FilAms mark Bataan Day; vow to finish fight for WWII vets’ rights

 News
Apr 102013
 
FilAms mark Bataan Day; vow to finish fight for WWII vets’ rights

By Jon Melegrito INQUIRER.net U.S. Bureau 4:25 am | Thursday, April 11th, 2013 WASHINGTON, D.C.– Leaders of the Filipino American community in this city, Philippine Embassy officials, students and supporters of Filipino World War II veterans on Tuesday marked the 71st anniversary of the Fall of Bataan by pledging to continue the fight to negate the effects of the 1946 Rescission Act, which stripped Filipino soldiers of their official status as U.S. military veterans, Their immediate demand: recognize the claim of more than 24,000 surviving veterans whose service certifications have been rejected by the U.S. Army. A bill providing monetary compensation to eligible veterans was signed into law by Pres. Barack Obama in 2009. But of the 43,000 claims of surviving veterans who applied for benefits under the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation (FVEC) Act, only 18,615 were granted. “The Fall of Bataan is considered one of the darkest moments in our nation’s history,” said Philippine Ambassador Jose Cuisa, Jr. “We recognize the injustice done to those who have been denied because of documentary requirements and we will continue to press the relevant US government officials to clarify the procedures in certifying claims and to assist our veterans who are appealing.” The embassy is calling on the Filipino American community to join a nationwide letter-writing campaign to the White House. “We want to bring attention to the injustice caused by the certification process,” Cuisa added. In response to public pressure, the White House six months ago formed an interagency task force Read More …

Bishops contest SWS survey claiming fewer Pinoys attend Mass

 News
Apr 102013
 
Bishops contest SWS survey claiming fewer Pinoys attend Mass

Catholic bishops on Wednesday contested findings by pollster Social Weather Stations which said Filipino Catholics’ church attendance had dwindled from 64 percent in 1991 to a mere 37 percent now. In an article on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines news site, bishops maintained Mass attendance was still strong. “I think a scientific study should be made to validate such observation… In the diocese, I do not see this observation and in fact the number of churchgoers increased because we have mall Masses,” Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco said. Quiapo Church rector Msgr. Clemente Ignacio added he could not believe the SWS survey claim, citing a big increase in churchgoers and devotees of the Black Nazarene. Devotees of the Black Nazarene are among the most demonstrative, taking part in a yearly procession, which can be characterized as near-dangerous, of the Black Nazarene to the Quiapo Church. For his part, former CBCP president and Jaro (Iloilo) Archbishop Angel Lagdameo said church attendance has been good in Iloilo province’s 93 parishes. “It’s a matter of minus and plus. There are those who no longer go to Sunday Mass but there are also new Catholics who started to go to Sunday Mass,” Lagdameo said., He added the nine Masses in Jaro cathedral are still filled to capacity. Meanwhile, in Mindanao, Marbel Diocese in South Cotabato built a new parish last December 30. Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez added that they will inaugurate another new parish this coming June 24., “In our 26 parishes, church Read More …

LP candidates on way to rally lost at sea, end up in Sabah jail

 News
Apr 102013
 
LP candidates on way to rally lost at sea, end up in Sabah jail

By Nikko Dizon Philippine Daily Inquirer 3:53 am | Thursday, April 11th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—Rough seas swept away a motorboat carrying a Liberal Party mayoral candidate, his running mate and 30 supporters from Tawi-Tawi on Tuesday and took it to, of all places, Lahad Datu in Sabah, site of five weeks of fighting between Malaysian security forces and followers of the sultan of Sulu. As a result, Rommel Matba, his vice mayoral running mate Amman Matba and 30 village leaders from Languyan town in Tawi-Tawi landed in a police station in Sandakan, where Malaysian police took them on suspicion they were reinforcements for the decimated forces of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III. Jamalul’s press officer Abraham Idjirani confirmed on Wednesday that Matba and his group were politicians campaigning for local elections in Languyan and not members of the sultanate’s security forces. “I was told they were traveling to Mapun municipality, also in Tawi-Tawi, for [a Liberal Party] rally when they were lost at sea because of strong currents in Tambisan Bay,” Idjirani told the Inquirer by phone. Capt. Rene Yongque, commander of Naval Task Force 62, reported that rough seas swept the Liberal Party group’s motorboat across the border at Taganak Island in Tawi-Tawi where it was intercepted by Malaysian border police. Rescued? But Acting Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao used a different term to describe the misadventure of Matba’s group. “They were rescued by Malaysian maritime personnel and were taken to Sabah,” Hataman said. “We Read More …

Bishop Socrates Villegas opposes White Vote movement

 News
Apr 102013
 
Bishop Socrates Villegas opposes White Vote movement

Following the launch of the “White Vote” movement, a coalition of church groups that will endorse between six and eight senate candidates for the upcoming elections, archbishop Socrates Villegas of the Lingayen-Dagupan archdiocese said on Wednesday that he does not agree with church groups endorsing candidates for the upcoming elections. “‘Block voting tayo, eto yung iboboto natin.’ Mali yun,” said Archbishop Villegas in a report on GMA News’ “24 Oras.” “Dadalhin natin sa ating konsensiya, at yun ang standard natin sa pagpili ng kandidato, that’s the Catholic vote. That’s the correct Catholic vote,” he explained. In an earlier “24 Oras” report, Bro. Mike Velarde, founder-leader of the El Shaddai group which is one of the proponents of the movement, said that the candidates they will endorse have to be pro-family and pro-life. He also said that they will also consider the candidates’ stand on issues such as the RH Law, divorce, same-sex marriage, and euthanasia. The “White Vote” movement will announce its first batch of endorsed candidates on Saturday, the report said. — Amanda Lago/DVM, GMA News

12 Chinese seamen charged

 News
Apr 102013
 
12 Chinese seamen charged

By Redempto D. Anda Inquirer Southern Luzon 10:11 pm | Wednesday, April 10th, 2013 PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines—The 12 Chinese nationals whose boat got stuck in the Tubbataha Reefs on Monday night were slapped with charges of poaching and other violations of the marine park’s rules. They were detained at the provincial jail facility here following inquest proceedings on Tuesday afternoon. The Chinese, all crew members of what was reported as a 48-by-8-meter fishing vessel that rammed into Tubbataha’s north islet, were also expected to face additional charges, including attempted bribery. Marine park rangers at the World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea said the Chinese offered them a bribe of $2,400 immediately after the boat ran aground. “We went ahead with the filing of the poaching case first and other violations under the law that created the Tubbataha marine park,” lawyer Adelle Villena of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development told the INQUIRER. She said other cases, including that one involving bribery, would follow. In Roxas City, President Benigno Aquino III said he was taken aback that yet another foreign vessel ran aground in the natural park, but this time he vowed to throw the book at the Chinese crew. “Wow! We’ve just finished (extracting the USS) Guardian, and here comes another one,” the President recalled what he told Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya when the letter reported to him the latest incident on Tuesday. Mr. Aquino said swift legal action would be taken against crewmen of the steel-hulled Read More …

Binay skips UNA rallies to lead PH exhibit of pre-colonial art in Paris

 News
Apr 102013
 
Binay skips UNA rallies to lead PH exhibit of pre-colonial art in Paris

By Jerry E. Esplanada Philippine Daily Inquirer 9:57 pm | Wednesday, April 10th, 2013 Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Vice President Jejomar Binay had no choice but skip several United Nationalist Alliance campaign sorties this week for representing President Benigno Aquino III in the April 8 opening of the “Philippines: Archipel des Exchanges (or Archipelago of Exchanges),” the country’s first-ever grand culture exhibit in Paris, the world’s cultural capital. Binay “opened (on Monday) the exhibit at the Musee du Qua Branly,” or the Branly musuem in the French capital, said the Department of Foreign Affairs. Citing a report from the Philippine embassy in the French capital, the DFA said on Wednesday the exhibit has been featuring “more than 300 essential works of pre-colonial Filipino art selected from both public and private collections in the Philippines, Europe and the United States.” The event will run from April 9 to July 14, 2013, according to the mission. The embassy quoted Binay as having thanked the French government for the “opportunity to showcase the Philippines’ pre-colonial art in the Branly museum.” “We are proud to share with France and the rest of the world our collection of pre-colonial  art, including four of our priceless national treasures and more than 300 ancient artifacts assembled from public and private collections, giving a glimpse of the Filipino soul in ancient times and the diversity and richness of Philippine culture and tradition,” he said. In his remarks during the exhibit opening rites, Binay pointed Read More …

Malaysian authorities detain 9 more with suspected Kiram links

 News
Apr 102013
 
Malaysian authorities detain 9 more with suspected Kiram links

At least nine more people with suspected links to Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III—two of them local residents—were arrested in Sabah Tuesday and Wednesday, Malaysian police said. Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said the nine were picked up in Beluran, according to a report by Malaysia’s state-run Bernama news agency. Confiscated from them were weapons, documents and about RM1,000 (P13,511.60), he added. “There was, however, no exchange of gunfire when they were arrested,” Hamza said. Hamza said the nine, whose ages ranged between 20 and 50, were arrested 8 p.m. Tuesday and 10 a.m. Wednesday, and are detained under the Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act of 2012 (Sosma). Malaysian forces have been flushing out Kiram’s followers since March 5. Kiram’s followers had engaged Malaysian forces in a nearly-three-week standoff that culminated in deadly clashes on March 1 and 2. 32 ‘politicians’ still probed Hamza also said they are still quizzing 32 Filipinos intercepted off Sabah waters from Mindanao on Monday. However, the Department of Foreign Affairs (which places the group’s number of members at 33), said that the Filipinos are set for release. “Last night the order for the release was given at the behest of the Foreign Minister of Malaysia and the Defense Minister of Malaysia. Administrative procedure and the papers are now being handled for their actual release,” said DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez in a press briefing Wednesday. Also still being investigated are “Datuk Seri” Clarence Luing Karl a.k.a. Muhammad Khalil John Karl, who was caught on Read More …

15 Pinoys, Malaysian cop to face court Friday for Sabah intrusion

 News
Apr 102013
 
15 Pinoys, Malaysian cop to face court Friday for Sabah intrusion

Fifteen Filipinos and a Malaysian police officer will face a high court on Friday over the standoff and fatal clashes in Sabah between followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III and Malaysian security forces. The 16 had been tentatively charged before the magistrate’s court due to the Lahad Datu incident, Malaysia’s state-run Bernama news agency reported Wednesday evening. Of the 16 who will be brought before the Tawau High Court Friday, eight are facing a possible death penalty as they were slapped the additional charge of waging war on the King. The other Filipinos face charges of terrorism, harboring terrorists and recruiting people to join terrorist groups, the Bernama report said. The policeman is charged with concealing information on terrorist activities. Armed followers of Kiram led by Kiram’s brother Raja Muda entered Sabah last February and engaged Malaysian forces in a two-week standoff that resulted in deadly clashes March 1 and 2, which in turn prompted Malaysian forces to mount offensives against Kiram’s followers starting March 5. — BM, GMA News

Group decries ‘double standard’ in handling of US, Chinese Tubbataha intrusions

 News
Apr 102013
 
Group decries ‘double standard’ in handling of US, Chinese Tubbataha intrusions

By DJ Yap Philippine Daily Inquirer 6:56 pm | Wednesday, April 10th, 2013 Tubbataha Reefs. YVETTE LEE/CONTRIBUTOR MANILA, Philippines—Was there a double standard in the government’s handling of the back-to-back intrusions of a US Navy warship and a Chinese fishing vessel in the Tubbataha National Marine Park? The group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment assailed what it called the “great disparity” in the way the Aquino administration handled the grounding of the Chinese fishing vessel on Monday night and the USS Guardian in January. “While the Philippine Coast Guard swiftly acted to apprehend the Chinese intruders, it is shameful and appalling how the Aquino [administration] handled the American trespassers from the US Navy,” said Kalikasan national coordinator Clemente Bautista. “Any foreign intrusion into our territorial waters or infringement of our national patrimony should be dealt with accordingly. Whether it is Chinese or Americans, they must pay the damages and if proven should serve time in jail,” Bautista said in a statement. He noted the disparity in the government’s response to the grounding of the Chinese and Americans in the Tubbataha National Marine Park in the Sulu Sea, a World Heritage Site. “First, the PCG failed to apprehend the officers and crew of the USS Guardian in spite of their clear violations of our local and environmental laws. Second, the Philippine authorities embarrassingly failed to assert our right to directly investigate and interview the personnel of the USS Guardian as the US Navy did not allow it,” Bautista said. “Worst, Read More …

STRANGER THAN PARADISE

 News
Apr 092013
 
STRANGER THAN PARADISE

Will the Philippine government’s ambitious plan to attract luxury tourism threaten the environmental wonders that have made the country one of the last unspoiled tropical destinations in Asia? Two islands—one pristine, the other overpopulated—sound a cautionary note. READ FULL STORY

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