Free Event on All Four Blocks of the Park Honors the Global Nature of the Community with World Music, Food, Lights, Projections and Pyrotechnics to Delight All Ages and Spotlight Los Angeles WHAT: Grand Park’s 4th of July Block Party http://grandparkla.org/ offers Angelenos a new way to experience downtown and celebrate the Fourth. A highly dynamic and creative use […]
MANILA, May 27 (Mabuhay) — President Benigno Aquino III has signed a law declaring the birthday of his martyred father, the late Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., as a regular working holiday each year to be known as “Araw ng Pagbasa.” Republic Act 10556, signed by the President last May 15, directs the Department of […]
MANILA, May 27 (Mabuhay) — Despite suffering loss of lives in an encounter with the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) Saturday morning, the morale of the Filipino soldier is still high, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff Gen. Emmanuel Bautista said. “The morale of our people continues to be high. This is an incident which […]
MANILA, May 27 (Mabuhay) -– Television host Charlene Gonzales fought back tears as she talked about the experience that she and her husband Aga Muhlach went through during the recently concluded mid-term elections. Gonzales said Muhlach’s perseverance to seek a congressional seat so he could serve the people only made her love him “a hundred […]
Poll chief Sixto Brillantes Jr. on Wednesday said “variances” is a better term for the disparities spotted in the random manual count of votes instead of “discrepancies.” In a newspaper report, Brillantes was quoted as saying there were “discrepancies” between the random manual count and the machine-generated election results. The poll body has reportedly received 167 of the 234 randomly chosen precincts for the manual audit. “The correct term should have been, there were variances, which would actually be a toning down of a discrepancy,” Brillantes corrected himself at a press briefing on Wednesday. He added that his earlier statements were based on initial reports. Brillantes noted, too, that a random manual count is not expected to perfectly match the machine-generated results. He said the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine still reads the ballots even when the shading only covers 20 percent of the oval. Meanwhile, the auditors have their own “discretion” whether or not to audit the partially shaded ballots, Brillantes added. In the 2010 elections, the PCOS was programmed to read ovals shaded only 50 percent. “It could not be a perfect thing between the manual count and the machine count… Ang tao hindi na-poprogram ang mata niyan, may kanya kanyang discretion, iba-iba ang assessment,” he said. “Pero talaga namang alam nila na hindi magta-tally ang machine count sa human visual count, may thresholding ‘yan eh,” Brillantes added, referring to the incomplete shading of the ballot. Still, Brillantes maintained the result of the manual audit so far Read More …
The Philippines was not blacklisted by France due to supposedly lack of transparency in foreign aid, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) clarified Wednesday. In a text message, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said the information that the Philippines was included by France on the list of “non-cooperative states” in its fight against foreign aid fraud was “totally inaccurate.” “We have, in fact, been informed that there is a new list and this list does not include the Philippines,” Del Rosario said. He added that the “mistake” on the Philippines’ blacklisting only arose from a French civil servant’s statements published on a French newspaper. On Tuesday, news reports quoted French minister for aids to development Pascal Canfin as saying that the 14 states and territories, including the Philippines, have been blacklisted by France due to lack of transparency in dealing with foreign aid. Del Rosario said that the French foreign ministry has already made a “full denial” on this “misinformation” concerning the Philippines. — Andreo Calonzo and Michaela del Callar/RSJ, GMA News
By Frances Mangosing INQURER.net 3:00 pm | Wednesday, May 29th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines – The alternative fishing grounds that Malacañang claimed they will soon identify for Filipino fishermen affected by current tensions in the West Philippine Sea do not exist, a fisherfolk group said on Wednesday. “The country with 7,101 islands and separated by bodies of water is the entire fishing area of 1.3 million fishermen. So what alternative fishing grounds Malacañang are referring to?” Salvador France, vice chairperson of Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said in a statement. France blasted the Palace statement as “irresponsible and mind-blowing statement.” In reality, he said Malacañang through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources had been planning to impose a nationwide fish ban. France said that 10 of the 13 fishing grounds identified as Lingayen Gulf, northern Zambales, Visayan Sea, Camotes Sea, Honda Bay, Babuyan Channel, Lagonoy Gulf, Sorsogon Bay, Hinatuan and Dinagat Bay and Davao Gulf were mapped out to execute fish ban to pave way for the government’s stock assessment program. On Tuesday, deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte said that the Aquino administration will soon identify “alternative fishing grounds” for Filipino fishermen so as not to exacerbate tensions in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).It will also beef up its maritime assets to establish “a minimum credible defense” in the hotly contested West Philippine Sea. She added that the Aquino administration will continue to employ its “nonengagement policy” on the issue of the disputed waters of the Read More …
A party-list group advocating students’ rights and several youth and student organizations on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to stop 354 higher educational institutions (HEIs) from hiking their tuition and other fees this coming school year. The approval from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) that paved the way for the hike should likewise be reversed, the petitioners, led by Kabataan party-list, said in a 46-page petition for certiorari, mandamus, and prohibition. “The Commission on Higher Education violated the petitioners’ constitutional right to accessible and quality education for failing to perform its constitutional duties to take appropriate steps to make education accessible to all and to exercise reasonable supervision and regulation of all educational institutions,” the petition read. The petitioners asked the SC to issue a writ of preliminary injunction and a temporary restraining order/status quo ante order to prevent the schools from implementing the tuition and other fees hike. The group accused CHED of failing to exercise “reasonable regulation and supervision” when it approved the increase without “implementing the statutory procedure for tuition consultation” as prrovided under Section 10 of Republic Act 6728 or the Government Assistance To Students and Teachers In Private Education Act. Section 10 states that “[i]n any proposed increase in the rate of tuition fee, there shall be appropriate consultations conducted by the school administration with the duly organized parents and teachers associations and faculty associations with respect to secondary schools, and with students governments or councils, alumni and faculty associations with respect to colleges… Read More …
NBI, Taiwanese probers inspect DA-BFAR vessel. At the Manila Port Area on Tuesday, NBI and Taiwanese investigators inspect the DA-BFAR Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS-3001) vessel that was used by PHL Coast Guard personnel in a shooting incident that killed a Taiwanese fisherman in Balintang Channel on May 9. The investigators checked every inch of the boat for new evidence. Danny Pata Visiting Taiwanese investigators on Wednesday quizzed 18 personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) as part of the parallel probe on the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman off Balintang Channel in northern Philippines early this month. Taiwanese prosecutor Lin Yeng Liang, however, kept mum on the details of their interview with the Filipino personnel embroiled in the incident. “It’s confidential,” Lin said when asked what questions they posed to the Filipinos. “With the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation today we started to investigate and collect evidence both from the BFAR and PCG,” he added. The Taiwanese prosecutor, however, stressed that three days since arriving in Manila for their own probe, the Taiwan team has yet to reach a conclusion. “We will continue doing the investigation… We will complete the investigation within two days,” he told a group of reporters, composed of both Filipino and Taiwanese journalists. For his part, NBI Deputy Director Virgilio Mendez, head of the NBI team separately probing the incident, observed that the Taiwanese probers were “doing their best” to finish their investigation Read More …
At least five domestic flights of air carrier Cebu Pacific were canceled Wednesday due to “aircraft situation,” the Department of Transportation and Communications said. In a post on its Twitter account, the DOTC said the affected flights had destination points in Metro Manila, Bicol, and Visayas. The affected flights included: – 5J-519 and 5J-523 (Manila to Naga)– 5J-520 and 5J-524 (Naga to Manila)– 5J-557 (Manila to Cebu) The DOTC did not elaborate on the “aircraft situation” that prompted the cancellation of the flights. Earlier Wednesday, state weather forecasters had warned of rain showers and thunderstorms as the rainy season approaches. — LBG, GMA News