PDEA gets P2.7M equipment, vehicles from int’l anti-drug group

 News
Aug 162015
 
PDEA gets P2.7M equipment, vehicles from int’l anti-drug group

Philippine Daily Inquirer By: Julie M. Aurelio, August 16th, 2015 06:42 PM The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has received P2.7 million in resources from the Asia-Pacific Information and Coordination Center for Combating Drug Crimes to boost its anti-narcotics drive. APICC secretary general Park Jae-Uck recently visited the country to strengthen the fight against illegal drugs in the region as part of the advocacy of South Korea’s Supreme Prosecutors’ Office. The advocacy project included a donation of equipment and vehicles worth P2.7 million to boost PDEA’s operational capability in various regional offices in Luzon. “We greatly appreciate the generosity of APICC to our regional offices in Luzon. We strongly believe that part of the vision of building a drug-free region would entail strong international cooperation with our neighbors in the Asia-Pacific,” said PDEA director general Arturo Cacdac Jr. The donated equipment include surveillance kits, laptops, split-type air conditioners, cameras, external hard drives, digital voice recorders, computers and motorcycles. The donations will be fielded for use in PDEA’s regional offices in Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa and the Cordillera Region. The APICC, with the help of the PDEA Academy, also conducted a two-day workshop for PDEA’s regional directors, drug enforcement officers and chemists in Luzon. The APICC counts Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Singapore, Republic of Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines as among its member countries. It is a regional drug control center for international cooperation, which shares information on drug trends, the successful investigation of cases and Read More …

South China Sea Watch: China rejects island building freeze

 News
Aug 162015
 
South China Sea Watch: China rejects island building freeze

Associated Press August 16th, 2015 06:22 PM DISPUTED REEF Photo from the air shows construction activities undertaken by China on Kagitingan Reef (Fiery Cross Reef), including an airstrip, in a disputed area in the South China Sea. The Philippines and China are among several countries disputing ownership of the reefs located on the Spratly Islands. PHOTO BY VICTOR ROBERT LEE AND DIGITALGLOBE The dispute over the strategic waterways of the South China Sea has intensified, pitting a rising China against its smaller and militarily weaker neighbors who all lay claim to a string of isles, coral reefs and lagoons mostly in the Spratly and the Paracel islands. Only about 45 of them are occupied. The area is one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, rich in fish and potential gas and oil reserves, but it has now emerged as a possible flashpoint involving world powers and regional claimants. A look at some of the most recent key developments: Divisions among Asean members water down anti-China statement At a meeting of foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, divisions over how to deal with China again split the regional bloc. The Philippines and Vietnam demanded a more robust statement condemning China’s island-building in disputed waters close to their shores, while Beijing’s allies Cambodia and Laos worked to dilute the tone of the final wording, according to diplomats present. The ministers said in their joint statement that they “took note of the serious concerns expressed by some ministers” on Read More …

QC council asked to reject Canada wastes at Payatas landfill

 News
Aug 162015
 
QC council asked to reject Canada wastes at Payatas landfill

Philippine Daily Inquirer By: Erika Sauler, August 16th, 2015 06:01 PM Protesters tell Canada to take back tons of garbage illegally shipped to a port in Manila from Canada two years ago. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA/FILE PHOTO After officials of Tarlac and Bulacan provinces objected to the dumping of garbage from Canada in the local landfills, concerned groups also urged the Quezon City government to pass a resolution opposing any plan to dispose of the foreign waste in Payatas. A proposed resolution filed by Quezon City Councilor Dorothy Delarmente said that the Bureau of Customs “is reportedly scurrying for alternative sites where the illegal garbage imports from Canada can be disposed of after Tarlac and Bulacan provincial officials have raised legitimate objections to foreign waste being dumped in local landfills.” The draft measure expresses strong disapproval of any move to dump the Canada waste at the Payatas Sanitary Landfill in Quezon City. “The Quezon City Council finds the dumping of foreign waste into our country as totally inexcusable and unacceptable and demands that such unethical and unlawful act be brought a halt,” the proposed resolution said. Aileen Lucero, coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition, said the resolution should be swiftly adopted by the City Council, noting that its passage would be a “great gift the councilors can give as the city marks on August 19 the 137th birth anniversary of former President Manuel Luis Quezon after whom the city was named.” “They will surely earn ‘ganda’ and ‘pogi’ points for saying ‘no’ against dumping,” Read More …

OFW who won S$2.3M lottery in Singapore accused of stealing ticket

 News
Aug 152015
 
OFW who won S$2.3M lottery in Singapore accused of stealing ticket

The Straits Times/Asia News Network August 15th, 2015 02:34 PM Len (not her real name), who has been working for her current employer for 14 years, intends to continue working for him. The Straits Times/Asia News Network A maid who won 2.3 million Singaporean dollars in the Singapore Sweep insists she has done nothing wrong, after police received a report from another person claiming that the winning ticket was stolen. Len (not her real name) told The Straits Times that she bought a Singapore Sweep ticket at a Tampines Singapore Pools outlet in June, while on her way to help a friend remit some money to the Philippines. That same night, the maid said she got the surprise of her life when her ticket won the lottery’s first prize, making her an instant multi-millionaire. The 44-year-old, who has worked for the same family in Pasir Ris for 14 years, claimed the prize money, deposited it into her bank account here and transferred some of it to her 22-year-old daughter and 23-year-old son in the Philippines. But last month, three officers from the Ang Mo Kio police division came to the flat where she works. She said they told her that someone had lodged a report claiming ownership of the winning ticket and that it had been stolen. Her employer’s son was with her at the time the police were questioning her. She said she was upset by the news, but has complied with requests to hand over details of her Read More …

Always Chink Positive + Part 1

 News
Aug 142015
 
Always Chink Positive + Part 1

Chinkee Tan What often comes to your mind when you are about to board an airplane? “What if it’s going to crash!” What often comes to your mind before you enter into a business venture? “What if it doesn’t make money!” Whether we admit it or not, we are quicker to think of the negative rather than of the positive. Being a negative thinker can be a bad habit. Because it is a habit, it will be difficult to think positively about life especially if we were not taught how to be positive, and if we grew up surrounded by negative people. The question is, how can you be a positive thinker when everything around you influences you to always be negative? 10 PRACTICAL TIPS TO STAY POSITIVE TIP #1: SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVE PEOPLE It is good to have many friends, but choose your circle of friends. These are the people whom you will be hanging out with more often. As the saying goes “tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are”. If we allow ourselves to be surrounded by people who do nothing but criticize, are ungrateful, and pessimistic, it won’t be long until you too will find yourself doing the same thing. Negativism is highly contagious! Choose people who are supportive and positive. Exposing yourself to these types of people will help you think and act positively. TIP #2: ALWAYS THINK THAT THE GLASS IS HALF FULL, AND NOT HALF EMPTY Read More …

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