Maniolas

Trillanes: Groups are taking advantage of Mamasapano clash to oust President Senators Juan Edgardo Angara (left) and Aquilino Pimentel III (extreme right) exchange views before the Senate passage on third and final reading of the bill postponing the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections from Feb. 21, 2015 to the last Monday of October 2016. Also in photo are Senate President Franklin Drilon and Senators Joseph Victor Ejercito and Paolo Benigno Aquino IV. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Thursday said there are groups taking advantage of the tense situation following the deaths of 44 Special Action Force commandos in Mamasapano, Maguindanao to oust President Benigno Aquino III. “Merong nag-oorganisa. Nagmi-meeting na sila sa sequence of events na gagawin nila. You can feel it moving. They are hoping that the sentiment of the people will lead to, let’s say, social upheaval,” Trillanes said at a news forum at the Senate. He said the groups come from different sectors such as the Catholic Church, leftist organizations, and the political opposition. “Merong nanggagatong na mga political forces diyan sa mga sama ng loob na ‘yan. In the coming days, may makikita na kayong placards uli,” he added. “Let’s just say na marami tayong nakukuhang information ngayon at pinasa na sa security at intelligence community para sila ang mag-validate,” Trillanes said Trillanes said the sentiments of the public are valid. “Valid ‘yung sama ng loob. Kailangan lang idiin pa, gatungan pa. ‘Yun ang purpose ng mga grupong ito. Hindi pa humuhupa Read More …

PEACE ADVOCATES UNITE FOR TRUTH AND JUSTICE. Peace and social justice advocates led by former Senator Leticia Ramos-Shahani, Atty. Christian Monsod and Akbayan Chairperson Risa Hontiveros reiterated their call to render justice to all those who perished in the Mamasapano incident and for lasting peace in Mindanao. MANILA (Mabuhay) – The Ad Hoc Joint Action Group of the government peace panel on Thursday said government forces still needed to coordinate with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front even if they were pursuing high value targets such as international terrorists in MILF territory. In a statement, AHJAG Chair Brig. Gen. Manolito Orense said there was a misunderstanding in the rule after former presidential adviser on Mindanao affairs Jesus Dureza posted a supposed exception in social media. “We wish to correct erroneous and misleading statements made by Mr. Jesus Dureza in a social networking site claiming that the ceasefire agreement and the implementing guidelines between the GRP and MILF ‘clearly never required prior coordination in operations against high value, priority targets.’ This is not true,” Orense said. The AHJAG is the coordination mechanism between the GPH and the MILF as regards criminal and terrorism activities with MILF presence. He added that Dureza said that some documents he signed back in 2001 as government peace panel chair excluded operations against high value targets. The document supposedly reads: “Except for operations against high priority targets, a list of which shall be provided by the GPH Panel to the MILF Panel, the AHJAG shall inform the Read More …

An employee counts Philippine pesos inside a money changer in Manila September 19, 2013. A Philippine official said a weaker peso will benefit Philippine exporters by making their products less expensive and thus more competitive in the global market. MANILA (Mabuhay) – Inflation dropped to a 17-month low in January as oil, transport and utilities priceswent down, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Thursday. Consumer prices decelerated to 2.4 percent in January, compared with 2.7 percent in December 2014 and 4.2 percent a year earlier, PSA data showed. The January inflation was the slowest in 17 months when the consumer price index eased to 2.1 percent in August 2013. This fits into the 1.8 to 2.5 percent forecast by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for the month. “It falls within our forecast range and bolsters our view of within-target inflation over our policy horizon,” BSP governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said in a text message to reporters Thursday. The Development Budget Coordinating Committee (DBCC) has placed the inflation target at 2 to 4 percent this year, saying the outlook remains stable and manageable. Moving forward, inflation will largely depend on commodities prices, particularly oil, Bank of the Philippine Islands lead economist Emilio Neri Jr. told GMA News Online. But oil is trading in a quite volatile way in global markets, “so we can’t count out the possibility of breaching the 2 to 4 percent target on both sides,” he said. Oil prices crashed on Wednesday, with US crude losing 9 percent Read More …

Largest Filipino event in the Middle East ushers OSN as the region’s exclusive TFC hub  (Clockwise from top left): Martin Nievera and Gary Valenciano sang of giving back and lending a helping hand as part of the TFC Kapamilya spirit; Crowd estimates of 16,000-18,000 trooped to Dubai Festival City to watch the show; OSN Chairman and KIPCO Vice Chairman Faisal Al Ayyar, ABS-CBN Corporation Chairman Gabby Lopez and ABS-CBN Global COO Raffy Lopez announced the exclusive partnership between ABS-CBN TFC and OSN in the region as hosts Luis Manzano, Kris Aquino and Toni Gonzaga looked on; Leftmost, Ana Blaza of UAE held her check after winning TFCKat ME; Angeline Quinto typified the world-class performances that pervaded the back-to-back shows; Rayver Cruz, Kim Chiu, Maja Salvador and Enchong Dee perform one of the high octane dance numbers; Richard Yap, Piolo Pascual and Jericho Rosales had the crowd swooning as they serenaded with love songs. Dubai, UAE – As the 19th edition of the internationally acclaimed shoppers’ paradise  known as Dubai Shopping Festival reaches its final week, ABS-CBN TFC brought powerful Filipino sights and sounds to the 32-day festivities by way of back-to-back shows of “ASAP Live in Dubai” that drew thousands to Dubai Festival City on January 24. The event also cements OSN, the largest pay-TV network in the region, as the new exclusive hub for TFC subscribers in the Middle East. The exclusive partnership highlights the efforts of both OSN and ABS-CBN TFC to provide Filipino viewers with the ultimate television experience Read More …

At a media briefing at Camp Aguinaldo on Wednesday, February 4, AFP chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. shows a map where the January 25 Mamasapano clash that killed over 50 people, most of them PNP-SAF commandos, took place. (MNS photo) Manila, Philippines | AFP | – The Philippine military and police defended their actions Wednesday as an angry nation demanded answers following the slaughter of 44 police commandos in a chaotic anti-terror operation. The policemen were attacked by at least two Muslim rebel groups, including one that signed a peace treaty with Manila last year, during a January 25 mission to capture or kill Zulkifli bin Hir, one of the world’s most wanted militants. Giving his first public account, military chief of staff General Gregorio Catapang said troops could not respond in time to save the police unit that raided Zulkifli’s hideout on remote and swampy farmland in the southern island of Mindanao. “We did not know the exact place where the (police) forces had to be extricated…. they were not telling us their exact location so it was difficult,” Catapang told a news conference. Catapang, disclosing a summary of a military report of the incident to be submitted to President Benigno Aquino, said troops completed the rescue of the remnants of the force nearly 18 hours later. Aquino and the military have been savagely criticized by the general public for failing to prevent the largest loss of military or police life in recent memory, with some calling for Read More …