Lone winner lands Lotto 6/42  jackpot worth P17.093M

 News
Jul 092013
 
Lone winner lands Lotto 6/42  jackpot worth P17.093M

A lone bettor is now P17.093 million richer after winning the jackpot of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s Lotto 6/42 draw Tuesday night. The PCSO said the winner got the correct combination of 29-39-11-15-07-21. But the PCSO, as in the past, did not identify the winner. On the other hand, the PCSO said no one won the Superlotto 6/49 jackpot. The combination of 46-49-15-16-35-18 would have meant a prize of P80,918,896. Last July 1, a lone lotto bettor became P178.849 million richer after hitting the jackpot of the PCSO Grand Lotto draw. The PCSO said the bettor got the combination of 09-21-43-35-54-12 to win the night’s jackpot worth P178,849,233.20. On June 28, a lone lotto bettor became P54.988 million richer after hitting the jackpot in the Megalotto 6/45 draw. The PCSO said the bettor got the correct combination of 20-19-42-18-32-01 to win the night’s jackpot worth P53,987,876. On June 4, a lone lotto bettor became P90.996 million richer after hitting the jackpot in the PCSO Superlotto 6/49 draw. But the biggest lotto prize ever won was the November 2010, when a lone bettor won some P741.176 million for getting the winning combination 11-16-42-47-31-37. — DVM, GMA News

EcoWaste group finds lead on labels of 3 soft drink products

 News
Jul 092013
 
EcoWaste group finds lead on labels of 3 soft drink products

Aside from the threat to health due to high sugar content, bottled soft drinks may endanger children due to lead on the label of the bottles, an ecological group said Sunday. The EcoWaste Coalition said it found the lead on the labels after subjecting the bottles to a test with an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer. “Lead was specifically detected on the paints used for the product labels, and not on the actual beverage,” said coordinator Anthony Dizon. Dizon said soft drinks are among the most widely distributed products and are easily available to children. He also said that while lead from the label may not leach into the liquid inside the glass bottle, lead may get into the bottle when it is washed for recycling, or ingested by a consumer, “particularly a child, when she touches the leaded part and then put her fingers in her mouth.” The group reiterated lead may be harmful even in small amounts, and may cause mental, physical, developmental and behavioral problems and even reproductive disorders. Dizon said the group will write to the soft drink companies and ask them to stop using leaded paint on their product labels. “If most soft drink companies can have their product names and emblems made with unleaded paint, we see no reason why other companies cannot do the same,” he said. Three products The group tested 15 soft drink products last July 5 and 6, and found three to contain lead way above the 90 ppm US limit Read More …

Justices say Supreme Court cannot settle medical issues in RH Law

 News
Jul 092013
 
Justices say Supreme Court cannot settle medical issues in RH Law

CJ Sereno, 13 justices start oral arguments on RH law. Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno (far center) and other Supreme Court justices hear the oral arguments on the Reproductive Health law on Tuesday, July 9. The SC in March suspended the implementation of the RH law, pending a resolution of the 15 petitions against it. Six ‘intervenors’ supporting the law have been allowed by the SC to take part in the debates. Of the 15 magistrates, only Associate Justice Arturo Brion was not present during the oral arguments. Danny Pata Several Supreme Court justices, including Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, agreed that the high court does not seem to be the right forum – at least for now – to contest the controversial Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law. In interpellating lawyer Maria Concepcion Noche, one of the legal counsel for the petitioners, Sereno went as far as saying that if she were to be asked, the high court might have no choice but to exercise “judicial restraint” on the 15 petitions assailing the law. “Are we in a position to supplant moves of Congress on a policy decision?” Sereno asked on the first day of oral arguments on the RH Law’s constitutionality. “Can we say this is a better way? We are limited. First because we are unelected and because we have already defined nets and bounds.” The Supreme Court imposed a status quo ante order on the law last March, delaying its implementation. The order expires on July 17, Read More …

Court martial convicts Army officer in Al Barka bloodbath

 News
Jul 092013
 
Court martial convicts Army officer in Al Barka bloodbath

A military court has convicted a former battalion commander in connection with the October 2011 bungled military operation in Al Barka town, Basilan, that left 19 soldiers dead. In a unanimous decision, the tribunal found Lt. Col. Leonardo Peña, former commander of the 4th Special Forces Battalion, guilty of violating Article of War 97 (conduct prejudicial to good military order and discipline). Lt. Col. Leonardo Peña: This is where I stumbled, this is where I will rise again. GMA News Court martial head Brig. Gen. Teodoro Cirilo Torralba III said among the penalties imposed on Peña were reduction of rank, two-year suspension from command, and two-year suspension from promotion. Peña had also been charged of violating Article of War 96 (conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman) but the seven-man court dropped it several months ago. Peña was one of four officers who faced court martial proceedings over what is considered as one of the worst military defeats in recent history. The troops were supposed to serve arrest warrants to some Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members in Al Barka town, but the rebels—reportedly backed by Abu Sayyaf bandits—fought back and waylaid the soldiers. A third officer, Col. Aminkadra Undug, the erstwhile commander of the Special Force Regiment, has earlier been convicted of violating Article of War 97 over the same incident. However, Peña, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1991, was cleared of another charge — Article of War 84 (damage or loss of military property). Read More …

Palace: No 'negative' updates from peace talks with MILF so far

 News
Jul 092013
 
Palace: No 'negative' updates from peace talks with MILF so far

Malacañang has not yet received any “negative updates” from the resumption of the peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Malaysia, a Palace spokesperson said Tuesday. At a press briefing, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the government remains optimistic that both parties will be able to settle crucial issues currently pending on the negotiating table. “They will start to thresh out issues that are involved in the last three annexes. We expect the panel itself to give us an update after the talks have been concluded. We remain positive about the negotiations,” Valte said. She added that technical working groups with representatives from the government and the MILF have already convened in Malaysia to tackle the annexes on wealth- and power-sharing. On Monday, the 38th round of peace talks between the government and the MILF started in Malaysia. Government peace panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer earlier said that both parties resumed negotiations in a “congenial” tone. The ongoing talks seek to iron out the annexes of the landmark framework agreement signed by both parties last October creating a Bangsamoro territory that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. ‘Sticky issues’ In a statement, Coronel-Ferrer admitted that the annexes on wealth- and power-sharing contain “hard issues” that need to be immediately resolved. “The items on the table are all hard issues. But what I know is that we all want to solve the problem and that we will jointly, collectively decide on the future Read More …

Tropical cyclones to become stronger, more frequent, says study

 News
Jul 082013
 
Tropical cyclones to become stronger, more frequent, says study

Agance France-Presse 6:52 am | Tuesday, July 9th, 2013 This Aug. 14, 2010, file photo shows an aerial view of the flooded Rohjan area in southern Pakistan. Prominent climate scientist Kerry Emanuel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Monday, July 8, 2013, that rising greenhouse gas emissions could lead to a 10 to 40 percent increase in the frequency of tropical cyclones by the year 2100. AP PHOTO WASHINGTON—The world typically sees about 90 tropical cyclones a year, but that number could increase dramatically in the next century due to global warming, a US scientist said Monday. Rising greenhouse gas emissions could lead to a 10 to 40 percent increase in the frequency of tropical cyclones by the year 2100, said prominent climate scientist Kerry Emanuel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Those storms could be up to 45 percent more intense, making landfall 55 percent stronger—a “substantial” increase, said the research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Stronger storm surges, winds and rain would likely be felt most acutely in the southern Indian Ocean, North Pacific and North Atlantic Ocean, and could raise risks of damage in coastal areas, he said. Satellite data has shown that cyclones—which are rotating systems of clouds and thunderstorms—have remained relatively consistent in frequency and power over the past 40 years. But he projected a steady uptick in the future using six different climate models combined with forecasts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which predicts carbon Read More …

PAGASA: TS Soulik intensifies further, may stay in PHL until Friday

 News
Jul 082013
 
PAGASA: TS Soulik intensifies further, may stay in PHL until Friday

Cyclone off of PAR as of 5am, July 8. The Japan Meteorological Agency’s forecast track of a cyclone just outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) as of 5am (PHT), July 8. At its current rate and direction, PAGASA says it may enter the PAR by Wednesday and may just bring to extreme Northern Luzon. Japan Meteorological Agency Tropical Storm Soulik intensified further early Tuesday as it continued to approach the Philippines, even as state weather forecasters said the cyclone may enter the Philippine area of responsibility Wednesday and stay until Friday. But PAGASA forecaster Manny Mendoza said their models show Soulik is not likely to make landfall on any part of the Philippines, even as it will enhance the southwest monsoon. “Hindi ito magla-landfall sa Pilipinas. Kung papatuloy ito, maaring mag-landfall ito sa Taiwan. Kung west-northwest or northwest ito, sa southeastern China (Our models show it is not likely to make landfall on the Philippines. Our models show it could make landfall on Taiwan. Or if it goes west-northwest or northwest, it could make landfall on Southeastern China),” Mendoza said in an interview on dzBB radio. Also, he said their models show a possibility of Soulik heading for Korea or even Japan. The Japan Meteorological Agency’s 5:45 a.m. update described Soulik as a strong tropical storm, and indicated Soulik may not make landfall over the Philippines. So far, Mendoza said their forecast models indicate Soulik is not likely to have any direct effect on the Philippines, but added it Read More …

CBCP readies for RH battle before SC, Villegas vows fight for church beliefs

 News
Jul 082013
 
CBCP readies for RH battle before SC, Villegas vows fight for church beliefs

The new leader of the Catholic bishops in the Philippines said Monday they will continue to fight for their church beliefs, including their reasons for opposing the Reproductive Health law.  Incoming Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas stressed this as several lawyers of the 14 anti-RH law petitions attended a Mass in Manila Monday, the eve of the arguments before the Supreme Court. He said it is the Church’s duty to fight for its stand on various issues. “We are NOT social troublemakers.  We are CONSCIENCE troublemakers,” he said with his Twitter account. “We are not a lobby group.  We are not rally organizers.  We are not another NGO.  We are Christ’s followers,” he said in another tweet. Anti-RH activities In a separate article posted on the CBCP news site early Tuesday, Catholic bishops invoked God’s blessings and guidance for lawyers who will argue against the RH law before the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, the anti-RH law lawyers and petitioners are to attend a Mass at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Nuestra Señora de Guia in Ermita, Manila at 9 a.m. “Our first support for the SC process will be a Mass and a prayer vigil because that is our first priority. Our first contribution is to show to the world that prayer has power to change the world,” said Villegas. He added there will be a prayer vigil and a Mass “because we believe in the Church that the Mass can change and Read More …

LGBT Fil-Ams hail same-sex marriage triumphs

 News
Jul 082013
 
LGBT Fil-Ams hail same-sex marriage triumphs

By Mila de GuzmanINQUIRER.net U.S. Bureau 5:41 am | Tuesday, July 9th, 2013 Shirley and Jay Mercado (2nd and 3rd from left) and their twin sons Jashley and Joriene joined over a million people at the San Francisco Pride Parade on June 30, 2013, to celebrate the Supreme Court decisions on same sex marriage. SAN FRANCISCO—Darwin Dayan and his husband, Deo Patrimonio-Martin, who have been together for 18 years and wed five years ago, screamed with delight when they heard that DOMA had been struck down.  Their union in 2008 remains valid because they luckily wed during the brief period when same-sex marriage was legal in California. The United States Supreme Court on June 26, the last day of its session this term, issued two stunning decisions on same-sex marriage that were heard around the world. It overturned the Defense of Marriage Act’s (DOMA) federal ban on same- sex marriage as unconstitutional, thus allowing married same-sex couples in states where same sex-marriage is legal to receive federal benefits. The highest court of the land also ruled that proponents of California’s Proposition 8, banning same-sex marriage, had no standing or right to appeal the district court’s ruling that the initiative violated the state Constitution, thus facilitating the resumption of same-sex marriages in the country’s most populous state. Elated Like Dayan and Patrimonio-Martin, other members of the Filipino LGBT community were elated by these historical rulings, which brought them a step closer to achieving full equality. Dayan welcomes the ruling, which not Read More …

Resolve tiff with Taiwan, gov’t urged

 News
Jul 082013
 
Resolve tiff with Taiwan, gov’t urged

By Leila B. SalaverriaPhilippine Daily Inquirer 4:32 am | Tuesday, July 9th, 2013 OFW Family Club party-list Rep. Roy Señeres: Stop foot-dragging MANILA, Philippines—Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) continue to suffer from the hiring freeze that resulted from the Philippines’ recent tiff with Taiwan, leaving 10,000 of them unable to return to their jobs there, according to OFW Family Club party-list Rep. Roy Señeres. Señeres, who served as labor attache of the Philippine Embassy in the United Arab Emirates from 1983 to 1989, told a press briefing the Philippine government must stop its foot-dragging and resolve the Taiwan dispute immediately, lest OFWs suffer more permanent consequences. Taiwan earlier decided to freeze the hiring of Filipino workers following the shooting by a Filipino coast guard of a Taiwanese fisherman whose boat had strayed into Philippine waters. The incident triggered the harassment of Filipinos in Taiwan. Slow to act on problem Señeres said the Department of Justice’s report on the shooting incident, which has been submitted to Malacañang, should be made public. Those involved in the incident should also face criminal and administrative charges, he added. “The government is slow to act on this problem,” he said. The Aquino administration must also hasten the restoration of bilateral relations with Taiwan, he said. He said many OFWs wanted the administration to resolve the issue soon, and were worried that it was becoming too preoccupied with the allegations of sexual exploitation of OFWs by Filipino officials in the Middle East. Señeres said many Taiwan-bound OFWs Read More …

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