MILF exec: Signing of wealth-sharing annex may not stop fighting

 News
Jul 132013
 
MILF exec: Signing of wealth-sharing annex may not stop fighting

GPH, MILF peace panels sign wealth-sharing annex of peace agreement. Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Negotiators reached agreement over the weekend in Kuala Lumpur on wealth-sharing issues of their Framework Agreement for peace in Mindanao. www.opapp.gov.ph The signing of a wealth-sharing peace agreement annex by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front may not necessarily stop clashes in Mindanao, a senior MILF official admitted Sunday. MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar said that if the wealth-sharing agreement is not popular among the Bangsamoro, some groups could use it as an excuse to launch attacks. “Kung hindi ito very popular sa mga Bangsamoro masses, lalo sa mga leader…, nangangamba ako na baka gawin nilang justification sa pagsagawa katulad ng sinagawa ng BIFF na pagsalakay kahapon hanggang kagabi,” Jaafar said in an interview on dzBB radio. He was referring to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) led by Ameril Umbra Kato, who the MILF had described as a rogue commander. Kato had led attacks in Mindanao as early as 2008, when the Supreme Court thumbed down a Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the government and the MILF. The BIFF launced attacks Saturday, ambushing a military truck in Guindulungan town in Maguindanao. On Saturday night, the government and the MILF closed the 38th round of exploratory talks in Kuala Lumpur with the signing of the annex on wealth sharing. “In a show of true commitment, the Parties extended the meeting, originally scheduled for four days Read More …

Palace downplays ES Ochoa’s involvement in P10-B NGO row

 News
Jul 132013
 
Palace downplays ES Ochoa’s involvement in P10-B NGO row

Malacañang on Saturday downplayed reports linking Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. to a P10-billion ghost project scam involving legislators’ the pork barrel funds. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said that at least for now, Ochoa appeared to be a victim of “guilt by association” because his former law firm was linked to the mess. “Apparently from the reports, dinadawit ang ES dahil supposedly sa dating law firm niya. Hindi ko alam ang … involvement other than just mentioning the name. Walang allegation of wrongdoing on part of the Executive Secretary,” she said on government-run dzRB radio. “Parang naging guilt (by) association, which does not stand up in any investigation or any court,” she added. She said she does not know why Ochoa would be dragged into the row. “Hindi natin alam kung ano ang intention ng taong nagdadawit,” she said. Ochoa’s law firm had been linked by some reports to the P10-billion scam involving mostly funds from the priority assistance development fund (PDAF) of some lawmakers. A report on the Philippine Daily Inquirer said the MOST law firm’s founders had included Ochoa, Liza Marcos – wife of Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Edward Serapio and Joseph Tan. The Inquirer report said Ochoa had divested his interests in the law firm after he joined the Aquino administration in 2010. — LBG, GMA News

PAGASA: Rain over parts of Luzon, Mindanao amid weak southwest monsoon

 News
Jul 132013
 
PAGASA: Rain over parts of Luzon, Mindanao amid weak southwest monsoon

A weak southwest monsoon may bring rain to parts of Luzon including Metro Manila Sunday, even as state weather forecasters said parts of Mindanao may also expect rain. PAGASA also said strong to gale-force winds may still affect the seaboards of Northern Luzon, even though Typhoon Huaning (Soulik) has left. “Metro Manila, Ilocos region, Cordillera, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Mimaropa, Western Visayas, Caraga and Davao region will experience cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms,” PAGASA said in its 5 a.m. bulletin. It added the rest of the country will be “partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms.” Also, it said moderate to strong winds from the southwest to south will prevail over the western section of Luzon and coming from the southeast to south over the rest of Northern Luzon. The coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to rough, it added. Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the southeast with slight to moderate seas. Gale warning PAGASA also said strong to gale-force winds associated with the southwest monsoon may affect the seaboards of Northern Luzon. These included Ilocos Norte, Cagayan, Isabela, Ilocos Sur and La Union. “Fishing boats and other small seacrafts are alerted against moderate to rough seas,” it said.  — ELR, GMA News

Palace says it is 'not imputing any motive' in Congress scrutiny of 2014 budget

 News
Jul 132013
 
Palace says it is 'not imputing any motive' in Congress scrutiny of 2014 budget

Malacañang on Saturday welcomed lawmakers’ plan to scrutinize parts of the proposed P2.268-trillion national budget for 2014, saying it is within their mandate to do so. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte downplayed speculations that some lawmakers may have political motives in taking a closer look at the proposed budgets of some agencies. “We welcome scrutiny when it comes to the budget. That is the province of any legislator who may want to look at the budget of any program or any agency,” Valte said on government-run dzRB radio. She added the Palace is not in any position to “impute any motive” when legislators say they want to take a closer look at the budget.  Some reports quoted Sen. Ma. Lourdes “Nancy” Binay as saying she plans to scrutinize the proposed 2014 budgets of the Departments of Interior and Local Government and Social Welfare and Development. Sen. Binay’s father, Vice President Jejomar Binay, defeated now-DILG Secretary Manuel Roxas II in the 2010 vice presidential race. The elder Binay and Roxas have been projected to possibly run for the presidency in 2016. But Sen. Binay maintained there was no political color in her interest to scrutinize the DILG’s proposed budget.  — ELR, GMA News

Just the right mix for Sponge Cola

 General
Jul 132013
 
Just the right mix for Sponge Cola

The rock band will hold its ‘lucky’ 13th anniversary concert on July 19, 8 p.m., at the Music Museum MANILA, Philippines – How in the world that bandmates so close to each other break up with much animosity?  That puzzle had been dealt with quite accordingly by members of mainstream rock band Sponge Cola who have stayed together in the music business for 13 long years. It meant that the band members’ friendship, if compared with a recipe, had just enough flavor for them to crave for it every once in a while.  “We are friends in an exact way. But we’re not close enough to share underwear,” quipped frontman Yael Yuzon in a chat with the press to promote the band’s upcoming “lucky” 13th anniversary concert.  The group appeared upbeat about its first major concert billed Maximum Capacity, scheduled on July 19, 8 p.m. at the Music Museum in San Juan.  Amusingly, the four-piece band somehow miscalculated the length of its run in the local gig scene, which partly explained why it’s not the more conventional 10th- or 15th-year commemoration. The members may had been too busy keeping their friendship intact and in such a way effective to them.  Yael, who made it through in the company of bassist Gosh Dilay and guitarist Armo Armovit, and then much later, drummer Ted Mark Cruz, reiterated, “We’re friends in just the right way.”  Entertainment ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 That also sounded synonymous to saying it is both professional and brotherly with neither served raw or overcooked.  True enough, some bands with members treating themselves as brothers when in fact they’re not eventually turned into Read More …

GPH, MILF panels sign wealth-sharing annex of Mindanao peace agreement

 News
Jul 132013
 
GPH, MILF panels sign wealth-sharing annex of Mindanao peace agreement

(Updated 5:00 a.m.) Negotiators of the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have reached agreement on the wealth-sharing annex of their peace compact in their latest round of talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. “In a show of true commitment, the Parties extended the meeting, originally scheduled for four days to six days to be able to overcome their concerns and reach an agreement on the Annex,” the chief negotiators in a joint statement released before dawn of Sunday. The statement, however, did not provide any details on the issues agreed upon in the approved annex on wealth sharing. But it said the annex “will provide sufficient guidance for the crafting of the Bangsamoro Basic Law’s provisions on wealth sharing and revenue generation for the Bangsamoro as envisioned by the Framework Agreement onthe Bangsamoro.” GPH panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer and MILF peace panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal said the  Technical Working Group on Normalization and the special team on power sharing made some progress but did not go into details in their joint statement. The annex paves the way for the two sides to decide how to divide up income from taxes and natural resources in the self-rule area. The negotiations aim to create a new autonomous region for the Muslim minority in Mindanao, the southern third of the mainly Catholic nation of about 100 million people. The 12,000-member MILF has waged a guerrilla war for a separate Islamic state in Mindanao since the 1970s that has claimed an estimated Read More …

Finance chief enlists CPA help in fight vs. tax cheats

 Entertainment
Jul 132013
 

MANILA  (Mabuhay)– The government is calling on Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) to help in the campaign against tax cheats, noting the country’s low efficiency in collecting taxes compared to its Asian neighbors. Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima made the appeal Wednesday during the induction ceremony of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants. “You can help […]

One dead, 31 injured as Typhoon Soulik hits Taiwan

 News
Jul 132013
 
One dead, 31 injured as Typhoon Soulik hits Taiwan

Agence France-Presse 3:13 pm | Saturday, July 13th, 2013 TAIPEI—Typhoon Soulik battered Taiwan with torrential rain and powerful winds on Saturday that left one person dead and at least 30 people injured. This as the typhoon, codenamed “Huaning” in the Philippines, left the country’s area of responsibility Saturday morning, prompting the lifting of all public storm alerts in extreme Northern Luzon. As daylight dawned, some areas in Taiwan were submerged by flood waters, roofs were ripped from homes, and debris and fallen trees littered the streets. More heavy rain and strong winds are predicted throughout Saturday with the authorities warning of landslides and further flooding. More than 8,000 people were evacuated from their homes before the typhoon hit, many from southern areas prone to landslides. Soldiers have been deployed to high risk areas and the whole island declared an “alert zone” by the authorities. In the capital Taipei, a 50-year-old police officer died after being hit by bricks that came loose during the typhoon, the Central Emergency Operation Centre said. Three people were left seriously injured with 31 reported hurt in four cities in northeast Taiwan, most of them hit by trees or flying debris. Soulik made landfall on the northeast coast around 03 a.m. Saturday (2000 GMT Friday), packing winds of up to 190 kilometers an hour (118 miles), the Central Weather Bureau said. “We expect Soulik to continue to affect Taiwan with heavy rains and strong winds throughout Saturday across Taiwan even though it is moving away and Read More …

Third girl aboard Asiana jet dies from injuries

 News
Jul 122013
 
Third girl aboard Asiana jet dies from injuries

Associated Press 9:15 am | Saturday, July 13th, 2013 Asiana flight 214 is dismantled and hauled to a hangar at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, July 12, 2013. Two people were killed and over 180 injured when the Boeing 777 crashed July 6 as it struck the seawall on the approach to runway 28L, knocking off the plane’s tail. AP SAN FRANCISCO — A girl who was aboard the Asiana Airlines flight that crash-landed died Friday, the same day that authorities confirmed one of the two Chinese teenagers killed in the disaster was hit by a firetruck. The disclosure about the girl raised the tragic possibility that she could have survived the crash only to die in its chaotic aftermath. No one knows yet whether the two girls lived through the initial impact at the San Francisco airport. But police and fire officials confirmed Friday that Ye Meng Yuan, 16, was hit by a firetruck racing to extinguish the blazing Boeing 777. Her close friend Wang Linjia, also 16, was among a group of passengers who did not get immediate medical help. Rescuers did not spot her until 14 minutes after the crash. The other girl died Friday morning. San Francisco General Hospital said she had been in critical condition since arriving Saturday after the accident. Officials did not identify the girl at the request of her parents. Her age was also withheld. Meng Yuan’s body was found covered in firefighting foam near a seawall Read More …

3 abducted PH nurses safe

 News
Jul 122013
 
3 abducted PH nurses safe

Philippine Daily Inquirer 5:22 am | Saturday, July 13th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—Three Filipino nurses who were reported abducted on the night of July 9 are now safe and are resting at company-provided accommodations in Sebha, southwestern part of Libya, according to the Filipino migrants rights group Migrante. The three, one female and two male nurses, were victims of an apparent robbery attempt by a local taxi driver but were able to escape and call the Libyan police. They were shaken but unharmed, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported. According to the Libya Herald online, the “quick thinking of one Filipino nurse foiled an abduction attempt on three expatriate hospital workers in Sebha.” The report by Houda Mzioudet said: “A taxi, supposed to be taking the nurses home after a pre-Ramadan evening shopping trip, instead drove the three Filipinos, two men and one woman, to the outskirts of Sebha.” “It was an attempted abduction,” the Libya Herald quoted Filipino Consul General in Tripoli, Renato N. Duenes, as saying. “One of the nurses challenged the driver, threw a stone at him and was able to escape,” Duenes said, “and then the other two were also able to get away.” The report also said “an eyewitness, recognizing the nurses as staff from the Sebha General Hospital, called the clinic. A colleague alerted the police but, by the time they arrived, the nurses had already escaped and were hiding, and the taxi had driven away from the scene.” The nurses, all in their midtwenties, Read More …

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