AFP standing by to resume search for missing Malaysian jet 

 News
Mar 222014
 
The Armed Forced of the Philippines is ready to resume the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 even as the focus of the search has shifted to the Indian Ocean.

“We will continue should the need arise,” AFP spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala told GMA News Online on Saturday.

Zagala added that the military suspended the search last Sunday after finishing the scan areas within Philippine territory where the missing plane could be.

In an earlier report, the AFP said they searched all areas within Philippine territory but found nothing.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went missing past midnight on Saturday, March 8, an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur. 

During the initial search and rescue operations, the AFP sent out three Navy ships and two airplanes to help international efforts to locate the missing plane. — Andrei Medina/JDS, GMA News

Gov’t, MILF start ‘last round’ of peace negotiations in Kuala Lumpur

 News
Jan 222014
 
Gov’t, MILF start ‘last round’ of peace negotiations in Kuala Lumpur

MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal. FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation (MILF) began on Wednesday what could be the final round of negotiations between the two panels should they agree on the last annex that would make up the comprehensive peace agreement aimed at bringing an end to the decades-long war in Central Mindanao. On the table of the 43rd exploratory talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is the normalization annex, the last of the four annexes that would comprise the Final Peace Agreement between the government and the MILF. The normalization annex deals with the overall security in the new Bangsamoro that would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), where the Moro rebels are expected to lay down their arms. The peace agreement with the MILF is one of the cornerstones of the Aquino administration, and the Moro rebels themselves have said they want a peace deal before President Benigno Aquino III completes his term in June 2016. “It is not farfetched that during this 5-day session, we will be able to settle all the remaining outstanding issues on the Bangsamoro Waters and Annex on Normalization that block our way to conclude the talks and eventually sign the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) very soon,” said MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal in his opening statement on Wednesday. But Iqbal remained cautious. He said that even if a comprehensive peace agreement was signed, it would be the “Exit Agreement that will formally terminate this negotiation.” “(It) Read More …

Filipinos in Malaysia warned of new crackdown on illegals

 News
Sep 032013
 
Filipinos in Malaysia warned of new crackdown on illegals

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:24 pm | Tuesday, September 3rd, 2013 Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia Eduardo Malaya. Photo from J Eduardo Malaya Facebook account MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has called on Filipinos to complete their immigrant documentation and carry their papers at all times after the Malaysian government initiated a new crackdown on illegals this month. In a statement, Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia Eduardo Malaya reminded Filipinos to always bring their passports with valid visas and work permits with them as Malaysian authorities conduct immigration checks on foreign nationals. “We wish to remind our Filipino nationals to have proper documents, notably work permit or passport with valid visa, and carry it with them in case of immigration checks, in order to avoid inconvenience.  Also, Filipinos who wish to enter Malaysia for work should have approved work permits or similar papers as they start their jobs here,” Malaya said. On Sunday, Malaysian authorities started an operation to apprehend undocumented foreigners across Malaysia. The crackdown has so far led to the arrest of some 2,433 foreign nationals, but no Filipinos is known to be among them, the embassy said. Among those arrested were illegals from Indonesia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Nepal. “We checked with the immigration detention facility in Putrajaya, and we were informed that Filipinos are not among those arrested and currently held in said facility,” Consul General Medardo Macaraig said in the statement. Philippine Embassy officials made the rounds of areas where Filipinos are known to hang Read More …

KUALA LUMPUR AND PALAWAN 5 NIGHTS + AIR VIA PHILIPPINE AIRLINES FROM $1,899

 Entertainment
Aug 142013
 

MALAYSIA AND PHILIPPINES – RICH HERITAGE & NATURAL BEAUTY Experience Malaysia and the Philippines in a five-night trip to each country’s iconic scenery and natural wonders. In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, enjoy a tour that includes the National Monument, Independence Square (the heart of downtown Kuala Lumpur surrounded by impressive historical buildings), and a drive around […]

MILF exec: Signing of wealth-sharing annex may not stop fighting

 News
Jul 132013
 
MILF exec: Signing of wealth-sharing annex may not stop fighting

GPH, MILF peace panels sign wealth-sharing annex of peace agreement. Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Negotiators reached agreement over the weekend in Kuala Lumpur on wealth-sharing issues of their Framework Agreement for peace in Mindanao. www.opapp.gov.ph The signing of a wealth-sharing peace agreement annex by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front may not necessarily stop clashes in Mindanao, a senior MILF official admitted Sunday. MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar said that if the wealth-sharing agreement is not popular among the Bangsamoro, some groups could use it as an excuse to launch attacks. “Kung hindi ito very popular sa mga Bangsamoro masses, lalo sa mga leader…, nangangamba ako na baka gawin nilang justification sa pagsagawa katulad ng sinagawa ng BIFF na pagsalakay kahapon hanggang kagabi,” Jaafar said in an interview on dzBB radio. He was referring to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) led by Ameril Umbra Kato, who the MILF had described as a rogue commander. Kato had led attacks in Mindanao as early as 2008, when the Supreme Court thumbed down a Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the government and the MILF. The BIFF launced attacks Saturday, ambushing a military truck in Guindulungan town in Maguindanao. On Saturday night, the government and the MILF closed the 38th round of exploratory talks in Kuala Lumpur with the signing of the annex on wealth sharing. “In a show of true commitment, the Parties extended the meeting, originally scheduled for four days Read More …

GPH, MILF panels sign wealth-sharing annex of Mindanao peace agreement

 News
Jul 132013
 
GPH, MILF panels sign wealth-sharing annex of Mindanao peace agreement

(Updated 5:00 a.m.) Negotiators of the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have reached agreement on the wealth-sharing annex of their peace compact in their latest round of talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. “In a show of true commitment, the Parties extended the meeting, originally scheduled for four days to six days to be able to overcome their concerns and reach an agreement on the Annex,” the chief negotiators in a joint statement released before dawn of Sunday. The statement, however, did not provide any details on the issues agreed upon in the approved annex on wealth sharing. But it said the annex “will provide sufficient guidance for the crafting of the Bangsamoro Basic Law’s provisions on wealth sharing and revenue generation for the Bangsamoro as envisioned by the Framework Agreement onthe Bangsamoro.” GPH panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer and MILF peace panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal said the  Technical Working Group on Normalization and the special team on power sharing made some progress but did not go into details in their joint statement. The annex paves the way for the two sides to decide how to divide up income from taxes and natural resources in the self-rule area. The negotiations aim to create a new autonomous region for the Muslim minority in Mindanao, the southern third of the mainly Catholic nation of about 100 million people. The 12,000-member MILF has waged a guerrilla war for a separate Islamic state in Mindanao since the 1970s that has claimed an estimated Read More …

PH senior diplomat off to KL to iron out Sabah problem

 News
Feb 262013
 
PH senior diplomat off to KL to iron out Sabah problem

By Tarra Quismundo Philippine Daily Inquirer 5:27 pm | Tuesday, February 26th, 2013 Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez. INQUIRER.NET FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Foreign Affairs has sent a senior diplomat to Kuala Lumpur to coordinate efforts with the Malaysian authorities toward the speedy resolution of the Sabah standoff as the situation dragged on into its third week. Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Jose Brillantes is now in the Malaysian capital to help the Philippine Embassy there in expediting the resolution of the situation in Sabah, where followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III continue to stand their ground despite repeated appeals from the Philippine government for them to pull out. “We see that at this point in time, there would be a need for more people who would be able to help out in the coordination work….  He’s there to help Ambassador (Eduardo Malaya) to help in coordinating the  peaceful resolution of this issue in Lahad Datu,” DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez said at a news briefing Tuesday. “Being a senior diplomat and being a former ambassador (to) Malaysia, he will also have some contacts and he would be able to coordinate well with the Malaysian authorities to be able to achieve the objectives to bring the group back home,” said Hernandez. He reiterated the Philippine government’s appeal for Kiram’s group to return home peacefully. “We don’t want to put them in harm’s way. And we believe the Kiram family are concerned about the welfare and interest of the Read More …

Malaysia says it’s keeping Amalilio

 News
Feb 092013
 
Malaysia says it’s keeping Amalilio

By Jerome Aning Philippine Daily Inquirer 3:03 am | Sunday, February 10th, 2013 MANUEL AMALILIO. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Malaysia has no plans to extradite Manuel Karingal Amalilio (aka Mohammad Kamal Sa’ad), who is wanted by Philippine authorities for allegedly swindling 15,000 Filipinos of P12 billion in a fraudulent investment scheme, but who has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment by a Sabah court for possession of a fake Philippine passport. In a statement reported in Malaysia’s Star newspaper on Saturday, Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail said Malaysia would not extradite “Mohammad Kamal” since he is a Malaysian citizen holding a valid and active identification card. However, relevant authorities have been directed to check and freeze all financial records and assets belonging to Amalilio and his associates, the Star quoted Gani as saying. In the same statement, Gani said the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur had requested  Amalilio’s extradition. He said Philippine Justice Undersecretary Jose Vincent B. Salazar had also requested that the Malaysian government freeze Amalilio’s assets, savings and investments and those owned by people related to him. He also said that the Attorney General’s Chambers had received a formal request from the Philippines’ Department of Justice to hand over Amalilio to the Philippines under the Asean Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act of 2004. Separate court Gani said the request was being handled by the international affairs division of the Attorney General’s Chambers, a separate court for the states of Sabah and Sarawak which deals with civil law matters Read More …