Timor-Leste foreign minister arrives Thursday for official visit

 News
Feb 192013
 
Timor-Leste foreign minister arrives Thursday for official visit

By Tarra Quismundo Philippine Daily Inquirer 10:31 am | Wednesday, February 20th, 2013 Foreign Minister Jose Luis Guterres PHOTO FROM TIMOR-LESTE.GOV.TL MANILA, Philippines—Timor-Leste Foreign Minister Jose Luis Guterres will arrive Thursday for a two-day official visit in the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday. Guterres will hold bilateral talks with Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario and meet with President Aquino during his stay in Manila, the DFA said. “Foreign Minister Guterres’ official visit is a strong indication of the interest of both the Philippines and Timor-Leste to expand and enhance bilateral relations specifically in the areas of technical cooperation, human resource development and education,” said the DFA in a statement. Guterres returns six years since last visiting the Philippines as the then deputy prime minister of Timor-Leste. The Philippines has maintained strong ties with the young sovereign state, sending peacekeepers to the country since 1999 amid its struggle for independence from Indonesia. As the East Timor transitions to self-governance, the Philippines is tapering off the presence of its peacekeepers there.

Filipino among 7 foreigners kidnapped in Nigeria

 News
Feb 182013
 

Associated Press 9:36 pm | Monday, February 18th, 2013 BAUCHI, Nigeria  — A shadow Islamic extremist group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of seven foreign workers in northern Nigeria. In a statement Monday, the group that calls itself Ansaru claimed the kidnapping of the one British citizen, one Greek, one Italian, three Lebanese and one Filipino on Saturday night. Ansaru also threatened that Nigerian and European authorities shouldn’t “act contrary to our conditions.” The short statement offered no conditions, suggesting ransom demands would follow. The kidnapping happened in Jama’are, a town about 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Bauchi, the capital of Bauchi state. Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north has been under attack by the radical Islamic sect known as Boko Haram over the last two years. Ansaru is a new group that recently sprung up in the region.

Honasan urges PH, Malaysia to hold talks to settle Sabah issue

 News
Feb 182013
 
Honasan urges PH, Malaysia to hold talks to settle Sabah issue

By Bobby Lagsa Inquirer Mindanao 8:37 pm | Monday, February 18th, 2013 Senator Gregorio Honasan. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines — Senator Gregorio Honasan said the Philippines and Malaysia should talk to resolve the entry of 300 Filipino followers of the Sultanate of Sulu in the Sabah region to prevent an international incident involving armed skirmishes. “I think, both governments should sit down, and jointly help diffuse the situation, which if left unattended to, might become more complicated because of an armed confrontation,” Honasan said. Honasan also called on Sultan Jamalul Kiram III to recall his brother, Rajah Mudah, back into the Philippines. Rajah Mudah, in an earlier report, said that he will only follow orders from his older brother. Sultan Kiram III, in an earlier report in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, said the royal decree that he ordered for his brother was not about war, and that he sent his brother to Sabah as an exercise of their historic, ancestral and sovereign right over Sabah. Honasan said that the Sultan must be made to realize that his order has not been helping the government in its foreign and security policies. “He must be made to realize that these have become more complicated,” Honasan added. “It is time for the government to clarify these with the Sultan of Sulu and if these go out of proportion, it is a problem that we do not need,” said Honasan, who was in the city to join the regional convention Read More …

DFA asks Kiram group anew to leave Sabah

 News
Feb 182013
 
DFA asks Kiram group anew to leave Sabah

By Tarra Quismundo Philippine Daily Inquirer 4:39 pm | Monday, February 18th, 2013 DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday reiterated its call for a Filipino armed group holding fort in Sabah to return home peacefully saying the standoff could potentially impact the on-going peace talks in Mindanao and bilateral ties between the Philippines and Malaysia. Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez, the DFA spokesperson, said Philippine officials have been in constant coordination with their Malaysian counterparts in hopes of settling the standoff without bloodshed. “We are endeavoring to have the group leave Lahad Datu peacefully and this remains to be a work in progress in coordination with the Malaysian government. We want this issue to be settled in a peaceful manner,” said Hernandez. “What is important for now is for them to leave that area because this could affect existing issues we have including peace talks and possible bilateral relations,” said the official in a briefing Monday afternoon. The DFA said the government has yet to officially confirm the identity and objectives of the armed group that landed on Sabah’s Lahad Datu district last week. But Sultan Jamalul Kiram had said he sent the group of some 400 people, among them 20 armed men, to establish permanent residence in the area, asserting his family’s ancestral ownership over the land. The DFA further lauded the Malaysian government’s peaceful approach to the dispute.

Kuwaiti envoy’s guard stopped for gun

 News
Feb 172013
 
Kuwaiti envoy’s guard stopped for gun

By Jaymee T. Gamil Philippine Daily Inquirer 3:31 am | Monday, February 18th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—The Makati City police stood firm in its implementation of the nationwide gun ban, charging a bodyguard of an ambassador to Manila with violation of the election prohibition. Makati police chief Senior Supt. Manuel Lukban Jr. said city police on Saturday afternoon apprehended Noel Aspa, 31, a “protective agent” of Accuria Executive Protection and Detective Services Inc. who was hired to provide security for the Kuwaiti ambassador to the Philippines. Aspa was stopped at 1:40 p.m. by a security guard manning the entrance to Greenbelt 5 as he entered ahead of Ambassador Waleed Ahmad Al-Kandari. Aspa refused to deposit his firearm, a 9-mm pistol, with 15 rounds of ammunition, prompting the mall guard to radio policemen patrolling near the area for help. Lukban said that out of respect for the diplomat, and so as to “not jeopardize his security,” the police confiscated the gun but allowed Aspa to enter with the ambassador. The Makati police, however, went ahead and filed a complaint in court against Aspa for violating the Omnibus Election Code. “If the judge issues a warrant of arrest for him, then we’ll arrest him,” Lukban said. High profile requires exemption Lukban reminded private security agencies that no matter how high profile their clients were, they were still “specifically required to seek an exemption from the Commission on Elections.” Once an exemption is approved, private security guards are required to be in uniform when Read More …

We won’t leave Sabah, says Kiram

 News
Feb 172013
 
We won’t leave Sabah, says Kiram

Agence France-Presse 1:56 am | Monday, February 18th, 2013 Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram talks to reporters during a news conference in Alabang, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013. His followers who crossed to the Malaysian state of Sabah this month will not leave and are reclaiming the area as their ancestral territory, the sultan said Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013, amid a tense standoff. AP PHOTO/AARON FAVILA MANILA, Philippines—Followers of a Philippine sultan who crossed to the Malaysian state of Sabah this month will not leave and are reclaiming the area as their ancestral territory, the sultan said Sunday amid a tense standoff. Sultan Jamalul Kiram said his followers—some 400 people including 20 gunmen—were resolute in staying despite being cornered by security forces, with the Kuala Lumpur government insisting the group return to the Philippines. “Why should we leave our own home? In fact they (the Malaysians) are paying rent (to us),” he told reporters in Manila. “Our followers will stay in (the Sabah town of) Lahad Datu. Nobody will be sent to the Philippines. Sabah is our home,” he said. The sultan did not directly threaten violence but said “there will be no turning back for us.” Malaysian officials have said that many in the group have weapons, but Kiram insisted his followers made the trip unarmed. “If they have arms, they were already in Sabah,” the sultan said. The southern Philippine-based Islamic sultanate once controlled parts of Borneo, including the site of the stand-off, and Read More …

Filipinos abroad hire Cupids to serenade loved ones back home

 News
Feb 142013
 
Filipinos abroad hire Cupids to serenade loved ones back home

Associated Press 2:17 pm | Thursday, February 14th, 2013 Rose Natividad, left, reacts as a singer, hired by her partner who is working for a cruise liner overseas, serenades her as a surprised Valentine’s Day gift to her at her office in Manila, Philippines Thursday Feb. 14, 2013. The unique surprise serenade service, which includes love songs, a cuddly teddy bear, and a video recording of the romance-by-proxy event that is shipped to the client abroad, is played out in restaurants, offices and homes across the Philippines on Valentine’s Day. AP/Bullit Marquez MANILA, Philippines — Angelica Nino, a 22-year-old manager of a Manila restaurant, was preparing to assign shifts to her crew last week when she got a big surprise from her Filipino boyfriend who has been in Italy for a year on business. To mark their first anniversary as a couple and as an early Valentine’s Day gift, he sent over a singer and a guitar player to serenade her and read out his love letter. This scene will be played out Thursday in restaurants, offices and homes across the Philippines on Valentine’s Day. With nearly 10 percent of the country’s 94 million people working abroad, clearly there was room for someone to play Cupid between long-distance lovers. And then was born a unique surprise serenade service, which includes love songs, a cuddly teddy and a video recording of the romance-by-proxy event that is shipped to the client abroad. To immortalize their love, the video is also posted on Read More …

‘Filipino’ gunmen captured in Malaysia – police

 News
Feb 132013
 
‘Filipino’ gunmen captured in Malaysia – police

1:09 pm | Thursday, February 14th, 2013 KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian security forces have captured a group of “foreigners with firearms” believed to be militants from the southern Philippines, police said on Thursday. State news agency Bernama cited unidentified police sources as saying the group was made up of more than 100 men in military fatigues, but police have not publicly confirmed that report. National police chief Ismail Omar said in a statement late on Wednesday that the gunmen intruded on Malaysian soil in the state of Sabah on Borneo island, a region with a history of incidents involving armed Filipino groups. “This intrusion is a result of the problems in the southern Philippines,” Ismail said in an apparent reference to Muslim insurgents and other lawlessness in the southern Philippines, which lies just across the Sulu Sea from Sabah. Malaysia is predominantly Muslim. Ismail said security forces surrounded and ordered the gunmen to surrender in the Malaysian coastal town of Lahad Datu. His statement made no mention of how many people were involved. “They’ve surrendered, but as for the number, I really have no info for now,” said a police spokesman contacted by AFP on Thursday. Sabah’s eastern tip is less than an hour by speedboat from the nearest Philippine islands. In October, Manila reached a framework agreement with the southern Philippines’ main Muslim separatist group aimed at ending a decades-long insurgency that has left more than 150,000 people dead. In 2000, a Philippine militant group seized 21 mostly Western Read More …

Diplomats Offer Special PH Tour Package

 News
Feb 132013
 
Diplomats Offer Special PH Tour Package

By Rene Ciria-Cruz INQUIRER.net US Bureau 9:47 am | Thursday, February 14th, 2013 LOS ANGELES—Philippine diplomats and tourism officials are offering a modestly priced tour package that includes an audience with President Benigno “Noynoy” III at the presidential palace. The 8th Ambassadors, Consuls General and Tourism Directors Tour of the Philippines is set for July 9–15, 2013. For just $1,933 per person on double occupancy, the package features “a grand welcome and reception,” visits to onsite bazaars and mini-trade fairs, introductions to business and investment opportunities and a photo-op with President Aquino at the Malacanang Palace. Since it was first launched in 2005, the Ambassadors, Consuls General andTourism Directors Tour to the Philippines has attracted thousands of participants from various cities in the United States. Also included in the basic tour package are the following: • Round-trip ticket from U.S. departure points to Manila via Philippine Airlines (departing on July 7, 2013) • 3 nights stay at the EDSA Shangri-la hotel in Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City • Daily buffet breakfast and two lunches; dinners with cultural show and entertainment • Historic wreath-laying ceremony at Rizal Park • Intramuros Tour (Fort Santiago, Manila Cathedral, San Agustin Church and Bahay Tsinoy) • Pasarap (Spa treatments), Paganda (Beauty Salon) and Pasaya (Studio Tour and Audience to Variety Shows) • Out of Town Day Tour to Tagaytay with lunch and fun activities For those who want to experience more of the sights and other adventures in the Philippines, optional extension tours are also available Read More …

Malaysia in Borneo standoff with armed intruders

 News
Feb 132013
 
Malaysia in Borneo standoff with armed intruders

Associated Press 9:31 am | Thursday, February 14th, 2013 KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysian police say an armed group believed to be from the southern Philippines has intruded into Malaysian territory on Borneo island. National police chief Ismail Omar says security forces have surrounded the intruders in the remote coastal district of Lahad Datu in Malaysia’s eastern Sabah state and ordered them to surrender their weapons. Ismail’s statement late Wednesday did not disclose the number of suspects or how they were armed. Sabah is less than an hour by speedboat from the southern Philippines, which has long been wracked by a Muslim separatist insurgency. Ismail said the group landed in Sabah on Tuesday following “troubles in the southern Philippines.” Other police representatives in Kuala Lumpur and Sabah said they could not elaborate beyond the statement.

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