Chinese fishermen were checking on USS Guardian?

 News
Apr 142013
 
Chinese fishermen were checking on USS Guardian?

By Marlon Ramos, Jerry E. EsplanadaPhilippine Daily Inquirer 4:12 am | Monday, April 15th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—The Chinese crew of a fishing boat that ran aground on Tubbataha Reef last week could have been checking to see if the Americans had installed “military equipment” in the protected marine sanctuary where a US Navy minesweeper got stuck on an atoll nearly three months ago, a Philippine military officer said Sunday. The officer, who asked not to be named for lack of authority to talk to the media, said it was possible the 12 Chinese nationals on board the Ming Long Yu were “Chinese soldiers who were sent on a mission.” “This is just one of several possibilities the Philippine government should look into. The Chinese boat could have been part of a Chinese military operation,” the officer told the Inquirer. The source, who was familiar with previous incidents of Chinese military intrusions in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), said there were several indications the 48-meter-long Ming Long Yu was “not a fishing boat.” “As has been noted, the Chinese boat was not like the fishing vessels used by Chinese poachers who were arrested in Palawan. It was not carrying ice to preserve their catch. It did not have refrigerated storage,” he said. It was also noted that the men had “flawless” complexions, not the dark leathered skin of fishermen. He said there was “speculation” the Chinese military sent the 12 “fishermen” to conduct an inspection of the area where Read More …

FilAms mark Bataan Day; vow to finish fight for WWII vets’ rights

 News
Apr 102013
 
FilAms mark Bataan Day; vow to finish fight for WWII vets’ rights

By Jon Melegrito INQUIRER.net U.S. Bureau 4:25 am | Thursday, April 11th, 2013 WASHINGTON, D.C.– Leaders of the Filipino American community in this city, Philippine Embassy officials, students and supporters of Filipino World War II veterans on Tuesday marked the 71st anniversary of the Fall of Bataan by pledging to continue the fight to negate the effects of the 1946 Rescission Act, which stripped Filipino soldiers of their official status as U.S. military veterans, Their immediate demand: recognize the claim of more than 24,000 surviving veterans whose service certifications have been rejected by the U.S. Army. A bill providing monetary compensation to eligible veterans was signed into law by Pres. Barack Obama in 2009. But of the 43,000 claims of surviving veterans who applied for benefits under the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation (FVEC) Act, only 18,615 were granted. “The Fall of Bataan is considered one of the darkest moments in our nation’s history,” said Philippine Ambassador Jose Cuisa, Jr. “We recognize the injustice done to those who have been denied because of documentary requirements and we will continue to press the relevant US government officials to clarify the procedures in certifying claims and to assist our veterans who are appealing.” The embassy is calling on the Filipino American community to join a nationwide letter-writing campaign to the White House. “We want to bring attention to the injustice caused by the certification process,” Cuisa added. In response to public pressure, the White House six months ago formed an interagency task force Read More …

LP candidates on way to rally lost at sea, end up in Sabah jail

 News
Apr 102013
 
LP candidates on way to rally lost at sea, end up in Sabah jail

By Nikko Dizon Philippine Daily Inquirer 3:53 am | Thursday, April 11th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—Rough seas swept away a motorboat carrying a Liberal Party mayoral candidate, his running mate and 30 supporters from Tawi-Tawi on Tuesday and took it to, of all places, Lahad Datu in Sabah, site of five weeks of fighting between Malaysian security forces and followers of the sultan of Sulu. As a result, Rommel Matba, his vice mayoral running mate Amman Matba and 30 village leaders from Languyan town in Tawi-Tawi landed in a police station in Sandakan, where Malaysian police took them on suspicion they were reinforcements for the decimated forces of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III. Jamalul’s press officer Abraham Idjirani confirmed on Wednesday that Matba and his group were politicians campaigning for local elections in Languyan and not members of the sultanate’s security forces. “I was told they were traveling to Mapun municipality, also in Tawi-Tawi, for [a Liberal Party] rally when they were lost at sea because of strong currents in Tambisan Bay,” Idjirani told the Inquirer by phone. Capt. Rene Yongque, commander of Naval Task Force 62, reported that rough seas swept the Liberal Party group’s motorboat across the border at Taganak Island in Tawi-Tawi where it was intercepted by Malaysian border police. Rescued? But Acting Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao used a different term to describe the misadventure of Matba’s group. “They were rescued by Malaysian maritime personnel and were taken to Sabah,” Hataman said. “We Read More …

12 Chinese seamen charged

 News
Apr 102013
 
12 Chinese seamen charged

By Redempto D. Anda Inquirer Southern Luzon 10:11 pm | Wednesday, April 10th, 2013 PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines—The 12 Chinese nationals whose boat got stuck in the Tubbataha Reefs on Monday night were slapped with charges of poaching and other violations of the marine park’s rules. They were detained at the provincial jail facility here following inquest proceedings on Tuesday afternoon. The Chinese, all crew members of what was reported as a 48-by-8-meter fishing vessel that rammed into Tubbataha’s north islet, were also expected to face additional charges, including attempted bribery. Marine park rangers at the World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea said the Chinese offered them a bribe of $2,400 immediately after the boat ran aground. “We went ahead with the filing of the poaching case first and other violations under the law that created the Tubbataha marine park,” lawyer Adelle Villena of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development told the INQUIRER. She said other cases, including that one involving bribery, would follow. In Roxas City, President Benigno Aquino III said he was taken aback that yet another foreign vessel ran aground in the natural park, but this time he vowed to throw the book at the Chinese crew. “Wow! We’ve just finished (extracting the USS) Guardian, and here comes another one,” the President recalled what he told Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya when the letter reported to him the latest incident on Tuesday. Mr. Aquino said swift legal action would be taken against crewmen of the steel-hulled Read More …

Binay skips UNA rallies to lead PH exhibit of pre-colonial art in Paris

 News
Apr 102013
 
Binay skips UNA rallies to lead PH exhibit of pre-colonial art in Paris

By Jerry E. Esplanada Philippine Daily Inquirer 9:57 pm | Wednesday, April 10th, 2013 Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Vice President Jejomar Binay had no choice but skip several United Nationalist Alliance campaign sorties this week for representing President Benigno Aquino III in the April 8 opening of the “Philippines: Archipel des Exchanges (or Archipelago of Exchanges),” the country’s first-ever grand culture exhibit in Paris, the world’s cultural capital. Binay “opened (on Monday) the exhibit at the Musee du Qua Branly,” or the Branly musuem in the French capital, said the Department of Foreign Affairs. Citing a report from the Philippine embassy in the French capital, the DFA said on Wednesday the exhibit has been featuring “more than 300 essential works of pre-colonial Filipino art selected from both public and private collections in the Philippines, Europe and the United States.” The event will run from April 9 to July 14, 2013, according to the mission. The embassy quoted Binay as having thanked the French government for the “opportunity to showcase the Philippines’ pre-colonial art in the Branly museum.” “We are proud to share with France and the rest of the world our collection of pre-colonial  art, including four of our priceless national treasures and more than 300 ancient artifacts assembled from public and private collections, giving a glimpse of the Filipino soul in ancient times and the diversity and richness of Philippine culture and tradition,” he said. In his remarks during the exhibit opening rites, Binay pointed Read More …

Group decries ‘double standard’ in handling of US, Chinese Tubbataha intrusions

 News
Apr 102013
 
Group decries ‘double standard’ in handling of US, Chinese Tubbataha intrusions

By DJ Yap Philippine Daily Inquirer 6:56 pm | Wednesday, April 10th, 2013 Tubbataha Reefs. YVETTE LEE/CONTRIBUTOR MANILA, Philippines—Was there a double standard in the government’s handling of the back-to-back intrusions of a US Navy warship and a Chinese fishing vessel in the Tubbataha National Marine Park? The group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment assailed what it called the “great disparity” in the way the Aquino administration handled the grounding of the Chinese fishing vessel on Monday night and the USS Guardian in January. “While the Philippine Coast Guard swiftly acted to apprehend the Chinese intruders, it is shameful and appalling how the Aquino [administration] handled the American trespassers from the US Navy,” said Kalikasan national coordinator Clemente Bautista. “Any foreign intrusion into our territorial waters or infringement of our national patrimony should be dealt with accordingly. Whether it is Chinese or Americans, they must pay the damages and if proven should serve time in jail,” Bautista said in a statement. He noted the disparity in the government’s response to the grounding of the Chinese and Americans in the Tubbataha National Marine Park in the Sulu Sea, a World Heritage Site. “First, the PCG failed to apprehend the officers and crew of the USS Guardian in spite of their clear violations of our local and environmental laws. Second, the Philippine authorities embarrassingly failed to assert our right to directly investigate and interview the personnel of the USS Guardian as the US Navy did not allow it,” Bautista said. “Worst, Read More …

PH to probe ‘secret’ Marcos offshore trust

 News
Apr 042013
 
PH to probe ‘secret’ Marcos offshore trust

Agence France-Presse 5:15 pm | Thursday, April 4th, 2013 Imee Marcos. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine government said Thursday it planned to investigate an allegation that the eldest daughter of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was the beneficiary of a secret offshore trust. A report published by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) alleged Imee Marcos, 57, now a provincial governor, had failed to declare the British Virgin Islands trust as legally required. Andres Bautista, head of a presidential body tasked to recover the billions of dollars the Marcos family stole from government coffers during the patriarch’s 20-year rule, told AFP his office would look into the allegations. “We are duty bound to investigate and, depending upon informed preliminary findings, decide whether to pursue the matter,” Bautista said. A popular uprising topped Marcos in 1986, and he died in US exile three years later. His famously extravagant wife, Imelda, has always denied she and her husband were corrupt. The Presidential Commission on Good Government, which Bautista heads, has recovered $4 billion in assets that the Marcos illegally acquired, including from Swiss bank accounts and US properties. But Bautista told AFP in January that, with Imee, Imelda and Ferdinand Jr. having re-established political influence in the Philippines, the commission was considering giving up on the chase for the billions more believed to be hidden. “It’s been 26 years and people you are after are back in power. At some point, you just have to say, ‘We’ve done our best’, and Read More …

US Navy relieves 4 officers from grounded minesweeper

 News
Apr 032013
 
US Navy relieves 4 officers from grounded minesweeper

Associated Press 11:12 am | Thursday, April 4th, 2013 This handout photo taken on January 19, 2013 and released on January 20, 2013 by the Philippine Western Command (WESCOM) shows an aerial shot of US Navy minesweeper, the USS Guardian, as it remains trapped on the Tubbataha reef after it ran aground on the western Philippine island of Palawan. AFP FILE PHOTO PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii — Four officers of a U.S. Navy minesweeper that ran aground on coral reef in the Philippines are being relieved of their duties. The U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a statement Wednesday that initial findings indicate all four sailors failed to adhere to standard navigation procedures at the time of the Jan. 17 grounding of the Guardian. The sailors are the commanding officer, the executive officer and navigator, the assistant navigator and the officer of the deck. They’ve been reassigned. Workers recently finished dismantling and removing the minesweeper from Tubbataha National Marine Park. The park’s superintendent has said the grounding damaged about 4,000 square meters, or nearly 5,000 square yards, of reef. The U.S. could face a fine of more than $2 million for the damage. 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: Tubbataha Reef , US Navy , USS Guardian Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Read More …

Comcast cites progress of effort to close digital divide

 News
Apr 032013
 
Comcast cites progress of effort to close digital divide

INQUIRER.net US Bureau 7:30 am | Thursday, April 4th, 2013 AFP FILE PHOTO WASHINGTON, D.C.– Comcast released the second progress report on its Internet Essentials program, the company’s major effort at  connecting lower-income Americans to the Internet. “In just 16 months, Internet Essentials has helped put a real dent in the digital divide and connected more than 150,000 low-income families, or 600,000 Americans, to the power of the Internet, most for the first time in their lives,” said Comcast Executive VP David L. Cohen. “That’s approximately the entire population of Washington, D.C. or Boston,” Cohen added. Internet Essentials is the nation’s largest, most comprehensive broadband adoption initiative designed to help close the digital divide. “When it comes to education, the Internet has changed everything,” said Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho. Children, he said, can do research for their homework, and parents get connected to their child’s school to monitor grades and see their child’s development, Carvalho added. The 2nd Annual Internet Essentials Progress Report covers key program milestones through the end of 2012 milestones, a number of program enhancements and a new award designed to honor top-performing school districts.  Milestones include: Printed and shipped more than 25 million pieces of collateral material for free. Fielded more than one million phone calls in dedicated Internet Essentials call center. Distributed more than 15,000 computers at less than $150 each. Trained 10,000 people in-person about digital literacy and how to use the Internet. Received more than 800,000 visitors to the Internet Essentials and Read More …

Fil-Am rondalla program thrives

 News
Apr 032013
 
Fil-Am rondalla program thrives

INQUIRER.net US Bureau 7:01 am | Thursday, April 4th, 2013 Instrument lending program beneficiaries after performing at the “Kwerdas sa Kaunlaran” Festival in Manila. SAN JOSE,California—A Filipino American musical organization based in this city has continued to promote a diverse, local musical culture while helping improve the lives of many young people. Pagyamanin Likas Musika (PLM), an informal not-for-profit group established by George Gange with friends and former schoolmates, has a unique Rondalla Instrument Lending Program for interested children of a nominated village or school in the Philippines. PLM founder George Gange with guests at the rondalla festival in Manila. From its humble beginnings in February 2010, the PLM rondalla instrument lending rogram has reached 46 community/institution beneficiaries. This number includes an orphanage in Davao, a foundation for street children in Quezon City, an elementary school in Payatas and Southern Leyte, GK Villages in Angat, Bulacan, and Imus Cavite, indigenous tribes in Roxas, Palawan, a Philippines National School for the Blind in Pasay and a similar school in Davao serving hundreds of underprivileged children. Seven of the program’s beneficiary groups’ performances at the 3rd Pagyamanin Likas Musika Rondalla Festival (“Kwerdas Sa Kaunlaran”) last Feb. 23 proved the value of the PLM program. Held at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila University Activity Center the free event showcased newfound rondalla talents of many underprivileged children. An added highlight of the festival was the special participation of what is considered the best rondalla group today, Celso Espejo Rondalla (CER) of Las Pinas City. “Hopefully Read More …

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