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Party-list solon still insists on Christmas furlough for Arroyo

 News
Dec 192013
 
Party-list solon still insists on Christmas furlough for Arroyo

The lawmaker who initially asked for a Christmas furlough for former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Thursday said the concessions allowed to her family might not be enough for her to regain her health. “Although not keeping with the Christmas spirit and the Filipino tradition, matatanggap na namin yan. Sabi nga what you cannot equal, you approximate,” said 1-BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bello III in a chance interview. The Sandiganbayan, where Arroyo has a pending graft case, allowed her family to spend Christmas and New Year with her in her suite at the Veterans Medical Memorial Center (VMMC) where she is under hospital arrest. Arroyo’s relatives will be allowed to stay until midnight at the hospital on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. “Although it’s for a  very short period, I hope it will do wonders for her very very poor health,” said Bello, a Cabinet official under the Arroyo administration. Bello has asked the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court to Arroyo, currently a Pampanga lawmaker, a Christmas furlough “for humanitarian and compassionate considerations.” Arroyo is under hospital arrest for a plunder case in connection with the alleged misuse of P366-million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) intelligence funds during her incumbency. Arroyo herself didn’t request for a furlough, but her husband, Mike Arroyo, appealed to President Benigno Aquino III to allow his wife to go home. Bello hypothesized that Aquino did not file for a furlough since she has been repeatedly denied in the past. “Siguro she didn’t ask anymore considering marami siyang motions na not Read More …

Canada promises long-term support as relief ops wind down

 News
Dec 192013
 
Canada promises long-term support as relief ops wind down

Canada  wrapped up its disaster-response mission to the typhoon-ravaged Visayas region this week, but vowed to provide the Philippines the long-term support it needs to help the country recover from the massive destruction wrought by the storm. Canada’s decision to pull out its humanitarian workers, mainly deployed on Panay Island, was made after the Philippine government confirmed that their requirements for the relief phase have been met, Canadian Ambassador Neil Reeder said Thursday. Remaining members of the 300-strong Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), made up of Canadian diplomats and army and navy personnel, will be returning to Canada soon, he said. But even after the Canadian team leaves, Reeder assured long-term help from the Canadian government will continue. “People are here for the long haul,” Reeder said in his first meeting with reporters since assuming as Canada’s top envoy to Manila last month. “Governments remain and Canada is here and we are committed to help you in the future.” “We live in a disaster-prone world. You’ve got a million-plus refugees from Syria with a huge appeal from the United Nations, but that doesn’t mean we are going to forget the Philippines either.” Nearly two months since the record-breaking storm smashed into the Central Philippines, local governments and civilian partners in affected areas are now ready to attend to the remaining needs of the population, he said. The next task ahead, he said, is to prepare for the reconstruction and rehabilitation phase, where Canada “will continue to play a role.” “People Read More …

PNoy expects rehab effort in Yolanda-hit areas finished by 2017

 News
Dec 172013
 
PNoy expects rehab effort in Yolanda-hit areas finished by 2017

President Benigno Aquino expects the reconstruction and rebuilding efforts in areas affected by Typhoon Yolanda to be finished by 2017. “Larger investments will be spread over multiple years and will be completed by 2017 if not earlier,” Aquino said in his speech on Wednesday at the briefing for Philippine development partners on reconstruction assistance on Yolanda. He said the rebuilding and repair of infrastructures and construction of temporary houses for the typhoon victims will be done by December 2014. On the other hand, rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson said bunkhouses are being prioritized to make it easier for the people to organize their lives. “How can the people engage in livelihood activities or income-generating activities kung walang shelter,” Lacson said. On Monday, Lacson said he is aiming to rehabilitate areas hit by Yolanda within the next three years, or before President Aquino’s term ends in 2016. That wish flies in the face of what some experts are saying will be at least a ten-year process akin to “rebuilding a country.” — Amita O. Legaspi /LBG, GMA News

US sending $25M in new typhoon aid to Philippines

 News
Dec 172013
 
US sending $25M in new typhoon aid to Philippines

US committed to helping PHL in security – Kerry. US Secretary of State John Kerry answers questions during a joint press conference with Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario after their bilateral meeting in Pasay City on Tuesday, December 17. Kerry, in the country for a two-day visit, said the US is committed to helping the Philippines address its most pressing security challenges. Danny Pata TACLOBAN — The United States is providing nearly $25 million in additional humanitarian aid to help the Philippines deal with the enormous devastation and deaths wrought by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) last month, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday after touring the worst-hit region. Kerry flew to central Tacloban City, where he was overwhelmed by the vast landscape of wrecked villages that he saw. He visited a food-distribution center run by USAID and government welfare officers, talked with officials and consoled survivors. “This is a devastation unlike anything that I have ever seen at this scale,” Kerry said at a temporary USAID headquarters in Tacloban. “It is really quite stunning,” he said. “It looks like a war zone and to many people it is.” The new food aid, shelter materials, water and other supplies he announced for typhoon-lashed families bring the total US assistance package to $86 million to one of its closest Asian allies. One of the most ferocious typhoons to hit on record, Yolanda left more than 6,000 people dead and nearly 1,800 others missing. It damaged or swept away more than 1.1 million Read More …

Kerry arrives in Tacloban, media kept away

 News
Dec 172013
 
Kerry arrives in Tacloban, media kept away

US committed to helping PHL in security – Kerry. US Secretary of State John Kerry answers questions during a joint press conference with Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario after their bilateral meeting in Pasay City on Tuesday, December 17. Kerry, in the country for a two-day visit, said the US is committed to helping the Philippines address its most pressing security challenges. Danny Pata US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived before noon in Tacloban City, one of the areas hit hardest by super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) last month. Security was tight at the Tacloban City airport as Kerry and his aides alighted from the plane, radio dzBB reported. Media representatives were kept at a distance and could not follow Kerry and his party, the report said. Kerry and his party proceeded to the Department of Social Welfare and Development hub in Tacloban after arrival, state-run Philippine Information Agency reported. The Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday said Kerry will oversee Washington’s ongoing relief efforts in Tacloban in the Visayas. Kerry will also meet the victims of Yolanda as well as those involved in the relief effort, Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said. Kerry arrived in the Philippines Tuesday and met with Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario. He also paid a courtesy call on President Benigno Aquino III in Malacañang. —KG, GMA News

Cemeteries showcase close PHL-US ties – Kerry

 News
Dec 172013
 
Cemeteries showcase close PHL-US ties – Kerry

US committed to helping PHL in security – Kerry. US Secretary of State John Kerry answers questions during a joint press conference with Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario after their bilateral meeting in Pasay City on Tuesday, December 17. Kerry, in the country for a two-day visit, said the US is committed to helping the Philippines address its most pressing security challenges. Danny Pata US Secretary of State John Kerry laid a wreath Tuesday at a cemetery for US and Filipino war dead, and said it symbolized the countries’ close ties.  Kerry, a Vietnam war veteran, said he was “honored” to lay the wreath at the American Cemetery in a Manila suburb, which contains the remains of over 16,600 Americans and 570 Filipinos who died fighting the Japanese during World War II. “That is the largest cemetery in which Americans are buried from World War II. It is a remarkable place and it is a humbling tribute to the links between us in our struggle for freedom,” he said during a two-day visit to the Philippines. Kerry also cited a newly signed agreement under which the two countries will cooperate to upgrade and maintain a run-down veterans’ cemetery at the former US Clark airbase north of the capital. Under the agreement, the United States will provide five million dollars to rehabilitate the Clark Veterans’ Cemetery, which holds the remains of about 8,600 Filipinos and Americans who died fighting under the US flag from the turn of the century to Read More …

PHL's communist insurgents to declare own Christmas truce

 General
Dec 172013
 
PHL's communist insurgents to declare own Christmas truce

Communist rebels will declare a ceasefire during the holidays to allow their comrades to mark the 45th anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines on Dec. 26. In a statement posted on its website late Tuesday, the CPP said: “The leadership… is set to declare a ceasefire in order to pave the way for the national celebrations of the [Party’s] 45th anniversary as well as to give way to the Filipino people’s traditional observance of the Christmas and New Year holidays.”  But the CPP did not immediately specify the dates of the ceasefire. It also called on the government to order the Armed Forces of the Philippines to stand down on December 26 and the days leading to it, “in order to allow… thousands of people to peacefully travel to and join the celebrations.” For this year’s celebration, the CPP said it expects “several hundred” people’s assemblies inside the guerrilla zones across the country. It said most participants are likely to travel by foot to the people’s assemblies. “Travel arrangements are also being made for the revolutionary forces and guests coming in from the cities or other towns,” it added. Also, the CPP said the celebrations will be modest. On the other hand, the CPP said the mass activities will also collect funds and materials that will be contributed to the rehabilitation efforts in areas devastated by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). “The assemblies shall, however, be appropriately joyous to celebrate the great victories of the people’s war and the people’s Read More …

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to visit Tacloban City

 News
Dec 162013
 
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to visit Tacloban City

UNITED NATIONS – UN leader Ban Ki-moon will go to the typhoon-stricken Philippines city of Tacloban this week to highlight the growing number of weather disasters. “2013 was another year of extreme weather — as we saw most recently with Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). On Thursday, I will depart for Manila and Tacloban for a firsthand assessment of the aftermath,” Ban said Monday as he announced the visit. The UN secretary general is to arrive in Manila on Friday for talks with government leaders and will go to Tacloban on Saturday, UN spokeswoman Eri Kaneko said. “He will visit affected communities in Tacloban,” Kaneko said. The UN leader will leave the Philippines on Sunday. The Philippines government says that more than 6,000 people died in the November 8 typhoon — one of the strongest storms ever recorded — which badly hit Tacloban and surrounding regions. Almost 1,800 people are still missing. Ban said that he is organizing a major summit on climate change for September 23 next year, just ahead of the UN General Assembly. — Agence France-Presse

Toll body to review Skyway design, records after bus crash

 News
Dec 162013
 
Toll body to review Skyway design, records after bus crash

At least 20 dead in Skyway crash. Bodies of passengers killed in a bus accident are covered on the ground in Bicutan on Monday. A bus fell off the Skyway early morning, killing 18 people. Police initially reported 21 dead. Danny Pata The design, history and maintenance record of the South Metro Manila Skyway will be reviewed, the Toll Regulatory Board said Monday, after a passenger bus fell from the roadway killing at least 18 people.  The fatal incident before sunrise Monday is the fourth since October 2006 involving vehicles that sped off the Skyway and dropped on the road below. In an interview with GMA News’ Ian Cruz, TRB executive director Atty. Edmund Reyes said in a report on the late evening newscast “Saksi” that  the probe will “revisit the design” of the Skyway to check for any problems.  The review will also cover the roadway’s history and maintenance works.  Reyes also said the TRB will take also review the recommendation of the Highway Patrol Group of the Philippine National Police, which said buses should not be allowed to run on the elevated sections of the Skyway considering the previous serious mishaps. In October 2006, a sports utility vehicle crushed a passenger jeepney after falling on it at the Skyway’s Magallanes section. In January 2007, an armored van fell on a car at the Pasay Road portion of the Skyway. In July 2011, a Dimple Star Transport bus also fell from the Skyway but did not hit any other Read More …

SM mall did not comply with 2013 security pact – police

 News
Dec 162013
 
SM mall did not comply with 2013 security pact – police

Robbers use hammers to steal jewelry in SM North EDSA. Security personnel of SM North EDSA cordon off the crime scene where a so-called “martilyo gang” struck on Sunday night, stealing jewelry on display and causing shoppers to panic. Jun Veneracion, GMA News Mall security measures forged nearly a year ago in the aftermath of another martilyo gang heist were not implemented and may have made the jewelry robbery on Sunday at the SM North EDSA mall easier for the suspects to carry out, the Philippine National Police said. PNP officials said procedures on the sale of hardware and the provision of improved CCTV security camera systems were among the measures that were apparently not taken seriously. The PNP said hardware purchased inside the malls were supposed to have been turned over to buyers outside the mall premises. Higher-resolution CCTV systems and constant monitoring of security videos were also agreed upon months ago, but the PNP said the poor quality of the video footage of the heist last Sunday is a clear indicator of the lack of compliance. Grainy video of the Sunday robbery and a receipt showed that the suspects used a hammer and a crowbar purchased in the mall. The MOA, which was forged with the Mall Security Managers Association, provided that shoppers who bought tools like hammers  would claim their purchased items outside the mall, Raffy Tima reported on GMA News TV’s State of the Nation with Jessica Soho Monday evening. The agreement was struck in the Read More …

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