Maniolas

Passengers form long queues to the immigration counters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on Thursday morning. Some passengers missed their flights as the whole check-in process took hours due to the shortage of manpower from the Bureau of Immigration. (MNS Photo) MANILA  (Mabuhay) – The charges against the Qatari national who attempted to jump off the ledge of the departure area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 on Thursday have been dismissed after the Qatar Embassy insisted diplomatic immunity. Saud Salman Al-Thani who, according to his passport, is a sheik and a member of the ruling family of Qatar, immediately departed the Philippines after the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the charges of alarm and scandal and resisting arrest against him. This, after the Qatar embassy presented a certification, confirming that Al-Thani is a member of the ruling family of Qatar and therefore enjoys diplomatic immunity and is exempted from criminal charges in the Philippines. Qatar embassy Charge d’Affaires Abdullah Ali Al-Kubaisi presented the certification during the inquest proceedings for the commotion caused by Al-Thani when he tried to commit suicide twice at the departure area of the NAIA Terminal 1. Senior Superintendent Adolfo Samala Jr. of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Aviation Security Group (AVSEGROUP) released Al-Thani to the custody of Embassy officials after the charges against him were dropped. Al-Thani was immediately flown out of the Philippines on board a Qatar Airlines flight.(MNS)

Liberal Party (LP) chairman President Benigno S. Aquino III raises the hands of the administration senate slate for the 2016 national elections during the Koalisyon ng Daang Matuwid: Ang Pagpapakilala at the Balay Expo Centro Building in EDSA corner McArthur Avenue, Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City on Monday (October 12). The 12 senatorial bets includes COOP NATCCO party-list Representative Cresente Paez; Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) director and former Akbayan party-list Representative Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros-Baraquel; former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Director General Emmanuel “Joel” Villanueva; former Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla; Senator Ralph Recto; Senate President Franklin Drilon; former Senator and former food security czar Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan; former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima; Interior and Local Government Assistant Secretary for Muslim Affairs and Special Concerns Nariman Ambolodto; Senator Teofisto “TG” Guingona III; and Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) general manger and chief operating officer Mark Lapid. Also in photo are LP Presidential Candidate former DILG Secretary Manuel Roxas II; LP Vice Presidential Candidate Camarines Sur 3rd District Representative Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo; and LP vice chairman and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. (MNS photo) MANILA  (Mabuhay) – Malacañang on Friday shrugged off the results of the recent Social Weather Stations survey showing a decline in the ratings of administration presidential candidate Manuel “Mar” Roxas II. “Public opinion survey results continue to be in flux as the start of the campaign period draws nearer,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in text statement. Coloma said Read More …

Orange County is the third most populous county in California with its more than three million people. It is the sixth most populous in the United States and the second most densely populated in the U.S., second only to San Francisco. Of the 34 cities comprising the county, four largest cities-  Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine, and Huntington Beach, have populations exceeding 200,000. Of the 34 incorporated cities Anaheim was the first to be incorporated in 1870. Orange County is home of attractions to world-class tourist magnets like Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, and several beaches along its more than 40 miles coastline. Orange County was at one time in U.S. history “the largest county to have declared bankruptcy in 1994” but has since recovered from the unfavorable image. Orange County is one of the most diverse in terms population with over 50 ethnicities represented in its diversified demographic and serves as a microcosm of California’s increasingly diversifying make up. ABAOC Connects: A panel of experts shares their experiences with the members of the Asian Business Association of Orange County at one of the events sponsored by the organization in Orange County. ABAOC President Tom Nguyen is at the podium moderating the exchange. Asians make up 3 percent of the total population. Of the total Asian population, the Vietnamese at 6.1 percent, Koreans (2.9%), Chinese (2.7%), Filipinos (2.4%) Indians (1.4%), Japanese (1.1%), Cambodians (0.2%), Pakistanis (0.2%), Thais (0.1%), Indonesians (0.1%) and Laotians (0.1%). Orange County has also the largest proportion of Asian Read More …

The USS Topeka (SSN-754), a Los Angeles-class attack submarine, prepares to dock at the Alava pier of Subic port in Zambales Tuesday, for a three-day port stop. Subic Naval Base is one of the agreed locations that the US government identified as part of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. (MNS photo) Manila, Philippines | AFP |   – The Philippines is set to offer the US military use of eight bases, a military spokesman said Wednesday, after the country’s supreme court upheld a security agreement with Washington forged in the face of rising tensions with China. The facilities include the former US Clark airbase and air and naval facilities on the southwestern island of Palawan which faces the South China Sea, the focus of territorial disputes with China. Military spokesman Colonel Restituto Padilla said the facilities would be used to store equipment and supplies. He added that the offer had still to be finalized after the Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a 10-year security accord. The decision allows for the full implementation of the Enhanced Defense Co-operation Agreement (EDCA), signed in 2014 but not implemented due to legal challenges from groups opposed to US military involvement in the Philippines, a US colony from 1898 to 1946. It will see more US troops rotate through the Philippines for war games and help Manila build military facilities. “We have resumed talks now that there is a go-signal that EDCA is constitutional,” Padilla said. “We are continuing talks and we will finalize the agreement on the locations,” Read More …

The USS Topeka (SSN-754), a Los Angeles-class attack submarine, prepares to dock at the Alava pier of Subic port in Zambales Tuesday, for a three-day port stop. Subic Naval Base is one of the agreed locations that the US government identified as part of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. (MNS photo) Manila, Philippines | AFP |   – The Philippine Supreme Court ruled Tuesday a military accord with the United States was constitutional, paving the way for a greater presence of US forces in the former American colony as tensions simmer in the South China Sea. The 10-year agreement, signed in 2014 but not implemented due to legal challenges, will see more US troops rotate through the Philippines for war games and help their hosts build military facilities. Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te said the accord was upheld with a 10-4 vote, ruling that President Benigno Aquino’s government had the authority to sign the pact and did not need congressional approval. The pact “is a mere implementation of existing laws and treaties,” Te said. Aquino negotiated the accord to help the Southeast Asian nation improve its military capabilities and draw the United States closer, partly in a bid to counter a fast-expanding Chinese presence in disputed parts of the South China Sea close to the Philippines. US President Barack Obama also pushed hard for the Enhanced Defense Co-operation Pact (EDCA) as part of his so-called strategic “pivot” to Asia that has involved expanding American military presence in the region. However it faced immediate legal challenges Read More …