SC Associate Justice Leonen denies walking out of The Hague event

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Jun 172013
 
SC Associate Justice Leonen denies walking out of The Hague event

By Tetch Torres-TupasINQUIRER.net 3:40 pm | Monday, June 17th, 2013 Marvic Leonen file photo MANILA, Philippines—Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen denied reports that he made an “outburst” during the 10th International Judicial Colloquium on Insolvency in The Hague, Netherlands last month. High Court’s Information Chief Theodore Te, who was authorized by Justice Leonen to speak on the matter, said Monday the report was “totally wrong and there were gross factual inaccuracies in the report.” Based on the report, Leonen allegedly had an outburst after he was erroneously referred to as an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals in the application and registration of documents at the event. The report said Leonen walked out of the event and boycotted all succeeding conferences. There was really an error, Te said over the phone, but there was no outburst. “There was a clerical error in the position attributed to him. It was pointed out by his staff. By the time the conference started, the error has been corrected and that was that. He attended the conference, there was no further issue,” Te said. “His staff sent an email to the American Bar Association (ABA) and informed them of the error,” Te said adding that it was later on corrected. He said Justice Leonen attended all sessions except for one because he has a migraine. 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 Read More …

HSW recruiters warned on fees

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Jun 162013
 
HSW recruiters warned on fees

Philippine Daily Inquirer 3:48 am | Monday, June 17th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—Recruitment agencies collecting placement fees from household service worker (HSW) applicants are at risk of losing their licenses to operate, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has warned. Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said POEA Governing Board Resolution No. 6 prohibits the charging of placement fees from Filipino HSWs prior to their departure or on site through salary deductions. Violation of the prohibition on placement fee collection is a grave offense that carries a penalty of cancellation of license. Cacdac said consistent with most host country regulations, employers pay the service fee and shoulder all the costs of hiring and deploying HSWs. “Very clearly, licensed agencies can still collect placement fees or service fees, provided they are not shouldered by the worker but by the foreign principal,” he said. Recently, 52 members of the Society of Hong Kong Accredited Recruiters of the Philippines, a group of licensed recruitment agencies deploying HSWs to Hong Kong, decided to scrap the collection of placement fees from applicants.—Tina G. Santos 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: household service workers , Overseas Filipino workers , recruiters , replacement fees Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s day desk. Believe this article violates journalistic ethics? Contact Read More …

PH, Taiwan shun force

 News
Jun 162013
 
PH, Taiwan shun force

Talks to resolve fishing disputes start By Christine O. AvendañoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 12:09 am | Monday, June 17th, 2013 The Philippines and Taiwan have “agreed in principle” to avoid the use of force in fishing disputes, as they begin to resolve a row over the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman in overlapping waters last month. Officials of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (Meco) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (Teco) reached the agreement during their preparatory meeting on fishery cooperation held in Manila on Friday, Meco Chairman Amadeo Perez said on Sunday. The meeting came as both Manila and Taipei concluded their cooperative investigation of the fatal shooting of Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-chen, 65, by Filipino coast guards. The National Bureau of Investigation, after examining evidence and witnesses here and in Taiwan, resolved the case last week, with a recommendation to bring criminal and administrative charges against coast guards who fired on the Taiwanese fishing boat Guan Ta Hsin 28 off Balintang Island on May 9. Taiwanese investigators who also looked at evidence and examined witnesses here and in their country have not yet announced their conclusions, but Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Thursday said she expected the Taiwanese findings not to be too far from the results of the NBI probe. De Lima submitted the NBI investigative report to President Aquino on Tuesday. The shooting death of Hung sparked public anger in Taiwan. Taipei demanded an apology from the Philippine government, compensation for Hung’s family, Read More …

138 Filipinos remain in camps in S. Arabia

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Jun 142013
 
138 Filipinos remain in camps in S. Arabia

By Dona Z. PazzibuganPhilippine Daily Inquirer 7:34 am | Saturday, June 15th, 2013 DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—From about a thousand two months ago, less than 150 Filipinos remain camped outside the Philippine Embassy and a Philippine consular office in Saudi Arabia, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez reported that a total of 414 individuals have so far been repatriated from Saudi Arabia before the July 3 deadline for undocumented workers to either return to their home countries or correct their status. Among those repatriated were mothers and their children. Since June 10, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh reported having repatriated 77 Filipinos, including 16 mothers and 20 children. Fourteen more individuals will arrive in Manila on June 15 at 3:20 p.m. from Riyadh on board Etihad Airways flight EY 424. Hernandez said only four people remain camped outside the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and 134 people outside the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah. The rest of the undocumented workers and their families are staying in temporary shelters. “From a high of 77, the number of campers in our embassy in Riyadh is down to four. In Jeddah, from about a thousand several weeks ago, there are now only 134 individuals at the camp site near our consulate,” Hernandez said. “There are also 161 mothers and children seeking shelter at the consulate,” he added. With the deadline approaching, Philippine diplomatic officials have asked Saudi immigration authorities to streamline their procedures to Read More …

Another foreign vessel runs aground in coral reef

 News
Jun 142013
 
Another foreign vessel runs aground in coral reef

By Joey GabietaInquirer Visayas 3:27 am | Saturday, June 15th, 2013 TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines—A foreign commercial vessel loaded with more than 1,600 pieces of lumber ran aground off Maripipi Island in Biliran province on Thursday night. The Japan-bound MV Unicorn Logger, with a crew of 18 headed by Capt. Nguyen Anh Tuan, ran aground on Sambawan Islet at around 7:10 p.m., Maripipi town local government operations head Ritchie Peñaflor said in a phone interview. The 5,691-ton Panama-registered vessel was loaded with 1,607 pieces of lumber  weighing 836.06 metric tons, Peñaflor said. He identified the vessel’s operator as Wisdom Marine Lines, based in Panama. The vessel departed from Sandakan, Malaysia, on June 11 around 9 a.m. and was sailing to Japan when it ran aground on Sambawan islet off the island town of Maripipi.   Reef damage The vessel hit about 270 square meters of coral reef, Peñaflor said. “This is now our concern. The incident has resulted in the destruction of our coral reefs covering 270 square meters, according to the initial assessment of our local fishery and agriculture office,” he said. The fishery office was also looking for possible oil leaks but so far had found none, he said. Peñaflor said the Maripipi municipal government was studying the possibility of seeking damages for the destruction of coral reefs from the owner of the commercial vessel. The site of the incident is about 50 to 60 meters away from a beach resort maintained by the municipal government, he said. Maripipi Read More …

Global protest set at UN against China ‘expansionism’

 News
Jun 142013
 
Global protest set at UN against China ‘expansionism’

INQUIRER.net US Bureau 2:01 am | Saturday, June 15th, 2013 NEW YORK–A U.S. group critical of China’s claim on islands off the Philippines will hold a protest rally at the United Nations headquarters here on July 24. The U.S. Pinoys for Good Governance (USP4GG) is denouncing China’s latest “incursion” in Ayungin Reef, located just 105 nautical miles from Palawan. Rep. Walden Bello of the Akbayan partylist announced that his group is joining the July 24 mass action in the Philippines and will encourage its supporters throughout the world to join in global actions to denounce China’s provocative actions in the Ayungin Reef. “China seized the Philippines’ Mischief Reef in 1994, then our Scarborough Shoal last year,” stated Loida Nicolas Lewis, the national chair of USP4GG and former national chair of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA). “This year, China is set to invade and occupy the Ayungin Reef. We refuse to accept China’s expansionist agenda.” Sansha anniversary Lewis explained that July 24 marks the first anniversary of China’s establishment of the Sansha City Prefecture, which Beijing mandated to have jurisdiction over more than two million square kilometers of the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea), including islands and reefs in the Spratlys that are within the 200-mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) protested the creation of the Sansha Prefecture, after learning that its jurisdiction covered the Kalayaan Island Group in the Spratlys, which “is an integral part of the Philippine Read More …

UN: World population to hit 8.1B in 2025

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Jun 142013
 
UN: World population to hit 8.1B in 2025

Associated Press 1:07 am | Saturday, June 15th, 2013 POPULATION GROWTH Babies at the neonatal intensive care unit of East Avenue Medical Center. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ UNITED NATIONS—The United Nations has forecast that the world’s population will increase from 7.2 billion today to 8.1 billion in 2025 and 9.6 billion in 2050, with most growth in developing countries and more than half in Africa. The report said much of the overall increase between now and 2050 is expected to take place in Africa and countries with large populations such as India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United States. (As of the May 2010 census, the Philippines’ population stood at 92,337,852. The Commission on Population projected the country’s population as of June 14, 2013 at 97,898,948, based on the 1.98 population percent change.) The UN report, “World Population Prospects,” released on Thursday, said most of the population growth will occur in developing regions which are projected to increase from 5.9 billion in 2013 to 8.2 billion in 2050. During that same period, it said, the population of developed countries is expected to remain largely unchanged at around 1.3 billion people. India to surpass China India’s population is expected to surpass China’s around 2028 when both countries will have populations of around 1.45 billion, according to the report. While India’s population is forecast to grow to around 1.6 billion and then slowly decline to 1.5 billion in 2100, China’s is expected to start decreasing after 2030, possibly falling to 1.1 billion in Read More …

Foreign cargo ship runs aground off Biliran

 News
Jun 142013
 
Foreign cargo ship runs aground off Biliran

By Joey GabietaInquirer Visayas 4:43 pm | Friday, June 14th, 2013 wikipedia photo TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines—A foreign commercial vessel manned by Vietnamese and loaded with more than 1,600 pieces of lumber ran aground off  Maripipi Island in Biliran province Thursday night, officials said. The Japan-bound ship M/V Unicorn Logger, which had 18 crew members and was skippered by Nguyen Anh Tuan, ran aground at Sambawan Islet at around 7:10 p.m., Maripipi town local government operations head Ritchie Peñaflor said in a phone interview. The 5,691-ton Panamanian-registered ship was carrying lumber weighing a total of  836 metric tons, Peñaflor said. He identified the vessel’s operator as Wisdom Marine Lines based in Panama. The vessel departed from Sandakan, Malaysia, on June 11 at around 9 a.m. and was bound for Japan when it ran aground at the Sambawan Islet off the island town of Maripipi. The vessel hit about 270 square meters of coral reefs, Peñaflor said. “This is now our concern. The incident has resulted in the destruction of our coral reefs covering 270 square meters based on the initial assessment of our local fishery and agriculture office,” Peñaflor said. On top of this, they were also looking for possible oil leaks that might result from the incident, he added. So far, no oil was seen coming from the vessel. Peñaflor said the Maripipi local government was studying the possibility of seeking damages for the destruction of coral reefs from the owner of the vessel. The site of the grounding is Read More …

Crew of rescued foreign yacht now in El Nido

 News
Jun 142013
 
Crew of rescued foreign yacht now in El Nido

By Redempto D. AndaInquirer Southern Luzon 2:58 pm | Friday, June 14th, 2013 FILE PHOTO PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines—The three foreigners aboard the distressed yacht Simoune  have been safely brought to the pier of El Nido town, the Armed Forces’ Western Command (Wescom), which carried out the rescue, said Friday. Wescom in a statement issued its spokesperson, Lt. Cherryl Tindog, identified the multinational crew as Ian Riley, skipper, 50, from United Kingdom; Glenn Cooke, 51, an Australian national; and Ryan Mann, 36, a US national. The three crew members of  the Simoune left  Hong Kong on June 6 intending to proceed to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. However, they encountered bad weather and rough seas conditions along the way, the Wescom statement said. While they were sailing  70 nautical miles west of El Nido on June 12, the engine of the yacht malfunctioned and ran out of fuel, prompting the crew to send a distress signal that was picked up by Wescom’s Joint Task Force Malampaya based at the Coast Guard Station in El Nido. The Wescom report said PG 386 was immediately dispatched for a search-and-rescue mission amid bad weather  and found the yacht  2.5 nautical miles north of Lalutaya Island at 12:30 p.m. on June 13 through the assistance of the Coast Watch Station on Lalutaya Island. PG 386 and CWS Lalutaya guided and monitored the yacht until it safely reached El Nido Pier on Thursday night. The crew members were in good physical condition, said the report. Follow Us Read More …

BI: Chinese poachers won’t be deported yet

 News
Jun 132013
 
BI: Chinese poachers won’t be deported yet

By Jocelyn R. UyPhilippine Daily Inquirer 2:22 am | Friday, June 14th, 2013 This undated handout photo received on April 10, 2013, and released by the Philippine coast Guard (PCG) shows coast guard personnel inspecting the Chinese fishing vessel which ran aground off Tubbataha reef in Palawan island, western Philippines. The 12 Chinese nationals arrested for the alleged poaching in April will not be deported until after their case has been terminated or they have served their sentence, the Bureau of Immigration said Wednesday, June 12, 2013. AFP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The 12 Chinese nationals arrested for alleged poaching at Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park in April will not be deported until after their case has been terminated or they have served their sentence, according to the Bureau of Immigration. Ma. Antonette Mangrobang, spokesperson for the immigration bureau, said on Wednesday that a deportation order had been issued for the 12 Chinese, who were “undocumented,” but they must “remain detained” until the order could be implemented. Mangrobang said the suspected poachers would be turned over to the immigration bureau only if they would be released on bail. Marine park rangers arrested the 12 Chinese when their vessel ran aground on an atoll at Tubbataha in early April. A search of the vessel yielded a large cargo of frozen pangolin meat, believed bound for China’s exotic-food market. The pangolin, or anteater, is an endangered species. It is protected by Philippine and international laws. The authorities seized the pangolin meat, and the Tubbataha Read More …

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