 200,000 jobs.Among those who tried his luck at the job fair at Quezon City Hall was Benito Parman, a 60-year-old former migrant worker.“I stayed at home for four years, cooking and selling [food]. Now I want to try working again so I can earn a little money to pay electricity bills,” Parman said.Encouraged by the passage of RA 10911, Parman took a call center course sponsored by Mayor Herbert Bautista for Quezon City residents.On Monday, he submitted applications to four companies that participated in the Quezon City job fair.He said none of the four companies hired him on the spot, but all told him they would call him.Parman knew it was because of his age, and he lamented that employers remained biased against elderly job seekers despite the new employment age law.He said, however, that he was not losing hope. “I’m praying to the Lord that I will be hired and I’ll have work again,” he said.Job clinicsMonday’s job fairs were the first to be conducted since the passage of the age law.The Dole issued the implementation rules for the new law in February.At the job fair at Quezon City Hall, a handful of senior citizens other than Parman were observed visiting employers’ booths and inquiring about vacancies.Cañete said one of the Dole’s programs was to mandate all regional offices to conduct job clinics among local governments and employers.Among the issues discussed during the clinics, he said, are general labor standards, occupational safety, health and age discrimination in the workplace.“We are imposing the law already. So the important thing is that the people who are affected can go to the Dole and inform us of these employers,” Cañete said, referring to the employment age law.“It is now easier for us not to tell them that we now have this law that you cannot discriminate against people based on age,” he said.Cañete said companies that would violate the employment age law faced sanctions, although they would be given an orientation on its enforcement.More than 30,000 job seekers went to the 54 job fairs held on Labor Day.Data from the Dole showed that 34,605 job seekers—17,752 of whom were women—registered for the fairs.Fifty-one percent, or 17,783 of the applicants, were deemed qualified.But only 1,658 were hired on the spot while 9,896 were near-hire applicants or those who were told they would be called.This means that of the 17,783 qualified job applicants, only 9 percent, or 1,658, were hired on the spot.Most of the job applicants (16,764) were looking for employment in the Philippines, while 4,331 were looking for overseas jobs.Among the regions, Central Luzon had the highest number of job applicants, at 5,683, followed by Metro Manila, with 4,505.

['Julie M. Aurelio']

2016-05-09 22:30:40+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/893516/firms-warned-on-bias-vs-older-job-seekers

Inquirer

Fight to the death: 1-star officer is new PNP chief

The police officer nicknamed “Rock” strode in front of media cameras on Wednesday, chewing gum and declaring total war on drugs.“This will be a fight to the death,” said Chief. Supt. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, chosen by incoming President Rodrigo Duterte as his director general of the 120,000-strong Philippine National Police.“So, to the drug lords out there, get ready because I will run you over,” he said.The barrel-chested Dela Rosa likewise vowed to clean up the PNP ranks of scalawags.“For police officers who are involved in drugs, get out now. The government is paying you to capture drug personalities, but you also get paid by drug lords? You’re pushing your luck. I will cut off your luck,” he warned.Christopher Go, Duterte’s executive assistant, confirmed to reporters in Davao City that Dela Rosa had been selected by the presumptive President-elect to replace Director General Ricardo Marquez, who earlier announced he would turn in his resignation as PNP chief upon Duterte’s assumption of the presidency on June 30.Walks the talkLike his patron, Dela Rosa cusses, talks tough and walks the talk.Following news reports that he would head the police hierarchy, Dela Rosa appeared at Camp Crame on Wednesday and talked to the media at the lobby of the PNP headquarters building.The 54-year-old said he would do his best to carry out Duterte’s vow to stamp out criminality in three to six months of his presidency—the centerpiece of Duterte’s campaign platform that swept him to an unprecedented landslide vote in the May 9 elections.Officials said the drug problem affected 65 percent of the nation’s barangays, while 95 percent of barangays in Metro Manila were grappling with drug abuse.‘We will bury you’Asked for a message to criminals, Dela Rosa said, “We will not only crush you, we will bury you.”He gave this assurance in the same tough manner the cuss-spouting Duterte would: “Kakayanin natin. Hindi naman pwede—(expletive) pa-chief PNP chief PNP ka tapos hindi mo kakayanin. Dapat kayanin mo. (We’ll bear it … You can’t be PNP chief and not bear it. You should.)”But Dela Rosa turned humble when asked for a message to the public: “I hope I won’t fail you. To all Filipinos, we will do all we can, even if it will cost our lives.”The similarity in mannerisms between Dela Rosa and Duterte comes as no surprise. The officer has always been upfront that Duterte has been a great influence in his career.“He’s a leader with big balls. He’s not one to run away from problems. He will not leave you behind, he has a big heart and will really take care of you,” Dela Rosa said of his boss.Summary killingsAsked about his position on summary killings, a charge that has hounded Duterte’s leadership, Dela Rosa played coy, simply replying: “Ayoko niyan (I don’t want that).”While careful not to preempt Duterte’s official announcement of his appointment, Dela Rosa nevertheless confirmed Duterte had already spoken to him about the post as early as Sunday evening.Dela Rosa said Marquez, his upperclassman by four years at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), had talked to him, advising him to “start acting like the father of the organization.”“Maybe the upperclassmen think I will remove them to replace them with my 1986 classmates, but that shouldn’t be what the father of the organization will do. There should be no favorite sons. You should treat them equally, according to merits. Whoever we’ll see can help in three to six months, that should be who we should give positions to,” Dela Rosa said.His appointment—from one star to four—would effectively bypass his upperclassmen who are now senior officers in the PNP command group and Directorial Staff, including Director Generoso Cerbo Jr. of the 1984 PMA class, currently chief of the PNP Directorate for Intelligence.The RockAs of April 30, there are 19 police officials with the rank of director (two star); 105 with the rank of chief superintendent, one star.Dela Rosa explained his nickname “Bato” comes from the Davao del Sur barangay he hailed from. But he said he also earned the moniker upon graduation from the Scout Ranger course “because my body was rock-hard.”These days, the officer sports a skinhead, muscles bulging out of his uniform. He draws comparison to American actor and wrestler Dwayne Johnson whose ring name is “The Rock.”Days before the elections, Dela Rosa, currently head of the PNP Human Resource and Doctrine Development, courted controversy and earned an administrative investigation for his Facebook posts in which he was suspected of displaying partisanship for Duterte.A post on May 1, in which he vowed that the Camp Crame-based Reactionary Standby Support Force, which he then led, would “crush” those who would cheat and cause trouble during the polls.In another post in March, Dela Rosa greeted Duterte on his birthday, and called him “the greatest leader on earth.”Dela Rosa served as Davao City police chief from 2011 to 2013. He is known to be hardworking.Drugless societyHe was largely credited for the drastic reduction in the volume of shabu in the city when he implemented “Oplan Tukhang (Tuktok-Hangyo),” which saw police authorities knocking on the doors of suspected drug pushers and asking them to stop. Several suspected drug pushers were allegedly killed during the operation.“I would have wanted to accomplish a drugless society where there is zero drug use but this is almost impossible,” Dela Rosa said.Dela Rosa was also the police chief when three suspected kidnappers of a Quezon City-based Chinese businesswoman were killed during a shootout in Davao City in July 2013.He is a disciplinarian who has repeatedly told his men the police force has no room for cowards and laggards.

['Allan Nawal', 'Jaymee T. Gamil']

2016-11-03 14:51:23+08:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/786394/fight-to-the-death-1-star-officer-is-new-pnp-chief

Inquirer

PNP: ‘Tokhang’ to relaunch when rogue cops are gone

The Philippine National Police chief on Thursday said the relaunching of the war on drugs “may be today, tomorrow, [or] next weekend.”“The plan for the resumption of the drug war is still in the works. It is being hammered out. If it’s done, we can relaunch,” PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa told a news conference here.“I’m just waiting for feedback from my commanders if they are ready,” Dela Rosa said. “Being ready means the campaign won’t be undermined by unscrupulous elements of the police and all drug enforcement units in all levels of command will be manned by persons whose integrity are beyond question.”The PNP would be “more careful” this time, he said, adding that he had learned lessons from the impact and criticisms drawn by the original war on drugs.President Rodrigo Duterte suspended the war on drugs in January after a series of scandals involving the police force that carried out the campaign, including the kidnapping for ransom and murder of a South Korean businessman.On Tuesday, he said he was calling the police back to the campaign because of the resurgence of the illegal drug trade, but only select officers would be assigned to the crackdown.

['Yolanda Sotelo']

2016-11-03 14:51:23+08:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/877042/pnp-tokhang-to-relaunch-when-rogue-cops-are-gone

Inquirer

Teens’ winning invention sounds like sitcom but offers serious solution

It took only P100, a bit of curiosity and tons of creativity for several teens from Philippine Science High School (PSHS) in Cagayan Valley to put together a device that generates electricity from water.The five young inventors bested 26 other teams from other schools in the Philippines and took home the top prize in The Bright Ideas Challenge (TBIC) organized by Shell in February.Their invention, a pico hydroelectric generator that they dubbed the “Pipe-to Manalo-to” (apparently a play on the title of the sitcom “Pepito Manaloto”), can be installed in water pipes to generate electricity for the home.Team Pisay CVC leader John Paolo Lumanlan said the group did not expect to win the contest held on Feb. 24 and 25 at Mind Museum in Taguig City.“We were already packing up when it was announced that we won. I kept shouting, ‘What?! Astig! (Cool)’ as I jumped around,” he recalled.Lumanlan, 18, and his teammates Earvin Michael Bibay, 18; Daniel Nikko Tumanut, 17; John Lian Mar Catli, 17; and Jose Benjamin dela Cruz, 17, were flown to Singapore to attend Shell’s Make the Future Festival at the Changi Exhibition Center earlier last month.The all-expenses-paid trip was part of their prize for winning the first TBIC. The prize came with a P100,000 pot for their school’s science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) program, and another P100,000 that the team members said they would use for research and development to further improve their invention.The team from ERMACC Energy Biñan National High School was first runner-up, while third runner-up honors went to the team from Centro Escolar University Senior High School.Household applicationTBIC recognizes high school students whose inventions illustrate how STEM can tackle real world concerns such as energy sustainability and efficiency.The Pipe-to Manalo-to, for example, miniaturized the principle of hydroelectric power generation for home application.The generator uses a Kaplan propeller made from tin cans and fitted into a pipe T-joint.The T-joint can replace the elbow joints of household water pipes, with the water pressure running the device like a dynamo and the current flowing through an abutting electrical wire.Lumanlan said the pico hydroelectric generator produced less than 5 kilowatts of electricity, which could charge a cell phone for four hours and power house lights.The idea to harness the power of water was inspired by the students’ weekly commute from Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya, to the PSHS Cagayan Valley campus in Bayombong.Bibay, who hails from Diadi, had often noticed how excess water from a nearby watershed would flow out of a pipe at a roadside in his hometown.“The water was just leaking, and we thought of harnessing the excess energy from that by converting it into electricity,” he said.The idea was translated into reality with the use of a tin can, a motor from a Tamiya toy car and a T-junction. The prototype cost P100 to build.Lumanlan said his group would have to improve the turbine made from tin cans given its corrosive nature, as well as the motor’s efficiency and the seals used in the contraption.No new infrastructure“If you install our device in your home, you can generate electricity every time you open a faucet,” he said of the conversion of kinetic into mechanical and electric energy.Bibay, meanwhile, noted that the team’s design did not call for new infrastructure, as it made use of existing pipe systems in the home.“It can be done even at home on a small scale,” he said.Their device can also be used in future cities and high-rise buildings as long as water pipe systems continue to exist, Lumanlan said.“As long as the concept of pipelines exist, our technology can be used,” he added.Jenshiam Balgua, who teaches technology at PSHS Cagayan Valley, acted as the team’s mentor and had nothing but praise for his young wards, who thoroughly enjoyed themselves at the exhibition center in this city.“These kids are the ones who did it all, and did it well,” Balgua said. “For me, winning was just a bonus. These are the moments when I feel happy to have played a role in the lives and future of my students,” the 37-year-old mentor said.Most of the young inventors said they wanted to study at the University of the Philippines Diliman, where they hoped to invent more useful contraptions in the future.The boys also expressed optimism that other young inventors would be given the chance to shine.“They should not stop realizing their ideas. An idea is already something they can act on,” Lumanlan said.For Tumanut, it was important for young minds to “wonder and wander.” He added: “If you stop being curious, then you stop being a scientist.”For Dela Cruz, winning the TBIC was just a stepping stone for himself and his teammates. “We’re just students and we have the rest of our lives ahead of us. We won’t stop here. If you want to have more, sometimes you need to go beyond your comfort zone,” he said.

['Julie M. Aurelio']

2016-12-19 17:35:22+08:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/979491/teens-winning-invention-sounds-like-sitcom-but-offers-serious-solution

Inquirer

Palace fighting ‘disinformation’ about Marcos rule

MALACAÑANG on Saturday said the Aquino administration was fighting “disinformation” about martial law with facts involving events that happened under the Marcos regime, described by President Aquino as one of the most “painful episodes” in the country’s history.Communications Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III spoke after Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., a vice presidential candidate in May’s national elections, accused Mr. Aquino of sowing disunity.“The tactic of the administration, and in fact, the tactic of all those who know right from wrong is to fight disinformation with facts… . What we are saying, like what the President said in his speech (at the 30th anniversary celebration of the Edsa People Power Revolution), this is not about the Aquinos versus the Marcoses; this is about the truth versus amnesia,” Quezon said on state-run Radyo ng Bayan.The factsAccording to Quezon, the following are the facts:More than 75,700 people have filed claims with the Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board (HRVCB) as victims of human rights violations during martial law.About 70,000 people were detained, accused as enemies of the state.Three hundred ninety-eight enforced disappearances took place between 1965 and 1986, an average of more than 30 disappearances a year between 1976 and 1978 alone.More than 34,000 people were tortured.There were 3,240 victims of extrajudicial killings, an average of about 50 cases every year between 1976 and 1978 alone.Quezon stressed that during martial law, the dictator Ferdinand Marcos ordered the closure of seven major English newspapers, three Filipino dailies, one English-Filipino newspaper, 11 English weekly magazines, one Spanish daily, four Chinese newspapers, three business publications, one news service, seven television stations, 66 community newspapers, and 292 radio stations all over the country.National debtQuezon also said that in 1965, the Philippines had a national debt of P2.4 billion, which had ballooned to P192.2 billion by 1985.“This means a total of P395 billion worth of national government debt at the end of 1986. This means that 58.63 percent of the GDP (gross domestic product) was given over to debt,” Quezon said.He said the Presidential Commission on Good Government had recovered an estimated P170.4 billion worth of ill-gotten wealth from the Marcos family.

['Nikko Dizon']

2017-01-03 22:29:39+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/769184/palace-fighting-disinformation-about-marcos-rule

Inquirer

Typhoon shuts power, roads in 8 provinces

Government disaster-relief officials were assessing damage and checking on the conditions of millions of people in worst-hit provinces on Saturday after Typhoon “Ompong” (international name: Mangkhut) smashed through north and northeastern Luzon, leaving a large swathe of destruction and shutting down electricity in at least eight provinces.At least 12 people, including two rescuers trying to free people trapped in a landslide in Baguio City, were confirmed to have died and two others were missing in the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year.The massive storm’s blinding rain and ferocious wind gusts of up to 305 kilometers per hour toppled major power lines and caused widespread flooding, most notably in Baguio City and Cagayan province, which Ompong pummeled as it made landfall in Baggao town around 1:40 a.m. on Saturday.As of 8 p.m. on Saturday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Ompong had slightly weakened and was tracked at least 240 km west-northwest of Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, moving across the West Philippine Sea toward Hong Kong.‘Continuing hazards’After hitting land as a supertyphoon with 220 kilometers per hour sustained winds and slamming across the Sierra Made and Cordillera mountain ranges, Ompong’s winds slowed to 160 kph with gusts of 195 kph.Though the typhoon was expected to exit the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) on Sunday morning, Pagasa warned of “continuing hazards.”Weathermen said the western coasts of northern and northeastern Luzon were at risk of storm surges of up to 3 meters that could be stirred by Ompong’s outer cloud bands and the enhanced southwest monsoon.By Saturday night, only 22 areas remained under storm signal, all of which were in northern and central Luzon: Signal No. 3 in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and La Union; No. 2 in Batanes, Cagayan, including the Babuyan Group of Islands, Abra, Apayao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Benguet, Pangasinan, and Zambales; and No. 1 in Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Aurora and Bataan.Storm warnings remained hoisted in 10 provinces as the typhoon, the 15th to hit the country this year, headed for open water.A government damage assessment was underway, except in northwestern areas of Luzon that were stilll being battered by winds and blinding rain as of 8 p.m. on Saturday.Two Air Force C-130 cargo planes and 10 helicopters were on standby at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City to help transport rescuers and aid supplies.Ompong’s fierce winds put out of commission transmission and distribution lines in the provinces of Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra, Kalinga, Apayao, Mountain Province and Nueva Vizcaya, according to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).In a press briefing, NGCP assistant vice president Raul Seludo said 90 percent of Benguet province had no electricity.Power lines trippedThe typhoon caused the tripping of 12 230-kilovolt transmission lines, 26 69-kv lines and one 23-kv line in all eight provinces, said Seludo, head of the NGCP’s systems operation in Luzon.He said power outages were also experienced in Southern Luzon and the Visayas.“We cannot say when full restoration will be achieved because we can’t send out our people while the weather is still bad,” said NGCP vice president Gildo Listano.In Metro Manila, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) said Ompong caused service interruptions that affected as many as 423,000 customer connections. As of 5 p.m. the said number of customers had been reduced to 63,000.Landslides closed off several major road sections in northern Luzon to traffic on Saturday, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) reported.Huge boulders, loosened soil and thick mud from a collapsed slope at Barangay Ambatec in Bayyo town, Bontoc province, rendered the Mountain Province-Nueva Vizcaya Road impassable to all types of vehicles.Officials were also monitoring the condition of the Chico Karayan bridge, also in Bontoc, whose foundations were weakened by floodwaters rushing down mountain slopes on both banks of the Chico River.Collapsed slopesCollapsed slopes were also reported at the Beto and Supang sections of the Mountain Province-Ilocos Sur Road via Tue.Several landslides were also reported at the Chakchakan, Gonogon, Malitep and Palinga-aw sections of the Baguio-Bontoc Road.In Quirino, the swollen Ngilinan River forced the closure of the NRJ-Villa Sur-San Pedro-Cabua-an-Ysmael-Disimungal Road.In Ilocos Sur, the Tagudin Cervantes Road was closed to traffic due to land and rock slides, while in Cagayan, the Itawes Overflow Bridge went underwater, rendering the Cagayan Apayao Road section in Sta. Barbara, Piat, impassable to all types of vehicles.The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said that accumulated rains, compounded by the release of water from several dams, including Chico and San Roque dams in the Cordilleras, could continue to cause floods and trigger more landslides.In an NDRRMC briefing at Camp Aguinaldo on Saturday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said two female “responders” died in landslides in Baguio City. Two other persons perished in the city (See related story on A4), police said.An 8-month-old infant girl in Pio Duran town, Albay province, died on Thursday night after she fell through a hole in the bamboo floor of a flooded house.Senior Supt. Benigno Durana, spokesperson for the Philippine National Police, told the briefing that rescuers fished out the body of a still unidentified girl from the Marikina River on Saturday morning.Two residents in Itogon, Benguet, were reported missing.Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Office of Civil Defense officials said rescuers in Cagayan were verifying the drowning of two children.The provincial capital of Tuguegarao reeled from the onslaught of Ompong, which severely damaged the airport and public market, ripped apart roofs of hundreds of houses and uprooted trees, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said.President Rodrigo Duterte designated Tugade as head of his Cabinet’s relief and rescue monitoring group for Cagayan.In all, about 105,000 people were staying in relief centers and other temporary shelters from Ilocos Norte to provinces in Southern Tagalog as of Saturday night, according to social welfare and NDRRMC officials.A report from the regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office said a total of 9,025 people from 2,814 families had already sought shelter in relief centers in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon.In Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan, 457 evacuation centers were activated to accommodate a total of 4,941 evacuees, said police Supt. Imelda Tolentino, the region’s police information officer.Nine members of the Geron family literally hung on for dear life inside their house in Barangay San Jose when Ompong hit land at the coastal town of Baggao before 1:40 a.m.Five men in the family pulled at ropes tied to the house’s trusses for several anxious minutes as the typhoon’s winds tugged at the roof.“They were hanging down from the roof while I and my three children prayed,” said Danly Geron, 39.With a 50-km eyewall, Ompong powered through the Baggao coastline, crossed the Sierra Madre mountain range and slammed into the Cagayan towns of Gattaran and Lasam.The typhoon flattened huts, toppled trees and electric posts and pried off galvanized iron sheets like pieces of paper in Baggao and the nearby towns of Alcala, Amulung, Gattaran and Lal-lo.In Barangay Baybayog, Baggao, Richard Erpelo and his three children survived after fierce winds and rain blew away the roof and walls of their house.“We rolled on the highway because of the strong winds. I wrapped my 5-year-old daughter and we rolled together,” Erpelo told the Inquirer at an evacuation center in the town.More flights arriving and departing the four terminals of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) were called off despite Ompong’s expected exit from the PAR on Sunday night.Canceled flightsThe total of canceled flights from Friday to Monday climbed to 217—108 domestic and 109 international flights, according to the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).Airline companies have advised MIAA that they would cancel a total of 62 more flights on Sunday and Monday.Cebu Pacific and its budget carrier CebGo called off its remaining flights scheduled on Sunday and Monday.Cathay Pacific canceled a total of 18 flights, Philippine Airlines 14, AirAsia 5, AirSwift 2 and Air China 1.The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines issued a notice to airmen (Notam) calling on commercial airlines flying to and from airports in northern Luzon to secure a waiver from the Office of the Director General.The Department of Foreign Affairs said it would deploy personnel in the country’s international airports to facilitate the provision of P5,000 in financial assistance to overseas Filipino workers whose flights were canceled because of Ompong.The department has put up a help desk at Clark International Airport in Pampanga and will deploy teams starting on Sunday to terminals 1, 2 and 3 at Naia, Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said.

['Jaymee T. Gamil', 'Melvin Gascon', 'Ronnel Domingo']

2017-01-03 22:29:39+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1032889/typhoon-shuts-power-roads-in-8-provinces

Inquirer

House panel okays police desks for crimes vs LGBT

Aside from women’s desks, police stations nationwide could soon have desks dedicated to members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community.This will be made possible by House Bill 2952, which the House Committee on Public Order and Safety approved recently.The bill, authored by Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto of Batangas, amends the existing PNP Reform and Reorganization Act to create an additional LGBT desk alongside womens’ desk in all police stations across the country to administer and attend to cases involving crimes against chastity, sexual harassment and abuses committed against the LGBT community and other similar offenses.In addition, municipalities and cities without policewomen will have two years upon the effectivity of the act to comply with requirements of the provision.“This bill seeks to create a police organization that is able and eager to respond to any criminal or emergency incident, regardless of the gender orientation of the people involved,” Recto, a former Batangas governor and an award-winning actress, said in the copy of her bill.In a position paper, Police Senior Supt. Walter Castillejos said the Philippine National Police supports the bill and that the PNP’s existing women’s desks already act on gender-based complaints.The Lesbian and Gay Legislative Advocacy Network (Lagablab) headed by Jet Evangelista is in favor of the measure.“Our organization supports any legislative effort that will ease discrimination and violence against Filipino LGBTs,” Evangelista said.Recto’s proposal also provides that the PNP should not restrict itself from recruiting members of the LGBT community to be part of the police force either through regular recruitment or lateral entry program and that the PNP should not prevent women or an LGBT from being promoted to a higher position.In addition, the bill also mandates the PNP to prioritize the recruitment and training of women who will serve in the women’s desks.

['Llanesca T. Panti']

2017-01-03 22:29:39+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/house-panel-okays-police-desks-crimes-vs-lgbt-2/305018/

Manila Times

China to amend party constitution, to include Xi’s theories

China’s ruling Communist Party has agreed to amend the party constitution, expected to embed President Xi Jinping’s political thought, ahead of next week’s five-yearly party congress in which Xi will tighten his grip on power.The party’s Central Committee, the largest of its elite ruling bodies, on Saturday passed a previously announced proposal to amend the constitution which will now be put to the Congress for formal approval.A lengthy communique released by the party via state media offered praise for the past five years under Xi’s leadership, especially success in the fight against corruption, but did not say what wording would be inserted into the party constitution.A key measure of Xi’s power will be whether he manages to have his name “crowned” in the party constitution, elevating him to the level of previous leaders exemplified by Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory.Xi’s more recent predecessors, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, both had the party constitution amended to include their guiding thoughts, but without their names directly attached.Jiang has his “Three Represents,” which embraced private entrepreneurs, written in, while Hu, Xi’s immediate predecessor, had his economic doctrine of “scientific development” included.In the section of the communique mentioning former leaders’ theories, there was a reference to “the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s series of important speeches and new concepts, new thinking and new strategy on governing,” signalling that could be the phrasing used.The party has also been pushing Xi’s “Four Comprehensives,” which refer to China working “comprehensively” to build a moderately prosperous society and strengthen reforms, rule of law and party discipline, as well as the “Four Greats”, which focus on party building and national rejuvenation.The four-day Central Committee plenary meeting also approved reports by the party’s corruption watchdog of investigations into several former senior officials who have been sacked or jailed for graft, including Sun Zhengcai, once a contender for top leadership who was expelled from the party last month.Since assuming power five years ago, Xi has mounted a sweeping campaign against deep-rooted corruption, with more than one million people punished and dozens of senior officials jailed.The party has vowed that the campaign, overseen by close Xi ally Wang Qishan, will never end.The Congress will open on Wednesday with a speech by Xi, the party’s head, details of which are a closely guarded secret ahead of time but will focus more on ideology than concrete policies.

[]

15/10/2017 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/10/15/china-to-amend-party-constitution-to-include-xis-theories/

Manila Bulletin

Hundreds flee fighting between two MILF factions

About 1,000 local residents in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town have fled their homes after fierce fighting broke out between two warring groups of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).Capt Arvin Encinas, civil military operations officer of Sixth Infantry Division (6th ID), said government troops were deployed in several villages in Datu Saudi Ampatuan to secure the evacuees who fled their homes to escape being caught in the crossfire between warring groups of 118th MILF Base command led by Haon Sindatuk and 105th MILF Base Command led by Datu Adam in Barangay Madia, Datu Saudi Ampatuan last Tuesday.At least two members of the MILF 118th Base Command were killed, while four members of the MILF 105thBase command were wounded in the gunbattle.He said the evacuees came from Barangay Madia and neighboring villages of Elian, Gawang and Dapiawan who are housed in public schools in Barangay Elian.Encinas said local officials and members of the MILF-Coordinating Council on the Cessation of Hostilities have undertaken steps to defuse the tension between the two warring groups.

[]

24/01/2018 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/01/24/hundreds-flee-fighting-between-two-milf-factions/

Manila Bulletin

Investment coordination body approves P57-B infra projects

The Investment Coordination Committee (ICC)-Cabinet Committee has approved six new big-ticket projects worth a combined P57.494 billion that are meant to, among others, improve road networks and mobilize financial resources for local government units (LGUs) in Mindanao and help ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila.Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd, ICC chairman, over the weekend said out of the new set of approved projects, the largest amount of P21.194 billion will fund the upgrading of seven gravel roads with a total of 236.5 kilometers and one 40-km road segment to provide more direct routes and open areas for development in Mindanao.As approved by the ICC-Cabinet Committee, a Project Facilitation, Monitoring and Innovation Task Force was created to monitor the government’s top 75 infrastructure flagship projects worth an estimated total of P14.989 billion, according to a statement.The ICC-Cabinet Committee also approved the procurement of seven maritime disaster response helicopters to strengthen and expand the Philippine Coast Guard’s capability to respond to maritime incidents during natural calamities.This procurement plan, which will also involve the training of pilots and technical crew; purchase of mission equipment, maintenance tools and spare parts; construction of hangars; and project management will cost around P5.887 billion.To help ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila, the body also approved the construction of the P4.607 billion Binondo-Intramuros Bridge and the P1.376 billion Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge.The Binondo-Intramuros Bridge will involve the construction of a steel bowstring arch bridge with intersecting reclining arches supporting a four-lane deck of about 725 linear meters to connect Intramuros and Binondo with a viaduct over the creek adjacent to the Muelle de Binondo in Manila.The existing two-lane Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge will be expanded to four lanes to increase the road network capacity connecting Makati City at Rockwell Center and Mandaluyong City.According to Dominguez, the ICC-Cabinet Committee also approved a P7.919- billion Infrastructure Preparation and Innovation Facility that will support project development and implementation of key infrastructure projects.The facility will cover feasibility assessment and studies, detailed engineering design, preparation of procurement documents and due diligence reviews.To mobilize financial resources to the LGUs and micro, small and medium enterprises in Mindanao, the committee also gave the go-signal to the P1.519- billion Conflict Sensitive Resource and Asset Management Program-Financial Cooperation Measure project that will be administered by the Land Bank of the Philippines.The project is focused on development-oriented infrastructure and access to asset finance, which applies conflict-sensitive appraisal techniques.

['The Manila Times']

2017-08-13 19:20:33+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/investment-coordination-body-approves-p57-b-infra-projects/344253/

Manila Times

What went before: Dictator Ferdinand Marcos burial

President-elect Rodrigo Duterte had said during the election campaign that he would allow the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos to be laid to rest at the Libingan ng mga Bayani because he was a former soldier, not because he was a hero.READ: Duterte favors burying Marcos at heroes’ cemeteryHe said the issue has created “division” among Filipinos and letting Marcos have a hero’s burial will erase the hatred persisting among the people.As for the torture victims of Marcos who had won court-granted compensation from his recovered ill-gotten wealth, Duterte advised them to go back to the courts to seek the speedy release of the money.“Look, there [are] the courts. Go to the courts because the person you’re running after is a cadaver. What do you want more from the guy? He’s already dead,” Duterte said in a press conference last month.He added: “You said Marcos should not be buried there. That is [on] the question of his abuses. It is something that is attached to his persona forever. Marcos might not really be a hero, I accept that proposition, maybe. But certainly he was a soldier.”‘Kind gesture’Losing vice presidential candidate Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. described Duterte’s move as a “kind, rightful and healing gesture.”“It has always been our family’s position that it is our father’s right under the law to be buried there being a soldier and a former President of this country,” the younger Marcos said in a statement.Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, president of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban

['Philippine Daily Inquirer']

02/12/2017 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/790250/what-went-before-dictator-ferdinand-marcos-burial

Inquirer

Trillanes to Duterte: Go ahead, have me shot

In an escalation of verbal hostilities between the two officials, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on Sunday challenged President Rodrigo Duterte to have him shot, warning that it would “lead to your end.”“Go ahead, Mr. Duterte, order somebody to shoot me and, I assure you, it would lead to your end,” the opposition senator said in a statement.Trillanes was responding to the President’s comments, made in a speech to new barangay officials in Cebu City on Thursday night, that he always acted “tough and threatening,” thought “he’s better than he is,” but was actually “ordinary.”‘Someone will shoot him’“He’s always calling for a fight. He believes that he’s the only tough one around because nobody fought him back. But there will come a day that someone will shoot him because he’s arrogant,” the President said.His comments came after Labor Undersecretary Jacinto Paras claimed that Trillanes threatened him on the sidelines of a Senate hearing last month.In a complaint he filed in the Pasay City prosecutor’s office, Paras said he believed Trillanes’ threat was connected to the graft and sedition charges he brought against the senator in November last year.Trillanes has denied the charges, saying Paras has “zero credibility.”A former naval officer and leader of the 2003 junior military officers’ mutiny and the 2007 coup attempt against then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Trillanes is one of the most vocal critics of the Duterte administration in the Senate.Standing up to a bully“During my entire public life, I have stood up and fought against the crooked, the corrupt, the oppressors and abusers of power like Duterte,” the senator said on Sunday.“I have never bullied the helpless and innocent. Now, as to his threat that somebody would shoot me someday, only Duterte would want me dead because it irks him that somebody dared to stand toe to toe with him,” he said.“My standing up to him makes him look weak and powerless, which is contrary to his objective of making the whole Filipino society afraid of him,” he added.Trillanes’ term expires next year.In an interview with reporters on Wednesday, Trillanes said he had no plans to seek another public office.“[B]ut I won’t disappear. I will continue with my advocacy. I will still stand up to Duterte. I will show him that I don’t need a position to stand up to him,” he said.Asked if he feared for his safety outside public office, he replied: “Let him do his worst. I will show him how cowardly he is. ‘Look, I have no more position. Go ahead.’”

['Dj Yap', 'Julie M. Aurelio']

02/12/2017 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/999427/trillanes-to-duterte-go-ahead-have-me-shot

Inquirer

Customs fixer paid P92M in payola

Customs fixer Mark Taguba said on Monday that he had shelled out P92 million in payola to ensure his shipments would slip out of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) easily.But Taguba said he had to fork out more money on many occasions for shipments that were red-flagged twice or thrice.At the resumption of the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on the “tara” (payola) system at the bureau, Taguba showed how money changed hands, presenting call logs and text messages with tara “collectors.”He backed these up with bank withdrawal slips he made for the payoffs.Evidence of corruptionSen. Panfilo Lacson said Taguba’s testimony was the “evidence of corruption” at the BOC, which former Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon denied happened on his watch.Lacson said he would show more proof of corruption, noting that his staff was still analyzing Taguba’s phone, which had records of the fixer’s dealings at the bureau.At the 10th hearing of the Senate panel, Taguba said he gave out P92 million when he facilitated shipments for clients from August last year to May this year.On questioning by the committee chair, Sen. Richard Gordon, Taguba said the money he used for payoffs came from “clients” of the shipments (mostly general merchandise) that he facilitated.“You really cannot do it cleanly,” Taguba said.Call logs, text messagesPresenting his call logs and text messages from collectors of tara at the BOC, Taguba said he spent P170,000 per container for duties and taxes plus P27,200 in tara.For instance, for March 27-31 and April 3-7, he shelled out a total of P489,600 in tara for 18 containers brought in by EMT Trading.He said the payoffs were given to the Import Assessment Services, Intelligence Group, collectors, formal entry division, Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) director, CIIS district, Enforcement and Security (ESS) director, ESS district, Pier Inspection Division, Assessment and Operational Coordinating Group, and X-ray personnel.For shipments from EMT Trading and others totaling 207 containers in the same period, Taguba said he paid out P35.19 million, including almost P15 million for tara.He showed withdrawal slips from three banks amounting to P25.2 million, or less than the P35.19 million.Taguba said this was because some clients like Kenneth Dong paid him in cash.CIIS ‘tara’ recipientsHe also presented phone logs showing the people, including Joey Pinawin, collector for CIIS, who called him to request the tara during the period.Pinawin, who was at the hearing, denied he requested tara from Taguba through a certain Mae.He said he called Mae because of an alert order on the latter’s shipment at the time. Pinawin also called Taguba weeks later.Other callers of Taguba asking for tara were a certain Jake, Jack, Noel and Tita Nani of the Davao Group; Winnie, Johnny de Vera, Jojo Baccud, Gemma Castillo and Teddy Sagaral.Lacson said that besides the regular tara for a shipment to be placed in the green lane, Taguba would give additional payoffs for “special stop” orders on shipments that were previously flagged.Taguba said he was asked to “voluntarily upgrade” or pay an additional amount so that it would not take long for his shipment to be released.Add’l P250-300kHe described the special stop order as something that would make one “cry blood.”Lacson told reporters that the special stop order would mean an additional P250,000 to P300,000.He said this order was issued by the Office of the Commissioner, which gets P50,000 for the lifting of the order.At the hearing, Lacson pointed out that Mike Sabban, a technical assistant at the office of Faeldon, could request special stop orders.“So there, you could see that it’s centralized,” Lacson told reporters.He said Taguba’s testimony was the proof of corruption at the BOC that Faeldon had been asking for.Rice smugglingLacson said more documents were being analyzed as his staff was developing cases against Faeldon on top of the rice smuggling case involving P34 million, which he said he would file in the Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday against Faeldon.The senator said Faeldon ordered the release of the smuggled rice shipment. “This is nonbailable because economic sabotage is a capital offense,” Lacson said.No drugs in his shipmentOn questioning by Sen. Bam Aquino, Taguba said he paid tara to the BOC for the release of the shipment that turned out to be containing P6.4-billion in “shabu” (crystal meth) from China in May.But Taguba insisted that this shipment did not contain drugs, reiterating his earlier testimony that when the shipment was delivered to the warehouse of Richard Chen, it was not heavy enough to contain the metal cylinders that yielded the illegal drugs.“My driver said he did not deliver cylinders (to the warehouse). For these cylinders to be taken down from the truck, you will need a forklift,” he said.Taguba noted that the metal cylinders were not on the list of his shipment. He said he had never brought in molds as shipment.Molds brought in by TagubaBut Lacson told Taguba that based on the latter’s shipments, he did bring in molds on Nov. 10 and 24 last year and January this year.The senator said the heaviest mold weighed more than 8 tons.Taguba said he would check his shipment records.Gordon said he would hold the next hearing on Oct. 12.

['Christine O. Avendaño']

02/12/2017 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/933394/customs-fixer-paid-p92m-in-payola

Inquirer

Makati monitoring 27,600 who received Dengvaxia

The Makati City government is monitoring the condition of more than 27,600 students and employees who received shots of the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia after its manufacturer, Sanofi Pasteur, recently bared that the vaccine may be harmful to those who have not acquired the dengue virus.Aside from suspending the city’s anti-dengue vaccination program following orders from the Department of Health (DOH), Makati Mayor Abigail Binay also said she has instructed Makati Health Department (MHD) officer-in-charge Dr. Bernard Sese to coordinate with the Department of Education (DepEd)-Makati and closely monitor the condition of students who were given the vaccines.An official of the city government told the Manila Bulletin that a total of 27,604 students and employees have already received Dengvaxia shots since the city-wide anti-dengue vaccination program was launched last August 14.“The best thing we can do right now is to closely monitor the health of students as well as employees who received the anti-dengue vaccines. We will track down everyone who has been vaccinated and monitor their condition for any developments,” Binay said.Binay said the city government received about 65,000 units of anti-dengue vaccines from the DOH and mobilized doctors and nurses to cover all health centers as well as public elementary schools and high schools in Makati.“There are still several public high schools which have not received the anti-dengue vaccine. The schedules for these schools have been postponed indefinitely until DOH releases an advisory,” Dr. Sese said.Last Wednesday, Sanofi Pasteur released a statement saying the drug may be harmful when administered to individuals not previously infected with dengue. It said that there is a possibility that individuals who have not been infected by the dengue virus but received Dengvaxia shots will get “severe dengue.”According to various reports, the Philippines was the first country in Asia to approve the dengue vaccine for individuals aged between nine and 45 in December 2015.Meanwhile, the Makati Health Department noted that the vaccination drive for Japanese Encephalitis for both city government employees and public school students will continue.The city government launched on Monday a vaccination drive against Japanese Encephalitis which will cover public school students from Kinder to Grade 6 and city government employees.

[]

02/12/2017 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/12/02/makati-monitoring-27600-who-received-dengvaxia/

Manila Bulletin

No increase in SSS monthly contribution

The top official of the Social Security System on Wednesday assured members that P1,000 of the proposed P2,000 SSS pension hike will be released by next year without an increase in monthly contributions.Amado Valdez said the “Social Security System [SSS] management has a game plan to ensure that the pension fund can absorb the initial P1,000 pension increase.”The balance of P1,000 will be given before the end of the Duterte administration in 2022.Valdez said the pension fund welcomes the proposal of three economists of the administration to increase the contribution of the SSS members by 17 percent from 11 percent but, in case the idea would prosper, it should be on staggered basis.To counter possible negative effects of the pension increase, the SSS is thinking of investing in road, railway and other infrastructure projects.It is also thinking of gaining ownership of up to 25 percent in utility corporations, so that even in times of power and water rate hikes, “our members who comprise the working class will still benefit from the revenues generated from such increases,” Valdez said.Also, the SSS is looking at joint ventures with developers to maximize gains from SSS-owned assets such as its five-hectare property on EDSA and East Avenue in Quezon City.Given the property’s prime location, the pension fund can generate regular earnings from building a high-rise structure with residential and commercial units for sale and lease and then charge parking fees, Valdez said.

['Nelson Badilla']

2016-12-21 21:49:55+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/no-increase-sss-monthly-contribution-2/303054/

Manila Times

Ma appeals: Give my son back to me

Rohanisa Abdul Jabar on Monday appealed to kidnappers who took her son, Ramram, in Manila seven years ago: “Give him back to me.”Ramram, whose full name is Azramie Magondacan, was taken from the family home in Tondo, Manila, in 2010 when he was 3 years old.Jabar has since been crying every day, praying and asking law enforcement agencies for help in recovering her son.Ramram, or Ramkoy, would have turned, or maybe turned, 10 in May, Jabar said she could not be sure.A certain Sittie Melva kidnapped Ramram with the help of his nanny Ula Arada on July 4, 2010. No one has learned whether he’s still alive.Jabar sought the help of the Manila Police District, National Bureau of Investigation and Philippine National Police anticrime emergency response—to no avail.She filed kidnapping charges against Arada and Melva but the case was dismissed.Four months after the boy’s abduction, the law enforcement agencies downgraded the case from kidnapping to missing, “because up to now, no one has demanded any ransom from me,” Jabar said in an interview with the Inquirer on Monday.To keep her hopes alive, Jabar maintained a Facebook page, “This Kid is Missing,” asking the public for help in disseminating Ramram’s pictures.Child soldierShe offered a P100,000 reward for information that would lead to the recovery of her child. After seven years there was nothing, except for insensitive pranks asking her for money.A message from Facebook user Omi Koto on Aug. 25 reignited Jabar’s hope. The unknown social media user sent her photos of a child soldier who allegedly fights for the Maute terror group in Marawi City, where Jabar was born.The similarities between the boy in the picture who carried an assault rifle and Ramram were so striking that Jabar said she trembled.“What if it’s he?” she said.In their last conversation, Omi Koto told Jabar he got the picture from a Bangsamoro Facebook page where pictures retrieved from the gadgets of Maute fighters were posted.Jabar said she had no way to verify if the boy in the picture was Ramram and Omi Koto could no longer be contacted.As she came to another dead end, Jabar appealed to Ramram’s kidnappers again.“If that boy is really my son, I have been waiting so long to get him back. If he is in the war zone, please return him to me. He is not your son,” she said.Jabar put the child soldier’s photo beside Ramram’s photo seven years ago and posted them on her Facebook page.She asked netizens to help her locate her son, or help her verify if the child soldier was the son she lost seven years ago.BirthmarkThe only way to verify is to see if the child soldier has the same birthmark as Ramram’s, she said.“He has a brown birthmark in his right jaw. That’s the only body mark that could tell us that he’s my son,” Jabar said.The military is verifying the authenticity of the pictures, Capt. Jo-Ann Petinglay, spokesperson for the military’s Western Mindanao Command, told the Inquirer on Sunday.Petinglay said civilians rescued from the battle zone in Marawi City had spoken of child soldiers fighting side by side with Maute and Abu Sayyaf terrorists.Col. Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of Task Group Ranao, confirmed that the terrorists were using child soldiers.“There’s no word yet from our intelligence operatives,” Petinglay said, referring to the verification of Ramram’s picture.No moving onJabar said relatives and friends were convincing her to move on. Her mother threw away Ramram’s only toy

['Aie Balagtas See']

20/02/2017 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/926316/ma-appeals-give-my-son-back-to-me

Inquirer

WHAT WENT BEFORE: Gwendolyn Garcia case

In 2008, then Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia approved the purchase of property worth P98.9 million from Romeo and Amparo Balili for a housing project of the provincial government.The 24.7-hectare coastal property was located in Tinaan village, Naga City, 21.7 kilometers south of Cebu City. Local authorities, however, discovered later that 9.3 ha of the property were underwater and covered with mangrove.In August 2009, Garcia apologized to the people of Cebu for what she said were lapses in the purchase of the property.Lawyer Marino Martinquilla, the provincial attorney, was expected to demand the Balilis refund P37.8 million, the cost of the submerged portion of the property.Garcia’s critics, however, asked the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate and bring charges against provincial officials.Former Sen. John Osmeña wrote the antigraft office, asking to examine the deal and saying Garcia’s apology could not erase her criminal and administrative liabilities.In November 2010, the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas ordered Garcia and other provincial officials investigated for possible graft.In July 2012, the Ombudsman charged Garcia with two counts of graft and one count of illegal use of public funds at the Sandiganbayan over the purchase of the property.Charged with Garcia were seven other Cebu officials.In January 2013, after being suspended by the Office of the President for six months for grave abuse of authority, Garcia was found by the Ombudsman guilty of grave misconduct for misusing public funds to buy a private property submerged in the sea and was ordered to face trial on two counts of graft and one count of technical malversation, or illegal use of public funds.The Ombudsman said the parties, particularly Garcia, acted with gross inexcusable negligence in the purchase of the Balili estate, with the landowner admitting that no survey was conducted before the sale agreement was signed.In April 2014, the Court of Appeals nullified the decision of the Ombudsman that held Garcia administratively liable for the purchase of the property. But Garcia still faced three graft cases at the Sandiganbayan for buying the property.In his ruling, Executive Justice Gabriel Ingles of the appeals court in Cebu said the Ombudsman acted “whimsically, capriciously and arbitrarily” when it adjudicated the administrative case against Garcia even if she was reelected governor in 2010.

['Philippine Daily Inquirer']

20/02/2017 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/968278/what-went-before-gwendolyn-garcia-case

Inquirer

(FULL TRANSCRIPT) Interview with Communications Secretary Martin Andanar by Pinky Webb

(Webb: Alamin naman natin kung ano naman ang masasabi ng Malakanyang sa bagong paratang laban kay Pangulong Duterte, nasa linya ng telepono si Communications Secretary Martin Andanar. Secretary Andanar, magandang tanghali po sa inyo.Andanar: Hello Pinky, magandang tanghali.Webb: Ano po ang inyong reaksyon dito sa sinabi ni SPO3 Lascanas?Andanar: I would like to read to you our crafted message, if you don’t mind…Webb: Go ahead sir.Andanar: The demolition job against President Duterte continues. The press conference of self-confessed hitman SPO3 Arthur Lascanas is part of a protracted political drama aimed to destroy the President and to topple his administration. Our people are aware that this character assassination is nothing but vicious politics orchestrated by sectors affected by the reforms initiated by the Duterte administration. The Commission on Human Rights, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Senate Committee on Justice already cleared the President of extrajudicial killing and his involvement in the Davao Death Squad. Bringing change is not an easy task. The Duterte administration has disturbed/disrupted the establishment. However, we remain undistracted in delivering goods and services to serve the people, not just the interest of the few.Webb: Can I ask you a question now?Andanar: Yes, go ahead ma’am.Webb: Secretary, tinatawag niyo po itong demolition job, political job on character assassination, may plano po ba ang Malakanyang or yung Office of the President kay SPO3 Arthur Lascanas dahil sa kanyang mga sinabi?Andanar: Well, si SPO3 Lascanas ay kakatapos lang po ng kanyang presscon kani-kanina lamang and ang gobyerno, ang administrasyong Duterte sa pangunguna din po ng ating Secretary Aguirre ay sasagot din po in a matter of time. Hintayin na lang po natin, but what I said earlier is that… alam niyo, lahat po ng time na ito, yung ingay sa social media about the diumano’y yaman ng ating Pangulo, tapos ito ngayon, itong Davao Death Squad, puro rehash kasi ito Pinky, at sa amin, para sa akin din, ito ay in preparation for that march, for the protest rally that they are planning this coming February 25. Kaya ito po ay kasama na rin po sa plano, at mayroon din po tayong mga natanggap na mga report, Pinky, na as much as 1,000 dollars ang ipinamigay dito sa presscon na ito, hindi ko na lang po papangalanan yung aking source, pero mayroon daw pinagbibigyan ng ganito kalaking halaga ng pera para lamang i-cover ito.Webb: Secretary, one thousand dollars, yung umiikot na one thousand dollars, kanino? Kay SPO3 Lascanas… kanino napunta yung pera?Andanar: Pinagbibigyan daw yung mga reporter doon sa kung saan nangyari, may mga nag-offer daw, hindi ko lang alam kung tinanggap, pero mayroong nagsumbong sa akin na ganoon.Webb: Ok, para malinaw lang po, Secretary, that umikot ang one thousand dollars para ibigay sa mga reporters na nagko-cover po diyan sa Senado, tama po ba ang aming pagka-intindi sir?Andanar: Yun ang umiikot na istorya, pero hindi naman sinabi na tinanggap. Pero ang sinabi mayroong mga offer na ganoon kalaking pera ang oposisyon para lamang pabagsakin itong administrasyong ito at para ipakalat itong istorya ni SPO3…Webb: Lascanas?Andanar: Opo.Webb: Opo. So yung one thousand dollars, sabi niyo po nanggaling sa oposisyon?Andanar: Nanggaling ito kung sinuman ang nagsimula, alam mo mahirap din sabihin kung kanino nanggaling, kung sasabihin natin kay… sa taong ito, mahirap magbigay ng ano, pero kung sino man ang naninira sa ating Pangulo, ay those who are opposing this administration na nangunguna diyan sa nangyari na nga diyan sa may presscon na iyan, yung balita kumakalat na itong one thousand dollars, ino-offer diumano sa mga reporter.Webb: Para po i-cover, parang ganoon po?Andanar: Parang ganoon na rin, ganoon ang lumalabas sa report.Webb: Alright. Let me ask, categorically, sir, are you saying that the one thousand dollars is coming from Senator Antonio Trillanes?Andanar: I cannot categorically say na galing Senator Trillanes, basta ang sabi lang po ng aking source diyan sa Senado na mayroong pera na ganoon na umiikot. Pero I would like to categorically say also na hindi naman sinabi kung tinanggap yung pera na yun.Webb: Ok po. Secretary Martin Andanar, maraming salamat po sa inyong oras and sa pagpapaunlak sa aming tawag.Andanar: Maraming salamat po, mabuhay po kayo.

[]

20/02/2017 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/02/20/full-transcript-interview-with-presidential-communications-office-secretary-martin-andanar-by-pinky-webb-the-source-cnn-philippines-1-p-m-february-20-2017/

Manila Bulletin

Faeldon told: Testify or go to jail

Former Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon may end up behind bars if he again refuses to appear at Monday’s resumption of the Senate blue ribbon committee’s inquiry into alleged corruption at the Bureau of Customs (BOC).Sen. Richard Gordon, the committee chair, said on Sunday that he and the members of the panel had decided to transfer Faeldon to a city jail because of the former BOC chief’s repeated refusal to attend the hearings.“We have to protect the Senate … Can you imagine if we call someone and [the resource person] will not attend, then we cannot get to the bottom of [the problem],” Gordon said in a radio interview.Held in Senate basementFaeldon has been detained in the Senate building since September last year for refusing to testify on accusations by Sen. Panfilo Lacson that there is corruption in the BOC and that he—during his short stint in the bureau—benefited from it.Faeldon, who resigned from the BOC at the height of a narcotics smuggling scandal in the bureau last year, has denied the accusation and filed an ethics complaint against Lacson and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.President Duterte has appointed Faeldon deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense despite his detention in the Senate building.Asked whether Faeldon would be transferred to the Pasay City jail, Gordon said it was not a remote possibility.He reiterated, however, that personally he was inclined to order the release of Faeldon if the former customs chief would attend the hearing and testify.“You know I don’t threaten, I just do it,” the senator said, adding that the Senate has to do something about the situation eventually.Gordon said he was not happy that Faeldon remained held in the Senate basement because the Senate was spending for Faeldon’s needs there.Gordon also noted that Faeldon was not behind bars but occupying an air-conditioned room in the Senate basement .Cited for contemptThe blue ribbon committee cited Faeldon for contempt last September after he refused to testify at the hearing on the alleged payola system at the BOC, as well as the inquiry into the P6.4-billion “shabu” (crystal meth) shipment that slipped past the bureau last year.Faeldon told senators he would rather face the court than the committee.In a privilege speech, Lacson had identified Faeldon and other BOC officials and employees as benefiting from the payola system called “tara” at the bureau.Lacson named the broker, bribe givers and others allegedly involved in the tara system.Faeldon accused both Lacson and Trillanes of prejudging him as involved in corruption at the BOC.The blue ribbon committee has allowed Faeldon to leave the Senate premises on two occasions, one of which was when he took his oath for his new job at the Department of National Defense earlier this month.

['Philippine Daily Inquirer']

08/05/2017 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/964322/faeldon-told-testify-or-go-to-jail

Inquirer

Mining promises

Many years ago during President Gloria Arroyo’s first term, a mining conference was held in Metro Manila. The former president proudly declared that the Philippines was on the threshold of becoming one of the ten largest “mining powers” in the world, and because of a reinvigorated mining industry, our country was on the verge of an economic takeoff like never before. To end her keynote speech, the former president exclaimed, “We should not be poor!”Remarkably, when the then president was addressing those 300 hundred delegates, representing 7 countries, who attended that mining conference, the Philippines had already given 40 percent of its territory as concessions to multinational mining companies. Yet, poverty was still a principal concern, as it was during the watch of Presidents Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, and Joseph Estrada. What could have gone wrong? Why didn’t mining eradicate poverty and bring about prosperity as promised?The newly appointed secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources was the ineffable Michael Defensor, rapidly confirmed by the Commission on Appointments, unlike the combative Gina Lopez. At that same conference, he jubilantly revealed that the top 23 mining companies and the 37 exploration projects were expected to generate US$ 5 to 7 billion in new investments, in the next five years, which meant the government would earn at least P100 billion a year in taxes. He bragged that the Arroyo administration would not only wipe out the country’s fiscal deficit, but also and more importantly, put an end to the curse of chronic poverty.Also present at that conference was the debonair Ignacio Bunye, presidential press secretary and spokesman, who assured one and all that safeguards and safety nets had been incorporated in the mining plans to protect the rights of “affected communities.” I felt that he was anticipating violent objections from environmentalists and civic action groups.How blessed we are; we have been sitting on tons of gold, silver, zinc, copper, nickel, cobalt, not to mention natural gas, heavy water, oil, semi-precious stones like agates and jades. However, exploiting these precious natural resources has been deadly and devastating not only for those communities living around the mining areas but also for the environment in general. The example that refuses to be forgotten is Marinduque, an island of Region IV-B’s Mimaropa, with an area of 959 sq. kilometers and a manageable population of less than 300,000. Marcopper conducted mining operations there for 20 years with no safeguards at all. As a result, the rivers and waterways and farmlands in Marinduque have been poisoned beyond salvation. The incidence of poverty was recorded at 71.9 per cent. In like manner, the riverside dwellers of Bataraza, Palawan, the Subanons of southwestern Minadanao, the Mangyans of Mindoro Oriental, the Tagbanuas, B’laans, Batak, Cordillerans, and Tau’t Bato are today not a centavo richer because of broken promises of mining companies.During that conference, the “International Business News” published a glowing report about the Philippines having an estimated US$ 1 trillion in unexplored mine wealth which, if properly exploited can generate as much as US$ 3 billion in annual gross sales and P500 million in yearly taxes for the government. Will someone please check out those figures and the predicament of the above-mentioned communities? We have to know if those promises made before an international audience were ever fulfilled.More than a decade ago, supposedly on the threshold of mining boom, President G. Arroyo declared, “We should not be poor!”(ggc1898@gmail.com)

['Brian Buonanni', 'Felipe Taupeldino', 'Muhammad Jamil']

08/05/2017 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/05/08/mining-promises/

Manila Bulletin

Inquirer Read-Along: Lessons on kindness for 150 kids

Kindness, for Christian, 12, and Jhon, 11, means being good even to bullies.That’s what the two boys learned from Alice Mallari’s “Apolakus,” a book that tells of how the weakling Dadoy overcame bullying in school.“Apolakus” was one of three books that veteran storytellers read to 150 children from the Tondo, Pandacan and Paco districts of Manila during the pre-Christmas celebration of Inquirer Read-Along on Saturday at the Inquirer main office in Makati.Tales of selflessness enlivened the session that was part of the program’s theme “#ReadAlong4Kindness,” a takeoff from the “#ReadAlong4Hope” theme of the read-along festival in October.Saturday’s featured readers were veteran storytellers Dyali Justo of Adarna House and Rich Rodriguez of Ang Pinoy Storytellers, as well as child actor Sebastian Vargas Jr.Justo read “Estrellita, the Little Wishing Star” by May Tobias, which tells of how Estrellita sacrificed herself to become the star that the orphan Noel wished on to get well.Rodriguez read “Apolakus,” while Vargas read “Super Ningning” by Liwliwa Malabed, which tells of a girl who was bullied but managed to overcome her insecurities by making friends.Aside from listening to inspiring stories, the children also received stuffed toys from Loi Herrera, head of Guardian Angels of America Foundation (Gaaf), an initiative of Filipino-American volunteers dedicated to helping less fortunate Filipino children.Saturday’s session was held in cooperation with Gaaf, the Educational Research and Development Assistance Foundation Inc., Arwin Atentar, Lala Salanga and Ivy Pagute of Urban Poor Associates, Ikon Solutions Asia Inc., Wilson Lee Flores of Kamuning Bakery, Margie dela Vega, Chito dela Vega, Robert Jaworski Abaño, TJ Burgonio, Edlyn Burgonio and Bayani San Diego.

['The Inquirer Read-Along Team']

09/12/2016 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/951087/inquirer-read-along-dyali-justo-rich-rodriguez-sebastian-vargas-jr

Inquirer

VACC: DOJ has jurisdiction over drug complaint vs De Lima

Only the Department of Justice (DOJ) and not the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) has jurisdiction over the illegal drugs complaints against Senator Leila de Lima.This was the point raised by the watchdog Victims Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) and former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Deputy Directors Reynaldo Esmeralda and Ruel Lasala, all of whom were among the complainants who filed various drug raps against de Lima at the DOJ.Through their lawyer Eduardo Bringas, the VACC and the two former NBI officials filed at the DOJ yesterday their joint opposition to de Lima’s omnibus motion.De Lima sought in her omnibus motion to inhibit Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and the designated panel of DOJ prosecutors from handling the preliminary investigation of the drug complaints against her and should instead be turned over to the Office of the Ombudsman.Citing Article XI, Section 90 of Republic Act 9165 (The Dangerous Drugs Act), the complainants said that the law provides that: “The DOJ shall designate special prosecutors to exclusively handle cases involving violations of this Act.”In the same section, they also indicated that: “The Supreme Court shall designate special courts from among the existing Regional Trial Courts in each judicial region to exclusively try and hear cases involving violations of this Act.”

[]

09/12/2016 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2016/12/09/vacc-doj-has-jurisdiction-over-drug-complaint-vs-de-lima/

Manila Bulletin

Catalan lawmakers vote on new regional separatist leader

will likely act as Puigdemont’s “surrogate”. He will be faced with deep divisions in the separatist camp, composed of the CUP, the leftwing ERC party and Puigdemont’s Together for Catalonia grouping, he added in a research note.“The problem is that separatist parties continue to disagree on what to do next,” he wrote.“ERC wants to execute a ‘moderate shift’ to keep secessionist politicians out of legal troubles, avoid direct rule by Madrid, and try to garner long-term support for independence.“In contrast, Puigdemont’s strategy is to continue using every opportunity… to continue challenging the Spanish authorities and keep the secessionist momentum alive.”Oriol Bartomeus, politics professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, told AFP that Torra had in his career shown “a pretty clear inclination towards the sector of the independence movement that is not really in favour of political normalisation.”In March Torra gave a rousing speech to the regional parliament calling on separatists to keep up their campaign against the central government.“Do not think for a moment we will give up, not even a millimetre, to defend the justice, legitimacy and honourability of this cause,” he thundered.

[]

12/05/2018 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/05/12/catalan-lawmakers-vote-on-new-regional-separatist-leader/

Manila Bulletin

19 Russian women face deportation for ‘prostitution’

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has ordered the deportation of 19 Russian women who have been working as alleged prostitutes in Pampanga province, north of Manila.In a statement released by the bureau over the weekend, Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said the Russians on Wednesday were discovered working as Guest Relations Officers (GROs) without required employment visas at Club Angel in Clark Field, Angeles City, Pampanga.“They will be deported for working without visas and for other immigration offenses,” Morente added.He said the Russian women charged their customers an hourly rate of P1,500 for their services.The Russians were arrested in a raid by BI Intelligence operatives.Meanwhile, two Koreans who had allegedly recruited and employed the Russian women also face deportation, according to Morente.BI Intelligence officer Jude Hinolan said the two Koreans were undocumented and overstaying aliens who arrived in the Philippines several months ago.The bureau identified the Koreans as Jeong Seonghun, 30, and Lee Kyurak, 30, who allegedly work as the club’s cashier and manager, respectively.

['Ashley Jose']

2018-01-20 23:12:11+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/19-russian-women-face-deportation-prostitution/375471/

Manila Times

Do Jim Paredes and his friends own EDSA?

In the aftermath of the weekend’s EDSA commemorations, our social media feeds were filled with news and messages that were angry, sad, and pondering.The EDSA legacy following 1986 is an example of unprecedented change event that failed to meet people’s expectations for good governance after kicking out a rotten system. It recreated a Manila-based political elite who felt a divine right to define the political choices and outcomes for the rest of the nation. Everyone else was alienated from this class, out of the power corridors.Unfortunately, these celebrations remind many people of this elite’s complicity in the continuing ills that ravage communities of Filipinos in urban slums and remote hinterlands. Having been defeated in the May, 2016, elections, the spotlight of the February, 2017, EDSA commemoration was on them, to test whether this once potent political force could still deliver political pressure against a regime they deride as a fascist outsider to their class.This elite built myths to mesmerize the masses with icons and prophets like Jim Paredes, its most fervent ambassador to a new generation who didn’t know EDSA.Yet, the viral event of the weekend was the video by an international journalist of the confrontation between the same Jim Paredes and some detractors allegedly coming from a group called Duterte Youth.Did Paredes publicly admonish them like a landlord to his tenants? Watch the video and tell me if that’s so. Viewed almost half a million times online, it smeared the carefully protected benevolent and decent public image of the political groups he represents. His attitude irked many. Did he speak as though only he and his kind could converge on that public space called the People Power Monument?His sharp words sent the message that commemorating the EDSA event is only reserved for that elite set of and other well heeled friends who deserve the honor of its legacy. Everyone else with a differing view, and everyone else not at EDSA in 1986 is an outsider.Yes, he spoke at the excluded mass of “outsiders”: people suffering from incompetence of long lines for passports, delays in getting drivers licenses and other regular permits, and living through the reality of shabu traded in the alleyways of their blighted communities that expressed its anger and voted them out in may 2016. Sad, because after almost 30 uninterrupted years of power, the same injustice and ills that plague the majority of our people remained unsolved.The Jim Paredes incident serves as the visible expression of this fallen power. His rant represents their frustration of a class that lost its grip on the people’s imagination, its influence steadily waning, his nostalgic waxing losing its effect. By their own estimate, their rally at the EDSA monument peaked at 20,000, which is half the official estimate, yet is surprisingly smaller than the crowd they pulled during the Marcos burial rally. Its numbers show a weakened capacity to mobilize crowds and push its once lofty influence to get what it wants, its leading edge in the likes of the recently arrested Leila de Lima.Sad, because the moment to mobilize the hundreds of thousands was all theirs in the run up to the weekend- the dramatics of the Leila de Lima arrest, the returning Trillanes tirades about the Duterte bank accounts, and Lascanas confession. All would have been used to intensify public anger and consolidate a stronger support base. Alas, it was not to happen, the numbers it called for did not come.What is inspiring is that for the first time, people in the peripheries of centralized power-from the Visayas and Mindanao, and OFWs many world capitals, utilized the people power holiday to vent anger against a previous regime they want to stay defeated and support the gains they have recently tasted- longer passport validity, coming tax reliefs for wage earners, a drug trade significantly reduced in their locales, higher SSS pensions, more credit for agriculture on top of free irrigation all things they felt should have been there after EDSA but instead were withheld for many reasons.These other rallies in the peripheries remind us that real people power lies not in nostalgia for one dictator toppling event and the homage for prophets like Jim Paredes and his friends and their interests, but in the collective action of the people to advance their hopes and express real sentiments against a system that has kept them excluded and suffering.The 1987 Constitution institutionalized this as direct peoples action, and the people participating in these rallies of “support” used this avenue to challenge past ineptitudes and corruption to demand that it continue to deliver on promises of a better deal for them and their children. They have tasted small changes, and trust that the agenda that won last May 2016 will fulfill the mandate they gave it.Are we seeing a resurgence of people power as it was meant to be? Ironically, the man Paredes and his friends tried to deride as an uncouth outsider (like the class they excluded) put the EDSA event in a new perspective, saying that EDSA belongs to “no religion or ideology.” These other rallies reflect the real power of we, an inspired change.***VAT from Uber? We should all monitor the current debates on tax reforms. Recent consultations on proposed CTRP in the TRAIN and TARA bills hope to achieve lower income tax rates for a bigger number while increasing the tax base. At the moment, only 15% of taxable Filipinos are registered taxpayers, half of which are wage earners from whom these are automatically withheld. The rest of our taxes come from regressive taxes like the VALUE added tax.Sadly, all past governments have failed to plug the leakages in the collection of these What matters more are plugging the leaks in the Value Added Tax, ensuring, for example, that companies required to remit VAT do so. Some quarters have asked whether online businesses and transport network companies like Uber whom we from the provinces patronize give receipts and remit VAT. In next week’s column we hope to find out.For reactions: facebook.com/johntriapage

['T Party', 'Meow Pu']

27/02/2017 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/02/27/do-jim-paredes-and-his-friends-own-edsa/

Manila Bulletin

Montano: Teo pushed for P80-M payment to ‘Buhay Carinderia’

Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) chief operating officer Cesar Montano has blamed his agency’s mess to his former boss, Wanda Teo.In a radio interview on dzBB on Friday, Montano said it was Teo, the former secretary of the Department of Tourism (DOT), who pushed for the payment of P80 million to the marketing agency Marylindbert International.The agency, owned by Erlinda Legaspi, was the project organizer of “Buhay Carinderia,” a video series aimed at promoting local food and eateries. Formely called “Carinderia Fiesta,” the project was initiated by Legaspi in 2011. It was only in March 2018 that the TPB sponsored it.Not yet completeNewly appointed Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat called out Montano for disbursing 90 percent of the P80 million even if Buhay Carienderia project was not yet complete.On Thursday, she suspended all TPB projects pending review by the Commission on Audit.TPB reservationsChecks bearing the signatures of Montano and Teo showed that TPB made payments on March 19 for P13.44 million, March 20 for P31.36 million and April 17 for P35.84 million.“The TPB extended our reservations. We informed Secretary Teo that the disbursement was too fast and we didn’t need to pay them immediately,” Montano said.He said Teo introduced Legaspi to him, saying she was a “friend.”Montano said he could not question payments Teo wanted to be made for TPB projects because “she’s the [chaiperson], she’s the boss.”

['Philippine Daily Inquirer']

2017-05-23 23:48:17+08:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/992186/montano-teo-pushed-for-p80-m-payment-to-buhay-carinderia

Inquirer

Poe says Senate closed-door disclosures may favor Aquino

Resigned Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima’s disclosures during the Senate executive session this week on the Jan. 25 Mamasapano debacle may even favor President Aquino, Sen. Grace Poe said on Wednesday.The accounts of two surviving Special Action Force (SAF) commandos given in the closed-door meeting, while awe-inspiring, may not be disclosed for security reasons, said the chair of the public order committee conducting the inquiry into the Mamasapano raid that led to the massacre of 44 SAF troopers.Senators, however, have agreed to release summaries of the testimonies of Purisima, the two survivors and relieved SAF commander Director Getulio Napeñas, she said.“There’s nothing objectionable that should not be disclosed. If at all, it may even favor the President. But I won’t give details because that is an executive session,” Poe said of Purisima’s disclosures. She did not elaborate.She declined to say if the session with Purisima tackled the matter of whether the President gave the order to inform Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr., PNP Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas of the operation only when the SAF forces were on the ground.Behind closed doors“I can’t confirm the particulars of the executive session, but it can be asked again since it was asked in open session,” she told reporters after emerging from a caucus with her colleagues on which transcript to release.The senators heard Purisima and Napeñas for hours in executive sessions last Tuesday and Monday, respectively.Purisima had earlier indicated that he had to seek clearance from the President when asked about the specific time he informed Aquino of the debacle.The 44 SAF commandos were killed when they clashed with Moro guerrillas after taking down Jemaah Islamiyah bomber Zulkifli bin Hir alias “Marwan” in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province.Eighteen rebels and five civilians were also killed in the clash.The carnage has sparked outrage and calls for the resignation of the President, and set off rumors of a coup.Inspiring narrationOf the accounts of the two survivors during last week’s executive session, Poe said: “Their narration of their experience was inspiring. You’d be amazed at how they survived. I wanted that to come out but we agreed that we should be careful about this because some wanted to take revenge.”Besides, recounting how they were pinned down by the rebels would give away the SAF forces’ mistakes, she added.Speaking of Napeñas, Poe observed that the former SAF commander had made many disclosures to the media.“The senators have agreed that the transcript will not be released verbatim, even redacted, if ever we’ll come up with a summary at best. But we would rather cite the pertinent discussions during the executive session in our committee report,” she said.The committees on public order, peace and finance will resume the joint hearings on Monday morning.Originally posted as of 9:34 PM | Wednesday, February 18, 2015

['Tj Burgonio']

2017-05-23 23:48:17+08:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/673811/purisimas-disclosures-on-mamasapano-may-favor-aquino-grace-poe

Inquirer

Bugkalot tribe receives land titles

NAGTIPUNAN, Quirino: For the Bugkalot tribe, it is a blessed New Year receiving their Certificates of Land Ownership (CLOA) as Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) from Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano.Covering some 4,600 hectares of resettlement area at Keat and Matmad in this town to be used productively, the CLOA was recently given to around 1,150 ARBs led by Bugkalot chief Rosario Camma, also former mayor of this town.Camma said the beneficiaries are the actual occupants and tillers from the Bugkalot tribe, and who also forged a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), stating the obligations of each party.The Bugkalots are Indonesian in origin and are recorded as being among the first people to come to the Philippines, also known as the Italon Tribe, Kadayakans, Egongots or Ipagis and Abacas or Tamsis.Along with the Agta or Dumagat people, they were among the first inhabitants of the forests of Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya and Aurora provinces who initially built their houses on trees as protection from their enemies.Until the 1970s, the Bugkalots were a tribe of head-hunters and known as the Ilongots and were more into fishing and hunting in the wilds than in agriculture.In recent years, the Philippine government has been making efforts to help the Bugkalot tribe resolve some of their problems, particularly in livelihood and inter-tribal relations.In order to protect the ARBs, provincial agrarian reform officer Arthur Faeldon, said under the MOA, the land given to the Bugkalots will not be sold, transferred or conveyed except through hereditary succession, or to the government.Faeldon added that the land may also be transferred to the Landbank of the Philippines or to other qualified beneficiaries in consonance with the provision of Republic Act (RA) 8371, or the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997.“The issuance of the certificates is part of the DAR’s mandate of land acquisition and distribution where excess lands of the landlords are being acquired for distribution to the landless,” he said.According to him, all excess private lands in Quirino province were already acquired and distributed.The area has been covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program in 1991 wherein six collective CLOAsA were issued to qualified ARBs at the time who were co-owners of the land.As stated under the 1988 Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (RA 6657) amended by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension Reforms (RA 9700), collective CLOAs should be issued to individual ARBs.

['Leander C. Domingo']

2017-01-02 22:22:36+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/bugkalot-tribe-receives-land-titles/304832/

Manila Times

SC: Congress may indefinitely prolong martial law

Congress may indefinitely prolong President Duterte’s martial law order in Mindanao even without judicial review, the Supreme Court declared on Tuesday.Voting 10-5, the high court affirmed the constitutionality of Joint Resolution No. 4, which the Senate and the House of Representatives approved on Dec. 13, 2017, extending Mr. Duterte’s Proclamation No. 216 up to the end of 2018.The proclamation placed the entire Mindanao under martial law and suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus after Islamic State-inspired Maute and Abu Sayyaf terrorists overran Marawi City last May 23.In a ruling that seemed to have clipped its own judicial authority, the Supreme Court said the joint congressional resolution had “sufficient factual bases” as it threw out the four separate petitions questioning the yearlong extension of military rule in Mindanao.Constitutional silence“The Constitution is silent on how many times Congress may extend a proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus,” the court said in a decision written for the majority by Associate Justice Noel Tijam.“The manner of Congress’ deliberation with respect to the President’s request for extension of martial law in Mindanao for one year is not subject to judicial review,” it added.The court said the 30-year-old Constitution “does not fix a period for the duration of any extension of a proclamation or suspension but expressly leaves the matter to Congress.”“Congress has the power to extend and determine the period of martial law and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus under Article VII, Section 18 of the 1987 Constitution,” the court said.“If the Constitutional Commission had intended to limit any extension to 60 days, it would have been expressly stated and would not have been left to Congress,” it ruled.Rebellion persistsAlthough President Duterte had already declared victory in Marawi, the tribunal said the “rebellion that spawned the Marawi incident persists.”Moreover, the justices said the constitutional requirement was “met when there is sufficient factual bases to hold that the present and past acts constituting the actual rebellion are of such character that endanger and will endanger public safety.”“The court’s power to review the extension of martial law is limited solely to a determination of sufficiency of factual basis,” the court said.It was the fourth time the Duterte administration had hurdled a legal challenge to President Duterte’s executive action.Tijam, the President’s second appointee to the tribunal, was joined by Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr., Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Mariano del Castillo, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Samuel Martires, Andres Reyes Jr. and Alexander Gesmundo in upholding the martial law extension.Like Tijam, Martires, Reyes and Gesmundo had also been appointed by Mr. Duterte to the country’s highest judicial body.Those who dissented were Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justices Marvic Leonen, Francis Jardeleza and Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa.Solicitor General Jose Calida, who defended Mr. Duterte’s order during oral arguments in the high court, expressed his gratitude to the justices, saying the legal victory “will usher in the prosperity of Mindanao after the rebellion is quelled.”60-day limitThe justices said the 60-day limit for the initial proclamation of martial law “cannot be considered to apply to any extension as determined by Congress.”It said the Senate and the House had “full discretionary authority to formulate, adopt and promulgate its own rules,” a legislative power “generally exempt from judicial supervision and interference” save for “a clear showing of such arbitrary and improvident use of the power.”According to the court, the petitioners failed to back up their claim that the enforcement of martial law in Mindanao had led to human rights violations.“The claims of violation of human rights are speculative and lack a nexus between the exercise of martial law powers and their apprehension of such violations,” it said.It also did not give weight to the petitioners’ argument that there was no need to impose military rule since the government was still able to function in the entire southern Philippines.“Reading this theory into the Constitution would be to incorporate something that does not exist in the Constitution’s text,” it pointed out.“When the President and Congress ascertain whether public safety requires the declaration and extension of martial law, they do so by calibrating not only the present state of public safety but the further repercussions of the actual rebellion to public safety in the future as well,” the court said.In a press briefing after the decision came down, opposition Rep. Tomasito Villarin said the Supreme Court “abdicated what its function should be,” which is “to serve as the check and balance to a very powerful Executive.”Marcos Supreme CourtVillarin said the current Supreme Court composition was “just like the Marcos Supreme Court under [the late Chief Justice Enrique] Fernando, who abdicated the role as a constitutional balance.”Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said appealing the decision would be futile, although he found no valid reason to uphold the extension of martial law.“When the Supreme Court, which is the court of last resort, is not anymore the court of any resort, then that emboldens the President to continue violating the rule of law,” Lagman said.“When the majority of the justices fall in cadence with the President and Congress in violating the Constitution, then the country is abandoned in the quagmire of tripartite derogation of civil liberties,” he added.Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate said the Supreme Court “failed to see the suffering of Mindanaons who are victims of military abuses due to martial law.”With the Supreme Court’s decision, he said, the military would “be further emboldened to commit atrocities against ‘lumad’ and other Mindanaons.”“We must continue to defend our rights,” Zarate said.Drieza Lininding, chair of the Moro Consensus Group, said the decision would only worsen the plight of the Maranao, who have already suffered from the effects of the conflict in Marawi City.“The [martial law extension] means that they can loot whatever is left of our properties, they can continue to terrorize us and violate our human rights,” Lininding said, referring to rights violations reported by Marawi residents displaced by the conflict.

['Marlon Ramos']

25/06/2018 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/966785/sc-congress-may-indefinitely-prolong-martial-law

Inquirer

De Lima sees breakdown in banking laws

A “BREAKDOWN” in the compliance of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) with banking laws may have paved the way for the laundering of $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh central bank, former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima Wednesday said.De Lima, a Liberal Party senatorial aspirant, urged RCBC branch manager Maia Santos-Deguito to come clean on her participation in the scheme to launder the huge amount.“Undoubtedly, either she is the lone culprit or the convenient scapegoat in this crime,” De Lima said in a statement.“But since it is highly unlikely that she was the mastermind, she remains the key in unraveling this complex hacking and money-laundering operation, and is therefore indispensable in identifying the people actually behind it,” she added.An RCBC internal probe found that Deguito, manager of the RCBC branch on Jupiter Street in Makati City, had vouched for the transaction and facilitated its speedy withdrawal with help of fellow employees.In a suit filed in the Department of Justice on March 11, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) said Deguito knew that the $81 million deposited in her branch had been stolen from Bangladesh Bank but allowed the money to be withdrawn by fictitious account holders.The accounts were opened in May 2015, eight months before the hackers pulled off the caper and the money transferred to the Philippine banking system through RCBC.The RCBC bank manager has denied any wrongdoing, saying she is being used as a scapegoat.De Lima said what could be the biggest money-laundering scandal in the country, should be a “serious cause of concern” since a large amount of dirty money entered the country’s financial system despite the safeguards provided by the Anti-Money Laundering Act (Amla) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).Breakdown“This indicates a breakdown in RCBC’s compliance with regulatory policies of the BSP and AMLC,” she said.“Banks and other financial institutions should hold the highest level of integrity to continue earning the trust of depositors and investors. As front-liners, these institutions have the responsibility to make sure [that the] money cycled into the local financial system remains legitimate,” she added.The money, hacked from the account of Bangladesh Bank in the US Federal Reserve Bank of New York, slipped into four RCBC bank accounts, consolidated into a single US dollar account, hastily withdrawn, converted into pesos and transferred to other banks before Bangladesh Bank even realized the breach of its computer system and report the money transfer as “fraudulent.”Cash deliveriesMore than $30 million was handed over in cash to an ethnic Chinese man in Manila, according to Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee investigating the money-laundering scheme.Guingona said the cash deliveries over several days from a foreign exchange remittance firm were made up of P600 million ($12.87 million) and around $18 million.The Chinese was identified as Weikang Xu, a high-roller and junket operator for casinos in Manila.Stop-payment requestAt the Senate hearing on Tuesday, Guingona said RCBC did not immediately act on a stop-payment order sought by Bangladesh Bank when it was trying to recover the stolen funds.He said the stop-payment request from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was made at 5 p.m. on Feb. 8, a holiday in the Philippines.But RCBC would have seen the request the following morning and could have acted on it then, Guingona said. But on Feb. 9, all the $81 million was allowed to be withdrawn.“On the morning of Feb. 9, the first banking day, you should have seen the stop-payment request, but apparently, it was not honored because the funds were withdrawn. All the funds were withdrawn,” Guingona said.CasinosBangladesh Bank suspects $81 million of its money was sent to the Philippines in four installments and, once here, was diverted to casinos.Casinos in the Philippines are not covered by the Anti-Money Laundering Act.De Lima agreed with Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Teresita Herbosa that the law against money laundering should be amended to add more teeth to it.Herbosa also supported moves to place casinos and other similar gaming establishments under the regulatory authority of the AMLC.The Senate investigation into the incident would allow the government to determine if there was a “need to tighten policies on financial transactions or simply enforce the law and prosecute the offenders.”“The AMLC and Congress should sit down in reviewing the implementation of all anti-money laundering measures and draft the necessary policies to protect the country from becoming a haven for money laundering,” De Lima said.“Hopefully, the Senate inquiry into this incident will result in a determination of whether this is a case of failed regulations, on the one hand, or simply the blatant violation of standing BSP and AMLC regulations, on the other.” Marlon Ramos

['Philippine Daily Inquirer']

2016-12-26 10:59:47+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/774419/de-lima-sees-breakdown-in-banking-laws

Inquirer

Bilibid ‘kings’ lose Jacuzzis, back to ‘tabo’

They used to live like kings, their air-conditioned rooms equipped with top-of-the-line entertainment systems, Jacuzzis, stripper bars, recreational drugs, concert equipment, sex toys, wads of cash and underlings at their beck and call.But at dawn on Saturday, 17 high-profile drug convicts found themselves where they really belonged: in 8-square-meter jail cells inside a recently inaugurated building at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa. This time, their cells had only the basic necessities: a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera for added security, bunk beds, a sink, a basin and a dipper (“tabo”).They’d have to make major adjustments to the change, said Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Ricardo Rainier Cruz III.“It’s a new environment. This is a real prison quite different from their former kubol (villas). Now they’d be in actual cells, unlike before when they were in a community,” the official added.In a raid led by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima in December last year, the high-living drug lords were found living in luxury and plying their illegal trade behind bars, apparently with the complicity of jail guards and prison officials.IsolatedTheir new cells at the recently inaugurated Building 14, a facility within the Maximum Security Compound of NBP, are markedly different from their old quarters. Inside Building 14, the drug convicts are isolated from the main prison population through a separate entry and exit, part of stricter security measures.At 4:19 Saturday morning, De Lima led the highly secured convoy from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) headquarters in Manila to the NBP. The inmates were transported on a BuCor coaster flanked by vehicles carrying heavily armed NBI agents, BuCor officials and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) agents.READ: 17 high-risk inmates transferred from NBI head office to NBP compoundThe convicts were herded to their new digs at 5 a.m. and immediately locked up. Based on a carefully planned placement scheme, officials said some cells would be occupied by one inmate, others by two.Confidential transferThe inmates, known to still wield influence even in prison because of their drug-sourced wealth, did not know they were going to be transferred to the NBP at dawn on Saturday, but they did not resist, De Lima said. “We know they were [expecting] this,” she added.“[But] we cannot underestimate the capacity of these drug inmates. We heard that while they wanted to be transported back to Bilibid, they did not want to be moved here to Building 14,” De Lima told reporters who were given an advisory about the confidential operation late Friday night, but were not allowed to enter the building.17 convicts identifiedCruz identified the 17 convicts transferred to Building 14 as Eugene Chua, Sam Li Chua, Vicente Sy, Ruben Tiu, Tony Co, Joel Capones, Herbert Colangco, Peter Co, Imam Boratong, Tom Chua, Rommel Capones, Jojo Baligad, Willy Chua, Michael Ong, Jacky King, Willy Sy and Noel Martinez.“When George Sy (of the Bilibid 19) passed away recently due to cancer, he was replaced by Ruben Tiu, [so the Bilibid 19 are still 19],” Cruz said, adding that a sufficient number of BuCor personnel have been assigned to Building 14.It has yet to be determined when two of the 19 inmates could be transferred to the NBP. One of them, German Agojo, is still confined at the Philippine General Hospital due to intestinal problems, according to Cruz, while the other, Clarence Dongail, has been placed under the Department of Justice (DOJ) Witness Protection Program.“The inmates have the capacity to ask to be rescued by their cohorts while outside [the NBP],” said De Lima, explaining the urgent and confidential nature of the transfer operation.“They wanted to go back to their old place [instead of the new building],” she added. “Although their kubol are no longer there, who knows? If we put them back there and they’re back under the the protection of their gangs, in time, they might be able to reestablish and again set up their kubol,” the justice chief said.Visitation allowedIn the new building, the inmates will be “well-guarded,” De Lima said. “The whole purpose of this (transfer) is to disable them from [their drug trade]. That’s why we’re putting in stricter security measures.”The DOJ head said that though visitations were allowed, the hours were limited, and only the immediate family—including “the legal wife or the certified common-law wife, not wives

['Tarra Quismundo']

2016-12-26 10:59:47+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/709788/bilibid-kings-lose-jacuzzis-back-to-tabo

Inquirer

Military hunts down suspected IS recruiter

Despite their defeat here and the death of their top leaders, including “emir” Isnilon Hapilon and the Maute brothers, Islamic militants are still pursuing their plan to put up a caliphate, the military said.Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., deputy commander of the Joint Task Group Ranao, said pro-Islamic State (IS) individuals continued to rally support and recruited new fighters for IS by using images of the destruction here to convince them to join.“There are again efforts to recruit fresh fighters,” Brawner said, adding that the recruitment was being done through social media.Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said one of the recruiters, identified only as “Abu Dar,” had been spreading on social media photos of the destruction in Marawi wrought by the five-month war to convince people to fight for IS.He described Abu Dar

['Jeoffrey Maitem']

28/01/2018 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/941255/marawi-seige-isnilon-hapilon-omar-maute-abdullah-maute-islamic-state-romeo-brawner-jr-joint-task-group-ranao-carlito-galvez-jr-western-mindanao-command-is-recruiter-abu-dar-karen-aisha-ha

Inquirer

Mayor Sara wants more cops for Davao City

Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio wants more than double the security forces here as she requested the deployment of 2,000 to 2,500 more police officers to the Davao City Police Office.Duterte said they were preparing the documents necessary to request for the deployment of additional troops in the city from the Philippine National Police (PNP) to beef up the operations of the DCPO, which only has 1,700 police officers.She said they saw the need for more security forces to maintain peace and order here, and thwart threats of terrorism in the fast-growing city.The local chief executive said the increasing population of the city has also made it difficult for the current police force to secure the whole of Davao. The city has a population of 1.6 million based on the 2015 census of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).“The city is so huge because there are a lot of people going inside and the security forces are not enough. We have a population which is as big as other big cities, except that they are smaller in terms of land area and they have more police forces,” she said.She also said the security measures must be stepped up to protect the city from those who “do not accrue” with some of the policies of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, and may want to “embarrass” the city, where he served as city mayor for 22 years before he became president in 2016.Nevertheless, Duterte added the security forces here were working very hard to make sure “there will be no terroristic incident in the city.”She added they continue to deploy police auxiliaries to augment the police patrolling in strategic areas throughout the city.“We want to keep Davao City’s pride of being the safest city in the country for both people and businesses,” she added.On September 2, 2016, a blast ripped through Roxas Night Market, leaving 15 people dead and 69 others injured.The bombing was reportedly perpetrated by members of the Islamic State-inspired Maute Group, the same group who attacked Marawi City last May 23 that prompted the President to place the whole island of Mindanao under Martial Law and suspended the privilege of writ of habeas corpus.The battle of Marawi ended nearly five months later with Duterte declaring Marawi liberated from the influence of the terrorist group after the military killed Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute.Congress approved on December 13, 2017 the President’s request of martial alw extension until December 31, 2018.The mayor admitted that martial law challenged the city’s campaign as a prime investment and tourism destination in the country and assured potential investors that the city is safe.

[]

28/01/2018 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/01/28/mayor-sara-wants-more-cops-for-davao-city/

Manila Bulletin

Curse-free Sona astounds Lacson

President Rodrigo Duterte’s profanity-free third State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday was a “pleasant surprise” to Sen. Panfilo Lacson.Lacson was amazed that the President stuck to his prepared speech, with few ad libs, and managed to deliver a “well-structured and organized” Sona.“It was a pleasant surprise that he has toned down for a change without losing emphasis in conveying his message,” the chair of the Senate public order committee said in a text message.By contrast, the President cursed six times in his 92-minute Sona in 2016, and 16 times in his 120-minute Sona in 2017, according to a count made by Inquirer Research.His curses are not limited to the two previous Sonas.The President has laced many of his speeches with expletives, as he often discards any prepared speech.SWS surveyMost Filipinos find the expletives vulgar.In the last four months, for instance, a majority of Filipinos found three controversial actions of the President to be “bastos” (vulgar), according to results of a survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) in June.Sixty-four percent of respondents found vulgar his cursing of the chief and members of the United Nations Human Rights Council, and his threat to feed them to crocodiles.On March 10, the President said lawyers from the International Criminal Court (ICC) who would come to the Philippines to investigate the killings in the war on drugs would be fed to crocodiles.Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda of the ICC opened in February a preliminary examination of a complaint for crimes against humanity filed against the President and at least 11 of his officials over extrajudicial killings in his war on drugs.Kiss on the lipsFifty-two percent considered vulgar the President’s planting a kiss on the lips of a married Filipino woman on stage in exchange for a book he was handing out during his meeting with members of the Filipino community in South Korea in June 2018.Fifty-five percent found “bastos” the President’s pronouncement that priests were no better than he.His pronouncement came after unidentified men had killed three priests since December 2017.At the height of protests against the killing in April of Fr. Mark Anthony Ventura in Gattaran, Cagayan province, the President said “a priest is no better than me. Priests have two wives.”In all areas except Mindanao, a majority of respondents said the three specific acts of the President were vulgar, according to SWS.Highest in MetroThose who said cursing the UN Human Rights Council was vulgar was highest in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon (both at 71 percent), followed by the Visayas (62 percent) and Mindanao (47 percent).Those who said his kiss to a married woman on the lips was vulgar was highest in the Visayas (64 percent), followed by rest of Luzon (55 percent), Metro Manila (51 percent) and Mindanao (37 percent).Those who found vulgar his claim that priests were no better than him was also highest in the Visayas (62 percent), followed by Metro Manila and rest of Luzon (both at 57 percent) and Mindanao (44 percent).The noncommissioned survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults. It had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points for national percentages.

[]

23/08/2018 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1014068/curse-free-sona-astounds-lacson

Inquirer

Judges, court workers plead: Respect SC ruling ousting CJ

Lower court judges and court personnel on Monday rallied behind the Supreme Court justices for handing down the decison that unseated Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.The court workers, led by the Supreme Court Employees Association (Scea), also appealed for calm and urged the public to respect the tribunal’s May 11 decision granting Solicitor General Jose Calida’s quo warranto petition against Sereno.Many of the judges and court employees again wore red when they attended the regular flag-raising ceremony held at the high court’s compound on Padre Faura Street in Manila.Judicial indepedence“The interpretation and application of the Constitution, laws and rules exclusively belong to the Supreme Court,” the court personnel said in a joint statement read by Scea president Erwin Ocson.“This is the real essence of judicial independence,” they said. “And the justices of the court must be free to decide impartially, in accordance with proven facts and applicable law.”Apart from Ocson, the joint statement was signed by the heads of the Philippine Judges Association, the Supreme Court Assembly of Lawyer Employees and the Philippine Association of Court Employees.Seven magistrates, led by acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, were present at the weekly event, which the court workers used as a venue to press for Sereno’s resignation while the tribunal was still deliberating on Calida’s petition.Concerns disregardedAlso present were Associate Justices Presbiterio Velasco Jr., Noel Tijam, Samuel Martires, Andres Reyes Jr., Teresita Leonardo-de Castro and Mariano del Castillo.Tijam, Martires, Reyes and De Castro were among the eight justices who voted to oust Sereno, while Carpio, Del Castillo and Velasco joined three other justices in opposing the majority decision.The court personnel had accused Sereno of disregarding their concerns, including the delay in the promotions of some of them.“Let’s respect and accept the decision of the Supreme Court and its would-be decision in (Sereno’s) motion for reconsideration,” they said. “Let’s abide by the rule of law.”

['Marlon Ramos']

23/08/2018 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/993049/judges-court-workers-plead-respect-sc-ruling-ousting-cj

Inquirer

Leaker of secret report on Russian hacking gets 5 years

A former government contractor who pleaded guilty to mailing a classified U.S. report to a news organization was sentenced to more than five years Thursday as part of a deal with prosecutors, who called it the longest sentence ever imposed for a federal crime involving leaks to the media.Reality Winner, 26, pleaded guilty in June to a single count of transmitting national security information. The former Air Force translator worked as a contractor at a National Security Agency’s office in Augusta, Georgia, when she printed a classified report and left the building with it tucked into her pantyhose. Winner told the FBI she mailed the document to an online news outlet.In court Thursday, Winner apologized and acknowledged that what she did was wrong.Authorities never identified the news organization. But the Justice Department announced Winner’s June 2017 arrest the same day The Intercept reported on a secret NSA document. It detailed Russian government efforts to penetrate a Florida-based supplier of voting software and the accounts of election officials ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The NSA report was dated May 5, the same as the document Winner had leaked.U.S. intelligence agencies later confirmed Russian meddling.The judge’s sentence was in line with a plea agreement between Winner’s defense team and prosecutors, who recommended she serve five years and three months behind bars. Prosecutors said in a court filing that punishment would amount to “the longest sentence served by a federal defendant for an unauthorized disclosure to the media.”Among other leak cases cited by prosecutors in court documents, the stiffest prior sentence was three years and seven months in prison given to former FBI explosives expert Donald Sachtleben. Secret information he leaked included intelligence he gave to The Associated Press for a story about a U.S. operation in Yemen in 2012.Winner spent a year in jail before reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors. Her attorneys had argued for Winner to be released on bond, noting she had no criminal record and had served honorably in the military. The judge sided with prosecutors who said Winner posed a potential flight risk and may have stolen other classified documents.Prosecutors also used Winner’s own words against her, including a Facebook chat in which Winner once wrote to her sister: “Look, I only say I hate America like 3 times a day.”Winner’s social media postings also included some scathing opinions on President Donald Trump. Three months before her arrest, Winner posted on Facebook that climate change was a more important issue than health care “since not poisoning an entire population seems to be more in line with ‘health’ care, and not the disease care system that people voted for a soulless ginger orangutan to ‘fix.’”Despite prosecutors’ warnings that Winner may have stolen other U.S. secrets, she was never charged with any additional crimes.Winner grew up in Kingsville, Texas, and enlisted in the Air Force after graduating from high school. Her parents have said she became a linguist, speaking Arabic and Farsi, and spent four years assigned to the NSA at Fort Mead, Maryland. During that time, Winner provided real-time translation to Americans conducting field missions.After leaving the military, Winner moved to Augusta to become a civilian contractor for the NSA, which has operated a $286 million complex in the Georgia city since 2012. Court records say Winner translated documents from Farsi to English for the agency.Winner confessed to leaking the classified report when FBI agents questioned her at her home in June 2017. Winner said she was frustrated at work and had filed complaints “about them having Fox News on.”Prosecutors later made the 77-page transcript of Winner’s FBI interview part of the court file in her case. Any details about the document she leaked and the organization she mailed it to were redacted. But the rest of her confession to FBI agents became public.“Yeah, I screwed up royally,” Winner told the agents before she was arrested.

[]

23/08/2018 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/08/23/leaker-of-secret-report-on-russian-hacking-gets-5-years/

Manila Bulletin

LandBank: No sale of Meralco shares

Land Bank of the Philippines officials said the Office of the Ombudsman had no basis to investigate them for graft since a 2008 agreement to sell the bank’s shares in Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to an investment firm led by businessman Roberto Ongpin for P4.9 billion fell through.Executives of the state-run bank also held that the share purchase agreement (SPA) was not disadvantageous to the government and did not give undue benefits to the Ongpin-led Global 5000 Investment Inc., now SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of San Miguel Corp.LandBank “maintains that there was no violation of the antigraft law over the transaction of its Meralco shares because the sale between LandBank and Global 5000 did not materialize,” it said in a statement issued on Sunday.“Hence there is no basis for a criminal indictment or administrative sanction against former members of the LandBank board of directors, including some incumbent bank officers,” it added.LandBank executives explained their side to the Office of the Ombudsman on Feb. 16 in reply to the complaint filed by its Field Investigation Office in November 2014.The Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday said it was investigating former and incumbent officials of LandBank led by former Finance Secretary Margarito Teves and bank president Gilda Pico, Social Security System (SSS) officials, businessmen Ongpin, Iñigo Zobel, Joselito Campos Jr. and other executives of Global 5000 for possible multiple graft charges in connection with the P9-billion sale of Meralco shares by LandBank and SSS in 2008.Former SSS Chair Thelmo Cunanan, who died in 2011, was included among those under investigation. Other former SSS officials under investigation are former Vice Chair Romulo Neri, Marianita Mendoza, Donald Dee, Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., Fe Tibayan Palileo, Victorino Balais and Sonny Matula.Block saleThe Office of the Ombudsman said that in January 2009, SSS executives led by Cunanan approved the block sale of its Meralco shares to Global 5000 for P5.669 billion, or at P90 per share, for which Global made a down payment of P1.133 billion.The Commission on Audit (COA) said the “block sale was not in accordance with sound business practice as it has the effect of giving a P4.535-billion loan to Global 5000,” which had an initial paid-up capital of only P62.5 million.The reported sale of minority shares of SSS and LandBank in Meralco happened while control of the utility firm was contested by San Miguel Corp. led by Ramon S. Ang and a group headed by Manuel V. Pangilinan. The group of Pangilinan eventually edged out San Miguel for control of Meralco.Unwarranted benefitsAn Ombudsman spokesperson said its Field Investigation Office held that LandBank executives “gave unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference to Global, a firm with doubtful financial capacity and no track record to undertake the sale.”The announcement of the investigation came as the official start of the election season neared.Teves is the treasurer of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), political party of Vice President Jejomar Binay who was the first to declare he would seek the presidency, while Ongpin is a supporter of Sen. Francis Escudero who is the running mate of Sen. Grace Poe, who was the third person to declare her run for the presidency.Binay and Poe, along with Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas, are contenders in the presidential election in May 2016.LandBank said the sale price of P90 a share was not disadvantageous to the government because Meralco shares were trading at P58 per share when it signed the SPA with Global 5000 on Dec. 2, 2008.No down paymentThe bank also said it did not surrender its voting rights to Global 5000 because the latter did not pay the down payment as agreed upon in the SPA.LandBank also invoked a Department of Justice opinion dated Dec. 15, 2012, that found nothing anomalous in the deal with Global 5000.LandBank said the sale did not push through because its 42 million shares in Meralco were transferred to an assignee of Federico Suntay as compensation for an agricultural land in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro province, to satisfy a 2001 decision of a Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) adjudicator that awarded P147 million to Suntay.Shares illegally garnished“Although the judgment award in favor of Suntay was only P157 million, LandBank’s 42 million shares in Meralco, then valued at about P2.4 billion, were illegally garnished, canceled and transferred to (Suntay’s assignee, Josefina) Lubrica,” LandBank said.The bank won back ownership of the shares through a Supreme Court decision.LandBank said the Supreme Court restored its ownership over the Meralco shares in a decision dated Dec. 14, 2011, which said that the 2001 DAR decision was not yet final and that the 42 million Meralco shares could not be garnished to satisfy a judgment in a just compensation case.LandBank said it had so far recovered 38.63 million shares out of the 42 million shares illegally transferred to Lubrica.The bank said the complaint filed by Emilio Suntay III in the Office of the Ombudsman against officials of LandBank and Global 5000 “was obviously a reaction to the Supreme Court decision which paved the way for LandBank’s recovery of its lost shares, filed clearly with the intention to vex and harass LandBank officers.

['Philippine Daily Inquirer']

10/04/2018 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/725824/landbank-no-sale-of-meralco-shares

Inquirer

Rare appearance fuels speculation Algeria’s Bouteflika will run again

A rare public appearance by veteran Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is fuelling speculation he will run for a fifth term next year, a move that would mean at least short-term stability for a key U.S. ally and one of Europe’s main gas suppliers.Bouteflika has largely disappeared from public view since a stroke in 2013 so his appearance on Monday to open a restored mosque and two metro stations is seen as a sign the country’s ruling elite want him to stay on to avoid an unclear succession.In power since 1999, the visibly frail, wheelchair-bound 81-year-old saluted a crowd outside the Ketchaoua Mosque in the capital Algiers waving national flags and holding placards with photos of the president.Bouteflika’s appearance also came two days after the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) called on him to run again and as state media sought to dispel doubts about his health by showcasing his past meetings with foreign dignitaries.While another term for Bouteflika would give a ruling caste of FLN officials, generals and business tycoons time to organize a smooth succession, it is likely to be a source of frustration for young Algerians worried about unemployment and austerity in a state-controlled economy suffering from low oil prices.“I do not care about politics and politicians. Bouteflika running for a fifth term, a sixth term, or not? Not my problem,” said Amin Ferrah, a 22-year-old student who works in a pizzeria. “Politics is not my world.”In a country where about half the population is under 25, many young Algerians are looking abroad. Ferrah wants to go to Canada while others have taken the perilous sea crossing to Europe.The government has said it wants to diversify the economy away from oil and gas, which accounts for 60 percent of budget finances, but there has been resistance from those within the ruling elite to opening up to foreign investment.The key decision makers in Algeria are veterans who fought from 1954-1962 against French occupation and fiercely oppose what they call foreign interference. That has left the economy dominated by the state and firms run by business tycoons.‘DELICATE SITUATION’Opponents say Algeria needs a national dialogue to overcome what they call “the gravity of the situation”, a veiled call on the country’s power brokers to assess Bouteflika’s health.“Our country has never been in such a delicate situation, carrying such a great risk of breaking civil peace, stability and national security as it is now,” Ali Benflis, a leading opposition figure who ran against Bouteflika in 2004 and 2014, told reporters a month ago.Benflis was referring to strikes by teachers and doctors that have been running for months because the government has been unable to offer them more cash as it has done in the past because the fall in oil prices has stretched public finances.Energy revenues have halved since 2014 and the government has launched austerity measures, banning the import of 900 goods and freezing public sector hiring and development projects.Bouteflika has not said he wants to run again but previous presidential campaigns have followed similar statements from the FLN calling on him to continue. Bouteflika’s supporters say his mind remains sharp, even though he needs a microphone to speak.“The president enjoys all his mental and intellectual abilities,” Lakhdar Brahimi, a retired U.N diplomat and close friend said in a recent interview with local media.“His memory is very strong. And it’s him sometimes who reminds me of dates and people,” he said. “Except for his dead voice, he is in good shape and he rules the country.”Bouteflika is part of a thinning elite of the veterans who fought France in the independence war and have run Algeria ever since. Many also credit him with ending a civil war with Islamists in the 1990s that killed 200,000 people.He is unlikely to face competition from within ruling circles. Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, leader of the National Rally for Democracy (RND) allied to the FLN, has already said he will not run if Bouteflika goes for a fifth term.Analysts say the opposition, fractured between moderate Islamists and left-wing groups, is also unlikely to mount a serious challenge in presidential elections expected in the first half of 2019. No date has been set yet.In addition, thousands of former Islamist fighters who accepted a partial amnesty to end the civil war could be potential Bouteflika supporters if he runs again. While the fighters did not get any political rights under the original deal, Bouteflika is now expected to offer them full rights.Nobody has yet said they will run against Bouteflika, even though the president has said he wants more competition. He won with 82 percent of the vote in 2014, 90 percent in 2009, 85 percent in 2004 and 74 percent in 1999.“The political scene must experience diversity, a confrontation of programs, and a race to power,” Bouteflika said last month in a letter read out by an adviser.

[]

10/04/2018 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/04/10/rare-appearance-fuels-speculation-algerias-bouteflika-will-run-again/

Manila Bulletin

Duterte: Rush release of P6.5-B veterans’ pension

Calling all war veterans his heroes, President Duterte on Sunday ordered the Department of Budget and Management to speed up the release of increases in veterans’ pension totaling P6.5 billion.Addressing the veterans during the program commemorating the 75th Araw ng Kagitingan at Dambana ng Kagitingan on Mt. Samat here, the President said his administration was giving priority to their entitlements.“Our surviving veterans have suffered much. They should not suffer more,” he said. “We have settled the backlog in disability pension. We have also made the management of 2,000 pension accounts more efficient.”The increased pension of retired military personnel will cover 2008 to 2013.While honoring the veterans, the President said, “War is never worth it.” He said the “painful lessons of war behoove all of us in this community of nations to work for peace and development.”“We are drawn each year [to] this sacred ground to honor the gallant men and women who [made] the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, our people and our future,” he said.The President said soldiers who fought in previous wars did not die in vain.“We owe nothing less than this solemn pledge for all those who sacrificed the most for our country’s freedom. Our veterans went through one of the darkest chapters in world history for the benefit of our generation and generations after us,” he said. “We must never forget that we owe them a deep debt of gratitude.”Mr. Duterte also cited the country’s alliance with the United States, noting that how the two countries fought together in World War II “must be the basis of present efforts to move forward.”He described the country’s relations with the United States as a “bright area.”Speaking ahead of Mr. Duterte’s speech, US Charge d’Affaires Michael Klecheski expressed hope that the celebration would not only be a day of memory but also an opportunity for reflection and commitment to peace.Kazuhide Ishikawa, Japanese ambassador to the Philippines, who also spoke at the program, quoted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in stressing that Japan “will never again repeat the devastation of war.”

['Allan Macatuno']

2017-07-30 18:42:52+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/887944/duterte-rush-release-of-p6-5-b-veterans-pension

Inquirer

PJ mistook father’s coffin for wide cell phone screen

“Papa, Papa” was all 11-month-old Peter John, or PJ, could say as he tapped the glass panel of the coffin in a chapel at Barangay Canelar here.Inside the coffin was his father, Sgt. Jobert Cofino, 28, one of the 13 soldiers killed in the fighting with Islamic State-inspired terrorists in Marawi City on June 9.“PJ learned to say ‘Papa’ because my husband, when he was still alive, made regular calls, and most of the time video calls, for PJ,” said Pronielyn, Cofino’s common-law wife.Pronielyn said PJ might have mistaken the glass panel for a wide mobile phone screen, seeing his father there.A day before he died, Cofino called Pronielyn and spoke to his son.He also called his mother, Aida, at noon of June 8. “He told me to take care of his son and Pronielyn no matter what happens. I promised him that I will. He said he missed his family so much,” Aida said.Pronielyn said when she and her husband last talked by phone on Thursday, Cofino said “they were extremely exhausted from running.”“He said they kept on running and taking cover. There were snipers everywhere,” she said.Both Pronielyn and Aida said it was the first time Cofino had shared what was happening while he was fighting in Marawi.Cofino was used to the rigors of military life. He was the family’s breadwinner. His father, an amputee, could hardly support a family of five. When Cofino finished high school, he worked at odd jobs until he joined the Philippine Marines nine years ago.“It was really my son’s dream to become a Marine. Everyone here in the community knows his dreams. He was young then when he got the opportunity,” said Cofino’s father, Ricardo.Cofino was supposed to return to work after his Christmas break but he asked for a weeklong extension so he could help rebuild the family house, which was destroyed in a fire in December. He was on marksmanship training in Tarlac province when his company was called to report to Marawi.Another fallen MarineOn Friday night, Pronielyn and Aida received reports that the 37th Marine Company suffered casualties. They prayed hard that Cofino was not among the casualties. They received the confirmation through a phone call from the Philippine Marines.“At first I thought it was a sick joke. We were in denial,” Pronielyn said.On Tuesday, another Marine killed in an ambush in Marawi on Friday, Cpl. John Romulo Caresosa, was taken home to San Miguel, Bohol province, and was given full military honorsCaresosa was given a posthumous military merit award for his gallantry in action. The medal with a bronze spearhead was traditionally pinned on the left chest of the awardee. In the case of Caresosa, his medal was placed on the left side of the glass on his coffin.Sniper’s bulletThe remote town of Barlig in Mountain Province will be welcoming home its first son to join the Marines, another casualty of the Maute group attack on the Marines on Friday.On Sunday, Pfc. Gener Tinangag, 23, will be buried near the family house in Barangay Lunas in Barlig.After pulling to safety two of his companions, Tinangag was killed by a sniper’s bullet, according to his family.“It is hard to accept that he is dead,” Tinangag’s mother, Marcia, said at a funeral home in Baguio where the Marine’s body would lie for a night before the eight-hour trip to Barlig.A criminology graduate, Tinangag was the only boy among five siblings. His two older sisters were also criminology graduates while the youngest sister is studying forensic science.Tinangag was set to marry his fiancée, Jasmine Escobido, and witness the baptism of their 2-year-old son, Clark Mayner, next year.

['Julie S. Alipala']

2017-07-30 18:42:52+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/905611/pj-mistook-fathers-coffin-for-wide-cell-phone-screen

Inquirer

BSP Charter amendment not a Senate priority

An appeal of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for Congress to pass the proposed charter amendment to New Central Bank Act to update and strengthen its supervision of financial institutions may not be answered for now because it is not a priority of the Senate.Bangko Sentral Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. recently renewed a call to pass the proposed amendment that would enable the BSP to formulate and implement even better and timelier policies and programs to achieve price stability and other important objectives.“To strengthen these tools and mechanisms for the protection of depositors’ savings, and to ensure the smooth flow of financial transactions as well as enhance corporate liability, the amendment to the BSP Charter is at the very top of our legislative agenda,” Espenilla said.Senator Francis Escudero, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies, sponsored Senate Bill (SB) 1297 or An Act Amending Republic Act [RA] 7653, the law that created the BSP.The bill is currently on the second reading stage and, according to Escudero, there are three registered interpellators who are waiting to be scheduled.He said Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Sen. Francis Pangilinan expressed their intention to interpellate in the BSP Charter amendment bill.SB 1297 is a consolidation of four Senate bills filed by then-Senate Minority Leader Drilon (SB 16), Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto (SB 859), Senators Joseph Victor Ejercito (SB 1148) and Escudero (SB 1027).The bill seeks to increase the Central Bank’s capitalization to P150 billion, which will be payable immediately upon effectivity of the Act in order to strengthen the corporate and financial viability of the country’s monetary authority.It would also grant the institution flexibility to establish adequate loss allowances and create reserve buffers against future risks and contingencies, and restoration of tax exemption, similar to other central banks in the world.SB 1297 is also pushing for the enhancement of credit operations by granting exemption from court processes relating to collateral obtained from banks, similar to that enjoyed by Land Bank of the Philippines.“It’s up to the majority leader when he will schedule it,” Escudero said when asked if there is already a schedule for interpellation.The Senate has already listed its priority bills for the second regular session and the BSP Charter amendment was not on the listSenate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto 3rd said SB 1297 is not on their priority list, noting that there are still a lot of issues concerning BSP, but he did not elaborate.He added that he has not scheduled resumption of the period of interpellation on the bill and he would call for a caucus first before deciding on what to do next.

['The Manila Times']

2017-07-30 18:42:52+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/bsp-charter-amendment-not-a-senate-priority/341528/

Manila Times

Duterte will order troops to fight drugs in Mindanao

you’ve got a problem)” he added.Among the initial reasons cited for the martial law proclamation were the series of violent acts by Maute terror group in Marawi City such as the attack on military troops, mass jailbreak, burning of buildings, and planting of the black ISIS flag in several areas.The President, in his remarks in Sulu over the weekend, said the martial rule will be withdrawn only when the military and police decide the security situation in Mindanao has become stable.‘I’m no dictator’But Duterte assured the nation that he is not a dictator, saying the martial law imposed in Mindanao targets only lawless armed groups.The President said the law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear about the martial rule in Mindanao since the proclamation aims to restore law and order in the affected region.“When will it end? I do not know. Hanggang hindi sinabi ng pulis pati Armed Forces na safe na ang Philippines (Until the police and Armed Forces say the Philippines is safe), this martial law will continue,” he said.“Once law and order is secured, then next week (martial law can be lifted); wala akong ganang mag… Hindi ako diktador (I have no appetite for… I’m not a dictator),” he added.To show he was not lusting for power, the President said he would have stepped down if either of his two allies had won the vice presidential elections.

['Covert Operation Screening', 'Jern Dion', 'James O Sullivan']

28/05/2017 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/05/28/duterte-will-order-troops-to-fight-drugs-in-mindanao/

Manila Bulletin

Aquino tells LP members: Time to speak up

Former President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday urged his fellow Liberal Party (LP) members to “speak up” and make the party’s “voice heard again,” after four members were ousted from the majority in the Senate.Aquino also asked party members to “be constructive and supportive” of the Duterte administration without sacrificing the party’s principles and ethics.Quezon City Rep. Christopher Belmonte, the LP secretary general, summed up Aquino’s guidance during a three-hour party caucus in Quezon City following the party members’ ouster from the Senate majority on Monday.“I’d like to think the opinion of the [former] President [was that] we wanted to be constructive, we wanted to be supportive and we wanted to be helpful but not to the point that we give up our party principles and our basic positions and ethics on issues,” Belmonte said in a press conference.“His basic guidance was: It’s about time we speak up, it’s about time that the LP voice be heard again,” Belmonte said.Aquino wanted the people to “realize our good intentions for the country,” he said.In an ambush interview, Aquino said he was keeping his self-imposed yearlong moratorium on being critical of the current administration.“I want to keep true to my word,” he said. But the ouster of Liberal senators from key posts in the upper chamber on Monday “definitely” bothered him, he said.Sen. Francis Pangilinan, the LP president, told reporters that the caucus centered on the death penalty bill and the continued membership of the Liberals in the House supermajority.He said the membership issue would be taken up after the death penalty debates.

['Nikko Dizon']

2018-04-08 20:07:39+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/876427/aquino-tells-lp-members-time-to-speak-up

Inquirer

Push for divorce bill a govt ‘responsibility’

Push for passage of the divorce bill is not meant to spite the Catholic Church but a matter of government responsibility, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao del Norte said on Sunday.Alvarez was referring to the proposed Dissolution of Marriage and Absolute Divorce bill, which provides the following grounds for absolute divorce: marital infidelity; abandonment of petition by respondent without justifiable cause for more than one year; physical abuse against the petitioner, a common child or child of the petitioner; physical violence to compel the petitioner to change religious or political affiliation; attempt to induce the petitioner, a common child or child of the petitioner to prostitution; final judgment sentencing the respondent to imprisonment of more than six years; drug addition or habitual alcoholism or chronic gambling of the respondent; homosexuality of the respondent; contracting of the respondent of a bigamous marriage whether in the Philippines or abroad; and attempt by a respondent against the life of the petitioner, a common child or child of the petitioner.The Catholic Church is already staunchly opposed to the Duterte administration drug war, which allegedly has left around 13,000 people dead, and the push for restoration of death penalty for drug-related crimes.“This is not to spite anyone. As a public official, we need to address the needs of our people instead of letting them live in fear. The government has that responsibility to all its citizens, regardless of their religion. The Church’s responsibility is to its flock,” Alvarez said.“The government is giving its people an option [with the divorce bill]. It doesn’t mean that all Catholics should avail of this option. If the Catholic Church is opposed to this, then it should tell its flock to toe the line because it is against our teachings. But the Catholic Church cannot impose their doctrine on our laws,” the Speaker added.The Senate is yet to pass its own version of the divorce bill.The passage of the divorce bill in the House of Representatives will be for naught if it does not have a Senate counterpart.President Rodrigo Duterte, whose marriage to former wife Elizabeth Zimmerman was annulled, has said he is against the passage of the divorce bill.Alvarez, however, is unfazed, saying the non-passage of the measure will condemn those in abusive marriages.“We can’t go on status quo because how do we address those who are suffering from domestic violence? Those fathers who do not look for jobs so they can provide for their family? Those who work overseas and send money to their spouses here only to find out that their spouses are using that money to spend for their new family? Must we condemn the couples in already bad situation rather than help them?” he noted.“Annulment has limited grounds. The problem is we need more grounds,” Alvarez said.The grounds for annulment of marriage under the Catholic Church include: insufficient use of reason; grave lack of discretionary judgment concerning essential matrimonial rights and duties; psychic-natured incapacity to assume marital obligations; ignorance about the nature of marriage; error of person; error about a quality of a person; fraud; total willful exclusion of marriage; willful exclusion of children; willful exclusion of marital fidelity; willful exclusion of marital permanence; presence of future condition; presence of past condition; presence of present condition; force; fear; error regarding marital unity that determined the will; error regarding marital indissolubility that determined the will; error regarding marital sacramental dignity that determined the will and lack of new consent during convalidation.

['Llanesca T. Panti']

2018-04-08 20:07:39+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/push-for-divorce-bill-a-govt-responsibility/391339/

Manila Times

Gov’t readies master plan to rebuild Marawi City

Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) was helping in formulating a “master plan” to rebuild Marawi City into a prosperous city once the fighting there ends.“The President wants to implement the rehabilitation very quickly. So we’ve been preparing for this over the past few weeks and currently (we are designing) the master plan,” Villar said.He said the administration would avoid the mistakes that were committed when the government rebuilt communities in Eastern Visayas devastated by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) in 2013.“The President is very clear on this … He expressed his disappointment in the facilities for Yolanda before. Definitely, that will not happen again,” Villar said.He said the resettlement sites should be near sources of water and electricity. “That’s basic. We’ve already seen the mistakes from the past and we will not repeat them.”Biggest infra budgetVillar noted that the DPWH budget for 2017 was P428.4 billion, the biggest in the country’s history.“To give you a scale of this in absolute amount, if you add the (infrastructure) budgets of 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013, (the total) will still be less than the infrastructure budget that we allocated in 2017,” he added.The administration is embarking on an ambitious “build, build, build program” to upgrade the quality of public infrastructure, which has adversely affected the country’s economic growth.Traffic decongestionVillar said the funds would be used for, among other things, the construction of more than 200 bypass roads to decongest traffic in major urban areas, at least 12 new bridges that would span Pasig River and a road network in Luzon that would cut travel from Bicol and La Union to less than 12 hours.“We’ve allocated P107.8 billion for traffic decongestion. We lose P2.4 billion every day due to traffic so we feel that these investments on traffic decongestion will significantly minimize traffic,” Villar said.He added that the DPWH would build this year more than 200 bypass roads across the country, “by far the most ambitious traffic decongestion program in the history of our country.”Villar said the administration was also investing in the “Luzon Spine Expressway Network” for the construction or improvement of 18 major highways on the country’s biggest island.“This is a collection of 18 major high-speed highways that will connect the most northern part of Luzon to the most southern part. This is from Bicol to as far as La Union and possibly up to Ilocos,” he said.Villar said that once the network was finished, one could go from Bicol to La Union in less than 12 hours. “We are targeting to finish this before the end of the President’s term.”The government has started construction of the Davao City Coastal Road in the President’s hometown while the New Bacolod Economic Highway will provide a “new growth corridor” in Negros.“I’m sure many of you are aware of the traffic issues in Cebu. So, the Metro Cebu Expressway will run from Naga to Danao,” Villar said.“We feel that this will be a long-term solution for the perennial traffic issues in Cebu. There’s already a feasibility study. It’s ready for implementation next year,” he said.12 bridges across PasigIn Metro Manila, the administration intends to build more than 12 new bridges across the Pasig River to decongest the Guadalupe Bridge and the C-5 Bridge.He said the bridges would also be finished before the end of Mr. Duterte’s term. “And of course, we will also need to rehabilitate Guadalupe Bridge.”Villar said the DPWH was also studying various road extensions for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Expressway.“At this point, we are also looking at the various options if the Naia Expressway could be extended so that there will be more traffic solutions,” he saidRoad networks“For example, there could be one going to the Fort, going to Parañaque, or going to Las Piñas,” he added.Villar said the DPWH had also set aside P95.9 billion for the construction of road networks to spur trade and tourism while P104.4 billion was allocated for “Livable, Sustainable and Resilient Communities.”“We know global warming is a big problem and we are one of the (countries) most prone to natural disasters. So the government is investing in natural disaster prevention—that’s the Livable, Sustainable and Resilient Communities,” he said.

['Philip C. Tubeza']

2016-04-20 22:38:22+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/909802/govt-readies-master-plan-to-rebuild-marawi-city

Inquirer

BBL flaws peril Mindanao peace efforts, says ex-Chief Justice Puno

Former Chief Justice Reynato Puno has warned that the vulnerability of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) to constitutional attacks might jeopardize efforts to bring about a lasting peace in Mindanao.In a statement issued on Monday, Puno said there were valid constitutional objections to the draft BBL that needed to be addressed thoroughly in order to prevent the Bangsamoro people from giving up on peace.Noting that the mixed opinions on the draft BBL lean more toward unconstitutionality, Puno said the proposed measure could be the subject of legal disputes in the future.“If you have that kind of dispute, you have the danger of the Bangsamoro saying, ‘That’s it. We don’t want this kind of arrangement anymore,’” he added.The best solution, he said, is to call a constitutional convention (Con-con) whose members could be elected simultaneously in next year’s elections.The draft BBL is only possible under a federal-parliamentary form of government, which is not allowed under the Constitution, he said.“We are limited by the boundaries of power set in the 1987 Constitution. The powers in the Constitution are centralized in the national government,” Puno pointed out.The 1987 Constitution provides that the national government can only delegate certain powers, which are subject to many conditions and are not permanently delegated, as in the case of the draft BBL, he said.“The national government can always take these powers. In other words, even if you have this BBL, it is a temporary solution. In other words, if you have the Con-con, and the Con-con rearranges the division of power between the national government and the entities like the BBL, or the entities that will be forming the federal state, or the substate, then you will have a permanent solution to this problem,” he explained.He said this kind of solution would be the subject of a nationwide plebiscite, meaning “it’s the whole Filipino people who will approve this, not only the people in Mindanao or in the affected areas.”“The search for peace in Mindanao should be a continuing search. We should never give up the search for peace in Mindanao come what may,” he added.–Jerome Aning

['Philippine Daily Inquirer']

2016-04-20 22:38:22+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/695767/bbl-flaws-peril-mindanao-peace-efforts-says-ex-chief-justice-puno

Inquirer

Show chicken feet for bird flu payment, farmers told

Poultry raisers can get reimbursed for their losses if they show the feet of chickens, quails and ducks gassed in a government effort to prevent the spread of bird flu.The government will need the feet as “proof of compensation,” Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said on Tuesday during a visit to the town he placed under quarantine following the avian flu outbreak last week.“Save those pairs of feet. Those are your evidence when you claim compensation for your culled birds,” Piñol told some 100 traders at a forum here.Pampanga Vice Gov. Dennis Pineda has formed a team to make an inventory, validate and certify the destroyed birds.The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) has condemned 131,500 to 200,000 birds on 13 farms in Barangays San Carlos and Sta. Rita in San Luis that are enclosed by a 1-kilometer quarantine zone.The birds exposed to avian flu would be placed in sacks, gassed with carbon dioxide and buried in pits. Four laboratories tested several samples of the birds and concluded these were positive for the H5 strain.Culling period extendedThe initial three-day culling was supposed to end on Monday, but the BAI extended the process for another five to six days.Farms within the 7-km control area covering the rest of San Luis, Mexico, San Simon and Sta. Ana towns have agreed to surveillance and the voluntary culling of their stocks as a precaution.After reporting the outbreak on Friday and setting up the quarantine, Piñol announced a package of compensation and assistance.He said affected poultry farms would be entitled to P80 for each egg-producing chicken and duck as well as each broiler, or bird fattened for meat, that the government was forced to destroy. Farmers would get P10 for each destroyed quail.The budget for compensating damages was initially set at P16 million covering the 1-km quarantine zone and P52.8 million for farms within a 7-km control zone.The government will also give P5,000 to traders and displaced employees and a loan of P20,000 without interest and collateral and payable in three years through a rural bank in San Luis.Loan windowPiñol said he would put up another loan window that would offer less than 6 percent interest.“I want to be on the safe side. I don’t mind if I spend P100 million to contain this problem. I’m willing to do it. The moment this spreads, this is going to be a big problem to the Philippines,” he said. “This is a nightmare as far as I am concerned.”The source of the virus is still being investigated. The Department of Agriculture has requested parallel tests by a laboratory in Australia to check the presence of the H5N1 strain, which is harmful to humans.“Our focus is to clean ground zero,” Piñol said. To regain the avian flu-free status of the Philippines, he said he ordered random testing in poultry farms, organized biosecurity teams and directed the procurement of sprayers for disinfection.He has also authorized incineration for those who could not find burial pits.As of Tuesday, 50,000 chickens had been culled in the 1-km zone. Infected chickens that were buried in a fishpond had started to float, emitting foul odor in the village.

['Tonette Orejas']

09/11/2016 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/923065/show-chicken-feet-for-bird-flu-payment-farmers-told

Inquirer

FB chat: Frat men planned cover-up

The Manila police chief told the Senate on Wednesday that members of Aegis Juris tried to cover up the hazing death of University of Santo Tomas (UST) law student Horacio “Atio” Castillo III.Chief Supt. Joel Napoleon Coronel, Manila Police District (MPD) chief, told the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs inquiring into the fatal hazing of Castillo that investigators had retrieved the threaded conversations on Facebook of the fraternity members following the death of the UST law freshman.The Facebook exchange – shown through a 38-page slide presentation at the hearing presided over by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, the committee chair – was initiated by a UST graduate and member of Aegis Juris identified by Coronel as lawyer Marvi Abo.Coronel said Abo started the exchange early on Sept. 17, the day Castillo was believed to have died from excessive beating during his initiation into the fraternity.Avoid probe, prosecutionCoronel said the fraternity members’ “tendency” to avoid investigation and prosecution “at all cost” was “very evident” in the conversations.He also said that based on the exchanges, active members of the fraternity were aware of Castillo’s death in the early hours of Sept. 17.But Castillo’s parents were notified of his death only the next day, Coronel said.“If you review the messages, it would appear that they intend to cover up the incident, contrary to their announcement on Sept. 19 that they were willing to face investigation and to support authorities in the conduct of the investigation,” Coronel said.He said the two Facebook threads had been submitted to the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Unit for “verification, authentication and validation,” adding that MPD investigators got hold of the screenshots of the exchanges earlier this month.The testimony of fraternity member John Paul Solano in a closed session of the committee on Sept. 25 was made public during Wednesday’s hearing.Solano was the one who took Castillo to Chinese General Hospital (CGH), where the law student was pronounced dead on arrival on Sept. 17.Solano said he took Castillo to CGH, a 20-to-30-minute ride from the fraternity’s library on Dapitan Street in Manila, on orders of Arvin Balag, alleged head of the fraternity.He said it was also Balag who instructed him to tell the hospital staff that he found Castillo’s body in Balut, Tondo.Cited for contemptBalag, who was present at the hearing, was cited for contempt and ordered detained by the committee for refusing to answer questions from the senators.Balag refused to answer even Sen. Grace Poe’s question whether he was the fraternity’s president.In his testimony, Solano also identified fraternity member Oliver John Audrey Onofre as the one who called him twice on Sept. 17 to ask him to come to the fraternity’s library, as someone had “collapsed.”In the library, he said he saw fraternity members Axel Hipe, Marc Ventura and two others he identified only as Zak and Dan.Solano denied seeing another suspect in Castillo’s death, Ralph Trangia, but said Castillo’s body was taken to the hospital in Trangia’s red pickup.Coronel said the vehicle, a Mitsubishi Strada with license plate ZTV 539, was registered in the name of Trangia’s father, Antonio Trangia.Poe asked the Trangias if they owned the vehicle but they declined to answer, invoking their right against self-incrimination.What to doCoronel said the Facebook conversations showed the fraternity members were discussing what to do after learning that Castillo had died.He said that in the exchanges, Abo was encouraging the fraternity members to hold a meeting, which was held at Novotel in Quezon City the same day that Castillo died.Coronel said the chat group included 30 fraternity members, 19 of whom went to the meeting.Of the 19, he said, 12 had been identified through their social media information.Coronel also ran security camera footage showing Aegis Juris members in an elevator at Novotel.“Based on the exchange of communication from these frat members, it would appear that the tendency of the frat to conceal or to obstruct justice is very evident, wherein they would like to evade, avoid at all cost, investigation and prosecution of this case,” Coronel said.He said that some members favored facing the problem squarely, but the majority suggested that they avoid prosecution, as it might compromise the future of “brods” involved in the hazing.Settlement suggestedCoronel also said there were portions of the exchanges that suggested getting in touch with Castillo’s parents immediately and reaching a settlement to keep them quiet.A screen grab has a fraternity member, lawyer Alston Kevin Anarna, saying in Filipino: “Brod, his family is wealthy. They can get a search warrant tomorrow for the frat [library]. Let’s get it cleaned, remove the paddle.”A certain Pareng Edong says: “Denial. Never ever give any hint.”In the chat, Abo says he has instructed “GP Arvin,” a reference to Balag, to go home to Subic.Coronel said a comment made by another fraternity member, Jose Miguel Salamat, showed that he had the cell phone of Castillo.Speaking in Filipino, Salamat says in the chat: “The father called the cell phone, brod. The parents have called Axel and Ralph. Brod, the cell phone is flooded with messages from the mother and the father.”Reviewing the messages in the thread, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said the points raised in the conversations were “obviously obstruction of justice and clearly a cover-up.”Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian observed that none of the fraternity members suggested calling the authorities.“It confirms the analysis of [Chief Superintendent] Coronel that this group really was bent on covering up the injustice that happened to Atio,” Gatchalian said.

['Jocelyn R. Uy']

09/11/2016 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/939114/fb-chat-frat-men-planned-cover-up

Inquirer

Cebu traders oppose wage hike

Business owners and managers in Cebu and the rest of Central Visayas are strongly opposed to any move to raise the minimum wage in the region, saying there is no basis for it.During public consultations on the proposed wage increase Wednesday by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB), management sector representatives said they prefer that the minimum wage stay as it is.Fred Escalona, Philexport-Cebu Executive Director, said he opposed the salary hike because a number of businesses in Cebu are experiencing downturn.Escalona said at least 150 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Cebu have boarded up from 2010 to 2015 due to the lack of demand for their products and other circumstances.The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) is also against a wage increase, although it proposed productivity incentives for workers who perform well.The regional wage board is holding four consultations in Central Visayas to come up with a “win-win” solution to the petitions of three labor groups that are demanding high salary increases.The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines is petitioning for a R161 across-the-board wage hike in Central Visayas. The Sentro or Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) wants a R140 increase.The Philippine Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Workers’ Union filed for a wage increase of R101.34, R90.61 and R86.87 per day for workers in the private sector of Negros Island Region (NIR).The board is composed of Department of Labor and Employment 7 Director Exequiel Sarcauga as chairman; National Economic and Development Authority 7 Director Efren Carreon and Department of Trade and Industry 7 Director Asteria Caberte as vice chairpersons; Ernesto Carreon and Jose Tomungha as labor representatives; and Hedelito Pascual and businessman Philip Tan as management representatives.

[]

09/11/2016 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2016/11/09/cebu-traders-oppose-wage-hike/

Manila Bulletin

BPI doesn’t set prices, says agri exec in garlic case

Clarito M. Barron, the agriculture official in the middle of the garlic importation controversy, denied Tuesday he and other Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) officials were behind last year’s price spike of the flavorful bulb and had solicited bribes in exchange for import permits.Barron, who was BPI director when garlic prices skyrocketed to P300 a kilo in the middle of last year, said in a press conference the agency had no authority to regulate prices.Latest Department of Agriculture (DA) data showed garlic prices currently ranged between P80 and P100 a kilo.“The BPI’s mandate is to prevent the entry into the Philippines of harmful pests,” Barron said.“We fulfill this through the issuance of a plant quarantine certificate to accredited importers who apply for (the permit which is a requirement for importation),” he added.Barron, who rose through the ranks in the DA and has been with the agency for 32 years, said the rise or fall of garlic prices was beyond the BPI’s control.He said regulating commodity prices was within the purview of other government agencies like the Department of Trade and Industry.A National Bureau of Investigation report said BPI officials received at least P200 million in exchange for permits to import garlic over the past five years. The BPI is a DA-attached agency.The Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier identified the officials as Barron, Merle Palacpac and Luben Marasigan, the latter two the current and former BPI plant quarantine chief, respectively.The DOJ had also noted the existence of a cartel wielding influence over the issuance of import permits, as well as market prices.“We three, in the entirety of our government service, have never worked with the reported cartel,” Barron said, also speaking for Palacpac and Marasigan. “We are not even aware of a garlic cartel because I as BPI director never received word about its existence.”As for taking bribes, Barron said the issuance of a quarantine clearance, including naming the parties to be awarded the permit, depended on recommendations by the National Garlic Action Team (NGAT).The NGAT is composed of representatives of farmers’ cooperatives, processors, traders, vendors, the academe, DA-supervised agencies like the BPI, High-Value Crops Development Program, Bureau of Agricultural Research, and Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service, as well as the Bureau of Customs and Department of the Interior and Local Government.As for whistleblower Lilybeth Valenzuela, who was one of the NBI’s sources, Barron said she was hardly credible.In a sworn statement to the NBI, Valenzuela said that Barron had told her that an importer had to have connections to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala to secure a permit.“For your information, Valenzuela herself was implicated in the smuggling of vegetables like carrots, onions and garlic, based on a Bureau of Customs roster of blacklisted companies in 2012-2013.”Barron said that in 2005, Valenzuela filed a case in the Office of the Ombudsman against himself, Marasigan and the late BPI Director Hernani Golez over the same things she was accusing them of now.“The Ombudsman acquitted us in 2006 because her allegations were lies and because of insufficient evidence,” he said.

['Ronnel W. Domingo']

2017-04-16 22:16:20+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/664430/bpi-doesnt-set-prices-says-agri-exec-in-garlic-case

Inquirer

‘Crising’ to dump rains on Visayas

Crising is expected to dump rains over the Visayas islands today, the state weather bureau said on Sunday.According to the Philippine Atmospheric Geological and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), the low pressure area (LPA) will bring moderate to occasionally heavy rains that may trigger floods and landslide in Eastern Visayas and Central Visayas.Light to moderate rains will prevail over the rest of the Visayas; Bicol, Mimaropa, Caraga and Northern Mindanao regions; Zamboanga Peninsula; and Quezon province.Metro Manila and the rest of the country will experience isolated rains, Pagasa said.Crising, the third tropical storm to hit the country this year, was downgraded into an LPA after it made landfall in Eastern Visayas on Saturday night.All tropical cyclone warning signals have been lifted, Pagasa meteorologist Gener Quitlong said in a phone interview with radio dzMM.Hundreds of sea vessels that were stranded in ports because of bad weather were finally allowed to sail, Quitlong added.At the Araneta Center Bus Station in Cubao, Quezon City, thousands of passengers were stranded after roll-on-roll-off buses were not allowed to leave by the Coast Guard because of the tropical depression.At press time, the buses were finally allowed onboard ships.At least seven persons were confirmed dead and two others missing because of non-stop rains and heavy flooding in parts of Cebu.Six of the casualties were from Carmen town where 73 houses were washed out by the rains.According to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), the casualties were identified as Rowena Acencion, 38; Joyed Acencion, 12; Ivan Acencion, 10; Acena Laping, 55; Bens Ayan Laping, 2; and Nicholas Punggutan, 60.The other casualty from Danao City, Cebu, was identified as Benyang Manulat.The PDRRMO is yet to identify the two missing persons.

['Francis Earl Cueto']

2017-04-16 22:16:20+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/crising-dump-rains-visayas/322498/

Manila Times

Soldier killed, scores of insurgents wounded in Butuan encounter

An Army soldier was killed, while an undetermined number of New People’s Army (NPA) terrorists were believed wounded, when a gun battle erupted between government security forces and communist-terrorists in highland upper Sitio Patagon of Barangay Anticala, this city Monday afternoon.Killed was Pfc. Roger D. Badajos of the 42nd Division Reconnaissance Company (42nd DRC) of 4th Infantry (Diamond) Division.Initial report reaching the regional command and tactical operations center of Northeastern Mindanao Police Regional Office 13 based in Camp Colonel Rafael C. Rodriguez here from the Butuan City Police Office (BCPO) said the encounter occurred while a platoon from 42nd DRC and an operational control (OPCON) unit of 402nd Infantry (Stingers) Brigade were conducting patrol in highland upper Patagon when they were engaged by an undetermined number of NPA terrorists at 12:15 p.m.The encountered communist-terrorists were members of Squad 21-SECOM 21 of guerilla-Front Committee 21-C of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-NPA Northeastern Mindanao Regional Committee, the report said.The initial encounter lasted more than five minutes, which was followed by a running gun battle as the NPAs fled towards the Patagon area.The latest field report said that elements of 42nd DRC were still pursuing the fleeing NPA terrorists while following the bloodstains along their escape route.Meanwhile, all line unit commanders, directors and town’s chief of police of PRO 13 were alerted and directed to conduct checkpoints, in coordination with the AFP counterparts, and to check hospitals and clinics where wounded terrorists could have been taken for treatment.

[]

06/02/2018 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/02/06/soldier-killed-scores-of-insurgents-wounded-in-butuan-encounter/

Manila Bulletin

‘No mayor dared to speak out’

Normally freezing, the packed Rizal Hall in Malacañang was hot and hushed and no one dared raise a question or speak out as President Rodrigo Duterte waved his thick narcolist, cursed, ranted about his campaign against illegal drugs and threatened to kill mayors involved.Accounts of Mr. Duterte’s separate meetings with around 1,000 mayors in three groups—from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao—emerged immediately after the closed-door event on Wednesday that lasted well over four hours.In interviews conducted with the mayors later (some on condition of anonymity and others on the record), the local officials portrayed the President as at once funny, at once angry and accusatory, making what one mayor said were sweeping generalizations against city and municipal mayors.“The President spoke as if he were God, telling us who should die and who should live. It’s not the way to deal with the mayors,” lamented a mayor from Cavite province, who spoke on condition of anonymity.“Although it’s very controversial, we fully support the campaign against illegal drugs. I think not even a single mayor would disagree with it. But he should have shown us a little respect because we were also elected by the people,” he said.Deathly quietMayor Antonio Halili of Tanauan City in Batangas province appreciated Mr. Duterte’s candor.If the mayor is proven to be involved in illegal drugs, Halili said, quoting the President, “the chief of police will be replaced and the new one will be the one to shoot the mayor.”“Would you still raise a question? He was already very clear,” Halili said. The chandeliered Rizal Hall was “very quiet” as the President spoke, he said.The mayor said Mr. Duterte warned mayors against the use of their intelligence funds. “If you keep on taking intelligence funds and nothing improves in terms of peace and order, then you are just most likely pocketing the money,” he said, quoting Mr. Duterte.“Personally, I was very happy. It served as an eye-opener to other mayors,” he said of the two-hour meeting the President had with the Luzon group.Halili, who is called “Little Digong” because of the public shaming of crime suspects in his city, said he agreed “100 percent” with Mr. Duterte.Heart-to-heart talkIn an interview with Radyo Inquirer, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar described the meetings as a highly confidential “heart-to-heart talk.” He did not give details.The President’s spokesperson, Ernesto Abella, said Mr. Duterte’s directive to chiefs of police to shoot mayors involved in illegal drugs was “not a marching order.”“It’s just to underline the seriousness of his intention,” Abella said. The rules of engagement and due process would apply to mayors linked to the drug trade, he added.Mr. Duterte had given advance warning to the mayors of what to expect in a speech on Monday in which he urged those involved in illegal drugs to repent, resign or die.More than 6,000 people have been killed since the President mounted his campaign against what he called a “pandemic” in July.Cussing, cracking jokes“His aura was good. He kept cracking jokes, cussing and discussing Viagra,” a Metro Manila mayor said.“Rizal Hall is usually too cold for me, but yesterday, it was very hot,” said Mayor Danilo Fernandez of Sta. Rosa City in Laguna province.There was the “usual expletives we’ve all gotten used to,” Fernandez said.He said Mr. Duterte brandished the “thick” list containing names of lawmakers, mayors, village chiefs, soldiers and military officials allegedly involved in the illicit drug trade.Mayor Vicente Loot, a retired police chief superintendent, of Daanbantayan in Cebu province, and some judges were mentioned by the President, Fernandez said.“You could feel his anger at Loot,” he said.Asked for comment, Loot said, “I just smiled. I expected it because I’m his favorite.” Loot is one of five high-ranking police officers accused of involvement in the drug trade.Come clean, fight drugsMayor Edgardo Pamintuan of Angeles City quoted the President: “Help me fight the menace … Those who are involved and are in this thick set of papers, show me you are not …. Don’t fool me …. Come clean and fight drugs otherwise you will incur my ire.”Pamintuan said the President told them he had no plans of declaring martial law, calling it “circuitous and difficult.”“He was actually joking at times. But personally, what irked me is how the President treated us as if majority of the mayors were drug suspects,” said a Cavite mayor, who asked not to be named.“For me, I really felt threatened. I have never been disrespected like that in my life. I should not have gone to that meeting,” the mayor added.Another mayor, who claimed to be Mr. Duterte’s personal friend, said: “The President only proved that he has this tendency to be a dictator. He was supposed to treat us as partners, but he was clearly imposing on us.”

['Leila B. Salaverria', 'Maricar Cinco', 'Marlon Ramos']

2017-05-05 15:15:49+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/861910/no-mayor-dared-to-speak-out

Inquirer

Senator, 7 administration allies face graft raps

Charges of graft and malversation in connection with the P10-billion pork barrel racket have been prepared against Sen. Gregorio Honasan II, Secretary Joel Villanueva, Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and five other lawmakers, two sources in the Department of Justice (DOJ) told the Inquirer on Monday.The eight constituted the third group to be charged in the alleged diversion of the congressional Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or pork barrel, to ghost projects and bogus nongovernment organizations (NGOs) in schemes allegedly masterminded by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.The DOJ sources, who asked not to be named for lack of authority to talk to the media, said the National Bureau of Investigation had finalized itsletter-complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman recommending graft and malversation charges against the eight lawmakers led by Honasan, the fourth sitting senator to be implicated in the Napoles scam.But the NBI recommendation must first be approved by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.Villanueva, chief of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), is the only member of President Aquino’s Cabinet to be charged in the scam. He is planning to run for senator on the administration slate next year.Rodriguez heads the House ad hoc committee that steered approval through his panel of the controversial draft Bangsamoro Basic Law calling for the creation of a substate under a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.One of the sources also said La Union Rep. Victor Ortega and his predecessor, Rep. Manuel Ortega, were among those to be charged.The Inquirer tried to get comments from the lawmakers on the NBI move, but calls and text messages went unanswered at press time.Justice Undersecretary Jose Justiniano told reporters that De Lima had yet to approve the NBI recommendation to charge the eight current and former lawmakers. He declined to give details.Speaking with reporters in the Sandiganbayan, Justiniano said the NBI investigators had come up with the final version of the complaint to be submitted to De Lima within the week.“We have completed our task,” he said in an interview after attending the bail hearing of detained Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.“We revised the first letter-complaint in the light of the allegations of some of the legislators that their signatures were fake. We revised the complaint to address those issues,” he said.Justiniano, who was assigned by De Lima to lead the NBI investigation of the pork barrel scam, said it was up to the secretary to make public the names of the legislators.But he said one of them was an incumbent senator while at least two others were known allies of President Aquino.“As what Secretary De Lima had said, we don’t look at the political (affiliation) of the lawmakers. If there’s evidence against them, we will file charges against them,” he said.Justiniano said the NBI recommendation was still subject to De Lima’s approval and that it was also up to her to transmit it to the Office of the Ombudsman for preliminary investigation.Claims of forgeryHe maintained that the lawmakers couldn’t feign ignorance just because their signatures in the PDAF documents were purportedly forged.“That has become the trend,” Justiniano said. “After learning that we will be filing cases against them, they would have their signatures examined and claim that these are fake.”“That’s why we addressed that issue. Even if their signatures were supposedly forged, we will still file cases against them,” he said.On Monday, De Lima told reporters she had postponed for Wednesday her meeting, scheduled on Monday, with the PDAF investigators.“It’s not difficult at all. They’re still just fixing up a lot of things on the documents that are already there before we could discuss which cases are to be given my go-signal,” she said.De Lima, who is reportedly eyeing a Senate seat in the 2016 elections, earlier drew criticisms after she announced that pursuing the third batch of PDAF cases was no longer a priority due to other pressing legal issues.Not easy on alliesShe later said that the DOJ was still intent on filing the latest complaints against the legislators, stressing that she was not going easy on the administration allies as alleged by some sectors.Since the PDAF racket broke out in July 2013, three opposition senators—Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla and Juan Ponce Enrile—had been ordered detained by the Sandiganbayan for plunder and graft charges. Napoles is likewise under detention.Two former House members, Rizalina Seachon-Lanete (Masbate) and Edgar Valdez (Apec), have also been arrested for similar offenses.Three other former congressmen—Constantino Jaraulla(Cagayan de Oro), Rodolfo Plaza (Agusan del Sur) and Samuel Dangwa (Benguet

['Marlon Ramos']

2017-05-05 15:15:49+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/695379/senator-7-administration-allies-face-graft-raps

Inquirer

Valentine weather in Baguio: 9.6°C

The temperature here seems to be tailored for Valentine’s Day, as it dropped to 9.6 degrees Celsius at 5 a.m. on Saturday, perfect for cuddling among lovers.Residents bundled up in thick clothes when they went to market on the coldest morning recorded this year, an expected dip at this time when cold winds blow in from China and Siberia.Baguio weather observer Danny Galati said the temperature may still drop in the coming days.Efren Dalipog, a weather observer of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said temperatures here have been hovering between 11 and 13 degrees Celsius in the past week.It dropped to 11.7 degrees Celsius on Sunday, rose to 12.5 degrees on Monday and to 13.2 degrees on Tuesday. On Wednesday, it again dropped to 11.7 degrees Celsius, only to rise to 12.5 degrees on Thursday. On Friday, it was 10.5 degrees Celsius.The city first felt the cold on Jan. 9 this year when the temperature slipped to 11 degrees Celsius, a welcome dip for most residents here.“Cold is good. Cold brings tourists,” said businessman Michael del Rosario.The heavy inflow of tourists was expected here as February has traditionally been the busiest month for the city. Tourists come for the monthlong Panagbenga or the Baguio Flower Festival. Next weekend, the city plays host to alumni of the Philippine Military Academy who will hold their annual homecoming.But the chill also caught several tourists off guard when they disembarked at a parking lot in Burnham Park. A group of seniors from Manila who had intended to take a brisk walk around the park decided to have coffee at a local diner instead. It took other tourists several minutes to adjust to the cold and take a stroll around the lake.Denise, a La Union resident who had arrived in shorts and a woolen sweater, had to ask a local vendor where she could buy a thicker jacket.But the sales staff and office workers here who come to work early were prepared for the cold, with some of them wearing thick ski jackets lined with fur that they bought at nearby ukay or secondhand garment shops.The months of December, January and February are the chilliest months in this summer capital because of the cold front.The coldest day recorded in Baguio was Jan. 18, 1961, when the temperature dipped to 6.3 degrees Celsius. VINCENT CABREZA AND KIMBERLIE QUITASOL

['Inquirer Northern Luzon']

2017-05-05 15:15:49+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/870688/valentine-weather-in-baguio-9-6c

Inquirer

Air Force gets 2 fighter jets

AS the fifth batch of FA-50 fighter jets arrived on Wednesday, President Rodrigo Duterte, who earlier criticized the acquisition of such aircraft, has reportedly softened his stand after seeing them in action against terrorists in Mindanao in southern Philippines.With tail numbers 009 and 010, the two jet fighters piloted by two South Koreans touched down at 11:20 and 11:21 a.m. respectively, at the Haribon Hangar, Air Force City, Clark Air Base in Pampanga.They were welcomed by Philippine Air Force (PAF) officials led by Maj. Gen. Enrique Reyes, commander of the 1st Air Division.The delivery of the aircraft brought to 10 the number of FA-50s already in the PAF inventory.Col. Antonio Francisco, Air Force spokesman, said military officials are expecting the completion of the delivery of the 12 fighter jets that it had ordered within the year, hopefully before the Air Force anniversary in July.“Our FA-50 is very functional right now for us. Of course besides territorial defense, it is a multi-role fighter, leading surface attack and trainer aircraft so what we are really focusing on right now is the training of our pilots because if there will be a possibility that we are going to acquire some more fighters in the future, then at least we already generate more pilots and who have skills and time for our supersonic fighter planes,” Francisco added.The Department of National Defense, during the Aquino administration, sealed the jet acquisition contract with Korean Aerospace Industries Ltd (KAI) for P18.9 billion.The first and second batches of supersonic jets arrived in the Philippines on November 28, 2015 and on December 1, 2016, the 3rd batch on February 22, 2017 and the fourth batch on March 29.The government originally planned to procure a squadron or 24 jets but reduced the number to 12 because of funding problem.Early in his administration last year, Duterte said the acquisition of the fighter jets by the previous administration was a waste of money, noting that the fighter jets may have little or no use at all in addressing insurgency.But a source at the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said the President apparently softened his stand after the FA-50s were extensively used in government offensives against the terrorist Abu Sayyaf and Maute groups in Mindanao.In fact, according to the source who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on the matter, the President may be the one to receive the 11th and 12th aircraft.After the completion of the delivery of the FA-50s, the military, he disclosed, is planning to acquire more fighter jets depending on the budget.“We are still not sure but it is being expedited after we witnessed the functionality of FA-50. The President, I think is getting interested,” the AFP official said.

['Fernan Marasigan']

2017-04-26 20:11:49+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/air-force-gets-2-fighter-jets/324211/

Manila Times

Health workers rally vs new license regulations

Health professionals led by the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) on Monday went to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) office in Sampaloc, Manila, to protest the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Law.The protesters argued that the CPD Law is “basically a commercialization and bastardization of the essence of continuing professional development.”Under this law, professional license holders have to earn units in order to renew their license.These units can be acquired through seminars, training, post-graduate courses and the like.Sean Herbert Velchez, a nurse and the AHW spokesman, said professionals will have to pay thousands of pesos in order to acquire the required units.“How can a nurse or a medical technologist earning five thousand [pesos] a month afford to attend seminars and trainings costing three thousand to seven thousand [pesos] each? How can a midwife serving in a far-flung community in Biliran [province] attend seminars being offered by private training providers almost all of which can be found in city centers? How can OFWs [overseas Filipino workers] comply when there is no clear guideline on how they can acquire [those] units? How can the jobless or those who chose to be housewives but still want to maintain their licenses afford these seminars?” Velchez added.He said there are thousands of health professionals who are jobless, contractual workers or working under deplorable conditions.The AHW is campaigning to have the seminars and training be given for free to professionals and for public and private employers to shoulder the cost.“We hope that President Rodrigo Duterte will listen to the cries of Filipino professionals, most of them voted and heavily campaigned for him. We hope that the Duterte government reciprocates the sacrifices and contributions of Filipino professionals in nation building and progress,” Velchez said.Aside from their campaign, they are also pushing for the passage of a national minimum wage, an increase in the salaries of health professionals, an end to contractualization and reduction of their income tax.AHW said several professional groups are exploring the possibility of a nationwide strike and an OFW-led Zero Remittance Day events.

['Kenneth Hare Hernandez']

2017-07-17 21:38:18+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/health-workers-rally-vs-new-license-regulations-2/338932/

Manila Times

Church group, longtime Sereno endorser, sets ‘CJ Ipaglaban’ rally

A group of Christian churches on Saturday called on Filipinos to join a rally to show support for embattled Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.The Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC) said its mass action dubbed “Martsa ng Bayan, CJ Ipaglaban” — a march in defense of the embattled magistrate — would be held on Tuesday in Quezon City.“We, the PCEC, believe that she is innocent of the allegations against her. We continue to stand with Sereno,” said PCEC national director Bishop Noel Pantoja. “Let us all show our support for her and our country’s democracy. Let us all gather peacefully and prayerfully for the sake of truth, righteousness and justice in our country.”The PCEC expressed its support for Sereno in September last year and also endorsed her appointment in 2012 as Chief Justice, believing that she would uphold and defend the rule of law.The PCEC rally would be held at the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Batasan Road on March 6, when the House committee on justice was expected to vote on the impeachment complaint against Sereno.Various groups had earlier also called for a rally in support of Sereno on International Women’s Day on March 8, calling the mass action a “Solidarity March against the Macho Fascist Dictatorship.”‘Without opposition’Benedictine Sister Mary John Mananzan, convenor of the Movement Against Tyranny, in a press conference on Thursday said the impeachment complaint against Sereno was part of President Duterte’s efforts to eliminate opposition to his government.“All the moves of the government are toward only one thing—to establish an administration without opposition. It is very clear that what they want is to take away the opposition,” Mananzan said.What was more worrisome is that the impeachment of Sereno was intended to attack the independence of the judiciary, according to Joms Salvador, secretary general of the women’s group, Gabriela.“The attack against the Chief Justice is not just an attack against a woman, although Duterte often singles out and bullies women, but is an attack against the institution she represents—the Supreme Court and the independence of the democratic institutions in our society,” Salvador said.‘Unprecedented, unsettling’Impeachment cases were normally filed against officials who have committed “glaring” violations of the law, Mananzan said.“In this case, there was nothing glaring that had been done (by Sereno),” Mananzan said. “They just filed a case then looked for charges against her.”Also on Saturday, Lyceum of the Philippines law dean Soledad Mawis said the move by 13 justices of Supreme Court to force Sereno to take an indefinite leave of absence was unprecedented and unsettling as the impeachment process was already ongoing.“I have no knowledge of any statutory basis where the justices can ask any justice to take an indefinite leave,” Mawis, who is also chair of the Philippine Association of Law School, said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel on Saturday.“This unsettles things that are already settled. As far as I know under the Constitution you can only remove a sitting justice of the Supreme Court through an impeachment proceeding,” she said.“Members of the high court would not have any power to remove any of the members because it is very clear in the Constitution: a justice may only be removed through impeachment,” Mawis said.Although the decision was an “internal matter,” it was unclear whether it was a form of disciplinary action against Sereno, she said.

['Julie M. Aurelio']

2018-07-25 00:06:57+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/972700/church-group-longtime-sereno-endorser-sets-cj-ipaglaban-rally

Inquirer

PCSO backs Arroyo as House speaker

THE Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) on Tuesday expressed its full support behind Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the country’s first female House Speaker.“We wish to congratulate Rep. Arroyo on her election as the new Speaker of the House. I am confident that under CGMA’s leadership, PCSO, especially Small Town Lottery (STL) operations, will continue to prosper,” PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan saidThen President Arroyo revived the STL in 2005.“With the new leadership in Congress, we hope they will immediately review laws governing PCSO specially on mandatory contributions,” Balutan said. “Mandatory contributions are ‘eating up funds’ for medical service, instead of being used for charity, PCSO funds are being used for sports, education and crop insurance, among many others,” he added.According to reports, Pampanga, Arroyo’s hometown, was the first to reply to the request of the PCSO to local governments to provide rent-free offices for the agency in 2014.During its first year of operation (2006-2007), STL generated over P3 billion in revenues and created 62,500 jobs.At that time, there were only 18 Authorized Agent Corporations (AACs) mainly because the system was controlled by gambling lords.“Ayaw nilang i-expand, dagdagan, o palawakin ang STL sa mga probinsya kung saan malakas ang jueteng at iba dahil talagang matatalo ang mga gambling lord na ito. Wala silang mapagkukunana ng pampayola nila sa mga inaalagaan nilang korap na opisyal para tuloy ang kanilang illegal na gawain (They didn’t want to expand in provinces where jueteng operations were strong because these gambling lords will no longer have the source of funds for the payola of corrupt officials who abetted their illegal acts),” Balutan said.In February 2017, the PCSO launched its expanded STL. From 18 AACs, the Board approved 56.At present, there are 79 AACs, Balutan said.The STL made history last year when it posted record-breaking earnings of P15.7 billion. It also opened 280,722 jobs.From January to June 2018, the charity agency earned P30.78 billion from Lotto, Keno, STL, and Instant Sweepstakes.The highest revenue came from STL with P12.4 billion.

['The Manila Times']

2018-07-25 00:06:57+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/pcso-backs-arroyo-as-house-speaker/423000/

Manila Times

‘Vinta’ rampages through Mindanao; 28 die

At least 28 people died from landslides and flooding in Mindanao in the wake of Tropical Storm “Vinta” (international name: Tembin) that made landfall on the island on Friday.Authorities feared the number could swell as more people remained trapped underneath debris from landslides while a number of people, swept by raging floodwaters, remained missing.Thousands more were unable to return to the comforts of hearth and home just days before Christmas Day because of bad weather.Vinta made landfall in Davao Oriental province at 1 a.m. on Friday with gusts of 125 kilometers per hour, bringing torrential rain, the state weather office said.In the two Lanao provinces, at least 26 people were confirmed dead on Friday.Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said 10 people were killed and 11 others were injured when landslides hit the stretch of the road that connected the towns of Madalum, Tugaya, Kalawit and Balindong in Lanao del Sur.At Barangay Dalama in Tubod, Lanao del Norte, 11 of about 50 people buried by a landslide had been plucked dead, according to Ryan Cabus, president of the association of barangay captains.In Maigo, Lanao del Norte, two bodies swept by floods from nearby Munai town were recovered, according to Dr. Charles Marquez, rural health officer of Maigo.In Salvador town, two persons were confirmed to have died in the floods but the town planning officer, Rodel Maghinay, said he also got reports that up to 20 others had died in the raging waters.One fatality was recorded in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur. Jino Agapay Lacaza, 29, died after he was swept by strong current while gathering wood near a river on Friday.In Valencia City, a landslide buried four houses killing an elderly woman, said the city’s civil defense officer.Stranded, evacuatedClose to 30,000 people were either stranded in ports or were staying in evacuation centers due to choppy seas and flooding.Some 22,000 people fled or were evacuated to safer ground because of widespread flooding in several provinces in Mindanao, including Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley and Davao del Norte.Stranded in airports and ports in Manila, Cebu and Mindanao were more than 6,000 passengers.The Manila North Harbor had the biggest number of stranded passengers at 1,500, followed by Pier 1 in Cebu City with 1,333 and Dapitan Port with 1,030 passengers, according to the Philippine Coast Guard.Canceled flightsTwenty-one flights were canceled at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Friday, mostly to or from provinces in Mindanao and the Visayas.In Davao Oriental, where the tropical storm had made landfall at Cateel town, about 15,000 people were evacuated.Among those evacuated were residents of two villages, near an irrigation dam.FireIn Banaybanay town, five people died when a fire broke out at a boarding house for gasoline station workers amid heavy rains around 2 a.m. on Friday.Two fishermen were also reported missing in San Isidro town, said Karen Deloso, Davao Oriental information officer.In Compostela Valley, at least 5,086 people were evacuated to safer ground in the towns of New Bataan, Montevista, Nabunturan, Maragusan, Mabini, Mawab and Compostela.The towns were among areas heavily devastated by Typhoon “Pablo” (international name: Bopha) which also made landfall in Davao Oriental in December 2012.A bridge in Maco town was slightly damaged by floodwaters, while landslides were reported at two villages in Monkayo.In Surigao del Sur, floods affected 5,000 families at the towns of Lingig, Hinatuan, Tagbina and Tago, according to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.In Davao del Norte, some villages of Kapalong and Carmen towns were also under water.Flash floods rendered roads leading to the interior of Sta. Josefa town in Agusan del Sur unpassable to all motor vehicles, according to the local disaster response council.The swollen Simulao River flooded three villages in Trento town.In Lanao del Sur, Zia Alonto Adiong, spokesperson for the provincial crisis management committee, reported that floods submerged villages in the towns of Ditsaan-Ramain, Bubong and Buadiposo-Buntong.“We are appealing to National Power Corp. to open the sluice gates in Agus 1 and the regulatory dams in Marawi City (to ease the flooding),” he said.The body of a man was recovered in Barangay Tibanga in Iligan City.Bridges closedIn Cagayan de Oro City, 1,719 people living near the Cagayan de Oro and Iponan Rivers were evacuated.At least three bridges in the city were closed to traffic after the water level of Cagayan de Oro River continued to rise on Friday morning.In a bulletin issued 5 p.m. on Friday by the weather bureau, Vinta was forecast to be 195 km south-southeast of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, by Saturday afternoon.The weather in areas affected by the storm is expected to improve on Christmas Day, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.Vinta is expected to be out of the country by Christmas Day.

['Inquirer Mindanao']

2017-01-04 22:54:29+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/954562/vinta-rampages-through-mindanao-28-die

Inquirer

At shrine, prayers under lock and key

At Kamay ni Hesus (Hand of Jesus) Shrine here, one can lock and send a prayer straight to heaven.Taking off from the love locks made famous by Paris, where couples profess eternal love by leaving padlocks on railings of a bridge and throwing the key into the river below, this pilgrimage destination has given devotees a place to commune with God in penance for their sins, or to request for favors.On Saturday, Fr. Joey Faller, the “healing priest” and founder of the religious complex, and Fr. Melo Velocillo blessed the shrine’s latest spiritual attraction—a “prayer lock” station.“Through these padlocks, all prayers and special requests by the faithful will be delivered straight to heaven,” Faller told the Inquirer. “The prayers will be locked and sealed forever.”Shrine personnel offer new brass padlocks with two keys at P50, P75 and P100 each. The padlocks are accompanied with a prayer in Filipino and sealed in plastic wrappers to protect them from rain.Prayer intentionsPrayers for at least five wishes and intentions were written by Faller and printed on colored sheets of paper.A prayer for a “special favor” is printed on a pink sheet, on green for “personal request,” violet for “repentance and return to God,” white for “thanksgiving,” and blue for a “prayer for the departed.”“But I also want them to recite their own prayers straight from their heart,” Faller said.The padlocks will be attached to three steel nets at the prayer lock station at the back of the church. Devotees keep the keys after saying a prayer and locking the device.Shrine personnel also offer five small candles, at P25 a pack, whose colors correspond to the prayer intentions. Candles are lighted on a steel rack inside a station beside the prayer lock site.Padre Pio ShrineFaller said the selling of padlocks and candles was “not for profit.”He said the idea of establishing a prayer lock station was taken from Padre Pio Shrine in Santo Tomas, Batangas province.Lulu del Prado, who came from Tanay in Rizal province with her husband and two children, attached three padlocks for personal requests and a prayer for her late mother.“My mom died last year and we’re missing her terribly. I prayed that she’s happy in heaven,” she said.She looked at the padlock and said: “Don’t worry about us, Mother, we’re all doing fine, especially the children.”Personal messagesTwo teenage girls bought a padlock each for “special favors.”One of them said: “I prayed for my guardian angel to help me pass my final exam on a major subject. I won’t let my parents be disappointed with a failing grade.”At the back of most plastic wrappers were personal messages of devotees.Faller said the shrine was ready to welcome the influx of devotees from all over the country starting on Palm Sunday.Lenten pilgrims who used to visit Mount Banahaw are expected to visit the shrine due to the continued closure of the mountain.Lucban, 118 kilometers south of Manila, lies at the foot of Banahaw. Faller built the shrine in 2002 on a hilly part of Barangay Tinamnan, 2 km from the town center.The shrine has been hosting thousands of devotees since the start of the Lenten season.“For Holy Week, we expect 5 to 6 million visitors,” Faller said, citing the number of shrine visitors the past few years.The shrine staff and security guards are equipped with handheld clickers to count visitors.Faller said preparation for the Lenten activities took more than three months of meetings with the staff, volunteers, policemen, soldiers and government agencies to focus on security and crowd management.“I have also prepared myself for the rigorous but spiritually enhancing marathon of prayers and healing sessions with devotees this Lent,” Faller said.Sanctuary for familyAmong the new attractions is a wide, grassy area known as Holy Family Park. It has images of St. Joseph and the Infant Jesus in a playful scene, while the Virgin Mary looks on.“It is the sanctuary of the Filipino family where they can pray together in peace,” Faller said. Adjacent to the park is a diorama of the 5-hectare Kamay ni Hesus Shrine.On Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, the relic of saints, or “Arma Christi Reliquary,” will be displayed for devotees to venerate, Faller said.Arma Christi is a reliquary from a monastery in Rome, according to a Facebook page on the relic.“It contains small precious fragments from the Instruments of the Passion of Our Lord: from the True Cross, Nail, Thorn, Column of Flagellation, Reed, Purple Cloak, Seamless Robe. It also includes the precious first (bone) and second (clothes) class relics of 56 other saints, including the 12 Apostles, 10 Doctors of the Church, 10 Founders of Religious Congregations and many more,” it said.‘Stairway to Heaven’Kamay ni Hesus is now home to close to 200 concrete images of saints scattered in the complex. These were made from donations of devotees.The latest addition is an image of St. Padre Pio, a gift from a shrine staff member.Dolores Gracias, 36, said Faller gifted her with a miniature image of the saint when he returned from the Vatican several years ago.“I believe St. Padre Pio helped heal my illness. As an expression of my gratitude, I commissioned the making of his image and donated it to the shrine,” said Gracias, who has been working as a member of Faller’s office staff for 13 years.Faller asked devotees to follow guidelines from the shrine’s staff and security aides to manage the crowd, especially those wanting to climb the 300-step “Stairway to Heaven” to reach the 15.24-meter-tall statue of the resurrected Christ atop a hill.The statue is touted to be the third tallest concrete icon of Jesus Christ in the world, after that in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil (45.72 meters high) and in Bolivia (21.33 meters high).Visitors are allowed to stay overnight at the complex during Holy Week.

['Delfin T. Mallari Jr.']

2017-01-04 22:54:29+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/775400/at-shrine-prayers-under-lock-and-key

Inquirer

Chinese caught in shabu lab with Marine officer yields

Yan Yi Shuo, who was caught with Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino in a shabu laboratory last year, surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Monday night, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre 2nd said.Yan, also known as Randy, gave up to the NBI Special Task Force headed by Head Agent Moises Tamayo.NBI Director Dante Gierran formed the task force to handle delicate missions of similar nature.“We are proud to announce that Yan Yi Shuo a.k.a Randy is now under the custody of the NBI. This is a welcome development insofar as our pursuit of this case is concerned,” Aguirre said.“As I have said before, we shall be relentless in this fight,” he added.Marcelino was first arrested in January 2016 at the alleged shabu laboratory in Binondo, Manila.He was freed in June 2016 after the Department of Justice (DOJ) dismissed his case for lack of evidence.In September 2016, however, the police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) asked the court to reconsider.The court issued a warrant of arrest against Marcelino last December 27.On January 3, 2017, Marcelino, also a former PDEA agent, surrendered to the Provost Marshal General of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.He is detained at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

['Jaime Pilapil']

2017-01-04 22:54:29+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/chinese-caught-shabu-lab-marine-officer-yields/305189/

Manila Times

Calauit up for development

Calauit, an island of the Calamian Archipelago, off the north-western coast of Busuanga Island, was declared a wildlife sanctuary and game preserve in 1977.Then President Ferdinand Marcos transplanted animals from Africa to populate the 3,600-hectare island as a tourist attraction, known as Calauit Safari Park.There were antelopes such as eland, gazelle, waterbuck, and impala, along with giraffe and zebra populating the area.Today, only a few giraffes and zebras are left. All of the antelopes have died from neglect, since the only veterinarian had retired years ago.Ten years after the native Tagbanuas were relocated in 1976 to give way to the animals, the 500 families eventually returned to reclaim their ancestral land in 1986.Currently, the island is home to 1,500 residents, subsistence farmers and fishermen like their forefathers before them.Dr. Joseph Tradio, 44, a member of the Coron Board of Trustees for the Calauit indigenous community, was only four years old when his tribe was forcibly removed from Calauit. They were dumped in Burabod and Halsey barangays on Culion Island, the leper colony.During the Cory Aquino administration, Joseph’s father, Ismael, 81, led the Tagbanua tribe that conducted a People Power protest to allow them to return to their home.A relatively wealthy man today, Ismael now owns several tracts of land in Calauit and Busuanga. All of his five children, three boys and two girls, are successful entrepreneurs.Joseph became a dentist and was once a counselor of Busuanga. He runs a restaurant in Coron and a resort in Calauit.He said soon Calauit will be a sleepy island no more. President Rodrigo Duterte has plans to set up a retirees haven in Calauit to the tune of $54 billion, including an airport.All the residents would be given jobs, they were promised. The project is scheduled for groundbreaking this year.If that happens, the remaining animals, now confined within a 500-hectare area might vanish altogether.Coron is experiencing a tourism boom. Its many islands and coves are now occupied by high-end resorts and yachts are a common sight.Coron, a backwater town 10 years ago is now teeming with local and foreign tourists.

[]

25/02/2018 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/02/25/calauit-up-for-development/

Manila Bulletin

Faces of the News: Krizziah Tabora

Krizziah Tabora had very little clue that she would be making history for the country.Never bothering to check the running scores of the 53rd QubicaAMF World Cup in Mexico, Tabora simply kept crashing pins one roll after the other until the crowd reactions in the gallery made her realize she was way ahead.Tabora had beaten favorite Siti Safiyah of Malaysia, 236-191, in the finals to become the latest toast of the sport in the country that produced perhaps bowling’s greatest ever: four-time World Cup winner Paeng Nepomuceno.With Tabora’s victory, the Philippines now has eight World Cup titles.“It has been a good year for me. Our ladies’ team took bronze in the Southeast Asian Games and then we got silver in the Asian Indoor Games. But this is by far our best,” a web report quoted Tabora as saying.

['Philippine Daily Inquirer']

20/12/2017 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/946113/faces-of-the-news-krizziah-tabora

Inquirer

Trump stands by ‘culture’ criticism of European immigration

President Donald Trump is unabashedly repeating his criticism of European immigration policies, saying migrants are “changing the culture.”During a press conference with British Prime Minster Theresa May on Friday, Trump backtracks on his criticism of his counterpart in an explosive interview released as he began his visit to the country. but he reiterates his belief that Europe’s decision to accept migrants from Middle Eastern and African countries is “a very negative thing for Europe.”Standing next to May, Trump acknowledges his comments were “politically not necessarily correct” but says European countries need to “watch themselves.”He says: “You are changing culture, you are changing a lot of things.”May is rebutting Trump, saying the U.K. has a “proud history of welcoming people who are fleeing persecution to our country.”

[]

13/07/2018 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/07/13/trump-stands-by-culture-criticism-of-european-immigration/

Manila Bulletin

Guards bar media from entering INC compound

A SCUFFLE ensued on Tuesday as Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) guards prevented expelled minister Angel Manalo from allowing members of the media to come inside the disputed Tandang Sora compound in Quezon City.“You can come in, so you can see what they’re doing,” Angel Manalo, brother of INC executive minister Eduardo Manalo, told reporters who were covering the court-ordered inspection of the property.The situation became tense when Angel Manalo and his housemaids pushed the guards blocking the pedestrian gate of No. 36 Tandang Sora Avenue.This reporter was crushed due to the commotion. Moving to a better position, this reporter was pulled by the guards while being coaxed by the other side to go in.“I will just stand here at the side,” this reporter said. Media members told Angel Manalo that they couldn’t come in because of the petition of the INC asking a Quezon City Regional Trial Court to bar visitors at the two-hectare compound.“The sheriff stopped them from fencing us off. But they’re violating the law. There is no decision on the case yet. They sneaked up on us from the central compound,” Manalo said.Construction workers came in from the back entrance to fence off the compound with metal rods, tin roof and barbed wire.This happened while opposing lawyers were discussing their proposed terms of the inspection, said housemaid Lea Cabillan.Court sheriff Neri Loy told the men to stop but they resumed after he left, Cabillan said.INC asked the court in September to prevent siblings Angel Manalo and Lottie Manalo-Hemedez from receiving visitors at the disputed compound.The injunction case was prompted by a report on unidentified masked men entering the property, the petition said.The siblings’ counsel, Trixie Cruz-Angeles, earlier said that the church was “isolating the people who are inside.”Hemedez, through ex-minister Isaias Samson, previously said she would challenge INC’s claim on the property.In connection with the petition, Judge Edgar Santos of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 222 granted an inspection of the Tandang Sora compound to determine the identities of the occupants and to note the entry points.Aside from the sheriff, no more than two lawyers from each camp, barangay officials and policemen were allowed to go in. Angeles and Ahmed Paglinawan for the respondents. Wilfredo Santos and Zeromsky Pineda for INC.Holed up since JulyThe expelled Manalo siblings have been holed up in the property since Angel Manalo and their mother, Tenny Manalo, came out with a video calling for help in July. Other expelled ministers have come out to accuse the church of corruption and illegal detention.“They brought this in court so they should follow the court. We haven’t agreed out on anything and now they’re fencing us off. Please take footage of what they’re doing, it’s illegal,” Manalo said.The inspection was rescheduled because the parties were still negotiating and not because of the commotion, the court sheriff said when he returned.Last month, Hemedez said that she and her husband, now deceased, owned the two-hectare lot at No. 36 Tandang Sora being claimed by INC.Speaking to the media on behalf of Hemedez, who was prevented from testifying at a hearing on Nov. 23, Samson questioned the INC ownership of the compound.Samson cast doubts on the “authenticity” of a deed of sale transferring the property to INC earlier this year.“Based on documents, we believe No. 36 is owned by sister Lottie Manalo-Hemedez and her deceased husband. You must remember brother Edward Hemedez died way back on April 16, 2013. And then suddenly, there’s a deed of sale he supposedly signed on April 23, 2015,” Samson said.He wondered how Hemedez’s husband could sign a deed of sale more than two years after his death.The lawyer for INC, Serafin Cuevas Jr., maintained that the compound was owned by INC.

['Erika Sauler']

15/04/2018 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/747973/guards-bar-media-from-entering-inc-compound

Inquirer

Midnight deals at ERC reported

A consumer group has filed a graft complaint in the Office of the Ombudsman against Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) officials for enabling Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to forgo the bidding of its power supply contracts at the expense of the public.In a statement, Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas (ABP) accused the ERC of arbitrarily postponing the implementation of its own rules for competitive selection process (CSP) by six months.The rules, which require distribution utilities to hold competitive bidding when procuring power supply, was supposed to take effect on Nov. 6, 2015. But the ERC deferred its implementation to April 30 this year.7 agreementsABP said this enabled Meralco to skirt the new requirement, as it gave the firm time to pursue seven “midnight” power supply agreements and file them with the ERC the day before the new deadline.The lack of bidding for the long-term contracts, covering a total of 3,551 megawatts, would result in an overprice of P12.4 billion every year in the next 20 years, according to ABP.“Such extension rendered the moral spirit of the CSP useless. Government regulators should not be allowed to fool around with the rules, especially when it will harm the consumers,” it said.Because of this, the ERC officials were accused of violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for causing undue injury to any party or giving unwarranted benefits to a private party.Named respondents were ERC Chair Jose Vicente Salazar and Commissioners Gloria Victoria Yap-Taruc, Josefina Patricia Magpale-Asirit, Alfredo J. Non and Geronimo Sta. Ana.“The contracts are onerous and antipeople. ERC is supposed to be protecting consumers as a rate-regulating body. It seems [to be] the other way around,” said ABP secretary general Aya Jallorina.The group said corruption in the ERC was exposed after Director Francisco Jose Villa Jr., shot himself on Nov. 9. Villa left suicide notes that complained of pressure from ERC officials to hire consultants or approve procurement contracts without bidding.

['Philippine Daily Inquirer']

18/09/2018 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/847847/midnight-deals-at-erc-reported

Inquirer

Trump says United States needs fair access to markets

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he told Group of Seven leaders that the United States required fair access to markets and an end to unfair trade practices.“The United States has been taken advantage of for decades and decades,” Trump told reporters, adding that did not blame G7 leaders for the “unfair” trade deals.

[]

09/06/2018 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/06/09/trump-says-united-states-needs-fair-access-to-markets/

Manila Bulletin

San Juan de Dios honored today

Today is the Feast of Saint John of God (San Juan de Dios), patron of hospitals and of the sick. In his honor, special masses and commemorative rites will be held in Catholic churches and medical facilities in many parts of the countryThe venerated Portuguese friar founded the Order of the Brothers Hospitallers, a religious order whose main apostolate was to care for the sick, particularly the poor and neglected.The Order of the Brothers Hospitallers was entrusted with the significant task of looking after the Holy Father’s health.Born in 1491 in Portugal, Saint John of God, whose spiritual mentor was St. John of Avila, died in 1550 and was canonized by Pope Alexander VIII on Oct. 16, 1690.In 1886, Pope Leo XIII declared St. John as the patron of hospitals and the sick and ordered his name to be included in the Litanies of the Dying.

[]

07/03/2017 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/03/07/san-juan-de-dios-honored-today/

Manila Bulletin

San Marino beckons OFWs

A new destination for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) is being looked into by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) for possible deployment of Filipino healthcare professionals.In an administrative order, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd on Thursday formed a team of labor officials who will appraise the viability of deploying Filipino healthcare professionals to the Republic of San Marino, a state on the Italian Peninsula.The assessment team, headed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and composed of member institutions coming from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and International Labor Affairs Bureau, will also look into how opportunities can be maximized under a proposed Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Home Services between San Marino and the Philippines.The team will also identify all possible deployment modalities, such as POEA deployment and Movement of Natural Persons under the General Agreement on Trade and Services.After the appraisal, the assessment team will recommend to the Labor secretary appropriate measures to address identified gaps in Philippine nursing and caregiving training, certification or accreditation to make them competitive and viable.A draft strategic plan for a viable supply of nursing and caregiving services in San Marino is also expected from the team.As provided for in the POEA Governing Board Resolution No. 2 Series of 2011, the Republic of San Marino is a certified compliant country, or where the rights of Filipino migrant workers are protected.POEA records show that from 2015 to the present, there are only 22 OFWs in San Marino, composed of two new hires while the rest are rehires.Meanwhile, an association of licensed recruitment agencies for Taiwan expressed its support to Bello’s order temporarily suspending the issuance of overseas employment certificate (OEC) to new applicants.Pilipino Manpower Association for Taiwan (Pilmat) president Aida Gerodias said they have discussed the matter with Bello and were assured that “the suspension will only be for 15 days and that it will be to the benefit of the OFWs.”“We have met with Secretary Bello and we are satisfied with his explanation,” the group said, even as it denied earlier reports that they were strongly opposing Department Order (DO) 185.Gerodias said a statement attributed to Pilmat was false and malicious as it puts the group in a bad light, adding, “I never talked to anyone about DO 185, and how can I, when I was in sick bay?”

['William Depasupil']

2017-11-16 20:33:27+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/san-marino-beckons-ofws/363314/

Manila Times

Drug war stokes widespread fear

“Fear is a clear indication belying what the government has been trumpeting all along that people now feel safe to roam around because policemen are weeding the streets of thugs and drug users and pushers.”Fr. Jerome Secillano summed up on Monday the reaction of critics of President Duterte’s war on drugs following the release of a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey that showed eight out of 10 Filipinos feared that they, or people they know, could become victims of extrajudicial killings associated with the bloody campaign.The parish priest of Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro Church in Manila said he hoped the survey would trigger a “massive public expression of indignation” against Mr. Duterte’s relentless drive that had so far claimed 6,000 lives.Getting out of hand“We really need to worry about the killings even without the survey results. Lawlessness is getting hold of the country and it is getting out of hand. The government is no longer in control,” said Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo.Commission on Human Rights Chair Jose Luis Gascon called on the administration to pursue its anticrime efforts “with full respect for human rights standards and due process guarantees.”“Human dignity is far too important a matter to disregard whatever might be the public opinion about the Duterte administration’s war on drugs,” he said.Sen. Francis Pangilinan said “fear for one’s safety is bound to surface” given that statistics also showed that since the Duterte administration came in on July 1, someone got killed every 40 minutes every day.“The poll results are proof that people do not feel safe in the streets. The only way to address this is to stop the daily killings,” Pangilinan said in a text message.State-inspired killingsSen. Antonio Trillanes IV said the SWS survey “basically debunks the Duterte administration’s propaganda line that our people feel safer now than before they assumed power.”Sen. Joel Villanueva said the killings “should be a cause of concern and the recent survey is the affirmation of that.”“It is time for all of us, especially the government to reconsider other options,” Villanueva said.With some of the dead being innocents, Sen. Grace Poe said it was understandable there was “fear in the hearts of our countrymen.”“This fear is further fueled by the apparent inaction against the police officers involved in several questionable murders of unarmed victims, almost making these state-inspired killings,” Poe said.Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said many people were “worried about the lack of due process” and urged the government to “quickly show the public that it is making extra efforts to investigate all the deaths.”“It should also start reforms in our judicial system to improve the pace of prosecution of drug-related cases, otherwise, the fight against illegal drugs will be short-lived,” Gatchalian said.Sen. Leila de Lima said in a speech at the annual conference on cultural democracy in Berlin on Sunday that she was disturbed that there was no expression of outrage among Filipinos on the daily drug-related killings.“Whereas I used to think that we, Filipinos, have long learned our lessons about the folly of falling for authoritarian rule under a charismatic and dangerous cult-like leader, I myself am not so sure why we are in this situation once again,” De Lima said.She lamented that the country elected in May “a self-confessed serial killer as President.”Perpetually paranoid“We have gotten to the point where we are trying to convince ourselves that we do not hear what we are hearing; that we do not see what we are seeing; that it’s OK for the President to do and say what he does and says because he is just being true to himself, and that’s a good thing; that to speak against the President is to stand against the 16 million who voted for him,” De Lima said.Sen. Gregorio Honasan II said the killings were “something to be concerned about but we cannot be paralyzed into inaction.”“What do we do about it? We just cannot leave it on the shoulders of the President or the current government. It takes a nation to raise a child. Unless we get involved say in our homes, in our schools, nothing will happen. We’ll be perpetually paranoid and worried and concerned,” Honasan told reporters.He said he wanted to look at solutions. He also said the drug problem was a global problem and that extrajudicial killings were also happening in other countries.Sen. Vicente Sotto III said the survey results proved “there are many people involved in drugs and they know it.”Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin said: “When each of us don’t feel safe and worried that death will come to someone we know and love, it means that we are losing the war on drugs. We are losing not just our peace of mind but perhaps our own humanity.”

['Inquirer Staff']

18/01/2018 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/854929/drug-war-stokes-widespread-fear

Inquirer

Duterte calls for stronger AFP support in war on drugs, terror

President Duterte on Saturday called for stronger military support for his war on drugs and terrorism and his program to build a peaceful and prosperous nation.In a speech before Philippine Military Academy (PMA) alumni, Mr. Duterte said that when he was Davao City mayor he “kept on harping” on peace and order because “if there is peace and order, businesses and everything else will follow.”This could happen to the rest of the country as it did in Davao, he added.“But I need the help of each one, especially the military, not for social control but [for the] protection of the citizens from the lawless, the reckless and the selfish,” he said.He made the call a week before the country marked the 31st anniversary of the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution that ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who used the military to enforce iron rule.“What I desire for the Philippines is a prosperous country that includes everyone —a peace loving citizenry and people with different beliefs who chose to get along with one another,” he said.He said government must serve the people “not just the interest of the few.”“In the past, our government verged on failure because those who were in the position to help deliberately made wrong decisions, which favored only themselves,” he said. “We will always uphold the sanctity of the common good as the highest good.”Two main threatsHe said military support was needed in battling two main threats—the “complex” problem of illegal drugs and terrorism from the Abu Sayyaf, which is engaged in ransom-kidnappings and in bringing the extremism of the Islamic State group into the Philippines from the Middle East.The President’s appeal to the military comes not long after he sidelined the police from the war on drugs and blasted the corruption in the Philippine National Police.The President said he had directed government forces to continue “to intensify operations using all available assets and resources” against militants. He added that it was “the only way to secure Mindanao.”‘Land of Promise’But he said Mindanao, the “Land of Promise” where his family had migrated from the Visayas, “is threatened by climate change caused by man-made diseases like extractive industries,” referring to some mining operations that wreck the environment.“The rest of the nation,” he added, “is threatened by the widening gap between the rich and the poor, crime, corruption, criminality and illegal drugs.”The President is an adopted member of PMA Class of 1967. He was formally adopted as an honorary alumnus of the country’s premier military academy, which he held up as a model for the nation.“While I never pretended to be a saint, I note that righteousness and discipline are the foundations of a nation. That is why I appreciate the PMA. You have the template of discipline and civility,” he said.In response to the President’s call, the PMA Alumni Association Inc. issued a manifesto supporting his “initiatives, advocacies and decisions in the war against corruption—and criminality in general, most particularly against illegal drugs, heinous crimes and terrorism, [and] for his pursuit for lasting peace.”“We call on the Filipino citizens to support the President and other leaders in the governing of the country toward attaining lasting peace and economic prosperity,” said the statement, which was read by association chair Anselmo Avenido Jr.The President has been cultivating close ties with the military, visiting many military camps around the country in his first months in office, promising troops medical and combat equipment and increased benefits.He had also explained to the troops his decision to initiate peace talks with communist insurgents, which he did not touch on in his speech.He had also condoled with families of slain soldiers, and visited the wounded in hospitals.

['Kimberlie Quitasol', 'Vincent Cabreza']

18/01/2018 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/872948/duterte-calls-for-stronger-afp-support-in-war-on-drugs-terror

Inquirer

Playgirls’ twerking registers 1M views

DON’T look now, but the 2016 election campaign might just prove to be one huge lucrative platform for the Playgirls, who gained national fame/notoriety for their raunchy performance at a Liberal Party (LP) event on Oct. 1.Already, the 39-second video of the Playgirls doing suggestive hip thrusts onstage and on top of several local officials taking their oath as LP members, had posted over a million views on YouTube, boosting the group’s marketability but derailing the political plans of at least one LP candidate.Shot by Inquirer reporter Marlon Ramos using his mobile phone, the video of the twerking Playgirls riled several groups, with some of them demanding that LP drop possible senatorial bet Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chair Francis Tolentino, who allegedly brought the Playgirls to the event as a “gift” to Laguna Rep. Benjie Agarao, who was celebrating his birthday on the same day.LP officials quickly distanced themselves from Tolentino, with Senate President Franklin Drilon saying that the MMDA official was not even an LP member, while House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said it was up to Tolentino to decide whether he wanted to leave or stay with the party.Really famousBut all’s well with the Playgirls, according to the group’s manager, Michael Tupaz. “[The controversy] is helping us, although we did not plan it that way. [The girls] are really famous now, according to our booker in Japan,” he said.“We have received inquiries for birthday party bookings. And yes, we are booked for the campaign trail,” Tupaz added, although he refused to identify the political parties who have contracted the Playgirls’ services.Young and pretty women in abbreviated clothes are a staple on the campaign trail in Philippine elections, which are a heady blend of politics and show biz.In fact, political hustings are deemed incomplete without these entertainers, who are considered irresistible crowd drawers. As a rule, these much-awaited sexy dancers perform just before party standard-bearers make their appeal for votes.Among the more notable stage performers in previous elections are the Sexbomb Girls, writhing to the tune of “Spaghetti Song” in the 2004 polls, and the Viva Hot Babes with their sexually-charged anthem “Bulaklak.”Tupaz said he found nothing wrong with the Playgirls’ performance at the LP event in Laguna.Self-righteous“It was a birthday party for an adult, not a children’s party,” he said. “[And performers] have their own forte. There are balladeers, rappers… Some people though are narrow-minded, and self-righteous,” the Playgirls’ manager said.“We have been in this business for six years. We’re not into scandals,”Tupaz said, adding that the group has performed in Australia, Japan, Bahrain, Cambodia and Dubai.No violationThey feel sorry that Tolentino might lose his slot in the LP’s Senate slate, he said.“We’re sad, but it’s beyond our control,” Tupaz said, adding that it’s been business as usual for the Playgirls who are booked to perform in Dubai on Nov. 5-9.The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said that no election law covers the controversial dance number performed by the Playgirls, but that the election body was ready to act on the complaint should a case be filed before the poll body regarding the incident.“If there is any complaint filed, [the complainant] should cite whatever legal basis they find and we will act accordingly,” said Comelec Chair Andres Bautista.The Comelec official said the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) did not have any provision touching on lewd and obscene activities.“When the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) was invented, [there was no] twerking yet,” added Election Commissioner Christian Robert Lim.

['Fe Zamora']

18/01/2018 0:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/728564/playgirls-twerking-registers-1m-views

Inquirer

White House: No looming staff shake-up

President Donald Trump’s White House has been sharply divided by the rivalry between his powerful son-in-law with unfettered access to the president and the ideologue behind Trump’s populist rise.Senior adviser Jared Kushner and chief strategist Steve Bannon, arguably the two most influential voices in the West Wing, have clashed repeatedly in recent weeks over strategy to pass health care legislation, the fallout of the bogged-down immigration bans and, most recently, whether to intervene in the Syrian civil war.Although the White House is rife with rumors of a staff shake-up, Trump’s young administration is pushing back against reports of a pending West Wing overhaul fueled by squabbling among top aides.Spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in a statement Friday that the narrative of a dysfunctional administration on the verge of a makeover “is a completely false story driven by people who want to distract from the success taking place in this administration.”As evidence of that success, Walters noted the Senate’s confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s recent meetings with foreign leaders and the US missile strikes in Syria.“The only thing we are shaking up is the way Washington operates as we push the president’s aggressive agenda forward,” she said.Still, the administration has been plagued by the public airing of infighting, with high-profile aides visibly jockeying for position. Trump himself is increasingly frustrated by the leaks and stories of infighting that that keep flowing out of the West Wing and ordered Bannon and Kushner to set aside their growing feud.

[]

09/04/2017 0:00

https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/04/09/white-house-no-looming-staff-shake-up/

Manila Bulletin

Business finds Duterte’s priorities wanting, prefers faster internet

Priorities considered important by the business sector came last in President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) to Congress on Monday.“If you condense the message in the economic side of the speech, it is still adhering to the policies that were set during the ‘Sulong Pilipinas’ last year wherein [Mr.] Duterte relayed the 10-point socioeconomic agenda,” said George Barcelon, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.WantingBut while Mr. Duterte mentioned proposals deemed important to business, such as tax reform and the need to do away with temporary restraining orders against crucial government projects, Barcelon said the speech was wanting, especially in agriculture.He said he would have liked it had Mr. Duterte provided a timeline for the improvement of the information and communication technology in the country, which was constantly hounded by problems caused by slow internet.Perry Pe, a top official of Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), found Monday’s Sona “very personal.”“He would directly talk to his audience and would even call on some senators and congressmen and Cabinet members to act. It was not pretentious. I honestly like it. He spoke of the people’s frustrations [with the] government,” he said.“I thought his call for the P25-billion tax settlement of Mighty Corp. was smart and to the point,” he added.Donald Dee, head of Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines, said Mr. Duterte’s over-two-hour-long speech showed “his passion and determination to pursue his programs.”Contrary to themeThe group representing American investors in the country, however, said the speech was contrary to the expected theme of a “comfortable life for all.”“It was a very forceful speech in which the President took a very strong stance on his policy concerns, including drugs and rebellion. However, it was not, as predicted by his spokesperson, much about a ‘comfortable life for all.’ We would like to have heard about his top legislative priorities and reforms to create more jobs, more details about ‘Build Build Build,’ and more priority measures than the six he mentioned,” said John Forbes, senior adviser to the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.Forbes welcomed Mr. Duterte’s comments about the early passage of the proposed Bangsomoro Basic Law, right-sizing, national land use, procurement, tax measures and the implementation of the reproductive health law.Farmers described Mr. Duterte’s performance in the past 12 months as “full of bluster but lacks concrete policies.”“Job security, living wages and benefits and services—these remain a dream for agricultural and all other workers in the country,” said agricultural group Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) in a statement.“His economic and political thrusts are turning right and would benefit only big plantation and hacienda owners,” said John Milton Lozande, acting secretary of UMA.Mr. Duterte did not make genuine land reform a priority nor did he impose a moratorium on land conversion, Lozande complained.Joma: No cancerThe left-leaning Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) made the same observations.“We are appalled by Duterte’s militarism. His presidency is one of unfulfilled promises and no significant change,” said KMP chair Danilo Ramos.Mr. Duterte mentioned in his speech that Jose Maria Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines, was suffering from colon cancer.Sison denied Mr. Duterte’s claim in an online chat with the Inquirer.“I am in good health. No cancer of any kind. Neither any other kind of malignancy. The colon cancer comes from his imagination,” Sison said.

['Roy Stephen C. Canivel']

2017-11-08 23:35:13+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/917209/business-finds-dutertes-priorities-wanting-prefer-faster-internet

Inquirer

Is Malacañang targeting Trillanes? Roque, yes; Guevarra, no

Malacañang admitted on Wednesday that it singled out Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV when President Rodrigo Duterte voided the former military rebel’s amnesty and ordered his arrest.Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the President scrapped only Trillanes’ amnesty and not those of other amnestied military mutineers because he was the acknowledged leader of Magdalo, a group of junior military officers who rebelled against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.Roque cited “reasonable basis” as an exception to the equal protection clause in the 1987 Constitution.Gov’t message“And I dare say that the fact that [Trillanes] is the acknowledged leader of the Magdalo mutineers is a reasonable basis for singling him out,” Roque said on a cable news program.“In effect what we are sending, the message the government is sending is, it’s enough that we punish the leaders, we will not bother the rank and file,” he said.But Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra insisted that the administration was not singling out Trillanes, as it would review the amnesty granted to other military mutineers.“We’re not saying the government is picking on him, no, and being selective,” Guevarra said.“Just so happened that he’s the most vocal and he’s the leader of the pack, so to speak. So, it was just natural, if not logical, to start with him,” he added.The President voided Trillanes’ amnesty on Aug. 31, claiming the former Navy junior officer did not apply for it nor admitted guilt in the attempts to overthrow Arroyo.

['Christine O. Avendaño']

2017-11-08 23:35:13+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1036771/is-malacanang-targeting-trillanes-roque-yes-guevarra-no

Inquirer

Former Governors Ynares, Barbers face graft raps

State prosecutors have formally charged former Rizal Gov. Casimiro Ynares Jr. before the Sandiganbayan for the alleged overpriced procurement of P3.597 million worth of fertilizers.Also formally charged was former Surigao del Norte Gov. Robert Lyndon Barbers, who was accused of purchasing fertilizer that was overpriced ninefold in 2004.Ynares and nine other individuals are facing two counts each for violation of Sections 3(e) and 3(g) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act over the allegedly irregular purchases made on November 2004 and March 2005.The cases stemmed from the purchase of 2,455 bottles of Bio Nature Liquid Organic Fertilizers from Feshan Philippines, Inc., at P1,500 each.Other accusedCharged with Ynares were provincial accountant Cecilia Almajose and the following bids and awards committee (BAC) members: provincial administrator Virgilio Esguerra, provincial agriculturist Danilo Rumbawa, provincial legal officer Eduardo Torres, provincial engineer Danilo Collantes, department head Eugene Durusan, assistant department head Romulo Arcilla Jr., and assistant budget officer Victorina Olea.Also charged was Feshan representative Mallyne Araos, also known as Marilyn U. Araos.Prosecutors recommended that their bail be set at P30,000 for each charge or a total of P120,000 for each of the accused.They cited the absence of public bidding and the purchase request’s specification of the brand and distributor despite the availability of other foliar fertilizers for as low as P187 per bottle.The charge sheets stressed that the alleged ninefold overprice of P3.237 million caused undue injury to government.Tailor-fittingBarbers, meanwhile, posted a bail of P140,000 on Friday shortly after he was charged with two counts each of malversation and violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act before the Sandiganbayan.He and seven other individuals were accused of skipping public bidding in the procurement of 3,332 kilograms of Elements foliar fertilizer.Instead, the province had resorted to direct contracting in two instances in May and December 2004.Prosecutors said this was “tailor-fitted” in favor of exclusive distributor, Rosa Mia Trading.The fertilizer was priced at P1,500 each kilogram, or a total of P4,998,000.Prosecutors claimed this was overpriced by P1,330 per kg or a total of P4,431,550, which meant the government ended up paying nine times more than it should have.Charged alongside Barbers were BAC chairman Vicente Madlos, and members Bob Edera, Virginia Yuipco, Teresita Durero, Audie Relliquette, and Adolfo Pantilo Sr. Also charged was Rosa Mia general manager, Rose Marie Palacio.

['Vince F. Nonato']

2017-11-08 23:35:13+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/870479/former-governors-ynares-barbers-face-graft-raps

Inquirer

Top cybersecurity expert due in Manila for web forum

The internet has made the world smaller by providing people interconnectivity and information in an instant. But it also has its dark side and risks.How do we protect ourselves from the dangers of cybersecurity breach? How do we make social media and computer programs more secure? These and other questions will be tackled at the one-day cybersecurity forum organized by Global Chamber Manila.The event, dubbed “Forum on Cyber Security & The Internet of Things,” would feature web-security expert Marc Goodman.Goodman is the founder of Future Crimes Institute and chair of Policy, Law and Ethics at Silicon Valley’s Singularity University.In the last 20 years, he built an expertise in international cybercrime and terrorism, working with organizations like the Interpol, UN Counter Terrorism Task Force, North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the US government.The one-day event would be held on Jan. 31 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Enderun Colleges in McKinley Hill, Taguig.Colin Christie, executive director of Global Chamber Manila, said organizers expect more than 250 representatives from the public and private sector to attend the event.For more information, please log on to https

['Philippine Daily Inquirer']

2017-11-08 23:35:13+00:00

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/962133/top-cybersecurity-expert-due-in-manila-for-web-forum

Inquirer

China protest forces Manila to stop construction in SCS

THE Philippine showed its compliance with an existing agreement with other claimants in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) when it stopped construction of a temporary shelter for Filipino fishermen in a sandbar near Pag-asa Island in August.Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Wednesday said the Philippines found a sandbar some 2.5 nautical miles from the Philippine-occupied Pag-Asa Island and attempted to put up a temporary structure that could be used by Filipino fishermen fishing in the area.“We brought our people there [sandbar] to put structure for our fishermen… and then [China saw it],” Lorenzana told reporters in an interview after attending the “Asean Leadership Amid a New World Order” forum organized by Strabase Albert del Rosario Institute.He said China immediately brought the issue to the attention of the Philippine government, citing the agreement between the Philippines and China regarding non-occupation of new features in the South China Sea.Lorenzana did not mention the particular agreement but the Defense chief could be referring to the non-binding 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).Under the DOC, all claimant countries committed not to inhabit any new features in the contested waters.“There was an agreement about status quo… No occupation of new features, so if the sandbar just appeared, we consider it a new feature and I think it is right,” Lorenzana said.He added that China was correct in saying that the sandbar is a new feature and since the Philippines agreed not to inhabit new features in the South China Sea, it did not push through with the construction of the shelter for the fishermen.Lorenzana said it was President Rodrigo Duterte who ordered that the construction be stopped after he was informed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano about China’s complaint and the existing agreement on the new features .Duterte on Tuesday said that he would stress to Chinese President Xi Jinping that the Philippines is not giving up its territorial claim to the Spratly Islands when he meets with the Chinese leader during the Asia-Pacific Economic Summit in Vietnam.“It would be the time that I’d be frank with China,” the President added in his speech.The Philippines has adhered to the non-binding DOC since it was signed in 2002.Beijing has built several structures on several islands in territories in the disputed waters despite the existence of the agreement and a ruling of the international tribunal granting sovereign rights over the territories.

['Jefferson Antiporda']

2017-11-08 23:35:13+00:00

https://www.manilatimes.net/china-protest-forces-manila-stop-construction-scs/361539/

Manila Times