Maniolas

By Frances Mangosing |INQUIRER.net 5:34 pm | Wednesday, October 1st, 2014 Filipino peacekeepers. AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—What is the next mission for Filipino peacekeepers after their “greatest escape” in Golan Heights? That’s Pope Francis and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in 2015. “So far, we have already given the marching order by the Chief of Staff to secure the Pope. So, presently we are conducting — reorganizing our units. Definitely, it will be a different mission and we are already preparing our training; and, of course, we have given a lot of coordination most probably with the Philippine National Police because as announced by the Chief of Staff we will be under supervision by the Philippine National Police. And with that, then we are preparing ourselves, conditioning ourselves and, most probably, there will be another different task that lies ahead of us and we are just only prepared,” said Lieutenant Col. Ted Dumusmog, 7th Philippine Contingent to Golan Heights Commander on Wednesday, October 1. Dumusmog will also lead the next missions. The Filipino peacekeepers returned home last September in two batches, after being deployed in Golan Heights last November 2013. “Definitely, it is a challenging mission because it’s not like a combat mission that we used to undertake but it is different. We do not know yet what is the specific of it so we are just waiting for the mission that will be given to us come January 15, next year,” Dumusmog said. He added that they would Read More …

By Matikas Santos |INQUIRER.net 4:29 pm | Wednesday, October 1st, 2014 Protesters shout slogans outside a flag-raising ceremony where Hong Kong’s embattled leader attended in Hong Kong, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014, to mark China’s National Day. Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying attended the flag-raising ceremony Wednesday to mark China’s National Day after refusing to meet pro-democracy demonstrators despite their threats to expand the street protests that have posed the stiffest challenge to Beijing’s authority since China took control of the former British colony in 1997. AP MANILA, Philippines—China warned against other countries that have expressed support for the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests to stay out of “China’s internal affairs.” “I’d like to reiterate that Hong Kong is a special administrative region (SAR) of China, and Hong Kong affairs fall entirely within China’s internal affairs,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a press conference. “We urge relevant countries to be prudent in words and deeds, refrain from interfering in Hong Kong’s internal affairs in any way, and do not support the illegal activities such as the ‘Occupy Central’ nor send any wrong signal,” she said in the briefing, the transcript of which was uploaded on the foreign ministry website. Thousands of protesters have occupied major highways near government buildings in Hong Kong calling on the Beijing government to allow genuine democratic elections to take place in 2017. Beijing intends to screen the candidates who can run as Chief Executive of the semi-autonomous city. The United States (US) has Read More …

MANILA, Philippines — An environment and consumer safety watch group alerted authorities to the local sale of a child flu medicine, which was banned in the US after it was found to contain high levels of the toxic metal lead and actually make kids sicker. EcoWaste Coalition cited a September 26 US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory warning parents and caregivers against buying the “Bo Ying Compound” for infants and children as it could cause lead poisoning. The group said that although the product has not been registered with the country’s FDA, the medicine has found its way to the shelves of Manila’s stores. EcoWaste said that it was able to buy on Monday for P580 the “Bo Ying Compound,” which was manufactured by the Hong Kong-based Eu Yan Sang Ltd and was made up of six small bottles of powdered Chinese medicine, from a store in the Binondo district. Based on the product information, the medicine is supposed to “dispel wind and clear away heat, eliminate phlegm and tranquilize the mind.” It further claimed that it can relieve a baby’s cough, fever, indigestion, influenza, nasal discharge, poor appetite, restlessness and crying at night. “We urge consumers providing Bo Ying to babies and kids to follow the US FDA health warning and to report any adverse reactions to the Philippine FDA that may be related to the consumption of Bo Ying,” said the group’s Project Protect coordinator Thony Dizon. The New York City department of health and mental hygiene Read More …

Associated Press 9:25 pm | Wednesday, September 24th, 2014 Philippine Congressman Rodolfo Biazon, left, Chair of the House Committee on National Defense, during a news conference with Hiroshi Nakada, Head of delegation of the Japanese opposition Party for Future Generations, on Sept. 3, 2014 at Makati City, Philippines. AP BEIJING — State media say China and Japan have resumed high-level talks on maritime issues, in a sign they want to improve relations that have been badly strained in recent years by territorial disputes and wartime historical issues. China’s official Xinhua News Agency said Wednesday that senior ministry officials met for two days in the eastern city of Qingdao to exchange views on issues in the East China Sea and maritime cooperation. Japan’s Foreign Ministry said the two sides agreed to hold talks on setting up a maritime hotline between their defense ministries. Japan’s Kyodo News agency also reported that a Chinese vice premier separately commented on Wednesday that he wants an early resumption of a high-level economic talks with Japan, which have been suspended since 2010. RELATED STORIES Obama: US will defend Japan vs China China, Japan blame each other for jet encounter Follow Us Other Stories: PH, Japanese ships to conduct naval exercises off Palawan Filipino fisher rescued off Taiwan after being adrift for 9 days PH journalist slams Aquino’s Europe trip in column in Chinese media Rising criminality in PH a spin by Chinese state media—Palace Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks Read More …