Maniolas

INQUIRER.net 8:53 pm | Tuesday, April 29th, 2014 AFP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—With the dotted lines signed and the hands shook, the access of American troops to Philippine bases for the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement is on full swing. When Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and United States Ambassador Philip Goldberg signed the 10-page document, it ushered in the dawn of a strengthened cooperation between the Philippines and the US. According to the document posted on Malacañang’s official website, American forces and contractors are allowed to conduct “security cooperation exercises, joint and combined training activities, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief activities,” together with Philippine forces inside the bases. Military equipment, vehicles, and aircraft from the US can also be used inside the bases during training exercises. US troops can also use Philippine bases to store their equipment vehicles and construct new buildings if both parties decide on the matter. Also, to dispel fears of radiation damage, nuclear weapons would not be used during the 10-year stay. RELATED STORIES What is the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement and what does it mean for PH? No mention of China at signing of defense deal Obama: Allies never stand alone Follow Us Other Stories: Obama lauds 4 Navsog officers as first responders to ‘Yolanda’ crisis Trillanes says senators briefed about new military accord with US Obama joins singing at state dinner Joker Arroyo: What did PH get out of Obama visit? Zero Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and Read More …

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines – Senators were briefed almost at every turn on how the new PH-US Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement was taking shape, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said Tuesday. Trillanes, the chair of the Senate committee on national defense, made the statement in the wake of criticism at the apparent lack of transparency in the negotiations. “The Senate defense committee was extensively briefed at the start of the negotiations. It was attended by a few senators but the others sent their representatives,” Trillanes told the Inquirer. “Aside from this, after every round of negotiations, all the senators were apprised by the government panel of its status to include the minutes of the meetings.” Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago said Monday that the Senate had yet to receive a copy of the EDCA, which allows US forces access to Philippine bases and the increases the presence of US troops in the country. “I feel as if I have been slapped or ordered to melt into the wallpaper,” Santiago was quoted as saying about the Senate not being given a copy of the deal. Santiago is the chair of the Senate committee on foreign relations, the panel that has jurisdiction on proposed treaties with other countries.  Treaties need to be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. “Let’s just say that the initial briefing was sometime in August last year and the status updates came in almost every month,” Trillanes said. “Now, if senators feel these Read More …

Three weeks after the Supreme Court rejected pleas to reconsider its ruling upholding the legality of the Reproductive Health Law, four groups have banded together to ask the high court to restore the penal provisions that it earlier struck down. In a motion for reconsideration, the groups also asked the high tribunal to reverse its ruling last April 8 that declared as unconstitutional portions of Sections 7 and 23 of the controversial law, which President Benigno Aquino III enacted in December 2012. The groups that filed the appeal were the Filipino Catholic Voices for Reproductive Health (“C4RH”), Inc., Interfaith Partnership for the Promotion of Responsible Parenthood (IPPRP), Emeliza Bayya Mones (former national Council Representative of the UCCP), and Zahria Mapandi (Executive Director of Al-Mujadillah Development Foundation, Inc.). Section 7 on “Access to Family Planning” states among others that hospitals refusing to give reproductive health services to a person will have to refer him or her to another health facility which is conveniently accessible. Section 23, meanwhile, lays down the penalties on RH law offenders. Among the penalties nullified include sanctions for refusing to give RH Law services to minors without parental consent, and to give RH Law services to married individuals without the consent of the spouse. The groups said allowing healthcare service providers to refuse RH services like ligation due to absence spousal consent “will pave the way for abusive husbands to continue to abuse and control the health and lives of their wives.” “Between the so-called ‘marital privacy,’ Read More …

President Obama vowed anew to a military audience on Tuesday morning that the United States would come to the defense of the Philippines in case of attack, without once mentioning China. “Our commitment to defend the Philippines is iron-clad,” Obama told Philippine and US troops in Fort Bonifacio Monday morning, as a multiethnic backdrop of camouflaged soldiers stood behind him on stage. It was a reiteration of a message he delivered at the state dinner in Malacañang Palace on Monday night. “Through our treaty alliance, the United States has an iron clad commitment to defend you, your security and your independence,” Obama told an audience of dignitaries in the presidential palace, including President Aquino, referring to the 1951 mutual defense treaty between the two nations. On Monday morning, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) in Camp Aguinaldo, which will enlarge the presence of US troops in the Philippines, purportedly the latest step in the US’ so-called Asian pivot. Non-committal US officials have long been non-committal about the US response to any Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. Obama himself said at a press conference with President Aquino on Monday that the US does not take sides in disputes over territory in Asia’s cauldron of tensions, and did not cite any instances where the US would take up arms to defend the Philippines. Analysts have been skeptical that the US would get involved in any armed confrontation Read More …

INQUIRER.net US Bureau 1:04 am | Tuesday, April 29th, 2014 • Bright kid from a low-income neighborhood paired with nonprofit’s distinguished citizen awardee • Has 4.0 grade point average • Next distinguished citizen mentorship pairing set SACRAMENTO, California — An underprivileged eighth-grade boy from San Francisco on Tuesday, April 29 is visiting Assembly Member Rob Bonta in the state capital to learn how the state assembly and one of its members work. Michael Ruiz, 13, is Bonta’s mentee from San Francisco’s South of Market area, an enclave of low-income Filipino immigrants. Michael will shadow Bonta as he goes about his day in Sacramento, and he gets to be an “assembly member for a day.” Michael and Bonta were paired as mentee and mentor, respectively, during West Bay Pilipino Multi Service’s first annual Distinguished Citizen Awards last year. Bonta was honored as a Distinguished Citizen for Public Service in 2013. As part of the honor, each awardee was assigned to mentor one child from West Bay’s academic enrichment and mentorship program. Michael recently competed in the San Francisco Unified School District track and won first place.  He has a 4.0 GPA. Michael is a gifted child from one of the poorest families in West Bay Pilipino Multi-Service’s after school program. He has serious dental defects, which make him too embarrassed to even smile. Michael says he would like to be a “Pokemon trainer, an architect, basketball player or a track runner” when he grows up. His favorite activities are drawing, math, running and basketball. West Bay Read More …