Philippines discovers pangolins on Chinese poacher boat

 News
Apr 142013
 
Philippines discovers pangolins on Chinese poacher boat

Agence France-Presse 11:47 am | Monday, April 15th, 2013 This undated handout photo received on April 10, 2013 and released by the Philippine coast Guard (PCG) shows coast guard personnel inspecting the Chinese fishing vessel which ran aground off Tubbataha reef in Palawan island, western Philippines. A Chinese fishing boat has run aground on a World Heritage-listed coral reef in the Philippines, roughly 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles) from China’s nearest major landmass, authorities said April 9. AFP PHOTO/PCG MANILA – The Philippine coast guard said Monday it had found hundreds of frozen scaly anteaters, or pangolins, in the cargo hold of a Chinese boat that ran aground in a protected marine sanctuary last week. Wildlife officials have been informed of the surprising discovery, which could lead to more charges for the 12 Chinese men arrested on charges including poaching after their boat was stranded in Tubbataha Reef last week. “We found 400 boxes containing anteaters aboard the vessel, and we are now determining where these came from,” coast guard spokesman Lieutenant Commander Armand Balilo told AFP. He could not say whether the pangolins were frozen alive, or had already been butchered as meat. A protected species, pangolins are widely hunted in parts of Asia for their meat, skin and scales. In China, they are known as a delicacy and are purported to have medicinal qualities. According to the International Union of Conservation of Nature, all eight species of the insect-eating mammals are protected by international laws around the world. Two Read More …

Lawmakers mixed on BOC abolition

 Economy
Apr 142013
 
Lawmakers mixed on BOC abolition

MANILA, Philippines – Lawmakers are backing a proposal to replace the Bureau of Customs (BoC) with a “professional” institution run by private officials and employees in a bid to stamp out smuggling and cleanse the bureau. Rep. Winston Castelo (2nd District, Quezon City) said he always believes in the privatization of certain government functions for reasons of efficiency and transparency. “This is a proposal that requires thorough studies and careful evaluation. It can turn custom functions upside down but is worth exploring. We have to keep an open mind,” Castelo said. On the other hand, Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan (Party-list, Gabriela) said that by just abolishing the BoC and replacing it with another agency may not solve the real problem. “The corruption in the customs is already an urban legend. It is systemic,” Ilagan said. Ilagan said the best solution to curb corruption in the bureau is to uproot the oldies, cleanse the agency and get committed workers. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Ilagan also underscored that President Benigno S. Aquino III should get down to work if he really wants to see the fulfillment of his tuwid na daan theme. “If he continues to see no evil, hear no evil or speak no evil about this agency, he should stop mouthing his tuwid na daan and get down to work,” Ilagan said. The Bureau of Customs has been under fire in recent days, with reports on rampant smuggling of oil through special economic zones and agricultural Read More …

President Aquino vows effective implementation of the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Law under his helm

 Entertainment
Apr 142013
 

PILAR, Bataan, Apr 9 (Mabuhay) — President Benigno S. Aquino III announced on Tuesday the government’s effective implementation of the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Law. In his speech keynoting the commemoration of the 71th Araw ng Kagitingan rites at Mt. Samat Shrine here, the Chief Executive said that some 18,700 Filipino veterans were already given […]

Police: No link between missing children, organ trafficking

 Entertainment
Apr 142013
 

MANILA, Apr 11 (Mabuhay) — Police investigators have denied that the spate of missing children cases is somewhat connected to organ trafficking — a grim possibility that surfaced when a missing four-year-old boy was found dead recently with his internal organs gone in Rizal province. According to Chief Inspector Kimberly Molitas of the National Capital […]

Pia wants to intervene in tobacco case before SC

 Entertainment
Apr 142013
 

MANILA, Apr 11 (Mabuhay) — Sen. Pia Cayetano filed with the Supreme Court (SC) a petition-in-intervention on Thursday so that she may participate in the pending case filed by the Philippine Tobacco Institute (PTI) against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Health (DOH) that seeks to define “the extent of FDA’s […]

President Aquino commits more infrastructure projects to boost Iloilo industries, commerce and economic development

 Entertainment
Apr 142013
 

PASSI CITY, Iloilo, Apr 11 (Mabuhay) — President Benigno S. Aquino III has committed to augment the hardworking Ilonggos’ industries, commerce and economy by vowing to provide more infrastructure projects in the province. The President gave his commitment in his speech during a meeting with local leaders and the community here on Wednesday. Among the […]

Comelec’s plea: Stop campaign giveaways

 Entertainment
Apr 142013
 

MANILA, Apr 11 (Mabuhay) — Commission on Elections Chairman Sixto Brillantes on Thursday appealed to candidates and their camps to refrain from resorting to campaign giveaways. Brillantes said existing regulations on campaign giveaways are rather vague, making it risky for candidates and their supporters. He said the poll body may release next week the acceptable […]

US tax law changes: View from the cliff

 Economy
Apr 142013
 

First of three parts JUST AS THE US Congress was about to take US taxpayers over the cliff, standing by and allowing massive tax increases and across-the-board budget cuts to kick in under previous legislation, cooler heads prevailed. The parties agreed to a limited package of tax increases, revisions, and extensions of key provisions that were about to “sunset,” and that avoided the so-called “Fiscal Cliff.”

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