‘Kiram followers to continue Sabah standoff’—Sulu sultanate spokesman

 News
Feb 262013
 
‘Kiram followers to continue Sabah standoff’—Sulu sultanate spokesman

By Jamie Marie Elona INQUIRER.net 4:59 pm | Tuesday, February 26th, 2013 Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram III. AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Followers of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III will continue their standoff in Sabah until the government of Malaysia agrees to discuss the process by which the conflict can be resolved, Abraham Julpa Idjirani, secretary-general and spokesman of the Sulu sultanate and North Borneo said Tuesday. In an interview with Radyo INQUIRER 990AM, Idjirani said there is nothing to lose if the Malaysian government would consider a discussion with the Sultanate of Sulu through the intercession of the Philippine government. For the full interview, listen to the attached audio clip from Radyo Inquirer 990AM.

DFA asks Kiram group anew to leave Sabah

 News
Feb 182013
 
DFA asks Kiram group anew to leave Sabah

By Tarra Quismundo Philippine Daily Inquirer 4:39 pm | Monday, February 18th, 2013 DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday reiterated its call for a Filipino armed group holding fort in Sabah to return home peacefully saying the standoff could potentially impact the on-going peace talks in Mindanao and bilateral ties between the Philippines and Malaysia. Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez, the DFA spokesperson, said Philippine officials have been in constant coordination with their Malaysian counterparts in hopes of settling the standoff without bloodshed. “We are endeavoring to have the group leave Lahad Datu peacefully and this remains to be a work in progress in coordination with the Malaysian government. We want this issue to be settled in a peaceful manner,” said Hernandez. “What is important for now is for them to leave that area because this could affect existing issues we have including peace talks and possible bilateral relations,” said the official in a briefing Monday afternoon. The DFA said the government has yet to officially confirm the identity and objectives of the armed group that landed on Sabah’s Lahad Datu district last week. But Sultan Jamalul Kiram had said he sent the group of some 400 people, among them 20 armed men, to establish permanent residence in the area, asserting his family’s ancestral ownership over the land. The DFA further lauded the Malaysian government’s peaceful approach to the dispute.

US navy contractor dumped millions of liters of wastes in Subic

 News
Feb 062013
 
US navy contractor dumped millions of liters of wastes in Subic

SAYS LEGARDABy Matikas Santos INQUIRER.net 5:48 pm | Wednesday, February 6th, 2013 Sen. Loren Legarda. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Millions of liters of sewage wastes were dumped in the Philippine waters by US Navy contractor Glenn Defense Marine Asia without proper permits from the government, Senator Loren Legarda, who headed an investigation into the waste dumping incident in Subic Bay in October, said Wednesday. “We are talking here of millions of liters of sewage wastes disposed at sea by Glenn Defense over a period of time, without the requisite permits from the government,” Legarda said in a statement. “They do not even have the necessary accreditation as waste collectors from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA),” Legarda said after the joint investigation of the Senate committees on foreign relations and environment and natural resources into the incident. Legarda said that Glenn Defense was guilty of violating Philippine laws when its tanker, MT Glenn Guardian, dumped sewage wastes collected from US Navy ships 37 kilometers off Subic, last October 15. She said that Glenn Defense, the Philippine arm of a Singapore-based company that operates in 27 countries providing marine husbanding services, had been doing the practice over the past several years. The estimated 200,000 liters of sewage that the MT Glenn Guardian collected from the US Navy ship Emory Land had previously been found to be in excess of the toxicity standards set by the DENR. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) had also Read More …

Filipino killed in hijacking of tanker off Nigeria—DFA

 News
Feb 062013
 
Filipino killed in hijacking of tanker off Nigeria—DFA

By Tarra Quismundo Philippine Daily Inquirer 5:18 pm | Wednesday, February 6th, 2013 DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—A Filipino seafarer was killed when an unidentified group of pirates hijacked a chemical tanker off the coast of Nigeria on Feb. 4, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday. Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez, the DFA spokesperson, said pirates shot and killed the Filipino seaman when they boarded the Pyxis Delta, a tanker registered in the Marshall Islands, on Monday. He was rushed to the nearest hospital but was declared dead upon arrival at the facility, Hernandez said. Eight other Filipino crewmen who were also aboard the ship at the time of the hijacking are safe and are expected to be repatriated soon, Hernandez said. “They are safe and in good health but we don’t have a full report and details about the incident,” he said. The hostage-taking was apparently resolved immediately but Hernandez said the DFA has received only a sketchy preliminary report from the seamen’s local manning agent in Manila. Details remain unclear as to how long the pirates held the ship and how and why they finally let go of the vessel and its crew. The Pyxis Delta is now anchored off the Nigerian coast with its crew still on board, Hernandez said. At least 23 Filipino seamen are still in the hands of pirates on three hijacked ships in Somalia, some already for months, the DFA said.

 Newer Entries