Maniolas

By Matikas Santos |INQUIRER.net 5:47 pm | Wednesday, September 24th, 2014 SCREENGRAB from news.xinhuanet.com MANILA, Philippines—A Filipino opinion writer criticized President Benigno Aquino III for bringing up the issue of the maritime dispute between China and the Philippines in his trip to four European countries. “It is lamentable that during the four-nation European tour of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III from Sept. 13 to 19, en route for the United Sates, he made the issue of the South China Sea as the topmost item on his agenda with the leaders of the host nations,” Alito Malinao said in his commentary published by China’s state-news agency Xinhua on Tuesday. “Of course, the leaders of Spain, France, Germany, Belgium and the European Union, when personally confronted by Aquino, could not but endorse his position that the Philippines has sought international arbitration to the territorial dispute involving China and the Philippines,” he said. Philippines and China are locked in a maritime dispute over the South China Sea which China claims in its entirety through the nine-dash line claim, which includes portions of the Philippines 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone from Ilocos Norte in northern Luzon to Palawan and the Kalayaan Group of Islands. The Philippines has challenged China’s claim before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (Itlos) last January 2013 by filing an arbitration case. China has refused to participate in the proceedings insisting on bilateral talks based on its “indisputable” and “historical” claim to the region believed to Read More …

On the 42nd anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law, party-list lawmakers have urged Congress to extend the deadline – from November 2014 to May next year – for the filing of claims by victims of human rights violations during the Marcos regime. Akbayan party-list Reps. Ibarra Gutierrez and Walden Bello have filed Joint House Resolution No. 16 prolonging the period for the filing of claims to cope with the large number of victims seeking reparation and recognition under Republic Act 10368, or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013. The law recognizes  as conclusively presumed human rights violation victims (HRVVs) claimants of the class suit and direct action plaintiffs of cases filed in Honolulu and other US courts against the late President Ferdinand Marcos, and those recognized by the Bantayog ng mga Bayani. In a statement on Sunday, Gutierrez said Congress’ adoption of the joint resolution will ensure “the struggles of the people who have fought the Marcos dictatorship are given due recognition and the full opportunity to secure their rightful place in our history.” The draft Joint House Resolution 16 seeks to give human rights violation victims, their legal heirs or representatives are given a six-month extension from November 10, 2014 to file an application for compensation with the Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board (HRVCB). The board will be mandated to establish permanent application centers or desks in all regional offices of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to guarantee accessibility for victims filing their Read More …

A lone bettor won nearly P23 million Saturday night in the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s Lotto 6/42 draw. The PCSO said the bettor got the combination of 29-24-01-02-08-20 to win the night’s jackpot of P22,946,228. But no one got the Grand Lotto combination of 26-50-42-37-30-33 to win the night’s whopping jackpot of P244,663,008. As in past cases, the PCSO is not likely to name the winner for security reasons. Last Aug. 23, a lone bettor got the Lotto 6/42 jackpot with the combination of 16-28-13-15-09-08, which was the key to the jackpot of P22,760,804. Last May 22, a lone Super Lotto 6/49 bettor won P98,612,308 with the combination of 31-35-04-06-30-03. On April 7, a lone bettor hit the jackpot of the PCSO’s Grand Lotto, getting the combination of 39-21-42-28-05-27 to win P249,841,572. But the biggest lotto prize in recent history was in November 2010, when a lone bettor won some P741.176 million for getting the winning combination 11-16-42-47-31-37. — Joel Locsin/JST, GMA News

Lava cascaded down the Philippines’ most active volcano on Wednesday as authorities rushed to evacuate thousands ahead of a possible deadly eruption. Mostly women, children and the elderly carrying bags of clothes were hauled out of farming villages near Mayon volcano’s slopes on board army trucks and minibuses. Soldiers went from house to house asking residents to evacuate, after authorities on Monday raised the third highest alert in a five-step scale, meaning a full-scale eruption is possible “within weeks”. Before dawn Wednesday, Mayon’s crater glowed red as molten rocks flowed as far as halfway down its slopes. The volcano’s world-renowned perfect cone appeared to have been deformed, swollen with lava that had risen from the Earth’s core. At least 8,000 of the target 50,000 people had been moved to temporary shelters, with the operation expected to run for three days, regional civil defence director Bernardo Alejandro told AFP. However he said the evacuation operation was sapping precious disaster-relief funds and manpower in Albay province, which is regularly battered by typhoons at this time of year. “The province can sustain them (in evacuation centres) for not more than a month… we cannot exhaust all our disaster funds on Mayon,” Alejandro said. The deadliest and most powerful of the roughly 20 typhoons that batter the Philippines every year happen towards the end of the year, bringing floods, landslides and storm surges to eastern provinces such as Albay that face the Pacific Ocean. State volcanology agency director Renato Solidum said more magma was Read More …

Nikki Gil (MNS Photo) “I wasn’t raised to celebrate the misfortune of others.” These were Nikki Gil’s words when asked to react to the drunken altercation involving her past boyfriend of five years, TV host Billy Crawford, who posted bail last Monday after being detained overnight. “I was asked about it, which I don’t understand because I’m not involved in any way,” Gil said, referring to Crawford’s arrest last Sunday. “But I wasn’t raised to celebrate the misfortune of others. I guess that’s all I have to say about the issue.” Crawford, 32, admitted he was drunk and had been feeling stressed, which supposedly led to his being aggressive at Taguig Police Station 7 early Sunday. He broke a glass door in the altercation with police officers. He explained that he went to the precinct because he “needed to be in a controlled environment,” where he could not inflict any harm. The “Bright Lights” hitmaker was charged with malicious mischief and disobedience to person in authority over the incident. Crawford has yet to return to the ABS-CBN noontime program “It’s Showtime,” which he co-hosts, following the incident. According to his girlfriend and fellow “It’s Showtime” mainstay, Coleen Garcia, Crawford has nonetheless resumed filming for the comedy movie “Moron 5.2” During her interview, Gil was also asked for her reaction to comments that Crawford was never involved in any controversy during their five-year relationship. “I don’t want to comment on that,” Gil said. “I also want to respect the people that Read More …