Dutch man nabbed for illegal gun, ammo

 News
Nov 232016
 
Dutch man nabbed for illegal gun, ammo

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA — A 67-year-old Dutch man was arrested in Caloocan for alleged illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, the Northern Police District said. Cornelis Kok was allegedly in possession of a .45-gun, a Colt MK IV, with a magazine loaded with six rounds of live ammunition. He has been staying at Bustos, Bulacan with wife Rina Kok, Supt. Ferdinand del Rosario, the deputy for administration of Caloocan police, reported on Wednesday. As part of protocol, Caloocan police said they informed the Ministry of Netherlands through Richard Van Kooj about Kok’s arrest. A complaint for illegal possession of firearms will be filed against him before the city prosecutor. Kok was at a bus terminal on Second Avenue and about to go home when security guard Jerry Silva noticed the firearm. Police are still determining why he brought the guns in a public place. Kok presented documents to prove there was nothing illegal about the gun but police said the papers “bore visible marks of being spurious.”  SFM TAGS: .45-gun, Caloocan City, Caloocan City Police, Colt MK IV, Cornelis Kok, Crime, Ferdinand del Rosario, Foreign Nationals, illegal possession of firearms, Law enforcement, police investigation, Rina Kok For feedback, complaints, or inquiries, contact us.

Financing business made easier

 Economy
Nov 232016
 

The earliest set of rules governing the establishment and operation of a financing company in the Philippines — Republic Act No. 5980, otherwise known as “The Financing Company Act” — dates back to the ’70s. Since then, the law, including its rules and regulations, went through several amendments in a span of almost five decades. The first instance occurred during the late ’70s through Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1454 and the second was during the early ’80s via PD No. 1793. The two decrees amended only a single provision, which is Section 5 of the law. PD No. 1454 replaced the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with the Central Bank’s Monetary Board (CB-MB) as the government agency empowered to prescribe the maximum rate of purchase discounts, fees, service and other charges of a financing company, while PD No. 1793 expanded such power by authorizing the CB-MB to eliminate, grant exemptions from or suspend the effectivity of prevailing rates whenever warranted by economic or social conditions.

No talks with Abu Sayyaf for German hostage

 News
Nov 232016
 
No talks with Abu Sayyaf for German hostage

SUMISIP, BASILAN—Various factions of the Abu Sayyaf group have demanded ransom money for German captive Juegen Kantner, who has been held captive since early this month, making it difficult for the military to pinpoint his exact location,  a ranking military official said on Wednesday. Kantner and his wife, Sabine Merz, were sailing in Malaysian waters when kidnapped on Nov. 5. Merz was killed after she allegedly tried to shoot the attackers. Lt. Gen. Mayoralgo de la Cruz, the commander of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, said the military has not pinpointed which Abu Sayyaf faction was really holding the German captive. “There’s a lot of them asking for ransom. There was Alhabshi Misaya (who is under Radulan Sahiron) and there is Muammar Askali, who is also asking for ransom,” De la Cruz said. Askali, a self-proclaimed Abu Sayyaf spokesperson, was the latest Abu Sayyaf figure who had asked for ransom for Kantner. Askali said they wanted P500 million—not P5 million as earlier reported—for the foreigner’s freedom. “We are demanding P500 million in ransom, not P5 million, and we will issue an ultimatum soon,” Askali said, without directly saying what the bandit group planned to do with Kantner if no ransom was received. It was also Askali who announced the beheading of Canadian captives Robert Hall and John Ridsdel earlier this year after Canada refused to fork over ransom for the two victims. Unwanted But De la Cruz said the Abu Sayyaf might not get what it wanted for Kantner, describing Read More …

NZ foreign minister ‘charmed’ by Duterte

 News
Nov 232016
 
NZ foreign minister ‘charmed’ by Duterte

President Rodrigo Duterte “charmed” New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully on Tuesday as he justified the Philippine government’s controversial war on illegal drugs. Mr. Duterte also commiserated with the country over the strong earthquake that struck its South Island earlier this month. Mr. Duterte discussed a wide range of topics with McCully, including cooperation between the two countries against terrorism in the Asia Pacific region and the need to maintain peace and stability in the region, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said. The two leaders conveyed their desire to boost bilateral cooperation between their countries, particularly through improved trade and investment in key areas such as the dairy industry, said Andanar. The President made a brief stop in Auckland on his way home from Peru, where he attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit with other world leaders. He also met with and posed for pictures with Filipinos in Auckland, many of whom even mimicked his signature clenched fist pose. “[The President] highlighted the importance of the Philippines’ fight against criminality particularly against illegal drugs, emphasizing its vital importance in the Philippines and the region, and warned of its dire consequences if unchecked,” Andanar said. McCully for his part said he discussed the disputed South China Sea with the “charming” Philippine leader. McCully said the pair had a wide-ranging discussion late on Tuesday but declined to comment on whether Duterte’s controversial drugs crackdown was discussed. “He’s a tough guy but he was warm, courteous and actually quite charming,” McCully told Read More …

Abu Sayyaf snitches get cash rewards

 News
Nov 232016
 
Abu Sayyaf snitches get cash rewards

The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Wednesday awarded a total of P5.9-million cash reward to two informants who provided intelligence information to the military that led to the “neutralization” of two top Abu Sayyaf members involved in large-scale kidnap-for-ransom activities in Mindanao. In the awarding ceremony held in Camp Aguinaldo, AFP chief Gen. Ricardo Visaya turned over P5.3 million to Informant X, whose face was covered with a hood to hide his identity. He led joint elements of the military and police to the killing of Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Sihatra Muallam Asmad, alias Latip, in Sulu province in November 2014. Asmad was involved in the kidnapping of foreign guests and workers of the Sipadan Beach Resort in Sabah, Malaysia, in April 2000, as well as members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Patikul, Sulu in August 2000. Asmad, who was wanted for six counts of kidnapping and illegal detention, had a bounty of P5.3 million. On the other hand, Informant Y received P600,000 for providing the information that led to the arrest of Yakan, who was wanted for the kidnappings and serious illegal detention of 15 and killings of two residents of Golden Harvest Plantation on June 11, 2001 in Barangay Tairan in Lantawan town, Basilan province. Yakan was captured by the military on May 23, 2014. He carried a reward of P600,000. Cooperation Visaya said he was pleased with the cooperation shown by the people in the military campaign to neutralize the terrorist group. “The information provided by the Read More …

Subic fishermen buck fishing ban at Panatag lagoon

 News
Nov 232016
 
Subic fishermen buck fishing ban at Panatag lagoon

NO RESTRICTION This time, a Filipino fisherman is undisturbed by Chinese coast guards while fishing at Panatag Shoal off Zambales province.RICHARD A. REYES SUBIC, ZAMBALES—Fishermen from this coastal town are opposing President Duterte’s plan to declare the lagoon in the contested Panatag Shoal (international name: Scarborough Shoal) a marine sanctuary, claiming that a ban would deprive them of their traditional fishing ground. The shoal, a rich fishing ground, became accessible to Filipino fishermen last month after the Chinese Coast Guard allowed them in the area that had been closed to them since 2012. “We are not in favor of that plan. It (shoal) has been our traditional fishing ground so we don’t understand why suddenly our government wants it to be off limits,” said fisherman Tirso Atiga, 44, president of Calapandayan Fishermen’s Multipurpose Cooperative. Instead of a ban, Artiga said the government could tap them to help safeguard the shoal from poaching and destructive fishing. He said they were worried that the move could be disadvantageous to Filipino fishermen. Mr. Duterte said he would issue an executive order declaring the triangle-shaped lagoon inside the Panatag shoal a marine sanctuary, where neither Filipino nor Chinese fishermen would be allowed to fish. This was relayed by National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. to reporters after Mr. Duterte discussed the plan with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their talks on Nov. 19 on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru.   No certainty “There’s no certainty that China and other Read More …

SF parol fest-parade to showcase Filipino X’mas traditions

 News
Nov 232016
 
SF parol fest-parade to showcase Filipino X’mas traditions

A past Parol Lantern Festival and Parade in San Francisco. CONTRIBUTED SAN FRANCISCO — This is the time of year when Filipino culture is prominently showcased even in a universally celebrated holiday season in America, thanks to the Annual Parol Lantern Festival and Parade, now on its 14th year. The festival is a fun-filled family evening of music, games and prizes with the brightly lit and colorful parol lanterns, and for the second year, we will be featuring artist-commissioned lanterns and a food-tasting program dubbed as Taste of Filipino Christmas. The parol festival is scheduled every second Saturday of December, the Saturday before Simbang Gabi o Misa de Gallo, a nine-day early morning mass at St. Patrick’s Church before Christmas. The main event will be held on Saturday, December 10 and it starts in Yerba Buena Gardens and marches to Jessie Square on the eastside of St. Patrick’s Church. Parol strollers with their brightly lit contingent lanterns gather for a lively parade and holiday festival. This year’s theme is “Bring Our Culture to Light.” The parol festival-parade is one of the many cultural assets and community celebrations that convinced the Board of Supervisors and the City to unanimously adopt a resolution last April establishing the SoMa (South of Market Street) Pilipinas as Filipino Cultural Heritage District in San Francisco. SoMa Pilipinas has served as a touchstone for Filipinos seeking to connect with their cultural heritage. As a Filipino cultural heritage district, it celebrates and preserves the community, individual and family Read More …

Long Beach police reopen cold case of Filipina-Hispanic woman

 News
Nov 232016
 
Long Beach police reopen cold case of Filipina-Hispanic woman

Diana Rojas, who went missing in 2000, in an undated family photo. LONG BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT LONG BEACH, California – Detectives have re-opened a cold case involving a Filipina-Hispanic woman who went missing 16 years ago, after an anonymous tip led them to believe she was killed. Diana Raquel Rojas was 27 when she was last seen on Oct. 20, 2000, in her apartment in the 5500 block of Ackerfield Avenue, according to the Long Beach Police Department. The anonymous tip led to an area in Ridgecrest that was excavated after topographical examination and cadaver dogs indicated the possibility of human remains buried there, officials said. No human remains were found during the excavation. Rojas was a single mother to her then two-year-old daughter and worked at His Nesting Place, a church and women’s shelter, when she disappeared, her lawyers said. She was concerned about her personal safety related to her estranged husband. Rojas is described as Filipino and Hispanic, 5 feet 2 inches tall, with brown hair and a light complexion. She also has scars on her back, authorities said. Her vehicle, also still missing, was a 1992 black Nissan pickup truck with extended cab and white pinstripes, officers said. It had a Texas license plate, BY3242, and the driver’s side door lock and radio are missing. Rojas was reportedly last seen wearing a pink-colored shirt with spaghetti straps, blue sweatpants with a “Winnie the Pooh” logo on the left leg and a blue zip-up jacket with a medical insignia on the left side. Read More …

 Older Entries  Newer Entries