Maniolas

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—The International Monitoring Team (IMT) that oversees the implementation of the cease-fire agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said it would start its own investigation of the Jan. 25 clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, which claimed the lives of 44 members of the police’s Special Action Force (SAF) and 14 MILF rebels. Malaysian Gen. Yaakub Samad, IMT head, said the IMT board of inquiry would start its investigation on Feb. 7 “to determine the real circumstances that led to the SAF-MILF encounter.” The IMT is made up of representatives from Malaysia, Brunei, Libya, Indonesia, Japan, Norway and the European Union. It has been in existence since 2003. Asked why the IMT would start its investigation 13 days after the incident, Samad said they had to coordinate with potential witnesses first. The IMT’s inquiry into the incident would be done in partnership with the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities of the government and the MILF, according to Samad. The IMT was instrumental in the disengagement that led to the retrieval of those who were killed and the evacuation of those wounded in the Mamasapano clash. IMT’s Norwegian member, William Hovland, said it took them hours to establish contacts “due to lack of telecommunications signal in the area.” Brig. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., government ceasefire panel chair, said the entry of IMT representatives in Barangay Tukanalipao during the firefight helped “deescalate” the situation and allowed other government troops to evacuate wounded policemen from the Read More …

AGE IS JUST A NUMBER Maria Divina and Robert Warmington with daughter Lexie and son Ollie Maria Divina Domingo, 40, married Robert Warmington, 80, a retired American surgeon and a philanthropist, because she felt that compatibility and maturity are needed to have a perfect relationship and age has nothing to do with it. For Jinky Maat, 40, and Jerry Littlefield, 65, also an American, exchanging “I do’s” nine years ago meant they have to keep their promise to live for richer and for poorer; in sickness and in health. Maria Divina met her husband in Manila in September 2007 through a common friend. He was looking for a Filipino wife while she was already a successful entrepreneur. She says the only thing missing was to share it with someone. “It was love at first sight. He is a debonair, with a whiff of fresh air. Most of all he is a devout Christian,” she recalls. For Jinky, it was not love at first sight, but a relationship that developed overtime. The two met in a dating website in February 2004. She was 30 and working at Intel in the Philippines. “There’s a big difference between online and traditional dating. I have to be more cautious. If everything will work out just fine, then I’d go for it. He showed (albeit) on the Web, that he deserved me and I deserved him,” Jinky says. Both Robert and Jerry are divorced and have older children. In November of the same year, Jerry Read More …

MANILA, Philippines—Senior officials of member-countries of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) will kick-start its first meeting at the Clark Freeport Zone next week to tackle developments, challenges and opportunities in the service industries. In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Friday that the Apec Senior Officials, in partnership with the Apec Business Advisory Council of the Philippines and the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, will have a public-private dialogue on services on Feb. 3 at the Clark Freeport Zone as one of the related meetings of the ongoing First Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM1). “The event is the first in a series of dialogues on services in 2015 envisioned to guide Apec’s public and private stakeholders in examining developments, challenges, and opportunities for the services sectors,” the DFA said. The officials also seek to identify new strategies for building the full potential of the services sectors in the region. It intends to generate policy options towards removing barriers to services trade and develop an innovative approach in pursuing the services agenda of Apec, while fostering collaboration among economies. At least 22 speakers, including representatives from the academe and private sector from across the Asia-Pacific region as well as from international organizations such as the International Trade Centre and the Asian Development Bank, have been invited to share their expertise on information technology and business process management, creative industries, and research and development services. “Government representatives from the Apec member economies, together with their private sector counterparts will Read More …

In this Jan. 6, 2015, file image released by the Saudi Press Agency, Crown Prince Salman gestures during a session at the Shura Council. On early Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, Saudi state TV reported King Abdullah died at the age of 90. Saudi Arabia’s new king, Salman, is a veteran of the country’s top leadership. AP DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—Saudi Arabia’s new king, Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, is a veteran of the country’s top leadership, versed in diplomacy from nearly 50 years as the governor of the capital Riyadh and known as a mediator of disputes within the sprawling royal family. Salman, 79, had increasingly taken on the duties of the king over the past year as his ailing predecessor and half-brother, Abdullah, became more incapacitated. Abdullah died before dawn on Friday at 90 years old. Salman had served as defense minister since 2011 and so was head of the military as Saudi Arabia joined the United States and other Arab countries in carrying out air strikes in Syria in 2014 against the Islamic State, the Sunni militant group that the kingdom began to see as a threat to its own stability. He takes the helm at a time when the ultraconservative Muslim kingdom and oil powerhouse is trying to navigate social pressures from a burgeoning youth population—more than half the population of 20 million is under 25—seeking jobs and increasingly testing boundaries of speech on the Internet, where criticism of the royal family is rife. Another aging ruler Read More …