New travel deal hopes to attract “voluntourists”

 News
May 282013
 

By Alex Drechsler INQUIRER.net U.S. Bureau 2:38 am | Wednesday, May 29th, 2013 SAN FRANCISCO—The Philippines’ Department of Tourism and ABS-CBN Foundation International recently signed a memorandum of agreement to launch Voluntrip, a program that combines philanthropy with tourism. The program will take visitors to community-developed ecotourism sites aided by ABS-CBN Foundation Greenfund Philippines in pristine locales in Palawan, rainforests in Sibuyan, Romblon, and cultural havens in Bicol. “Tourism, as you know, is an important industry and a catalyst for growth and development, said Rene de los Santos, tourism attaché at the Philippine Consulate, where the MOU was announced. “It generates income to community in terms of employment for the local folks, aside from generating income and employment for the hotels, resorts, tour guides, taxi drivers and so forth.” De los Santos signed the MOU with Jo Ann Kyle, ABS-CBN Foundation International managing director. “We believe that philanthropy,” explained Kyle, “We encourage everyone to experience it firsthand because you cannot visit with these local communities that have paradise for a home and walk away unmoved.” Greenfund aims to help eradicate poverty in the Philippines while preserving native environments and cultures through community-based ecotourism livelihood projects. Visitors can help realize this “green dream” by committing to at least five days in ecotourism sites where they go on spelunking and zip lining adventures on an 18-million-year old rock. Also featured are cruises down mangroves towards a firefly watching spectacle, hikes down mountain trails towards pristine beaches and under water visits to coral Read More …

Taiwan scraps basketball invite to Philippines amid row

 News
May 282013
 
Taiwan scraps basketball invite to Philippines amid row

Our govt should pull-out all the OFWs in Taiwan… move them to Malaysia or any other country. Let’s see whose e****my will collapse… our govt should provide them (OFWs) with livelihood programs, train them through TESDA… And let’s not send OFWs to both China and Taiwan… those countries are the worst criminal on earth… especially in Piracy. US govt are so dumb and stupid they invested in China, due to low manpower cost. Now, China are stealing all those technology from them through reverse engineering. And they became a military superpower. I just saw on TV how the Chinese were able to steal even the US fighter planes technology and they were able to copy the US’s war planes. China will beat the US not in WAR, but on e****mic warfare… they have all the US monetary (money) stashed in their country. And they are tra****ing Euro money not US dollar. I****S will start to make threats against them, they will release all the US dollar and it will dropped the value o****S dollar into nothing (like a bank-run). The US knows it, that’s why they are so scared sh*t of China.

Rainy Tuesday expected in NCR as rainy season looms

 News
May 272013
 
Rainy Tuesday expected in NCR as rainy season looms

Metro Manila and nearby provinces may expect more rain on Tuesday, even as state weather forecasters on Monday cited shifting winds as another sign the rainy season is drawing closer. PAGASA forecaster Meno Mendoza said the country is beginning to feel winds from the south, with winds from the southeast coming soon. “Sa ngayon nalalapit na tayo (sa tag-ulan) dahil pinapakita na rin ng nararamdamang hangin narito sa southeast to south ang nararamdaman. Malapit na ito maging totally southwest,” Mendoza said in an interview on dzBB radio. He said the shift of the winds to southwest will likely occur between now and the first week of June. Mendoza noted the rainy season in the Philippines usually starts between the last week of May and the first week of June. “Nagkaroon tayo ng cases na ganoon (late ang start) pero bihirang bihira,” he said. Tuesday outlook For Tuesday, PAGASA said the diffused tail-end of a cold front is affecting Northern and Central Luzon, while the inter-tropical convergence zone is affecting Southern Mindanao. “Metro Manila and the regions of Ilocos, Cordillera, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, CALABARZON and Zamboanga Peninsula will experience cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms,” it said in its 5 p.m. bulletin. It added the rest of the country will have “partly cloudy to at times cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms mostly over the western section.” PAGASA also said light to moderate winds from the southeast to south will prevail over Luzon and Read More …

Proclamation of remaining party-list winners set on Tuesday

 News
May 272013
 
Proclamation of remaining party-list winners set on Tuesday

The remaining winning party-list groups will be proclaimed Tuesday morning, Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Sixto Brillantes said Monday. “Tomorrow at 10 o’clock,” Brillantes told reporters when asked on the schedule of the proclamation. During the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) session, Brillantes ordered the encoding team to include the corrected discrepanies, zero votes and the remaining uncanvassed report in the canvass report to allow the board to finalize a resolution. “We will finalize the resolution by tonight, it will be signed tomorrow morning and promulgated at 10 am,” Brillantes said on Monday. He, however, did not clarify the content of the resolution that they will issue. Earlier in the day, Brillantes said the Comelec en banc, sitting as the NBOC, will be meeting to discuss the issue on party-list. He said they will be declaring the remaining winners either Monday night or Tuesday. Comelec announced the first batch of party-list winners last Friday. — Amita Legaspi/KBK, GMA News

Brillantes on Gordon's plea to retain PCOS machines in present locations: Shoulder the cost

 News
May 272013
 
Brillantes on Gordon's plea to retain PCOS machines in present locations: Shoulder the cost

Shoulder the cost. This was Elections chair Sixto Brillantes Jr.’s comments to defeated senatorial candidate Richard Gordon’s request that seek to prevent the Comelec from removing the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines used in the May 13 polls from precincts, schoolhouses or present whereabouts. “Hindi na namin masosoli yung PCOS, wala na sa presinto yung PCOS. Kung gusto niya isoli niya ulit, pero gastusan niya. Nasa hubs na yung mga PCOS namin, pabalik na dito yung iba,” Brillantes told reporters Monday. Gordon filed last Wednesday an urgent petition for mandamus asking the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the Comelec from removing PCOS machines from precincts, schoolhouses or the machines’ present whereabouts. This was “to prevent anybody from tampering with the components, contents and software encoded into the said machine,” a press statement from Gordon’s camp said Thursday.   To which, Brillantes countered: “Basta ready siya to shoulder the cost we will open everything that he likes.”  Gordon also asked the SC to compel Brillantes to comply with his commitment to give him and other petitioners the complete digital copy of the source code for the automated election system used in this year’s polls. A source code is the set of instructions to be followed by the computerized voting machine, and is written by computer programmers in a readable symbolic language. Gordon, who placed 13th based on the official Comelec tally, is also the author of Republic Act 9369 or the Automated Elections Systems Law. — Amita Legaspi/RSJ, Read More …

De Lima hopes swap of PH-Taiwan probers will put closure to boat shooting

 News
May 272013
 
De Lima hopes swap of PH-Taiwan probers will put closure to boat shooting

By Tetch Torres-Tupas INQUIRER.net 5:21 pm | Monday, May 27th, 2013 Justice Secretary Leila De Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines-Justice Secretary Leila De Lima on Monday said she hopes that the parallel investigation conducted by the Philippines and Taiwan will repair the strained relations between Manila and Taipei. “With the mutual or reciprocal visits of the Philippines and Taiwanese teams, it is expected that their respective separate investigations will be concluded soon and hopefully put closure to the factual issues surrounding the incident,” De Lima said in a statement. “What is being demonstrated is the spirit of cooperation and openness between Philippines and Taiwanese authorities which can contribute to a significant degree, to the restoration of normalcy of PH-Taiwan relations,” she added. With the death of fisherman Hung Shih-cheng last May 9, the country’s economic-cultural relation with Taiwan was strained, putting at risk the Filipino workers in Taiwan. The NBI team is expected to stay in Taiwan for three days to inspect the fishing vessel and interview its crew but subject to adjustment as needed, said NBI Director Nonnatus Rojas. On the other hand, Taiwanese probers are also in the country to conduct ballistic examination and inspect the vessel used by the Philippine Coast Guard. The swap of teams of investigators followed weeks of acrimony over the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman. A team of eight Philippine officials including experts from the NBI flew to the island and were promptly whisked away upon arrival at Taoyuan airport in the Read More …

Taiwan, PH swap shooting probe investigators

 News
May 272013
 

Agence France-Presse 5:16 pm | Monday, May 27th, 2013 TAIPEI — Taiwan and the Philippines swapped teams of investigators Monday following weeks of acrimony over the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman. A team of eight Philippine officials including experts from the National Bureau of Investigation flew to the island and were promptly whisked away upon arrival at Taoyuan airport in the north. A Taiwanese team of experts also flew to the Philippines. Both teams will review how 65-year-old Hung Shih-cheng was shot dead by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on 9 May, an incident which has sharply raised tensions between Manila and Taipei and prompted economic sanctions by Taiwan. “The (Philippine) visitors will have a look at the autopsy report on Hung Shih-cheng this afternoon,” a spokesman for Taiwan’s justice ministry told AFP. Before leaving on Friday, the Filipino team will also inspect evidence from local prosecutors, visit the fishing boat, review voyage data records onboard the vessel and inspect ballistic evidence, the spokesman said. Taiwan said its team in the Philippines would visit the coastguard vessel, inspect the guns used to fire on the vessel and review video footage. A spokesman for the Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation confirmed the Taiwanese team had arrived but would not comment on what they were doing or how long they would stay. The Philippines has claimed that the fishing boat intruded into its waters and that coastguards were forced to open fire when it tried to ram their vessel. The Taiwanese Read More …

CA affirms ruling holding AFP, PNP accountable for Burgos disappearance

 News
May 272013
 
CA affirms ruling holding AFP, PNP accountable for Burgos disappearance

(Updated 5:59 p.m.) The Court of Appeals has stood firm on its earlier ruling that the military and the police should be held accountable for the enforced disappearance of political activist Jonas Burgos in 2007. In a resolution penned by Associate Justice Rosalinda Asuncion-Vicente, the CA denied a motion for partial reconsideration filed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) seeking to reverse the court’s March 18 ruling holding the two agencies accountable for Burgos’ disappearance. “Suffice it… to state that this court’s finding and conclusion that [Burgos] was abducted by a group of persons, one of whom was positively identified as Maj. Harry Baliaga, Jr. of the Philippine Army, coupled with the AFP’s lack of serious effort to conduct further and deeper investigation simply because [Burgos] is allegedly not in its custody, speak loudly of the leadership’s accountability,” the CA said. As for the PNP’s accountability, the appeallate court said: “In the case of the PNP, suffice it to state that its failure to rap and elicit leads and information from Jeffrey Cabintoy, who personally witnessed [the abduction] and who was able to positively identify his abductor, is eloquent proof of its failure to exercise extraordinary diligence in the conduct of its investigation.” Concurring in the latest CA decision were Associate Justices Remedios Salazar-Fernando and Franchito Diamante. In a phone interview with GMA News Online, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson  Brig. Gen. Domingo Tutaan said “they would respect the court’s decision.”  Read More …

PHL govt: MILF's plan to form political party 'consistent' with peace process

 News
May 272013
 
PHL govt: MILF's plan to form political party 'consistent' with peace process

Philippine government officials on Monday welcomed the plan of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to form a political party that will participate in the 2016 elections, saying it is “consistent” with the peace process. In a text message, presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles said the MILF’s political plan “demonstrates its commitment to prepare itself for the challenge of democratic and inclusive governance” in the Bangsamoro region, which is set to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). “It is consistent with the goals of any negotiated political settlement to transform the engaged armed party into an unarmed political and socio-economic force for continuing change and reform,” Deles said. Last week, the MILF, the country’s largest secessionist group, announced that it is set to form its political party this year to participate in the 2016 national elections. The announcement came months after the MILF and the Philippine government signed a framework peace agreement last October. At a press briefing, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte welcomed the MILF’s “preparation” for its participation in the political process. “As you all know, the road map towards the establishment of the Bangsamoro ends in 2016 and, understandably, the MILF needs to preparate for that,” she said. Valte, however, said that she is not aware of any plan from the government to help the MILF transition from an armed group to a political party. The peace panels of the Philippine government and the MILF are currently in the process of ironing out issues in Read More …

PCG ‘open’ to inspection of PH vessel by Taiwanese probe team

 News
May 272013
 

By Jerry E. Esplanada Philippine Daily Inquirer 4:04 pm | Monday, May 27th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines -The Philippine Coast Guard is “open” to allowing visiting Taiwanese investigators to inspect the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel involved in the May 9 incident in the Balintang Channel where a Taiwanese fisherman was reportedly shot dead by PCG personnel, the PCG commandant said Monday. Rear Admiral Rodolfo Isorena, however, said they would only do so with the permission of the National Bureau of Investigation, which is looking into the case. He told reporters that the 17 PCG crew of the BFAR monitoring control and surveillance ship (MCS 3001) “will be made available anytime” to the Taiwanese investigation team. “The PCG [crewmen] are under custodial investigation [by the command’s Internal Affairs Office]. Anytime they’re called, andyan lang sila (they are just around),” he said. The two other crew members of the MCS 3001 are personnel of BFAR, an agency attached to the Department of Agriculture. Commander Armand Balilo, the Coast Guard spokesperson, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer their Internal Affairs Office was “almost done” with its own investigation of the incident. “It is investigating what really transpired during the incident. However, Internal Affairs’ findings will not be made public,” said Balilo, also chief of the PCG Public Affairs Office. Earlier, the Coast Guard said the unnamed PCG personnel aboard BFAR ship first fired warning shots at the Taiwanese boat after it made a hostile maneuver, and later shot directly at the fleeing Read More …

 Older Entries  Newer Entries