UK aid for Yolanda victims exceeds P5.6 billion

 News
Nov 172013
 
The United Kingdom’s contribution to the international aid efforts for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda has exceeded P5.6 billion (£80 million) after Prime Minister David Cameron pledged another £30 million to the relief efforts, a statement from the British Embassy on Sunday said.

The new amount supplements the British government’s previous donation as well as donations from the British public totaling £30 million (P2.1 billion).

The UK has also deployed a destroyer ship, HMS Daring, and a Royal Air Force C-17 transporter plane to the region. According to a report from Agence France-Presse, the UK was has also pledged 4×4 vehicles and forklift trucks.

Despite the steady support from both national and international communities, aid efforts have been slow—a fact reported by most international media covering the event. Malacañang’s Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras said last November 13 that a disaster of such magnitude required meticulous planning, which made such “difficult comments” understandable. He also said that while details needed to be ironed out, their efforts seemed to do well “so far”.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management’s (NDRRMC) 6 a.m. report also stated that the typhoon caused P10,339,290,061 in damage, including P1,250,108,600 in infrastructure and P9,089,181,461 in agriculture. In the same report, a total of 3,681 fatalities, 12,544 injured persons, and 1,186 still-missing persons was recorded. — Rie Takumi/BM, GMA News

PH to show coast guard video of shooting to Taiwan prosecutors

 News
May 272013
 
PH to show coast guard video of shooting to Taiwan prosecutors

By Tetch Torres-Tupas INQUIRER.net 2:42 pm | Monday, May 27th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines-The Philippine government has agreed to show to Taiwanese prosecutors the video of the Philippine Coast Guard that recorded the shooting of a Taiwanese fishing boat that killed a Taiwanese fisherman in the Balintang channel. “Everything that is with us will be offered to the Taiwanese investigators,” National Bureau of Investigation Deputy Director Virgilio Mendez told reporters Monday. The first batch of Taiwanese probers arrived in the country a few hours after NBI investigators left for Taiwan. On its first day, Mendez said the investigators will conduct ballistics examination, then an inspection of the vessel. “And then we will discuss what will happen on the third day,” Mendez said adding that part of the discussion will be the possible access to Coast Guard personnel involved in the incident. The Taiwanese probers, meanwhile, said their activity will be based on reciprocity. “What we offered to the Philippine team in Taiwan, they will offer the same to us,” the Taiwanese investigator said. The eight-man team from the NBI tasked to conduct an investigation into the Philippine Coast Guard’s shooting of a Taiwanese fishing boat has arrived in Taiwan Monday morning. Security was tight at the Taoyuan International Airport when the team of investigators arrived at past 10 a.m. on board Philippine Airlines flight PR896. The NBI team will be meeting with officials from the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (Meco), Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (Teco), and the Taiwanese Ministry Read More …

Chinese poachers could face 20 years over pangolins

 News
Apr 172013
 
Chinese poachers could face 20 years over pangolins

Agence France-Presse 6:02 am | Thursday, April 18th, 2013 Members of the Philippine Coast Guard hold a frozen pangolin, or scaly anteater, on board a Chinese vessel that ran aground off Tubbataha coral reef in this April 13, 2013, photo released by the Philippine Coast Guard in Manila. AP PHOTO/PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD MANILA, Philippines—Twelve suspected Chinese poachers could face up to 20 years in prison for possession of hundreds of dead pangolins, or scaly anteaters, Philippine wildlife authorities said Wednesday. The boat carrying the 12 Chinese men ran aground on Tubbataha marine park, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed coral reef near Palawan, last week. “We are preparing a case. We are still compiling supporting documents (but) it carries a heavy penalty of 12 to 20 years’ imprisonment,” Adelina Villena, environment officer of the province of Palawan, told AFP. Mere possession of the threatened species is basis for criminal charges, regardless of where the pangolins were obtained, said Villena. All eight species of the insect-eating mammals are protected by international law. Two—the Malaysian and Chinese pangolins—are on the International Union of Conservation of Nature’s “red list” of endangered species. Prosecutors have already charged the men with illegal poaching and with corruption for attempting to bribe Filipino officials. The Philippine coast guard said Monday it had found hundreds of frozen pangolins, individually wrapped in plastic and hidden in sacks in the cargo hold of a Chinese boat. Pangolins are widely hunted in parts of Asia for their meat, skin and scales and in Read More …

Despite deadline, Royal Army to stay put in Sabah, Sulu sultan says

 News
Feb 222013
 
Despite deadline, Royal Army to stay put in Sabah, Sulu sultan says

Sultan of Sulu says Sabah followers will not fire weapons. At the Blue Mosque in Taguig City on Friday, Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram III (center) said his followers in the Malaysian state of Sabah will not fire their weapons in asserting their reclaim of Sabah. He said he will insist on talks between the sultanate and the Malaysian government at a neutral country. Also in photo are Al Tillah, former governor of Tawi-Tawi (left) and Hadji Hamilian (right), mosque administrator. Danny Pata Despite the 48-hour deadline set by Malaysian authorities, Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram III on Friday said his Royal Army, some of whom are reportedly armed, will be staying put in Sabah and will even build a house in northern Borneo.   In her report aired on GMA News TV’s Balitanghali, Sherrie Ann Torres said Kiram appeared to be irritated when asked to comment on the supposed deadline.  “Puno na ako ng ultimatum… that ultimatum kako na wala naman,” Kiram said in the television report. Kiram also said it was the Philippine government which gave the 48-hour deadline, and not the Malaysian government. On Thursday, President Benigno Aquino III criticized the Filipinos who went to Sabah to stake a territorial claim, warning their actions could lead to conflict. Build a house   In the same television report, Torres said the Royal Army plans to build a house in northern Borneo, where it has been holed up for about two weeks now. “Hindi na raw aalis doon sina Rajah Read More …

China accuses Japan of ‘smear’ over radar incident

 News
Feb 072013
 
China accuses Japan of ‘smear’ over radar incident

Agence France-Presse 5:34 pm | Thursday, February 7th, 2013 BEIJING—Beijing on Thursday accused Japan of seeking to “smear” it after Tokyo said a Chinese frigate locked its weapons-targeting radar on a Japanese warship, as the Asian giants are locked in a maritime row. Asked to respond to Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera’s description of the radar incident as a “threat of force”, Beijing foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: “Recently Japan has been hyping up crisis and deliberately creating tension to smear China’s image.”