Roxas defends deputy at DILG vying for Sandiganbayan post

 News
Jul 032013
 
Roxas defends deputy at DILG vying for Sandiganbayan post

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas on Wednesday defended Interior Undersecretary Rafael Antonio Santos against those criticizing his bid to become the next Sandiganbayan presiding justice. In an interview with reporters at the Supreme Court, Roxas said Santos has performed well both when he was still at the Department of Transportation and Communications, which Roxas used to head, and now at the Department of Interior and Local Government. “Maayos ang kanyang trabaho. Sa haba ng aming pagsasama sa DOTC at saka sa DILG ay wala kang masasabi. Walang mantsa, walang bahid ang kanyang pagserbisyo,” Roxas said. Roxas said he did not necessarily give his “blessings” to Santos, but said he “supported” Santos’ decision to leave the executive branch and return once again to law practice. “Hindi ko maaaring hadlangan ang kanyang pangarap o kagustuhan na bumalik na sa kanyang propesyon sa pagiging abugado. Sinusuportahan ko siya,” Roxas said. “Sabi niya, pagod na rin siya. Nagsilbi na rin siya. Kaya maaari daw bang mag-apply. Oh di sabi ko, okay naman na mag-apply,” he added. Asked what he wanted to tell Santos’ detractors, Roxas said: “Well, hayaan mo sila.” United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) Secretary General Toby Tiangco earlier expressed doubt about Santos’ “agenda” for joining the Sandiganbayan race. Tiangco said: “[But e]ven if he has the blessing of Mar Roxas, Usec. Santos is not exempted from the ‘Tuwid na Daan.’” According to Tiangco, Santos served as undersecretary of Department of National Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz from 2004 to 2006, before being personally handpicked by Roxas Read More …

COA: Cagayan de Oro misspent P11M PDAF from PNoy

 News
Jul 032013
 
COA: Cagayan de Oro misspent P11M PDAF from PNoy

Some P11.5 million from President Benigno Aquino III’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) has been misspent by the city government of Cagayan de Oro. In its 2012 report, the Commission on Audit (COA) said the fund was not used for its intended purpose, which was the “repair, rehabilitation and reconstruction of school buildings, irrigation systems, flood control and roads and bridges in areas affected by calamities.” Instead, the money was spent on the construction of Indahag Water System Phase 2, which the COA said was not included in the specific list of relief and rehabilitation projects approved by the Department of Budget and Management. The COA said while deviation from the list is allowed, a prior approval of the Office of the President is required by the rules. “As noted, construction of (the) water system is not among the projects or activities to be funded from the PDAF. Any proposed changes, modifications or revision of the defined uses or purposes thereof require prior consent and/or approval of the grantor, in this case, the President of the Philippines or his authorized representative,” the COA said. State auditors said the city administrator has explained that the city government viewed the PDAF allocation as a lump-sum subsidy, which was why it did not wait for the President’s approval when it implemented the water system project. Aquino set aside a total of P50 million from his PDAF for Cagayan de Oro City, one of the hardest-hit areas by flooding due to Typhoon Sendong in December 2011. The Read More …

‘Cook’s Illustrated’ editor Doc Willoughby, Filipino food’s secret champion

 News
Jul 022013
 
‘Cook’s Illustrated’ editor Doc Willoughby, Filipino food’s secret champion

By Amy BesaINQUIRER.net US Bureau 6:57 am | Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013 NEW YORK—John “Doc” Willoughby was managing editor of Gourmet magazine from 2000 to 2009 when he fell in love with Philippine food and decided he would be one of its secret champions. He became a good friend of ours and brought many of the magazine’s editors and food writers to sample Philippine dishes in our first restaurant, Cendrillon (1995-2009), in SoHo. But no matter how much Doc tried, the unwritten rule for mainstream magazines then was to focus on Europe, and no one wanted to take the risk of promoting an unknown Southeast Asian cuisine to its readers.  Philippine food was still outside of their comfort zone. A decade later, in 2011, Doc was back as executive editor at Cook’s Illustrated (CI) after the print version of Gourmet folded. Cook’s Illustrated is a monthly US-based recipe-driven food magazine he co-founded with Christopher Kimball in the early 1990s. CI does not devote any of its pages to ads and relies purely on its subscription base of 900,000 for sustenance. Doc had an inspired idea. His instincts told him that in the previous three or four years, Americans had significantly broadened their range of culinary interests.  People were now more adventurous and were hankering to discover lesser-known cuisines.  So he thought, why not feature Philippine adobo and get one of their in-house chefs, who had spent a few years in the Philippines, to come up with his own recipe for Read More …

WHO urges gov’t to regulate sale of e-cigarettes

 News
Jul 022013
 
WHO urges gov’t to regulate sale of e-cigarettes

By Jocelyn R. UyPhilippine Daily Inquirer 4:42 am | Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013 The World Health Organization on Tuesday, July 2, 2013, urged the government to regulate the sale of e-cigarettes, citing a trend in other countries where people who started using it ended up smoking the real thing. Electronic cigarettes are battery powered devices that vaporizes a nicotine laced liquid solution into an aerosol mist which simulates the act of tobacco smoking. SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES/AFP MANILA, Philippines—Beware of e-cigarettes. The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday urged the government to regulate the sale of e-cigarettes, citing a trend in other countries where people who started using it ended up smoking the real thing. Dr. Susan Mercado, director for Building Healthy Communities and Populations of the WHO-Western Pacific office, said there was no proof that the use of electronic cigarettes was safe and that it could help people kick the habit of smoking. “In 2010, the WHO organized a global panel of experts to review the evidence and there is no evidence to show that it can help you quit smoking,” Mercado said at a press conference following the Red Orchid Awards ceremonies at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City. The Red Orchid Awards is a recognition given by the Department of Health (DOH) to government offices, state hospitals and local government units that have been consistent in promoting a “100-percent tobacco-free” environment. At the event, the WHO also awarded a medal of honor to President Aquino, Sen. Read More …

DOJ: Sex-for-flight probe to include Filipina’s suicide

 News
Jul 022013
 
DOJ: Sex-for-flight probe to include Filipina’s suicide

By Christine O. AvendañoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 4:42 am | Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013 Justice Secretary Leila de Lima: Own probe INQUIRER file photo MANILA, Philippines—Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Tuesday said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was conducting its own probe into the alleged sexual exploitation of Filipino women in the Middle East by Philippine officials, including one reportedly involving a Filipino woman who committed suicide. De Lima said she met with Akbayan party-list Rep. Walden Bello on Monday on the Department of Justice’s role in the investigation of the “sex-for-flight” cases. She said that following the investigations by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Labor and Employment, the DOJ could come in if it is determined that criminal charges are warranted against certain Filipino overseas officials. She said the Inter-Agency Council against Trafficking (Iacat) could also come in to help in the investigation since the cases “had elements of human trafficking.” De Lima said the NBI was conducting a similar trafficking investigation and some agents had gone abroad to investigate another case, this one involving a Filipino woman who was allegedly raped by “an official involved from an embassy.” The NBI was also set to investigate the case of another Filipino woman who allegedly committed suicide in a Philippine halfway center, she said. “It’s supposed to be an incident of reported suicide but there are indications that this may not be the case,” said De Lima, declining to give details or the identities of the Read More …

PH urges closer US-Asean ties to protect sea lanes

 News
Jul 022013
 
PH urges closer US-Asean ties to protect sea lanes

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 4:13 am | Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013 Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario: Greater engagement between Asean and US, AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Unfazed by China’s accusation that the Philippines was “internationalizing” territorial disputes, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has called for greater engagement between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the United States in ensuring maritime security in the region. Speaking at the Asean-US Post-Ministerial Conference in Brunei Darussalam on Monday, Del Rosario also called for compliance to the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) as Asean and China were still working on a legally binding Code of Conduct (COC) to govern the disputed waters. The DOC is an agreement between the Asean and China that seeks to deter armed confrontations in the strategic waterway, a critical international trading route where China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan have competing territorial claims. “Fortunately, we have an appropriate mechanism for dialogue and interaction on these matters—the Expanded Asean Maritime Forum —which was inaugurated in Manila in October 2012,” Del Rosario said in his speech, a copy of which was released in Manila by the Department of Foreign Affairs. His remarks followed China’s threat of a “counterstrike” in the disputed waters and pointed criticism of the Philippines’ stance on the regional maritime dispute, particularly blasting its involvement of dialogue partners, including the United States, in discussions toward resolving the dispute. Illegal occupation China also Read More …

Nov. 3 is new deadline for illegals in Saudi

 News
Jul 022013
 
Nov. 3 is new deadline for illegals in Saudi

By Tarra Quismundo and Tina G. SantosPhilippine Daily Inquirer 3:21 am | Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013 Foreign illegal laborers wait in a queue at the Saudi immigration offices at al-Isha quarter in al-Khazan district west of Riyadh, on June 30, 2013. Some 1.5 million illegal foreign workers in Saudi Arabia were in a race against time to take advantage of an amnesty ending July 3—but which was extended to Nov. 3—that would allow them to stay or return home without prosecution. AFP PHOTO/FAYEZ NURELDINE MANILA, Philippines—A massive relief for thousands of undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who fear expulsion from Saudi Arabia. That was how ordinary Filipinos as well as officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) described the announcement in Riyadh that Saudi Arabia had given foreign workers four months to obtain a legal status in that country. Illegal foreign workers will now have until the end of the Islamic year on Nov. 3 to regularize their status or return home without prosecution, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency. According to the Saudi labor ministry, more than 1.5 million illegal foreign workers have come forward so far. Of these, some 180,000 have left the kingdom in addition to more than 200,000 unregistered workers expelled at the start of the year under new regulations to stamp out illegal immigration. The Saudi announcement provides relief for thousands of undocumented Filipinos cramming to fix their Read More …

Militant groups ask SC to stop US war games

 News
Jul 022013
 
Militant groups ask SC to stop US war games

By Christine O. AvendañoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 3:18 am | Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013 lipino students burn a mock US flag during a rally in Manila on Tuesday, July 2, 2013. Militant groups on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to stop the United States from holding war games in the country, as well as from making port calls, following the damage wrought in the Tubbataha protected area by one of its Navy warships, the USS Guardian, when it ran aground in January. AP PHOTO/AARON FAVILA MANILA, Philippines—Militant groups on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to stop the United States from holding war games in the country, as well as from making port calls, following the damage wrought in the Tubbataha protected area by one of its Navy warships, the USS Guardian, when it ran aground in January. Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), Kalikasan and other groups filed an urgent motion for a temporary environmental protection order (Tepo) in the high court. In April, they asked for a writ of “kalikasan” on the same case against the US government for the damage in Tubbataha. In an 87-page petition, the groups sought for an ex-parte Tepo or a writ of kalikasan aimed at ordering the respondents led by Scott Swift, commander of the US 7th Fleet, and Mark Rice, commanding officer of the Guardian, “to stop port calls and military exercises in the absence of clear environmental guidelines, duties and liability schemes for breaches of those duties.” The Guardian ran aground in Tubbataha on Read More …

Aquino defends use of bases by US, Japan

 News
Jul 022013
 
Aquino defends use of bases by US, Japan

‘Our strategic partners need knowledge of PH terrain’ By Michael Lim UbacPhilippine Daily Inquirer 12:05 am | Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013 President Aquino said for the first time on Tuesday that the United States and Japan would have access to the former US bases in the Philippines to be able to forge a “credible alliance” but dismissed Chinese claims that Manila was provoking Beijing. In an ambush interview in Camp Crame, Aquino stressed that giving the two countries access to the installations was “not permanent.” The United States had maintained Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Base—America’s largest overseas military facilities—until Mt. Pinatubo erupted in June 1991 and forced the shutdown of the installations. Three months later, the Senate voted 12-11 against renewing the Philippines-US Military Bases Agreement. In 1999, the Philippines ratified the Visiting Forces Agreement allowing the United States to conduct joint exercises with Philippine forces in the country. “Let’s clarify the access. They will not be a permanent fixture in the bases—but they are our allies. There are only two strategic partners that we have—it is America and Japan,” he said, explaining that “interoperability” was key to prepare forces allied with each other for any conflict. This explains why the country has regular Balikatan exercises, which calls for “joint or shoulder-to-shoulder” military exercises, he said. He stressed that failure to “coordinate” or “synchronize” the military deployment systems between forces of allied countries in case of a conflict “in my view is a wrong way to prepare, Read More …

Just a ‘Sun’ away from home

 News
Jul 022013
 
Just a ‘Sun’ away from home

INQUIRER.net 9:31 pm | Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013 MANILA, Philippines – The story of Steph is the story of many children separated from their parents because they have gone abroad. But a simple call and a regular greeting can bridge the love they have for each other. Sun lets your loved ones know whatever’s in your heart (Alam ng Sun kung gaano kahalaga ang pagsasama ng pamilya.  Ang kuwento ni Steph ay kuwento rin ng maraming anak na nalayo sa kanilang mga magulang na nag-abroad. Sa simpleng tawagan at dalas ng kamustahan, natutuloy pa rin ang pagmamahalan. Sa Sun, kung ano man ang nasa puso – agad na naipaparamdam.) (advt) Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines. Tags: Consumer Issues , mobile phones , ofws , Sun Cellular Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s day desk. Believe this article violates journalistic ethics? Contact the Inquirer’s Reader’s Advocate. Or write The Readers’ Advocate: c/o Philippine Daily Inquirer Chino Roces Avenue corner Yague and Mascardo Streets, Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Or fax nos. +63 2 8974793 to 94

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