Top JI operative is alive and a threat: military

 News
Jun 212014
 
Top JI operative is alive and a threat: military

A Filipino militant bomb-making expert who had been believed dead recently eluded a military raid earlier this month, disproving earlier reports of his demise, the military said Saturday. Abdel Basit Usman is on the US government’s list of most-wanted “terrorists”, described a “bomb-making expert”, and the State Department offered an $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest in 2009. The Filipino press had reported in 2010 that Usman was among several people believed killed early that year in a US drone attack that targeted a Pakistani Taliban leader in a remote area of northern Pakistan. However Philippine military officials now say that the reports of his death were erroneous. Usman, who the Philippine and US governments say has links to the Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf group of Southeast Asian militants, was seen in the camp of another armed Muslim group in Mindanao, southern Philippines military spokesman Colonel Dickson Hermoso told AFP. The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) is a small offshoot of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest Muslim guerrilla force that waged a decades-long armed rebellion in the southern region of Mindanao. “We launched a raid two weeks ago. There was a firefight and we recovered an arms cache, but he was able to get away,” Hermoso said, adding: “He’s the one training the BIFF members who are conducting bombings in central Mindanao.” “Based on what we know, he is still active,” military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Ramon Zagala told AFP Saturday. “As far as we’re concerned Read More …

Bong Revilla faces new risk in detention cell: overeating

 News
Jun 212014
 
Bong Revilla faces new risk in detention cell: overeating

After migraines and the heat, Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. faces a new possible health risk while in detention – overeating. Revilla’s wife Cavite Rep. Lani Mercado said this Sunday, even as she asked relatives to go easy on bringing food to her lawmaker husband. “Sabi ko baka mag-gain ng pounds,” Mercado said in an interview on dzBB radio, noting relatives had been bringing in food to the senator in his first two days in the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame. Besides, she said too much food could attract cockroaches and rats, which she said they had seen inside the facility. “Sa pagkain, sabi namin tama na, baka magsaya doon ang daga at ipis,” she said. For now, she said the senator has an exercise-yoga mat he can use to work out. Revilla was detained at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame Friday, hours after surrendering to the Sandiganbayan. The anti-graft court had issued a warrant for his arrest based on graft and plunder charges stemming from the P10-billion pork barrel scam. Revilla had insisted he is innocent of the charges. Meanwhile, Mercado said another concern is that her husband is alone in his detention cell, and is far from guards. This could be a problem if he has a migraine attack or health problem, she said. “Yan ang worry, ‘pag wala siyang kasama at hindi niya matitimbrehan ang guard… malayo layo ang guard,” she said. — Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News

Malaysian authorities zeroing in on Pinoy group behind Sabah abductions

 News
Jun 212014
 
Malaysian authorities zeroing in on Pinoy group behind Sabah abductions

Malaysian forces are zeroing in on a group of “well-armed” Filipino kidnappers that they believe are behind a series of abductions in Sabah in past months, a Malaysian news site reported Sunday. The Malaysian security forces suspect the “Muktadir brothers” are behind four abductions in the east coast of Sabah since November, Malaysia’s The Star Online reported. Citing intelligence officers it interviewed, the report said the Muktadir brothers are among the “most active” of some 14 known kidnap-for-ransom groups in the southern Philippines. It said the group has five members whose father was a “notorious pirate” who “terrorized the Sulu and Celebes seas” before he died in the late 1990s. Last April 2, gunmen abducted Filipina resort worker Marcelita Dayawan and Chinese tourist Gao Huayun from a floating resort. The two women were released May 30. On May 6, Chinese Yang Zai Lin, 34, was snatched by suspected Filipino gunmen from the Wonderful Terrace Fish Farm in Lahad Datu waters. Abu Sayyaf bandits are believed holding him. Last June 16, suspected Filipino gunmen abducted a Filipino worker and a fish breeder from Sabah. — Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News

Expecting shame campaign, Bong Revilla wife to snub PNoy’s SONA

 News
Jun 212014
 
Expecting shame campaign, Bong Revilla wife to snub PNoy’s SONA

Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.’s wife is snubbing President Benigno Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address this July, saying she expects him to crow about her husband’s arrest and detention over the P10-billion pork barrel scam. Cavite Rep. Lani Mercado said this will be the second time she will not be attending Aquino’s SONA, which is scheduled July 28 at the House of Representatives’ complex in Quezon City. “I have no intention of attending. This will be the second time…,” she said in an interview on dzBB radio. On Friday, Revilla was placed under detention at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, after he surrendered to the Sandiganbayan. Revilla faces graft and plunder charges before the anti-graft court in connection with the multibillion-peso scam. Mercado said she and Revilla had been victims of a shame campaign by Aquino, adding Aquino is “bound to do that” in his SONA. “Oh yes. Naging biktima na kami ng maraming [pamamahiya] and he’s bound to do that,” she said when asked if she expects Aquino to mention Revilla’s detention. She added Aquino shamed her husband by telling people not to believe in “anting anting” and “agimat” during a speaking engagement in Cavite, Revilla’s home province. In his speech in February, the president said the electorate should not take their chances on “agimat” or “anting-anting (amulets)” – a statement that could be construed as referring to Bong Revilla and his family. Last Independence Day, Mercado said Aquino took a dig at Read More …

Loom bands can make pets ill, groups warn

 News
Jun 212014
 
Loom bands can make pets ill, groups warn

Loom bands, which are gaining popularity among children and adults alike, could be harmful to pets, ecological and animal welfare groups said Sunday. The Philippine Animal Welfare Society and EcoWaste Coalition said rubber bands in the bracelets are hard to digest and can make cats and dogs ill if they swallow them accidentally. “As the rubber band bracelet craze hits the country, we urge fans to remember that these loom bands could spell danger for pets and should be handled with care to prevent pet injuries,” said PAWS executive director Anna Cabrera. EcoWaste coordinator Anthony Dizon added the risk is greater in counterfeit bracelet-making sets and related items that are cashing in on the latest craze. Ingestion of rubber bands can cause stomach upset and seriously shatter the intestinal tract and may lead to loss of appetite, nausea and diarrhea, the groups said. They added the makers of the original Rainbow Loom, winner of the 2014 Toy of the Year Award by the Toy Industry Association, advised pet owners to keep the bands away from pets. Fake sets EcoWaste said it bought a fake Rainbow Loom bracelet-making kit for P240 and seven packs of loom bands at P15 to 35 per pack. It said these items were sold in Divisoria and Quiapo in Manila, and had no market authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). An initial screening with a handheld X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) device showed no detectable levels of arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and other toxic metals on Read More …

Joseph Calata gets so far so fast

 Economy
Jun 212014
 
Joseph Calata gets so far so fast

CALATA style: Gelled pompadour, Armani jacket with pocket square and the movie-star smile. RENE GUIDOTE Entrepreneur Joseph Calata is the proverbial young man in a hurry.  Pushing 34, he is making a bid to have a huge stake in the country’s food supply chain. The chair and CEO of the agribusiness company, Calata Corporation, initially made news by becoming the country’s youngest self-made billionaire before he was 30 years old. He modernized the family’s mom-and-pop store into the country’s largest distributor of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides. When Calata Corp. was listed for initial public offering (IPO) in May 2012, its stocks gained a total market value of P4.3 billion. As if selling agrochemicals, feeds and seeds wasn’t enough, Calata created his own brands, opened retail stores, went into joint venture with foreign companies and acquired a meat processing company. “My business is literally going from the farm to the table,” says Calata. Own brands He was inspired by the richest man in Southeast Asia, Dhanin Chearavanont, whose business is CP Group, the biggest agricultural company in the region. One of the Thai billionaire’s businesses is Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company which produces animal feeds, breeds animals and processes them. The end products are sold in the fastfoods and 7-11 stores. Chearavanont owns 6,800 of the 24-hour stores all over Thailand. Calata says he’s now covering the entire food chain. In the initial phase of raw materials and planting, Calata possesses the technology, the seeds and the preparations to ward off pests. Read More …

Thank God, we have copy editors

 General
Jun 212014
 
Thank God, we have copy editors

“YES, I could care less” By Bill Walsh St. Martin’s Griffin, 2013 Language is a dynamic part of a culture. The English language, for example, continues to change. Even its usage rules change. So, if you think you’ve got it made in mastering the rules of the English language, think again. The book titled “Yes, I could care less” gives you second thoughts about grammar rules made by Strunk and White in the “Elements of Style”—or prescriptions by American Heritage, Webster’s New Word, and Merriam-Webster. On many occasions, as shown in this book, they do agree on certain rules. The author, Bill Walsh, is copy editor of the Washington Post, a job he has held since 1997. In the United States, there is an annual conference of the American Copy Editors Society, and Walsh is a regular presenter in such an elite assembly. Reading the book feels like you are being treated to a long-running discussion of the many acceptable rules of usage of a word or phrase. In a manner of speaking, it is like consulting four or five manuals of style of different publications, if not two or three generally accepted English usage reference books. It begins with a long debate on the use of two phrases—which have found acceptability. The phrases are: “could care less” or “couldn’t care less.” Walsh first introduces the special class to which it belongs: “We are the copy editors. English teachers, usage mavens, armchair grammarians and others who revel in do’s and Read More …

Imagine the arts uniting 6 rivals for Spratlys on one stage

 News
Jun 212014
 
Imagine the arts uniting 6 rivals for Spratlys on one stage

Map showing the disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea (south China Sea), including the Spratlys Islands and Scarborough Shoal.  AFP Imagine some of the music greats of all six claimants to territories in the South China Sea—the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei—on one stage and taking part in a concert that aims to promote camaraderie and friendly relations among these nations and ease rising tensions in the disputed waters. Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, head of Artists for Peace, a group affiliated with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), was talking on Saturday about the “very relevant Music for Peace concert.” She said “the first lady of China, Madame Peng Liyuan, has just been named a Unesco envoy for education.” “She is a well-known singer. We hope that she can be a part of this process and even take the lead in the successful implementation of a music theater gathering that can heal like a ‘balm in Gilead’ to fertilize the ground for more conciliatory political rhetoric in determining a reasonable and ethical resolution of clashing interests,” Alvarez said. “We’ll formally propose to the Unesco the country’s hosting of the event during its next meeting of goodwill ambassadors, scheduled for June 30 in Paris,” where the United Nations body has its headquarters, Alvarez told the Inquirer. Alvarez, wife of former Sen. Heherson Alvarez, now a climate change commissioner, described as “doable” what she called a “cultural diplomacy initiative.” “From Manila, the other claimants—Beijing, Hanoi, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur Read More …

I don’t feel like an OFW, just a girl with a camera’ shooting HK’s street life

 News
Jun 212014
 
I don’t feel like an OFW, just a girl with a camera’ shooting HK’s street life

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BACANI A man prepares to open his stall for the night market on Temple Street in Mongkok District in Hong Kong. Her stunning B&W photos have brought acclaim to the Filipino domestic worker. XYZA CRUZ BACANI HONG KONG—On weekdays, domestic worker Xyza Cruz Bacani uses a sturdy, white mop to clean her elderly employer’s flat, if she’s not taking care of the latter’s seven grandchildren who visit every day. But whenever she gets the chance to go out—even if it’s just for a quick trip to the neighborhood grocery store—Bacani grabs her camera and takes dramatic snapshots of this city’s vibrant street life. Her stunning black-and-white photos have been featured by the New York Times and used by the Vogue Italia website. For the past three years, Bacani’s work has also been a finalist in National Geographic magazine’s competition in Hong Kong for best open documentary photo. She has even been called a modern-day Vivian Maier, the legendary American photographer/nanny. “I feel naked when I go out and I don’t have my camera with me,” said Bacani, a 27-year-old from Bambang town, Nueva Vizcaya province, who joined her mother here nine years ago to work as a nanny for the latter’s employer. “You know, when I’m told to buy something at ParknShop (a supermarket chain), I bring along my camera. It looks stupid but I do it,” she said. “My favorite pictures are those that I took when I didn’t go out on purpose to do a photo Read More …

17 killed in clash with Muslim extremists: AFP

 Entertainment
Jun 212014
 
17 killed in clash with Muslim extremists: AFP

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Brian Johnson discusses helicopter insert and extract procedures with Philippine soldiers as they prepare for Balikatan 2014 on Fort Magsaysay, Philippines, April 29, 2014. This is the 30th year of the exercise, which provides U.S.-Philippine military training and humanitarian assistance. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Pete Thibodeau ZAMBOANGA (AFP) – Ten Muslim extremists and seven soldiers were killed on Thursday in one of the bloodiest clashes in the southern Philippines in recent months, the military said. Soldiers were approaching a known hotbed of the militant Abu Sayyaf group on the strife-torn island of Jolo when the fighting broke out, military statements said. The Abu Sayyaf initially fired on the soldiers, killing an officer. Ten minutes later, six more soldiers were killed and many others wounded when the Abu Sayyaf fired mortar shells at them, the statement added. The fighting left 10 Abu Sayyaf fighters dead, although only one body was recovered, and 24 soldiers wounded, the military said. “The remaining troops are still in the area of operations while the casualties were evacuated,” the statement said. The attack comes after the Abu Sayyaf suffered a series of setbacks including the capture in Manila last week of one of its leaders, Khair Mundos, who is on the US government’s list of “most wanted” terror suspects. Days later, two of his followers were also arrested. The military would not say why the troops were in the rural town of Patikul, a known Abu Sayyaf hotbed, about Read More …

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