Maniolas

Singapore AFP PHOTO SINGAPORE—An abusive campaign by Singaporeans opposing a planned Philippine independence celebration has shone a light on antiforeigner sentiment in the city-state, home to large numbers of guest workers accused of taking jobs from locals and causing overcrowding. The Philippines marks its 116th year of independence on June 12, and a group of Filipino residents in Singapore is planning an event on June 8 at a shopping complex along busy Orchard Road. It became a hotly debated topic after commentators on anonymously run local websites and Facebook pages heaped racial abuse on Filipinos and attacked the choice of venue, saying it should be held on the Philippine Embassy grounds instead of the public Orchard Road area. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who attended a “Singapore Day” celebration in London on March 29 attended by 9,000 people, condemned the “thuggish behavior” of people who harassed the organizers of the Philippine event, calling them a “disgrace to Singapore.”   Work of trolls Blaming “a few trolls” for the online attacks, he wrote on his Facebook page: “How would we have felt if British netizens had spammed our website and abused Singaporeans living in Britain?” A spokesperson for organizer Pilipino Independence Day Council Singapore (PIDCS) referred to a previous statement which said they were “heartened, grateful and happy to receive support from Singaporeans.” She declined to comment on whether the event would go ahead as planned on June 8. Police say they have not yet received a permit application for it. Read More …

Philippine Daily Inquirer 7:49 am | Saturday, April 26th, 2014 Passengers walk past a thermal scanner at the medical quarantine area at the arrival section of Manila’s International Airport in Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines on Wednesday, April 16, 2014. AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Health (DOH) already has the contact details of the last four Etihad Airways passengers that it has been tracking down so they can undergo testing for the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (MERS-CoV). “We’re now in the process of initiating contacts with the four passengers based on the contact details we received,” said Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, manager of the DOH emerging infectious diseases program. “At least now we already have the data to work on, unlike yesterday when we had nothing at all,” Lee Suy said. The health department and the Task Force MERS-CoV have been hunting down all 414 passengers of the Etihad Airways Flight 424 from Abu Dhabi which carried the male Filipino nurse who was initially diagnosed positive for the disease. However, further tests conducted on the nurse showed him to be negative for the virus. According to Lee Suy, the initial problems encountered in finding all the plane’s passengers were caused by the incomplete or wrong information that the passengers themselves had provided. Health Secretary Enrique Ona reminded returning Filipinos from the Middle East not to make any misdeclarations in filling out the health declaration checklist given to them on arrival. He said the government was Read More …

An Afghan policeman prevents journalists from approaching Cure International Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, April 24, 2014. The U.S. embassy in Afghanistan says three American doctors have been killed at by an Afghan security guard who opened fire at a hospital in Kabul. The shooting at Cure International Hospital in western Kabul was the latest attack on foreign civilians in the Afghan capital this year. AP/Massoud Hossaini KABUL, Afghanistan — It was midmorning at Cure International Hospital in Kabul when Dr. Jerry Umanos took a phone call. He told co-workers he had to meet some guests at the front gate and would be right back. Minutes later, Umanos and two of his American guests were dead, gunned down by an Afghan police security guard. Another American was wounded. A day after Thursday’s attack at the hospital run by a U.S.-based Christian charity, those colleagues were mourning the pediatrician known as “Dr. Jerry” who treated children and helped train Afghan medical workers. The identities of the Americans gunned down beside Umanos have not been released, and other details of the latest attack on foreigners in Kabul, such as the motive of the gunman, remain unclear. Two of the dead visitors were described only as a father and son. Thursday began at the hospital like most other days, with the 57-year-old Chicago pediatrician talking with Afghan doctors and checking on the progress of the 30-40 children who are patients, according to Dr. Noor Ahmad, a physician at Cure. Umanos had been working Read More …