besguerra

5 foreigners may face online theft raps

 News
Jun 162013
 
5 foreigners may face online theft raps

By Christine O. AvendañoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 3:47 am | Monday, June 17th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—Charges were recommended by the National Bureau of Investigation last Friday against what an NBI report said were five Chinese and/or Taiwanese nationals allegedly involved in the online theft of credit card information. In a June 14 letter to Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, NBI Director Nonnatus Caesar Rojas sought inquest proceedings against Andong Ye, Shizhong Zhou, Wei Sheng, Yantai Luo and Yangfeng Luo, all of 42-3 Forest Rd., Carmenville subdivision in Angeles City. Rojas recommended that charges for violation of Republic Act No. 8484, the Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998, be filed against the five. Based on intelligence reports and armed with a search warrant from a court, Rojas said an NBI intelligence team swooped down on the residence of a Mr. Wang in Angeles City to verify information about the place. Mr. Wang was alleged to be “in collusion” with a Chinese syndicate engaged in fraudulent acts using access devices. But Mr. Wang was not at the house when the NBI team came. “Intelligence sources revealed this foreign syndicate conducts fraudulent online transactions and steals credit card information through hacking and other malicious representation on the Internet via equipment like telephones, computers, routers, access devices, modems, two-way radios and scripted documents,” said Rojas in a three-page letter to the Department of Justice. Confiscated from the residence were assorted credit cards, a skimming device, routers, a laptop, modem, printer, telephones and various documents. “…(M)ere possession Read More …

PH, Taiwan shun force

 News
Jun 162013
 
PH, Taiwan shun force

Talks to resolve fishing disputes start By Christine O. AvendañoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 12:09 am | Monday, June 17th, 2013 The Philippines and Taiwan have “agreed in principle” to avoid the use of force in fishing disputes, as they begin to resolve a row over the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman in overlapping waters last month. Officials of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (Meco) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (Teco) reached the agreement during their preparatory meeting on fishery cooperation held in Manila on Friday, Meco Chairman Amadeo Perez said on Sunday. The meeting came as both Manila and Taipei concluded their cooperative investigation of the fatal shooting of Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-chen, 65, by Filipino coast guards. The National Bureau of Investigation, after examining evidence and witnesses here and in Taiwan, resolved the case last week, with a recommendation to bring criminal and administrative charges against coast guards who fired on the Taiwanese fishing boat Guan Ta Hsin 28 off Balintang Island on May 9. Taiwanese investigators who also looked at evidence and examined witnesses here and in their country have not yet announced their conclusions, but Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Thursday said she expected the Taiwanese findings not to be too far from the results of the NBI probe. De Lima submitted the NBI investigative report to President Aquino on Tuesday. The shooting death of Hung sparked public anger in Taiwan. Taipei demanded an apology from the Philippine government, compensation for Hung’s family, Read More …

138 Filipinos remain in camps in S. Arabia

 News
Jun 142013
 
138 Filipinos remain in camps in S. Arabia

By Dona Z. PazzibuganPhilippine Daily Inquirer 7:34 am | Saturday, June 15th, 2013 DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—From about a thousand two months ago, less than 150 Filipinos remain camped outside the Philippine Embassy and a Philippine consular office in Saudi Arabia, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez reported that a total of 414 individuals have so far been repatriated from Saudi Arabia before the July 3 deadline for undocumented workers to either return to their home countries or correct their status. Among those repatriated were mothers and their children. Since June 10, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh reported having repatriated 77 Filipinos, including 16 mothers and 20 children. Fourteen more individuals will arrive in Manila on June 15 at 3:20 p.m. from Riyadh on board Etihad Airways flight EY 424. Hernandez said only four people remain camped outside the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and 134 people outside the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah. The rest of the undocumented workers and their families are staying in temporary shelters. “From a high of 77, the number of campers in our embassy in Riyadh is down to four. In Jeddah, from about a thousand several weeks ago, there are now only 134 individuals at the camp site near our consulate,” Hernandez said. “There are also 161 mothers and children seeking shelter at the consulate,” he added. With the deadline approaching, Philippine diplomatic officials have asked Saudi immigration authorities to streamline their procedures to Read More …

UN: World population to reach 8.1 billion in 2025

 News
Jun 132013
 
UN: World population to reach 8.1 billion in 2025

Agence France-Presse 7:49 am | Friday, June 14th, 2013 In this Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011 photo, commuters disembark from trains at a train station in Mumbai. A new UN report is forecasting that the world’s population will increase from 7.2 billion today to 8.1 billion in 2025 and 9.6 billion in 2050. The report said much of the overall increase between now and 2050 is expected to take place in Africa and countries with large populations such as India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United States. AP PHOTO/RAFIQ MAQBOOL UNITED NATIONS —A new UN report is forecasting that the world’s population will increase from 7.2 billion today to 8.1 billion in 2025 and 9.6 billion in 2050. The report, released Thursday, said most of the population growth will occur in developing regions which are projected to increase from 5.9 billion in 2013 to 8.2 billion in 2050. During that same period, it said, the population of developed countries is expected to remain largely unchanged at around 1.3 billion people. The report said much of the overall increase between now and 2050 is expected to take place in Africa and countries with large populations such as India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United States. UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations forecast Thursday that the world’s population will increase from 7.2 billion today to 8.1 billion in 2025, with most growth in developing countries and more than half in Africa. By 2050, it will reach 9.6 billion. India’s population Read More …

Hurry Maguindanao massacre trial, int’l reporters urge

 News
Jun 092013
 
Hurry Maguindanao massacre trial, int’l reporters urge

By Ryan D. Rosauro Inquirer Mindanao 3:50 am | Monday, June 10th, 2013 OZAMIZ CITY, Philippines—More than 300 delegates to the 28th World Congress of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in Dublin, Ireland, have called on President Aquino to “take steps to expedite the trial” of those accused in the Maguindanao massacre. The call was contained in an urgent resolution adopted by the congress, according to National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) chairperson Rowena Paraan, who attended the Dublin meeting, which ended on Thursday. “Everybody is disappointed that… the justice system in the Philippines has not moved forward. Journalists here from 120 countries are absolutely united in making sure that they will help [promote] the widest campaigns until justice is found,” IFJ president Jim Boumelha was quoted as saying in an NUJP news release. The IFJ is the world’s largest organization of journalists with some 600,000 members in 120 countries. The NUJP is its affiliate in the Philippines. Fifty-eight people died in the Maguindanao massacre, 32 of them media workers. The massacre has been dubbed the world’s single worst attack on the press and the trial has earned the attention of press freedom advocates. Nov. 23, the date of the massacre, has been declared by freedom of expression advocates worldwide as the International Day to End Impunity. It has been three and a half years since the killings and “there has not been a single conviction for the murders,” the IFJ noted. Among the steps the government Read More …

PH hails diplomatic ties with China despite row

 News
Jun 092013
 

By TJ Burgonio Philippine Daily Inquirer 3:28 am | Monday, June 10th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—Their territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) should not stop the Philippines and China from celebrating the 38th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations, Malacañang said Sunday. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said relations between the two countries were multifaceted and the territorial dispute over parts of the West Philippine Sea was just one facet. After all, there were other facets of this relationship that “we continue to develop and that we continue to move forward on,” Valte said on state-run radio dzRB. “So let’s let the maritime disputes not be the whole of our relationship but, rather, just a part of it. And, again, given the close ties that we have, then that’s worth something to look at all the other facets and check and see if we can move forward on those fronts,” she said. Starting 1975 The Philippines and China opened diplomatic relations on June 9, 1975. Since then, the relations have reached “unprecedented levels” in security and regional cooperation, trade, investment, agriculture, tourism and cultural exchanges, according to the Philippine Embassy in China. In April 2005, then Chinese President Hu Jintao, on a state visit to Manila, and then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo described the relations between the two countries as the “golden age of partnership.” The relations hit a low when Philippine and Chinese ships faced off at Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) in April last year. Read More …

Popular Fil-Am mayor of Milpitas, California delivers

 News
Jun 092013
 
Popular Fil-Am mayor of Milpitas, California delivers

By Harvey I. Barkin INQUIRER.net U.S. Bureau 1:25 am | Monday, June 10th, 2013 Mayor Jose Esteves of Milpitas, California MILPITAS, California–Five-term Mayor Jose Esteves, a Filipino American, told hundreds of constituents at his very first State of the City address May 30 that the city was in a better position compared with others in Northern California. “Let me say plainly that our current financial standing is +AA and our outlook is very positive,” Esteves told the standing-room-only crowd at the Chamber of Commerce venue. “I don’t want to move ever,” said Deritha May Randall has lived in Milpitas for 50 years. “Thank God for the (Milpitas) Police and Fire Departments. The mayor is good and has improved Milpitas more than any man, especially in the Dixon area (where she lives). Mayor Esteves has got it under control.” Esteves admitted, however, that the last seven years were the most difficult in the city’s history. Tough decisions and sacrifices had to be made, he said, for Milpitas to become financially solvent. “We cut costs internally and redefined our service delivery without compromising it. This is an accomplishment not all cities can claim,” he explained. But the solvency came at a price. In the last year, the city council had to cut $9.2 million from the $69.2 million general fund in June, as a result of State’s decision to eliminate redevelopment agency funding. This forced the city to cut its expenses by $7 million on top of a $2.2 million structural deficit. Read More …

DFA cautions Filipinos in Saudi Arabia on coronavirus threat

 News
Jun 042013
 
DFA cautions Filipinos in Saudi Arabia on coronavirus threat

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 11:37 pm | Tuesday, June 4th, 2013 DFA spokesman Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday advised Filipinos in Saudi Arabia, particularly those camped out at tent shelters outside the Philippine embassy in Riyadh, to take precautionary health measures amid the spread of the coronavirus, a disease that has most affected the Arab country with 39 known cases of contraction and 25 reported deaths. No Filipino has so far been reported to have been stricken with the disease, but the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh issued an advisory for Philippine nationals to take preventive measures and protect themselves from the disease. “There are no reports of any Filipino in Saudi Arabia being infected with the new virus which, according to news reports, caused the death of several Saudis,” said DFA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez. “Our citizens in Saudi Arabia should follow the advice of the Saudi Health Ministry and other relevant authorities. The embassy has also issued an advisory detailing the symptoms of the disease and the preventive measures that our kababayans in Saudi Arabia can take,” he said in a press conference on Tuesday. Experts have said the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) stemmed from the same viral family as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, an outbreak which spread around the world in 2003, killing some 775 people, according to a Reuters report. The new virus is known to have spread to France, Read More …

PCG: Video doesn’t show coast guards laughing

 News
Jun 022013
 
PCG: Video doesn’t show coast guards laughing

By Jerry E. EsplanadaPhilippine Daily Inquirer 12:45 am | Monday, June 3rd, 2013 “Laughing” and “smiling” are completely different, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Sunday as it rejected the Inquirer’s report that six coast guards were seen in a video laughing as they fired at a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Coast Guard took the video of the encounter between the coastal patrol vessel MCS-3001 and the Taiwanese fishing boat Guan Ta Hsin 28 in waters off Balintang Island in northern Philippines on May 9. The video was submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for the investigation of the fatal shooting of Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-chen, 65, during the chase. Cmdr. Armand Balilo, spokesperson for the Coast Guard, said Sunday he had seen the video and dismissed the Inquirer report as “inaccurate” and “hearsay.” Malacañang and the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (Meco), the Philippines’ de facto embassy in Taiwan, declined to comment on the Inquirer report. The Palace, however, gave assurance that the outcome of the government investigation will be solely based on evidence. The report was based on an interview by reporter Nancy C. Carvajal with a source who had seen the video and whose statements were confirmed by two other sources. “The video showed the soldiers acted unprofessionally. They were laughing while they were shooting the boat,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. “It is disturbing and embarrassing for Philippine law enforcers,” the source said. Balilo said there was no footage from Read More …

In Vietnam, a Cuban rat poison finds new market

 News
May 312013
 
In Vietnam, a Cuban rat poison finds new market

Associated Press 3:18 pm | Friday, May 31st, 2013 A Vietnamese salesman displays several grains of salmonella-based rat poison on his tongue in Hanoi,Vietnam. AP HANOI, Vietnam—His wares banned in much of the world, the Vietnamese salesman hawking a rat poison laced with salmonella sought to prove the bait was as safe as claimed. He sliced open a packet with a pair of rusty scissors, dipped his finger into the sticky, bad-smelling rice, brought out a few grains and then chewed them gingerly. “It tastes a little bitter, that’s all,” said Nong Minh Suu. He chose not to swallow the unhulled grains, instead spitting them out after a few seconds before lighting a cigarette. “When rats eat this, 100 percent of them will be killed. It is absolutely safe to human health.” Rat poisons normally come with warnings against human consumption and medical directions about what to do if accidentally eaten. Not so “Biorat,” a bait produced in Vietnam by a Cuban-state owned company that earns foreign exchange for the Castro government. The company claims the salmonella strain it includes is “harmless” to everything — humans, the environment, pets and other animal species — apart from rats. That is disputed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a US federal government agency, and other international health institutions including the World Health Organization. Biorat’s production and sale in Vietnam is a legacy of the cozy ties between Cuba and Vietnam, two nations on opposite sides of the world but whose Read More …

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