Maniolas

Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, officer in charge of the Philippine National Police, has submitted his affidavit on the Mamasapano clash to the PNP Board of Inquiry investigating it. According to a report on GMA’s “24-Oras” aired Saturday, Espina said his affidavit mostly contained details on how the PNP asked for support for the beleaguered Special Action Force commandos during the said incident.  The Board of Inquiry is composed of police officials and is also looking into tactical lapses that may have led to the bloody firefight.  The report added that the acting PNP chief will attend the senate hearing of the Mamasapano clash scheduled on Monday. Espina also attended the recent Philippine Military Academy homecoming celebration in Baguio City, his last time as an active official since he will be retiring next year. Espina, who replaced then suspended and now resigned PNP Chief Dir. Gen. Alan Purisima is also known for his emotional outburst during a Senate hearing of the Mamasapano clash. At that hearing, he asked the representatives of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front why they had to kill his men even if when they were already defenseless. On Jan. 25, the government launched a massive law enforcement operation against two notorious international terrorists in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, an area considered under the control of the MILF. Some 400 elite lawmen from the PNP’s SAF branch conducted the operation but at 44 were killed and 12 were injured after a support unit was allegedly flanked by armed rebels. — Read More …

China’s leaders in Beijing must be grinning from ear to ear, toasting their champagne glasses and cheering “Gan Bei!” It has been three weeks since a Chinese ship deliberately rammed three boats carrying 29 Filipino fishermen in Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) and there have been no protest demonstrations denouncing China’s unprovoked aggression. The 29 Filipino fishermen reported that they had been out at sea for five days when the huge waves and strong winds of a powerful storm caused them to seek refuge in the shallow waters of the Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal). They described to Philippine authorities that on January 29, 2015 they saw at least 10 Chinese vessels patrolling the shoal with armed personnel. One Chinese ship then steered in their direction straight for their outriggers to force them out of the shoal, which is only 125 miles from Zambales and 550 miles from the nearest Chinese port, well within the Philippines’ 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). But all the Philippine government could do for its helpless fishermen was to file a diplomatic protest against China for yet another provocation. In stark contrast, last year when China’s ships rammed Vietnamese fishing vessels that were protesting China’s installation of a $1 billion oil rig within Vietnam’s EEZ, the Vietnamese people erupted with anti-China riots all over Vietnam, forcing China to withdraw its oil rig and its ships in and to repatriate 3,000 Chinese workers back to China. Flexing its muscles  China’s January 29 attack on Filipino fishing vessels is another example Read More …

The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Saturday urged the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to release the results of its probe into the firefight between its men and the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force troopers. AFP public affairs chief Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc told GMA News Online on Saturday that releasing the results of the MILF investigation to the public will show the group’s sincerity in the ongoing peace process. “Kailangan nilang ma-convince ang public sa sinseridad nila,” he said, adding, “Transparency and accountability ang hiling natin, kailangan nilang isapubliko ito.” Cabunoc said this after MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said the results of the MILF probe on the Mamasapano incident are only for his group, and will only be released upon request. He added that the MILF is already 90 to 95 percent done with its probe into the bloody encounter. Iqbal also disagreed with the idea of a joint probe between the MILF and the government on the bloodbath. “I don’t think that would be a good decision. Let it be. Whatever the findings of the Board of Inquiry, Let it stand. In the same way, whatever the findings of the MILF investigative team will put forward, let it stand,” he said. On January 25, 44 PNP-SAF members were killed in a firefight with the MILF and its breakaway group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). The clash occurred despite a peace deal signed by the MILF and the Philippine government in March last year. The police commanders supposedly entered Read More …

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Fifty-one-year-old Australian national Peter Gerard Scully, who is now under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Northern Mindanao office, had reportedly made money by broadcasting his acts – against girls as young as one-year-old – over the Internet to clients in as far as Europe. “Scully performed sexual acts according to his client’s instructions and fantasy,” Angelito Magno, NBI director in the region, told the Inquirer late Friday. Scully was arrested inside his rented house in Barangay in Barangay Violeta in Malaybalay City after a three-week stakeout by combined elements of the police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), local NBI operatives and from the NBI’s anti-trafficking division in Manila, representatives from the Australian and the Dutch police and operatives of the International Police (Interpol). The operation was said to be covered by the Mutual Assistance Legal Treaty (MLAT) the Philippines had signed with several countries. Senior Supt. Alexander Tagum, the CIDG head for Northern Mindanao, said Scully had been the subject of an international investigation on human trafficking after police investigators in the Netherlands uncovered his activities on the Internet, where he broadcast his sexual intercourse with young girls. “He lured young girls into his house and gained their trusts, including false promises of sending them to school and feeding them. He performs sexual abuses on the girls and then he broadcast his activities on the Internet,” Czar Eric Nuqui, chief of the NBI’s anti-human trafficking division, said. Tagum said many Read More …

From Natori’s Istanbul-inspired fall collection. NEW YORK CITY — Nothing can stop fashionistas from celebrating the annual Fashion Week here, not even brutal winter weather described by meteorologists as record low temperatures and high winds that could cause frostbite on exposed skin in about half an hour. The show must go on despite such harsh conditions. After all, fashion is more profitable than football as revealed by a new congressional study. While last year’s Super Bowl brought in $500 million in revenue, New York fashion week returns nearly $900 million to the city’s economy. No wonder the City of New York gives its full support to visiting designers and media from all over the world. Manila Mail was invited to a dozen Fall 2015 runway shows happening until February 19 onsite and off Lincoln Center, venue of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Two of the featured designers are renowned Filipinas: celebrity designer Monique Lhuillier and fashion mogul Josie Natori. Journey to Istanbul With Japanese husband Ken, Natori kicked off the weeklong celebration and took her audience on a journey to Istanbul, the historic crossroads where “East meets West.” Josie Natori “This inspiration is all about Istanbul,” said the former commissioner of the White House Conference on Small Business. “It’s one of my favorite cities and inspiration. I’ve been there a number of times. I’ve got a collection from there. All these swatches, textiles and shapes are from there. All these embellishments are a wonderful way to express that.” Models interpreted 40 pieces Read More …