PHL works to contain huge diesel spill

 News
Aug 102013
 
PHL works to contain huge diesel spill

MANILA — Authorities said they were working Saturday to contain a huge diesel spill that shut down parts of Manila Bay’s vital fishing industry. Ryan Santos, a district official at one of the hard-hit coastal villages, said the fuel polluting the water had dissipated noticeably a day after it was released, but its pungent stench remained. “A few local fishermen are putting to sea again, but have to go much further out to reach the fish,” Santos told AFP by telephone. However, most stayed at home. “They are complaining that the slick is fouling up their boat hulls and nets,” he added. Local officials said fish and other marine life floated up dead and some residents fell sick from the fumes after an estimated 500,000 liters of the fuel cast a slick across 20-kilometres (12 miles) of coastline near the capital Manila from Thursday. The coastguard said the slick, which by Friday had covered a 300-square-kilometre area, was likely released by either a fuel depot in the area or an oil tanker that had unloaded its cargo at the terminal. The bay is the country’s most important waterway in a region where about 30 million people, nearly a third of the Philippines’ population, live. Petron Corp, the depot owner, struck a deal with the government earlier Saturday for both sides to deploy more oil containment booms and crews to speed up the clean-up, coastguard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said. “It has been mostly contained… Our latest feedback is that some Read More …

PHL acquiring French vessel for West PHL Sea

 Entertainment
Aug 062013
 

MANILA  (Mabuhay) – The Philippines said Saturday it is purchasing a surplus French Navy vessel to boost its forces in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) where it has an ongoing territorial dispute with China. The 26-year-old “La Tapageuse” vessel is likely to be the first of several French ships that will be acquired by […]

PHL intensifies intel gathering, target hardening amid al Qaeda threat

 News
Aug 042013
 
PHL intensifies intel gathering, target hardening amid al Qaeda threat

The Philippine government has intensified intelligence-gathering and target-hardening efforts against terrorism in the wake of a new worldwide alert issued by the US over possible attacks by the al Qaeda terror network. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte on Sunday said the National Security Adviser has told the Palace that such efforts are focused on the targets of these alerts. “We take into consideration the alert that has been issued. According to the National Security Adviser, we are intensifying our intelligence-gathering to address the issues raised in the alert,” she said on government-run dzRB radio. Asked if the Philippines has adopted the proper security measures, she said, “Opo, opo, certainly (Yes, yes, certainly).” However, Valte declined to comment for now on questions on whether a bombing that killed at least eight people in Cagayan de Oro City last July 26 was related to the US worldwide alert. She also noted the US alert indicates the threat is “directed to western targets.” “I would not comment on that considering the investigation is still ongoing,” she said. Valte would also not give details of the security measures. “We cannot divulge security measures, it’s like telling those who want to do harm, these are the things you should go against,” she said. On August 2, the US State Department issued a travel alert warning about the continued potential for terrorist attacks, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, and possibly occurring in or emanating from the Arabian Peninsula. It said its current information Read More …

PHL senators: No need to follow US lead in passing resolution vs. China

 News
Aug 022013
 
PHL senators: No need to follow US lead in passing resolution vs. China

The United States Senate may have done it, but at least two Philippine senators do not see the need to pass a resolution expressing concern about China’s actions in the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who held backchannel talks with Chinese officials last year, said passing a resolution similar to the one approved by the US Senate’s foreign relations committee is “unnecessary” because the matter has already been brought to a United Nations (UN) arbitration tribunal. “It [A resolution] will be redundant since our President, through the Department of Foreign Affairs, have already articulated our foreign policy on the matter,” Trillanes, who chairs the Senate national defense committee, said in a text message. The US Senate passed on Monday a resolution listing several worrying Chinese behavior, including Beijing’s move to issue an official map defining the contested West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) as within its national border. On Friday, China opposed the passing of the US Senate resolution, and announced that it has filed a formal complaint against the US for the action of its legislature. ‘No difference’ Last January, the Philippines brought its territorial dispute with China before the UN tribunal, asking Beijing “to desist from unlawful activities that violate the sovereign rights and jurisdiction of the Philippines under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). China is asserting its historial claim on the entire West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). The Philippines, however, is claiming its ownership Read More …

PHL says Muslim veil directive only a request

 Entertainment
Jul 292013
 

MANILA (AFP) – A Philippine government directive for female Muslim teachers to take off their face veils in class is not mandatory nor meant to curtail religious rights, the education minister said Thursday. Education Secretary Armin Luistro issued guidelines last week on wearing the “niqab” in schools, intended mainly for the southern Philippines, where most […]

House bill seeks to criminalize hoarding PHL coins

 News
Jul 272013
 
House bill seeks to criminalize hoarding PHL coins

If a bill filed in the House of Representatives is passed into law, hoarding Philippine coins may become a crime with the offender facing up to eight years in jail. House Bill 1662, the proposed Anti-Hoarding of Philippine Legal Tender Coins Act of 2013, filed by Iloilo Rep. Jerry Treñas also provides for a fine of at least P300,000. “The unscrupulous practice of hoarding of coins is tantamount to economic sabotage and is creating an artificial shortage of coins,” Treñas said in a news release. In his bill, Treñas said hoarding coins of any denomination may cause an artificial shortage of small denominations of currency. He cited how many establishments have lacked small change. The proposed bill criminalizes the keeping or possession of coins of any denomination exceeding the allowable aggregate value, number of pieces and weight “to be determined by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) by any person, corporation, partnership, association or any other form of juridical personality.” The bill seeks to stop the alleged practice by syndicates of hoarding coins, which are smelted and converted into other materials for industrial uses. Treñas added the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will be the proper agency to enforce and implement the proposed act. Exempted from the bill’s coverage are charitable institutions, private banks, banking and financial institutions of the government, and government agencies and instrumentalities that “hold or keep such coins in connection with their official duties.” The bill lets the BSP “review and change, if needed, the aggregate amounts Read More …

Hundreds protest China’s ‘bullying’ of PHL

 Entertainment
Jul 252013
 

MANILA, July 24, 2013 (AFP) – Hundreds of Philippine activists on Wednesday accused China of “gunboat diplomacy”, demonstrating at a noisy Manila protest against the Asian giant’s moves to stake its claims in the South China Sea. Riot police cordoned off the entrance to an office building housing the Chinese consulate as an estimated one […]

New Chinese coast guard ship seen in PHL territory

 News
Jul 242013
 
New Chinese coast guard ship seen in PHL territory

A new Chinese coast guard vessel has been spotted in the Panganiban Reef—the same type of ship that a news report in China says is being used for the first time in disputed territorial waters. “An unidentified China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel was sighted in Panganiban Reef,” a government report seen Wednesday by GMA News Online said. The ship, according to the report, possesses “advance communication systems and armaments such as twin automatic cannons mounted on the ships’ deck.” “As such, it is deemed imperative for the Philippines to enhance its present intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities while seeking a minimum credible deterrent against potential external threats,” the report said. Panganiban Reef is a rich fishing ground within Philippine territory but came under Chinese control in 1995. Chinese media has reported in Beijing that China would now use armed Chinese coast guard vessels to complement its fleet of Chinese Maritime Surveillance (CMS) and Fisheries and Law Enforcement Command (FLEC) vessels that, for years, have been conducting sovereignty patrols in most of the Chinese-claimed areas in the South China Sea. The Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have competing claims over the resource-rich waters. China claims “indisputable sovereignty” over the entire South China Sea, where undersea gas deposits have been discovered in several areas, even as it overlaps with the territories of its Asian neighbors. Manila has sought international arbitration to try to declare as illegal China’s massive claim. News reports say Chinese coast guard vessels have been seen first Read More …

PHL dioceses urged to hold simultaneous WYD celebrations

 News
Jul 202013
 
PHL dioceses urged to hold simultaneous WYD celebrations

With only a few Filipino youths able to take part in the World Youth Day in Brazil this month, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines urged dioceses to hold simultaneous local celebration. The CBCP Episcopal Commission on Youth said this will allow young Filipinos who could not make it to Brazil to to experience the international event in Rio de Janeiro on July 23 to 28. “(O)ur office asks youth ministries within our network to organize local celebrations of the WYD in Rio which was also discussed in the recent National Youth Coordinating Council 2013. We commend those youth ministry offices which have already commenced efforts on this regard,” ECY said. It released guidelines for diocesan youth directors, coordinators, leaders, and youth ministers on the matter. The ECY’s move was in response to call by Stanislaw Cardinal Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity. Rylko, in a message at the preparatory meeting for WYD 2013 last November, noted many youths will not be able to go to Rio due to various limitations. “(H)e encouraged youth ministries to help them participate at least spiritually or even through a simultaneous local celebration,” the CBCP said. The ECY said at least three local simultaneous celebrations have been organized in Luzon. One is organized by the Diocese of Cubao with Ateneo de Manila Gym in Quezon City as the venue. The second is jointly organized by FNYO/Military Ordinariate/National Capital Region diocese with Don Bosco Technical Institute in Makati City as the Read More …

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