Malaysian who escaped Abu Sayyaf flown home

 News
Aug 092013
 
Malaysian who escaped Abu Sayyaf flown home

A plantation assistant manager who was abducted along with his cousin by suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits last year finally returned to his home in Malaysia Thursday night. Chong Wei Jie, 25, is now at his family residence in Bukit Pelanduk in Port Dickson, Malaysia’s New Straits Times reported Friday. “He was flown home from Manila and arrived around 10 p.m. He was then taken to a hospital for a medical checkup before his family brought him to Port Dickson,” the report quoted state police commisioner Datuk Hamza Taib as saying. Suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits, notorious for their kidnapping activities including of foreigners, abducted Chong and his cousin Chong Wei Fei, 33, last Nov. 13 while they were at an oil palm plantation in Felda Sahabat near Tambisan in Lahad Datu. The group took the two to Jolo by boat and held them captive. Wei Jie managed to escape and was found on a highway in Pasil village in Indanan town in Sulu last Tuesday. However, he told police his cousin had died due to illness as early as April 8. — KBK, GMA News

Transfer of backhoe operator in Maguindanao massacre case opposed

 News
Aug 092013
 
Transfer of backhoe operator in Maguindanao massacre case opposed

A private prosecutor in the almost four-year-old Maguindanao massacre case, as well as the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), is fearing for the safety of the backhoe operator who buried the grisly crime’s over 50 victims after his transfer to Camp Bagong Diwa has been reportedly approved. Lawyer Prima Jesusa Quinsayas, legal counsel for the families of several journalists killed in the carnage, said Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 had ordered the transfer of Bong Andal to Camp Bagong Diwa where around 100 accused are detained. “Baka ilagay siya sa katabing cell ng principal accused. Kawawa naman considering he came out in national media and talked about how he was ordered to bury the victims,” Quinsayas told GMA News Online. Andal, chief of the equipment detachment in Maguindanao and believed to be the operator of the backhoe that dug the grave of 58 massacre victims, was arrested on November 24, 2012 in Cotabato and was later brought to Manila. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima last year said Andal’s testimony would be of great help in resolving the case being heard by the QC RTC Branch 221, which was designated as a special court exclusively handling cases related to the Maguindanao massacre. The prosecution initially requested Solis-Reyes to turn Andal into a state witness. The prosecutors, however, later withdrew their request. In explaining their decision, they said Andal would testify on things that had been covered anyway by the testimony of Read More …

SC to 2013 Bar examinees: No incorrect English, please

 News
Aug 092013
 
SC to 2013 Bar examinees: No incorrect English, please

It almost goes without saying, but the highest court in the land still included it among its tips and guidelines to those who would take the 2013 Bar examinations this October. No carabao English, please. “In many instances, incorrect English is more serious as a problem than the lack of precise knowledge of law, and has been the cause of high failure rates,” the Supreme Court noted as it urged the examinees to polish their English as much as their knowledge of laws. The proper use of English is just one of the guidelines and tips given by the high court to hopeful law graduates who would be taking the mostly-essay type Bar exams at the University of Santo Tomas. In its “Guide and Rules of Conduct to the 2013 Bar Examinations,” the Supreme Court provided Bar examinees pointers on how best to approach the examination, believed to be the most difficult among licensure examinations. “This Guide contains as well the rules that every Bar examinee should observe in his/her conduct during for the examinations for its orderly implementation, taking into account, not only the interests of the Bar examinees, but of the University hosting the examinations, the Bar personnel conducting the examinations, and the public at large,” the SC said. The SC said that since the Bar exam is 80 percent essay type and only 20 percent multiple-choice-question type, “time planning and pacing are essential.” “As a rule, five to six words per line significantly contribute to readability” of Read More …

SC allows Sharia consultant for JBC

 News
Aug 092013
 
SC allows Sharia consultant for JBC

The Supreme Court has agreed to the appointment of a Sharia consultant for the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), the body tasked to screen and vet nominees for vacant judicial posts. In a one-page resolution, the high court sitting en banc approved a letter made by one of its members, Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, requesting that a jurisconsult in Islamic Law be tapped for the JBC. “The Court Resolved to Approve in principle the appointment of a Shari’a consultant for the JBC and a Jurisconsult in Islamic Law,” the SC said in its resolution. Court Administrator Midas Marquez was tasked to recommend within 30 days an Islamic law expert who could take on the role as Sharia consultant. Currently, the JBC has two consultants: SC Senior Associate Justices Antonio Carpio and Presbitero Velasco Jr. So far, there are only two high ranking Muslim magistrates in the Philippine judiciary, namely Court of Appeals Justices Japar Dimaampao and Hakim Abdulwahid. In his four-page letter addressed to the en banc, Leonen emphasized the importance of putting a Sharia consult for the JBC. “I have been informed that despite the presence of so many qualified experts on Shari’a Law, the court still does not have a Shari’a consultant for the JBC nor a jurisconsult. May I respectfully suggest that the Secretariat of the JBC and the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) be tasked immediately to look into this matter,” Leonen said. Leonen said that under Article VIII of Republic Act 9054 or “An Read More …

DA chief Alcala denies knowing pork queen Napoles

 News
Aug 092013
 
DA chief Alcala denies knowing pork queen Napoles

Still denying his department’s alleged involvement in the supposed pork barrel scam, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala on Friday said he doesn’t personally know Janet Lim-Napoles, the businesswoman at the center of the issue. “Hindi ko po kilala ‘yan. Never ko pong nakilala siya, hindi ko po siya nakilala,” Alcala said in an interview on GMA News TV’s “News To Go” when asked if he knew Napoles. Napoles was accused of being the mastermind of a P10-billion pork barrel scam involving ghost projects allegedly used for kickbacks by lawmakers. Whistleblower Merlina Suñas earlier said the Department of Agriculture (DA) has been instrumental in the funneling of state funds to dummy organizations — an accusation Alcala ordered investigated. Alcala said agriculture officials who’ll be found guilty of involvement in the anomaly will be facing the full force of the law. “Ang bilin ko kung may tauhan na talagang nadawit o sinadya na palusutan ang ganitong bagay ay dapat na humanda siyang managot sa batas,” he said. In the same interview, Alcala reiterated that the DA initially refused to take projects funded by lawmakers through their pork barrel, or Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), to avoid being dragged into controversies. “Buhat po noong ako ay ma-appoint from 2010 hanggang July of 2012 wala po ni isang PDAF na dumaan sa kagawaran kasi marami pong sabi-sabi na hindi po tama, hindi maganda ito kaya iniwas ko ang department kasi masyadong marami na pong problema ang department nang abutin ko. So two years po mahigit. Read More …

Preserve Angat for our water needs

 Economy
Aug 082013
 
Preserve Angat for our water needs

Some weeks ago, I wrote in this column that while the practice of making us pay for the income tax bill of the water concessionaires seems inappropriate, it is not the water issue we should get too excited about. That can be easily fixed. The more important concern for me is reliability of supply. We are over dependent on just one source for the water needs of 10 million of us Metro Manilans. Gerry Esquivel, the administrator of MWSS, told me we depend on Angat Dam for  a chilling 97 percent. As I wrote in this column, one bad earthquake (Angat is close enough to the Marikina fault) that damages the dam and we will all go thirsty. The rivers that flow through Metro Manila are just too murky to be even considered as alternative sources. A limited amount of water  from Laguna de Bay already undergoes the expensive process of reverse osmosis. I doubt we can tap more of that in an emergency. Gerry told me some months ago that he had plans to strengthen portions of the dam that need reinforcement. Gerry also had plans to increase the water storage capacity of the dam somewhat. But everything is apparently at a standstill because the power generating facilities at the dam was privatized. It worries me that our government is not doing enough to bring new sources of raw water into the system to reduce our dependence on Angat. Worse, it sold the power side of Angat and this Read More …

Myanmar pins hopes on Phl investments

 Economy
Aug 082013
 
Myanmar pins hopes on Phl investments

YANGON, Myanmar – Businessmen in this Southeast Asian country are counting on the entry of Philippine investments here to help move their economy forward. Dr. Maung Maung Lay Lay, vice-president of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry (UMFCCI), which groups 26,000 members and 69 affiliate organizations, said this would be a “win-win situation” for both Myanmar and the Philippines. Reeling from a half century of military rule, Myanmar has dramatically fallen behind its peers in the region. Its economy grew by an average of five percent in the last five years, picking up only last year with a 6.3 percent clip. Lay said Myanmar needs foreign investors, including Philippine companies to move the economy forward and help prepare it for the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. Lay noted for instance that the Philippines has one of the cheapest mobile phone systems in the region and welcomed potential investments in the telecommunications sector. In mining, Lay said their country also needs investments. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “They are our partners. But we also have to make sure they don’t just extract our resources and leave it at that,” he said. The Philippines, which posted the highest first quarter economic growth in the region at 7.8 percent, has been dubbed by Standard & Poor’s, a credit rating agency, as the new leader in Asean. In June, President Aquino said after the World Economic Forum for East Asia held here that three Read More …

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