Maniolas

Malacañang on Saturday welcomed a reported statement by China’s ambassador to the Philippines that war is not in China’s interest, amid a territorial dispute between the two countries. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said on government radio the Philippines also wants a peaceful solution to any dispute. “Maganda naman ang statement. Lahat tayo, kapayapaan ang gusto natin. Kahit nagkakaroon ng ganitong sigalot may paraan … (para) mapayapa pa rin ang ating paguusap,” she said on state-run dzRB radio. The Philippines and China are disputing parts of the South China Sea, with the Philippines referring to the portions it claims as the West Philippine Sea. On Saturday, a report in the Manila Bulletin quoted Chinese ambassador to Manila Zhao Jianhua as saying it is not in China’s interest to go to war with its neighbors. Zhao said this in an interview in Taguig City on Thursday night during a reception celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday, the Manila Bulletin report said. The Bulletin added this was the first time Zhao spoke publicly about the territorial dispute. “(O)nce there is a conflict, no matter the scale, there will be a disruption of investment and disruption of trade … One of the fundamental reasons China has been able to achieve so much is stability and peace in the region,” Zhao was quoted as saying. He added China is “busy enough” addressing other concerns and providing services for its citizens. He also said diplomacy remains the “settled and sound way of settling disputes.” “I would Read More …

Luisita farmers blast ‘bogus’ land distribution. Irate farmers from Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac burn effigies of President Aquino, his sister Kris Aquino, and uncle Peping Cojuangco Jr. at a rally in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform office in Quezon City on Thursday, April 24. The farmers were protesting the alleged “hoax land distribution” and the alleged violence perpetrated against farmworker-beneficiaries in the dispute-ridden, Cojuangco-owned sugar estate. GMA News President Benigno Aquinon III’s sister, Kris, laughed off a protest by about 100 Hacienda Luisita farmers who burned her in effigy in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) compound on Thursday. “Alam ko na pag sinusunog-sunog ka, humahaba ang buhay mo, kaya okay lang, carry,” Kris said in a Friday report on GMA News TV’s “Balita Pilipinas”. “I’m in a good place right now, so they can burn me anytime they want, go ahead!” she added. Aquino also joked that she feels like an important person after the effigy burning. “Leveling! [U.S. President Barack] Obama level na ‘ko,” she laughingly said. Kris wonders why the protesters burned her effigy, given that she no longer a board member of the Central Azucarera De Tarlac, the sugar mill company of Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) owned by the Cojuangco clan. “I was a board member of the Azucarera before, pero I left kasi hindi ko ma-attendan yung mga meeting, so my sister Viel (Aquino-Dee) took over,” Aquino said in an interview aired on “Saksi” Thursday evening. Two years after the anniversary Read More …

Relics of Blessed John Paul II and John XXIII at GMA Network. The relics of Blessed John Paul II and Blessed John Paul XXIII are displayed at the mezzanine of GMA Network Center in Quezon City on Friday, April 25, before a Mass. Joe Galvez Starting this weekend, Filipino Catholics will get a chance to venerate the relics of Blessed John XXIII, who will be canonized along with Blessed John Paul II on Sunday. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said a religious group has organized a nationwide tour of John XXIII’s relics from April 25 to May 31. “While it is common knowledge that we Filipinos have a bias towards Pope John Paul II, who will also be canonized with him, as Catholics it is just as well that we learn as much as we can about the life and legacy of John XXIII,” event coordinator Brother Dave Dela Cruz said in an article posted Friday evening on the CBCP news site. John XXIII is not as popular as John Paul II in the Philippines. John Paul II got a warm welcome from Filipinos when he visited the Philippines in 1981 and 1995. Still, John XXIII is considered “The Good Pope” as he is credited for “opening up the Church to the modern world.” John XXIII also allowed for greater participation of the laity in the affairs of the Church, making the Church what it is now. “He is a giant in his own right,” dela Cruz said. Read More …

Former Commission on Audit chairman Reynaldo Villar on Friday filed a petition for bail before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the plunder case he is facing on the alleged misuse of P366 million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) fund, radio dzBB reported. The petition was filed when police presented Villar to the anti-graft court’s First Division, the same radio report said. This was confirmed to GMA News Online by a court personnel who refused to be named. The former COA chief was accompanied by his counsel, lawyer Rene Saguisag. The court personnel said a mugshot of Villar was also taken and submitted to the court. The radio report said the Sandiganbayan First Division set Villar’s arraignment on April 30 at 8:30 a.m.  Villar is a co-accused of former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the case. Police on Thursday arrested Villar in his home in Merville Park, Parañaque City at 4 p.m. Aside from Mrs. Arroyo and Villar, the other accused in the plunder case are former PCSO general manager Rosario Uriarte; former PCSO assistant general manager for finance Benigno Aguas; former PCSO board directors Jose Taruc V and Ma. Fatima A. S. Valdes; and Sergio Valencia, Manuel Morato and Raymundo Roquero, all former PCSO officials. At present, only Uriarte and Valdes remain at large. Mrs. Arroyo remains under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City. Taruc surrendered in March and was arraigned in April. He was allowed to post a P1-million bail. Morato Read More …

The Department of Health is contacting the last four of the 414 passengers who have not yet reached out to the inter-agency Task Force Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) or have been traced by authorities, a senior health official said Friday. In an interview, Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, spokesman for Task Force MERS-CoV, said the task force is “in the process of initiating contacts with the four passengers following receipt of their contact data.”  He refused to say where they got the contact details of the four passengers. But Lee Suy said the receipt of the contact details is a positive development. “At least now, we have details to start working on. Yesterday, we had nothing at all on the four. Nothing.” Earlier, Lee Suy said President Benigno Aquino III wants all the 414 passengers of Etihad Airlines flight EY 0424 which arrived in Manila on April 15, 2014 to be contacted by April 22. Etihad Airlines flight EY 0424 brought to Manila on April 15 the 45-year-old Filipino male nurse, who initially tested positive for MERS-CoV in a United Arab Emirates hospital, together with 413 other passengers. Two examinations of the male nurse in the Philippines conducted by the Research Institute for Tropical Philippines yielded negative results for the virus. Following his exposure to the Filipino paramedic who died from MERS early April, the male nurse had undergone laboratory tests but returned to the Philippines without waiting for the results of the exams. The male nurse was “isolated” via Read More …