Maniolas

Apl.d.Ap revving up the crowd at last year’s Kalayaan fete. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS SAN FRANCISCO, California — Filipino-American community leaders and the Philippine Consulate General of San Francisco are gearing up once again for a day-long celebration of the 116th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence. “Kalayaan SF 2014” will be held on Saturday, June 21 from noon to 7:30 p.m., organizers announced, with the theme “Celebrating the Filipino Spirit: Resilience, Moving Forward, and Giving Back.” Radi Calalang, chairman of the Kalayaan SF Committee, explained, “We look forward to bringing more attention to our nation’s incredible economic successes and continued momentum, but we also need to ensure that we honor and continue the valiant efforts being made to overcome adversity after Typhoon Haiyan.” Kalayaan SF 2014 poster Calalang added, “We hope to encourage everyone to continue fostering that great Filipino tradition of bayanihan, the community spirit that brings together the powers of selflessness, unity and cooperation to achieve amazing things.” “Kalayaan SF 2014” will once again be held in the heart of the city, at San Francisco’s historic Union Square. Last year, more than 8,000 people gathered in the same venue in celebration of national pride and identity. “Kalayaan SF provides a venue to spotlight our communities’ significant contributions and make known our positive presence in the Bay Area,” said Jaimon Ascalon, San Francisco Deputy Consul General. UCSF Professor Jay Gonzales agreed: “The theme of giving back is definitely the most relevant to the Filipino experience this past year and Read More …

• 235 positions need to be filled • Patient care undermined, they say • Health workers in region also demand workplace safety SAN FRANCISCO, California – Nurses, mostly from this city’s San Francisco General Hospital, rallied on the steps of San Francisco City Hall last week to protest what they believe has been a lack of transparency on the part of city leadership. The group assembled on the steps of the golden-domed building, where the protesters marched up its stairs to the door of Mayor Ed Lee’s office. They put on a show of defiance over unexplained vacant nursing positions, proceeding to dump out a large amount of cut-out paper scrub suits. Lee was not present; in fact, the door was locked. However, a representative for the office acknowledged the act of solidarity and promised to convey their message to the mayor. In the rally, the nurses alleged that City Hall has undermined patient care in its refusal to fill up positions for the 235 nurses that have been approved in the budget but whose hiring has been stalled. The group points to an unsafe ratio of nurses to patients in City facilities which, as a result, degrades patient outcomes and gives rise to incidents of abuse by patients against other patients, health workers and even visitors. “There are over 200 vacant positions and we want those filled. Originally, we were told there was a hiring freeze,” Nordissa Cooper, a registered nurse at SFGH since 2008, told FilAm Star. “We Read More …

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers his keynote speech on Friday, May 30, 2014 in Singapore. Abe is in Singapore to attend the 13th Asia Security Summit. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) TOKYO — Japan wants to play a greater defense role in Asia to promote peace and prosperity amid tensions over territorial disputes, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday. In a speech in Singapore at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an international security conference, Abe raised concerns about escalating tensions in the South China Sea, and urged all countries in the region to observe the rule of law and not use force or threats. Abe also outlined new guidelines that will ease Japan’s self-imposed limits on military exports and defensive activities, and pledged to contribute more to the region in those areas, as well as through official development aid. “Japan intends to play an even greater and more proactive role than it has until now in making peace in Asia and the world more certain,” Abe said. He promised “seamless” support for Southeast Asian countries in defending their territories by combining defense programs and government aid. Abe said efforts “to consolidate changes to the status quo by aggregating one fait accompli after another can only be strongly condemned,” an apparent reference to China’s recent assertiveness in pressing its territorial claims in the region. He did not identify China by name, but praised the Philippines and Vietnam for their efforts to resolve the disputes through dialogue. Abe’s government has been trying to ease constitutional restraints on Japan’s military, which currently can Read More …

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—In the face of China’s recent aggressive actions against the country, a group of party-list lawmakers has asked the Supreme Court to immediately resolve a six-year-old petition seeking to declare as unconstitutional a 2008 agreement that allowed China and Vietnam to jointly explore with the Philippines oil resources in the country’s undisputed and claimed territories in the West Philippine Sea. “The substantive issues in the present case are of overarching and paramount importance to the Philippines and the Filipino people, especially in light of our current territorial and maritime disputes with China,” read the petition filed by a group of party-list representatives from Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and Gabriela Women’s Party. The group said this had affected the country’s assertion against China’s nine-dash-line claim, “which encroaches on our territory, exclusive economic zone, continental shelf and marine resources, among others.” “In order to uphold the Constitution and conform to the assertion of the Republic of the Philippines of its sovereignty, territory, exclusive economic zone, continental shelf and marine resources, among others, over the undisputed and claimed areas in the West Philippine Sea covered by the agreement, the honorable court must strike down as unconstitutional the tripartite agreement,” the group said in its motion for immediate resolution of the May 21, 2008, petition. The group originally filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition against the agreement that the Arroyo administration had signed, which allowed the joint exploration among the Philippines, China and Vietnam of the Philippines’ territorial waters. The Read More …

A Green Sea Turtle comes on the shore. Chinese fishermen were previously arrested after they were found poaching the endangered species in the Spratly Group of Islands in the West Philippine Sea. Photo by Haribon Foundation. MANILA, Philippines—The massive fishing operations of Chinese ships in the South China Sea could make the local population of sea turtles and giant clams extinct, a marine biologist said Friday. “Their fishing operations will have an effect on our marine biodiversity but we won’t see this until years or decades later,” Ditto Dela Rosa Jr., a research specialist with expertise in marine biology, said in a phone interview with INQUIRER.net. “The Philippine marine ecosystem is home to seven species of giant clams out of the total nine species worldwide and five out of seven sea turtle species worldwide,” he said. Recently, aerial photographs taken by the Philippine military, showed Chinese fishing vessels in the Spratly Group of Islands, filled with clams. Several Chinese fishermen were also apprehended by police after their boat was found to be filled with hundreds of dead sea turtles. Giant clams, locally known as “taklobo,” can grow up to 4.5 feet and weigh in excess of 200 kilograms. The large shells allow corals to grow on them and create reefs. Sea turtles, called “pawikan” locally, play a big role in keeping the local population of jellyfish, which they feed on, controlled. A Giant Clam opens its hard shell to show the soft inside parts. Chinese fishing vessels were recently seen Read More …