PHL to offer multiple bases to US forces: official

 Entertainment
Jan 152016
 
PHL to offer multiple bases to US forces: official

The USS Topeka (SSN-754), a Los Angeles-class attack submarine, prepares to dock at the Alava pier of Subic port in Zambales Tuesday, for a three-day port stop. Subic Naval Base is one of the agreed locations that the US government identified as part of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. (MNS photo) Manila, Philippines | AFP |   – The Philippines is set to offer the US military use of eight bases, a military spokesman said Wednesday, after the country’s supreme court upheld a security agreement with Washington forged in the face of rising tensions with China. The facilities include the former US Clark airbase and air and naval facilities on the southwestern island of Palawan which faces the South China Sea, the focus of territorial disputes with China. Military spokesman Colonel Restituto Padilla said the facilities would be used to store equipment and supplies. He added that the offer had still to be finalized after the Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a 10-year security accord. The decision allows for the full implementation of the Enhanced Defense Co-operation Agreement (EDCA), signed in 2014 but not implemented due to legal challenges from groups opposed to US military involvement in the Philippines, a US colony from 1898 to 1946. It will see more US troops rotate through the Philippines for war games and help Manila build military facilities. “We have resumed talks now that there is a go-signal that EDCA is constitutional,” Padilla said. “We are continuing talks and we will finalize the agreement on the locations,” Read More …

McCain, Reed discuss arms, security in Asia with PHL officials

 Entertainment
Jan 152016
 
McCain, Reed discuss arms, security in Asia with PHL officials

Secretary Albert del Rosario and US Secretary of State John Kerry hold a follow up meeting on Wednesday, January 13, 2016 to discuss several points raised during the 2nd Two-Plus-Two Ministerial Dialogue held the day before. Also in photo is Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. WASHINGTON, DC – Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario and Secretary of Defense Voltaire Gazmin met with Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Chairman and ranking member of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, respectively, on 12 January 2016. “We wish to thank the Senate Armed Services Committee for the priority it has accorded to US engagement with Asia-Pacific and for the Committee’s statements calling for stronger US presence in the region,” Secretary Del Rosario said on behalf of the Philippine delegation. The Senate Armed Services Committee has demonstrated keen interest in developments in Asia, particularly on the issue of maritime security. One of the Committee’s most significant initiatives in this regard was the introduction of the Maritime Security Initiative in the FY 2016 National Defense  Authorization Act (NDAA) that allots USD 50 million to help enhance the maritime security capacities of countries in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines. President Barack Obama first unveiled this maritime assistance plan when he was in Manila last November. The two Secretaries also noted Senator McCain’s comments against China’s recent test flight over Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) Reef and the Committee’s consistent efforts to prod the US Government to continue with Read More …

PHL: Supreme Court upholds US military accord

 Entertainment
Jan 152016
 
PHL: Supreme Court upholds US military accord

The USS Topeka (SSN-754), a Los Angeles-class attack submarine, prepares to dock at the Alava pier of Subic port in Zambales Tuesday, for a three-day port stop. Subic Naval Base is one of the agreed locations that the US government identified as part of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. (MNS photo) Manila, Philippines | AFP |   – The Philippine Supreme Court ruled Tuesday a military accord with the United States was constitutional, paving the way for a greater presence of US forces in the former American colony as tensions simmer in the South China Sea. The 10-year agreement, signed in 2014 but not implemented due to legal challenges, will see more US troops rotate through the Philippines for war games and help their hosts build military facilities. Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te said the accord was upheld with a 10-4 vote, ruling that President Benigno Aquino’s government had the authority to sign the pact and did not need congressional approval. The pact “is a mere implementation of existing laws and treaties,” Te said. Aquino negotiated the accord to help the Southeast Asian nation improve its military capabilities and draw the United States closer, partly in a bid to counter a fast-expanding Chinese presence in disputed parts of the South China Sea close to the Philippines. US President Barack Obama also pushed hard for the Enhanced Defense Co-operation Pact (EDCA) as part of his so-called strategic “pivot” to Asia that has involved expanding American military presence in the region. However it faced immediate legal challenges Read More …

Chiz urges gov’t to look into funding ‘blood money’ for OFWS on death row

 Entertainment
Jan 152016
 
Chiz urges gov’t to look into funding ‘blood money’ for OFWS on death row

Presidential candidate Grace Poe, her running mate Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero, and veteran lawyer Lorna Kapunan (extreme left), acknowledge crowd after the tandem endorse Kapunan’s senatorial bid on Friday (Oct. 23) at the Balay Kalinaw in UP-Diliman, Quezon City. (MNS photo) Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero wants the government to study the possibility of utilizing public funds to raise “blood money” for distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Middle East in order to save them from death penalty. But before making such move, however, Escudero said the government should first determine its legality by seeking guidance from the Commission on Audit and the courts. “Dapat suriing maige ng pamahalaan ang paggamit ng public funds sa pagbabayad ng blood money para mailigtas ang buhay ng ating mga kababayang nalalagay sa bingit ng kamatayan,” Escudero said. Escudero made the suggestion in the wake of the execution of Filipino construction worker Joselito Zapanta in Saudi Arabia on Dec. 29 after government efforts to raise $1 million, or roughly P47 million, in blood money fell short. The government was only able to raise P23 million for the 35-year-old Zapanta, who was convicted of robbery and murder of his Sudanese landlord in 2009. It is the policy of the government to help raise funds for blood money from voluntary sources, but not to allocate funds from the national treasury for this purpose. Escudero said this policy should be reviewed considering that there are still around 79 Filipinos on death row around the world based on the record of the Department of Read More …

Limited edition ‘Year Of The Monkey’ collection

 Entertainment
Jan 152016
 
Limited edition ‘Year Of The Monkey’ collection

The collection features exclusive Asian tea-inspired chocolates  and kicks off the chocolatier’s 90th Anniversary Dark Chocolate Green – Group New York (Jan. 11, 2016) – In celebration of Lunar New Year, legendary Belgian chocolatier GODIVA debuted the Year of the Monkey collection in North America. Building off of the success of its previous Lunar New Year collections, including last year’s sold-out gift boxes, GODIVA brings its Asian-American consumers another unique treat to celebrate an important cultural holiday. The launch of the Year of the Monkey collection also kicks off the GODIVA 90th year anniversary and serves as a sweet beginning to a milestone year for the company. LNY Monkey Box The GODIVA Year of the Monkey collection featuring pieces in the shape of a monkey is the perfect gift for family and friends for Lunar New Year and a perfect treat for yourself during this holiday. The new collection features ganache pieces delectably crafted with enticing and aromatic Chinese teas enrobed in white, milk and dark Belgium chocolate.  The chocolates that are sold as a part of the Lunar New Year gift box include: Dark chocolate green tea – smooth ganache made of fresh green tea and white chocolate, covering a layer of crunchy Piedmont hazelnut praliné, coated by a fine 50% dark chocolate White Chocolate Oolong – Group Milk chocolate pu-erh tea  – delectable macadamia praliné with cocoa nibs surrounded by mellow, Peruvian dark chocolate infused with aged pu-erh tea, coated in smooth milk chocolate White chocolate oolong tea Read More …

Children Now, Bonta, AG join forces to help kids exposed to trauma

 Entertainment
Jan 152016
 
Children Now, Bonta, AG join forces to help kids exposed to trauma

photo screenshot courtesy of http://www.childrennow.org./ OAKLAND, CA – This week Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) introduced AB 1644, co-sponsored by Children Now, to increase support for one of the greatest public health crises of our time: adverse childhood experiences and trauma. The bill is part of a multi-year effort to help children exposed to abuse, neglect, violence and other traumatic experiences. AB 1644 would establish a four-year pilot program based on the Early Mental Health Initiative (EMHI), which from 1992 to 2012 awarded matching grants to local schools to fund prevention and intervention programs providing support for kids experiencing adjustment challenges in school. Over 75 percent of children who completed the EMHI program showed improvement in learning, attendance, school adjustment or other school-related competencies. The supports AB 1644 would bring to kids suffering trauma are urgently needed, according to Children Now President Ted Lempert. “Childhood trauma can impede emotional well-being, diminish kids’ school performance and set children up for a lifetime of problems,” he said. “This bill will help kids exposed to trauma reach their full potential by helping schools provide quality mental health support to their youngest students. We applaud Assemblymember Bonta and Attorney General Harris for their leadership in bringing this critical issue forward.” “A child’s exposure to trauma is one of the greatest public health threats of our time, seriously compromising their long-term physical and emotional well-being,” said Assemblymember Bonta. “As Chair of the Assembly Health Committee and the Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men Read More …

Filipina on death row in Indonesia has family birthday visit

 Entertainment
Jan 152016
 
Filipina on death row in Indonesia has family birthday visit

Migrant rights activists raise march with banners and placards in Manila on Tuesday urging the Philippine government to save Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino migrant facing execution in Indonesia for drug charges. Indonesia’s Supreme Court upheld its ruling and ordered her execution.(MNS Photo) Yogyakarta, Indonesia | AFP |   – A Filipina on death row in Indonesia was visited by family Tuesday for a late birthday celebration, as her supporters maintained the single mother would be proclaimed innocent and escape the firing squad. Mary Jane Veloso was reunited with her parents and two children at a prison in Yogyakarta two days after her birthday, where they presented her with gifts and letters from her supporters in the Philippines. The 31-year-old was granted a temporary reprieve in April just moments before she was due to be executed alongside eight other convicted drug traffickers, including seven foreigners. The Indonesian government, which has some of the world’s toughest anti-narcotics laws, maintains her death sentence for drugs trafficking still stands. But her supporters insist Veloso is innocent and was duped into carrying a suitcase lined with 2.6 kilograms (5.7 pounds) of heroin. “We are very hopeful. We believe we can set her free, as it’s very clear that she is innocent,” Laorence Castillo, an activist from Filipino migrant workers organization Migrante International told AFP Tuesday. Veloso was sentenced to death after her arrest in 2009, but was granted a temporary reprieve after a woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested in the Philippines. Castillo said legal proceedings against Veloso’s Read More …

Cristine Reyes, Ali to have two weddings

 Entertainment
Jan 152016
 
Cristine Reyes, Ali to have two weddings

Cristine Reyes (MNS photo) Actress Cristine Reyes will get married to her boyfriend Ali Khatibi not once, but twice this year. Reyes confirmed that their civil wedding is set on January 27, which will be followed by a church wedding later in the year. With just a couple of weeks before the first wedding, Reyes admitted that there are still many things that have to be finalized. “Kung mayroon mang kaba, siguro ‘yung planning, kung ano ‘yung isusuot ko, kung ano ‘yung vows,” she said. Reyes also stressed that her family approves of the wedding. “Yes alam nila at sila mismo ang gustong ma-legalize na at ma-bless kami,” said Reyes, who gave birth to a baby girl last year. Reyes is part of ABS-CBN’s upcoming series “Tubig at Langis” with Zanjoe Marudo and Isabelle Daza, as well as the movie “Lumayo Ko Nga Sa Akin,” which opens this month. (MNS)

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