Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said he will resign on Thursday as Senate majority floor leader, citing accusations hurled at the chamber’s leadership. “Nawalan na ako ng gana. Pagkatapos ng tatlong taon, ganoon ang ibabato nila sa leadership,” Sotto told reporters Thursday. Sotto’s move came a day after Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile announced his irrevocable resignation, also citing the accusations thrown at him and his leadership. — Andreo Calonzo/KBK, GMA News
Taiwanese investigators who went to the Philippines to probe the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman in disputed waters returned to Manila Thursday to attend a closed-door meeting with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). NBI deputy director Virgilio Mendez said the foreign probers arrived in the country Thursday morning. “Pero wala pa sila dito sa office namin. Waiting na po kami,” Mendez said. The seven-man team first went to the Philippines last May 27 for a four-day parallel investigation on the fatal shooting of the 65-year-old fisherman that caused a rift between the Philippines and Taiwan. The team inspected the Philippine vessel that confronted the victim and his fellow fishermen, who were accused of poaching in Philippine waters, and interviewed Coast Guard and Bureau of Fishery and Aquatic Resources personnel implicated in the shooting. The team also conducted ballistics exam on the Filipino authorities’ firearms as well as viewed and obtained a copy of the video of the incident. On Wednesday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the Taiwanese team would be meeting with the NBI “as matter of courtesy” to discuss findings of their respective investigations. She said the purpose of the meeting is not to “cross-check” the findings of the two teams. De Lima cited a similar instance when the eight-man NBI team flew to Taiwan to conduct its own probe on the matter, which included inspecting the fishing vessel of the victim and getting statements from his companions. After the relatives of the victim disagreed to Read More …
Enrile resigns as Senate president. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile delivers a privilege speech on Wednesday, June 5, to announce his irrevocable resignation as head of the chamber. Benjie Castro The head of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) on Thursday admitted not being in good terms with resigned Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile but denied that it has caused the vetoing of bills in the 15th Congress. Secretary Manuel Mamba, who acts as President Benigno Aquino III’s link to Congress, said local politics in Cagayan have caused a rift between himself and Enrile, who also hails from the same province. “I can’t go directly to the Senate President. In a way, it has affected our coordination, but we tried for it not to be affected,” Mamba said in a phone interview Thursday. He added that he once attempted to reach out to Enrile, but the resigned Senate leader supposedly declined his invitation to talk. “I reported it to the President. Ang sinabi niya, basta, diyan ka. We just decided to let my undersecretary coordinate with the Senate. I’ll be the one concentrated with the House and the Palace,” Mamba said. GMA News Online is still trying to reach Enrile for his comment on this issue as of posting time. ‘Lack of coordination’ Acting Senate President Jinggoy Estrada, however, said he believes that the discord between Enrile and Mamba really took its toll on legislation this Congress. “There is really a lack of coordination on the part of the PLLO. Read More …
The Philippines and Timor Leste have inked three bilateral agreements in areas of education, policy consultations and infrastructure to further strengthen the cooperation between the two countries. The signings were announced during the five-day visit to the Philippines of Timor Leste Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao — a visit that aims to strengthen his nation’s bid to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The first agreement—a Memorandum of Understanding and Policy Consultations between the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste—was signed by DFA chief Albert Del Rosario and his Timor Leste counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation José Luís Guterres. The MOU will define the cooperation between the Philippines and Timor-Leste, particularly on issues of regional and international mutual interest. A second agreement that recognizes the expertise of trainers from the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and aims to build the capability of Timor-Leste Public Works’ personnel in infrastructure planning, quality control, and maintenance was also signed. DPWH chief Rogelio Singson and his counterpart, Timor Leste Minister of Public Works Gastão Francisco de Sousa, inked the agreement that will establish a cooperative approach between the two countries in terms of mentoring, to facilitate capacity development. Finally, Commission of Higher Education (CHED) chair Dr. Patricia B. Licuanan and Timor Leste Minister of Education Bendito dos Santos Freitas signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Philippine Normal University and the Ministry Read More …
Satellite Image at 7 a.m., June 6, 2013. | Weather Central A potential cyclone is now inside the Philippine area of responsibility and may head towards Mindanao, state weather forecasters said Thursday. PAGASA forecaster Alvin Pura said the LPA formed inside the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) Thursday morning and is embedded within the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ). “‘Yung inaasahang LPA nabuo na. Nariyan nakapaloob sa ITCZ … sa loob na ito (ng PAR),” Pura said in an interview on dzBB radio. But he said there is still no storm signal raised yet, as PAGASA is still monitoring the LPA to see whether or not it will intensify into a cyclone. Should it become a cyclone, it will be locally codenamed Dante. Meanwhile, PAGASA forecaster Joey Figuracion said that there is also a chance that the disturbance may veer north towards Taiwan. “Kung napunta sa area ng Pacific papuntang Japan, pwede maging ganap na bagyo,” Pura said. Flashflood, landslide warnings up in Mindanao PAGASA’s 11 a.m. advisory said the LPA and the ITCZ may trigger flash floods and landslides in Mindanao. It said that, as of 8 a.m., the LPA was estimated at 580 km east of Hinatuan, Surigao Del Sur, embedded in the ITCZ. “These weather systems will affect the Bicol region, Visayas and Mindanao,” it said, adding the whole Mindanao “will experience cloudy skies with moderate to heavy rains and thunderstorms which may trigger flash floods and landslides.” “Residents in these areas are advised to take all the Read More …
WASHINGTON – A US official on Wednesday voiced hope that China and Southeast Asian nations will start talks soon on a code of conduct to resolve disputes over the South China Sea after repeated flare-ups. Joe Yun, the acting assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said that China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) made apparent progress during a working-level meeting last week in Bangkok. “I think there seems to be an understanding that at a future date, maybe sometime this year, they will announce a formal beginning of negotiations” on a code of conduct, Yun told the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “If that’s the case, we would genuinely welcome it because we see CoC as a key piece of the puzzle that would bring peaceful resolution” to rival claims in the South China Sea, Yun said. Tensions have soared in recent years as Vietnam and the Philippines accuse China of increasingly assertive claims to territories in the South China Sea, through which around half of the world’s cargo passes. The broader region is also rife with maritime disputes, with the Philippines and Taiwan recently at loggerheads and China and Japan embroiled in a bitter dispute over islands in potentially energy-rich waters of the East China Sea. Yun reiterated that the United States does not take sides in territorial disputes and that a code of conduct, which would formalize rules of behavior, offered the best way to prevent further conflict. “To be frank with Read More …
Congress on Wednesday ratified proposed amendments to the country’s law on youth offenders without lowering the minimum age of criminal liability, which the existing legislation pegs at 15 years old. The ratified committee report on House Bill 6052 and Senate Bill 3324 proposed that children aged 12 to 15 who commit heinous crimes or repeatedly violate the law undergo community-based intervention programs in a residential facility. The House version of the bill originally proposed the lowering of the minimum age of criminal liability to 12 years old, but the Senate version prevailed. The amendments to Republic Act 9344 also provides the maximum penalty for those who exploit children for the commission of criminal offenses. The ratified bills also transfer the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council from the Department of Justice to the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The council is the primary body in charge of implementing the country’s legislation on children in conflict with the law. — DVM, GMA News
Probers looking at gas leak as cause of Two Serendra blast. In this photo taken on Sunday, June 2 and released to GMA News on Tuesday, June 4, debris litter the area surrounding Unit 501-B of Two Serendra at the Global City in Taguig. A huge blast which probers said could have been caused by a gas leak in Unit 501-B on Friday, May 31, blew away a concrete slab which landed on a delivery van, killing the driver and his two helpers. GMA News/HO The May 31 explosion at the Two Serendra condominium complex damaged not just Unit 501-B. Investigators have learned that Building B of the complex sustained extensive damage from the ground floor to the eighth floor as their probe now focuses on the angle that some sort of problem in the centralized liquefied petroleum gas piping system may have caused the explosion that killed three people. Interior Secretary Mar Roxas met with the investigators from various agencies and groups Wednesday, but he did not speak to media about what that meeting took up. As this developed, initial information originating from the occupant of Unit 501-B indicate that the victim did not smell any gas while he was at the doorway of the condo unit when the explosion happened. In an interview with GMA News, Atty. Raymund Fortun, legal counsel of the victim and unit occupant of 501-B Angelito San Juan, said San Juan did not smell any gas at 501-B. Fortun said San Juan felt Read More …
The Senate on Wednesday approved a bill that seeks to curb incidents of bullying in schools in the country. The approved measure directs elementary and secondary schools in the Philippines to put in place policies that will address bullying. “The heart of this measure is the education of parents on bullying and to familiarize them with the anti-bullying policies of the school. With that information, parents would have better choices which schools to send their children,” said Senator Edgardo Angara, one of the authors of the bill, in a statement. The measure also tasks the Department of Education to propose administrative sanctions for schools who will not have anti-bullying policies. In the House version of the bill, which was approved last December, bullying may be in the form of “any severe or repeated use by one or more students of a written, verbal or electronic expression, or a physical act or gesture, or any combination thereof.” The House bill added that these actions should be “directed at another student that has the effect of actually causing or placing the latter in reasonable fear of physical or emotional harm or damage to his property” to be considered as bullying. The Senate committee on education, arts and culture opted to use the House version as its working document, take two similar Senate bills into consideration (SB 413, SB 2677) and approve the bill with five specific amendments. A bicameral conference committee will convene soon and its output will then ratified by both Read More …
The administration-led Liberal Party will retain its hold on the House of Representatives in the coming 16th Congress after its candidates won the most number of seats in the lower chamber in the May 13 mid-term polls, according to data from the Commission on Elections (Comelec). The party, which is chaired by President Benigno Aquino III, counted 108 winning candidates in various districts across the country. Among them are House Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr., who led the party’s sweep in all six congressional seats for Quezon City, including those at the newly created fifth and sixth districts. The opposition has said it intends to put forward their own bet, LAKAS president and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez – who is also the nephew of former first lady and Ilocos Rep. Imelda Marcos – against Belmonte in the next Congress. “We’re officially declaring that we’re going to challenge the leadership of the House,” Minority Floor Leader Danilo Suarez told the media last May 23. But Belmonte is confident that he will retain his post on the strength of the LP’s alliance with other parties. “We expect that we’ll form the same coalition that we did last time—principally with the NPC, NUP, and the NP (Nacionalista),” he said. Comelec results show that the remaining 126 congressional districts went to candidates from the following groups: * Nationalist Peoples’ Coalition (NPC), 43 seats* National Unity Party (NUP), 24 seats* Nacionalista Party (NP), 20 seats* Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (LAKAS-CMD), 14 seats* United Nationalist Alliance Read More …