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Ferdinand Marcos' mortician offers to embalm late Venezuelan ruler Hugo Chavez

 News
Mar 072013
 
Ferdinand Marcos' mortician offers to embalm late Venezuelan ruler Hugo Chavez

Remains of Venezuela ruler to be preserved for ‘eternity’ . Adan Chavez (2nd left), brother of the late Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, his mother Elena Frias (4th left), and father Hugo, view the remains of the Venezuelan ruler during a wake at the military academy in Caracas on Thursday. The late ruler will be embalmed and put on display ‘for eternity’ at a military museum after a state funeral and an extended period of lying-in-state, acting President Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday. Reuters/Miraflores Palace A Philippine mortician famous for putting dead dictator Ferdinand Marcos into a glass display case offered his services Friday to the deceased Hugo Chavez, whom Venezuela wants embalmed “like Lenin”. Manila-based embalmer to the stars Frank Malabed stressed experts must act quickly if they wanted to successfully preserve the Venezuelan president, who died on Tuesday from cancer. “I have not been contacted for it but I am always expecting a call. I will process anyone, anywhere,” Malabed, 62, told AFP. He said the methods employed would depend on the condition of the corpse of Chavez, who his successor said on Thursday would be preserved “for eternity”. “What is important is they must not delay (choosing an embalmer). The longer they delay it, the more difficult it would be,” Malabed said. While Venezuelan authorities said they wanted Chavez embalmed “like Lenin”, Malabed said he would not use the same techniques as those employed for the Soviet revolutionary leader. “I was told they preserved Lenin using resin. It’s Read More …

DOTC: Two domestic flights canceled due to bad weather

 News
Mar 072013
 
DOTC: Two domestic flights canceled due to bad weather

At least two domestic flights were canceled Friday due to bad weather conditions, the Department of Transportation and Communications said. In a post on its Twitter account, the DOTC indicated the affected flights both belonged to carrier Air Philippines. The canceled flights are 2P-030 Catarman to Manila, 2P-022: Masbate to Manila. Earlier, PAGASA forecast cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rain showers and thunderstorms over Bicol and Eastern Visayas. It also said Mindanao and the rest of Visayas would be cloudy with scattered light to moderate rain showers or thunderstorms. But it said Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon would be “partly cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms.” — LBG, GMA News

DOLE: After 2877 hired in January job fairs, more job fairs coming in March

 News
Mar 072013
 
DOLE: After 2877 hired in January job fairs, more job fairs coming in March

At least 2,877 jobseekers found work on the spot in 40 job fairs conducted by the Department of Labor and Employment last January, with more job fairs coming this month, DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said. Baldoz said the job fairs are the DOLE’s response to requests for employment assistance. “The Department has still many job fairs to come. We expect more job applicants will be hired on the spot in the next job fairs which we will conduct year round,” said Baldoz. Breakdown In the 40 job fairs held last January, a total of 21,385 jobseekers registered for 70,651 job vacancies offered by 621 prospective employers. Of these, 9,461 of these vacancies were from Metro Manila. More than half (51 percent or 11,938) of the applicants were women. “During the job fairs, applicants select vacancies suited to their qualifications and employers could interview and hire on the spot qualified workers,” Baldoz said. Schedule for March In March, the DOLE regional offices will hold 81 job fairs, as follows: Metro Manila March 11: Quezon City Hall Covered Walk and SM San Lazaro, Manila March 18: SM Tunasan, Muntinlupa City March 20: Star J Malabon March 21: Pasay City Sports Complex March 22: Quezon city and Pasay City Region 1 March 8: Urdaneta City University, Urdaneta City, Pangasinan March 26: CB Mall, Urdaneta City, Pangasinan March 30: Asingan Gym, Asingan, Pangasinan Job fairs are also tentatively scheduled at the University of Pangasinan, Dagupan City; Colegio De Dagupan; and Bayambang, Pangasinan this March. Read More …

Navy: 121 Pinoy evacuees aboard two boats from Sabah now on way to Tawi-Tawi

 News
Mar 072013
 
Navy: 121 Pinoy evacuees aboard two boats from Sabah now on way to Tawi-Tawi

(UPDATED 1:30 p.m.) –  At least 121 Filipinos were aboard the two motorized vessels that were heading for Tawi-Tawi from Sabah before they were intercepted by the Philippine Navy early on Friday. Philippine Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Fabic said in a radio interview they also found sacks of rice and foodstuff aboard the two ships. “Yung destination nila, papuntang Bongao. In-escort ng Philippine Navy papuntang Bongao para sa proper disposition,” Fabic said in an interview on dzBB radio. On Thursday, Malaysia had set up a tight blockade and defensive line at Sabah’s east coast.  Earlier this week, a vessel carrying Filipinos fleeing from the conflict in Sabah arrived in Tawi-Tawi.  Malaysian forces had adopted an all-out stance against Kiram’s followers after a series of fatal clashes since March 1. On Thursday, the sultan declared a unilateral ceasefire after the United Nations called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, but Malaysia has rejected the ceasefire offer. —KG/VVP, GMA News

Risa Hontiveros, Hagedorn claim illegal posters removed

 News
Mar 042013
 
Risa Hontiveros, Hagedorn claim illegal posters removed

Liberal Party (LP) senatorial bet Risa Hontiveros and independent candidate Edward Hagedorn told the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that they have removed their “illegal” campaign posters. “We received letters na nag-comply sila but whether or not they complied is another question,” lawyer Esmeralda Amora-Ladra, head of the Comelec law department, told reporters on Monday. Two weeks ago, Ladra said they sent notices to the two senatorial bets after they were found to have illegal campaign posters. The notice for Hontiveros, who was found to have illegal campaign posters in Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental, was received on February 20 while the notice for Hagedorn, who allegedly has an illegal poster along Osmeña Highway in Manila, was received on February 21. However, Ladra said the two claimed that they were not the ones who put these up. “May letter but yung pagtanggal talaga is another matter that we have to check through the monitoring teams of the EID,” she said. The Comelec’s Education and Information Department (EID) monitors the posting of campaign materials nationwide. Punishment Failure to remove illegal campaign propaganda constitutes an election offense that is punishable under Section 264 of the Omnibus Election Code. The provision states that any person found guilty of any election offense shall be punished with imprisonment from one to six years and shall not be subject to probation. The guilty party shall also be sentenced to “suffer disqualification to hold public office and deprivation of the right of suffrage.” On the other hand, Section Read More …

Comelec: SC has no jurisdiction over order to remove Bacolod church's oversized tarp

 News
Mar 042013
 
Comelec: SC has no jurisdiction over order to remove Bacolod church's oversized tarp

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction over its order to the Diocese of Bacolod to remove its controversial “Team Buhay/Team Patay” tarpaulin. “Wala pa namang kaso, ano inaakyat nila sa Supreme Court?” Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. told reporters during an interview Monday. “The only thing we’ve sent so far is a letter coming from the Comelec telling them to remove it (tarpaulin) in three days. What will they tell the Supreme Court? May sulat kaming tinanggap dito? Di naman pupwede ‘yun,” he added. According to reports, the Bacolod diocese filed a petition with the Supreme Court asking it to declare as unconstitutional the Comelec’s orders to remove the tarpaulin. But Brillantes said for the diocese to go to the high court on the basis of their letter is “the best evidence that there is something wrong with the lawyer.” “Simpleng-simple lang, sundin lang ninyo ‘yung sukat [ng tarpaulin], tama na sa amin ‘yun. I think it is the lawyer of the bishop who is trying to make something out of this, who is trying to make a big fuss of a small matter,” he said. He also said unless they are restrained by the Supreme Court, they will proceed with the filing of election offense charges against the people behind the oversized tarpaulin. “By tomorrow if the Supreme Court does not come out with anything, no TRO (temporary restraining order) or nothing, we will proceed with the process,” he said. “When we say Read More …

Summer is almost here, but don't discount cyclones yet —PAGASA

 News
Mar 042013
 
Summer is almost here, but don't discount cyclones yet —PAGASA

Satellite image at 7 a.m., 4 March 2013. | Weather Central Just because summer is coming may not necessarily mean there will be no cyclone this month, state weather forecasters said Monday. PAGASA forecaster Jori Loiz said in a radio interview that “zero to one” cyclone is expected this month in the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR). “Meron tayong zero or one, there is a chance,” he said in an interview on dzBB radio. The next cyclone to enter the PAR will be codenamed “Dante,” the fourth cyclone to enter the area this year. The Philippines is finally looking forward to summer, as the northeast monsoon that brought cold weather to parts of the country continues to weaken. Loiz said the official announcement of summer may come as early as next week. But he said the northeast monsoon will make a “final surge” before finally bowing out in favor of the hot summer season. “Ang analysis namin sa China and ibang parte, medyo pahina na ang amihan. Pero nagkaroon ng surge pero inaasahan natin ang paglakas ng amihan bago mawala na,” he said. — TJD, GMA News

PHL asks Malaysia to exercise maximum tolerance in dealing with sultan's followers

 News
Mar 042013
 
PHL asks Malaysia to exercise maximum tolerance in dealing with sultan's followers

Malaysian troops deployed as Sabah clashes escalate. Malaysian soldiers man a security checkpoint in Semporna, the new area where a standoff with armed followers of the Sulu sultan in Simunul, Borneo occured on Sunday. Five Malaysian policemen and two gunmen died in a fresh clash as fears mounted that violence linked to a deadly standoff with Filipino intruders had widened to other areas. AFP (Updated 2:44 p.m.) The Philippines has asked Malaysia to exercise maximum tolerance in dealing with the remnants of a Filipino group that figured in a weeks-long standoff in Sabah following the violence that erupted there last week. At a press briefing in Manila on Monday, Foreign Affairs spokesperson Raul Hernandez said in a Note Verbale given by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario to the Malaysian ambassador to the Philippines, both country expressed that they “value the lives of their citizens, and share the same objective of preventing further loss of lives and further bloodshed.” Hernandez added, “Therefore, the Philippine government requests the Malaysian authorities to exercise maximum tolerance in dealing with the remaining members” of the Filipino group, which is led by Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, brother of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III. Kiram and his group are claiming ownership over Sabah. Hernandez also said Del Rosario is flying to Kuala Lumpur on Monday afternoon to discuss with the Malaysian government ways to de-escalate the tensions in Sabah. He also said they have received information from the Malaysian government that the situation in Sabah is Read More …

Comelec to subpoena Kabataan, PISTON over illegal posters

 News
Mar 032013
 
Comelec to subpoena Kabataan, PISTON over illegal posters

(Updated 2:06 p.m.) The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday said it will be issuing subpoenas to two party-list groups that allegedly have failed to remove their illegally placed campaign posters. “Papadalhan natin sila ng subpoena, may complaint na ifa-file,” lawyer Esmeralda Amora-Ladra, head of the Comelec law department, told reporters. “We’re preparing now for subpoena to be sent.” Last week, Ladra said they are preparing election offense charges against the two groups — Kabataan and Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) — for allegeldy failing to remove their illegal campaign posters three days after they received notice from the poll body. She said the illegal campaign posters were still on the wall of Philippine General Hospital, a public infrastructure, along Taft Avenue in Manila when the law department made the rounds. The two party-list groups, however, had said they have removed the posters. But on Monday, Ladra said their monitoring showed the groups did not remove the posters within the three-day period prescribed by the poll body. “Hindi na namin chineck ulit. What for pag paulit-ulit tayo ‘di na tayo matatapos sa pagche-check dapat nga they should be also held liable dun sa ibang lugar,” she said. She added that under the law, failure to remove the posters after three days attaches the “presumption that they were really the ones who placed those posters in prohibited places.” Ladra said the two groups, through the subpoena, will be required to make an appearance and submit their reply Read More …

SC clears media, finds Ampatuan trial prosecutor guilty of contempt

 News
Feb 272013
 
SC clears media, finds Ampatuan trial prosecutor guilty of contempt

The Supreme Court has cleared several journalists of indirect contempt for their article on the disbarment complaint against one of the defense lawyers in the high-profile Maguindanao massacre case. At the same time, the high court found a prosecution lawyer in the case guilty of indirect contempt for distributing copies of the complaint, which it said was supposed to be confidential, against Philip Sigfrid Fortun to the media. In a 16-page decision, the court ordered private prosecutor Prima Quinsayas to pay P20,000 in connection with the filing of the disbarment case on November 22, 2010. “As a lawyer and an officer of the Court, Atty. Quinsayas is familiar with the confidential nature of disbarment proceedings. However, instead of preserving its confidentiality, Atty. Quinsayas disseminated copies of the disbarment complaint against petitioner to members of the media which act constitutes contempt of court,” the Supreme Court said. Fortun is a legal counsel for members of the Ampatuan family who are implicated in the massacre of 58 people, including over 30 journalists, in Maguindanao on November 23, 2009. Quinsayas has yet to comment on the ruling, saying she has yet to receive a copy of it. “I’ll have to read the SC decision first before I can make a sensible response,” she told GMA News Online. In its ruling, the Supreme Court said that as a complainant and a lawyer, Quindayas was bound by Section 18, Rule 139-B of the Rules of Court, which maintains the confidentiality of a disbarment case until Read More …

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