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 …

Singaporean killed in QC home; cops eye victim’s helper

 News
May 272013
 
Singaporean killed in QC home; cops eye victim’s helper

By Julie M. Aurelio Philippine Daily Inquirer 3:07 pm | Monday, May 27th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines — A Singaporean was found dead inside his Quezon City home with a single hack wound in what police suspected to be a robbery carried out by the victim’s helper. The body of Peter Lee, 50, a resident of Detroit Street in Barangay (village) Pinagkaisahan, was discovered at the receiving area of his house at around 4:20 p.m. Sunday. Police Officer 2 Rhic Pittong, the case investigator, said the foreigner suffered a hack wound in the nape. The victim is believed to have been robbed since his wallet and IPhone 4 were not found, although no other items were missing. It was Lee’s driver, Julio Cariño Jr., who discovered the body upon the driver’s arrival from Dau, Pampanga. Cariño last saw Lee alive after his boss dropped the driver off at around 12:44 p.m. on Sunday at a bus station for his trip to Dau. The driver said the victim’s teenaged driver, a certain JR was with them at that time. Pittong suspected that the helper, said to be 16 to 18 years old, 5’3″ to 5’4″ tall and of medium built, might be involved in the killing. Cariño claimed that when he got back from Dau in the afternoon, JR and his personal belongings were no longer in the house. The driver also recalled hearing JR getting scolded by their boss although the driver did not know the reason for the scolding. The Read More …

PH to show coast guard video of shooting to Taiwan prosecutors

 News
May 272013
 
PH to show coast guard video of shooting to Taiwan prosecutors

By Tetch Torres-Tupas INQUIRER.net 2:42 pm | Monday, May 27th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines-The Philippine government has agreed to show to Taiwanese prosecutors the video of the Philippine Coast Guard that recorded the shooting of a Taiwanese fishing boat that killed a Taiwanese fisherman in the Balintang channel. “Everything that is with us will be offered to the Taiwanese investigators,” National Bureau of Investigation Deputy Director Virgilio Mendez told reporters Monday. The first batch of Taiwanese probers arrived in the country a few hours after NBI investigators left for Taiwan. On its first day, Mendez said the investigators will conduct ballistics examination, then an inspection of the vessel. “And then we will discuss what will happen on the third day,” Mendez said adding that part of the discussion will be the possible access to Coast Guard personnel involved in the incident. The Taiwanese probers, meanwhile, said their activity will be based on reciprocity. “What we offered to the Philippine team in Taiwan, they will offer the same to us,” the Taiwanese investigator said. The eight-man team from the NBI tasked to conduct an investigation into the Philippine Coast Guard’s shooting of a Taiwanese fishing boat has arrived in Taiwan Monday morning. Security was tight at the Taoyuan International Airport when the team of investigators arrived at past 10 a.m. on board Philippine Airlines flight PR896. The NBI team will be meeting with officials from the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (Meco), Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (Teco), and the Taiwanese Ministry Read More …

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