Maniolas

Presidential Adviser on Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Panfilo M. Lacson answers questions from the media in an interview after he delivered his address at a forum in Makati City last January 23. The former senator had refused to accept his pork barrel funds from the start. He said in a privilege speech that the funds had corrupted legislators. Now, even the members of the media are being named as those who received “payolas.” (MNS photo) MANILA  (Mabuhay) – Incoming Senator Panfilo Lacson said Monday that the call for the public to arrest and kill suspected drug lords should not come from President-elect Rodrigo Duterte. Even as citizen’s arrest is allowed under the Revised Penal Code and killing on self-defense may be accepted, the President should not encourage the public to take it upon themselves to kill accused drug personalities. “Sa palagay ko ay hindi dapat manggaling pa sa isang halal na Pangulo ang pag-encourage sa publiko to take it upon themselves to arrest and kill suspected drug lords sa dahilang baka mawalan na ng control ang law enforcement agencies or officers sa pagsugpo ng ilegal na droga,” the comebacking senator said in a text message. He said it is assumed that the public has no training in intelligence gathering or gathering validated intelligence with regards to drug lords unlike law enforcement officers. He added that identifying the real drug lords undergoes a thorough study and discussions of different intelligence agencies in an “intelligence workshop.” He said it is in an intelligence Read More …

The field is ripe for harvest but unfortunately there are not too many people to do the harvesting because the act of doing so requires a lot of sacrifice, commitment and dedication. It has always been that since centuries ago when Jesus walked the face of the earth when he told His disciples as He looked at the “lost”. With many, the desire is there to go to the harvest field to help in the effort but the dictates of everyday needs wouldn’t allow that they personally do the task that has been mandated to them. In some creative ways and without being actually being in the field, they are able to “fulfill the mandate” indirectly by supporting well-meaning organizations staffed with people endowed with God-given gifts to become part of the action. Matthew John Los Angeles-based JIR Foundation has an innovative way to enable people to feel the joy of being part of the major movement to reach out to the harvest field vicariously by way of “encouraging the encouragers, motivating the motivators, and helping disciple makers make disciples” in a program to fulfill the so-called Great Commission. JIR Foundation’s sphere of commitment encompasses not only in serving donors and Christian workers in the Los Angeles area, but the United States and the world at large as well. photo courtesy of JIR Foundation Facebook page As with all other outreach groups, the idea of extending the mission to whoever will listen to the clarion call started as a dream Read More …

Residents walk under the rain along Luzon Avenue after a sudden thunderstorm at Barangay Tramo in Quezon City on Tuesday. The weather bureau PAGASA warned the public about localized thunderstorms every afternoon due to the onset of the rainy season.(MNS photo) MANILA  (PNA) – The Climate Change Commission (CCC) sees an executive order making renewable energy (RE) resource management a state policy as a big boost to efforts to drive the Philippines toward a low-emission and climate-resilient future. The commission’s vice chair, Secretary Emmanuel de Guzman, has welcomed Executive Order (EO) No. 206, which President Benigno S. Aquino III signed last May 20, saying it complements an earlier CCC resolution that sets into motion an urgent and comprehensive review of the government’s energy policy to cut down the country’s dependence on coal and transition to clean, renewable energy. “The EO is supportive of our coal resolution, which will deliver a policy framework on energy in six months,” de Guzman said, referring to Commission Resolution No. 2016-001, which was signed by the President in his capacity as CCC chair, de Guzman, and Commissioners Frances Veronica Victorio and Noel Antonio Gaerlan. De Guzman, Victorio and Gaerlan were appointed by the President on Jan. 22, 2016 to a six-year term ending in 2022. The CCC resolution was envisioned to set in place a clear government policy on coal-fired power plants, which are the biggest source of man-made carbon emissions, accounting for about 35 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. According to de Read More …

Around 196 generals, flag and senior officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and 28 Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) officials await confirmation of their promotion by the Commission on Appointments during a hearing at the Philippines Senate in Pasay City on Wednesday. (MNS photo) DAVAO CITY  (Mabuhay) – A retired Army general who led failed uprisings against two former presidents is being considered to head the graft-ridden Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s incoming justice secretary said Wednesday. Brig. General Danilo Lim may soon be in charge of cleaning up the country’s prisons system, where convicted crime lords were found to have stayed in air-conditioned cells with recording studios and stripper poles. “We need someone tough like General Lim,” incoming justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said. “Among those recommended to me, to be recommended to the President, he’s one that I believe in,” he said. Should his appointment push through, Lim will be the second former military rebel in the incoming government. Duterte named ex-Marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon as customs chief on Tuesday. Lim was jailed for his involvement in a military uprising against former president Gloria Arroyo in 2006, and but was later granted amnesty by President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. Lim also led a coup against Mr. Aquino’s late mother, then President Corazon Aquino, in 1989. Aguirre vowed a “radical” approach that would involve members of the police’s elite Special Action Force taking over from prison guards and other jail personnel. “I don’t want to telegraph Read More …

President Benigno S. Aquino III is welcomed by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Armed Forces of the Philippines acting Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Glorioso Miranda, Philippine Navy Flag Officer-in-Command Vice Admiral Caesar Taccad, Philippine Army Commanding General Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año, Philippine Air Force Commanding General Lt. Gen. Edgar Fallorina, Philippine National Police Director General Ricardo Marquez, and Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Rear Admiral William Melad upon arrival for the Philippine Navy’s 118th Anniversary Celebration at the Landing Ship Dock (SSV LD601) in Pier 13, South Harbor, Manila on Wednesday (June 1, 2016). The celebration had the theme: “Protecting the Seas, Securing Our Future.” (MNS photo) MANILA, June 2 (PNA) – President Benigno S. Aquino III on Thursday was briefed on the ongoing military and law enforcement operations against the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). “The President received an update on the ongoing military and law enforcement operations against the ASG in Sulu as part of continuing efforts to bring about the safe release of kidnapped hostages,” Communication Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said in a statement. President Aquino met with the security cluster at 1 p.m. at the President’s Hall of Malacañang Palace. The security cluster, chaired by the Office of the Executive Secretary, consists of the departments of the interior and local government, foreign affairs, national defense, and justice, as well as the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, and the National Security Council. Last week, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police Read More …