‘Pinay’: Cat found on freighter from Philippines to LA

 News
Jul 302013
 
‘Pinay’: Cat found on freighter from Philippines to LA

Associated Press 5:57 am | Wednesday, July 31st, 2013 This undated photo provided by the County of Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control shows a 4-year-old cat that stowed away in a container ship headed from Manila, Philippines, to Los Angeles. The cat, named “Pinay” by staff, is described as a domestic short-haired, orange-and-white female. She is gaining weight and getting stronger after the trip without food or water left her near death. AP PHOTO/COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL LOS ANGELES—A 4-year-old cat that stowed away in a container ship headed from Manila, Philippines, to Los Angeles is gaining weight and getting stronger after the trip without food or water left it near death. Los Angeles County animal control director Marcia Mayeda said the orange-and-white female cat was weak and frail after the 7,300-mile  (11,745-kilometer) trip. But after two weeks of treatments, the feline is in fair condition. Hospital staff named the cat Pinay, a common name for a female Filipino. The cat has cleared quarantine but needs to be adopted into a calm home because she is still skittish. Potential adopters can e-mail daccevents@animalcare.lacounty.gov. A year ago, a kitten named Ni Hao survived a freighter trip from China and was placed in a home. 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, Read More …

Taiwan coast guard recues 3 Filipino fishermen

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Jul 302013
 
Taiwan coast guard recues 3 Filipino fishermen

By Matikas SantosINQUIRER.net 3:33 pm | Tuesday, July 30th, 2013 This handout photo released by Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration on July 22, 2013 shows three Filipino fishermen hold on their small boat on the sea near the southern Kaohsiung city. Taiwan’s coast guards have rescued three Filipino fishermen who spent five days adrift when a storm blew their small boat hundreds of kilometers off course, officials said. AFP PHOTO/ TAIWAN’S COAST GUARD ADMINISTRATION MANILA, Philippines-Three Filipino fishermen were rescued by the Taiwanese Coast Guard crew who found them drifting on a lifeboat for several days after their fishing boats capsized 37 nautical miles south of Taiwan last July 15. The three fishermen, Ronald Dumaran, Gener Mendoza, and Edwin Zoilo, the boat captain, went out to sea on July 15 and encountered heavy rains and strong waves whipped up by a storm that overturned their boat on the 17th. Zoilo, during an interview with reporters at the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), recounted how they spent five days and four nights drifting on their capsized boat before they were rescued by the Taiwanese Coast Guard on July 21. “Kung ano mangyari sa amin, kung anong makain namin na madaanan sa laot, paghati-hatian naming. Yung isang pirasong ‘kapikon’, parang alimasag, pinagtatlo namin. Hinati ko ng tatlo, walang lamangan,” he said. (Whatever happened to us, what we found floating along, we divided among ourselves equally. We caught a crab and divided it into three.) “Nung umulan, sumahod din ako ng tubig, nakasahod Read More …

House to probe sexual exploitation of OFWs by DFA, labor execs

 News
Jul 292013
 
House to probe sexual exploitation of OFWs by DFA, labor execs

By Karen BoncocanINQUIRER.net 10:38 am | Tuesday, July 30th, 2013 Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello MANILA, Philippines — After securing the chairmanship for the committee on overseas workers affairs at the House of Representatives, Akbayan’s Walden Bello on Tuesday said that he would seek the investigation of the alleged sexual exploitation cases on distressed female Filipino workers in the Middle East. In a phone interview with INQUIRER.net, Bello said that their group had not received word from both the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on their separate inquiries into the alleged involvement of Philippine Embassy and labor officials in the scandal. “We have not been appraised of developments in the investigation. Although we have constantly asked for updates, we have not received information other than being told that they are already investigating,” he said. Bello exposed the sexual exploitation cases months ago, prompting the DFA and the DOLE to ask the officials named in these cases to return to the Philippines for an investigation. But it was not just the “slow pace” of the two departments’ investigation which prompted the Akbayan lawmaker to launch a congressional inquiry. “We had planned this ever since. This was planned irrespective of their investigation. We said that once Congress opens, we will file a resolution whereby the House would conduct and inquiry. We filed the resolution on July 1 and yesterday I was appointed chairman of the Overseas Workers Affairs Committee,” he said. “The first order of Read More …

When life becomes one big stress

 News
Jul 292013
 
When life becomes one big stress

Teen to Teen By Elizabeth Horner 5:59 am | Tuesday, July 30th, 2013 High school can be specially trying. For me, I went from being a little girl with big dreams of college—an Ivy League education, to be exact—to a teenager who was expected to make those dreams become real. My anxiety was sky high over failing at the task. I was in calculus, advanced English 12, advanced anatomy, ACP chemistry, Spanish IV, and ACP psychology.  Sure I graduated later that same year with a final GPA of 5.11 in the scale of 4.0, but I remember the nights I stayed awake, looking at where the moon should be visible from my window,  and worried. Every big paper I turned in didn’t seem to meet my standards, and I pictured it, among a pile on my teacher’s desk, waiting for red ink to fall on it. My tests, especially the ones for chemistry class, haunted me like ghosts. It didn’t matter if I read the chapters in the textbook twice over, or if I went in to see the teacher at lunch with my innumerable questions; I never seemed prepared for the tests. And, in waiting to get my test back, I put myself through some self-imposed mental torture. I’m sure this sounds like the dramatic ramblings of someone young and hormone imbalanced. Maybe it is, but so long as the problems felt real and pressing, with direct lines tying themselves to my future, then they were real problems in need of Read More …

Suspected Abu Sayyaf sub-leader-turned-OFW nabbed in Quezon City

 News
Jul 292013
 
Suspected Abu Sayyaf sub-leader-turned-OFW nabbed in Quezon City

By Marlon RamosPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:53 pm | Monday, July 29th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines — Intelligence operatives of the police and the military have arrested a suspected sub-leader of the Abu Sayyaf who had allegedly found a new life as an overseas Filipino worker in Saudi Arabia. Sali Basal Taib, alias Gong-gong Sali and Abu Husni, was among the Abu Sayyaf bandits involved in the Lamitan, Basilan, siege in 2001, Director Francisco Uyami, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said Monday. Uyami said Taib was arrested by CIDG and Army personnel in Payatas, Quezon City, on July 25 after he brought his son to school. Taib was facing a string of kidnapping cases in Basilan and carried a P5.3-million reward for his arrest, he added. “He was able to leave the country using (fake documents) and worked as electrician in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,” Uyami said in a news briefing at Camp Crame. “Like other Abu Sayyaf bandits, (Taib) left Basilan and lived a normal life. He had just returned to the country for a vacation and to observe Ramadan. Fortunately, we were able to get information about his whereabouts,” he said. Taib’s arrest was covered by arrest warrants separately issued by Isabela City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 1 Judge Leo Jay Principe and Isabela RTC Branch 2 Judge Danilo Bucoy. According to Uyami, Taib was one of the heavily-armed bandits who ran over the town of Lamitan and occupied the Don Jose Torres Memorial Hospital in 2001. Read More …

2 women on way to Clark seized in Hong Kong for drug smuggling

 News
Jul 292013
 
2 women on way to Clark seized in Hong Kong for drug smuggling

Agence France-Presse 4:59 pm | Monday, July 29th, 2013 INQUIRER.net file photo HONG KONG — Hong Kong authorities said Monday they had arrested two women in possession of more than a dozen kilograms of crystal methamphetamine at the city’s airport. The women, sisters aged 27 and 31, were seized Sunday at Chek Lap Kok airport on their way to Clark in the Philippines. Airport authorities discovered they were carrying 14.5 kilograms (32 pounds) of “ice”, according to a customs official, who withheld their nationality. The drugs, worth HK$10.9 million ($1.4 million), were found concealed inside false compartments of three suitcases carrying men’s clothing, Customs Drug Investigation head Hui Wai-ming told reporters. “The weight of the suitcase was a bit abnormal,” Hui said, adding that the drugs could have been sold for more than two times the Hong Kong price in the Philippines. Crystal methamphetamine creates a feeling of euphoria and increased confidence but hallucinations and paranoia are potential side-effects. It has become a drug of choice for young addicts in Asia. Under Hong Kong law, manufacturing and trafficking dangerous drugs carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a fine of five million Hong Kong dollars. 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: Crime , Drug Smuggling , Global Nation , Read More …

Aquino, Abe vow common stand vs China

 News
Jul 272013
 
Aquino, Abe vow common stand vs China

3:11 am | Sunday, July 28th, 2013 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, delivers his response during a joint press conference with President Benigno Aquino III Saturday at Malacañan Palace in Manila. AP MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday pledged to pursue a common stance against maritime aggression in the Asian region amid their growing territorial disputes with China. “We reviewed the security challenges that confront our nations and pledged to cooperate in advancing our common advocacy for responsible action from international players,” said Mr. Aquino, reading from a prepared statement following his meeting with Abe. The Philippines has an ongoing maritime dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), while Japan is locked in a sovereignty row over the islands called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China. In their statements, however, neither President Aquino nor Abe mentioned China by name. In line with this strategic partnership, the two agreed to strengthen “maritime cooperation, which is a pillar of our strategic partnership,” according to Mr. Aquino. He thanked Japan for building 10 “multi-role response vessels” for the Philippine Coast Guard and providing communication systems for coast patrol through a yen credit facility. Strategic interests Abe, reading from his own prepared statement, described the Philippines as a “strategic partner with whom we share fundamental values and many strategic interests.” He said he intended to attach particular importance to Japan’s relationship with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), adding that Read More …

Hundreds protest China’s ‘bullying’ of Philippines

 News
Jul 242013
 
Hundreds protest China’s ‘bullying’ of Philippines

Agence France-Presse 6:58 pm | Wednesday, July 24th, 2013 Risa Hontiveros. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—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 thousand demonstrators took Beijing to task for “bullying” the Philippines. The protest, which ended peacefully two hours later, came amid festering tensions between the two neighbours over Scarborough Shoal, a Philippine-claimed outcrop seized by China after a two-month naval stand-off last year. “Our simple message for China today is to stop your intrusions, and stop your bullying of other claimant countries,” Risa Hontiveros, a former member of parliament and one of the protest leaders, told AFP. The demonstrators, who included politicians, former military officers and church officials, accused China in a statement handed out at the protest of implementing “gunboat diplomacy in the region”. They put up a portable stage on the street, snarling traffic as they sang patriotic songs, blew horns, danced and hoisted anti-Chinese slogans. China claims nearly all of the strategically vital South China Sea, even waters close to the shores of its smaller neighbours. Apart from Scarborough, the Philippines has also protested the presence of Chinese navy vessels near Philippine-held Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands. The islands have been a source of regional tension for decades, with China and Vietnam Read More …

Bill liberalizing entry of foreign vessels in PH filed

 News
Jul 242013
 
Bill liberalizing entry of foreign vessels in PH filed

By Leila B. SalaverriaPhilippine Daily Inquirer 6:55 pm | Wednesday, July 24th, 2013 Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—After President Benigno Aquino III pushed for the amendment of the cabotage law in his State of the Nation Address, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez filed a measure to liberalize the entry of foreign vessels in the country and to allow them to engage in coastwise trade. Rodriguez, in his bill, said the country’s current cabotage principle reserving coastwise trade for national flag carriers has given rise to inefficiency because local operators have cornered the market. “The cabotage policy limits competition and encourages inefficiency among local vessel operators since foreign vessels are not allowed to pick-up local cargo for delivery to another port within the Philippines. Local vessel operators are not forced to compete in terms of freight coast and service quality with international vessel operators,” he said in his explanatory note to the bill. This foreign trade barrier must be lifted, he added. Foreign-owned vessels should be allowed to ship export and import cargoes under the same rules and regulations covering domestic shipping companies, and they should be allowed to dock at any port in the country, he said. This would bring about a host of benefits for the country, he said. Domestic tourism would receive a boost, and port revenues would increase. Shipping companies would also offer more competitive fees. Foreign vessels would also be able to provide the transshipment services needed by local Read More …

2 SoKor airline pilots fined for violating air traffic regulations – CAAP

 News
Jul 242013
 
2 SoKor airline pilots fined for violating air traffic regulations – CAAP

6:41 pm | Wednesday, July 24th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines — The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines has penalized two pilots of a South Korean airline for violating air traffic regulations. Fined US$1,000 each were two pilots of an Air Busan Co. Ltd aircraft for violations of Philippine Civil Aviation Regulation (PCAR) Parts 10.1.1.6 on operation requirements and Part 8.8.2.2 on air traffic control clearances. The CAAP, in a statement issued Tuesday, did not identify the pilots but according to the agency’s flight operations department, the offense on October 6, 2013, was “busting altitude” or the unauthorized deviation from an assigned height. Like other air traffic regulators worldwide, the CAAP assigns altitude limits for aircraft to prevent midair collisions. The decision finding the pilots liable for violating the PCAR was recommended by safety inspectors Rizal Ventura and Alfredo Juliano who investigated the incident. The CAAP said the flight operations department  has been placed under investigation for “various violations” of the PCAR. Air Busan is a subsidiary of Asiana Airlines. Air Busan operates flights from Cebu City to Busan, South Korea’s second largest city. RELATED STORIES CAAP passes ICAO audit—Abaya   Training to focus on wet runway landings, ‘go-arounds’   CAAP to seek lifting of ban on PH carriers   Plane’s locator failed during Masbate crash 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 Read More …

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