PH, Taiwan probers finish fact-finding on death of Taiwanese fisherman

 News
May 302013
 
PH, Taiwan probers finish fact-finding on death of Taiwanese fisherman

By Nancy C. CarvajalPhilippine Daily Inquirer 12:56 am | Friday, May 31st, 2013 Taiwanese investigators rides a rubber boat as they inspect a ship involved in the alleged shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman while they continue their probe in Manila on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. They have completed their investigation into the death of the fisherman off Balintang Island in northern Philippines, with the evidence collected by the National Bureau of Investigation, Yang Wan-Li, head of the delegation, said on Thursday night. AP PHOTO/AARON FAVILA MANILA, Philippines—Taiwanese investigators have completed their investigation into the death of a Taiwanese fisherman off Balintang Island in northern Philippines, with the evidence collected by the National Bureau of Investigation, Yang Wan-Li, head of the delegation, said on Thursday night. In a late night joint press conference with the NBI, the Taiwanese team also expressed satisfaction with the assistance given to them during the entire investigation. The Taiwanese team is returning to Taiwan on Friday and an NBI team that has also done its cooperative investigation in Taiwan is expected to arrive in Manila in the afternoon. NBI director Nonnatus Rojas said they made all evidence they gathered available to the Taiwanese investigators. Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines. Tags: death of a Taiwanese fisherman , Read More …

PH tells China: Don’t tell us what to do within our territory

 News
May 302013
 
PH tells China: Don’t tell us what to do within our territory

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 6:33 pm | Thursday, May 30th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines — No other country could tell the Philippines what it can and cannot do within its territory. Its message getting sharper, the Philippines told China, on Thursday, to keep its hands off the country’s sovereign affairs in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) after Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing expressed concerns that the country might be building more structures in the Ayungin Shoal. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) also reiterated the country’s ownership of the territory and called on China anew to pull out its government and fishing vessels from around the shoal, where they were deployed nearly a month ago. The Philippines protested the Chinese deployment before its embassy in Manila but the DFA still has yet to receive an official response. “Ayungin shoal is an integral part of the Philippine national territory. China is not in a position to dictate on what the Philippines can do within its maritime domain,” said Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez, the DFA spokesperson, said. “In the first place, China has no right to be there and because they have no right to be there, they are also not in a position to dictate on whatever we want to do within our maritime domain,” he added. In a brief pull-aside meeting at the national military headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo on Wednesday, Ma had told Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin that her government was concerned that the Philippines could be building Read More …

Taiwan, PH swap shooting probe investigators

 News
May 272013
 

Agence France-Presse 5:16 pm | Monday, May 27th, 2013 TAIPEI — Taiwan and the Philippines swapped teams of investigators Monday following weeks of acrimony over the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman. A team of eight Philippine officials including experts from the National Bureau of Investigation flew to the island and were promptly whisked away upon arrival at Taoyuan airport in the north. A Taiwanese team of experts also flew to the Philippines. Both teams will review how 65-year-old Hung Shih-cheng was shot dead by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on 9 May, an incident which has sharply raised tensions between Manila and Taipei and prompted economic sanctions by Taiwan. “The (Philippine) visitors will have a look at the autopsy report on Hung Shih-cheng this afternoon,” a spokesman for Taiwan’s justice ministry told AFP. Before leaving on Friday, the Filipino team will also inspect evidence from local prosecutors, visit the fishing boat, review voyage data records onboard the vessel and inspect ballistic evidence, the spokesman said. Taiwan said its team in the Philippines would visit the coastguard vessel, inspect the guns used to fire on the vessel and review video footage. A spokesman for the Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation confirmed the Taiwanese team had arrived but would not comment on what they were doing or how long they would stay. The Philippines has claimed that the fishing boat intruded into its waters and that coastguards were forced to open fire when it tried to ram their vessel. The Taiwanese Read More …

PCG ‘open’ to inspection of PH vessel by Taiwanese probe team

 News
May 272013
 

By Jerry E. Esplanada Philippine Daily Inquirer 4:04 pm | Monday, May 27th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines -The Philippine Coast Guard is “open” to allowing visiting Taiwanese investigators to inspect the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel involved in the May 9 incident in the Balintang Channel where a Taiwanese fisherman was reportedly shot dead by PCG personnel, the PCG commandant said Monday. Rear Admiral Rodolfo Isorena, however, said they would only do so with the permission of the National Bureau of Investigation, which is looking into the case. He told reporters that the 17 PCG crew of the BFAR monitoring control and surveillance ship (MCS 3001) “will be made available anytime” to the Taiwanese investigation team. “The PCG [crewmen] are under custodial investigation [by the command’s Internal Affairs Office]. Anytime they’re called, andyan lang sila (they are just around),” he said. The two other crew members of the MCS 3001 are personnel of BFAR, an agency attached to the Department of Agriculture. Commander Armand Balilo, the Coast Guard spokesperson, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer their Internal Affairs Office was “almost done” with its own investigation of the incident. “It is investigating what really transpired during the incident. However, Internal Affairs’ findings will not be made public,” said Balilo, also chief of the PCG Public Affairs Office. Earlier, the Coast Guard said the unnamed PCG personnel aboard BFAR ship first fired warning shots at the Taiwanese boat after it made a hostile maneuver, and later shot directly at the fleeing Read More …

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 …

Saudi, PH ink pact on workers

 News
May 212013
 
Saudi, PH ink pact on workers

Philippine Daily Inquirer 5:10 am | Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013 Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz (left) and Saudi Arabian Labor Minister Adel Bin Mohammed Fakeih INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/PHOTO OF MINISTER FAKEIH FROM GCF.ORG.SA MANILA, Philippines—Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz and Saudi Arabian Labor Minister Adel Bin Mohammed Fakeih signed in Jeddah on Sunday an agreement on the recruitment of Filipino domestic workers and the duties and responsibilities of their Saudi employers. The agreement, described by Baldoz and Fakeih in a joint statement as “historic,” came after last year’s pact on the standard employment contract (SEC) to be observed by employers and Filipino household service workers (HSWs) in the Middle East kingdom. The agreement lays down areas of cooperation between the two countries, including the following: a mutually acceptable recruitment and deployment system; recruitment of workers through offices that practice ethical recruitment and are licensed by their respective governments; prohibition to deduct from the salary of the worker any cost attendant to recruitment and deployment; Right of recourse to competent authorities in case of contractual disputes; legal measures against recruitment offices, companies and agencies for any violation of applicable laws, rules and regulations; and resolution of any issue arising from the implementation and enforcement of the agreement.—Jerome Aning

Int’l arbitration panel ready to hear PH case against China

 News
Apr 252013
 
Int’l arbitration panel ready to hear PH case against China

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 4:26 am | Friday, April 26th, 2013 Judge Shunji Yanai, president of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, has appointed the last three members of the panel of five international arbitrators that would hear the Philippines’ case against China’s claims in the West Philippine Sea, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday, April 25, 2013. PHOTO FROM ITLOS.ORG MANILA, Philippines—The panel of five international arbitrators that would hear the Philippines’ case against China’s claims in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) has been completed, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Thursday. DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said that Judge Shunji Yanai, president of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Itlos), had appointed the last three members of the panel. “That means the case is moving and, as expected, we are hoping that this case that we filed in the tribunal will proceed as soon as possible,” said Hernandez in a press briefing. In a letter dated April 24, Yanai informed Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza, head of the Philippine legal team pursuing the case, that the panel had been completed. The newly appointed arbitrators are Judge Chris Pinto (Sri Lanka), who will serve as panel president, and Itlos judges Jean-Pierre Cot (France) and Alfred Soons (The Netherlands). In March, Yanai appointed Polish Itlos Judge Stanislaw Pawlak to join his fellow Judge Rudiger Wolfrum (Germany) in the panel. The Philippines nominated Wolfrum to the panel upon filing its Read More …

PH asks Bahamas to let 1,000 Filipino workers to keep jobs

 News
Apr 242013
 
PH asks Bahamas to let 1,000 Filipino workers to keep jobs

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 7:45 pm | Wednesday, April 24th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines has requested the Bahamas to allow Filipinos to retain their jobs as the independent British commonwealth starts implementing a new labor policy seeking to cut unemployment rates on the islands by replacing foreign workers with locals. The Embassy dispatched a consular team to the territory just off the US state of Florida earlier this month to make the appeal to the Bahamian government to let Filipino workers keep their jobs despite the pro-local labor initiative. “We presented Manila’s position on behalf of many of the more than 1,000 Filipinos in Bahamas, particularly housekeepers, cooks, hotel employees and medical workers who stand to lose their jobs as a result of the so-called Bahamianization of the local labor force,” said Consul General Ariel Penaranda in a statement. Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Cuisia, Jr. sent Peñaranda and Labor Attaché Luzviminda Padilla to the Bahamian capital of Nassau this month to convey the request. Officials from the Bahamian side who met with the Filipino team included Bahamas’ foreign affairs and labor ministers and the chief of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, said the Embassy in a statement. During the meeting, Bahamian officials recognized the Filipino community’s contribution to the islands, the Embassy said. Filipinos in the Bahamas are mostly employed as domestic helpers, medical workers, cooks and hotel employees. The Philippine side meanwhile aired its concern about the new labor policy. The Embassy said the officials Read More …

Lifting of PH air ban in Europe seen

 News
Apr 182013
 
Lifting of PH air ban in Europe seen

By Tarra Quismundo Philippine Daily Inquirer 5:10 am | Friday, April 19th, 2013 EU Ambassador Guy Ledoux: We are on a very positive curve. FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Negotiations for the lifting of Europe’s blanket air ban against Philippine carriers are “on a very positive curve” as the European Union wants the issue resolved soon in hopes of bolstering trade and tourism with the Philippines, according to the EU ambassador here. The resumption of the European flights of Philippine carriers is of mutual interest as it would facilitate greater business and people-to-people exchanges between the EU and the Philippines, EU Ambassador Guy Ledoux said Thursday. “I think really we are on a very positive curve. I mean the first major achievement was the lifting of the safety concern by Icao (International Civil Aviation Organization) earlier this year,” Ledoux told reporters. “I think what is important is that a very important dialogue has been reestablished,” he said. Two days previously, transport officials from the European Commission met in Brussels with representatives from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific to discuss the remedies that the Philippine side has implemented to bring airline safety measures at par with EU standards. The Philippines passed the Icao’s safety audit in February, ending three years of being listed among the countries deemed of “significant safety concern” by the international aviation regulator. The negative Icao assessment prompted the EU to ban Philippine carriers from flying to Europe in 2010.

PH embassy in South Korea preparing Filipino communities for possible conflict

 News
Apr 152013
 
PH embassy in South Korea preparing Filipino communities for possible conflict

By Tarra Quismundo Philippine Daily Inquirer 6:56 pm | Monday, April 15th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines – While the situation in the Korean Peninsula remains unchanged, the Philippine Embassy in Seoul has begun preparing Filipino communities for possible conflict scenarios amid tensions between North and South Korea, starting with those in vulnerable cities near the tense border between the Korean neighbors. The Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday said that officials from the Philippine mission in Seoul on Sunday met with Filipino area coordinators in four areas near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) at the North-South border, part of a series of meetings with some 150 Filipino community organizations across South Korea. This even as the Embassy reported to the Manila home office that the atmosphere in South Korea “remains calm and normal” despite Pyongyang’s persistent threats of a missile launch against Seoul and its ally, the United States. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has been ratcheting up his war rhetoric against the South and its allies in protest of fresh international sanctions meted Pyongyang for nuclear tests earlier this year. “Nevertheless, the Filipinos in South have been well-advised to remain vigilant and alert and in the event of armed conflict to proceed immediately to the designated shelters closest to their homes or workplaces,” said DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez in a press briefing. He said officials from the Philippine mission in South Korea on Sunday gathered Filipino community leaders in the cities of Incheon and Seoul and counties in the provinces of Read More …

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