Maniolas

The Philippine Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a controversial cybercrime law penalising online libel is constitutional, amid claims it is intended to curb Internet freedom in one of Asia’s most freewheeling democracies. The court said a section of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 “which penalises online or cyber libel is not unconstitutional”, spokesman Theodore Te said. However the ruling would only cover the original sender of the allegedly libellous material and not the recipients, Te said. The cybercrime law was passed in 2012, but the high court suspended its implementation after various groups sued to have it declared unconstitutional. Neri Colmenares, a congressman who was among those who challenged the law, said they may appeal the latest ruling. “No one should go to prison just for expressing oneself, specially on the Internet, where people express their frustration with government,” he said. President Benigno Aquino signed the law to stamp out cybercrimes such as fraud, identity theft, spamming and child pornography. But opponents quickly said it gave the government wide powers to curb freedoms on the Internet due to provisions that impose heavy prison terms for online libel. The law also gives the state power to shut down websites and monitor online activities in a country where major protests have been organised through Facebook and Twitter. The Supreme Court on Tuesday however “partially granted the relief” sought by the law’s opponents when it ruled as unlawful a provision giving the Justice Department powers to “take down” websites or record Internet Read More …

A US judge sentenced a former personal secretary to Imelda Marcos Monday to two to six years in prison for conspiring to sell Impressionist masterpieces belonging to the Manila government that vanished when Ferdinand Marcos was ousted. But Justice Renee A. White of the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan said Vilma Bautista, 75, who has a pacemaker and chronic heart disease, could remain free on $175,000 bail while her lawyers appeal, the New York Times reported. White also ordered Bautista to pay $3.5 million in income taxes she owes to New York City and to New York State. He said she failed to report $28 million she obtained from selling one of the paintings, a famous Claude Monet water lily work, to a London gallery, which then resold it to a hedge fund manager in Switzerland. Bautista’s lawyer, Fran Hoffinger, said the court should impose no jail sentence because of her frail health. Hoffinger pointed out that paramedics had wheeled Ms. Bautista out of the courtroom on a gurney twice during her five-week trial after heart palpitations and fainting spells. “Incarceration for her would be a death sentence, or at least a life sentence,” Hoffinger said, according to the Times. It took a jury less than three hours to convict Bautista in November of conspiracy and tax fraud in connection with the sale of the Monet piece, “Le Bassin aux Nympheas” (1899). The painting had been taken along with three other works in late 1995 from the walls Read More …

Philippine President Benigno Aquino lauded democratic reforms in Myanmar as he signed several bilateral agreements with his visiting counterpart Thein Sein Thursday. Thein Sein arrived at Manila’s presidential palace where he was accorded a red carpet welcome for his first visit to the Philippines. Aquino said the Philippines, which also made a transition from authoritarian rule to democracy in the 1980s, would be helping Myanmar in opening up its society. Formerly one of the most vocal critics within ASEAN of Yangon’s ruling junta, Aquino praised recent “historic developments” in Myanmar which include the holding of elections, release of political prisoners, dialogue with the opposition and opening up to foreign investment. “These herald a new chapter in Myanmar’s history. The Philippines supports these initiatives and offered assistance through capacity building, through technical cooperation,” said Aquino after a meeting with Thein Sein. The Philippines has offered to help Myanmar establish its human rights commission and training in areas like agriculture, entrepreneurship, fisheries, eco-tourism and “gender issues,” Aquino said. The two presidents also discussed peace efforts with rebel groups in their respective countries, Aquino said, adding that the Philippines would be appointing a resident defence attach� to further cooperation. The leaders also oversaw the signing of several agreements including one that will allow Filipinos to enter Myanmar without a visa and another that will expand cooperation in renewable energy. Aquino thanked Myanmar for the aid it provided after Super Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines last month, flattening whole towns and leaving more than Read More …

The body of a six-year-old British boy was among around 1,000 corpses at a mass grave in the typhoon-ravaged Philippines, his mother said Tuesday. Nurse Mary Joy Escalante Ducusin, who also lost her husband in the disaster, sobbed bitterly as she discovered the bag bearing his tiny corpse waiting to be put into the pit in a cemetery above the badly-hit city of Tacloban. “For several days I kept on searching for him but now I have found him,” she cried. “No words could really explain how painful it is.” Ducusin and her husband, both Philippine nationals, moved to Britain several years ago to work as nurses in Harlow, near London. Their only child, Jayro Den, was born there six years ago. He was a British passport holder and grew up speaking only English, she said. On Tuesday, Ducusin told of how two months after she and her husband had decided to move back to the Philippines to start a new life, the monster typhoon smashed into Tacloban, bringing a destructive storm surge that swamped whole neighbourhoods. “It was so quick,” she recalled. “All I remember was the water rising to the top of my house.” Jayro Den, Ducusin, her husband and his mother climbed onto the roof, but were blown off by the 315 kilometre (200 mile) an hour winds of Super Typhoon Haiyan that smashed through the central Philippines on November 8. All but 37-year-old Ducusin perished. “We were carried to the second floor of a house nearby. Read More …

The Philippines has put out a unique ratings guide for restaurants — ranking them by taxes they pay rather than their menu to shame those cheating the state out of revenues. The gradings system, a unique twist on the world-famous Michelin guide, is part of a government drive to bolster its coffers and make it less reliant on debt to finance its operations. “The goal of this campaign is to increase transparency on tax payments and to encourage the people to be conscientious in paying the right taxes,” the presidential palace said in a statement. It said the ratings guide would be updated every week and published in major newspapers and on the government finance department’s website. Wednesday’s edition showed that local franchises of international fast food chains, as well as a leading Filipino fried chicken chain, Max’s Restaurant, had paid the highest taxes among the country’s restaurants. President Benigno Aquino, who won the 2010 election on an anti-corruption platform, has vowed to put the finances of the perennially cash-strapped government in order. The government has launched a highly publicised campaign against tax cheats, including celebrities and professionals. Congress under Aquino’s watch also passed laws sharply raising “sin taxes” on cigarettes and alcohol, in a bid to raise up to $800 million dollars in revenues this year.